D&D 5E Levitate is a save-or-die spell

[Paul Farquhar]

If the target has rope and a grappling hook, they can use it to anchor themselves somewhere and climb down.

Or they could simply throw it at the caster an break their concentration.

 

[Benjamin Olson]

It's a pretty strong spell for this under the particular circumstances of having an enemy under 500 pounds with no form of ranged attack whatsoever in a battle likely to go several more rounds in a space without low ceilings during which the mage has nothing more important to do with that action or their concentration and can reliably maintain that concentration. Which is to say that it will be pretty sweet the several times you successfully use it for this, but after you get higher level spells it is probably not worth it for a Sorcerer to keep and something a Wizard should relegate to a scroll in a back pocket.

The overpowered 2nd level save or die spell against which all other comers must be measured is Suggestion.

Or they could simply throw it at the caster an break their concentration.

First thing I thought when I read the original post was that levitating an enemy with any sort of equipment at all is just asking to get a lot of random boots and such thrown your way. The spell is much more effective against humanoids and such if the DM forgets that improvised weapon attacks are a thing.

 

[Fanaelialae]

When one looks at damage from the perspective of monster action reduction, then we see the following.

White room math is something to be cautious of, as it almost never tells the whole story. That goes doubly so if you cherry pick examples that "prove" your point.

That an OP striker may be able to take down a single for in 1-2 rounds, but there are 4 more. If the battle lasts 5 rounds then he has eliminated 3 monster actions than if he was doing nothing.

I've seen heavy hitters take down tough monsters in the opening round, before those creatures ever got a chance to act. In those scenarios (given the encounter you proposed) 5 monster actions have been eliminated.

An AOE softens up a bunch of guys but does not immediately reduce monster actions. He simply makes it easier for single target characters to mop up later.

Sure, if you use a scenario where the creatures are too tough to be taken out. I think it would be more fair to assume a scenario where the AoE can shine.

Lots of low hp monsters (like goblins or giant wasps) closely clustered together. Boom, suddenly the AoE is eliminating the bulk of the encounter from the get go. There might not even be an encounter left. If the damage is double the hp of the creatures, it doesn't even matter whether they make the saving throw, they still die from half damage. That's a lot of potential actions!

A Levitate takes out 1 for immediately, which is 5 action monsters. A Twin Levitate kills 10 monster actions. That is if they both fail. It averages out to 7.5 monster actions accounting for chance to save on 1 or 2 targets and whatnot.
From this perspective and the ease of killing them in the air, this is a very potent spell

It's a good but fairly situational spell. It's nice that it has both combat and utility applications. But the simple fact is that many things can largely foil it. A low ceiling. The target having a decent ranged attack. The target having eaten a big lunch (the weight restriction). It's a solid spell, but certainly not one I take with every caster I play (assuming it's available).

In some cases it may outperform other options (the rogue / an AoE) but in others it won't even come close.

 

[Asisreo]

I gave the party a scare once with a satyr who had one of the magic item instruments that let him cast Levitate.

He was a trickster type but wasn't hostile. He casted the spell, hid, and the party was panicking trying to get their teammate down. (They didn't know it was levitate, they thought he was going to be dropped at the force of gravity.) They caught the satyr eventually and did a thing where he couldn't do any harm, and they even had him lead the way. Which was surprising because I first took them as players who would kill anything that slightly inconvenienced them.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

The overpowered 2nd level save or die spell against which all other comers must be measured is Suggestion.

Is it? I think Heat Metal is pretty close. Suggestion is great, for sure.

Levitate does kind of fit that 2nd level deal where, under certain circumstances, its extremely powerful. And its not really save-or-die because whilst it takes an enemy out of the fight, potentially (even a high-ceiling room could do it, let alone outdoors), they still have to actually kill them, so there is still significant risk. If the caster loses concentration, that enemy is back, and potentially all the PCs did was CC him for a few rounds, but without the Advantage and auto-crits you get from Hold Person. That it only works up to 500lbs means a lot of meaner creatures will be immune, too (even a couple of PCs I've come across...).

Which was surprising because I first took them as players who would kill anything that slightly inconvenienced them.

I've always been fascinated by the way players will bizarrely spare some creatures or people for like, no apparent reason, and yet others, who are nothing but good to the PCs, will be treated with extreme suspicion, derision and so on (I once lost most of a 4-hour session to the PCs deciding to ultra-stalk a totally innocent NPC. With the satyr I wonder if the players had all watched the Disney Hercules and had a soft-spot for satyrs or something.

 

[borg286]

The overpowered 2nd level save or die spell against which all other comers must be measured is Suggestion.

Could you elaborate on why the spell is so overpowered? My build happens to have it and I'd love to know how to abuse it. I've explored Command, Minor Illusion, Silent Image, and Mage Hand. But Suggestion is one that is so open ended I didn't know how to approach using it in real clever ways. Are there in-combat suggestions that you've found effective, or is it really only useful out of combat?

 

[Guest 6801328]

The cliff idea doesn't work as you want as Levitate says they float gently to the ground when the spell ends, regardless of how it ends. The cliff would simply make them go away, not killed. Given that we have 10 minutes, it shouldn't be hard to pelt them to death.

While in some cases you’re just delaying trouble, in many cases leaving an enemy at the bottom of a cliff or in a well accomplishes your goals nicely. You don’t need to kill EVERY hostile you come across.

And, anyway, thanks to falling damage rules it wouldn’t be an effective way to kill them even if they did plummet.

 

[Guest 6801328]

Twinned Suggestion: “Hey your buddy there has been plotting to kill you. You should kill him first.”

 

[Maxperson]

How dreadfully boring.

Oh, I don't know. A slow several hundred foot drop with scenery seems like it would be a good ride attraction to me. A few more ride ideas and we could come up with a real gold maker.

 

[Maxperson]

Or they could simply throw it at the caster an break their concentration.

Floating in the air is going to make that virtually impossible. They have no leverage, so anything thrown is going to be very weak and very inaccurate. I'd rule disadvantage on the attacks and advantage on the concentration checks.