Spike Growth is Awesome in Dnd 5e! - Advanced guide to Spike Growth

[@PackTactics]

I was wrong btw, Spike growth does do magical piercing damage. But don't worry! The barbarian will still take half damage from it! The Video is Sponsored by Only Crits: www.onlycrits.com/gatortactics Please check them out and if you like what you see, use the coupon code Gator for 15% discount!

[@zacharylona]

I'd also like to point out that Spike Growth isn't an attack; creatures that are resistant or immune to piercing damage (magical, silvered, adamantine, mundane, or otherwise) from *attacks* still take full damage from this spell effect. This is why werewolves can fall to their death despite being immune to "bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical *attacks* that aren't silvered"

[@lrioje1]

@@zacharylona This. I pointed this out on a Treantmonk video, and got my like taken away 😭 when someone mentioned Magic Stone and Shillelagh and how they actually specify “magical bludgeoning” damage, because I mistakenly said “there is no such thing as magical B/P/S damage” when what I meant was “you don’t need to specify magical B/P/S damage when not referring to an attack roll”

[@michaelchilders3701]

@@zacharylona I love you for knowing this but you are still slightly off. There is no mention of resistance the damage of magical attacks or any non-magical damage anywhere in 5e. We instead have resistance to a damage type, like bludgeoning or fire, or resistance to damage dealt by non-magical WEAPONS. The magic stone spell makes a ranged spell attack, so it bypasses a werewolf’s immunity, but a regular mace does not. Magic stone is not a weapon attack, and thus not a weapon by technical definition. The same works for thorn whip, too! The same is also true about immunity and vulnerability. As for spike growth, a creature with resistance or immunity to piercing damage, no mention of weapons, would indeed ignore the spike growth damage to some or a full extent.

[@LucanVaris]

But Kobold.... I wanna *move...* D:

[@DoomsdayR3sistance]

@@michaelchilders3701 Zachary Lona copied the Werewolf immunity from the stat block word for word there, it was Errata'ed to nonmagical attacks from the original nonmagical weapons. This is notable due to unarmed which, while using "weapon attacks", are specifically NOT considered weapons.

[@pumpkinzz5728]

You forgot flying races, and the ability they have to grapple and drag opponents through the spikes. More commonly known as the cheese grater

[@williamwontiam3166]

I prefer repelling/grasping blast for warlocks for that strategy.

[@Rugghio]

Just be a druid of the moon, shape into a giant spider, Freedom of movment and have 2 levels of rogue, cunning action dash. Grapple a creature and move him into the spikes. 20-40-60d4 damage per round.

[@LucanVaris]

@@Rugghio Moving through the terrain still damages you. Hence the need for flight.

[@tylerthorstrom4100]

@@Rugghio Why giant spider?

[@Rugghio]

@@tylerthorstrom4100 right, mistake. Was an air elemental ajjaa. Used to do it with spiders and bears until 10

[@darkhand412]

Someone might mention this, but toss in a Silence spell in there and you’ve effectively shut down enemy casters. Can’t teleport out or cast most spells if you can’t speak. Absolutely brutal.

[@TheLegendaryLegacy]

They all cast jump lol idk

[@darleiferreira8341]

@@TheLegendaryLegacy how will they cast jump if they can't speak?

[@TheLegendaryLegacy]

@@darleiferreira8341 subtle spell?

[@golett0331]

@@TheLegendaryLegacy That's sorcerer, unless you get metamagic adept. Maybe a scroll?

[@minimalistmindset3020]

If they can Subtle Spell, they can still just teleport out, though... No Jump shenanigans necessary.

[@minecrashinhard]

I laid out brown d4's on my brown carpet perfectly shaded to camouflage. It was an experiment for how affective spike growth would be in real life. My parties barbarian apparently did not rage until after stepping on the spikes and none of my players appreciated it.

[@fadeleaf845]

Even if enemies hesitate to walk through and take the damage, it still means they aren't coming closer. Since enemies can decide on that, it should be seen as a blockading spell first and a damage option second.

[@bskec2177]

With the large AoE, casting it with them already inside it gives them a lot less options.

[@jasonreed7522]

Area denial is very useful in higher order strategies, spike growth makes a very large chunk of the board very painful to cross, and if you synergize with other spells it becomes effectively the same as a river of lava in that nobody dares to cross it on foot. (Because 1 tile per turn across 8 tiles taking damage every turn just to get into melee with the PCs isn't a smart move, especially if they start forcing your movement so you can't escape if you wanted to) I think only wall spells are better at area denial for blocking off a path. (Also cast wall of fire in a flammable environment like a dry forrest or grassland sometime, by irl logic a fire will spread killing everything in its path. This is a perfect lawful evil PC move, its litterally burning the world down to save the party and condemning people to a horrible fate.)

[@howardbaxter2514]

@@jasonreed7522 Plant Growth with Spike Growth is OP btw. My friend and I did that during a campaign and we took out 8 alien bugs in 2 turns.

[@nagavamsip]

Actually Spike Growth is camouflaged to look natural and can only be detected if the enemy succeeds a perception check so it's equally a damaging AND blockading spell :)

[@SophiaAphrodite]

@@nagavamsip correct. But once triggered by one person it is no longer invisible and also can only be camouflaged on natural surfaces.

[@loki3275]

Got a fun story with this spell and Cloud of Daggers. Had a party hole up in a dead end hallway to fight a horde of zombies, They used spike growth and Cloud of Daggers at the entrance. They turned the entrance into a blender cause the horde kept walking into it cause their master's last order's were kill the party, then he left thinking he had won. They got the party name "The Blender" for the rest of the campaign.

