Treantmonk's Guide to Wizards: 3rd level spells

[@ronaldeldonald]

While Haste is ok for a Wizard, it's a fantastic spell for a Sorcerer. Being able to twin it and make a fighter and a rogue get more actions is amazing, and your party will love you for it.

[@Arlesmon]

haste for sorcerers, slow for wizards

[@Vidiri]

And technically you can twin it on an enemy and then immediately drop it once your turn ends, essentially using your action to skip both of their next turns with no saving throw involved.

[@zacharylona]

It's even better if somebody has Bless covered for the same people being Hasted.

[@Hyde_Hill]

@@Vidiri I don't think so as the spell description has: "Choose a willing creature that you can see within range. " They won't be willing as an enemy unless you can maybe do a charisma check to convince them you are on their side guy. Unless you want to argue the twinning means the second one does not have that have requirement. Still means the original has a target and is loosing a turn.

[@jand.4737]

there is a reason to not take animate dead at level up when playing necromancer: you get the spell for free as a subclass feature

[@Adurnis]

Necromancers really do live for level 6, eh?

[@ariagrumpy8254]

@@Adurnis live?

[@Music_Engineering]

​@@ariagrumpy8254 well their level 6 really is to die for 😛

[@Geanhm]

Animate Dead - The spell says, "Once given an order, the creature continues to follow it until its task is complete." The command "Attack my enemies until they die," lasts the whole fight, because the undead obey, only one bonus action.

[@dylandugan76]

Most of the things you would want to instruct them to do anyway are actions that can technically *never* be completed. "Follow me." "Protect me from harm." "Kill any elf you see." "Do not allow anyone to pass through this door." They would continue to carry out the command indefinitely, until you need to give them a new one. Using a bonus action to command them is basically a non-issue as far as I'm concerned.

[@privateerliew5177]

You could just say "kill him" but that works too

[@HaloFTW2408]

Here's the rankings it text form for quick reference. Red (*) - Not Recommended Orange (**) - Too Circumstantial to warrant preparation Purple (***) - Ok Spells Green (****) - Good Spells Blue (*****) - Must Have Spells Ab - Abjuration Conj - Conjuration Enc - Enchantment Evo - Evocation Ill - Illusion Necr - Necromancy Tran - Transmutation Conc - Concentration Animated Dead (Necr) (****) or (*****) for Necromancer's. If you are a Necromancer, don't take at 5th, as you get it for free at 6th (34:52) Bestow Curse (Necr, Conc) (*) or (**) if cast at 5th level or higher (37:37) Blink (Tran) (***) (43:24) Catnap (Enc) (*) (19:26) Clairvoyance (Div, Conc) (***) Counterspell (Abj) (*****) (01:52) (16:18) Dispel Magic (Abj) (****) (04:14) Enemies Abound (Enc, Conc) (***) (17:58) Erupting Earth (Tran) (*) (50:12) Fear (Ill, Conc) (****) (30:24) Feign Death (Necr, Ritual) (*) (38:45) Fireball (Evo) (****) (22:03) Flame Arrows (Tran, Conc) (**) (48:22) Fly (Tran, Conc) (***) (44:34) Gaseous Form (Tran, Conc) (**) (47:11) Glyph of Warding (Abj) (**) (05:50) Haste (Tran, Conc) (***) (45:32) Hypnotic Pattern (Ill, Conc) (*****) (28:43) Leomund's Tiny Hut (Evo, Ritual) (*****) (20:50) Life Transference (Necr) (**) (36:33) Lightning Bolt (Evo) (**) (26:12) Magic Circle (Abj) (*) (09:37) Major Image (Ill, Conc) (***) Using a 6th level spell, it's permanent (31:37) Melf's Minute Meteors (Evo, Conc) (**) (23:29) Nondetection (Abj) (***) (04:59) Phantom Steed (Ill, Ritual) (***) (33:38) Protection from Energy (Abj, Conc) (**) (07:02) Remove Curse (Abj) (**) (08:43) Sending (Evo) (***) (23:32) Sleet Strom (Conj, Conc) (****) (12:02) Slow (Tran, Conc) (****) (31:10) Stinking Cloud (Conj, Conc) (***) (13:17) Summon Lesser Demons (Conj) (*) (15:01) Thunderstep (Conj) (*****) (10:20) Tiny Servant (Tran) (***) (46:20) Tongues (Div) (***) (17:13) Tidal Wave (Conj) (***) (13:58) Vampiric Touch (Necr, Conc) (*) STAY AWAY (39:32) Wall of Sand (Evo, Conc) (*) (27:48) Wall of Water (Evo, Conc) (**) Generally avoid this unless you have a plan to freeze it (26:57) Water Breathing (Tran, Ritual) (****) (42:33)

[@Clovis5119]

I recently started in my first proper DnD campaign and chose a Wizard, so your videos have been extremely helpful to me. Thanks for the great content!

[@lllaflame]

“Hey Optimancers!” This is my new favorite greeting

[@TreantmonksTemple]

Me too!

[@russellgentile4719]

Treantmonk, thanks for doing these! Much appreciated. Looking forward to later spell levels and wizard schools. Awesome.

[@andreistoian3152]

Note Phantom steed is not fragile at all, when it takes damage it starts to dissappear, but it's over 1 minute, so you have a guaranteed mount for 1 combat

[@reignhunger1308]

The riding horse only has 13 hp, so what if it dies outright? It'll disappate over 1 minute sure, but it will still be a dead horse for that minute right?

[@andreistoian3152]

@@reignhunger1308 Read the spell, It doesn't have hit points, it says: When the spell ends, the steed gradually fades, giving the rider 1 minute to dismount. The spell ends if you use an action to dismiss it or if the steed takes any damage. Both readings "Rules as written and Rules as intended of the spell" is to give the rider a great mount for 1 combat, nothing broken considering it's a 3rd level spell with 1 minute casting time. Any other interpretation is just malicious for no reason.

