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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Zardnaar" data-source="post: 9636650" data-attributes="member: 6716779">Generally I find direct damage spelks marginal in 5E and even worse in 5.5. There's a few exceptions like ones with riders eg guiding bolt and older classics such as spirit guardians. Eldritch  Blast is still good but not as good as 5.0 due to power creep but still decent on a Warlock (take it).  Generally I don't find them worth upcasting. An extra dice of damage compares poorly to spells like hold person, blindness, comnand, etc. 5E has changed things up. More hit points in effect making direct damage worse but more ways to manipulate dice rolls at lower opportunity  cost via origin feats and options buried in Tashas. For example we have a joke about guiding bolt and action surge always missing. It probably because PCs are only using it with 50-70% hit chances and they remember the frustration of missing more than the times they hit. Inflict wounds got nerfed. Guiding bolt, inflict wounds, Chromatic Orb and ice knife had some use at low level damage scale poorly however in 5.0. 5.5 added conjure Minor Elemental. To me it's mostly theoretical as it doesn't really become a problem until you upcast it and few classes get access to it. Right now it's "abused" on bad theory craft bard builds on YouTube videos. Wizards and Druids have a harder time abusing it.  So spells I'm seeing my players use or ones I want to use myself (I'll be playing soon class no idea). 1. True strike. On the surface it's fairly basic. More damage. Useful on various builds and any spellcaster. Easy to aquire via feat if your class lacks it. Also go to for Eldritch Knights and Valor Bards if 5.0 material isn't used. Also has interesting interactions with the war caster feat, magical weapons found and paralysis. Hold person or monster lands PC spellcasters are a lot more keen to "get into it" up close. BG3 effect.  2. Sorcererous Burst. Only sorcerers can get it along with tome locks. Can be acquired by feat. It's versatile like chromatic orb and dragons breath and exploding  dice mechanic. As cantrips scale exploding dice happen more. Also fun with critical hits. Since it's a sorcerer spell innate sorcery, metamagic and often dragon Sorcery apply. I've seen some very high damage rolls at tier 2  with a cantrip. Think crits, empower spell, innate sorcery and charisma to damage. That's just the secret sauce it's perfectly good by itself. Its also a lot of fun due to it's gambling mechanic appeal. It's an Eldritch blast for sorcerers by that I mean take it. Not as good on warlocks but useful. Also plays nice with hex more on that below. 3. Chromatic Orb. They buffed it and made dice a lot easier to manipulate than 5.0. Tashas options moved to phb and sorcerer revamp. My players are upcasting this and not upcasting fireball. A lot better on sorcerers but also plays nice with bless and faerie fire. Any class can aquire it via feat. I suspect this will also unlock the theory craft acid and frost dragon sorcerer. I have compared this to fireball and lightning bolt. At higher levels chain lightning comparisons may be required. I recommend rolling a handful of d8s as a thought experiment. Might be A tier spell for sorcerers, S tier for dragon ones a  B tier for any other spellcaster class that lacks  good boom spells eg some bards and druids.4. Hex. An old favorite for warlocks and Eldritch blast. Hunters mark kinda for spellcasters. Tashas opened it up via feat to other classes but rarely used. Also fiendpact warlocks using scorching ray. Useful in Baldurs Gate 3. 9d6 damage level 3 is still 9d6 damage level 3 then switch to Eldritch blast. In 5.5 it plays nice with the traditional spells but also the new sorcerous burst, and Chromatic Orb spells. Tashas technically unlocked it with guiding bolt as well but kind of obscure (Star Druid in phb now just saying). Casting hex via feat also allows you to follow it up with attack spell of your choice. Even if concentration is broken low opportunity  cost to recast with level 1 slot.  5. Scorching Ray. Most damage dealing spells are not worth upcasting. Scorching ray in effect gets an extra 2 dice of damage vs 1. With hex it's also 3 die of damage. New PHB also added transmuted spell from tashas. Semi obscure before. Very cheap cost to turn scorching ray into not fire damage. Roleplay as Emperor  Palpatine using force lightning.  Well that's mostly it. Old favorites are still good. Changes to the game or adding splatbook options have buffed these spells. Spells with attack rolls are a lot better. Does your DM allow elven accuracy feat? Asking for a friend. Invoker kind of a B tier subclass now if you wanr to play a blaster I would probably be looking at sorcerers and warlocks now. You could probably replace old favorites  such as fireball and lightning bolt but they're still probably worth taking for situations you would want them for.  Chromatic Gambler build incoming.</blockquote>

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