D&D 5E What is the most powerful spell?
The "best spell" can vary depending on the situation and opponent.
I'm standing just above a fragile snow pack and the enemy forces are in the valley below me? Shatter is the best spell ever! Hundreds dead with a 2nd level spell.
I have Wall of Fire up and several enemies on this side of it? Thunderwave is the best spell, because it can push them all into the Firewall.
I'm facing enemies immune to fire? All my fire spells just went from "best" to "worst".
Fighting Salamanders (vulnerable to cold) - all the cold spells that are usually 3rd or 4th best are now The Best.
I'm standing just above a fragile snow pack and the enemy forces are in the valley below me? Shatter is the best spell ever! Hundreds dead with a 2nd level spell.
I have Wall of Fire up and several enemies on this side of it? Thunderwave is the best spell, because it can push them all into the Firewall.
I'm facing enemies immune to fire? All my fire spells just went from "best" to "worst".
Fighting Salamanders (vulnerable to cold) - all the cold spells that are usually 3rd or 4th best are now The Best.
Tony Vargas
Legend
Yep. Versatility is the best spell.
For instance, in 3.0, wizards had versatility in choosing what spells they prepped into slots at the beginning of the day, while sorcerers had versatility in choosing what spells they devoted slots to as the day progressed. Each was very good at bringing the 'best' spell to bear in any given situation, but the wizard, common wisdom and a Tier 1 ranking held, edged out the sorcerer in that regard.
Of course, in 5e, wizards still prepare spells each day with all the versatility they had in 3e & earlier, but then, they - and everyone - casts spells using slots spontaneously with all the versatility of a 3e Sorcerer, /as well/.
So, what's the best spell in 5e? The one you're casting.
mflayermonk
First Post
If I had to pick a single best spell, I would go with 5e Shield.
ArchfiendBobbie
First Post
Prestidigation. You can ruin someone's life if you use that spell right.
FormerlyHemlock
Hero
Shield is very strong, but personally I'd go with Aura of Vitality as the one spell with the most disruptive potential for a campaign. (Ab)used correctly, that spell is an order of magnitude better than a regular healing spell of its level; it's so good that it would often be cheaper to actually soak damage and/or disruptive spell effects like Hypnotic Pattern rather than using spell slots (Counterspell, Shield, Paladin Divine Smite) to try to kill the attacker before he can get them off or to disrupt the effect after it begins. It's possible for a sorc 3/life cleric 1/lore bard 6 to heal over 2000 HP per long rest at level 10 using Extended Aura of Vitality.
Even without fully abusing the spell, the spell Aura of Vitality warps the very class most closely associated with it (Paladins) by making Divine Smite look pretty bad. When you have the chance to spend a 3rd level spell slot on either inflicting 18 damage on a usually-low-AC enemy like say a Death Kiss, doing about 10% of its HP damage, or to simply kill the Death Kiss 10% slower but heal 70 HP to yourself and/or the party afterwards, Divine Smite starts looking pretty bad, especially in a classical attrition-oriented dungeon crawl.
TL;DR Aura of Vitality can completely eliminate HP attrition from a campaign. I don't know of any other spells with as much disruptive potential for normal gameplay, not even Wall of Force.
P.S. Conjure Animals is my runner-up, as clearly the best of the conjuring spells. But unlike Aura of Vitality it has some pretty specific playstyle vulnerabilities, e.g. a campaign with tons of AoE monsters like Flame Skulls would make Conjure Animals look pretty bad.
Even without fully abusing the spell, the spell Aura of Vitality warps the very class most closely associated with it (Paladins) by making Divine Smite look pretty bad. When you have the chance to spend a 3rd level spell slot on either inflicting 18 damage on a usually-low-AC enemy like say a Death Kiss, doing about 10% of its HP damage, or to simply kill the Death Kiss 10% slower but heal 70 HP to yourself and/or the party afterwards, Divine Smite starts looking pretty bad, especially in a classical attrition-oriented dungeon crawl.
TL;DR Aura of Vitality can completely eliminate HP attrition from a campaign. I don't know of any other spells with as much disruptive potential for normal gameplay, not even Wall of Force.
P.S. Conjure Animals is my runner-up, as clearly the best of the conjuring spells. But unlike Aura of Vitality it has some pretty specific playstyle vulnerabilities, e.g. a campaign with tons of AoE monsters like Flame Skulls would make Conjure Animals look pretty bad.
Yaarel
He Mage
Before I go on to 2nd-Level spells, help look more carefully at the 1st-Level list.
Each spell in the list tends to be slightly more useful (more powerful, happens more frequently) than the spell above it, and slightly less useful than the spell below it.
An example is where to rank Magic Missile and Mage Armor. It is clear these two spells are either Excellent or Good, in the general sense. Any spell in the same category − Excellent, Good, or so on − is comparable in value and quality to the other spells in the same category.
Personally, I strongly prefer acquiring Magic Missile and Mage Armor, over Find Familiar. Yet, I have to admit Find Familiar is an excellent spell, versatile and effective. I also have to admit the limitations of Magic Missile and Mage Armor.
For Magic Missile, the reliability (auto-hit, no save) is highly valuable and versatile. The low damage is an acceptable tradeoff.
Magic Armor is a solid spell, enjoying 8 hour duration, despite it being modest, with even a mundane chain shirt being superior, objectively speaking.
Shield is a highly useful spell with its reaction allowing its use when actually needed. Life saving.
Hunters Mark is probably ‘broken’ compared to other 1st-level spells. Notably, many analysts want Hunters Mark to become a Ranger class feature, rather than a spell in a spell list.
Each spell in the list tends to be slightly more useful (more powerful, happens more frequently) than the spell above it, and slightly less useful than the spell below it.
An example is where to rank Magic Missile and Mage Armor. It is clear these two spells are either Excellent or Good, in the general sense. Any spell in the same category − Excellent, Good, or so on − is comparable in value and quality to the other spells in the same category.
Personally, I strongly prefer acquiring Magic Missile and Mage Armor, over Find Familiar. Yet, I have to admit Find Familiar is an excellent spell, versatile and effective. I also have to admit the limitations of Magic Missile and Mage Armor.
For Magic Missile, the reliability (auto-hit, no save) is highly valuable and versatile. The low damage is an acceptable tradeoff.
Magic Armor is a solid spell, enjoying 8 hour duration, despite it being modest, with even a mundane chain shirt being superior, objectively speaking.
Shield is a highly useful spell with its reaction allowing its use when actually needed. Life saving.
Hunters Mark is probably ‘broken’ compared to other 1st-level spells. Notably, many analysts want Hunters Mark to become a Ranger class feature, rather than a spell in a spell list.
That is a peculiar standard to choose.