[@reignhunger1308]

​@@andreistoian3152 It says on the spell that the phantom steed gets the statistics of the riding horse, all of them except it has a speed of 100ft and 10/13 miles per hour. So why wouldn't the summon have hit points? I don't find this interpretation malicious at all either, and it's completely RAW from where I stand. It has the statistics of a riding horse. Those include hit points. If a creature runs out of hitpoints it is incapacitated. It doesn't conflict with the gradually fading part either, as it wouldn't need to be alive to gradually fade away. RAI I'd consider this spell more of an out of combat ability, with the 1 minute dismount thing to avoid things caltrops and mundane obstacles barring one's road rendering the steed useless. It it gets clobbed by a giant, it's gonna get squashed like any other horse. Giving a PC a for some reason completely invulnerable and immortal mount for 1 combat feels somewhat nonsensical to me when (IMO) it is meant to be a faster riding horse on demand- the alternative just seems cheese to me. I hope this makes my point clearer. As for your balance point, let's just face that not all spells are great. This one in particular is a spell only wizards get, and it's a ritual to boot so it's not bad regardless, rituals are amazing on wizards. And let's not pretend anyone will actually use a 3rd level slot and a minute casting time to cast this, let alone bothering to waste preparations for it seeing how it's a ritual, and again, only wizards have it.

[@xthebumpx]

The phantom steed is a "quasi-real" illusion that ends as soon as it is hit. I don't think talking about it having hit-points or dying make much sense. That said, I think it's the DM's call whether the creature can be moved and controlled after the spell ends from taking damage. I'd probably lean toward no personally, but I don't think it's at all clear from the spell's text.

[@stranger6822]

Sleet Storm: particularly effective against flying creatures (depending on the DM). If we go with the text as written, it knocks flyers out of the air. There are some optional rules for handling how far they fall, how fast they fall, whether they take damage, etc. But you definitely knock them out of the air if they rely on wings or similar for flight.

[@smbakeresq]

The walls of Sand should be first level, the wall of water second level just to introduce walls and control to wizards early. Erupting earth is a wall of sorts.

[@planetfall5056]

34:58 Important note on animate dead, after 24 hours the magic doesn't leave it, rather it becomes hostile.

[@derekbrogan5008]

Argument for lighting bolt: I'm not an evocation wizard and my other 2 party members are Frontline. I'd rather be able to avoid hitting them

[@bowser9777]

24:50 You didn't note it, but you can send two meteors out when you cast the spell as well (It also doesn't require a bonus action on the turn you cast it either). So you don't necessarily need to know ahead of time.

[@gianni50725]

34:10 Phantom steed will still have 10 rounds left to use (1 minute) **even if it takes damage**. "The spell ends...if the steed takes any damage" along with "When the spell ends, the steed gradually fades, giving the rider 1 minute to dismount" confirm this. It can still be killed, but a bit of damage won't make it go down instantly. So the only practical danger is the same with regular mounted combat (horse dying regularly). With this extra context it's very good, esp. for a ritual.

[@Moley1Moleo]

You have 1 minute *to dismount* when the spell ends. However, *the spell has ended*, so you *can't* ride it around for that one minute, because you can only do that during the *duration* of the spell. (The spell description says "For the duration, you or a creature you choose can ride the steed.") So you don't fall to the floor, but you do need to spend half your movement to dismount, otherwise you are stuck in place, unable to move on a fading mount that clearly by RAW can't be ridden anymore, and no longer has 100 movement speed, or any other abilities of the warhorse statblock. So Treantmonk is right that if it takes any damage, you now have to walk around.

[@keeganmbg6999]

Phantom Steed lasts for an entire 10 rounds after it takes Damage Chris. “When the spell ends, the steed gradually fades, giving the rider 1 minute to dismount. The spell ends if you use an action to dismiss it or if the steed takes any damage.”

[@Otaconsps]

Audio volume seems a little bit low lately. Otherwise, keep up the awesome work!

[@artus_coherent_noise]

As an additional note, the balance between the music and the voice is the real killer. My wife and I jack the volume up for your videos and mute the playback when the music is playing.

[@tommywendt6118]

I thought my phone was acting up. Thank you! Yes your videos are fantastic. I’m playing my first wild after playing only barbarians and fighters only in my teens. I’ve switched from Caramon to Raistlin and your god wizard tips have really helped me make my party so successful and they don’t realize it like you’ve mentioned in another video. I love your detail.

[@giacomocappellari328]

Amazing content as always. It was said in previous videos, but I'll say it again. Your voice volume in your videos is very quiet. It's actually a bit annoying for me. Is it possible to turn it up a bit? The music in the intro is at the correct volume.

[@mitchellwelch9135]

Please, i cant hear you in the truck. We can always turn it down if its to loud but i cant turn it up anymore. If you have concerns about your voice quality… dont lol, just use noise cancellation and make sure to compress and THEEEEN amplify to a ceiling of -3 db.

[@jiiaga5017]

37:02 after using it a bit, I have to push back a little bit. If you are a very positionally strong player, you don't take many hits, your HP pool is a resource, and Life Transference is the most powerful level 3 heal in the game in that sense. If someone needs a big chunk of healing - and there are many times when bouncing them up and down with healing word is NOT a good option - there's pretty much nothing else at 3rd level that will give them a good shot to not drop or to come back and not get instantly downed again. I know there is a popular idea that if you are healing you are losing... well sometimes you ARE losing, and in that sense shifting the health from your backline wizard to your cleric or fighter or anyone else on the edge of going down is infinitely better than a TPK.

[@eipoeipo]

Good to hear the volume is much higher than the last video. Loving the lists & guides, making me a more effective player!

