Cantrips get ignored because they’re not that useful compared to higher-circle spells. However, you can cast them as much as you want, all day long. And quantity has its own sort of quality. There’s a lure of something-for-nothing that comes in every cantrip.
If you’re just tuning in, there’s been a series of these articles on creative uses for cantrips. Stuff for your spellcaster to do with mage hand, or mending, or prestidigitation. Spells that, with a little tinkering, you can enjoy with out-of-the-box thinking.
Check out 24 things to do with other cantrips too!
But there’s a whole class of cantrip that doesn’t lend itself to out-of-the-box thinking. The damage dealers. Your fire bolts, your rays of frost, your acid splashes.
An Incomplete History of Cantrips
Originally, cantrips weren’t supposed to deal damage. They were meant to model practical or low-impact things that an apprentice wizard might do.
Then, years later, in an unrelated move by Wizards R&D, the designers began wondering, “What if a caster had infinite casts of a damage-dealing spell?” This was the genesis of the “warlock experiment,” i.e., what if you gave a spellcaster an attack spell that with no daily limit? Would that break anything?
The answer is no. In fact, the warlock’s eldritch blast is so standard in the game now, it kind of feels like it was always there.
There’s a lot more to that story! But to skip to the end, that success opened the door for a panoply of cantrips that dealt damage for more than just wizards. In 5th edition, cantrips moved from a mildly interesting add-on to a meaningful weapon in a low-level spellcaster’s arsenal. Your sorcerer doesn’t need to tote around a crossbow and track ammo now. She can cast fire bolt with abandon, and on average, deal one additional point in damage! Oh boy!
Fire Away
That’s cool, but is that it? Are damage-dealing cantrips a bunch of crossbow reskins? I say thee, nay! These attack cantrips generally come with a one-round kicker to help sell their differences. Here’s a table to summarize all the differences in damaging cantrips that are in the Tales of the Valiant Player’s Guide. (You’ll find it’s similar to the list in the D&D Player’s Handbook.)
Damaging Cantrip Comparisons
| Spell Name | Damage Amount | Damage Type | What’s Special About It? |
| Acid Splash | 1d6 | Acid | Can hit two targets instead of only one. |
| Fire Bolt | 1d10 | Fire | Deals 1d10 instead of 1d8 like most other damage dealing cantrips. Can catch stuff on fire. |
| Grave Touch | 1d8 | Necrotic | If you hit, the target can’t heal until the start of your next turn. Gives Undead disadvantage against you until the start of your next turn. |
| Poison Spray | 1d12 | Poison | Range is only 10 feet. Requires a CON save instead of rolling to attack. |
| Produce Flame | 1d8 | Fire | You can hang onto the flame and use it as light in a 20-foot radius. |
| Ray of Frost | 1d8 | Cold | If you hit, the target’s speed is halved until the start of your next turn. |
| Sacred Flame | 1d8 | Radiant | Requires a DEX save instead of rolling to attack. The target gets no benefit from cover. |
| Shocking Grasp | 1d8 | Lightning | You have advantage to hit against targets wearing metal. If you hit, the target can’t take reactions until the start if its next turn. |
| Vicious Mockery | 1d4 | Psychic | Requires a WIS save instead of rolling to attack. If the target fails the save, it has disadvantage on its next attack roll before the end of its next turn. |
The Rundown on Damage-Dealing Cantrips
Since these cantrips vary so much, a comprehensive analysis on casting time, range, components, duration, and description would be long and sort of boring. Instead, this article focuses on average values in these categories, and discusses interesting outliers.
All damage dealers have a casting time of 1 action. You use the Cast a Spell action to pull it off, but it’s functionally identical to the Attack action. You make one melee or ranged attack with the cantrip. There’s nothing tricksy to understand here, although the Cast a Spell action is technically not an Attack action, so keep that distinction in your pocket for the corner case where it’s relevant.
Most of these cantrips have a range of 60 feet, with notable exceptions. Fire bolt (your go-to for arcane casters) and grave touch have a range of 120 feet, giving them parity with the light crossbow’s range of 80/320 feet. Meanwhile, poison spray has a range of 10 feet to counter the increased damage it can deal. Shocking grasp has a range of touch, and is probably the weakest of the damage dealers for that reason.
Every one of these damage dealers has verbal and somatic components except for vicious mockery, which is verbal alone. This means that you’re never disarmed of these spells, even if your component pouch or focus is removed.
