The Best & Worst Cantrips in D&D

[@DnDShorts]

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[@llllllllllllllllllll474]

Hello there, 59 seconds? W

[@theheroofmagicical628]

Nerd

[@GravenAshes]

Thanks for the shout out man! It was a lot of fun working on this episode with you!

[@NalutM]

you forgot to mention that while friend needs 1 action to cast, "banging your mom" is a free action

[@matthewhosking1116]

this was the greatest sponsor segment ever done on youtube, DND ISNT REALLLL

[@ceasarg.5158]

I remember one time our party was arrested and stuck in a max security prison and I spent a number of days memorizing the shape and appearance of the wardens keys with a LOT of checks and eventually was able to use Prestidigitatiom to replicate the keys and escape.

[@kiranaun9593]

What kind of max security prison doesn't have an antimagic field lol

[@lberghaus]

@@kiranaun9593I don’t have any anti-magic fields in my D&D games at all.

[@kiranaun9593]

@@lberghaus Not very max security, then. Any wizard worth their salt would have that shit up perpetually.

[@smippycis6285]

@@kiranaun9593 Fr "Dimension DOORRR"

[@Jaster69]

@@kiranaun9593As a wizard player, you are actually so right lol. I flat out tell my teammates I have 3 different ways to escape and dip out if shit hits the fan. Which is why in my world I use an anti magic/magic dampener metal, plus cover the caster’s eyes, plus special manacles that restrict movement of the fingers, plus cover the casters ears, plus lock them in a completely black room, and then finally chain up the rest of their bodies to that room. Max mage jail

[@arcticbanana66]

I once had a character get rich off of Prestidigitation. This was back in the mid-2000s, 3.5 Edition, campaign started at level 1, I built a Wizard and put the majority of my skill points into Craft and Profession skills. At level 3 I took the Craft Wondrous Item Feat, and used the money I'd been saving to buy a small shop where I crafted items enchanted with Prestidigitation (and a few items with other cantrips like Light or Mending): self-lighting candles and lanterns, self-cleaning clothes, plates and bowls that keep food warm, tankards that keep drinks cold, forks and spoons that flavor food, and so on. I retired that character since they'd achieved their life goal, and created a new one to replace them. A few levels later, the party is now fairly well-known, and the DM actually brought that character back, now a very wealthy and respected business owner, as the party's NPC patron who bankrolled his old companion's adventures. Honestly, with Prestidigitation and Mending, I'm surprised there aren't more Wizard-operated laundromats.

[@HaiconiusMaximus]

Welkome to Eberron .

[@cabbage_cat]

When the DM brings back old character or better yet, retired player character, it's so wholesome Must've been a fun world

[@MakinItRain24-7]

Blade ward is one of those cantrips with so much potential but then you realize it costs an Action. What if it was like a reaction you take when , but ended on the start of your next turn, kinda like Shield but for damage reduction and not using a spell slot. Maybe that would be broken, but that alone would fix it

[@theodoreharrold9875]

Yeah, blade ward is only useful with certain subclasses like E Knight, which can attack after casting a cantrip and even then its niche

[@tommyeliassen2071]

While it might prove a pain to track, what if it was a reaction and gave you resistance to 1 attack, but followed the scaling of other cantrips to eventually resist two attacks, then 3, then 4? I think that could be pretty neat.

[@muditjohar5323]

@@tommyeliassen2071soooo, just a better rogue’s uncanny dodge? Yes let’s buff casters even more by giving them a cantrip as good as a martials best defensive feature smh

[@5AMACE]

Earth genasi can cast it as a bonus action and so anyone can become a pseudo barbarian and yeah, it's as op as it sounds. Your version is also pretty overpowered, especially at early levels where you don't have enough spell slots to always cast shield or you play a warlock or other casters with no access to shield. There's a reason it's a level 5 rogue feature and not just a cantrip.

[@Okisanokayname]

Blade ward works well as an alternative to dodge. The issue is the dodge action outclasses blade ward in damage negation until tier 3, so its pretty bad seeing as it takes up a cantrip slot. Earth genasi get it as a bonus action tho, thats great!

[@woodrobin]

Yeah, the original idea of Dancing Lights was to create decoys to deceive enemies into thinking your party is going down a hallway or on a path outdoors when you're not. So it wasn't ever meant to be used to light your way, but rather to lure opponents into wasting an ambush on the fake party. It was enough light to muddle darkvision so that creatures couldn't be sure if there were actually people holding the "torches" or not. So, Light was "Here I am!" to darkvision opponents, and Dancing Lights was "There I am!"

[@DavidAndrews-eb7gm]

100%. Posted already before reading yours but fully in agreement. There is no way Dancing Lights appears on any ‘worst cantrips list’ except by fundamentally misunderstanding its purpose and potential utility. Issue is the same as Chill Touch and Find Traps. Not really dancing and the lights’ purpose are not primarily as a source of illumination to aid vision.

[@Katwind]

Yes, but they also can be useful as a visual aid because, to hit at a distance, you only need to see your target. Which is a situation where a ranged spell is better, while Light has a range of 'touch'.

[@TheOriginalKZero]

@Katwind touch rock, throw rock. Sadly two actions, but if not in combat yet light is quite mobile.

[@Katwind]

@@TheOriginalKZero The range range and unattachment to physical objects can also be useful out of combat. I used it as a beacon one time the party got separated in the wild and we couldn't find each other, another time to make fake will-o-wisps as a distraction, but mostly just to see without having to illuminate myself because I was a human rogue and I needed a light while also sneaking 😅.

[@Katwind]

Also, on the first example you may have more than one target so having four lights that can separate is nice. Still not among the best cantrips, but not among the worst ones either.