[@BossTripp1]

Life transference is essentially 4d8 damage for 8d8 healing, right? Does one creature you can see include yourself? 👀

[@fortello7219]

Not even a passing mention that sleet storm makes enemy casters take a concentration check equal to your level? I ended up using it a lot after 13 level, where I could comfortably sacrifice a 3rd level slot for a much higher than average chance (DC 17/18) to make an enemy lose concentration.

[@RPGabe]

Would love to see one of these videos done for Warlock spells, and how their different spellcasting style influences the relative value of their choices

[@minikawildflower]

These videos are still so helpful even years later! Just came back to this as I advanced to level 5 with my wizard. I ended up taking Tiny Hut and Sending - not great combat uses, but they fit my theme!

[@cmckee42]

Last I checked, major image can be moved, as long as you are close enough to it.

[@TreantmonksTemple]

Yes, what I'm referring to in the video is that you are limited by the range of the spell from the casting location.

[@cmckee42]

@@TreantmonksTemple I assumed the location of the caster is what is important, not the location of the casting. I will admit it is pretty vague.

[@TreantmonksTemple]

@@cmckee42 Actually, I agree with your reading, but this spell has fallen victim to "clarification" from designers. It was from one of those official D&D podcasts with JC on the topic of illusions.

[@cmckee42]

@@TreantmonksTemple that is obscure enough that it is more likely to be subject to individual interpretation. A DM who is liberal in the application of illusions will probably also be flexible regarding the definition of the range of the spell.

[@artus_coherent_noise]

One note for your Animate Dead discussion. While it does take a bonus action to either directly order or change the standing orders of your minions, your minions will continue to follow the command until the task is complete. This makes the spell consume less of your bonus actions than say a Spiritual Weapon (cleric spell for example only) or a Flaming Sphere that consume your bonus action every turn to be effective. The only limitation this brings in is the interpretation of the DM for the phrases in the spell of "issue a general command" and "follow it until its task is complete". I have personally let a necromancer player have his skeleton archers follow the standing order of "surround me and fire arrows at the any creature that this gnome (another party member) fires arrows at until I issue you more orders" for about 80% of a dungeon without needing to use a bonus action to change the orders of his minions. A more generous DM may allow more complex commands, and a less generous DM may not allow too many commands at all. As such, mileage may vary.

[@samboots1]

Can confirm that as a player I had a lot of fun playing necromancer and letting my undead minions do "attack the people in (armour type, color, number of feet, anything really.) with your arrows." and most DM's will let you do this. Necromancer is so fun to play and playing around with +8 skeletons is perfect, although the amount of attacks that you need to make is enormous, so when using roll20 I make a macro that lets me make 8 attacks or on tabletop collect all the dice and roll them together.

[@wassentme1891]

I have actually had more trouble with DMs saying I can't control Undead from multiples castings with the same bonus action.

[@theeyehead3437]

In my experience, lightning bolt is one of the most underrated spells in the game. Your characterization of it as "just straight worse" is just straight wrong. Sometimes fireball is better suited to the given circumstances, and sometimes lightning bolt is. Maybe in your experience (maybe even most player's experiences) fireball is the more useful spell most of the time -- but it is not "just straight worse." A good GM will build encounters so that all characters get a chance to do cool stuff some of the time -- which means that whether you take fireball or lightning bolt, the encounters will give you a good opportunity to use it. One of my players took lightning bolt for flavour reasons, and so I made sure that enemies lineup every now and again so that he can use his cool abilities. Even without the GM forcing it, enemies line up a lot. Walls are often lines with enemies waiting to spring into action (coffins with undead inside, gargoyles, animated armor, etc.). Reinforcements often come charging through a single doorway. Maybe in some games, enemies charge in random, vaguely circular mobs, but in my game they usually form unified battlelines, protecting each other's flanks while maximizing their ability to encircle the party. Enemies might also line up when hiding behind a long table or half-wall for the purposes of cover. Lightning Bolt does have a slightly lower range than fireball, but 100ft instead of 150 (maybe 170 if you want to add the radius) is not a big deal. Most fights do not span over a hundred feet in my experience, and I've rarely had a player want to cast a spell but be unable to because they are out of range. Lightning Bolt is sometimes easier to control (in terms of not hitting allies); If your fighter is fighting three tough enemies in front of him, a lightning bolt can take out the three enemies while leaving the fighter untouched, while a fireball would probably hit the fighter. According you your metric of 9hp per spell slot level, using lightning bolt to take out three enemies is an efficient use. (14 damage minimum, times three enemies, divided by three for the spell level = 14). Even using it for 2 enemies can be worth it (14*2/3=~9). So sacrificing some damage to enemies in exchange for making sure you don't hit an ally can be worth it in some cases - -especially if your ally is low on health. None of this is to say that fireball is a bad spell, or that lightning bolt is better than fireball. I just think that lightning bolt is not as bad as people believe, and it is a perfectly valid to choose lighting bolt over fireball. Especially if you already have somebody in your party with fireball.

[@mke9891]

Lightbing bolt can ricochet and hit the same target twice. When I DM I usualy give a 10% chance of success to players trying to do that.

[@AllThingsFascinate]

@@mke9891 there's nothing about that in this edition, unfortunately. Glad you're including it though!

[@aaronhumphrey3514]

Lightning bolt is definitely not bad. Treantmonk is biased against blasting though. Keep that in mind.

[@thanekrios8]

In a one shot this weekend decided to try out a wizard for the first time after years of being a rogue/ranger this series has been a great help! Well done!

[@ianmccullough3846]

I'll advocate for Slow at higher levels. The BEST feature of Slow is it does not impose a status - not charmed, frightened or anything like that. Higher level monsters often have immunity to charm and fright, but almost never to the effects of Slow. Losing reactions means you can escape being surrounded. The damage potential of many monsters is in the number of attacks, which slow reduces to one. With up to six targets, it's rare you won't get at least one even if the saves are in the +8 range. Used this spell last night (10th level party) to great effect against a bunch of star spawn enemies - which did have immunity to fright and charmed. Every enemy had multiple attacks. One had a devastating reaction ability that was eliminated. It's really a call of whether there is a better concentration spell to cast, but I think it's great to have prepared even as I'm on the cusp of 6th level spells.

