D&D 5E Survivor Worst Spells: FIND TRAPS IS THE WORST!

  • Thread starter Thread starter lowkey13
  • Start date Start date
Finding traps is hard and dangerous even with this spell.
You gotta cast it, so you must already suspect traps in the area when you cast it. It doesn't actually find the trap's location. It can give a false negative result because it only finds hazards that were artificial constructed with the intent of being a trap. Also, it takes a spell slot, I would probably be less harsh on it if it were a ritual. Also, it's a cleric, druid, and ranger spell, all of whom should have at least okay perception and the healing spells to patch up after triggering traps.

We'll have to call this a difference of opinion then. It's still very good for a second level spell. So what if it doesn't show natural hazards. Not many of those are unseen. So what if you have to suspect a trap is nearby. There are places where it would be obvious to put a trap, now you will detect many of them that you couldn't know about until you triggered it, helping the party make decisions.

Demanding perfection from low level spells doesn't make sense to me. The imperfection is why find traps is a piddly second level spell instead of a 4th level spell.
 

log in or register to remove this ad

We'll have to call this a difference of opinion then. It's still very good for a second level spell. So what if it doesn't show natural hazards. Not many of those are unseen. So what if you have to suspect a trap is nearby. There are places where it would be obvious to put a trap, now you will detect many of them that you couldn't know about until you triggered it, helping the party make decisions.

Demanding perfection from low level spells doesn't make sense to me. The imperfection is why find traps is a piddly second level spell instead of a 4th level spell.
It's Line of Sight. So it cannot Find anything that is hidden.
 
Last edited:

Abi-Dalzim's Horrid Wilting 17
Blade Ward 13
Drawmij's Instant Summons 23
Feign Death 23
Find Traps 32
Friends 30
Mordenkainen's Sword 24
Phantasmal Killer 12
Ray of Enfeeblement 18
True Strike 39
Weird 21
Witch Bolt 11

While True Strike is truly aweful, Witch Bolt is at least in the top 5.
 


Abi-Dalzim's Horrid Wilting 17
Blade Ward 13
Drawmij's Instant Summons 23
Feign Death 23
Find Traps 30
Friends 30
Mordenkainen's Sword 24
Phantasmal Killer 15
Ray of Enfeeblement 18
True Strike 39
Weird 21
Witch Bolt 10
 

Traps can't hide. They can only be unseen.

I agree with this, just because you don't know it's there doesn't mean it's not in line of sight. That said, pretty sure that means any trap that is built into something like a wall or a door or a container can be considered out of line of sight. This is not as significant a drawback as Iry was making it out to be, but it is another sizable drawback that I had yet to notice.

We'll have to call this a difference of opinion then. It's still very good for a second level spell. So what if it doesn't show natural hazards. Not many of those are unseen. So what if you have to suspect a trap is nearby. There are places where it would be obvious to put a trap, now you will detect many of them that you couldn't know about until you triggered it, helping the party make decisions.

Demanding perfection from low level spells doesn't make sense to me. The imperfection is why find traps is a piddly second level spell instead of a 4th level spell.

I get what you mean, it's definitely still a usable spell. 5e is very well designed so it's tough to say a spell is the worst because it's probably still not useless. The only really quantifiable bad spells tend to be blasting spells, and I find "it does sub-optimal damage" to be a boring thing to complain about, so I'm ignoring those. There may be times where Find Traps could really be a life saver, but there are so many second and even first level spells that do their jobs so much better than it. Compare Detect Magic

Find Traps is a 2nd level spell. Detect Magic is a 1st level spell.
Find Traps has to be within range of what it's trying to find at time of casting. Detect Magic has to be within range at any time during it's 10 minute duration.
Find Traps always requires a spell slot. Detect Magic is a ritual.
Find Traps is limited by what is in sight. Detect Magic can see through up to a foot of stone, an inch of metal, or three feet of dirt or wood.
Find Traps informs you of some traps. Detect Magic shows you ALL sources of magic in range and even reveals the school of magic associated with it if you take an action to check.

Find Traps just isn't as reliable as other spells. I kinda like how imperfect Find Traps is, because it says to me that if all spells were this unreliable at what they did, maybe martial classes other than rogue wouldn't feel like they lack so much utility.
 

Abi-Dalzim's Horrid Wilting 17
Blade Ward 13
Drawmij's Instant Summons 24
Feign Death 23
Find Traps 30
Friends 30
Mordenkainen's Sword 24
Phantasmal Killer 15
Ray of Enfeeblement 18
True Strike 39
Weird 21
Witch Bolt 8
 

I agree with this, just because you don't know it's there doesn't mean it's not in line of sight. That said, pretty sure that means any trap that is built into something like a wall or a door or a container can be considered out of line of sight. This is not as significant a drawback as Iry was making it out to be, but it is another sizable drawback that I had yet to notice.

The trigger must be something within line of sight and the trigger is part of the trap. That means that any trap that can hit the party when the spell is cast will be detected.

I get what you mean, it's definitely still a usable spell. 5e is very well designed so it's tough to say a spell is the worst because it's probably still not useless. The only really quantifiable bad spells tend to be blasting spells, and I find "it does sub-optimal damage" to be a boring thing to complain about, so I'm ignoring those. There may be times where Find Traps could really be a life saver, but there are so many second and even first level spells that do their jobs so much better than it. Compare Detect Magic

Find Traps is a 2nd level spell. Detect Magic is a 1st level spell.
Find Traps has to be within range of what it's trying to find at time of casting. Detect Magic has to be within range at any time during it's 10 minute duration.
Find Traps always requires a spell slot. Detect Magic is a ritual.
Find Traps is limited by what is in sight. Detect Magic can see through up to a foot of stone, an inch of metal, or three feet of dirt or wood.
Find Traps informs you of some traps. Detect Magic shows you ALL sources of magic in range and even reveals the school of magic associated with it if you take an action to check.

Find Traps just isn't as reliable as other spells. I kinda like how imperfect Find Traps is, because it says to me that if all spells were this unreliable at what they did, maybe martial classes other than rogue wouldn't feel like they lack so much utility.
I can agree with that.
 

Adjusting for post #133

Abi-Dalzim's Horrid Wilting 17
Blade Ward 13
Drawmij's Instant Summons 24
Feign Death 23
Find Traps 30
Friends 30
Mordenkainen's Sword 24
Phantasmal Killer 13
Ray of Enfeeblement 18
True Strike 39
Weird 21
Witch Bolt 9
 

The trigger must be something within line of sight and the trigger is part of the trap. That means that any trap that can hit the party when the spell is cast will be detected.

Wouldn't you be casting it before you are in a position such that the trap can hit you? Like if the mechanism is inside a chest, you are probably searching for traps before you even open it.
 

Remove ads

Top