[@RETRODIBUS]

One of my favourite interactions with Green Flame Blade is that you can target yourself with the secondary damage, then cast Absorb Elements as a reaction and gain extra damage next turn on top of another Green Flame Blade

[@Xorrin]

Seems like a waste of reaction and spellslot

[@casteanpreswyn7528]

​@Xorrin is it a waste? Probably. Is it funny as hell? Absolutely. Lol

[@RETRODIBUS]

@@casteanpreswyn7528 exactly my point

[@cyancybershock]

d4 deep dive?

[@RETRODIBUS]

@@cyancybershock you know it!

[@Ondrix]

Taking inspiration from the mention of poison, you could also do the opposite and flavor somthing to taste like it had been poisoned to cause panic as a distraction.

[@Nixrubin]

Make it taste like poison, and you "saved" that king, queen, bandit lord, ect. Now your a "hero".

[@scrubyt2668]

I would actually argue that Prestidigitation is the best Cantrip in the game if you are creative with it. It has been the cause behind some of my favorite character moments and most memorable character quirks

[@Soul93Taker]

Yes but then again, it relies on the player's creativity which not everyone has in high measure, and a DM that allows for whatever you come up with which may not always be the case. The rest on the other hand do their thing regularly with no need of varying factors. And eldritch blast is fun af especially if you start as a fighter to get action surge

[@jackmclean4120]

In a fairly recent session, I used it alongside Minor Illusion to distract a guard by creating what I described as 'a really fucked up goat'

[@Dresden_Nova]

I once had a Bard spend a full day studying a set of keys to steal what ended up being a divine artifact of a Trickster god using prestidigitation. It was amazing

[@ASVASV]

Honorable mention Chill Touch. A week ago in our campaign I denied the boss's second phase thanks to this cantrip

[@Maninawig]

I rememeber a decent argument for Dancing Lights: Darkvision states you see dim light as bright light. So if you are fighting an enemy without darkvision, the dim light disadvantage would only apply to the enemy.

[@gaelofariandel6747]

Came here to say this

[@Elipso-jx3td]

itd only be perception though not very useful still

[@Maninawig]

@@Elipso-jx3td perception, or lack thereof, is what gives you disadvantage on attacks.

[@ColonelMustache]

@@ManinawigThat’s not true. Being blinded (including total darkness) gives you disadvantage on attack rolls and causes you to automatically fail perception checks that rely on sight. Dim light gives you disadvantage on perception checks but does not affect attack rolls.

[@biggaymike1983]

@@ColonelMustache Blindness is also not a cantrip though, and dimmer light is less likely to get noticed in mixed light areas which can be handy for sneaking (where you'll probably be going slower anyway), but in general, I agree that DL as written sucks (I homebrewed my own version for the one player that really wanted it over Light)

[@dylanmcgregor6496]

Dancing Lights can be moved, that's one of its biggest advantages and what it is made for. I've had a player use this spell to laser designate targets for other players, read things in the dark at range, and light up rooms through keyholes. It's more useful than people give it credit for.

[@wyattprice9364]

the original idea of Dancing Lights was to create decoys to deceive enemies into thinking your party is going down a hallway or on a path outdoors when you're not. So it wasn't ever meant to be used to light your way, but rather to lure opponents into wasting an ambush on the fake party. It was enough light to muddle darkvision so that creatures couldn't be sure if there were actually people holding the "torches" or not.

[@dallenlofgreen5331]

The one time Dancing Lights was useful: Our DM set our low-level party against a shadow creature that was immobilized by any light. Two of us used Dancing Lights to pin the creature in place while the rest of the party wailed on it. The DM was so pissed because he thought the spell was useless.

[@wyattprice9364]

the original idea of Dancing Lights was to create decoys to deceive enemies into thinking your party is going down a hallway or on a path outdoors when you're not. So it wasn't ever meant to be used to light your way, but rather to lure opponents into wasting an ambush on the fake party. It was enough light to muddle darkvision so that creatures couldn't be sure if there were actually people holding the "torches" or not.

[@Sarkhan69]

or just have one person cast light. less turns wasted and you get better light.

[@andyyoo8018]

Something you probably don’t hear enough, is that your ad-reads are amazing! This is one of the only channels I don’t skip the ads.

[@LorcanaTCGcast]

word

[@ShinGallon]

I abuse the hell out of Guidance in Baldur's Gate 3. I literally never do any checks without it if it's an option and I make sure at least one party member has it at all times. And given my love for environmental kills in video games I give Wyll Repelling Blast ASAP on every playthrough. I love giving enemies free flying lessons. Prestidigitation is the cantrip I'd want most to have iRL, and since one of my characters is a kobold who's a bit of a fusspot regarding dirt/grime/gross stuff in general I get a lot of RP use out of it.

[@thepip3599]

I played a noble who was digusted by the poor and after shaking a poor person's hand he created a handkerchief with prestidigitation, wiped his hand, and then tossed it aside where it disappeared in a poof of smoke. He could have just cleaned his hand with prestidigitation, but he was making a point

[@ShinGallon]

@@thepip3599 Yeah, Prestidigitation is such a great RP cantrip for things like that.

[@Reepicheep-1]

Pair Friends with M's Hound in a small space. WHEN target becomes hostile, Hound will use them as a chew toy, with no defense.

[@carsonrush3352]

Friends is excellent for intimidation.

[@generalskittles8354]

I'd like to have shocking grasp and an honorable mention, 1D8 lightning damage is pretty high for a can trip and a not super common resistance, advantage on targets wearing armor made of metal and most importantly the target cannot take reactions until the start of hits next turn which means no shield spell or opportunity attacks.

[@DavidAndrews-eb7gm]

Agreed. Add Distant or Subtle spell for extra utility that is often well worth expending 1 Sorcery point on a cantrip.

