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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Noah Ivaldi" data-source="post: 6838328" data-attributes="member: 6797143">Armaments of the Forest: This could really stand a language clean-up (I'll do that for ya' later.), but it otherwise looks good, now.Buoyancy: I still say that this should be a reaction, which you take in response to a creature sinking.Explosion: This looks better. I see that you based part of it on Thunderous Smite, but with half the average damage and pushing range to compensate for the range, lack of concentration, autohit on the damage, and scaling potential. I like it.Sandblaster needs to lose the second clause of its first sentence and doesn't belong with rangers. They're supposed to suck at AoE damage and not even have access to it for the first tier of play unless you count Hail of Thorns, and it doesn't fit their identity of attack style. Anyway, yeah, come to think of it, just getting rid of the rider effect altogether is best.Searing Light is much cooler now, but it still has some fundamental flaws: At lower levels, Guiding Bolt is way better. By the time that its better scaling catches up, Flame Strike was one spell level ago. Searing Light's only argument is its janky "I stop some trolls from regenerating and, uh, some custom monsters . . ." which Guiding Bolt answers with, "I give advantage to the next attack, which can be an ally's fire attack or a toss of an alchemist's fire flask." Searing Light now has its own identity as a discriminatory, radiant attack like the druid's sun crap (should probably be on the druid list, too), but where is its use?I gave Snowshoes the M component of a rabbit's foot. I think that bumping it to 10 feet of range is a good idea.2Angelskin: I changed the "silvery glitter" to "powdered silver." I suggest making it 1 action (It's not like every spell for paladins has to be a bonus action. Their smites are, sure, but not the rest of them.) and changing the last part to this: ". . . disadvantage on attack rolls and melee damage rolls against you." It doesn't make sense for this Lv2 abjuration to block half a giant spell, nor spells at all unless they involve melee attacks.Arc of Lightning: Oh, wow . . . I can see how you got there from Lightning Bolt, but you have to understand that Lv3, Lv6, and Lv9 spells are in completely separate tiers from their predecessors, so you have to compare spells within the same tier at least and preferably at the same level. Flaming Sphere would have to last four rounds (conc) and use your bonus action on each, including the first, to catch up to what Arc does to two enemies, plus another two rounds for everyone else that Arc catches, and enemies would need to be unable/too dumb to scatter. Spiritual Weapon only barely outperforms with a +3 spellcasting modifier, but deals nothing on a miss. Scorching Ray, which is held in high regard for its burst damage, doesn't even come close to what Arc does, and misses do nothing. Then, this gets a rider effect on top. It's more comparable to a single round of Wall of Fire, a Lv4 spell. If you took it down to 2d6 and took off the rider effect, it'd still be a great spell, one that I would frequently take in preference over Scorching Ray. Finally, this is not a druid thing.Arrow of Light: See Arc of Lightning. Replace "druid" with "ranger." Compound the fact that linear spells causing DEX saves is a common sense thing: People see you cast the spell, then they have a moment to see where you're aiming and how to shield themselves from the blow. If you really want the "attack roll vs. all" function, I'm not gonna' stop you, but it's unorthadox, at the least. Perhaps more notably, though, you need to add a line that creatures within the line do not benefit from half or three-fourths cover, or none at all, which makes this even more ridiculously powerful.Astral Seal: Cool name! Horrible spell. I'm sorry, but this is straight garbage. If someone is so fragile even when near full health that you need to heal them between enemy attacks and you're not on the right initiative for that, you take the Ready action, concentrating on Cure Wounds and using your reaction to apply it after the ally takes a hit. 99% of the time, you can simplify things to this train of thought:Someone is not full. -> That's nice. I'll heal after the battle. Right now, I'ma focus on helping to drop things, 'cause things can't hurt you when they're unconscious.Someone needs healing right away. -> Healing Word, then a cantrip or non-spell action to keep contributing to the fight.No, really, they need a lot of healing right now. -> Okay, fine, Cure Wounds.Astral Seal basically tries to replace Healing Word, but drops its