D&D 5E Rating the 1st level Wizard Spells

[Grakarg]

Mage Armor is underrated.
It seems that everyone that evaluates the spell seems to miss that you can also cast this on others.
Our party Monk thinks I'm the greatest thing since sliced bread, and the Barbarian is as pleased as punch too. Long lasting buff? Awesomesauce for the right party.

 

[raleel]

True. But, how often do you fight foes with pack tactics?

As a DM and the more generic definition of pack tactics, I do it pretty regularly. I also am that DM who thinks that combined arms (aka I used ranged and melee guys, always) is the way to go. In 13th age, I LOVED using ranged guys who got bonuses when they had a friend within 5', and melee guys who could keep you within 5' I think my current favorite monster has to be the simple skeletal archer, just for the fact they get ignored, you can use them en masse without blowing your encounter budget, and do enough damage to really be a problem after a while without initially looking like a problem .

As for the specific example, most pack tactics guys don't have range, and are Beast types. However, Thugs, Tribal Warriors, and Kobolds do. That, combined with bounded accuracy, makes them way tougher for way longer. Thugs and variants thereof are probably in the top 5 single most common opponents in many games.

Also, I should note, the guy they send in does not have to have pack tactics.

I think it is a fringe case example, to be fair, but I think there is solid reason for it.

 

[Tormyr]

Mage Armor is underrated.
It seems that everyone that evaluates the spell seems to miss that you can also cast this on others.
Our party Monk thinks I'm the greatest thing since sliced bread, and the Barbarian is as pleased as punch too. Long lasting buff? Awesomesauce for the right party.

Do the monk and barbarian realize that this resets their AC to 13 + Dex? This could reasonably be lower than the Dex + Con or Dex + Wis of their unarmored defense.

Although my party did use it as a touch spell when they had to sneak into a lizardfolk encampment and the Paladin and War Cleric removed their plate mail to do so.

 

[trentonjoe]

It's not really "fair" to rate these spells in a vacuum. All of these spells are situationally good.

MAgic Missile is awesome when you need to force an enemy to make a concentration check.

Grease is awesome in front of a door.

Color spray is great with a party of rogues.

Tasha's is a great spell against Ogres and Trolls.

Heck, Unseen Servant is awesome in small party without a rogue.

All of these spells are useful underneath the goldilocks conditions.

 

[TerraDave]

[MENTION=4937]Celebrim[/MENTION], are you coming (back) to the dark side?

In play, mage armor, especially with a good dex, and thunderwave, are at least a little better then you rate them.

 

[Celebrim]

It's not really "fair" to rate these spells in a vacuum. All of these spells are situationally good.

MAgic Missile is awesome when you need to force an enemy to make a concentration check.

Grease is awesome in front of a door.

Color spray is great with a party of rogues.

Tasha's is a great spell against Ogres and Trolls.

Heck, Unseen Servant is awesome in small party without a rogue.

All of these spells are useful underneath the goldilocks conditions.

I haven't seen the text of unseen servant yet, but with the exception of Color Spray, you just listed a bunch of spells which I gave 3 stars or more and so in context these are the same spells that I felt worth taking. Unseen servant has always been great in any party, rogue or not. Using rogue skills to find and disarm traps has always been the back up plan, dating all the way back to 1e.

 

[Joe Liker]

By reading these comments, it is very easy to tell who has actually played the game with a wizard in the party and who has not.

 

[Celtavian]

True. But, how often do you fight foes with pack tactics?

Let me see. Kobolds. Wolves. Dragon Claws. So far three tough creatures. Not sure how many more have it. I don't know all the monsters yet. But Pack Tactics is a powerful ability. If I'm fighting something with it that can do ranged attacks, something to provide some kind of counter can be nice.

 

[trentonjoe]

Comprehend Language as a ritual is pretty useful. Granted you would probably only take if you KNOW you are going to use it but not having to burn up a slot to cast it is a huge plus.

Burning Hands/Thunderwave are better than you think as well. Run up, do 10 points of damage to 3 guys, run back. Pretty valuable, more so if you have other characters who benefit from dropping the killing blow (warlock, necromancer, etc.).

Your analysis of sleep is way off. It scales poorly. It isn't broken. it isn't even a must have unless you know you are going against a swarm of creatures under CR 1.

 

[Dausuul]

Mage Armor is underrated.
It seems that everyone that evaluates the spell seems to miss that you can also cast this on others.
Our party Monk thinks I'm the greatest thing since sliced bread, and the Barbarian is as pleased as punch too. Long lasting buff? Awesomesauce for the right party.

Hardly seems worth it. A monk with Wis 16+, or a barbarian with Con 16+, gains nothing from mage armor. The benefits don't stack.