Blue
Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal
Using a spell slot for damage should generally always be better than the available at will option. That isn't really the case with cantrips and level 1 and level 2 spells. I find that to be a design flaw in 5e. I don't know how to fix it but I think cantrips should never outpace even a level 1 spell IMO.
Thoughts?
I personally feel that cantrips are orthogonal to 1st-9th casting. They form a separate known list, not even a wizard can get more in their book. They are something similar to spells, but innate. What they aren't are the pre-5e notion of "0 level spells".
If they were 0-level spells, I'd agree with you. Why should a 0th level be better than a 1st?
But instead I see them as a separate grouping that serves two design purposes.
1. Allow casters to be magical. Unlike the "hey, I'll use my crossbow or throw darts" of earlier editions, a caster has a number of magical abilities, combat and otherwise, that they can use to immerse themselves in the magic and not rely on mundane solutions. As such, these magical solution need to not fall too far behind the mundane solutions otherwise they will get replaced with the mundane solutions.
2. The allow reduction in number of spell slots per level to help with the quadratic mage/linear fighter issue while still allowing the caster to contribute meaningfully in the expanded 6-8 encounter adventuring day of 5e.
All of that said, this is a person feeling and I don't know if the design space really agrees with what I'm saying.