[@roguebarbarian9133]

The issue is its range of touch. Very few spellcasters want to be within grabbing range of an enemy.

[@DavidAndrews-eb7gm]

Hence the metamagic upgrades. Silent Spell as a surprise attack that you can pretend wasn’t your doing if you role play it well enough and Distant Spell lets you nullify a reaction by any target within 30’. It’s such an overpowered effect that they nerfed it in the 2024 ruleset.

[@derekhandson351]

I must have overlooked that reaction part because I always dismissed this spell due to the touch range

[@DavidAndrews-eb7gm]

Action: casts Shocking Grasp with advantage on the armoured combatant who somehow slipped past the front liners. Movement: runs 30’ feet (no opportunity attack) behind fully armoured life cleric. Bonus action: flips bird and hurls an insult pun that includes the words ‘sparky’, ‘shock’ and ‘enlightening’.

[@reynastrange2828]

Eldritch Blast + Bladesinger Extra Attack + Action Surge + Quicken Spell = Way more attacks than anyone else

[@UninterestingPedant]

Don’t forget to have Haste going too!

[@theparkkeeper8659]

You don't get to cast a cantrip per attack with Blade Singers extra attack do you? I've never heard of something like that.

[@reynastrange2828]

@@theparkkeeper8659 You’re right, you don’t get a cantrip per attack. But you do get to replace one of your attacks with a cantrip, and if you have Eldritch Blast (and are level 6 which is the minimum level for Bladesinger Extra Attack as I’m sure you know) then you effectively make multiple attacks with that one replacement. So it is, unfortunately, not all Eldritch Blast, but it is more rolls it hit than you’d get otherwise

[@Stratocumulus25]

@@theparkkeeper8659 Extra Attack 6th-level Bladesinging feature You can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn. Moreover, you can cast one of your cantrips in place of one of those attacks.

[@UninterestingPedant]

@@theparkkeeper8659 Per “Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything,” Bladesinger’s 6th Level “Extra Attack” subclass feature reads as follows: “You can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn. Moreover, you can cast one of your cantrips in place of one of those attacks.”

[@rhodes3983]

I once used Prestidigitation to create images in my character's hand while he was explaining something to an NPC

[@TechnicalTactician]

I did the same thing but with our group, it literally let's a person make hand sized holograms

[@HoradeFidges]

Same, we nedeed to to find a given person from among a group, while the only npc that knew who the target was couldn't be seen, so I just memorized the faces of the 5 people, and proceeded to make hand sized statues of them, showing them one by one until the npc picked the right one.

[@deathiscoming7]

Bless doesn't affect any ability checks at any point in the minute it is active.

[@Samboy64]

I came down here to comment the same thing

[@uni123369]

and last 1 minute

[@davidstratton696]

Yea I was saying that too. He was probably thinking of the peace cleric’s bond feature (if I remember that affects ability checks it’s been awhile).

[@The8BitDrummer]

Dude, your videos are fantastic! I was looking through different videos looking for bard tips and I found your channel. I have been watching nonstop XD. Keep on being awesome!

[@DnDShorts]

Dude your stuff kicks ass!! I have a masters degree in percussion performance from Newcastle University and have composed the music for 80s inspired arcade games on famitracker - it’s like your content was custom made for me to be addicted to haha

[@troperhghar9898]

Presdidigition and druidcraft really should just come normal with thier class rather then need a cantrip slot

[@theubiquitouspotato]

And thaumaturgy.

[@troperhghar9898]

@@theubiquitouspotato aaaand thaumaturgy, thank you

[@kenroach5469]

Unfortunately, OneD&D takes the "Mask of the Wild" racial ability away from wood elves and replaces it with the Druidcraft cantrip.

[@troperhghar9898]

@kenroach5469 "mask of the wild" that's the one that let's wood elves hide in forrest terrain, right? Or am I thinking of a different feature

[@russianbear0027]

​@@troperhghar9898 irrc it lets them hide in any natural terrain

[@ryanedgerton9664]

Genuinely surprised there was no mention of Chill Touch in this list -- feel like it should've been somewhere in the top 5 best cantrips, considering it outright prevents healing and regen on hit while also doing damage and having a bonus effect vs undead.

[@GravenAshes]

We considered it as an honorable mention but it’s just a bit too niche. The damage is alright and if you aren’t fighting a lot of undead or creatures that heal you won’t get much mileage out of its rider feature. There’s not a whole lot of creature that heal themselves baseline. Now some DMs may use undead and creatures that heal themselves a lot but just as many don’t. In the situations where it’s useful chill touch is incredible. But outside of that it’s a rather underwhelming damage cantrip

[@Nymaz]

Bonus, if you gain it from playing a Death Cleric, you get to target two opponents (they have to be within 5 ft of each other, tho).

[@DavidAndrews-eb7gm]

Not just creatures that heal themselves. Healing spells from allies, potions, medical kit interventions, goodberries. Rules as written all healing full stop. Criminally under-rated spell effect.

[@GravenAshes]

@@DavidAndrews-eb7gm Yeah that's what i meant by creatures that heal themselves. I'll grant you the healing spells from allies but outside of that I don't remember the last time I saw a DM throw a villain at us that used health potions. If your DM does that a lot, then this spell is amazing but if not, then...not.

