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

[Gladius Legis]

The damage is sub-par, the value of the spell is that someone on the enemy team might waste an action ending the effect.

The problem is the damage is so bad that an enemy using an action to end it is mathematically a complete waste of that action. Said enemy is just better off attacking you, every time.

 

[Yunru]

Another spell that's pretty crap that I should've mentioned is Searing Smite. All it does is damage and it's awful at doing that. Even after its initial damage (just 1d6) and its first time dealing ongoing damage, it still doesn't add up to what a Divine Smite adds right away. And if the Paladin wants to stack a Smite spell on top of Divine Smite for a big nova, Thunderous Smite is much better for that at the same spell level.

That said, it is useful for those who multiclass Fire Dragon Sorcerer.

 

[Immoralkickass]

The problem is the damage is so bad that an enemy using an action to end it is mathematically a complete waste of that action. Said enemy is just better off attacking you, every time.

Someone brought up Searing Smite? Great! The spell needs more coverage on how bad it is. It deserves its own rating of below -tier.

Lets see, you want the targets to be sufficiently tanky to warrant the use of Searing Smite, but that would mean they usually have high CON. With the CON save every round, it will probably last 2 rounds at most, and thats if you're lucky. If it by some miracle it does, then you still have to contend with keeping up concentration in melee range of your target. If your target is feeling generous, it can also use an action to douse the flames immediately, because a spell with 2 weaknesses is certainly not enough. It needs more weakness! The spell is not bad enough! How to make it worse? Allow OTHER creatures to put out the fire!

This, ladies and gentlemen, is the pinnacle of spell design.

 

[Helldritch]

And that is why most paladins in my groups are staying with thunderous smite or simply the divine smite ability.

 

[Flicker the Flareon]

From the perspective of a DM, I hate most (all?) of the rituals. They seem to exist for no other reason than prevent or trivialize certain RPG tropes.

What about Find Famliar?!

 

[Stalker0]

Thread Necro!

So I'm curious what was the consensus (if there is one) all told. What spell gets the Razzie for worst spell in the game?

 

[Stormonu]

I want to throw Flaming Sphere onto the pile of flaming dumster-fire spells. Since 2E days, I’ve never seen this spell do any good for more than 1 round of its entire duration. I’m glad scorching ray was made to essentially replace it.

 

[fearsomepirate]

I've seen people get good use out of 5e's Flaming Sphere many times.

Searing Smite is bad, but at least it uh...at least could potentially impose more Concentration checks? I mean it's crap, but at least I can see it occasionally having utility. True Strike exists solely so you don't waste Chromatic Orb.

 

[Bacon Bits]

Ray of Enfeeblement. 2nd level.

• Ranged spell attack to hit
• Single target
• Requires concentration
• CON save each turn to end

Effect: The target deals half damage. With weapon attacks. If they use Strength.

 

[Benjamin Olson]

Thread Necro!

So I'm curious what was the consensus (if there is one) all told. What spell gets the Razzie for worst spell in the game?

Personally I think the whole endeavor has the same basic problem as the Razzies. Focus goes to the prominent failures that people are actually familiar with, rather then the ones that fail so hard they don't even make a blip on anyone's radar.

Mordenkainen's Sword would be the top Razzie target, as they prefer picking on things with big celebrity names attached.