D&D 5E Overrated Wizard Spells

[abirdcall]

Mage Armor

That +3 Armor looks nice, till then you realize it's not. It's the auto pick of many Wizards out there, but let me tell you why it's wrong.

You're right about this. It takes an average of 6 attacks for the Mage Armour to do anything. There is less flexibility because you might be okay with taking a hit as well in order to have a different spell cast.

The major difference between Mage Armour and Shield is that you get to look at the attack roll before deciding to cast the spell.

Mage Armour though, does start to look nicer after level 5 when you are better able to afford casting both Mage Armour and Shield.

you are a dumb wizard:
You know you are out there getting hit by swords. For some reason you don't know how to stand back on most fights. You are that guy the cleric is always wasting spells on. Unless you are a PC party of two, the only time you should see a sword is when it hits your SHIELD spell when that NPC lunatic charges behind the line of your sword toting brothers. Or you could have been invisible or levitating--na instead you limited your choices when memorizing a +3 AC one off.

I entirely disagree with this. It's very hard to prevent enemy creatures from running up and attacking characters (or using ranged attacks).

Death spirals are a thing in 5e and characters like a wizard are the party's weakest link.

The wizard is the best target for most enemy creatures and there are few abilities available to party members to help protect them.

 

[LassiterKeshell]

I don't know if this spell is overrated, per se, but Witch Bolt wins the prize for "spell that looked good when I was drunk, but in the morning when I woke up..."

 

[BigBadDM]

+5 for 1 round vs. +3 for 8 hours.
On the other hand, MA makes it so that you don't need to cast Shield nearly as often.

There aren't so many good uses for your 1st-level slot that you'll want to prepare an additional spell in the place of one of MA or Shield.

So here is where we disagree. If you are cunning enough you won't ever need to cast Shield--making it better than Mage Armor. One for one (meaning only one attack hits you), Shield is better. If you are getting 'hit' more than once than MA is better. But if you re getting 'hit' more than once are you playing smartly (sans DM grudge)?

I'd rather have the option to cast Silent Image or Fog Cloud 4 times rather than 3. MA automatically takes away one slot. I can divvy up those enemies easier with silent image or fog cloud-- and in case of emergency, I can cast Shield.

 

[Gladius Legis]

So here is where we disagree. If you are cunning enough you won't ever need to cast Shield--making it better than Mage Armor. One for one (meaning only one attack hits you), Shield is better. If you are getting 'hit' more than once than MA is better. But if you re getting 'hit' more than once are you playing smartly (sans DM grudge)?

In my experience, if you're not getting hit more than once as a Wizard, the DM is taking it easy on you.

 

[Ashrym]

ten foot wide door and poof.. goblins swarm over the squishies

Only in a snap to grid format. Centering in the 10' gap only leaves 2 1/2 on either side for the goblins to swarm by.

Or one application of bearings to cover the whole 10' square. Caltrops are DC15 and bearings are DC10. Goblins are +2 on the save against those DC's. Equipment DC's are much more meaningful given lower bonuses in general. Spellcasters need to get to 8th level before the even get to the DC's caltrops have at 1st level. Fast hands on a rogue thief makes those better, or applying them with a reaction to movement so the monsters miss the option of moving half speed.

Wrong thread maybe, but caltrops and ball bearings are actually worth having these days.

 

[BigBadDM]

I entirely disagree with this. It's very hard to prevent enemy creatures from running up and attacking characters (or using ranged attacks).

Death spirals are a thing in 5e and characters like a wizard are the party's weakest link.

The wizard is the best target for most enemy creatures and there are few abilities available to party members to help protect them.

I respect this opinion. Realize some of what I was saying 'dumb wizard' is tongue in check. Everyone plays a bit different--Wizards especially in regards to battlefield contexts. I feel it is fairly easy to isolate half the battlefield as a wizard. In dire circumstances, cast Stinking Cloud on yourself (works wonders when party members are falling). Cast fake walls. Upcast Blindness (more potent than a fireball). Fog cloud stops archers, etc. Misty Step out of range... I always look at a wizard as a mitigator of the battlefield not a direct participant.

 

[abirdcall]

So here is where we disagree. If you are cunning enough you won't ever need to cast Shield--making it better than Mage Armor. One for one (meaning only one attack hits you), Shield is better. If you are getting 'hit' more than once than MA is better. But if you re getting 'hit' more than once are you playing smartly (sans DM grudge)?

I'd rather have the option to cast Silent Image or Fog Cloud 4 times rather than 3. MA automatically takes away one slot. I can divvy up those enemies easier with silent image or fog cloud-- and in case of emergency, I can cast Shield.

The problem with most of your solutions to not being attacked is that they cost actions.

Fog Cloud can be good to cause disarray during a fight but it will also often hurt your own party members ability to fight. Silent Image is not a very good combat spell as physical interaction does not require an action, it is just part of movement.

Levitate can be good when fighting creatures without ranged attacks in an area where there is room to float up. But Levitate costs an action. Not only are combats short but early actions are worth a lot in combat. Often the difference between life and death is taking out enemy creatures before they're able to do their damage to you. You can cast it before you expect combat but it is dangerous if some enemies are able to hit you as it is concentration and falling damage is a thing.

It is also a 2nd level spell and so is invisibility. And they both require concentration so you can't use your more potent offensive concentration spells on the enemy creatures.

The other thing being discounted is taking away enemy creature's actions. Each blocked attack is the same as taking an attack away from the creature.

 

[Garthanos]

Only in a snap to grid format. Centering in the 10' gap only leaves 2 1/2 on either side for the goblins to swarm by.

Well squeezing and now on either side they do get slowed a bit.

Wrong thread maybe, but caltrops and ball bearings are actually worth having these days.

Sure probably a different thread but caltrops are certainly a classic tool in actual military.

 

[Blue]

We can go on and on about scenarios. My point is Shield is superior, unless for some reason you are getting targeted in every combat--- well then you are doing something wrong as a wizard. People can disagree, my experience it is the most overrated spell. There is always a better spell to have on hand.

If your table is such an outlier that it is inconceivable for a wizard to get targeted twice in 8 hours (but not in the same round), then trying to come up with overrated spells is a bit challenging because you don't have the same experience in the game as, well, anybody.

 

[lowkey13]

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