Treantmonk's Guide to Wizards 9th level spells

[@MikkoSav123]

Casting Simulacrum on a powerful enemy, especially through a Wish spell, is an insanely powerful combo! I never thought of that before, thanks :)

[@matthewconlon2388]

Just watching it get dispelled is sad. Convincing my DM a simulacrum that’s been true polymorphed can’t be dispelled if they failed to dispel the true polymorph was a personal triumph.

[@matthewconlon2388]

@Remy Boivin I disagree. There is no RAW specifically regarding those two spells and their interaction. You can assume a fake person permanently turned into a real dragon can be dispelled but the same reasoning could also mean a brittle book is still highly flammable in the form of an Imp, or a bear made from a human can still be charmed with charm person.

[@matthewconlon2388]

It’s not RAW, it’s multiple sources of RAW which have interactions open to interpretation. Mine, I argue, is more correct and more in line with the RAW of True Polymorph. The simulacrum is a construct that exists until dispelled, but True Polymorph replaces the statistics of the creature until True Polymorph is dispelled, that includes type, whether or not it can be healed outside an alchemy lab, and more. A Dragon can’t be dispelled, you’d have to dispel the true polymorph that makes it a dragon first. Ahem, mic drop.

[@godsfaithinhumanity]

i feel like WotC should hire you for wizard spell balance consultation

[@insertphrasehere15]

I found one good PC use for Imprisonment! When under the Magic Jar spell and occupying another body, you can target your own body for the Minimus Containment imprisonment, storing it within a gem. You can set the ending condition to be when the Magic Jar spell ends. Meaning that you can just play as a body snatcher, and if it goes wrong (you get hit by dispel magic) your body is right there ready to hop into. I made a build around Magic Jar, playing a Divination Wizard so that the opponents automatically fail their save vs Magic Jar (and so that I can auto succeed my save vs it if the body I am in dies). It was sweet!

[@sixty5202]

One of my favourite ever uses of Wish was in a mini campaign, trying to kill Asmodeus. Over the course of the three day trek through hell, my Diviner dropped two wishes, both on Planar binding. It netted the party a Pit Fiend and a Balor as allies for the rest of the adventure. Two concentration-free meatshields with a ton of fun abilities were a huge boon to our party.

[@goatmeal5241]

Just realized another use of True Polymorph: the Titivilus (CR 16) has animate dead AT WILL. So, finally a limitless undead army, provided you have the corpses. You'd be giving up the damage bonus and more advanced undead options necromancers can get, but great for villains to have true hordes of undead minions. Also symbol 1/day with no material cost could set up some truly nasty traps/fortresses. Edit: on the day of battle, you could kill yourself to revert back to necromancer form, getting all your regular spell slots back (after using your free symbol 1/day as titivilus). Idk if your undead would then get the damage bonus to their attacks or not, but you could certainly do a lot more as a wizard before re-casting true polymorph the next day to maintain control as a titivilus again.

[@TreantmonksTemple]

Nice. Undead horde! The way I read it, if a Necromancer uses Shapechange to take this form, those would be boosted undead as well.

[@Coid]

I believe Titivilus is a Duke of Hell's personal name. So it depends on how the DM feels about turning into a specific, unique individual.

[@darthalpha1525]

Just a heads up, because shapechange is concentration, and casting a spell with a casting time of longer than 1 action also requires concentracion, that doesn't work. However, the regeneration makes Titivilus a decent shapechange form anyway to build hp back up.

[@smile-tl9in]

we can wish for the simulacrum of ourselves with all spells prepared being a form of animate dead and raise an army this way. Or use a simulacrum of a death tyrant

[@goatmeal5241]

Worth mentioning: Power Word Kill will kill polymorphed targets, no reversion (by same logic that it kills wild-shaped druids, which is confirmed by developers). But usually creatures worth spending a 9th level slot to kill are going to have legendary resistances, so good luck polymorphing them. It'll also truly kill the Tarrasque if you get it low enough (or somehow polymorph it), which is nice. Edit: also it's perhaps one of the only ways to kill a lvl 20 moon druid who can refresh their HP as a bonus action.

[@Vidiri]

The issue is that Disintegrate, a 6th level spell, has that same effect.

[@Ironfist85hu1]

It is interesting, if it really kills the target, if it is polymorphed. Because if you just reduce it's HP to 0, it just turns back to it's original form with HP it had before the polymorph. That's why disintegrate won't work.