[@Fuchsling]

Always appreciated! Instructive, inspiring and delivered with insight, love it, thank you!

[@Chopstewie]

Hey Treantmonk, new to the channel and very much enjoying the contentent so far and I have kind of an odd request. For some reason the hues you use for the rating system are difficult for me (and I imagine a few others) to decipher due to colorblindness. Would it be possible to add rejoinder to the color in question to make it more clear? Such as (P) or (B) or a star system (***)/(3) or whatever you like best? Either way keep up the good work and thank you.

[@TreantmonksTemple]

I can figure something out. Thanks for the heads up

[@Chopstewie]

@@TreantmonksTemple oh, thank you!

[@TreantmonksTemple]

@@Chopstewie I'm working on 4th level spells right now. Should be up Monday. I will be using your *** method, glad we can come up with a simple workaround for you. I'll go over it at the beginning of the vid. Thanks for your patience.

[@ChristianW1975]

Love your wizard series, much appreciated !

[@kazebaret]

I think your comments about Vampiric Touch are too harsh: you are examining the spell from the point of view of a shoot-from-afar wizard. The bladesinger in my group entered a fight with 30 HP of damage and used Vampiric touch, doing more or less the same damage as he would do with 2 attacks with his rapier+1, never been hit due to his 27+ AC, and coming out of the fight completely healed. Maybe not a top notch spell, but not too bad for a melee wizard.

[@ChristnThms]

Not a lot of surprises. Control>buffs>blasts. Consistency is important though, as each layer builds on the last.

[@smbakeresq]

Other party members have a role in damage dealing and do it better then Wizards. It’s the set up of the game.

[@ChristnThms]

@@smbakeresq I wouldn't necessarily agree with that. A well built blaster wiz can hang with the best. What I'd say is that focusing on blasts limits his effectiveness. If he used divide and conquer tactics, and then some buff/debuff action, his team would be stronger overall.

[@smbakeresq]

Christian Swensen Post a blaster wizard that can. They never really can unless they can always catch multiple foes who fail their saves. If you have to strain to build one that might keep up that sort of proves a point.

[@ChristnThms]

@@smbakeresq ummm... All casters have the same saves/resists issues. The wizard's spell selection is as good as any caster, and better than many. When it comes to big AE blasts, the evoker's ability to shield allies means he's able to drop big bombs right where he needs them (no other class can do this). This combines especially well with persistent evocation spells like sickening radiance (not a traditional blast, but quite deadly). If you're thinking that a single target striker does more damage, then you're just ignoring the benefits of AE damage, and all casters will have the same limitation.

[@smbakeresq]

@@ChristnThms The problem is they are not "big bombs" until Meteor Swarm. Sickening Radiance isn't all that good, its radiant (good) Con save for damage (bad) and Con Save for exhaustion effect (bad) and its not friendly (terrible.) It is good for illuminating the invisible. They can just walk out of the area, the spell does nothing to keep them in there. Evards is better, as it keeps them in the area they are getting injured by, and if they make their save they are freed from that square only, to get out they need to enter another square that's difficult terrain and (depending on DM) make the save again. Evards doesn't illuminate the invisible, but it does grab them. Does Sculpt Spells affect Sickening Radiance? I am not sure as it affects an area as opposed to individuals. Sculpt also applies when you cast as opposed to when you concentrate. I don't know and have never been in that situation as a DM... Remember Hypnotism does an entire creatures HP if they fail, as they are out of the combat until they get woken up. Slow, which is friendly, greatly cuts down creatures offense and lets you move more freely. Doing damage just cant compare to that.

[@kendrajade6688]

Major Image: "As long as you are within range of the illusion, you can use your action to cause the image to move to any other spot within range."

[@kendrajade6688]

And Phantom Steed doesn't have to be a horse but that's splitting hairs.

[@FelineElaj]

I'm playing a 10th level wizard for the second time in my life. Looking forward to your guides to 4th and 5th level spells! I believe I've got the basics, though. Polymorph, Arcane Eye, Dimension Door, Otiluke's Resilient Sphere, Wall of Force, Animate Objects, Scrying - all in my spellbook. Edit: we're playing Rise of Tiamat, and there are a lot of cultists. This reduces usefulness of Hypnotic Pattern significantly.

[@dxgypsyful]

Hi, enjoy your videos. Just one thing I wanted to point out. The spell is Melf's Minute Meteors, pronounced my-noot. As in tiny. Not minute the unit of time. . They are minute (tiny) meteors. Cheers!

[@johngarrot5633]

Nice job again! I've personally started favoring Slow over Hypno Pattern on my debuff wizard cuz my DM has caught on to using lots of enemies with condition immunities for frightened/charm. Slow bypassing that kind of restriction is a nice plus worth mentioning

[@smbakeresq]

John Garrot I have always preferred Slow as its friendly and it just seems over the years I have gotten more mileage out of it

[@nicholasbehe6686]

Use for Ritual Casting Feign Death I’ve used a few times: cast it on party members and put them in a bag of holding to sneak the whole party in somewhere. This is a grey area mechanics wise, based on the wording of both the spell and bag of holding, but Rule of Cool has won over the DMs I’ve tried it with.

[@clenzen9930]

I really enjoy your videos! Maybe in the future, you could do a video that is from the perspective of the DM running NPCs. Save or Suck spells can add drama and tension when it's the PCs rolling to resist hold person! (And if the enemy wastes their action on a failed spell, that's a moment for the group to cheer!)

[@smbakeresq]

What’s shocking to the group is when the evil wizard knows all and is prepared for the group and you say “Well none of you checked to see the Arcane Eye spying on you.” You need to do that first before you hit them with “Well this Wizard is a diviner so you just failed that saving throw.”