[@ramblingryan6466]

Your sponsor plug....? Perfection. "Speaking of selling, what if I told you you can experience spike growth IRL" and plugs dice... I laughed out loud.

[@tankwallin1420]

I joined a campaign recently at 6th level as a Druid. My Spike Growth currently has a kill count of 14 with an additional 6 assisted kills (where considerable damage was dealt by the spell, and the enemy was finished off by an ally).

[@SophiaAphrodite]

IT usually stops doing anything at about 5th level due to the abilities of the enemies to avoid it. Good job

[@emberofeon4868]

Spike growth, thorn whip, grasp of hadar and repelling blast. Druid warlock is my fsvorite early game combo

[@kc2086]

So cruel.

[@emberofeon4868]

@@kc2086 take this goblin to the meat grinder" -raveen my lawful evil druid

[@kc2086]

@@emberofeon4868 oh the gobmanity

[@drawbyyourselve]

I am commenting to make a note for future npc enemies

[@emberofeon4868]

@@drawbyyourselve its a very evil strat. Like heat metal

[@mynamehere69]

Ohh this makes so much more sense now, my group didn’t look closely at this spell so we just assumed it was a 20ft diameter not radius so it was a 4x4, 8x8 is so much better lol

[@peterwhitcomb8315]

Yeah, most spells in 5E are described using Radius which trips me up a lot.

[@Zorzdog]

For some reason my brain always made radius/diameter spells spheres 🥲

[@samuelbroad11]

nothing like reading the spell descriptions when you're a spell caster. Joined a group that summoned an elemental and also cast leomunds tiny hut on their first turn in combat. Kept silent as didn't want to be the nagging rules lawyer, but afterwards said my piece. Part of the problem is people playing with tablets not using pen and paper with a book. Reading books and having to write stuff down is hugely important for learning.

[@WGWF1022]

@@samuelbroad11 Agreed. This happened at my table as a player for several years. Everyone except me and the DM were using a laptop, phone, or tablet for their sheets and they'd always miss something .

[@samuelbroad11]

@@WGWF1022 yeh, do you slow down the game or always be the one who corrects people, or are they OK with the criticism? varies from group to group. I like me rules, I know where I stand!

[@TERMINATOR3900]

5:47 One small correction: Unless it's been errata'd or something, the piercing damage of Spike Growth is in fact magical, due to the fact that it's piercing damage being done by a spell. The only case where bludgeoning/piercing/slashing made by a spell is nonmagical is in cases where that's specifically stated, as in the case of the Wrath of Nature spell. Not that it matters in the context here since Barbarians are resistant to ALL bludgeoning/piercing/slashing when raging, not just the nonmagical ones. It would matter if you've got a fighter with Heavy Armour Master or someone casting Stoneskin or something though.

[@zacharylona]

100% correct. Per Sage Advice: "Is it a spell? Or does it let you create the effects of a spell that’s mentioned in its description?" If the answer is yes, then it's magical. I'd also like to point out that Spike Growth isn't an attack; creatures that are resistant or immune to piercing damage (magical, silvered, adamantine, mundane, or otherwise) from *attacks* still take full damage from this spell effect. This is why werewolves can fall to their death despite being immune to "bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical *attacks* that aren't silvered."

[@miguelangelus959]

Also, since the barbarian resistance doesn't mention magic at all, it doesn't care if the damage comes from a magical source or not. It still gets resistance

[@zacharylona]

@@miguelangelus959 Yeah, but Bagpipes already errata'd that in his pinned comment.

[@CitanulsPumpkin]

One of the subclasses the mage hand press guys made over on their website middle finger of vecna is a warlock patron called "The Pumpkin King." It's got spiked growth on its spell list, it's main feature is a trick or treat themed variation of bardic inspiration and cutting words, and it's a great answer for every DM who has a player ask them "Can Jack Skellington be my warlock patron?"

[@kylas1902]

Love those guys. Warmage is King!

[@OlieB]

Was not expecting to see mage hand press mentioned in the comments, but it's a welcome surprise. Very cool dudes and fun homebrew

[@calebdowning8877]

Omg yes I want this now

[@remick0]

Spike Growth has served my Druid well throughout the campaign, to the point he has almost never unprepared it from his spell list. Any situation in which enemies are forced to come from one direction has just been a birthday present. Any siege or area defense quest is considerably less difficult, especially with undead creatures too unintelligent to not just move toward the nearest living target. There are better area denial spells at higher level such as Wall of Stone but boy does SG make it fun to get there.

[@jasonreed7522]

The ultimate area denial spell is casting wall of fire in a forrest (especially a dry one). Face the hot side away from the party (or suround someone in a circle damaging side in) and cause a forrest fire moving away from you (might want to check the wind first). Note: after your DM gets over their shock / being impressed they will hate you. I consider this a perfect example of how a chaotic evil PC would behave, burn the world down to save your friends. (Binus points if someone comsiders the forrest sacred)

[@ricardopadulajr]

Swarmkeepers love Spike Growth. Although it’s a bit high-level for my taste, but Spike Growth combined with Grasping Arrow from Arcane Archer is insanely good. Something like a Swarmkeeper 5 / Arcane Archer 3.

[@mranderson9553]

warlock with the repelling blast feat is also a nice trick

[@1.21jiggawatts2]

*No gators were harmed in the making of this video*

[@icicleditor]

but jobold!!1! You only used spike growth with a single subject! It's a greeat aoe!! Haha that sponsor segment was hilarious. Excellent video, Kobold!

[@HORRIOR1]

5:48 I am pretty sure that all Piercing Slashing and Bludgeoning damage directly from spells is automatically magical, Spike Growth included. Also nowhere in Rage does it say that it only affects Non Magical B/P/S. It affects B/P/S in general.

