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

[Zubatcarteira]

I think it got Errata'd at some point, but the version I'm reading pretty clearly states that you only get the disease after you fail the three saves.

 

[Stalker0]

I think it got Errata'd at some point, but the version I'm reading pretty clearly states that you only get the disease after you fail the three saves.

Yep just doublechecked the errataed version myself. So now its a 3 round minimum poisoned condition on a successful hit (aka a fight in many cases).

Honestly its pretty solid against legendaries, because all legendary resistance can do is ensure the condition will end after 3 rounds, but there is nothing the creature can do to shake it off any faster than 3 rounds. As such, you nerf a legendary pretty hard with a "simple melee spell attack"

 

[fearsomepirate]

There is nothing in the Contagion spell referencing the poisoned condition.

The what to the who now? I'm still running out of first printing books. That's one heck of an errata. So I take it back. Since they made Contagion actually do something for the first three rounds, it's not completely terrible any more.

 

[Gladius Legis]

There is nothing in the Contagion spell referencing the poisoned condition.

The what to the who now? I'm still running out of first printing books. That's one heck of an errata. So I take it back. Since they made Contagion actually do something for the first three rounds, it's not completely terrible any more.

Unfortunately, it's also a bit of a nerf in that it has no effect on enemies immune to the poisoned condition. Which is a fairly common immunity.

 

[fearsomepirate]

Yeah, well before, it just largely had no effect whatsoever.

 

[Stalker0]

My players always like to joke that Chill Touch is the worst named spell, for it neither does cold damage, nor is a touch ranged spell.

 

[auburn2]

True Strike, Blade Ward, Witch Bolt, Mordenkainen's Sword are the ones that immediately come to mind.

I think bladeward can be pretty useful for a bladesinger.

 

[auburn2]

Not to derail the thread, but concerning blade ward: The intent of the spell is defensive, not offensive, but since using one's action to just cancel some damage isn't terribly helpful in most battles, it's rarely used by most players. On the other hand, I find that players commonly choose to Dodge when they don't have something useful to do in a turn, or when they're worried about damage. So how about combining the two? Change blade ward so that, when cast, the caster may choose to Dodge as a bonus action.

Would this be unbalanced? Since blade ward takes an action, and the Dodge would be a bonus action, I don't see any obvious ways this could be abused, but I may also be missing something.

To start with are you suggesting a casting time as a bonus action or cast as an action, then take dodge as a BA. If it is the first then it is overpowered, since this is a cantrip and not subject to spell slots, it could be used every turn as a free dodge. Think about this with a fighter with magic initiate taking doge every turn. If you are casting blade ward as an action then it is useless - I can cast blade ward as an action to allow me to take dodge as a bonus action, or I can just take dodge as a bonus action.

Those points aside, I also don't think it would be the same. Dodge only works against opponents you can see, while bladeward works against all weapon attacks. Also, for a bladesinger dodge takes an entire action, while bladeward can be substituted for one of the attacks you get with extra attack.