[@AfroditeBell]

Love these vids. Made a wizard after years of saying I’ll never play one (I love clerics and barbs and bards too much). But honestly mah gurl kida is probably my fave character so far. Loving the wizard. I actually found out she is your god wiz build (I can’t resist cleric) so I watched that video to further refine what I’d built.

[@gromigur]

I always stuck with meele classes cause, while not a min/maxer I like to feel usefull in and out of combat. Thanks to your guides I now play my first Wizard and while still not having the most impact I know when and how to make an impact in combat

[@smbakeresq]

PC roles are sort of like this, STR - DAMAGE and Tank, DEX - damage (small letters on purpose) and skills, INT - manipulator of environment and information, WIS - buffing and reading a situation, CHR - manipulator of creatures and interaction with them. Mixing of roles is possible and recommended as long as you don’t go too far outside, then you water down your role to much. It’s recommended because you need overlap in areas, that’s why military are cross trained. As a wizard, don’t be afraid to make those knowledge checks and pump the DM for information and make your ideas known.

[@sarezar]

Nondetection Purple? It's super situational. :D I agree 100% on all the other ratings :) Looking forward to the 4th level spells video! While I agree with almost all your ratings, watching these videos made me reconsider certain situations that happen frequently in my current campaigns :)

[@TalonHawke]

Had a Warlock with Vampiric Touch get swallowed by a Kraken, he managed to stay alive (and give the Kraken a tummy ache) by using the spell. ...It is also the only time I can remember using the spell.

[@jaka8888]

One of the rare uses for Skywrite would be switching the Transmutation wizard's stone effect while not in combat. The other "free" (ritual) alternative would be water breathing.

[@jonc.6046]

An odd quirk with wall of sand's wording is that it doesn't require a creature to be entirely inside it to be blinded, in contrast to, say, hunger of hadar. You could, rules as written, make a wall of sand one foot tall, and any enemies crossing it would be blinded but fully visible.

[@seb8523]

On Phantom Steed : one big advantage is that, when riding, the mount can take the disengage action and move, and then the rider doesn't provoque AoO either : www.sageadvice.eu/2015/06/09/mount-disengage/So it actually gives you a lot of maneuverability. Of course it's not as good as an actual mount, because it disappear if it takes any amount of damage, but still, pretty useful.

[@joaogomide5959]

Major image range is related to the distance between the character and the spell. As long as you stay at 120 feet of the illusion, it will go wherever you want as long as you spend an action to do it (dont even need malleable illusions) Txt says “As long as you are within range of the illusion, you can use your action to cause the image to move to any other spot within range..” Thats why I would rule it that way

[@ryancparker]

Sending isn’t divination because you don’t want to block it with nondetection and mind blank.

[@horstmeier2664]

Thank you again for this great video! I do think Slow scales quite well btw, I'm finding myself preparing it and regularly using it at higher levels too. Sure, Wall of Force is a stronger use of my concentration, but I do not always want to invest a 5th level spell (or maybe reduce damage after my divide and conquer spell).

[@arsarma1808]

"At 5th level, no one gets a bonus [to counterspells]" 1 level later, lore bards start giggling.

[@cmckee42]

My 5th level wizard with a luckstone would like to respectfully disagree with that statement.

[@theonlymatthew.l]

@@cmckee42 well if you're going to start adding on items that hardly makes it fair...

[@Ironfist85hu1]

One thing about Catnap. There is an optional rule in DMG, what makes the game a bit more "realistic", or grim, or how you like to call it. So, the rule is, that the resting is not like long rest 8 hours, short rest 1 hour, but long rest 1 week, short rest 8 hours. Now catnap gives a huge advantage this time.

[@mrwizard2950]

Great video, but I have just one problem. Summon Lesser Demons uses your concentration. That means you can end your concentration when you don't need the demons anymore or when they are doing more harm than good. No extra enemy and no screwing over your party. I don't think this makes it as good as Conjure Animals, but I think Summon Lesser Demons is definitely underrated.

[@smbakeresq]

First, we play you need the blood to cast the spell, you can use the blood to make the circle but that's not required. It makes sense for the spell to require that component. This makes the spell sometimes hard to use as you might not have the blood. Second, it is ok IF you can place it correctly. It needs a largish area so you can put the demons behind the enemy so the enemies are nearest and then keep the enemy between you and them. Third, the CR 1/4 to 1 demons all suck. Fourth, if you were a conjurer and spent time and effort to RP learning from a Druid I would let you add Conjure Animals to your spell list. You already can summon a fey spirit (find familiar) and its a conjuration spell so I don't get why it isn't already on your list. I would of course limit it to creatures appropriate to the terrain you are in.

[@aidandunne5978]

You actually can move the Major Image. It says "As long as you are within range of the illusion, you can use your action to cause the image to move to any other spot within range." So it does cost an action, but you can move it

[@med2904]

With Animate Dead and Tiny Servant you can also "issue a general command" to give them a task they'll continue doing until it's complete. So you can tell them "fight hostile creatures in this room" and then not use your bonus action on them anymore. But then the DM will control them and not you directly.

[@KINFIN123]

I really wish more classes got Vampiric Touch because it’s a lot better a spell in the hands of a tougher class. Cleric, Some Druids, and Some Bards might find themselves in Melee more often, and if Sorcerer could use it it would really bring the Melee Sorcerer concept to life thanks to quicken spell.

[@Coid]

One thing of note is that typically you move 30 feet in a round outside of combat. Major Image can be moved up to 120 feet away from the caster as an action as long as the caster is also within 120 feet of it. So a determined caster *could* take one or two along with them as they go, using their action a few times a minute. Probably more relevant for entertaining or within a multi-rest dungeon than for overland travel, though.