[@thegreatvalamir]

Considering that most entries that give such resistance say "from a non-magical *weapon*," I would say this statement checks out. And, as you just said, barbs don't have such a weakness to magic.

[@Schmeethe88]

Yup. Raging barbarians get resistance to B/P/S full-stop. It doesn't matter if it's a generic longsword or a +1 magical longsword, or a spiritual weapon longsword. They get resistance to all of them.

[@Subcinercius]

@@Schmeethe88 spiritual weapons never do B/P/S, but I agree with the rest of your points.

[@Schmeethe88]

@@Subcinercius lol, I'm dumb. Yeah I forgot that they deal force damage 😂 Wanted to use something like that for the consistency, but we'll say Cloud of Daggers instead.

[@diegobologni3724]

You are totally right. And for those who says that are not magical piercing damage, you can ask them if there is something more magical than a spell.

[@dubiousbrick4483]

“They love it in fact” Was a wonderful experience not having to worry about landing an attack to keep my rage going, the thorns were merely vitamins fueling my barbarians anger.

[@NoNo-tl9gb]

the fastest creature in the game is Onyx, coming in at 400 speed in his specific fight. Spike growth+Plant growth+Spirit guardians makes him move 13 squares when he *dashes*. Even in worst case scenario, it's still pretty damn amazing.

[@SophiaAphrodite]

Those are all mobility reducing. They would not stack. It is the definition that matters, not the label.

[@NoNo-tl9gb]

@ …?????? Did you like read that rule? Or what? Effects with the same NAME do not stack.

[@Squaredasher]

Another thing about ranged attacks: natural ranged weapons are very rare. They are almost always either from ranged attacks, which can be shut down with no save from silence, or from weapons that can be disarmed in a multitude of ways. Have the fighter use disarming attack then have the wizard pick it up with mage hand. If there’s someone else with the spell have them cast wind wall. Use heat metal on the trigger of the pistol the turn prior then have someone catapult it away. If the encounter is an assortment of baddies with different weapons it’s your job to bully the one with a ranged weapon.

[@LukeStrife]

That was easily the best irl demonstration I've seen. Condolences to Gator for the harm he received.

[@timelordomega5914]

The spell you forgot was Dissonant whispers, which is great on any type of target that is in the area as its great damage for a first level spell *and* forces them to move away from you, dealing more damage as their reaction is gone.

[@junahn1907]

and it triggers opportunity attacks as it runs away from you.

[@SophiaAphrodite]

They will not move into harms way though so it would not work.

[@SoulHero7]

Me and my friends did a one shot at Lv6 where we had to raid a village and we used Spike Growth to completely decimate the village's guards in a surprise round. First, our Wizard waited until most of them were grouped up and cast Fog Cloud on them. Then our Ranger (me) cast Spike Growth directly under them. The check to discern Spike Growth relies on sight, and now they all have disadvantage because of the fog. Nearly all of them failed. Our War Cleric blasted his war horn and goaded the guards to face us. Half of them died just trying to get out of the fog ridden spikes. The other half that did make it out were immediately shot by me and the four archer skeletons our Warlock had. By the time the surprise round was over, every single guard except for the Captain was dead before they even knew what hit them. The best part? All of the guards were TORTLES. Meaning they were tanky as hell and were still shredded since Spike Growth doesn't care about your AC. All we had to do was cherry tap the survivors.

[@swxqt6826]

Fog Cloud wouldn’t give them disadvantage to see the Spike Growth; they fail automatically since they can’t see it.

[@johndevlin9225]

This spell led to a really cool moment in one of my campaigns. The players were trying to sneak up on a goblin stronghold at night, and they were spotted by a scouting party - some goblins and a couple of hobgolblins. The Druid cast spike growth to trap the enemies, so they couldn’t get away and alert the others without killing themselves. The hobgoblins picked up their goblin allies and carried them out of the area, sacrificing themselves so the goblins could escape and alert the stronghold. It instantly conveyed that their enemies were strategic and motivated, and now they knew the players were coming.

[@AnekinRed]

That sponsored segment was hilarious. No seriously it was.

[@jamesgraham6552]

If you combine it with Fog Cloud, your enemies can't see the spikes, are slowed down even more, can't target you with spells and effects requiring line of sight, and are forced to fire blindly. It takes two casters as they are both concentration spells, but you have one cast fog cloud first and then have the second cast spike growth- you don't need to be able to see the point on which you are centering the spike growth. This also shuts down your attacks also, so this is best for a situation where you are just trying to get away.

[@Kylora2112]

Or you blast them with AoEs that don't require sight :)

[@SophiaAphrodite]

How would this slow them more? Spike growth does require sight since it is cast on a specific point and spreads out from that point. You would have to POINT at that spot to cast it.

[@jamesgraham6552]

@@SophiaAphrodite one if the casters will have to hold their actions, so they could be cast simultaneously

[@bazs7722]

As a DM, I need to say the whole party combo is absolutely discusting and I love it. Keep it up!

[@thefrostychemist]

This is 100% the best sponsored segment I've ever seen! Whatever they're paying you, it's not enough!

[@occultnightingale1106]

Just got to use this spell against my players who walked into a Pixie Grove, and the main Pixie cast it to try to lock them down. However, later she cast Gust of Wind to push players through the spikes, but I forgot that both are concentration spells, so because of this tiny oversight, 3 of the PCs managed to stay conscious. I also fear I may have inspired my players to do exactly the same to me, because we have a lot of characters who have movement control options, so I'll be looking forward to seeing their creativity when it comes to comboing their own abilities.

