Spells are powerful, in D&D. Some spells are so much so that they might as well be an “I win” button – at least for a single encounter.
Spells are where it’s at in D&D. To the point where even characters without a single level of spell progression can often find ways to get a little bit of magical might in their arsenal of tricks. Be it a Misty Step or the occasional flash of Invisibility.
But some spells are so powerful that they can help you just solve the whole combat encounter. Maybe not a campaign-wide “I win” button, but certainly one that will turn the tide in whatever fight you’re having at the moment. They’re not even all 9th-level spells, either. But take a look at some of these showstopping spells and see what you think.
Forcecage
Forcecage is one of the strongest spells in D&D. It’s also one of the most expensive spells, with a material component of at least 1,500 gp worth of Ruby Dust that is consumed by the spell. But for 1500 gold, you can basically shut down one foe completely for up to an hour. Because there’s no save to avoid being caught in it. A creature can only leave if it can teleport and if it can pass a Charisma save to try and escape. Not many can do either to begin with.
And you can either seal them off for an hour, or leave them inside a cage that allows spells to pass through it. It’s up to you which one you need. But the ability of this spell to basically rewrite a combat is just a fantastic boon.
Conjure Minor Elementals
Would you like to feel like a cuisinart on the battlefield? Conjure Minor Elementals is your key to doing so. Even after the “nerf” it received, this is still one of the most effective spells for boosting the damage of a melee or short ranged character through the stratosphere.
All it does is add a scaling 2d8 damage to any attack rolls you make against creatures within your 15-foot aura. Not bad on its own, but if you combo that with spells that give you multiple attacks (like Scorching Ray) or you are also capable of assuming a form that gives you multiple attacks, you can start to push your damage way way up.
Hypnotic Pattern
It’s hard to argue the potency of a good “control” spell. And Hypnotic Pattern might be one of the best. Sure, fireball can do a ton of damage. But hypnotic pattern lets you Incapacitate multiple creatures with a single Magic action.
Any caught in the 30-foot cube (which is a huge area) are Charmed and Incapacitated if they fail their initial Wisdom save. Those who fail can only be awakened by taking damage or someone else using an Action to awaken them. With this spell, you can shut down a fight before it even starts.
Evard’s Black Tentacles
What if you had a “control” spell that also dealt a bunch of damage? And made it hard for people to escape it? Well, then you’d have Evard’s Black Tentacles. This spell is mean.
It creates a 20 foot square of Difficult Terrain to start with. That means creatures have to pay twice the movement to get through even a single square. But on top of that, each creature in the area has to make a Strength save or take 3d6 bludgeoning damage and be Restrained. Meaning they can’t move out of the area. Also, creatures who start their turn in the area also have to make that save. So you can keep dealing 3d6 bludgeoning damage as you crush a whole group of enemies to death. Especially if you have a way of knocking creatures down so that even if they escape and stand up, they still can’t go anywhere.
Prismatic Spray/Wall
And then of course there are the Prismatic spells. Obviously, Prismatic Wall is the deadliest one, because people that contact it suffer a different batch of damage and deleterious effect for every color of the rainbow. But even Prismatic Spray will often let you just dish out anywhere from 12-24d6 damage to creatures caught in the wrong part of your burst.
Or if you can just push them through the Prismatic Wall (easier than ever to do in 5.5E), they’ll take 60d6 damage (spread across five saves), be subjected to being Petrified and Blinded and potentially teleported off of this plane of existence, never to be seen or heard from again, even if they aren’t killed outright.
Happy adventuring!
Don’t Miss:
Read more at this site