[@Coid]

Still, if they were willing to send the spell out the full 120 feet out in front of them, a caster could juggle up to 9 Major Image spells while moving their full 30 feet each round. If they didn't want it to go ahead of them and instead moved the rearmost one to be abreast to them each turn or moved it to where they would move on their turn, that would be 4 or 5 Major Images. Mounted on a Riding Horse or Warhorse with a move speed of 60 feet, sending the Major Images out in front would allow up to 5 to be juggled with the alternative of being able to juggle 2 or 3 of them if not sending them out ahead of the caster. The exact nature of the Major Image is going to matter a lot as to how disruptive that might be or how likely it would be to be spotted by enemies, the latter of which is especially a potential concern if you were moving in hallways and came upon an intersection or the like. On the other hand, if the Major Image in question is of a creature, then it could be that you'd want to send it forward into an intersection to see if enemies are waiting in ambush and will attack it. Definitely more useful for an Illusionist Wizard with Malleable Illusions, but I think even that has been said to only work once per individual spell.

[@borischivapallottole]

Great video as usual! I find that your videos are the best, especially for wizards, so I have to say a big thank you for that, they helped me a lot! This particular video I found very interesting. Maybe the only thing I would like to add is regarded "animate dead" spell, which certainly for a necromancer is a must have spell, but remember that as belonging to necromancy school, wizards will automatically learn "animate dead" reaching 6th level.. so maybe it would make more sense waiting for 6th level and learning other spells when unblocking 3rd level spells at 5th level, like hipnotic pattern, counterspell or thunderstep..

[@dominicl5862]

I finished playing Curse of Strahd recently where I was a necromancer and I had 11 skeles going into strahd's castle. Our War Cleric casts crusaders mantle and it shredded, plus my animate objects, omg that was a ton of damage.

[@saytr4]

Can't turn the volume up anymore. I'm at max and I still cant hear you with the AC on.

[@reignhunger1308]

As I've lately had interest into building a Necromancer, I have been looking more closely to spells like Stinking Cloud as my Animated dead are immune to poison (but aren't immune to say a hypnotic pattern). It seemed like a great fit, until I noticed something: "Each creature that is completely within the cloud at the start of its turn must make a Constitution saving throw against poison. On a failed save, the creature spends its action that turn retching and reeling. Creatures that don't need to breathe or are immune to poison automatically succeed on this saving throw. " Not sure how to bold something in youtube comment, but it says that on a failed save the creature spend's it's action, not it's turn, retching and reeling- so this spell might be a bit worse then you thought since you can't actually divide and conquer with it as you would with Sleet Storm; some will fail their save, but unless they are all attempting to dash towards your party, they will all reach your group at the same time simply by using their movement.

[@OnionJuiceEnjoyer]

Just a heads up on the video title

[@nastube4052]

Life Transference can get a downed enemy up, when nobody else can, and maybe you have enough hp to retreat after casting it. Extremely useful in a pinch.

[@JaxonBurn]

Nice of you to revive a downed enemy

[@nimric3348]

lightning bolt has its place, it's the best damage spell but it's controlled. you can reliable hit 2 creatures and in the right circumstances hit more. also it's alot more controlable in terms of friendly fire and not hitting flammable objects.

[@keeganmbg6999]

So excited to see another video! Thanks Chris!

[@SizzleJ]

I think your channel is great! One suggestion. Is to add content related to making good encounters. I love the obtomanzer perspective but as a current player and aspiring DM I want to learn how to create encounters that will give my players a reason to want to be the best they can be!! Again I’m love the channel and please keep the videos rolling!

[@stranger6822]

Dispel Magic can also dispel certain magical effects, depending on the DM. One example is a certain magical trap in SKT. If you truly want to be the best scout in the game, clearing the way for the party, you need dispel magic and detect magic.

[@quonomonna8126]

based on the DM i presently have, I am choosing less ambiguous spells that won't start an argument...things that are very clear about what they do that don't leave really anything up to debate

[@muker83]

Hello TT, Great video as always. Regarding what You've mentioned about Hypnotic Pattern, would you consider making a video/note on casting spell discreetness, how is it solved at your table. 1. If a target saves against a spell: does he know he have just saved, does he know what spell targeted him, does he know who casted it (if it's not obvious). Does it change if it's AOE (hypnotic pattern) instead of single target (hold person). 2. If a caster creates an illusion of monster in the middle of combat is it obvious it's illusion not a summoning spell. 3. How loud is the verbal component, how obvious it is that it's magical incantation and not a foreign language? 4. If the spell (or monster abbility for that matter) description says that it can be cancelled with Lesser Restoration, does the target know that? 5. If, out of combat, two casters cast spell at the same time, can one connect which effect originates from which caster (other than facing)? 6. Can you tell that wizard is concentrating on something? 7. For the purpose of counter spell, do you know what spell and at what level was cast before deciding to Counterspell it? Thanks to anyone for sharing their opinion.

[@smbakeresq]

1. Yes, he knows an effect was resisted, what it was might require a check. 2. No unless you disbelieve it, which requires you to interact with it in some way to even try a check. 3. According to Mearls or Crawford somewhere, it has to be actually spoken but doesn’t have to be loud. However as a DM if you bellow when calling down the thunder you might get a bonus. No it not obvious unless you would have a reason to know.

[@smbakeresq]

Michał UK 4. Not unless they see you canceling it. 5. I would say no, you would have to sense it in someway and make a connection. 6. I would allow a check or just describe it but probably not as you can cast other spells at same time and do other actions also. 7. No, Xanathars states it’s an action or reaction to identify a spell as its cast, with advantage of you are same class as caster . I think it’s page 85, but on phone so can’t check.

[@muker83]

@@smbakeresq Thanks for the feedback, i don't have Xanathar's guide so I cannot confirm what you've said regarding counterspell.

[@smbakeresq]

Michał UK it works both ways, so if you play with that rule to your DM say I am casting a spell are you counter-spelling it?

