D&D 5E What's the worst spell?

[Ancalagon]

Cow of Auraly is pretty weak IMO

 

[DaveDash]

I'll throw in Horrid Wilting from the Elemental Evil players guide is very meh for its level. In fact that book has a lot of quite meh spells.

Divine Word seems pretty bad for the level you get it.

 

[chikiko]

I'll throw in Horrid Wilting from the Elemental Evil players guide is very meh for its level. In fact that book has a lot of quite meh spells.

Divine Word seems pretty bad for the level you get it.

Elemental evil spells are a mixed bag. Some are ugh and others are quite good. Catapult could be a good alternative to chromatic sphere if you can't afford the spell component. Storming sphere is a nice control spell that gives you the ability to do damage add a bonus action others are not quite so good

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[DaveDash]

Elemental evil spells are a mixed bag. Some are ugh and others are quite good. Catapult could be a good alternative to chromatic sphere if you can't afford the spell component. Storming sphere is a nice control spell that gives you the ability to do damage add a bonus action others are not quite so good

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Yeah I should say there are some good ones there. Absorb elements, vitriolic sphere, and a lot of the earth spells are quite good.

 

[Caliban]

It also depends on the table. If you're playing at a table where the DM believes in tailoring challenges to the PCs, all you're doing is asking for a campaign full of oozes and elementals doing acid/fire/thunder damage, and maybe some githyanki doing psychic damage.

That's not "tailoring challenges to the PC's". That's just being a jerk.

"Here's a powerful magic item that can give you a permanent benefit. But if you use it in a way I don't like, I'll change the entire campaign to make sure you can't actually use the benefit. Having fun yet?"

If you don't want the players to use the magic item, either don't give it to them, or give it to them in a way that limits it to things you want them to be able to do. Instead of a ring of wishes, have it be a favor from the fairies, or a Djinn who has conditions on the wishes he grants.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

That's true, although at 10 roll to hit isn't a negative. your proficiency bonus is 6 with a Max stat mod of 5 means you have a +11 to attack. On top of that you can roll a critical and deal 12d12 and against a particularly good save creature an attack roll at +11 might be better choice

Sure, it depends. Against a dragon, Dex save for half is clearly better. (+6 Dex save means you'll be doing half damage about half the time, and full damage about half the time, for about 3/4 damage on average. Compare with to-hit: AC 19ish means you'll crit about 5% of the time, hit normally, about 55% of the time, and do no damage 40% of the time, for about 60% damage on average. Against ancient dragons it skews even more heavily in favor of save-for-half.) Against Rogues and Monks on the other hand, attack rolls are clearly better because Evasion.

I think the significant point of comparison is the fact that Chain Lightning affects more targets for free. Increased range and no concentration requirement is also kind of nice, but the main thing is that you get to affect four targets instead of one.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

Divine Word seems pretty bad for the level you get it.

That's mostly just a presentation problem. If you reverse the order of the paragraphs in the spell description, it seems a lot more impressive.

Divine Word
7th-level evocation
Casting Time: 1 bonus action
Range: 30 feet
Components: V
Duration: Instantaneous

You utter a divine word, imbued with the power that shaped the world at the dawn of creation. Choose any number of creatures you can see within range. Each creature that can hear you must make a Charisma saving throw. A celestial, an elemental, a fey, or a fiend that fails its save is forced back to its plane of origin (if it isn’t there already) and can’t return to your current plane for 24 hours by any means short of a wish spell.

In addition, on a failed save, a creature (regardless of its creature type) suffers an effect based on its current hit points:

• 50 hit points or fewer: deafened for 1 minute
• 40 hit points or fewer: deafened and blinded for 10 minutes
• 30 hit points or fewer: blinded, deafened, and stunned for 1 hour
• 20 hit points or fewer: killed instantly


Let me point out: it's a mass Banishment spell. It's only a bonus action to cast. It also doubles as a large AoE spell to disable or kill pretty much anything of CR 1 or less--and we all know by now that swarms of CR 1 creatures are actually a nightmare to fight, so if it actually knocks out a dozen intellect devourers or a couple of dozen wolves it could actually save your life. But you wouldn't memorize it just for that--you memorize it for the bonus action, no concentration Banishment effect on demons/devils/elementals.

