D&D 5E What's the worst spell?

[Phazonfish]

I feel like I understand the purpose of Blur a lot better now. I still think I prefer Mirror Image, but it sounds like Blur is appealing in quite a number of situations. Thanks for the analysis. Also, wow I never realized the sneak attack thing; does that have any interesting implications?

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

I feel like I understand the purpose of Blur a lot better now. I still think I prefer Mirror Image, but it sounds like Blur is appealing in quite a number of situations. Thanks for the analysis. Also, wow I never realized the sneak attack thing; does that have any interesting implications?

Well, put it together with Defensive Duelist (also works with any finesse weapons) and you find that a grappling Barbarian/Rogue with Defensive Duelist is surprisingly effective, even if you invest mostly in Strength instead of Dexterity. (Again, grapple only where appropriate--other times you should kite, or tank with rapier and shield, etc.)

 

[Chikiko Saotome]

In my book, witch bolt and true strike are the top most useless spell ever presented.

If witch bolt continuous damage would be a bonus action, the spell would be redeemed.
If True strike could be cast as a bonus action and would not take concentration it would be too good.

But saying that mending is useless? Preposterous! Do you know how many arrows such a spell can mend? Thus preventing the carrying of hundreds of arrows or bolts?

Mordenkainen's Sword is a joke. A level or two lower would've made it a great spell. But at its current level, no one wants it.

So let me bring up a MAJOR factor that none of us are really taking into account as it has a pretty HUGE impact on these spells and can change that quote unquote most useless spell in the game. What is the factor? your SPELL CASTING CLASS. depending on the class you play at what options that class gives you and takes away from you, it make some spells complete trash and for other class sub-optimal or good in certain conditions. You say for example true strike would be better as a bonus spell? well if your playing a wizard then yes it sucks because your basically wasting a turn to set yourself up next round and that's all you can likely do that round. Now if your playing a sorcerer, that changes things. Using quicken spell you can cast true strike and then cast another spell with an attack role like chromatic orb or ice knife. another possibility is for eldritch knights. they have the ability to cast a cantrip and then make a weapon attack as a bonus action. Another possibility is a multiclass character like a rogue, monk, or any other class that has bonus action abilities. If by chance any if any of these characters also happen to have taken the martial adept feat they can then add extra damage, actions, and/or conditions with that attack which makes it quite nice. So its likely useless for a wizard? yes probably, is it the most useless spell in the game for everyone? not really.


As for witchbolt, lightning sorcerers can add extra damage to that spell since it does lightning damage, they can also twin the intial cast to attack two creatures and if they want they can quicken spells on additional turns to make attacks as bonus actions allowing them to do more damage since WB deal damage automatically every round after the initial attack.

So yes there may be better choices but its not completely useless for everyone.

 

[mellored]

I'll agree with the rest.

Worst spell = True Strike (house rule, if you hit, it's a critical).
Second worst = Mord Sword (house rule, 8-hour duration without concentration).

Honorable mentions
Witch bolt (house rule, immobilize the target, scale the damage 1d12 per level)
Find Traps (house rule, know the general direction of the traps)

 

[Chikiko Saotome]

So I found this-

https://www.reddit.com/r/dndnext/comments/4lkdkj/dd_5e_spell_damage_comparison_chart/

The chart is linked at the top. Might be helpful, if you like that kind of thing.

I've seen this chart and love it. It is literally a worst case scenerio damage outlook, because doesn't just do the avg damage, but it then assumes you will fail 50% of the times! This is much lower than the realistic expectation of failure, so the reality will be much better than shown. But you can expect to do at least this well and probably better, with the exception of auto hit spells like magic missile and cloud of daggers. It also doesn't include any continual damage or the sum up the potential damage done to other creatures though i believe it does let you know if those are possibilities. So it's a good chart to confer to base your ideas on worst spells in the game.

 

[Yunru]

So let me bring up a MAJOR factor that none of us are really taking into account as it has a pretty HUGE impact on these spells and can change that quote unquote most useless spell in the game. What is the factor? your SPELL CASTING CLASS. depending on the class you play at what options that class gives you and takes away from you, it make some spells complete trash and for other class sub-optimal or good in certain conditions. You say for example true strike would be better as a bonus spell? well if your playing a wizard then yes it sucks because your basically wasting a turn to set yourself up next round and that's all you can likely do that round. Now if your playing a sorcerer, that changes things. Using quicken spell you can cast true strike and then cast another spell with an attack role like chromatic orb or ice knife. another possibility is for eldritch knights. they have the ability to cast a cantrip and then make a weapon attack as a bonus action. Another possibility is a multiclass character like a rogue, monk, or any other class that has bonus action abilities. If by chance any if any of these characters also happen to have taken the martial adept feat they can then add extra damage, actions, and/or conditions with that attack which makes it quite nice.

Nope, True Strike only benefits an attack on your next turn. So Quicken is of little benefit.
The Eldritch Knight bonus action attack requires you to have cast a spell, so you've just dropped last turn's True Strike for this turn's- without gaining the benefit. So that's out too.

The rest of what you say doesn't even make sense. Martial Adept has nothing to do with True Strike.

 

[Chikiko Saotome]

Kinda surprised no one has at least mentioned time stop. Possibly not the strictly worst spell, especially since it's defensive and flavorful in nature, but it does actively prevent you from dealing damage. One could say, it has a "negative damage per round" cost.

It costs you 1 Action to gain 2-5 actions in which you cannot affect someone else. It might be a great buffer spell, except that most personal buffs require concentration. And you can do nothing to help your allies, either. There are several situational uses, of course, plus the coolness factor, but a relatively useless spell, considering what you can accomplish with 1 Action.
[MENTION=6799753]lowkey13[/MENTION], I'd like to add to the list!

well just because it doesn't allow you to attack someone doesn't mean it doesn't allow you to affect someone. As long as your actions aren't an attack or something that directly harms the creature or steal there stuff, there are still things you can do to affect them. For example in a game i watched online they used time stop to give someone several items. the items themselves were technically harmless items. However the giant evil creature attacking the city they were in was zeroing in on those items. The pc ran up to him give him all the items and ran back to safety in that time. When the evil creature showed up it thought the guy had stolen them from it and proceeded to one shot nuke him. but obviously that is very situational and there may be some dms who would say that you can't give him items, so mileage may vary.

 

[Chikiko Saotome]

Spare the Dying?

its not the best spell in the world but it is definately useful. especially if the normal healer is down or out of spell slots.

 

[snickersnax]

its not the best spell in the world but it is definately useful. especially if the normal healer is down or out of spell slots.

yes but healer's kit...

 

[Caliban]

yes but healer's kit...

Costs money and can run out of charges.

But yeah, healer's kit is a relatively cheap replacement for the cantrip.