1st-level spells that are worthless to a 1st-level caster?

[rbingham2000]

Virtue is pretty useless as a 1st level Paladin spell.

Quite. It's also a 0-level Cleric and Druid spell.

I would have the paladin version of this spell grant one temporary HP per caster level for one minute per level, rather than have the spell grant one measly HP period for just one minute. This is good for the paladin, since he doesn't get to use spells until 4th level, and 4 extra HP is a nice little edge without being too overpowering.

 

[RenoOfTheTurks]

Magic Missile is hideously bad at low levels. So is Shocking Grasp, so that's no help.

At 1st level our party fought a bunch of goblins. They came in waves. My Wizard downed 9 with 2 Color Spray spells. I *might* have killed 1 with a damaging spell. Recently I stunned an Ettin for 1 round with Color Spray, then the Rogue critical sneak attacked. Magic Missile would have done 2d4+2 damage. Granted it never misses, but it's insanely weak for my 4th level character. And if I'd been relying on it to this point, the party would have been annihilated several times.

The damage spells that scale with level are pretty bad at 1st-4th levels. Except Scorching Ray, which is only OK when compared to the low level heavies: Color Spray, Sleep, Glitterdust, Web. Then the Fighters and Rogues go to work.

 

[Darth K'Trava]

I would definitely say Identify. As you won't need it for several more levels. At first level, you're not going to find magic stuff nor afford the material component. Even from the "party kitty".

 

[Chimera]

Back in the day...

Maybe 20 years ago when I was playing in this big 16-18 player game and the only experience you got was when you actually killed something yourself. Then, Magic Missile was pretty worthless to my character, as it couldn't kill anything. But hey, I only had ONE FREAKING SPELL per day and there were no cantrips. Oh, and I had a Sling.

I was a Thief/Wizard, so I had two classes to divide experience between. Heh. Didn't work well in that game. I was still 1st/1st when the Fighters were 4th level.

Didn't continue in that game.


There are no completely worthless spells, if you use them the right way. But having said that, I'd say Identify is tough if you can't afford the material component. Feather Fall probably isn't doing you a lot of good unless you're climbing a lot or hanging around near cliffs. Erase isn't worth a lot in the wrong environment. Detect Undead? Unless you're hunting Skeletons, it's probably not something you're working on anyway. And there's limited value in Alarm at first level.

 

[Orius]

Magic missile is worthless because it's not a guaranteed one-shot kill? Hardly. It's way better than shocking grasp which has the same average damage but requires the wizard to make a touch attack.

I have to agree. Magic missile is pretty much one of the only damage spell a 1st-level wizard should consider taking. Shocking grasp and chill touch are both suicide, I mean touch spells, and burning hands requires the wizard to get insanely close to the victim. I'd rather take magic missile, which has comparable damage to those other three spells, but is also casted at range, doesn't miss, and offers no saving throw.

 

[talinthas]

at first level, summon monster is really summarize monster...as in, an image pops up for six seconds, and you spend the time describing what it can do to your opponant, and then it dissapears. Kinda like a power point presentation or something...

 

[Iron_Chef]

Color Spray or Sleep, Magic Missile, Mage Armor and Shield are the only 1st level spells you need. You're much better off protecting yourself first, knocking out foes second, then resorting to magic missile if someone doesn't succumb to unconsciousness. If I could have only one spell, it would be shield (or mage armor if I never wear armor). These remain useful no matter what level you attain.

 

[Saeviomagy]

If I could have only one spell, it would be shield (or mage armor if I never wear armor). These remain useful no matter what level you attain.

If you ask me, they only have any utility at all at low levels. The only benefit to shield is the invulnerability to magic missile (which is rarely useful).

If a mage is in melee combat, it should be to deliver a touch spell.

If the mage feels it necessary to deliver a touch spell, then the opponent is quite dangerous.

Any dangerous opponent who is a serious threat in melee will be able to hit an ac of up to 20 with ease.

Therefore spells which bump your ac up by 4 points - are just not useful unless combined with an awful lot of other stuff.

That stuff is expensive.

That stuff could doubtless be put to far better use enhancing the wizard's strengths instead of weaknesses.

You're in a party for a reason.

 

[cybertalus]

What first-level spells are pretty much worthless for a first-level caster?

What else?

Mount, which summons a riding horse for 2 hours per caster level isn't really that useful until 4th or 5th level.

 

[Lord Pendragon]

Quite. It's also a 0-level Cleric and Druid spell.

I would have the paladin version of this spell grant one temporary HP per caster level for one minute per level, rather than have the spell grant one measly HP period for just one minute. This is good for the paladin, since he doesn't get to use spells until 4th level, and 4 extra HP is a nice little edge without being too overpowering.

Except, of course, that a 4th-level paladin only has a caster level of 2. So that'd be 2 extra HP for 2 minutes.