[@Subject_Keter]

​@@GravenAshes Idk why but I thought of "oh hey this spell instantly locks any target out from Flying but if your DM doesnt use any flying monsters, it no good" like bruh. Imagine just instant locking a dragon out of flying mid flight and watching them crash. 😂

[@RaethFennec]

Other people have already posted fantastic justifications for Dancing Lights, but I'd like to also point out that it works conveniently with the Twilight Cleric and Skulker's features. They can trick enemies into thinking your party is lurking somewhere, if you have Darkvision they're treated as bright light which means no disadvantage on Perception checks. But there's one more thing Dancing Lights can do that Light can't. If you want to light something up at a distance... Dancing Lights can turn off. Light, once you cast it, is going to burn for an entire hour unless covered up like a lantern. So if you want to light up some scouts and take them out without giving away your location, then erase your presence, something like Dancing Lights is exactly what you want.

[@TheScottishKayaker]

You can get Illusionist Bracers that allows you to cast a cantrip as a bonus action after casting the same cantrip as an action. This can give you 8 attacks every turn. My fighter/warlock used a set with action to attack a mini boss 12 times with eldritch blast. Pushing it 80ft away until it hit the back wall of the room. It was so far away my party was able to escape before it could even get back to where it started in the room.

[@GrouchierBear]

I feel like dancing lights is more for signaling than providing illumination. Movable lights means you can arrange them into predefined signals that could be seen at a distance.

[@FranciscoMurillo-97]

Mold earth is a must have for me, you can use it to make cover, solve puzzles, create stears and grab points, you can use it to avoid or straight up block traps from activating, you can even use it as a sort of lockpick or to create hiding spots. The prerequisite is that it must be used on earth or stone/rock. But in a medieval setting is pretty easy to find those in dungeons, fortreses and general buildings. And it's only component is somatic, so its perfect for stealth missions.

[@adambielen8996]

It is even possible to bury small creatures alive with it as an action.

[@shadowfate05]

I don't think buildings and fortresses have a lot of *loose* earth to move around. That's like, topsoil/dirt/etc that's not been compacted, and you can't move stone/rock

[@adambielen8996]

@@shadowfate05 No, but you can turn a 5 foot square of stone into difficult terrain for 1 hour. And you can have 2 of those active at once.

[@theeviljames]

Definitely "A."; Gary Gygax was a C.I.A. PsyOp that got out of control

[@Diminsonsam]

So me and my table have basically rewritten the friends cantrip. You strike up a conversation with 1 target and they now have a favorable opinion of you, unless they are currently hostile. Gain advantage on 1 Charisma check, during the conversation. This Chrasima check cannot cause the target to do something they would not normally do. So, it went from never being cast to being everyone's favriote spell. It's not broken, and you have to have an understanding of the limits of the cantrip. But, for my table it makes it so much better.

[@1TroublesomeGuy]

May have to copy that, thanks 👍

[@Nixrubin]

This! I mean you making friends, it's boosting your Charisma so people like you more. Why would they be hostile at the end? Your not making them do something that they wouldn't do for a friend.

[@brandonwyman9125]

@8:45 Mind Sliver is fantastic when paired with a party member who is an Eloquence Bard. Had a party member use MS before me to drop their next save, then I used Unsettling Words to further drop their save, for big SoS (Save or Suck) spells like Dominate Person/Monster, or Banishment spells from our Cleric, or something similar that would drastically change the way the battle progressed. Came up with a lot of uses for combos with it between us and we always threw our DM for a loop. It was fantastic and a great game

[@lastar7824]

I’ve used bladeward with armour of agathys, and with spirit guardians concentration protection. It’s best at high levels when you’re doing passive damage and know you’re going to be taking a lot of damage

[@mingbritson]

So much entertainment + education in one short clip -- LOVE all your stuff!

[@XenosInfinity]

In my first ever campaign, we started out investigating a valley that had a bunch of goblins camped up in it. When we discovered they'd been keeping a prisoner and torturing him, I started using Prestidigitation to soil the inside of the spigots on the wine and beer barrels they'd looted. Did it do anything? No idea, we didn't hang around long enough and they didn't manage to chase us to the next area we went to, but I like to believe they had to dump the lot in case it was all rotten.

[@Uberphish]

I've had a player manage to make good use of Dancing Lights once! Fighting a homebrewed creature that could only move through darkness, but could also only be _hit_ in darkness, they used the spell to strategically block off doorways to give themselves time to prep and corral it into different parts of the map as the encounter went on. Not many use cases for that level of surgical precision, but it was neat that it worked out then!

[@Obsidianhealer]

Awesome video as always! You can also be a super sniper by doing Eldritch Blast + Eldritch Spear + Spell Sniper increasing the range to 600ft!

[@kennysalty6019]

Friends, however bad it may be, is super fun on a rogue when sneaking around. Specifically because, well, if your sneaking around, the guy you just casted this on is probably gonna be hostile anyway. Breaking into a bandit camp to find a hostage? Cast friends, get free entry with your new pal, and maybe some information. After that, say you'll let him go back to his post, and then go hide somewhere before he goes absolutely ballistic. Any situation where that bridge is gonna get burned anyways is a perfect situation to make a quick Friend who will hate you in a minute. May as well get something on the way out.

[@g00se99]

Friends is ok if you are a warlock with Mask of Many Faces. Then you can get a lot of mileage out of this spell. Just don't stick around to long or be able to get into a crowd then voila clean escape.

[@jeroenimus7528]

I was just about to say the same. Combined with disguise self, a disguise kit, and/or the actor feat Friends can be a devastating spell for a player who knows how social dynamics work. Less useful if you never encounter society but that's a rarity. Also the more languages you speak the more useful this spell becomes.

[@dischord4671]

True strike is nice to save potential spell slots with something like sickening ray. And sorcerer multiclass, or even just taking the metamagic adept feat makes it useful in some situations

[@michaelmuirhead910]

Blade Ward is great on an Earth Genasi martial PC. Glad you mentioned it. My EG EK fighter makes good use of it.

