Treantmonk evaluates 5th level spells
Leatherhead
Possibly a Idiot.
Despite it being rather easy to figure out what the best and worst ones are, I think there is still a bit to say about cantrips:
Eldritch Blast is overrated (even if it is the best), because you need invocations (and preferably feats) to make it stand out. Additionally, it targets AC, which means it suffers from cover and being a ranged attack in melee.
Green Flame Blade and Shillelagh are overrated, for largely the same reason: They don't scale too well, and only really work for niche builds, where there are better options.
On the other side of the spectrum, Mage Hand is overrated: It does not scale at all, all of it's effects are easily replicated by a Familiar, and all the cool stuff is limited to the Arcane Trickster anyway.
Underrated I would go with Toll the Dead. Maybe it's the Necrotic damage, maybe it's the WIS save, but for some reason people just seem to forget it exists despite generally out-performing Eldritch Blast for non-Warlocks, and being hands-down the best damage option for Clerics.
Also Word of Radiance is totally underrated. Yes it uses a CON save, but minionesque monsters don't sport a good CON save to begin with, and it's the third best Cleric damage cantrip, what else are you going to pick? Mending?
Non-combat is going to go to Shape Water. It's one of the elemental-flavored Prestidigitation clones from EE, and easily the best out of that lot by allowing you to make a 5' cube of ice on demand. But the kicker is Druids have access to it, which is great because they don't have access to Thaumaturgy or Prestidigitation otherwise.
Eldritch Blast is overrated (even if it is the best), because you need invocations (and preferably feats) to make it stand out. Additionally, it targets AC, which means it suffers from cover and being a ranged attack in melee.
Green Flame Blade and Shillelagh are overrated, for largely the same reason: They don't scale too well, and only really work for niche builds, where there are better options.
On the other side of the spectrum, Mage Hand is overrated: It does not scale at all, all of it's effects are easily replicated by a Familiar, and all the cool stuff is limited to the Arcane Trickster anyway.
Underrated I would go with Toll the Dead. Maybe it's the Necrotic damage, maybe it's the WIS save, but for some reason people just seem to forget it exists despite generally out-performing Eldritch Blast for non-Warlocks, and being hands-down the best damage option for Clerics.
Also Word of Radiance is totally underrated. Yes it uses a CON save, but minionesque monsters don't sport a good CON save to begin with, and it's the third best Cleric damage cantrip, what else are you going to pick? Mending?
Non-combat is going to go to Shape Water. It's one of the elemental-flavored Prestidigitation clones from EE, and easily the best out of that lot by allowing you to make a 5' cube of ice on demand. But the kicker is Druids have access to it, which is great because they don't have access to Thaumaturgy or Prestidigitation otherwise.
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