NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="ECMO3" data-source="post: 8479571" data-attributes="member: 7030563">Better 1st level spells:  Shield, Absorb Elements, Protection from Evil and Good, Healing Word, Goodberry, Find Familiar, CatapultComparable 1st level spells: Ensnaring Strike, Hex, Cause Fear, Entangle, Armor of Agathys, Bless, Faerie Fire, Feather Fall, Magic Missile, Sanctuary, Thunderwave, Heroism, Silent Image, Burning Hands, Hellish Rebuke, Zyphyr Strike, Dissonent WhispersA single casting of Barbs also can (and usually will) have no effect on the battle at all.  Sure it "can" completely change the battle, but the spells I listed as better are more likely to do that:Shield is almost always effective and often against more than one attack.  As it is a wizard spell it often also results in "automatic success" on the concentration save that would follow a hit.Absorb elements is usually the equivalent of an automatic save plus a damage boost on the following turn.  Again automatic is better than a second chance.Protection from evil and good will give disadvantage to enemies for 100 rounds and immunity to fear and charm.  The disadvantage is more or less up to 100 times what you get out of one slot when you make an enemy reroll.Healing Word prevents allies from dying.  It almost always works and actually brings them back into the fight giving them actions or attacks when they previously had none and it does it using a bonus action.Goodberry is 10hps as a 1st level cast, and complete nourishment for 10 people.  It also lasts 24 hours, meaning when you get the benifit it is often from a slot you used the day before and "free" at the time.Find Familiar is free advantage plus a lost action for at least 1 round, potentially advantage for many rounds and has a ton of non-combat uses.Catapult causes 3d8 damage from the cast plus damage from acid, fire, holy water or whatever you catapulted at the bad guy.  That is HUGE damage for a 1st level spell, there is no save if it hits and you can usually line it up so you get two enemies in the line of fire, meaning 2 chances to hit (which is the equivalent of advantage)</blockquote>

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