[@Evildaddy911]

Blade ward is a very niche alternative to disengage. One, if your enemies already have disadvantage for some reason - such as a fighter's goading attack. Second, you're also using a monk/rogue's bonus action disengage, so resisting the ones that get through. Or third, the enemies have such a high modifier that landing hits is all but guaranteed so your only hope is to reduct the damage taken

[@themambawarrior2290]

Fun fact about Blade Ward: In lower levels, it's generally worse to use than just taking the dodge action, but in later levels it becomes better for damage mitigation on average, since you'll be more likely to get hit even with dodge.

[@TonyFunsui]

Yup

[@porakiyadraekojin3390]

Dancing lights, while terrible fir possible intended use, sounds like a decent flavor cantrip for the new college of dance bard ro use with performance

[@CaptainWobbs]

With Dancing Lights, you can also combine the lights into a single entity that resembles a humanoid, so you could theoretically make a backup dancer.

[@porakiyadraekojin3390]

@@CaptainWobbs does this entity take up space. If not, there's potentially more stuff you could do with it

[@biggaymike1983]

Minor Illusion is probably still better for that as it fills a 5ft. cube but doesn't take up that space, and you can edit it on the fly. Honestly, a minor illusion of a torch is SOOOO much BETTER than dancing lights, even if you have to cast a new one every 30 or 40ft. (not like it costs anything to do it!)

[@Rogue-Cheese]

In my campaign, one of my players went with a high elf and picked minor illusion. He then proceeded to use it as a flashbang in many battles by summoning fireworks in the space.

[@biggaymike1983]

use it to make a torch or other light source... the illusion of the light source might have to fit in a 5ft. cube, but the light it generates doesn't necessarily have to (if your DM agrees... and I readily will)

[@shadowfate05]

"The image can’t create sound, light, smell, or any other sensory effect" That's gonna be a pretty ineffective flashbang.

[@Rogue-Cheese]

@@shadowfate05 The point of it is to visually disorrient.

[@ProfessionalFlower24]

Several of the cantrips mentioned here, from Resistance to Guidance to even good old True Strike are being VASTLY upgraded in One D&D-Look at the Unearthed Arcana document “Bastions and Cantrips” or at the other prior and following UA documents for upgraded cantrips, like my favorite: officially casting Guidance as a reaction!

[@TopSpecsGD]

8:03 bless, as good as it is, does not affect ability checks, that's guidance. Unless wotc somehow decided to buff it even further with 2024 rules

[@HorrorMetalDnD]

Playing Strixhaven with the Friends cantrip and the Mask of Many Faces EI can be really fun for shenanigans on campus, but yes, the Friends cantrip is not that great any other time. A pair of players could strategize together, each one disguised as the other player’s target. That way, each target ends up being hostile to each other. Then, the pair of players could take bets from the crowd of students standing nearby and watching the fight.

[@scottdean2199]

Dancing Lights works much better as a distraction than as an actual utility. Draw the enemies over yonder while you sneak in.

[@alinkinthechain]

An addendum in defense of Dancing Lights: it's actually intended for creatures with dark vision. Since dark vision treats darkness as dim light, they still have disadvantage on perception and a -5 to the same passive score. It's a way to give them access to "full light" while still being somewhat stealthy

[@Jacquelinsane]

Something to mention about resistance and blade ward: They’re absolutely made for three specific things: Preparing for a curse/magical backlash outside of combat and helping someone succeed a save you know is coming in combat. And keeping someone who’s almost certainly gonna get attacked safe.

[@tictac2102]

With true strike, my table has agreed to give it a few extra rules to make it pretty okay- mainly. We made it so that this spell reveals the enemies AC and any resistances it possesses, so we know how best to fight against this enemy type- meaning that this becomes a decent spell when starting out a fight, or using before the fight begins- we also removed the concentration requirement

[@RoninXDarknight]

Literally just signed up for a game (hopefully starting next week) via Start Playing last night XD

[@ravenstales6457]

friends in BG3: Amazing, S-tier for the millions of dialogue checks you need Friends in DnD: Why would you do this?

[@faithfullyfaithless]

I remember early in a campaign getting issued a promissory note for a bounty of gold for capturing a bandit. I used Prestidigitation to add an extra zero on the end of the promised sum, and I'm still riding high from that payout many levels down the line

[@derekhandson351]

I feel like that overlaps Minor illusion

[@shadowfate05]

@@derekhandson351 Minor Illusion doesn't move, it just makes an image of an object (Compare it to leveled illusion spells, like Silent Image or Major Image, which specifically describe that you can use an action to move the illusion in a way that would look natural). You'd be hard pressed to use Minor Illusion to add a number to an existing bounty note and keep it perfectly still, whereas Prestidigitation can literally put a symbol on an object for an hour.

[@Hari-Harmonies]

Just had a thought that would be useful, if you quiet cast prestidigitation on an unsuspecting guard, you can make it look and smell like he's soiled himself, forcing him to go and change and having one less person to worry about on the way to wherever you're trying to get into.

[@evilallensmithee]

12:57 I keep hearing this, but we never played it that way. I did play a bard with it through the old UA version of red moon feat, then I would annoy the DM with casting it every minute until he said “okay unless there is a reason for you not to have it up, you have guidance” but it was never a reaction.

