D&D 5E What is the most powerful spell?

TheSword · May 10, 2019

TheSword said:
At any level Counterspell is the most powerful spell.

I’m deadly serious about this. I’d summon woodland creaurea or true polymorph is powerful then the ability to stop these things Is just as powerful and impactful.

However Counterspell only uses a reaction rather than a bonus action

Can be cast at a lower level with a risk of failure

Can stop any spell (whereas each other spell can only do the things it’s designed to do)

It is undoubtably the most powerful spell in the game.

Zardnaar · May 10, 2019

TheSword said:
I’m deadly serious about this. I’d summon woodland creaurea or true polymorph is powerful then the ability to stop these things Is just as powerful and impactful.

However Counterspell only uses a reaction rather than a bonus action

Can be cast at a lower level with a risk of failure

Can stop any spell (whereas each other spell can only do the things it’s designed to do)

It is undoubtably the most powerful spell in the game.

Situational though, not good when magic is not being used ergo I would not rate it the best spell.

I would probably do this rating by level.

Guidance
Bless
Pass Without Trace
Fireball/Hypnotic Pattern
Banishment
5 ?
6 ?
7 ?
8 Simulacrum (its fairly good all by itself).
9 Wish/Foresight

Foresight duration and not requiring concentration though....

Stalker0 · May 10, 2019

Also, just noting on format. The Eldritch Knight spells really throw me for a loop every time I see them, the format feels jarring.

I personally would rather see two sections. One for regular, one for Eldritch Knight. But having them mismashed like they are making it hard for me to follow.

Yaarel · May 10, 2019

Stalker0 said:
Also, just noting on format. The Eldritch Knight spells really throw me for a loop every time I see them, the format feels jarring.

I personally would rather see two sections. One for regular, one for Eldritch Knight. But having them mismashed like they are making it hard for me to follow.

Really the ‘Eldritch Knight’ subsection includes Bards, Paladins, Clerics, Druids − any spellcaster that fight melee.

Would calling it ‘Gish’ make it clearer?

Yaarel · May 10, 2019

TheSword said:
I’m deadly serious about this. I’d summon woodland creaurea or true polymorph is powerful then the ability to stop these things Is just as powerful and impactful.

However Counterspell only uses a reaction rather than a bonus action

Can be cast at a lower level with a risk of failure

Can stop any spell (whereas each other spell can only do the things it’s designed to do)

It is undoubtably the most powerful spell in the game.

I understand what you are saying. Counterspell is as powerful as any spell of any hostile spellcaster.

It is somewhat situational in that the opponent must be a spellcaster. And it is reactive, rather than proactive. In other words, Counterspell doesnt actually do anything. It stops someone else from doing something.

That said, it is powerful.

If you have a location where you would like to see Counterspell rank, let me know.

At the moment, my take away is, you would like to see it rank below Wish. Meaning having the Counterspell is more desirable than having the Wish spell.

Yaarel · May 10, 2019

[MENTION=6716779]Zardnaar[/MENTION], [MENTION=5889]Stalker0[/MENTION]

Based on popular demand, Guidance 0 ranks as the best cantrip.

So, people would rather have the Guidance cantrip than have the Eldritch Blast cantrip. (Really?)

mortwatcher · May 10, 2019

TheSword said:
I’m deadly serious about this. I’d summon woodland creaurea or true polymorph is powerful then the ability to stop these things Is just as powerful and impactful.

However Counterspell only uses a reaction rather than a bonus action

Can be cast at a lower level with a risk of failure

Can stop any spell (whereas each other spell can only do the things it’s designed to do)

It is undoubtably the most powerful spell in the game.

problem with counterspell is that it can be... counterspelled

now I'm not sure if it's adding or diminishing this power...

Yaarel said:
[MENTION=6716779]Zardnaar[/MENTION], [MENTION=5889]Stalker0[/MENTION]
Based on popular demand, Guidance 0 ranks as the best cantrip.
So, people would rather have the Guidance cantrip than have the Eldritch Blast cantrip. (Really?)

yes I would. there are plenty of "I do damage cantrips", there aren't any other skill boosting cantrips afaik

Stalker0 · May 10, 2019

mortwatcher said:
yes I would. there are plenty of "I do damage cantrips", there aren't any other skill boosting cantrips afaik

I would any day of the week. There are very very few things that boosts skills. Damaging stuff is a dime a dozen.

Stalker0 · May 10, 2019

Yaarel said:
I understand what you are saying. Counterspell is as powerful as any spell of any hostile spellcaster.

Counterspell is similar to bless in that the spell remains strong and relevant at any level. A 20th level character still makes a lot of use out of counterspell, just as they would bless.

On the other hand, counterspell does have specific counters, such as counter spelling the counterspell, and of course the 60 foot range.

Its hard for me to quantify, in some cases its dirt worthless. In others its one of the most powerful spells out there.

Stalker0 · May 10, 2019

Yaarel said:
Really the ‘Eldritch Knight’ subsection includes Bards, Paladins, Clerics, Druids − any spellcaster that fight melee.

Would calling it ‘Gish’ make it clearer?

Its not the name, its just placed in a weird place to me in each of the levels. Honestly I would rather have the spells just laid out into the general list instead of placed in a special subsection. I know why that was done, but for me its just more confusion.