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

[turnip_farmer]

Create Food and Water. It's like the designers thought 'hmmm, we've done all we can to trivialise resource management and ensure that the rules mitigate against the possibility of starving to death or dying of thirst being a challenge, but a crafty GM could still engineer a scenario where it mattered. Let's ensure the players have a way to nip that right on the bud.'

Perhaps Goodberry is worse, as that's first level.

 

[fearsomepirate]

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.

TBH the ability to halve enemy melee damage for a round on a hit from a 2nd-level spell is underrated. It even works against ancient dragons.

 

[Mistwell]

I think Wish is now a great utility spell. For a 9th level slot - or, more interestingly, a Ring of Three Wishes - you can get any save-my-bacon spell you want. It makes the Ring the sort of thing that I think would be fun to give to a party at level 2; they'll always have that ace up their sleeves, and you can watch them be inventive with something that powerful so early, without it undermining the whole campaign since they need to be really careful with it. Just a thought.

Wish let's you cast Simulacrum as a single action with no costly components, making it arguably the most powerful spell in the game. [Edit - DOH! I failed my perception check to notice this is a necro'ed thread!]

 

[Mistwell]

Deleted by user

No matter how many times you say it, the "Deleted by user" spell isn't the worst spell in the game! I can think of so many times it's more useful than, for example, the Sky Writing cantrip. Like to delete someone else's sky writing!

[Edit - DOH! I failed my perception check to notice this is a necro'ed thread! Also, I miss Lowkey13]

 

[Gadget]

Well, I'll add a few to the list. As a note, I tend to give a pass to utility/World Building spells that are less of trap option, so things like Illusory Script don't make the cut (though I would change the duration on that spell to 'until dispelled' or some such).

Cantrips: The clear winner hear is True Strike. Absolutely terrible spell. I would change it to just be like Resistance, but for attacks (add 1d4 to an attack roll before spell expires, change duration to 10 min/1 hr with conc.) Honorable mentions are: Friends and Blade Ward.

1st level: Witch Bolt is another clear winner. Between the low damage, action economy drain, short range and concentration requirement; just no. I've seen many "fixes" for this spell, I'm kind of partial to having it grapple the target (with the rules for escaping a grapple applied), but that might be too much. Maybe just a range increase with a knock back or speed reduction effect. Honorable mentions: Ray of Sickness, Jump.

2nd level: Find Traps seems particularly bad the way it is designed. Honorable mentions: Cordon of Arrows, Crown of Madness, Ray of Enfeeblement and Melf's Acid Arrow. Some would add Barkskin and Flame Blade to the list, but I think they have their uses, as indeed CoM & RoE do, but they are not well designed.

3rd level: Not a lot of real stinkers, but Feign Death, Flame Arrows, Bestow Curse, and Vampiric Touch all are a bit lacking in one way or another, or are overshadowed in some way by lower level effects.

4th level: Blight, Grasping Vine & Phantasmal Killer are all candidates. All have niche uses and can be applied successfully, but seem worse than other spells at this level or overshadowed by lower level effects; or are just too little for this level a spell.

5th level: Immolation & Negative Energy Flood stand out here. Dispel Evil & Good is a bit too niche as well, with the lower level Banishment & Protection from G&E around.

6th level: The Investiture Spells are probably not really worth it at this level and Flesh To Stone is a little too restrictive for PCs to use to greatest effect(though NPC can still make use). Create Homunculus & Drawmij's Instant Summons seem to be a little over leveled, though they are more downtime/ritual spells.

7th level: Mordenkainen's Sword takes the cake here (one wonders if you could take the recent Blade of Disaster, tone down the damage a bit, and have a decent implementation of MS). Divine Word, Regenerate, PWP, and Prismatic Spray all are either too niche or lack oomph for the level.

8th level: Ali-Dalzim's Horrid Wilting seem to be the one here. Although arguments could be made for Glibness, Demiplane, & Power Word Stun.

9th level: Weird is probably the winner here. Though Blade of Disaster, Astral Projection, and Timestop could all be be contenders.

 

[Stalker0]

Some have made the case for Mordenakinens sword, and so the question for me is, is there anything that spells does that it’s completely replicated by another spell?

even if it’s super niche, is there any situation where that spell performs better than other options?

from what I can tell, an upcast flaming sphere is better against anything except really high dex targets and fire resistant creatures. So I guess that’s SOME niche

 

[fearsomepirate]

The parties I DM for love Blight more than I love Taco Tuesdays. It's fine for what it is. I mean, it' s not amazing, but if you just want to hurt a single target, I don't think there's really a better 4th-level spell. Phantasmal Killer is plain garbage.

Some have made the case for Mordenakinens sword, and so the question for me is, is there anything that spells does that it’s completely replicated by another spell?

even if it’s super niche, is there any situation where that spell performs better than other options?

No. Bigby's Hand upcast to 7th level does the same thing, but does 8d8 force damage instead of 3d10, has range 120' instead of 60', moves 60' instead of 20', and has some extra fun 'n' fancy options. It is about 2x as powerful across the board. With AC 20 and your hit points, the Hand isn't likely to go down in the first round if the monster attacks it, either, so you'll get at least the 2 rounds you need to do as much damage as the Sword does in 4. M's Sword can't even upscale! The Sword would have to be 8d10 to even start to be theoretically worth it.

 

[Dausuul]

No. Bigby's Hand upcast to 7th level does the same thing, but does 8d8 force damage instead of 3d10, has range 120' instead of 60', moves 60' instead of 20', and has some extra fun 'n' fancy options. It is about 2x as powerful across the board. With AC 20 and your hit points, the Hand isn't likely to go down in the first round if the monster attacks it, either, so you'll get at least the 2 rounds you need to do as much damage as the Sword does in 4. M's Sword can't even upscale! The Sword would have to be 8d10 to even start to be theoretically worth it.

Yup. Also, upcasting spiritual weapon to 6th or higher is strictly superior to Mordenkainen's sword. The difference is not as dramatic as Bigby's hand, but spiritual weapon does not have even minor drawbacks (e.g. being subject to attack and damage) relative to the sword; it's just a better version of the same spell, one level lower.

 

[fearsomepirate]

Upcasting spiritual weapon to 6th or higher is also strictly superior to Mordenkainen's sword.

True, but Wizards don't get spiritual weapon.

 

[Dausuul]

True, but Wizards don't get spiritual weapon.

That is true, but the general design of 5E is that a spell's effectiveness should depend only on its level, not on which classes have access to it (a departure from previous editions).