[@JoviaI1]

@@Vidiri Not true. In Jeremy Crawford's own words, disintegrate requires you to drop the original form to 0 hp.

[@mrbean3470]

@@JoviaI1, where was this said?

[@JoviaI1]

@@mrbean3470 C'mon it took me 10 seconds to look it up: twitter.com/JeremyECrawford/status/1067566337780674562?s=20

[@davidcassell4659]

I just found your channel thanksto Kraken Week, and I have already watched all your levels of Wizard spells. I find it surprising that I agree with your color ranking everywhere, even if I like Ice Knife more than you do.

[@artus_coherent_noise]

Just a note on Meteor Swarm: while the spell has an incredible maximum area of effect, the spheres can overlap to create an area as small as a 40ft radius blast. There is no additional damage for overlapping spheres, but as long as your enemies are more than 40ft away you can at least keep yourself out of the area of effect. If there are enough creatures around to warrant casting a blast like this, then you will hopefully have the 40ft distance needed to get yourself out of the blast.

[@parheliaa]

Just be Evoker, sit down and let meteors destroy everything around you when you calmly finish your drinks

[@combustiblelemons8591]

@@parheliaa I love imagining this or a rogue or monk with evasion just: "The Lich casts Meteor Swarm centred on you, make a Dex save." *Succeeds because rogue/monk Dex* "I dodge the 4 80ft Meteors perfectly, leaving not a scratch."

[@parheliaa]

@@combustiblelemons8591 It will be only one because spheres do not stack :) But even cooler is when you do cast it, and your rouge/monk says "Ok, let's bring up popcorn, then kill anybody who has left alive 5ft from me"

[@Sharkakaka]

Meteor swarm is a spell to destroy an ridiculous number of creatures, like fighting against orcus and he just conjures an army of undead with his wand you use this spell to destroy that army and possibly deal some damage to the boss

[@HaloFTW2408]

Here are the rankings in text format 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 Astral Projection (Necr) (**) (32:06) Foresight (Div) (****) (19:35) Gate (Conj) (*) (17:35) Imprisonment (Abj) (*) (07:23) Invulnerability (Abj, Conc) (***) (05:22) Mass Polymorph (Tran, Conc) (***) (45:03) Meteor Swarm (Evo) (****) Even better for Evokers (25:34) Power Word Kill (Enc) (**) (21:00) Psychic Scream (Enc) (**) (22:33) Prismatic Wall (Abj) (*****) (02:24) Shapechange (Tran, Conc) (****) (40:53) Time Stop (Tran) (***) (43:29) True Polymorph (Tran, Conc) (*****) (34:57) Weird (Ill) (*) The worst 9th Level Spell by far in Treantmonk's opinion. (29:05) Wish (Conj) (*****) (08:48)

[@eipoeipo]

For astral projection, you can also get the silver cord cut by an astral dreadnought.

[@archmagemc3561]

And a Celestial Dragon.

[@mojorn8837]

And at those levels, I’d be surprised not to face threats capable of severing my cord if I took the spell. It’s honestly a very risky spell in my view because the astral plane doesn’t mess around. Only the strongest threats are out there, and quite a few have specialized abilities to kill projecting wizards

[@archmagemc3561]

Even better, is that tether has 1 hp and 10 AC, so its stupid easy for these high level threats to hit if they can. Its why you'd rather use Gate to head there than astral projection xD.

[@theonlymatthew.l]

As always a very thorough and informative video. I'm very much looking forward to seeing your archetype builds.

[@nickm9102]

I have used True Polymorph to great effect on a Celestial Warlock. Had a Melee Attacker hit me for 40+ damage in 1 round so I "panicked" and turned into a Planetar. I instantly became a martial character with 2 attacks for avg 43 (4d6+5d8+7) and I still could heal the party. In close quarters I default to the Death Knight if I need a medium size Meele form. But I'm only lvl 18 right now. Every wizard I make will have this spell

[@ashtonpeterson4618]

I'm new to D&D but this is easily my favorite spell. It has so much potential, both practically and lore wise. You can create life!

