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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Steampunkette" data-source="post: 9584440" data-attributes="member: 6796468">Flaming Sphere.No. I'm not joking. Flaming Sphere is a better spell at 2nd level.1) It damages all creatures who end their turn near it.2) Any creature that move through it take damage.3) You can move it as a bonus action and slam it into people to deal damage.4) It lasts up to 10 minutes on concentration, allowing you to repeat the damage each turn.5) Because you use a bonus action to move it, you can still cast spells with your action.At 2nd level, Chromatic Orb can hit for 4d8, then get doubles, and hit again for 4d8 on a second target. If you're fighting 1 enemy and get a crit you get 8d8 as your biggest possible damage. If you do two targets and crit both, your maximum damage is 16d8!!!But you can also miss, and waste your entire turn. Or crit one and miss the other.At 2nd level, against a single enemy in 3-round combat, the most damage a single casting of Flaming Sphere can do is 12d6. Wherein you hit the bad guy with the ball on your turn, every turn, and they don't move away from it."But that'll never happen!"Granted, this requires either an incredibly foolish enemy or someone holding them in the sphere... Or, y'know, enemies that can't move... But even if they -can- move you can bonus-action attack them 3 times and deal 6d6 (21 average, 36 max) which is better than 4d8 (18 average, 32 max). While also casting cantrips for another d8 or d6 every round.So best case scenario for Chromatic Orb on a single target is 8d8 (crit) and best case scenario on Flaming Sphere is 12d6. But both have a "Step Down" level of 4d8 and 6d6. And both have a fail level of 0 and 6d6/2 (assuming they make all their saves). Flaming Sphere does have another level of fail state, of course: 2d6/2 and then lose concentration, in which your target makes their save and then slaps you hard enough to break concentration.However in AoE situations the "Best Case" for Flaming Sphere adds 6d6 as another target gormlessly stands in the fire like a World of Warcraft raider.The best use of a Flaming Sphere in multi-target situations is always going to be one of two situations:1) Hodor. Put the Flaming Sphere in a doorway or narrow corridor enemies must move through to reach you. Either they all take damage moving through it as you bounce it off their faces, or your spell bypasses the encounter and is an "I Win" button.2) Burning Witches. Entangle or another effect to hold enemies in place, Flaming Sphere placed near several. This also works with a couple friends with the Sentinel feat, the Barbarian who likes to turn into Macho Man Randy Savage and grapple things while raging, or, y'know. Pit traps and the like.Also, -technically- none of that is the "Best Case Scenario" for Flaming Sphere. The best case scenario is maintaining concentration for the full 10 minutes and doing various "Best Case" and "Fail State" and "Mediocre Existence" stuff with it over the course of a series of fights. Possibly in a closed environment with narrow corridors.Some kind of dungeon-like atmosphere would be best. But I wouldn't know where you might find -that-...</blockquote>

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