Finally, all of these spells have a duration of instantaneous, except for grave touch, which lasts for 1 round, and produce flame, which lasts for 10 minutes. The grave touch round is mainly a post-it note reminder that the spell effect stays on until your next round. Cantrips with similar one-round effects, such as ray of frost don’t carry this same reminder. This is probably because grave touch is a Kobold Press original (you won’t find it in the SRD), and was envisioned under different editorial policy!
All of these spells deal damage of different types and then a little something extra. These spells also level up with you automatically, dealing more damage at 5th, 11th, and 17th levels, so they don’t become completely useless as monsters get tougher.
But surely a clever player can do more than just roll to hit with these spells (or make the GM roll a save)?
24 Things to Do with Damage-Dealing Cantrips!
With these babies, you’ve always got a combat option. But what about when you’re talking or poking around or problem solving? Don’t holster them just because you’re out of initiative!
Technically, most of these spells have to be used on a creature instead of an item or object as a target. But don’t make a big deal out of it, and your GM is probably fine with some unorthodox use.
1. Sconces on the wall holding torches? Light them up from afar with fire bolt.
2. Mimics are immune to acid. If that chest doesn’t sizzle a little when you cast acid splash on it, keep your distance.
3. And, if your GM is being nitpicky about letting you use an attack cantrip on a non-creature, they might reconsider after you start using acid splash as a shapechanger locator. By the rules, this spell would only work on a creature, right? Therefore, if it works, that chest must not be just a chest . . .
4. Speaking of outing a faker: devils, demons, and a mess of other monsters are immune to poison damage. Dramatically reveal an impostor with a surprise casting of poison spray. If they’re not hurt, they’re not human! (Just make sure you’re right before you try it.)
5. The produce flame spell lets you combine light and a damage-dealing cantrip in one.
6. Produce flame doesn’t harm your equipment, so you can have your hand alight and hold a weapon, or even something flammable, such as parchment. Total power move to intimidate the librarian who’s blocking your access.
7. Ray of frost on a rock creates an instant cold pack. Might get you a bonus to WIS (Medicine) checks to treat fevers or sprains.
8. Is a villain making a getaway on a horse? Horses are big, fat AC 10 targets that move only 30 feet a round when you keep tagging them with ray of frost.
9. Wet wood is not an issue if you keep blasting it with a fire-based cantrip. You get the fire started, while other people do the hard work of setting up camp!
10. You could also skip the fire completely and go straight to boiling water in a pot. You’ll have to keep up the heat, but it’s a cantrip. You can do this all day.
11. Go “dynamite fishing” with shocking grasp. The water can conduct your touch for several feet. Eat whatever floats up.
12. Animals are generally afraid of fire, but you don’t want to burn the whole forest down just to scare off wolves. Fire bolt can work in a pinch, but produce flame has got you covered.
13. If a lock has your rogue stumped, acid splash will get through it eventually, without letting the barbarian alert the whole dungeon bashing through it. Also good for when you’re locked in a cell without the party rogue.
14. Shoot your fire bolt cantrip straight up as a flare to communicate your location. If you’re on the move, you can show direction and speed this way too. It’s not like you’re going to run out of flares.
15. Many of these spells can be used to test for traps from a safe distance, depending on the trap’s trigger. They can burn away tripwires, damage delicate machinery, or knock nearby items over onto pressure plates.
16. If someone is hiding behind cover, smoke ‘em out with sacred flame.
17. Fire cantrips can melt snow and ice, opening up blocked passageways and creating pure water to drink from the runoff.
18. A ray of frost won’t put out a fire, but whatever benefit someone was getting from it will cool down pretty quickly.
19. Foul your enemy’s food supply with heavy application of poison spray. It might not poison them, but it sure won’t taste good.
20. Grave touch can do a similar job to spoil meat.
21. A quick acid splash can also clean up grungy gear or neutralize unsafe drinking water.
22. For vicious mockery, your target doesn’t have to understand you, it just has to hear you. Learn draconic, and as you decimate a dragon’s minions, you might impress it with your flair.
23. Do a quick etching with a controlled acid splash. No maze can hold you!
24. If your wizard has an engineering bent, you can use shocking grasp to anodize or electroplate metal. There’s a million things you can do here, but purifying copper or plating a lead coin with silver are some larcenous ideas to get you started.
What else can you surprise your GM with?
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