[@gergosoos4652]

"Hello there!" I'm working on a wizard school that trends into archery. It would also gain the ability to render an existing spell into a cantrip arrow on lvl 2 and also shoot cantrips as arrows. (Meaning acid burst d8 or d12 with more than 150 feet range). I would like to ask the question about turning spells into cantrips... So the spell would deal the base dice damage (fireball cantrip is 1d6, gravity is 1d8) and would also give the added effect (force wave pushing) to anything that is in that 5 feet cube area the arrow hits. The class also uses Agility for attack rolls and yes, it is added to cantrip damage now, bc you use it with a bow. The class of course uses Evocation... The secondary feature would be to shoot spells as arrows. It would do with any spell that are centered on the map (magnify gravity, fireball, but not Shatter, Force wave)

[@Metalchemist2]

I use dancing lights thematically... As a bard. It makes it easy to highlight important details on something like, a map. You can change its shape and color making stuff like distracting and planning easy

[@Respectable_Username]

13:00 Woah, a surprise BatD! But also, you had to choose a clip from the _least_ photogenic table session when they're just playing in a normal meeting room 😂😂😂

[@reedbeazley3914]

As an electrician I cannot tell you how much I appreciate the Edison dis. Excellent informative content as always

[@worhin1168]

The new 2024 True Strike is amazing. It lets any attack use your spell casting modifier or Str/Dex and allows you to change all damage dealt to radiant and the upscale is also amazing as it adds d6s of radiant damage and since it is not a melee spell attack or ranged spell attack it can be used as part of the normal attack action and with ranged attacks

[@shadownight848]

9:49 *Heightened Dominate Person, Empowered is damage

[@TheOtherGuy27]

Well that's a very fast way to go from not even having met Tiamat to having your entire party killed by it... and all it took was a cantrip 😅

[@morrigankasa570]

With "Friends" I see that as pretty useful (of course it depends on the DM), but say you use it on a Goblin Brute when facing a group of hostile Goblins/other enemies. You convince your 'Friend' to aid in defeating the other enemies. Sure after the Minute is up then it's hostile again, but before then potentially the rest of the enemies would be reduced in numbers/injured more then if the Goblin Brute hadn't helped. 3:22 You presume much; I have a lvl 1 Ranger Character and they don't use/want "Booming Blade", they are a High Elf & currently have "Chill Touch" Cantrip. In fact I have 12 different lvl 1 characters & none of them have/want; Booming Blade, or Prestidigitation, or Friends. 3:40 The only Cantrips I have with any of my 12 characters are: Toll the Dead (4 characters), Sacred Flame (4 characters) , Thaumaturgy, Mending, Dancing Lights, Spare the Dying, Eldritch Blast, Word of Radiance, Minor Illusion, Thunderclap, Vicious Mockery, Lightning Lure, Frostbite, Shape Water, Fire Bolt (2 characters), Acid Splash, Primal Savagery, Poison Spray, Ray of Frost, Chill Touch. THE BEST CANTRIPS ARE ONES THAT ACTUALLY DO DAMAGE OR IS MENDING WHICH CAN REPAIR ALMOST ANYTHING!!! Dancing Lights is innately part of being a Drow, so it isn't completely bad. If you are a Drow Barbarian for example, then you at least get a Cantrip of some kind which could be useful. 10:06 Finally, yet again you presume much. 1 of my characters is a Chaotic Neutral Female Feylost background Drow Death Domain Cleric sworn to the Raven Queen. She doesn't have/want Guidance nor does she use Healing Spells, she'd rather blast an enemy with damage instead of running around healing people. IF, she does heal others it would be with a Healer's/Herbalism Kit. 1 of my other characters is a Chaotic Neutral Male Urban Bounty Hunter background Duergar Forge Domain Cleric sworn to Tharmukhal. He doesn't have/want Guidance nor does he use Healing Spells, he too would rather craft nice things and blast enemies with damage. IF, he does heal others it would be with Healing Potions. In fact, the only character of mine that is any sort of Healer is my Chaotic Neutral Female Acolyte background Shadar-Kai Undying Warlock whose patron is Larloch (aka The Shadow King). Even then she would support/heal via "Spare the Dying". THEREFORE, NONE OF MY CHARACTERS ARE SUPPORT ROLE TYPES WHO NEED GUIDANCE!!! 12:33

[@GravenAshes]

That would be a cool use of friends but sadly that’s not how the spell works. The target needs to not be hostile for you to cast it and it only gives you advantage on charisma checks. Persuasion isn’t mind control so you’re stuck with making a convincing argument that the brute should join you which you could have done anyway with someone helping you rather than with a spell that makes them hostile after it fades. Every clever way you try to look at this spell makes you realize how bad it is.

[@morrigankasa570]

@@GravenAshes Maybe, though if you are the "Charismatic Face" of the group & the rest of the party dumped Charisma 'Friends' is possibly better...

[@GravenAshes]

@@morrigankasa570there’s an argument to be made that non charisma characters can aid in a social encounter. I let any player aid the face without a check in my games to give the face advantage. It gets people who normally wouldn’t talk in social encounters a time to shine. But I realize some DMs don’t do that. Still don’t use friends. Find other ways to get advantage so you don’t make it actively hostile towards you for a little bit better math.

[@morrigankasa570]

@@GravenAshes Excellent points, I was just trying to find some use for "Friends" possibly. Though as I indicated throughout my various edits to my original comment, that none of my 12 characters are "Support Role" types. Nor are they "Lone Wolves/Edgelord" types either; they are more "Ambivalent Types" they will help the party at times but only if it works within their personal "Code of Honor/Goals". There is very little chance they will directly get involved with crime depending on the Campaign Setting, but if a party member is committing a crime they may act as a watcher/cover for them as long as it works out for my characters' goals. Finally, my characters would potentially seek out unconventional means to achieve things. For example: 1 of my characters is a Chaotic Neutral Female Anthropologist background Astral Elf Paladin (planning Oath of Conquest); she may try to strike a deal with a Hag/Powerful Enemy to aid in her long-term plan to establish a New Pantheon of Deities as well as a New Queendom, INSTEAD of just eliminating said enemy.