[@nickm9102]

@@ashtonpeterson4618 CR 9 or lower so you can true Polymorph a pile of dirt into a Shield Guardian every day until you have an army or you can play the ultimate anti-social and make your friends... Now I think I will have to make a bard and use magical secrets to give him conjuration spells 😈

[@ashtonpeterson4618]

@@nickm9102 the crit 9 is only for objects into creatures. You can turn a creature into any any creature with a an equal or lower crit rating (or level of that have one). So you can also turn your wizard into a dragon

[@skullkrusher-dx4kg]

Ypu can cast true polymorph on a simulacrum lol.

[@nickm9102]

@@ashtonpeterson4618 you can but i still feel the real power is in the creation of an army. If you want somthing easily controllable you make a shield Guardian with control amulet every day for a week. Now you have seven Shield Guardians so cheese could mean that if they are all within range you could divide 100 damage between you and six of them and you take 1 damage and they regain 10 HP each round if you have another week or the spell on your list already you can load each one with a Summon greater Demon or Death ward and have the situation when the guardian is hit or you say a command word to release a demon somthing like a Bulgara or you drop to 1 HP and guardian x to x+y has not activated its spell or within range. But yes the ancient Bronze dragon or Adult Red Dragon can be fun.

[@luiswi]

You can also create a homunculus with wish.

[@jand.4737]

Something to remember about wish uses as replicating spells: You can not only do that in your downtime, but also at the end of the day. Often you will keep your 9th level slot because of a "What if an even worse situation happens?" Mentality. In that case, you can just cast wish to replicate a permanent or long lasting effect before the long rest. You could Wish in order to cast Hallow, that would keep you very save during the rest. The 24 hour casting time usually would be a reason not to pick that spell as a PC, but when it's just 1 action and a slot you regain after the next 8 hours of rest. Why not?

[@thecognitiverambler8911]

Glad to see you gave prismatic wall some love. A lot of people look right past that spell as if it's *not* pretty much the ultimate crowd control spell in the game. It's a murder wall that will either burn all of a creature's legendary resistances (while doing loads of damage) or keep them contained. It feels like a spell slot well spent either way. No concentration or friendly fire is just complete gravy.

[@TreantmonksTemple]

I love a good wall spell, and PW is the best.

[@spartaneternal8423]

Treantmonk's Temple Hey man, I’d love to know your opinion on prismatic wall and how it interacts with AOE spells and creatures being forced into the wall. Do AOEs pass through or would that count as casting spells through it? If you shove or force move a creature into the all does it pass through harmlessly, bounce off, or get subject to all the spells effects?

[@binolombardi]

There is a section in the KZbin channel by wizard of the coast sage advice That briefly talked about True polymorphing creatures into objects and subsequently casting a spell consuming that object

[@andreistoian3152]

Suggested build to highlight is the one i am playing right now in my home campaign Abjuration wizard X Hexblade Warlock 1. The trick here is to get an actual good combat abjuration spell that gives temp hp which is armor of Agathys, The temp HP stacks with the Abjuration shield and when you re-cast Agathys your Arcane Ward feature also activates from it and helps to re-build your shield. With med armor proficiency and shield as well as well.. the spell shield, you basically become the party tank, no monster will want to touch you... but you're the one holding concentration on the polimorph or the slow.... I did it as a meme build to prolong agathis for more damage but it's surprisingly strong and great fun to play. I think it's hands-down my favorite wizard build! It's pretty straight forward too, but you'll be surprised by the options you have, Hexblade's curse is great and can even make Scortching ray do great damage. The build can just about do anything..

[@TreantmonksTemple]

ooooh, I like that. OK, I'll play with that build, if I like it, I will use it for my Abjuration build. Thanks Andrei!

[@andreistoian3152]

Treantmonk's Temple The only real alternative for abjuration I've found is going fighter 2 for action surge, though thats one level less of "full caster" and you'll fall behind spell slot wise, not to mention you'll lose the synergies I mentioned above. Can't wait for your videos, I loved the spell series, always helped me think about my spell choices leveling up!

[@ISHCAN24]

Waits patiently for the diviner guide.....

[@TreantmonksTemple]

Diviner will be 2 on the list (Bladesinger is first)

[@ISHCAN24]

@@TreantmonksTemple so about 2 weeks of waiting patiently....I can do this... hopefully

[@EpifanesEuergetes]

Well, you do know when it's coming. You are a diviner after all.