power even lower so that it's unusable and requires concentration that you should be using on better spells or a readied Cure Wounds in the one situation in which Astral Seal appears to have some function.Aura of Deflection: Resistance to a damage type is kinda' a big thing. Yes, one is less than all three, and a minute is less than an hour, but Stoneskin is a full tier higher (Refer back to the Arc/Arrow discussion.), consumes 100 gp, doesn't stop magical damage, and disadvantage is a big deal, too. If you want to ward against projectiles, use Warding Wind (which, I should note, has downsides to it as a trade-off, which demonstrates how strong your spell is). If you are in melee, you can use Earth Tremor to knock people down (They have disadvantage on their opportunity attacks and need to dash to catch up.) and move away, perhaps overrunning/tumbling if there isn't an opening, or you could just make an opening and bolt with Thunderwave. You could stall while your allies handle them via Blade Ward (plus bonus attacks as an eldritch knight), or you could spam Thunderclap if you're tough. You don't really need to make any of these tactics stronger by also saying, "You can't touch me, and if you do, it's reduced."Awakening: First, hypnotic spells don't need any more counters than they already have. Merely taking an action to jostle an ally is already an efficient way of countering a spell. Second, "normally asleep" = "unconscious." They're both the unconscious condition. Third, if you just want the loud part without the jostling, you already have Thunderwave, Thunderclap, and Thaumaturgy + "Hey, listen!"Battle Hymn: Beacon of Hope and Circle of Power may seem like fine examples from which to base this, as they clearly have greater benefits, but again, they're in a different tier; they're supposed to be much greater. A more fair comparison would be to Bless. Let's heighten Bless to Lv2. We have X (all within range) versus 4 allies, a greater duration, no S component, and, for some strange reason, bonus action activation. More notably, 1d4 is less than advantage (effective value of 5, as we see in the passive ability checks section, so double the average of 1d4), and deciding before the roll is far inferior to rerolling after a failure. To me, the easiest solution is to slap Bless onto the bard spell list. My last group did that, handed Bless and Bane to druids when we tried a "no clerics" setting (I ported all the cleric-exclusive spells to another class. The DM wanted to demonstrate the fact that clerics were quintessential in other editions that he used to if you wanted to heal, but are easily replaced now.), and renamed them to Victor's Valor and Warrior's Woe. That being said, if you're really hooked on Battle Hymn being a thing, though there are already so many good choices in Lv2 spells, here are the changes that I'd make: 1 action, not bonus action, advantage (pre-decide, formatting the same as Bless), not reroll, and three targets. You still have greater duration, no S component, and advantage is twice as good as 1d4.A generally good way to tell whether a spell is okay or not is this: If you can heighten a lower spell for more effect, it's UP. If it can be heightened to surpass a higher spell, it's OP. If it's similar to a heightened spell from a lower level, but the same tier, and just a little greater, it's just right.Binding Winds: You need to read Wind Wall. You're again giving melee weapon disadvantage for no good reason, and your phrasing doesn't specify that BFG projectiles get through. Yeah, a wall's better than a one-man ward on your martial that doesn't need to hear or concentrate to be a meat shield, and Wind Wall can do a little startup damage, but that's not nearly enough to justify a full tier. I know that you're about to say that the intent is to hold one creature back, but then, it could be said that this is only a tiny downgrade from Hold Monster (a Lv5 spell) that also works on undead, just not beyond Large.Creeping Cold: This starts out with the same single-target damage as a focused Scorching Ray, but in cold damage and with half damage on successes. It starts OP, then it scales into WTF. 4d6 scaling is not okay on a hit-it-and-quit-it evocation spell; that kind of power is reserved for spells that require you to concentrate and spend bonus actions, like Flaming Sphere, Spiritual Weapon, and MMM.Chill Metal: This is objectively better than Heat Metal, which is already a good spell. The vulnerability to bludgeoning and thunder damage is both redundantly phrased (You're gonna' cast it on some metallic item. Why state that this only comes into play on metallic items?) and unnecessary. This interaction of physics is usually hand-waved away as being