[@GravenAshes]

@@morrigankasa570 oh that’s an interesting character concept! Hope it’s been going well :3

[@fizhing]

Blade ward could be a good replacement for the dodge action on late game, where monsters have +15 to hit all the time

[@FireDarkNinja]

I was totally expecting a niche campaign specific cantrip as the worst one like Encode Thoughts or something but yeah non-UA True Strike fits the bills.

[@Nymaz]

I can think of one (and only one) niche case where True Strike would be useful. Casting it out-of-combat on your rogue archer who's doing the opening strike with an arrow to guarantee the bonus damage.

[@DoomsdayR3sistance]

Another bonus to the light spell, is casting it on a sword and then sheathing it, or putting something where the light is covered. Allows you to get instant light once battle starts up and without having to recast the spell, and yup, I know light doesn't use concentration since I have one character that has it and have used it multiple times. Booming Blade works with Warcaster, which is absolutely insane.

[@mathsalot8099]

As a stay-at-home mom, the thought of being able to cook/cool/flavor/clean anything perfectly in 6 seconds is staggering!! Even if it is only 3 sets of 1 foot cubes each casting, that would be amazing!

[@brewdaly1873]

Having semi recently played a Divine Soul Sorcerer/Ancients Paladin, I can confirm just how dope a quickened Booming Blade can be. It pairs amazingly well with Thunderous Smite.

[@bartvance8805]

But you omit one of the greatest cantrips, Chill Touch. I can list the number f times this cantrip won us a major battle. It is an attack spell, doing above average damage, does not rely on a save, but the best feature is that it prevents all healing until your next turn. Bosses and bad guys can't get healed up! Tis includes spells, potions, features and Regeneration! They take massive damage from a critical or smite (or both!), on the verge, and this cantrip hurts them some more, and keeps the DM from healing them. you don'6t know how many DMs I've pissed off using this cantrip, and pointing out that there is no way to heal up they villain until my turn! Additionally, I literally had a druid retire after 3 levels. With the OP mold earth cantrip, he started out as a moat builder. building them in a single weekend for insane profits. Same insane profit and short completion time with almost any excavation job, like for foundations, irrigation, etc. With other spells he branched out into landscaping for nobles and ran a small clinic for the poor on weekends.

[@SnowyOwl369]

6:31 thank you for the compliment kind sir.

[@neorenamon]

If you use True Strike creatively, it's a great spell. It only has Somatic components so you can't hear it being cast. You're in an ambush and the enemy gets close. Cast True Strike, and signal the attack to begin on the next round by standing up and shooting/stabbing/slashing the enemy you targeted. It also works if the guy walking out front is the enemy tank (with high AC and a shield).

[@knicklichtjedi]

1:13 I thought, until "4th best Booming Blade" came along, that the spell was called "5 worst friends" and that kind of made sense... lol!

[@PrincessMatrix]

Friends kind of became a running gag at my table. I picked it up when making my Sorcerer on a whim, and it took a life of it's own. An interrogation going poorly due to bad Intimidation rolls? Sorc rolls up as the good cop with Friends. A merchant being stingy with price? Friends. Who cares if they become hostile, everyone can vouch to the town guards that he sold it at a discount on their own volition lol Friends is definitely the type of cantrip you use to add a little mischief to a game, and when used right (And not spammed), it gives a great laugh for the table.

[@thomasmatherii7038]

Although bladeward has a few good options, if you’re running a melee sorcerer multiclass or an eldritch knight you can use blade ward and still attack, help you tank damage, and even fill up your bonus action slot to help with your action economy

[@oniminikui]

I enjoy using friends with my changeling characters; especially, when framing people. I made a tielfing wildfire druid that has green-flame blade (Magic Initiate: Wizard) and Elemental Savant (Fire). My guy ignores fire resistance and dishes extra fire damage. I love it!!

[@jarodt1404]

I had hoped to see some more utility cantrips like Message on this list. It is so good for so many RP situations.

[@johnscarborough9627]

Say what you want about Dancing Lights, we used it, alongside another player using Mage Hand with a hunk of raw meat to distract a swarm of Piranhas while our ranger swam to safety and it freakin worked

[@tuliotonheiro]

Minor Illusion is awesome on the right hands. Any monster needs to interact and spend an action to investigate the Ilusion. Otherwise, the ilusion is solid. Since you can create a 5ft cube of any kind of object, you can use it to blend you caster with the environment and get auto full cover and almost perfect hide. Then, just blast away any kind of magic or damage cantrips from inside the ilusion. Enjoy!!!

[@davidkerns7580]

Resistance does have its uses: 1) Cast on allies trying to make “Saving throws at start or end of their turn” due to effects like “Flesh to Stone” or “Confusion” or “Fear” or “Slow.” It’s amazing how many “multiple save” effects you can encounter and it is easy to run out of Dispel Magic. As a bard/cleric in the back, it’s surprisingly easy to tap a Fear-inflicted Fighter with Resistance as they flee past you. 2) Cast on Rogue before attempting to disarm trap ESPECIALLY if Rogue failed once already just high enough to not disable but not set it off. 3) Cast on ally before they interact with a Shiny Artifact. Dragon orb? 4) Cast on ANY party member before they say, “I touch the ” or “I drink from the Random Fountain” or “I eat the unidentified mushroom.” 5) Forget concentration. Cast again and again for no cost, unlike Bless, IF you know it will be used within 6 seconds. Buff the same ally every round until he beats a condition, or buff one ally at a time as they take turns running down a lightning filled corridor. DMs can save “public math” time saying “okay. Add a D4 if you fail.” 6) Stack with bless (from allied caster) and bardic inspiration to survive the impossible. Command an enemy wizard to snap their staff of power. They take 16x20 damage. You take 8x20 damage? Ow. But DC17 save for half? Survivable and easier with 3 extra dice. (Our bard may have done something close to this…) 7) It’s arguably the preferred REACTIVE spell to bless due to game time. Example: “I cast bless on AND, um, who should get the other two blesses? Fighter? Monk? Oh you’re good. Maybe an NPC? No? Monk how bad are you hurt? Fighter did you use your indomitable will? I guess maybe I’ll also target um…” vs “I cast guidance. Add a d4. Fail? I cast again. Success? Ok let’s move on.” So much quicker… Note: as you can tell from the examples, I may be biased due to atypical experiences

[@Quantum_Onions]

I remember a few months ago our party was being chased by some powerful fighter dude through a forest, and he was gaining on us due to some magic item he had. The one thing that saved our party from being absolutely destroyed by him was that every turn instead of dashing, I would send back an eldritch blast with repelling blast and lance of lethargy on it, effectively halving his speed for that turn.