[@goatmeal5241]

One point in the Ancient Brass Dragon's favor is its alternate breath weapon: DC 21 Con save or 10-minute sleep (in a 90-ft cone) is probably much better than the Adult Gold's DC 21 Str save or strength-based disadvantage (in a 60 ft cone). They are woken by damage or help actions, but it's still a lot of CC. Still, I think you're probably still right about the Adult Gold being better, and certainly it's accessible earlier.

[@kazebaret]

Amazing guide as usual! Just a quick correction: the average of 40d6 is 140 HP, not 120, and thus even more lethal.... Looking forward to the builds!!!

[@mattbriddell9246]

"Weird" is essentially Mass Phantasmal Killer, because it functions the same way as that spell, except it's an AOE. So it's basically as bad if not worse than that spell because with the original, you'd at least get a significant damage boost by casting PK at 9th level (which is still a bad play) and there's no risk of friendly fire.

[@Delderi]

Well just as phantasmal killer it materializes their worst nightmare in their head and gives them frightened condition. Which means they cant move, because they see the source of their fear anywhere they look. Disadvantage to ability checks and attack rolls. Along with some damage. So AoE version isn't that great, but it isnt as bad as people think. Its group immobilization with some damage. But yeah hypnotic pattern beats it.

[@Coid]

Some notable spells you can grab by True Polymorphing into a Dragon that has the Change Shape ability. Most of these don't have any components or don't have any material components. Many of these are compatible with slapping various races on them, too, such as that form of Mammon Tiefling which gets Arcane Lock without an expensive material component. Even the forms without at-will casting basically allow the creature to use Change Shape to transform into another form and then back again to effectively get access to the spell once every 3 rounds or so. So due to the Quaggoth Thonot, if a high level party hadn't already solved the problem of being able to heal up to full HP between fights, now they have. CR 16 Githzerai Anarch - 5th: Telekinesis, Teleportation Circle, Wall of Force; 7th: Plane Shift CR 14 Githyanki Supreme Commander - 5th: Bigby's Hand, Telekinesis; 6th: Mass Suggestion; 7th: Plane Shift CR 11 Soul Monger - 7th: Finger of Death CR 10 Githzerai Enlightened - 7th: Teleport CR 9 Giant Mutated Drow - 8th: Control Weather CR 9 Gloom Weaver - 1st: Mage Armor(at-will); 3rd: Speak With Dead(at-will); 4th: Arcane Eye(at-will); 6th: True Seeing CR 7 Blood Witch - 6th: Circle of Death CR 7 Warlock of the Fiend - 8th: Feeblemind(debatable) CR 5 Kraken Priest - 1st: Command(at-will), Create or Destroy Water(at-will); 3rd: Water Breathing, Water Walk CR 5 Mind Mage - 2nd: Detect Thoughts, Suggestion; 5th: Dominate Person, Modify Memory; 6th: Mass Suggestion CR 5 Warlock of the Archfey - 6th: Conjure Fey(debatable) CR 4 Kraul Death Priest - 3rd: Animate Dead CR 3 Anchorite of Talos - 2nd: Augury; 3rd: Revivify CR 3 Quaggoth Thonot - 1st: Cure Wounds, Feather Fall(at-will) CR 2 Uthgardt Shaman - 1st: Hex; 2nd: Find Steed(Elk-only); 3rd: Animate Dead, Hypnotic Pattern, Plant Growth, Revivify CR 1 Albino Dwarf Spirit Warrior - 2nd: Pass Without Trace CR 1 Horncaller - 3rd: Conjure Animals CR 1 Nilbog - 1st: Tasha's Hideous Laughter(at-will) CR 1 Thought Spy - 1st: Charm Person(at-will) CR 1 Yuan-Ti Pureblood - 1st: Animal Friendship (snakes-only; at-will)

[@sabliath9148]

During a special One-Shot I ran, I used Meteor Swarm to emulate the effects of a volcanic eruption.

[@eliotoole4534]

You could gate someone to the plane of air to get rid of them permanently. (Any/all)

[@MikkoSav123]

I haven't seen a player cast Power Word: Kill ever, but I sure have taken a hit from one as a player..