[@Specter053]

There is a build I've seen around that also uses Spike Growth on a disgusting manner: Monk/Moon Druid. Turn into a beast after casting it, next turn grapple the sad fool who was able to reach the end of the minefield and keep gragging him around with the Monk's extra speed around for guaranteed damage. It can even be replicated with a Giant Ape if there are two casters working together.

[@Chris_the_Nerd]

Dip 2 levels for Rogue and you have Bonus Action Dash for even more disgusting drag damage.

[@better8655]

@@Chris_the_Nerd monk already has that at 2, at the cost of 1 ki

[@Chris_the_Nerd]

@@better8655 True, it would save a couple of levels, it's just that monks tend to want to save ki points, so I figured I'd suggest a useful two levels to grab an infinite supply of Dash.

[@SophiaAphrodite]

dragging is behind you not alongside you unless the ability states so. You are also bound by the targets limitations so if their movement is halved, so is yours for the duration you are in the spike growth since to drag is to pull something behind you.

[@SophiaAphrodite]

@@Chris_the_Nerd keep in mind you are halved while grappling AND the targets movement is halved in the spike growth. So if your movement is 30, grappled is 15, spike growth would be 5, dash would be 10. This is if you manage an athletics check to force them to move alongside you, which is not how grapple works it is written as drag, which its to pull with you, not alongside you.

[@jansolo4628]

There's a reason why any fan of the Oxventurers knows about Merliwen's Meat Grinder and how effective it was. Even without a generous reading/application of the Grease spell, placing a huge carpet of spikes is the easier way to solve a combat where melee combatants only have one path towards the party.

[@authorindisguise5173]

I came up with a Genie Warlock / Beastmaster Ranger build a while back. It takes Eldritch Adept at 1st level to get Agonizing Blast for amazing damage right off the bat. Level 4 provides a solid use for that bonus action. After Ranger 5 gives Spike Growth, Level 7 goes back to Warlock for Repelling Blast and Grasp of Hadar. Ranger the rest of the way, except one more level of warlock, if you want to. Crusher is great too, depending on when you want to get it.

[@defmod3397]

You can't take Agonizing Blast with eldritch adept even if you meet the requirements, unless your first level is in warlock. Agonizing Blast has the requirement of knowing the eldritch blast cantrip. "...you learn one Eldritch Invocation option of your choice from the warlock class. If the invocation has a prerequisite of any kind, you can choose that invocation only if you're a warlock who meets the prerequisite..."

[@raishrby]

Dao genie patron already gives spike growth at Warlock 5 off the expanded spell list, no Ranger levels needed if you want to get to warlock stuff faster! But you could totally still stick Ranger if you like the other benefits the class offers

[@jansolo4628]

@@defmod3397 Comment states "Level 4 provides a solid use for that bonus action"; combined with the statement of Beastmaster Ranger at the start and the Bonus Action requirement for commanding the beast, it's easy to conclude that Warlock was taken before even the subclass. Even more proof is that the build requires Eldritch Blast at first level for Agonizing to even have an effect, which indicates a way to get Eldritch Blast AND a level 1 feat. Ranger doesn't even get the ability to obtain cantrips until level 2, this is obviously Warlock 1 before Ranger 3. Guess what prerequisite is solved by starting with Warlock 1?

[@authorindisguise5173]

@@raishrby Huh, somehow I missed that. Probably because I haven't really made many straight warlocks. Really, a sustainable bonus action use is the motivating factor of the build. That and I thought it's cool thematically.

[@KuaEtus]

Narure clerics have spike growth, plant growth, and spirit guardians, also thorn whip, you spend everything to do it but you can do all alone 😅

[@kc2086]

Two of those are conc, but yeah. Swap SG for spiritual weapon.

[@vinspad3]

Using in tandem isn't possible for Spikes and Spirits, but it's a nice progression. It's also tough to use Plant Growth and Spirits since they're both 3rd level so using Plants and Spikes is good, then use them for CC or Spirits and Plants when you get higher level for more damage output (upcasting Spirit G is fun!) d4 has a Nature Cleric build that does great sustained damage using telekinetic, thornwhip, and all these spells to some extent. The great thing is that if you lose concentration on spike growth as a Nature Cleric you can either recast or cast Plant Growth instead. Or Spirit Guardians... Or be a regular friggen CLERIC with restoration/healing, spiritual weapon, blight, etc.

[@slimchelmi6940]

our ranger put this down in the middle of a bossfight and locked the entire team inside of the area because he thought it wouldn't affect his allies I was playing a rather tanky fighter at that time, so I was like "ONEF ORT HE TEAM" I grappled the boss and pulled him through the spikes with me for 2 turns, I was down at the end of the second turn but my party was able to finish him off before he could attack me the DM loved this so much he had a bard NPC sing about it so yeah, even if you use this spell "incorrectky" it still gets the job done ^.^'

[@SophiaAphrodite]

At least you knew how grapple works and that you drag them "with you" aka along your path.

[@mikececconi2677]

This was your very best ad break for the sponsors ever, my scaly friends. Well done.

[@allisongross2946]

I appreciate this thorough and accessible video about producing and enlarging spikes.

[@serezelveydawn]

I knew spike growth covered, like, a large area, but I never really realized how much until I saw the 8x8 grid. Like, THAT'S A LOT OF SQUARES.

[@TiberiusAudley]

I ran the Dao Genie Warlock as a Cheese Grater in a one-shot once, and it was really quite fun. Important to note, though, the PULL Eldritch Invocation can only be done ONCE ON YOUR TURN, but the SHOVE Eldritch Invocation can be done whenever you hit. Crusher for the extra 5 to keep them on the far edge is very helpful. Build is definitely called the Cheese Grater though since it's just dragging them back and forth over the sharp edges and shredding them to bits.