After all, if taking out most of a couple of dozen wolves is worthwhile, banishing 3 out of 5 Efreeti is even more worthwhile.

 

[DaveDash]

That's mostly just a presentation problem. If you reverse the order of the paragraphs in the spell description, it seems a lot more impressive.

Divine Word
7th-level evocation
Casting Time: 1 bonus action
Range: 30 feet
Components: V
Duration: Instantaneous

You utter a divine word, imbued with the power that shaped the world at the dawn of creation. Choose any number of creatures you can see within range. Each creature that can hear you must make a Charisma saving throw. A celestial, an elemental, a fey, or a fiend that fails its save is forced back to its plane of origin (if it isn’t there already) and can’t return to your current plane for 24 hours by any means short of a wish spell.

In addition, on a failed save, a creature (regardless of its creature type) suffers an effect based on its current hit points:

• 50 hit points or fewer: deafened for 1 minute
• 40 hit points or fewer: deafened and blinded for 10 minutes
• 30 hit points or fewer: blinded, deafened, and stunned for 1 hour
• 20 hit points or fewer: killed instantly


Let me point out: it's a mass Banishment spell. It's only a bonus action to cast. It also doubles as a large AoE spell to disable or kill pretty much anything of CR 1 or less--and we all know by now that swarms of CR 1 creatures are actually a nightmare to fight, so if it actually knocks out a dozen intellect devourers or a couple of dozen wolves it could actually save your life. But you wouldn't memorize it just for that--you memorize it for the bonus action, no concentration Banishment effect on demons/devils/elementals.

After all, if taking out most of a couple of dozen wolves is worthwhile, banishing 3 out of 5 Efreeti is even more worthwhile.

Mass banishment point taken.

However not impressed with the swarm killing potential giving it consumes a 7th level spell slot and it's limited range. Fireball is much better.

I still think potentially out of a mass combat situation it's a very weak 7th level spell. Not really worth the justification for preparing it or using a 7th level slot given the alternatives in most standard adventures.
For example playing through Tyranny of Dragons I almost never had a chance to cast this on my Cleric and it would be wasting away spell slots, and then if I look at other modules, say Princes of the Apocalypse, do I really want to use a 7th level slot on banishing maybe one or two extra planar creatures? Nope.
Especially compared to some other Cleric spells - Plane Shift, Regeneration, 7th level Heal, etc.

 

[chikiko]

Sure, it depends. Against a dragon, Dex save for half is clearly better. (+6 Dex save means you'll be doing half damage about half the time, and full damage about half the time, for about 3/4 damage on average. Compare with to-hit: AC 19ish means you'll crit about 5% of the time, hit normally, about 55% of the time, and do no damage 40% of the time, for about 60% damage on average. Against ancient dragons it skews even more heavily in favor of save-for-half.) Against Rogues and Monks on the other hand, attack rolls are clearly better because Evasion.

I think the significant point of comparison is the fact that Chain Lightning affects more targets for free. Increased range and no concentration requirement is also kind of nice, but the main thing is that you get to affect four targets instead of one.

Absolutely. It's definitely not your bread and butter spell but it can have it's uses, especially if you only take damagingly spells on odd levels life I just heard someone suggest today and leave the even for utility and effect spells

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[FormerlyHemlock]

Mass banishment point taken.

However not impressed with the swarm killing potential giving it consumes a 7th level spell slot and it's limited range. Fireball is much better.

I still think potentially out of a mass combat situation it's a very weak 7th level spell. Not really worth the justification for preparing it or using a 7th level slot given the alternatives in most standard adventures.

It does have some stiff competition in the form of Regenerate, Symbol, Conjure Celestial, and MAYBE Fire Storm. As always, what you prepare depends on what you think you'll face. Demon invasion? Divine Word to the rescue! Lich stole the queen's soul? Not so much.