[@muker83]

@@smbakeresq I'm the DM here :) 5th is my first edition o DnD (GMed Warhammer before), so I'm not sure how this was played all this years and there are no rules for that in Player's guide.

[@nastube4052]

Fear is absolutely insane on a Conquest Paladin. They can only use their action to dash away, but the conquest paladin makes their speed 0. They can only save if they get out of sight, but they can't move. It completely shuts down all enemies that fail. No additional save. This is of course a combo.. but it works all the time on anything (except fear immune).. so not all that consequential other than the fact that it requires a class.

[@siddharthbianchi9322]

You can true polymorph your create undead spell cast at 8th 9th level into a green hag on later days (need to trap them) then after they create coven you need to turn one into a night hag then when they create another coven turn it again and so when three night hags make a coven turn it into a cr 7 monster like mind flayer

[@Porphyrogenitus1]

The most iconic use of *Wall of Water* was by Bugs Bunny in *The Iceman Ducketh* to create an invisible shield. He saw a guy do it in a toothpaste ad once.

[@jaka8888]

Bestow curse is great if you pull it off. Your familiar can deliver it since it's touch. The sheer things it can do are monstrous - having an enemy make a save every round or do nothing? That's massive.

[@raikirah975]

Surprised that you didnt mention the one saving grace of Erupting Earth -- its damage type. There aren't, to the best of my knowledge, any creatures that are Resistant/Immune to magical bludgeoning damage, whereas Fireball uses one of the most often-reduced damage types in the game. I give it an Orange rating simply for that -- I'm going to be using Fireball in most cases, but if I know I'm going to be facing off against things like Fire Elementals or devils, Erupting Earth is better than Lightning Bolt.

[@raikirah975]

@@sharkforce8147 I think you're misunderstanding my point -- when I need a blast spell, I'm normally going to go with Fireball over Erupting Earth. However, there are circumstances where Fireball is untenable (anything that's Immune to Fire damage, most especially) -- if I know I'm likely to be put in a situation where that's the case (such as when the party has traveled to the Plane of Fire, or we're going up against infernal foes), then Erupting Earth becomes much better than Fireball (as even shitty damage is better than no damage), and even its smaller blast area is better than Lightning Bolt's 100ft Line.

[@raikirah975]

@@sharkforce8147 Erupting Earth is the Orange-rated spell, not Fireball.

[@rhymeswithmoose228]

Very late to the party, but my favorite use of the Life Transference spell is to really lean into roleplaying a traumatized war mage veteran with awful survivor's guilt over all their fellow soldiers dying!

[@jeremystanley7748]

vampiric touch can be cast once using your owl familliar over the course of 1 min. 10x3d6, blue I says!

[@ryancparker]

Erupting earth is great to use underneath your enemies on a stone floor when your earth elemental a way up. That’s the only use I could find for it.

[@Hidden-Brush-org]

Sofar life transference has been a great heal for our party. I have built my necromancer around temporary life points through false life and or agathys armor. With all these temp HP I can freely cast life trans on a downed ally and get them not just up but back in the fight with almost half their HP back and I haven't even taken damage to my max HP. Mean while my undead continue to dish out lots of damage.

[@thepopemichael]

Some DMs (myself included) let you keep Glyph of Warding inside of Bags of Holding since the space inside is technically not moving in relation to anything since it's extra dimensional space unto itself.

[@parheliaa]

You are forgetting about one thing in AoE spells: Friendly Fire. in that case, small AoE is not a bad thing. It even can be the only spell viable to cast in some situations. Of course, the damage should be higher to compensate for this, but still, this is worth considering

[@danielnor5508]

I think that the animate dead spell is better then most people give it credit for. I think it is an AWSOME spell if you have a melee based rogue in the party. First: you cast this spell just before a long rest, in case you have any 3+ level spell slots available. Make a skeleton as it is usually not that much more stupid then the party barbarian (and always does as it is told). Equip it with scale mail, shield and scimitar. Give him standing order to follow the rogue around and go into melee combat with anyone the rogue attacks, and to take the dodge action in melee. In other words you only use a spell slot when it would have been lost anyway, so it wont really use up any real resources. The skeleton has standing orders, so you dont have to use your bonus actions for it in combat. The skeleton will not make damage, but cause threat/distraction so that the rogue will get to sneak attack every round. If the enemy targets the skeleton it will be against AC18 with disadvantage (from the dodge action), so it might not die directly. When taking the next long rest and you have a 3+ spellslot left, use it to extend your controll over the skeleton (or reanimate if it died). Othervise kill the skeleton and mend the bones for the next time you have a level 3+ spell slot left when you are going to take a long rest.

[@destroyerinazuma96]

Circumstantial, but Metamagic might allow to increase the Fear cone. If "range" becomes increased, I'd assume the cone width increases too. One could pull off combos like move back->cast Fear + Metamagic-> get all the baddies.

[@TreantmonksTemple]

Because the range on a cone is technically "self" metamagic does not increase the size unfortunately.

[@seancornish8990]

With metamagic adept I twin casted false life as my wizard. It was very cool. Pretty effective too. But in general we dont have any healers. So I use it when we are in a pinch.

[@BR4IN1N4J4R]

So question: Galder's Tower vs Leomund's Tiny Hut: which is better?

[@ty88]

I send my familiar to cast Bestow Curse and Portent it to fail. No save to get out of it. Half the time that dragon could do nothing but move on its turn. It's great for a single enemy that you still want to damage each turn.

[@notsureicare488]

Dont know if theres an eratta since this was made, but you can dismiss summon lesser demons at will. Its a concentration of 1 hour, and it states that "a summoned demon disappears if they drop to 0 hit points or the spell ends." You dont force a new encounter with it since youre not obligated to maintain concentration when the original enemies are beaten.