[@jonah4196]

Have a wizard cast fly on one of the strong characters, they grapple an enemy, and drag them through the spikes at 60 ft per round, 120 ft with a dash on later rounds. Even better if you have a sorcerer with twinned spell

[@zeroswat1762]

I found one of the strongest combos with spike growth was just having a graviturgy wizard on the team past lvl 6 or at higher levels with their with magic missile. Every time you hit with a spell attack or some one fails a save you can move them 5ft to an unoccupied space. Magic missile auto hits 3x as a first lvl casting. You automatically deal 9d4+3 damage, no rolls, as well as positioning them deeper into it. If some one else hits a plant growth… well they better fly or dig or something cause that’s game over for anything in there. Also a gravity wizard can no save reduce a creatures speed… at the cost of helping their strength checks, but it might be better to use ray of frost early, before the gravity wizard and Druid put monsters through a cheese grater

[@ShadowLink38]

Magic Missile isn't an attack as it doesn't have an attack roll or specify otherwise so the specific combo you mentioned doesn't work. However, a spell like Scorching Ray would work so there are still some good options.

[@zeroswat1762]

@@ShadowLink38 had to double check, both the ability and rulings… your technically right… but, a lot of the graviturgy spells are insane at movement control, and later.. a spell like sickening radiance where every turn every creature is subject to a save, on a fail… bad things… and get pulled 5ft back to the center of a cracked nuclear reactor

[@hyko8355]

Spike growth isn't a square area.Its a sphere so its not 8x8. Great Video as usual!! Defenitely going to try with my artificer and the spell tattoo, for context I am going to play in an airship adventure and we expect ship combat. Now try to man your ship when every plank on deck stab you and prevent you from moving.

[@Nullermanden]

This means it is possible to affect multiple floors I believe.

[@PackTactics]

A sphere is a square in dnd 5e if you actually look into it.

[@Nullermanden]

@@PackTactics Weird, why not show it as such on the maps? Anyway I find it very confusing that they would use this incorrect terminology when they have introduced the option to have abilities in cubes.

[@hyko8355]

@@PackTactics I wonder in which page of what book then.

[@FellFromGlory]

@@hyko8355 Math. Since diagonals are as long as horizontal etc movement spheres become squares.

[@thornangel16]

Fun fact: If you have a party member who is either a Wizard or an Artificer and they cast Grease before you cast Spike Growth, and what you’ll get is something the KZbin channel Outside Extra refers to as “Merilwen’s Meat Grinder.” Those poor armored knights.

[@SophiaAphrodite]

Seems fun but not really useful. The issue here is the spikes would be covered in the grease since it comes up from the ground beneath. Plus you only fall prone so you do not take more damage. Movement restrictions are also not stacked. So all you do is add a dex check and I would say half damage from the greasy spikes being slippery. It only has a 10' radius as well. The kinds of enemies you would stack those on would just jump out of the way. Casting it ahead of time is clever but the grease is visible.

[@Redtail45044]

I'm a nature cleric in my party. We have a druid of the Spores that, through training, learned Plant growth. I know Spike Growth. I can learn Spirit Guardian-if not through the skill tree, through the local clergy. Things are about to get interesting when it comes to the town defense we have planned.

[@SophiaAphrodite]

They are all mobility restrictions. They don't stack.

[@elijahlunder135]

The Ad was one of my favorite you've done ever please keep up the good work!

[@manofrutifero4129]

05:45 at this point I hope you and your public know, but if no: barbarians have resistance to physical damage, magic or non-magic, have resistance.

[@dwreanchinotan]

as a thought, if you need to move through an area covered in spike growth, dm or pc, you might want to consider taking an *improvised action* to avoid the spikes or just bull rush through it if you have the hit points (also can enable jumping so you're not moving along the ground). if you take the time to set up a perception check, on the next turn you could make several jumps in and through the spike field as you spot clear spots to jump and run through.

[@cooperton4949]

Yeah. It's a spell. There are no clear spots. You should take the damage no matter how you move through it (I guess jumping avoids some, but you can't jump too far without running 10' first)

[@torber85]

As a DM I would reward good spell use of my players, not make them pointless and needlessly annoy the party.

[@cademiksek6769]

The sketch with gator made me laugh way too hard. Great video as always!

[@TheScottishKayaker]

You can also throw regular caltrops in the mix that will reduce the affected creatures movement spead until it takes healing which will be hard to get with everything else going into this you know incase you have a sneaky rogue who wants to contribute

[@skeepodoop5197]

You can also play an Aarakocra/Rogue with maxed out and expertise in grappling to basically do a Ridley.

[@maxaraykin]

Great video! A minor note for Plant Growth: it affects plants *already* in that area. Meaning that this would not work in a place where plants are missing (a dungeon or sandy desert, for example) or on roads, since plants near the road wouldn't grow on the actual road, unless I am misinterpreting the spell's description

[@Keyce0013]

This is a good point. Plant Growth only affects normal plants in a 100ft radius so it shouldn't affect Spike Growth.

[@Willow-Eversong]

I love it whenever my players decide to use spike growth. During the campaign they figured out they could use grasping vine in combo. The fey wanderer ranger casts Spike growth, and the nature cleric uses grasping vine. It was some of the best low-level crowd control I've ever seen.

[@jinxtheunluckypony]

Spike Growth is so much fun to play around with. Easily one of my favorite spells.