[@Butterb0ne]

Am I the only one who uses dancing lights to trick an enemy into thinking There's a party of adventurers somewhere else on the map?

[@deru72]

Blade ward is underrated. I'm abusing if with an armor of agathys build

[@Eden_yt2620]

"we found ways to murder people anyways" had me on the ceiling laughing

[@malthungaming3466]

My favorite thing with Prestidigitation is the "Soil an object" part. BBEG is a normal(ish) dude in clothes like us? A great, unsettling threat is "I'm going to shit your pants!" And it even works if it ISN'T a normal(ish) looking dude. Dragon? They shit themselves. Sphinx? They shit themselves. Literally any sentient creature capable of feeling embarrassment or humiliation and this works. Assuming your DM is willing to put up with that level of nonsense.

[@biggaymike1983]

The clothes do have the requirement of fitting into a 1ft. cube... and that dragon's pants probably aren't going to fit, no matter how you fold them.

[@balrighty3523]

0:52 Or flavor a love potion as a healing potion so that your thief rogue can hook up with the Empyrean you freed from a dungeon. If only I'd thought of it at the time!

[@Drujd]

Friends does have a very good (but niche) use though. It's really good at taunting someone into action. And the spell doesn't have a lot of limiting factors, only that 1) they're a creature and 2) they're not currently hostile towards you. You can choose *any* creature *_anywhere_* . Need to find a person that's hiding? They hate you now, they'll find *you*. You know there's a dragon in its lair on that mountain way off in the distance? Cast Friends, and a) the fight is away from the dragon's lair b) you get time to rest c) you can set up traps and/or protection. You know a noble has violent tendencies and you need a distraction at the party so your rogue can sneak off? Cast Friends, and suddenly a noble attacks you (for seemingly no reason) in front of witnesses

[@fadeleaf845]

Cast it on your party, meaning that they're officially hostile, thus enabling you to buff passing martials as a reaction using Warcaster

[@tatsumiuchiha5559]

NPC DnD and The Dragon Prince Clips. Love both, so am glad to see them in this video.

[@ZombieDireWolf]

Also, my favorite is sorcerer warlock, as you can always use a BA to cast eldritch blast again doing another 4 blasts. With the ability to turn slots into points, you're not likely to run out of them. Combined with the mark of healing halfling, you can learn healing spells if you like other subclasses better.

[@yolodapro6505]

I would argue that setting yourself on fire is better than dancing lights if you have fire resistance. No concentration required, and grappling enemies deals decent damage, and it's freaking hilarious.

[@eugenerodriguez9644]

Only problem is that your stuff burns up.

[@yolodapro6505]

@@eugenerodriguez9644True 😂

[@unholyrevenger72]

I make True Strike more tolerable by making it a Bonus Action. And it goes on cooldown for a number of turns = to the difference in the dice rolls regardless of whether or not the attack hits.

[@finnbackman953]

For minor illusion if you're in an area with walls, 5 ft away from each other then you can if you're sneaking around minor illusion an image of exactly what it looks like. I get from the angle that the hallway someone would look down from the hallway if no one was there and it only requires somatic components so it's completely silent

[@elrondxiloscient]

honestly the best part about eldritch blast imo is how well designed the methods to access it are. any class other than warlock is spending valuable resources (a full feat or a bard's special spells) to get it, and warlocks are the only ones who get to really buff it. its worth it though, as its a great cantrip with great value and brilliant design in when that value can be attained.

[@danieljacobs8433]

Bladeward may go well with quickened spell. Cast your leveled spell and reduce incoming melee damage with bladeward as your cantrip.

[@darcraven01]

10:08 "... short of setting yourself on fire.." *produce flame would like a word*

[@DJBlackNGold]

Loved playing an earth genasi barb/bladesinger and using Blade ward as a BA when not raging. That character took so much more damage than what was reasonable. Also resistance had some funny use for me. I was playing an artificer and our sorc. was twinning haste on our barb and rogue.. I resistanced them and hid and it actually made sure they kept that haste up... the 2024 change to it is so much better though.

[@andyyoo8018]

Love your videos, they are the best tools for countering my players dumb ideas and broken builds.

[@Alax881]

You know what makes mind sliver even better, eloqunce bard's unsettling words

[@Thrythlind]

My yuanti Paladin of the Ancients (worshipping Sharess, goddess of festhalls and cats) had homebrewed version of Green Flame Blade (using Radiant) and Shillelagh (with whips and daggers) as Sharess flavored variation cleric cantrips (another player and the GM put this together for me) so I could take it through the Blessed Warrior fighting style and it meant I could focus on Charisma and be much less MAD.

[@LordDukane]

Old Faithful or Old Facefull? I tend to agree. I even learned a few new things. Thanks, Shorts!

[@ChazTheYouthful]

Shillelagh, especially outside class but ability tied, gives you frigging magic melee at level 1 that combos with booming blade.