[@120588880106]

Chris is seen casting "Change shirt" at 44:04. Just thought i'd mention that. Carry on.

[@TreantmonksTemple]

It's the effect of a Minor Illusion spell.

[@matthewporter7871]

Life transference is cracked. The amount of healing you can get at early levels is crazy. It’s an average of 36, and a fighter’s hp at level 5 with +3 con is 49. Yes it deals a lot of dmg to you, but in fights where there’s not many ranged enemies or you aren’t in danger, it’s amazing healing, especially if you’re a wizard with high con. The only other spell that can match it’s single target healing is heal, which is 6th level.

[@quonomonna8126]

the fear spell is much better if you have the miniature because you can place it exactly as needed, proceeding from any of the 3 points and pointing in any direction

[@saintpaulsnail]

With the release of newer published material, this needs an update. I was looking for an evaluation of Spirit Shroud, but didn't find it.

[@StalinMcRally]

I agree with everything on Summon Lesser Demons. On the current campaign I got it at lvl 5 because I wanted something different. I wasted both spell slots getting two quasits who got killed next round and then a vargouille and a maw demon who kept missing but getting hit for the rest of the combat. What I had hoped for was 8 critters to cause chaos, but like you put it, too much out of the caster's hands to make up for it.

[@blshouse]

It's minute, not minute! ;-) my'-noot not min-it' minute def: miniature, small, tiny minute def: 60 seconds

[@colocado6685]

Everyday I realise how dumb english can get

[@Ebonzai]

I know you rated Slow highly but you said it's not as good later. I disagree as a mostly melee player I PROMISE that we LOVE not having to take a million swings from enemies we are engaged with. Slow has been the difference between TPKs and Milk runs for me many times.

[@EvelynnEleonore]

I think your analysis of magic circle is a little bit underdeveloped. It's intentionally not designed as a combat spell; it's a summoning safeguard. I would encourage you to have another look at planar binding, too. Summoning creatures in fifth has much more of a requirement for set-up if you want powerful options, since the action economy and bounded accuracy have made them a greater asset than ever. I think Inquisitor Lim's Bladesinger guide might shed some light on the uses of the spells in question.

[@EvelynnEleonore]

@@sharkforce8147 What do you mean?

[@EvelynnEleonore]

​@@sharkforce8147 The elemental wouldn't disappear with the correct spell used, it'd become uncontrolled, hence the magic circle! after a successful planar binding, it will also stick around until the planar binding spell ends. I see your concern, but have another look at the specific interactions.

[@EvelynnEleonore]

I cast magic circle at 4th level, giving me 2 hours of time to control the elemental. I use the inverted magical circle. I then cast conjure elemental in the center of the inverted magic circle. For the sake of this, I'm going to choose to conjure an invisible stalker, casting it at 6th level. I immediately begin to cast planar binding, releasing the elemental from my control. This also starts the timer of an hour before the elemental vanishes. After the hour of casting planar binding, I either succeed in binding it or fail. On a success, the invisible stalker is bound for the duration, and the conjuring of it is extended to match the duration of my planar binding. If I fail, it immediately vanishes in the following turn since an hour has passed. Alternatively, if my DM rules that the moment between it vanishing and me binding it is too short in order to get it done, I instead would cast a different spell to bring it in. If my DM argues that the spell does not extend the duration of the summoning since the summoning spell technically "ends" when I lose concentration (which I would debate since the spell effect still goes on, but I'm not gonna annoy my DM) I'd instead load up a glyph of warding with my conjuration spell, sidestepping the required concentration.

[@EvelynnEleonore]

@@sharkforce8147 We're not going to come to an agreement here. I disagree with your interpretation of the rules in multiple instances, and I don't have the feeling anything I have to say would sway you. Thank you for a civil discussion, however.

[@joaodias7152]

Hi Treantmonk. In defense of Ligthning Bolt, I think there may be one use of this spell that no other blasting spell can. According to my interpretation, and by Raw, you can use Contingency with Lightning Bolt. "Choose a spell of 5th level or lower that you can cast, that has a casting time of 1 action, and that can target you.". The range of Ligthning Bolt is self, so it seems that Ligthning Bolt fullfills all the requirements. What is your interpretation here TM? I know that there are more interesting uses of Contigency, but for a Blaster Wizard this could be fun. You could specify a codeword for the Contigency Ligthning Bolt (upcasted to fifth), allowing you to discharge two spells in one round (one through normal action, the second one through contigency). What do you think?

[@saytr4]

1 Lightning Bolt cant target you. It is an AOE spell. 2 The contingent spell takes effect only on you anyway.

[@AITries]

You can move Major Image, it's the entire 2nd paragraph of the spell.

[@Xani13]

I could see Feign Death possibly useful as an Order of Scribes Wizard casting it as a ritual because it would take effect immediately (since the 10 minutes to cast it would be negated). Still a bit niche, but, potentially useful. And, yes, I am aware (nowadays) that this video was uploaded before OoS Wizards were a thing. That being said, I would be curious about (assuming you haven't already made such a video and I simply haven't gotten to it yet) an updated version of this video now that TCE and XGE are both out (UA is irrelevant to me since my DMs refuse to use it since it is "still in the testing phase").

[@Spiceodog]

Glyph of warding is great if you have demiplane, or your the villain, or you have time to prepare

[@nastube4052]

Vampiric touch on a blade singer is quite useful.

[@lobstervortex]

great video but if I'm gonna need to choose between stinking cloud or sleet storm, you bet I'm gonna pick the big fart

[@DarrylCross]

The only situation where Erupting Earth would be the right spell for the job is if you've just poked the hornet's nest, and now you need to flee a narrow cavern mouth (or a bridgehead) with a million angry creatures in tow. It might kill or injure the few in the lead, and slow down all the rest in a choke point buying you time to get away. Then you're pretty much not caring about the damage portion, but counting on the difficult terrain effect without needing concentration to maintain.