jgsugden
Legend
As a starting Caveat: This is primarily a discussion of Rules as Written, not Rules as Intended, Rules as Fun or house rules. I'm hoping to discuss what is allowed by the RAW rather than discuss why the RAW doesn't make sense.
If a medium or low level spellcaster wishes to damage objects with spells, what are the best ways to go about it in 5E?
Many damage spells specify that they work on creatures, but not objects. Fireball and Lightning Bolt are good examples, here. They may ignite flamable objects that will then be burned, but the fireball/lightning bolt itself does not damage the objects.
Certain spells, like Shatter, Firebolt, Firestorm, Delayed Blast Fireall and Storm of Vengeance specify that they damage unattended objects. The two that are lower level that I see are the cantrip Firebolt and the 2nd level spell Shatter. However, you need to be pretty high level to have a shot of destroying a huge object with one of these spells - It takes a 6th level slot to have a 50-50 chance to destroy a huge resilient object with shatter, for example, and a 17th level wizard using firebolt to attack a resilient huge cart will find that - unless they can add to their damage - it will take multiple rounds of firebolts to take out the cart.
However, that is the ... shall we say ... direct method. If you're a spellcaster level 10 or below that wants to destroy a street full of wagons (huge resilient objects with 15 AC, but 27 hps) in a round, what spells would you use and how would you do it?
If a medium or low level spellcaster wishes to damage objects with spells, what are the best ways to go about it in 5E?
Many damage spells specify that they work on creatures, but not objects. Fireball and Lightning Bolt are good examples, here. They may ignite flamable objects that will then be burned, but the fireball/lightning bolt itself does not damage the objects.
Certain spells, like Shatter, Firebolt, Firestorm, Delayed Blast Fireall and Storm of Vengeance specify that they damage unattended objects. The two that are lower level that I see are the cantrip Firebolt and the 2nd level spell Shatter. However, you need to be pretty high level to have a shot of destroying a huge object with one of these spells - It takes a 6th level slot to have a 50-50 chance to destroy a huge resilient object with shatter, for example, and a 17th level wizard using firebolt to attack a resilient huge cart will find that - unless they can add to their damage - it will take multiple rounds of firebolts to take out the cart.
However, that is the ... shall we say ... direct method. If you're a spellcaster level 10 or below that wants to destroy a street full of wagons (huge resilient objects with 15 AC, but 27 hps) in a round, what spells would you use and how would you do it?