a part of our dimension's physical properties, but a fictional concept to the dimension of (Insert setting here.), but if you really want it to be a part of this spell, you have to tone it down elsewise as a trade-off. Finally, the last line is silly. They can already drop the item, whether hot, cold, or normal, with no action required, or in the doffing time that is shown in the armor don/doff table; the CON save that Heat Metal makes is only for resisting the sudden surge of heat while intentionally maintaining grip on the weapon that you can't stand to drop.Cold Snap: Right out the box, this is better than Shatter, another great spell, in most situations. It's not often that you need to damage objects with a spell, there are many organics, and halved speed is a big deal, even for one turn. Really, if the enemy isn't much faster than you and you have space, you can often see halved speed as a whole wasted turn. Then, it has an unnecessary upgrade in its scaling.Entangling Force: It looks like you felt that reducing the range, targeting, and ongoing damage of Evard's Black Tentacles was enough to drop the level by 2. We again touch on the concept of tiers of play, yada yada not trying to beat your head with it, blah blah just keeps being an apparent issue blah. Let me put it to you in a different way: This gives more DPS than Spiritual Weapon while restraining a creature, then it scales up much better and restrains more. At Lv4, it's often even with Black Tentacles because the range is a bit more restrictive, but you're not restricted to a radius, and smart enemies spread around to flank you. You're getting better than a Lv4 spell as a Lv2 spell.Glitterdust: Faerie Fire gets to be cheaper than See Invisibility because its duration is tons shorter, it requires concentration, it's limited to an immobile area, foes get a save, and the effective range is tons shorter (60 ft < wherever I move plus about two miles in all directions from everywhere that I move). That's five downsides just to see invisible foes one spell level early and have advantage on attack rolls against them. At least you didn't also keep the advantage part, but in stead, you threw in a Fog Cloud to hinder them and made it discriminatory to still be a net gain to you. Light obscurement doesn't hinder your attacks at all; unless they're hiding, you auto-spot them, then you get to plug 'em full of cantrips. If they then try to hide, the DM says, "Oh, yeah, they need to be able to see where they're going to find cover to hide behind, so being blinded means that they auto-fail . . . and you are already watching them, anyway." Effectively, you just give them all blindness, as the Blindness/Deafness spell, for ten minutes while also revealing them if invisible.Ice Axe: I'd call it Frost Axe, but okay, cool! I like it. I suppose that the light from Flame Blade can be considered a net gain because enemies in the dark often have darkvision, go fig, so giving away your position is not much of a downside. Therefore, keeping this damage the same as Flame Blade seems fine. The only issue that I have is class identity. While I see the flavor points that you're going for, rangers are supposed to be very limited in damage over time spells, and warlocks are supposed to be 99% screwed on the matter, so giving them access to such an excellent spell as this is unfair. That goes double for warlocks, really; the DMG warns against messing with the warlock's spell list due to regaining slots on short rests specifically because of the ridiculous improvements that stuff like this does. The expensive material component seems unnecessary, but I can't say that I really care, at that price. A strip of tsuga bark is my choice.Relatedly, I have an Electro Spear spell that is just an electric version of Flame Blade with the M component as a zillia petal.Icy Rays: Wow, you really undervalue control riders, huh? See the response to Cold Snap. Yeah, sure, you're getting fewer shots than Scorching Ray. That's really cute when you get to entirely shut down multiple units (Even if they have ranged options, they have to meet a 150 range if you cast and move.) with a Lv2 spell. If it halved their speed, it'd be more like the difficult terrain spells, at which point I'd turn to Spike Growth for every situation in which my enemies aren't airborne.Listening Coin's duration, I feel, still encroaches on Clairvoyance, specifically the clairaudience part of it. Putting this on an unsuspecting party as they move at a normal pace gives you about three times the range of Clairvoyance, it travels, you don't need an expensive focus, and you get to cast it as an action. The one advantage of being able to do the seeing part with Clairvoyance is not fitting