[@robertnett9793]

Ah yes. The humble D4... the only object in the known universe that can - carelessly forgotten, or fiendishly placed - inflict as much pain as a LEGO brick

[@renegadeangel3272]

I'm surprised that you didn't include Lance of Lethargy in the warlock build. It reduces the target's movement speed by 10ft per hit. Even at 3rd level, you knock someone back 10ft with repelling blast and reduce their movement by 10 ft. With difficult terrain, they can only move 10ft forward unless they dash which eats their action and deals them damage. As well, the Metamagic adept feat allows anyone who can cast spike growth to quicken it and start their push and pull combo early. You can only do it once per long rest, but if you are the only one in your party with forced movement abilities it is worth at least looking at. I had never thought of the crusher combo with my current warlock (Dao genie) and I'm going to have to try that one out. Thanks.

[@rachdarastrix5251]

Spike Growth? Hey isn't that the one that everyone tells me "Why do you mine for iron? Just use spike growth!"

[@prokev1995]

My favourite combo for this is with the Ranger - Swarmkeeper: Once on each of your turns, you can cause the swarm to assist you in one of the following ways, immediately after you hit a creature with an attack: - The attack’s target must succeed on a Strength saving throw against your spell save DC or be moved by the swarm up to 15 feet horizontally in a direction of your choice.

[@SpiderWaffle]

The best forced movement is of course the broken spell conjure animals. If your DM lets you pick, you can get 8 Constrictor Snakes with +4 to hit that inflicts grapple and restrained with DC 14 to escape, they can move 30 feet for 30 average damage on the edge of the spike growth and dash for 60 damage on subsequent damage.

[@stefankroon4615]

Nite: this spell is only this good when your DM consistently forgets many creatures can jump out without taking a single point of damage.

[@stegilsaurus]

I feel like most dms forget you can just jump. Even if it takes multiple jumps, it’s way less damage if the creature has the option to jump out. The worst is when they are being pushed and pulled via spells and cantrips

[@joshmeyer8172]

To be fair, it's highly likely that your DM has no idea what the written rules for jumping are. How many times have you been asked to make an athletics/acrobatics check to jump over a 5 ft chasm, with a running start. Even if your DM makes use of long jump, the creatures will have to make an acrobatics check every time they land in the spike growth or fall prone. And since they'll have to make standing long jumps to avoid damage, they can probably only jump 7-8 ft at a time. AFAIK there's no explicit rule about jumping out of difficult terrain. So if your DM is mean, they might rule that creatures do not suffer the movement penalty while using standing long jumps to move around in spike growth. On the other hand, the spell description doesn't specify how high the spike growth is. So if your DM is nice, they might rule that spike growth qualifies as a "low obstacle", and attempting to long jump over it requires an athletics check. And if they fail, they still take damage. If your DM rules that spike growth is high enough, then jumping might not even be an option for weaker enemies. RAW, you can only clear obstacles "no taller than a quarter of the jump’s distance". So a creature with a STR of 12 can only standing long jump 6 ft at a time. So if spike growth is more than 1.5 ft tall, then they wouldn't be able to long jump over it at all.

[@stegilsaurus]

As a dm I do make you roll to even attempt to jump over the low obstacle, failing so counts as you jumping into the brush in front of you still taking the damage. Landing prone is only a negative if a melee is in range. The wizard at my table quite often lays prone after his turn to grab cover and give range disadvantage. So I have always seen prone as a give and take

[@stegilsaurus]

Also to be fair, making the thorns a low obstacle is making the spell even stronger, which you have to be careful with. My normal ruling with spells is it does no more and no less than it states in the spell description unless you can make a valid argument that it makes logical sense. Which is how thorns became a low obstacle at my table.

[@wolvenedge6214]

Dao Warlocks get this. Add in their Dao Wrath ability, which lets them tack impact damage onto any damage instance, and the Crusher feat, and you can, once per turn, just add impact damage to anything and force movement in the spike zone. ... Or just have Repelling Blast and/or Grasp of Hadar as part of your Invocation kit. Or even both; the more movement you can force, the more damage you deal. Ask your party bard to keep Dissonant Whispers on hand. Edit; Well, this is what I get for commenting during the ad rather than watching all the way through first...

[@samuelbroad11]

nice repetition! But yeah, dissonant whispers is total ace-pants no matter what level, even just for AoO for allies.

[@tkc1129]

As a former barbarian, I can confirm that taking a little bit of damage every turn can be good to keep your rage going.

[@peterbillings3276]

The same day this video came out, my party just happened to cast *Spike Growth* for the first time, during a combat in which my cleric (who happens to have Crusher) also cast *Spirit Guardians* for the first time. It was a slaughter. Our Bard also has *Dissonant Whispers* which she could have used to make the enemy run through the area, but it didn’t come to that. We didn’t plan our party this way on purpose-we just stumbled into this …obscene… combo, and I love it. 😁

[@shirkingviolet6018]

Personal favorite combo is Melora's yo-yo, where you use Swarmkeeper's gathered swarm with Thorn whip and telekinetic to truely push/pull your enemies into oblivion.

[@1033515]

Fun self-combo: A wildfire druid at level 6 can cast Thorn Whip originating from their Wildfire Spirit, who is hanging out inside the area of the Spike Growth. Then as a bonus action the spirit teleports 15 feet away (ideally at least 5-10 feet up as well) and forces the save vs. the spirit's fire damage.

