D&D 5E Magic Initiate - A guide to an underestimated (and cool) feat

[Prism]

Long story short, +1 studded and mage armor give the same AC. If you manage to get your hands on +3 studded leather, even better, but that's not necessary.
There's also the issue of the time: Mage Armor lasts for 8 hours, and sooner or later you will find yourself in a fight with no armor whatsoever. So it's a purple spell, with the possiblity of obsolescence and the time it lasts keeping it from being blue.

It depends on how you allocate magic items. If you simply use the item description then studded leather +1 is rare like all +1 armour. However if you also use the treasure tables as an indicator then the good magic armour like studded, half plate or plate is incredibly rare and only appears on the top tables. You have less chance of finding +1 studded than you do of finding a staff of power. A holy avenger is more common than a +2 set of studded armour. All designed to keep AC under control

 

[UngeheuerLich]

Gave xp for rating spells blue others have rated poorly and vice versa. I like it, that different people find different spells useful.

 

[Sacrosanct]

Thank you for posting in the general forum. I would never have found it elsewhere.

Not to take away from what he said, and not to even address whether this thread belongs there or not, but I don't think the reason of "I may never have seen this thread if it wasn't in the general forum" to be a very good one to allow optimized threads in the general forum. There's an optimization forum for a reason. Maybe instead of advocating optimized threads in the general forum, you start reading the optimized one.

 

[CapnZapp]

I merely wanted to provide a counterpoint to the posts that criticized its placement by adding a thank you, hoping that would make the OP feel some appreciation and not (only) feel bad for not following forum decorum.

 

[Gabriel Pendragon]

If you want a defensive spell, shield is better than magic armor and can be cast as a reaction and on top of any other armor.

 

[Tanaka Chris]

Incidentally, assuming you're not already a spellcaster, it means you don't have access to spell focuses.
Hex for example requires a material component 'Eye of Newt", probably should also make a mention of having such components handy.

 

[rollingForInit]

I love Magic Initiate.

Recently played a Paladin that I wanted to flavour a bit like a paladin from Paksenarrion ... so I took Magic Initiate (variant human), chose Light, Firebolt and Shield. Flavoured Firebolt as some form of divine light attack.

 

[dmnqwk]

The colour coding system is a bit too subjective. The descriptions are also a bit off in places.

Acid Splash, for example, hits 2 foes within 5' of each other for 1d6 each. You're placing too much emphasis on thinking Dex saves are bad.
Fire Bolt is a solid choice for many players, and with it as both Int or Cha, it's the simple straight damage option for allowing Ranged attacks on those who lack them (Paladins, for example).
Vicious Mockery is nice, but only limited appeal at high levels against monsters who receive multiple attacks a round (they should've had it grant Disadvantage for an entire round, to make up for the fact it's NOT a damage-focused cantrip).

 

[Arial Black]

If you want a defensive spell, shield is better than magic armor and can be cast as a reaction and on top of any other armor.

When you can only cast the spell once per day, +5 AC for six seconds is not as good as +3 AC for eight hours! Or even +1 AC for eight hours!

 

[bedir than]

For giggles I made an AdvLeague qualifying Human Monk. I wanted a loner that always was able to be on their own out in the wilderness. So that went Goodberry. Druidcraft lets them start a fire or foretell the weather. Shillelagh was chosen because the clubs of broken wood common in the wilderness can now be a more powerful weapon.

I love Magic Initiate.