to being a tier higher. Really, we shouldn't worry about spying spells at this level, for the most part, especially since Nondetection isn't available this cheaply. Referring back to Aud (and Vid, for that matter), you'll notice that the duration is only suitable for recording what your own party does or maybe a short conversation down the hall or something, not the enemy party's plans, gossip, spell preparation, and secrets that they discuss within an hour.Mantle of Faith: It was hard to come up with a good base with which to evaluate this, since 5E intentionally stayed away from going crazy on spells that augment saving throws or AC, much less both. Let's look at Shield, since both give short bursts of AC. Shield has funny language that makes you able to cast it after you see that an attack would hit you, but in time to make it miss. Yours suggests a decision before a roll. Shield is self-only. Yours goes to any four allies. Shield gives +5. Yours gives +X to each of 4, where X can be assumed to be 3 at low levels, for an assumed minimum of 12. The only other Lv2 spell that I can think of with that big of an efficiency jump from a Lv1 counterpart is Aid to False Life, and only because False Life is on the bottom of the Lv1 barrel and Aid is pretty high on the Lv2 stand.Pull of the Abyss is indisputably cool. The fact that it's one brief burst of its control, rather than the ongoing messes of Watery Sphere, Grasping Vine, Maelstrom, and the like, means that it may very well be priced appropriately, but it's hard to tell due to little to compare to. Let me know how playtesting goes; if this sees more use than other Lv2 spells, it may need to be toned down. If all else fails, it's still a good idea for monster abilities, magic items, and stuff.Rain-Bow: Geez, this spell is popular. Good idea styling its damage after Flame Blade, but it should have the language to match so that people don't get confused about proficiencies and passing it off to someone else, too. Again, no to pallies and rangers, like I said for Frost Axe. It feels objectively better than Flame Blade, but maybe that's okay, 'cause Moonbeam is almost strictly better than Flaming Sphere (Sphere's better when you have multiple foes that can't move away from it . . . or, you know, fire vulnerability is a thing.), and 60' isn't really a range upgrade to other Lv2 spells, either. Looks fine to me for clerics and druids. My version looks like this:Rain-Bow - Evocation 2, Cleric, DruidCasting Time: 1 bonus actionRange: SelfComponents: V, S, M (a miniature bow made of mother-of-pearl worth at least 50 gp)Duration: Concentration, up to 10 minutesYou evoke a bow and arrows of iridescent light. The bow is of similar size and shape to a crossbow, shortbow, or longbow (your choice), and it lasts for the duration. This spell operates as per Flame Blade, but with radiant damage, it does not provide illumination, and the attack is a ranged spell attack with a range of 60 feet, using arrows/bolts that you evoke to match the bow.Repel: First, see Gust of Wind. Second, this spell basically outright says, "There's no such thing as chasing mages. There's getting screwed by them and getting screwed harder." As long as you have ammo, this is also basically a 30-foot line attack that deals 1d6 damage on failed DEX saves in addition to royally screwing over your single target with anywhere between 0 and 11d6 via a full line of foes, which your ally just set up via Pull of the Abyss. It gets even dumber when tiny creatures crowd into the same square behind the target and (s)he takes 1d6 for every one of them.Snap: This trivializes concentration. Yes, concentration can already be defeated by a spellcasting save DC, but Sleet Storm is another tier up, a concentration spell, a concentration spell that doesn't provide DoT or any damage at all, and an action.Waterspout: Too much damage for a Lv2 line spell that isn't Aganazzar's Scorcher, too strong of a push, numbers don't match up . . . As a consolation, here:Hydraulic Torrent - Evocation 3, Druid, Sorcerer, WizardCasting Time: 1 actionRange: Self (60-foot-line)Components: V, SDuration: InstantaneousYou summon a powerful stream of elemental water 60 feet long and 5 feet wide. Each creature in the line must make a Strength saving throw. A creature or object in its path takes 6d6 bludgeoning damage, and if the creature is Large or smaller, it is pushed back 15 feet. On a successful save, it takes half as much damage and is not pushed. Unprotected flames in the area are extinguished.   At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 4th level or higher, the damage increases by 1d6 for each slot level above 3rd.</blockquote>

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