D&D 5E [POLL] Best non-combat cantrips

[Merudo]

Which utility cantrips do you believe are the best in D&D 5e?

Near everyone agrees Guidance and Minor Illusion are at the top, but what about the rest?

Hence the goal of this poll. Please select the non-combat cantrip(s) you believe are the best in 5e. Note that I've excluded combat cantrips that provide some utility (Firebolt, Gust, Produce Flame, etc.).

 

[Fenris-77]

I suspect I'll be a little lonely voting for Friends, but I always pair it with disguise and/or alter self, at which point it's dead sexy. For 3rd pillar play anyway.

 

[Quartz]

Guidance is rather out of place there as a non-combat cantrip as the bonus can be used in combat.

 

[Quartz]

I suspect I'll be a little lonely voting for Friends, but I always pair it with disguise and/or alter self, at which point it's dead sexy. For 3rd pillar play anyway.

It's rather better with Mask of Many Faces.

 

[MonkeezOnFire]

While not overly powerful I'm a big fan of the minor magical effect cantrips: prestidigitation, thaumaturgy, and druidcraft. They're fun for roleplay situations where your character can just show off their magical nature in a way that's appropriate to their class.

Mage Hand is also a very fun spell that I'm not surprised to see currently leading the pack. Great for exploring when you don't actually want to touch that suspicious thing.

 

[Undrave]

Guidance is rather out of place there as a non-combat cantrip as the bonus can be used in combat.

Well it can't be used to inflict damage so its fine. You could use Minor Illusion in combat too after all.

 

[Merudo]

I suspect I'll be a little lonely voting for Friends, but I always pair it with disguise and/or alter self, at which point it's dead sexy. For 3rd pillar play anyway.

I want to like Friends, but the 1 minute duration is just so short. You barely have time to interact with the target, much less getting away before the effect expires.

Guidance is rather out of place there as a non-combat cantrip as the bonus can be used in combat.

True, and can be especially valuable for initiative rolls. I still think of it as mostly of an utility cantrip, though.

 

[RogueJK]

Guidance, by a long shot. It's the most-used out of combat cantrip, in my experience. (And the most generally useful out of combat cantrip too.)

Second choice would be Mage Hand. It's basically a magical version of the old-school ubiquitous "10 foot pole", only it's 30 feet and can do a lot more as far as carrying/moving/grasping.

 

[Fenris-77]

It's rather better with Mask of Many Faces.

Obviously, I can't build a Warlock without doing that.

 

[Fenris-77]

I want to like Friends, but the 1 minute duration is just so short. You barely have time to interact with the target, much less getting away before the effect expires.

Cast disguise self, cast friends on the guard to get into the maguffin place, walk around the corner and dismiss DS and chuckle while the guard searches frantically for the 'old man' who dummied him. That's my basic playbook.