D&D 5E Witch Bolt (but good)

[Yunru]

It's typically one of my favorite spells to take.

It... sucks?

You spend your concentration and a first level slot to do 1d12 damage and then your target just walks away, meets one of the conditions to end it, and *poof*, spell over.

You get more out of Magic Missile, at least that auto-hits and doesn't eat concentration.

 

[Satyrn]

It... sucks?

You spend your concentration and a first level slot to do 1d12 damage and then your target just walks away, meets one of the conditions to end it, and *poof*, spell over.

You get more out of Magic Missile, at least that auto-hits and doesn't eat concentration.

I'm guessing his DM, like mine (and me), doesn't have the target flee out of range right away, giving the caster the chance to have his spell work as it ought to.

The only time the spell seems to suck for my group's sorcerer is when he misses on the attack roll on several consecutive castings.

 

[Yunru]

Even then, that puts you within reach of your target, which is bad.

Plus, not trying to put something between you and the guy electricuting you?

Edit: That said, a spell slot and concentration for 1d10 a turn? The only difference between it and Firebolt is auto-hit, which... isn't nothing. Outclassed at level 5 though.

 

[Satyrn]

Even then, that puts you within reach of your target, which is bad.

Plus, not trying to put something between you and the guy electricuting you?

Aye. That's how it plays out in the fiction I associate with the spell

Although it never does work out very well for that wizard.

 

[Bad Fox]

Edit: That said, a spell slot and concentration for 1d10 a turn? The only difference between it and Firebolt is auto-hit, which... isn't nothing. Outclassed at level 5 though.

In all fairness to poor, abused Witch Bolt - it does 1d12, not 1d10.

But I'd still say it fares poorly against other damage dealing spell choices. Take Chromatic Orb. WB will average 13 points of damage over two turns (at first level), while CO will average 13.5 in one turn. That's not even factoring in the ability to customize the damage of Chromatic Orb to take advantage of vulnerabilities.

I'd say it scales to become a more effective damage-dealer at higher levels, but I also think that most times it gets cast, it'd be rare to use it for more than a couple turns.

Another easy adjustment to improve this spell might be to simply increase the range from 30 feet to 60.

 

[Argyle King]

Aye. That's how it plays out in the fiction I associate with the spell

Although it never does work out very well for that wizard.

Even then, that puts you within reach of your target, which is bad.

Plus, not trying to put something between you and the guy electricuting you?

Edit: That said, a spell slot and concentration for 1d10 a turn? The only difference between it and Firebolt is auto-hit, which... isn't nothing. Outclassed at level 5 though.

Some casters wear armor and prefer to be close.

Some casters also have other party members who know the value of tactical positioning.

I typically use the spell on someone who is already boxed in or stuck in melee with one of my party members, and when I don't really feel like using more than one spell-slot. Though, to be fair, my view is likely skewed due to how my most recent character was built.


Sorcerer/Storm Cleric (built before storm sorcerer was available to the group)

Extra d12s with a higher slot + channel divinity for max damage with a lightning spell is nice. I'm not much of an optimizer, so I wouldn't be surprised if there were better options, but it seemed to work fine during the life of the character.

I do agree that the auto-damage should scale to help remain effective at higher levels.