[@crunchevo8974]

the wildfire spirit doesn't have fly by so sometimes positioning is a bit rough. but this is an awesome combo for sure. and spike growth doesn't get destroyed like web does

[@boitata2617]

5:45 barbarians are resistent to piercing damage regardless of whether it's magical or not, besides monsters that are resistant or immune to non magical phisical damage specify that the resistance only applies to non magical weapons, so spells and even terrain damage (like fall damage or rockslide) probably bypasses it, so you could argue it is basically magic piercing

[@realdragon]

Didn't undrstand anything, 10/10 would recommend video

[@klydewithak9456]

I built a character I like to call the the Spikelocker. It's a spike growth warlock ranger build. Usually there is no mechanical benefit for doing it but if you have a spike growth set up it'll deal tons of damage. Not to mention you can pull them in or push them in (don't forget at higher levels you get multiple beams and can take the reduce movement speed by 10). I like taking horizon walker so you can teleport around avoiding damage and you'll get to attack a third time with an eldritch blast

[@comet.x]

spike growth my beloved. cheese grater builds are just so fun! Especially with daolock

[@itsprobablym3509]

My friends and I just killed a group of 30 orcs with spike growth. Super good spell, (lvl 3 circle of spores kobold druid btw) I killed 8 at once because my dm ruled that standing up from being prone counted as 5 ft of movement , and any overlapping spike growth (my cleric also has it) does double damage but the terrain remains as there were 1 spike growth. Great session and I can't wait for the next one

[@SpiderWaffle]

Grapple dragging back and forth along the edge of the spike growth is the best way to use the spell. You can do 1/2 damage for ever foot of movement speed. Potions or speed or spells like haste or using mounts (depending how drag while mounted is ruled, there's a void in the rules there) or the tabaxi / psi warrior double speed options can get you to insane movement speed for insane damage very quickly.

[@duncanmassey2099]

The ad for Only Crits made me laugh. Well done Kobold.

[@Redacted_Ruler]

A cool combo is this spell and lightning lure. You can force them through the entire field at once.

[@HadaHarabaz]

I'm a Kor Horizon Walker Ranger in our ravenloft campaign. The number of times we have used this to cover our flank or between us and the enemies is more than I thought I could get out of a level 2 spell.

[@jasonreed7522]

Kobald, you should do a video on optimized evil PCs. It would be start with an outline of what an evil PC's goal is (helping the party, not having cover blown to authorities). A sample move is casting wall of fire with intent to burn down areas like forrests, ships, and mansions while trapping enemies inside the naturally burning area. (You may want to loot a mansion before burning it down with the BBEG inside, that way the treasure isn't heavily damaged and you can confirm the BBEG is inside) Bonus points for team casting it to get a longer wall of fire.

[@RaderizDorret]

A Way of the Empty Hand monk also combos well. With Empty Hand Technique, a failed STR save against Flurry of Blows pushes an enemy back 15 feet which means the Monk can patrol the edge of the Spike Growth Zone and punt enemies that are about to escape right back into the zone.

[@texteel]

I used it in a 15th level siege scenario. 3 PCs, and 3 squads of soldiers. Clockwork soul casts wall of force at an angle. Mage squad casts wall of force at an angle. paladin with dao levels casts spike growth. The 2 angles WoF-s funneled the incoming army into the growth, giving us time (that was somewhat wasted) and every enemy appeared missing 15 hitpoints

[@Reddotzebra]

And people keep asking me why I love gnome druids so much. "Because Tabaxi druids are brokenly overpowered."

[@BunnyCrypt]

Bro you cant just bully gator like that, hes precious :(

[@dominikzara5248]

My group once played an all-cleric oneshot. I usually DM so i enjoyed the hell out of Forge cleric with heavy armor master. We were in a cave about to be ambused by a group of basilisks (we were level 5 i think). I turned to my sister who played nature domain and told her to cast SG in the middle of the four of us, we closed our eyes and we stood our ground. Basilisks were at or bellow half health by the second round, the entire combat lasted about ten minutes with our combination of spirit guardians, this spell, and some other spells from our holy arsenal

[@nesh7288]

Almost at 50k, congrats dude

[@bobhihih]

I had a party I ran with, they were attacked by a group of barbarians. The druid cast spike growth with the party in the center. The party Barbarian(we'll call TB) then commanded the Rope of Climbing to tie around leader barbarian's leg. TB then proceeded to swing them around in a circle, dragging them along the ground through the spikes. Took a few turns, but ended up shredding leader's health within a turn.

[@fredxvi]

That is the most hilarious add read I have seen in a while. Did you just wip gator at d4's . . . I love it

[@terry_the_terrible]

With enough kobolds, the survivors can just cross over the corpses

[@CivilWarMan]

The Druid in my CoS group used Spike Growth to great effect against the vampire spawn fight in Vallaki. Laid down Spike Growth, the spawn took a bunch of damage crossing it, Scourge Aasimar Paladin (me) and Zealot Barbarian dealt radiant damage to stop regen, then the Druid cast Thunderstep to push them back through the spikes for both thunder and more piercing damage. The three of us managed to take out all 6 spawn at level 4, and most of the damage done to the party was my Paladin cooking himself with Radiant Consumption. Spike Growth was definitely mvp in that fight.

[@ContagiousRepublic]

This is 56 or so damage walking thru such an area diagonally. With a natural obstacle like a cliff, and or some fence built out of basically earth bending on the other side, you can make a stampede ALL take 56 average damage thru a corridor WITH NO SAVE unless they're ghosts and move thru stuff or something. .....and now we know what Tucker's Kobolds want for their 2nd level spell slot! FOR KOB-SPARTA!!

[@dominicspagnol8765]

I did that exact maneuver with a warlock. I planted the spike growth, and shoved using telekinetic and he used eldritch blasts to move the creatures (that specifically needed to get 20ft of run up for a scary charge attack) and we annihilated that encounter. The dpr was easily 50, and the dm kinda deflated when spike growth showed up

[@crowstreaming]

Ah spike growth, the only spell you could flavor as throwing a bunch of d4s on the ground and have it be accurate.

