I'm having a hard time deciding whether Storm Sphere is a good spell (in general), and specifically, for my Storm Sorcerer (which is unfortunate—I feel there should've been more synergy between these, especially Heart of the Storm). How good is it, compared to others of the same level? I'm not impressed, though I really hope I'm missing something. The most interesting 'synergy' I've found is to cast it centered on a target you want to keep in the AoE for a while, and follow up with Ray of Frost.
D&D 5E Storm Sphere (5E) value?
Kithas
First Post
Storm Sphere is Fantastic. It is honestly the Best spell you can be concentrating on as a storm sorcerer for damage-dealing. Here's why;
Firstly it is a big AoE of area denial, no one will want to go through a 20' radius of difficult terrain that hits like a greatsword (if they have to go all the way through it's 40' of difficult terrain, that is at least 2 turns dashing). You can use this to bottleneck your enemies and protect key areas in a strategic fight, or just put it between you and the enemy in a small corridor and massacre them.
Secondly as a Bonus Action you get to zap someone for 4d6 every turn! This being a bonus action is the #1 reason this spell rocks. You can thundewave people on your action and zap them with your bonus, shatter some fools and bolt someone else. Basically it leaves your standard action open to cast whatever you want while still adding some significant damage.
Thirdly when you cast this with a higher level slot Both parts of the spell go up by a d6 of damage. This with a 7th level slot would be a 5d6 AoE with a 7d6 bolt as a bonus action. This will make short work of pretty much anything.
In my opinion this is the best 4th level spell you can get, and for sustained damage it is the best spell period. Honestly if I had to pick between this and Chain Lightning I would choose Storm Sphere.
Firstly it is a big AoE of area denial, no one will want to go through a 20' radius of difficult terrain that hits like a greatsword (if they have to go all the way through it's 40' of difficult terrain, that is at least 2 turns dashing). You can use this to bottleneck your enemies and protect key areas in a strategic fight, or just put it between you and the enemy in a small corridor and massacre them.
Secondly as a Bonus Action you get to zap someone for 4d6 every turn! This being a bonus action is the #1 reason this spell rocks. You can thundewave people on your action and zap them with your bonus, shatter some fools and bolt someone else. Basically it leaves your standard action open to cast whatever you want while still adding some significant damage.
Thirdly when you cast this with a higher level slot Both parts of the spell go up by a d6 of damage. This with a 7th level slot would be a 5d6 AoE with a 7d6 bolt as a bonus action. This will make short work of pretty much anything.
In my opinion this is the best 4th level spell you can get, and for sustained damage it is the best spell period. Honestly if I had to pick between this and Chain Lightning I would choose Storm Sphere.
Thanks, Kithas—I think you're spot on about the 1st part (I had downplayed this aspect because... brain fart). The 2nd part is ok too, though only 1 target, which brings me to Chain Lightning.
At L6, SS becomes 4d6 AoE + 6d6 Lightning to 1 target, which is 10d6 (so, about same as CL for that target). However, you have to keep in mind positioning, friendly fire, and burst: CL immediately does 10d6 damage to 4 targets, regardless of how they're weaved around the party. With SS, you depend on the 4 targets being isolated from the party, and it would take 3 turns (after casting) to deal comparable damage to all (i.e., to zap each target once).
But overall, you're right, I was totally misjudging the spell (based on a bunch of irrelevant considerations). Thanks
At L6, SS becomes 4d6 AoE + 6d6 Lightning to 1 target, which is 10d6 (so, about same as CL for that target). However, you have to keep in mind positioning, friendly fire, and burst: CL immediately does 10d6 damage to 4 targets, regardless of how they're weaved around the party. With SS, you depend on the 4 targets being isolated from the party, and it would take 3 turns (after casting) to deal comparable damage to all (i.e., to zap each target once).
But overall, you're right, I was totally misjudging the spell (based on a bunch of irrelevant considerations). Thanks
IgnatiusJ.Reilly
Explorer
It's good, but it holds your concentration slot hostage unfortunately.
Kithas
First Post
imo there's nothing better to be concentrating on for damage.
It's best for Evocation Wizards. You get to add your +5 to both the AoE damage, the lightning bolt, and drop it basically over your party for great consistent damage.
Other fun combo:
1. First round, cast Transmute Rock
2. Second round, cast Storm Sphere.
3. Congrats, you just wiped out every horde.
Other fun combo:
1. First round, cast Transmute Rock
2. Second round, cast Storm Sphere.
3. Congrats, you just wiped out every horde.
Kithas
First Post
sadly you cannot add your Cha to more than one roll per spell so for the whole 'sphere you get one +5, not even each turn :/
Yeah I'm choosing to ignore the Errata because it's wrong.
Moreover, I can easily get around that in the same way they did for magic missile. I roll 2d6 for the Storm damage, and add my Int mod (so 2d6+5). That then becomes the damage that's done every round (which is the illogical way they got Magic Missile to add it each time because it's just one roll applied multiple times).
Either way, it's stupid and I'm going to get JC to correct that.
It's still doesn't change the fact that SS is an amazing spell and combined with Transmute Rock just straight up ends entire encounters.
