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Message: <blockquote data-quote="KarinsDad" data-source="post: 6659753" data-attributes="member: 2011">"All" might be a bit of an exaggeration most rounds.Let's look at level 3 when the Wizard gets the spell. His DC (Int 16) is 13. Most monsters have a Wis modifier of about +0. So, a 60% chance of success.If half of the party has an initiative after the Wizard and before the targeted foe (which happens on average), then for a 5 PC party, that's typically 2 PCs (assuming that they are melee PCs and assuming that they are in movement range of the targeted foe and do not provoke OAs to actually get there).40% chance nobody gets a critical.24% chance only 2 PCs get a critical chance.36% chance the entire party gets a critical chance (assuming that the foe was not killed in the 24% chance timeframe)So even with the proper conditions for casting a Hold Person, 2/3rds of the time the entire party does NOT get to attempt to critical.And this assumes that the party is fighting humanoids. The vast majority of 5E creatures (over 80%) are not humanoids, so Hold Person is often campaign dependent on its utility.Granted, Hold Person does get better at higher levels since it can be used against more foes and the DC increases whereas the Wisdom bonus does not necessarily increase.The point is that Hold Person can be nice when the situation for it is applicable, but there are typically many more situations where the Wizard wouldn't cast it, even if foes are humanoid. Is it often cast when the foes are all mooks? Will it often be cast if none of the Wizard's allies can get close enough to critical the foe?That is one issue with low level Wizards that people tend to ignore when they post that low level wizards do not suck. The wizards can shine a lot when the conditions are appropriate, but there are a lot more times in encounters when their spells do next to nothing, or it is not worth using up a precious spell slot, or they have to use a less useful spell if they are going to cast because the really cool spell won't help in the given situation. A significant portion of the time in encounters, a low level wizard (shy of certain bow builds) spends every round spamming cantrips. zzzzz. Hey, could you wake me up when it's my turn?</blockquote>

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