[@rsparks1104]

I think it's REALLY worth noting that you can drag creatures as part of grappling. RAW, unless the grappler is two or more sizes larger than the creature they're trying to drag, they move at half speed. What's really interesting to me about the way that's worded is that the creature is moved "with you," and since grappling doesn't change their position relative to you, i.e., dragging them inside your square, it seems like you can kind of keep them at arm's length while doing it. Why does this matter? Because if you can get arbitrarily high movement speed, you can use spike growth to translate that directly into damage. 2.25 damage per 5 feet of movement, or 5 if you're super big/they're super small. It's an engine that lets you turn move speed builds, which are already crazy powerful and can get insane numbers, into insane damage. There's a TON of ways to get really high movespeed, too, but just as an example, you can have a druid cast spike growth, a paladin use find greater steed to summon a pegasus, grant that pegasus haste, and command it to grapple a creature. If it succeeds, it can drag that creature, at no damage to itself, since it can stay outside the spike growth area, (or fly over it,) back and forth across the spikes for 90 ft. base flying speed x 2 from Haste for 180 ft., another 180 from dash, another 180 from dashing with the Haste action, for a total of 540, halved to 270 due to the grapple slow, for a total of fucking 145d4, or an average of 362.5 magical piercing damage. Three hundred. Sixty two. Damage. In one fucking turn. With a combo that requires two spellcasters around level 7. And like I said, there's dozens of ways to get really high movespeed, at all stages of the game. This spell is insane. The reason it's so powerful, by the way, is because unlike basically any other effect in the game that locks down an area with damage, (I'm sure it's not the only one, but I can't think of any counter-examples,) it A: works with forced movement, and B: triggers multiple times a turn. Almost any other spell that does something similar has a line about "the first time a creature enters this square on a turn" or something like that. Spike growth doesn't.

[@Sephiroth36977]

I liked the video just for making a frequently requested review, but then you made Gator go through the spikes and well... I can only like the video once. 👍 👍 👍 👍 👍

[@FurnaxIkki]

Been doing a campaign with a few friends. Built Morgott from Elden Ring based on a video guide by Tulok & Mango. Saw that they could use Spike Growth as a Druid, and I figured it was appropriate due to the Golden Order's association with trees. I have used Spike Growth on two separate occasions. On both those occasions it pretty much single-handedly won us fights because all the enemies charged ahead and died from stepping on legos.

[@OneKnightGaming]

I noticed you had caltrops in the thumb image and was waiting to hear about throwing those cheap items along with ball bearings into the combo. xD

[@BeaglzRok1]

We cheese-grated a boss with Spike Growth. Had the Echo Barbarian multiclass with Crusher in melee with the single enemy. Literally played ping-pong with himself using Crusher push each turn. The only way it could get more cheese-grating is if the DM rules you can use your movement to drag a grappled creature without actually leaving your space, so you just use a Dash action with your Barbarian speed and get 8 squares worth of spinning (since your movement is halved when dragging a grappled creature). Is it better than just making your two attacks? I haven't done the math, but 16d4 with no save is probably better than two attacks with a chance to miss, or worse two attacks at advantage that give all attacks against you advantage as well.

[@sofiacalado8836]

Im playing my first game as a Nature Domain Cleric and this spell immediately gave us great control over the first encounter. One of them was inside a tent and failed the save so he walked 5 feet before realizing the damage, it was great and definitely discouraged them from approaching

[@Wash-tq7ed]

I had a Kobold Druid who single-handedly held off an orc siege of a city using this spell, it’s such a good spell!

[@strix4609]

I have Ranger 6 atm, that uses spike growth to control the battlefield. Ennemies often struggle out of the spikes, stacking themselves on the edge of the area... To get caught by my quiver of lightning bolt. The combo between both is awesome !

[@giraffedragon6110]

As a Ranger, this spell has helped us a lot before. I’ve had the best luck using it as a denial tactic. Keeping foes away from certain areas or punishing them for going invisible and trying to sneak away. Though now I want to work together with my party to create the ultimate FU full caster by combining it with silence. Most casters can escape this or silence but not both! The only casters that I think could consistently escape this are Druids and sorcerers.

[@daltondavidson7997]

Dang I didn't think about how big of a deal Spike Growth plus Plant Growth and Spirit Guardians would be. Literally immobilize any enemy.

[@joshuanovack480]

One time in a 3v3 PvP arena I casted plant growth+ erupting earth(basically a worse fireball with difficult terrain) for a similar combo. 2 of the opposing players were 100% melee and they simply did not get to play because the GM made the arena huge. The last player was an archer with a 10 foot fly speed but a wind wall shut them down until our warlock was able to blast them down. It was a total stomp of 3 casters versus 3 martials all in all.

[@PregnantOrc]

Spike Growth was the corner stone for my Warforged Druid and the combo was almost the same but as Tasha's was not out I used Thunderwave instead of Telekinetic to move enemies away to complement Thorn Whips pull. Not as good but a good replacement for a PHB only version. 2d8 damage and a 10ft push with a save, for half damage and no push, to enemies in a 15-ft cube effect for a first level slot lines up well to keep them from reaching you and breaking Spike Growths concentration. That's without the damage from the two squares of Spike Growth. Save is Constitution so it has it's limitations but it's not the worst and against multiple enemies odds are some will still fail and suffer the full effect.

[@tridentgreen3346]

Definitely something I’m now considering on my Fey Wanderer, I have a Hexblade in the party who I might be able to convince to grab Repelling.

[@swapertxking]

recently my ranger was tasked with stopping the arrival of an undead army, we found a chokepoint where they were had to move through otherwise spend 8 weeks going around the mountains. the total damage total was 783 damage, the amount of bodies clogged the pass so that it stopped the army in its track when their forward scouts of zombies became shredded.

[@corvent62]

I was not ready for 4:34 "Kobold I can't walk anymore"