[@MadNitr0]

you can Power word: kill something that has bin polymorphed... u know exactly how many HPs it has left and it just dies so it dose not get to go back to its original form

[@SCP-001DatabaseAdministrator]

I'm sorry, I don't agree that power word kill is a bad spell. He always wants to use spells that don't do damage, but using delayed spells, multiple castings all hitting on the same round can do a lot more single target damage than fighters giving smart enemies no chance to heal and taking out the most powerful target.

[@Coid]

We only had a single PC death in our entire playthrough of Storm King's Thunder, and it was thanks to a Power Word: Kill.

[@SCP-001DatabaseAdministrator]

I know power word kill , kills and does not "blast for damage" but doesn't it do some damage on a failed save? But spamming kill spells will take out monsters and NPCs.

[@MikkoSav123]

Saving throw is not an issue on any power word spells. www.dnd-spells.com/spell/power-word-kill

[@kendrajade6688]

The Astral Dreadnought cuts a silver cord on a critical hit. Also, the scenarios in which I'd expect a silver sword to come up are rare, but every single one of them overlaps with the scenarios that would lead you to cast Astral Projection.

[@mojorn8837]

My opinion exactly. If you’re high enough level to cast astral projection, as a dm I’m going straight to githyanki with silver swords or a close call with an astral dreadnaught as the most likely encounters. It’s a risky spell to over use because it puts you into the deep end of dangerous environments designed to kill projecting wizards. Still a cool spell I could see being very useful and very fun

[@smile-tl9in]

you can put an invulnerability in a glyph of warding. You can put said glyphe in a demiplane. If invulnerability is cast with a glyphe of warding, you do not need to concentrate on it

[@human3745]

You have I’ll need two 9th level slots though.

[@JangboFett]

Thanks for yet another very in-depth spell video. I really, REALLY hope you will release your Bladesinger build video by Tuesday evening. I’m about to start one on Tuesday. Actually it’s lvl 1 so not technically a Bladesinger yet, but I’ll get there. I feel rather lost so I’m hoping for some tips and hints. Keep up the good work!

[@timeforsuchaword]

Polymorph supports PWK by brining creatures under 100hp, and since PWK kills without dealing damage the creature dies before polymorph breaks. Of course, you still have to manage to polymorph them in the first place.

[@jypsridic]

Hi Treantmonk! Good to see you're still doing stuff, I haven't heard from you since the 3.5 boards went down.

[@jinxtheunluckypony]

Since we know an Abjuration guide is coming I’d like to recommend an Abjurur 19 Hexblade 1. One level of Hexblade gets you medium armor, shields, and the Armor of Agothys spell. Armor of Agothys complements the Arcane Ward phenomenally. Ward protects your armor and your armor inflicts damage on melee foes acting as a damn fine deterrent.

[@Similacrest]

Make that 2 levels for Armor of Shadows

[@Krikario]

Thank you so much for your videos! I've been trying to learn all the wizard spells and your videos had been of immense help!

[@Alaric11]

Now if I could just get my DM's to stop dog-piling my wizards into an early grave and get a chance to cast some of the big boy spells.

[@mojorn8837]

If you’re high enough level to be casting astral projection and your DM doesn’t try to cut your silver tether with a githyanki sword or have and astral dreadnaught eat you (which does kill you while astral projecting), then you dm is willfully taking it easy on you.

[@stranger6822]

One thing about Foresight: when cast on a high-level Paladin or, especially, on a high-level Monk, the character becomes effectively unstoppable. They won't deal infinite damage or anything like that, but if they focus on defense and evasiveness then there is little in the MM that can threaten them (barring things like Forcecage, though they might have a way out if they can teleport). If you combine with Rary's Telepathic Bond and Scrying, the character makes for an excellent scout who can map out a lair, dangerous area on a plane of existence, or whatever your group happens to be dealing with. Information is a great thing to have.

[@MadNitr0]

"chomps hard at bit for the updated Controll / God wizard build"

[@Dragoon876]

I dunno about imprisonment, you could forcecage something while you cast the imprisonment on it. And if you're a diviner you can just portent a failing roll on the target.

[@duggus777]

Gate could be interesting to bring an entire army through to your current battle (assuming you had such relationships somewhere and they were anticipating this event). A lot of setup but also… that would be cool. Awesome video, this helped me out a lot. Thanks!

[@FrumpybutSuperSmart]

Invulnerability is for soloing the tarrasque.

[@FrumpybutSuperSmart]

@@sharkforce8147 until the tarrasque eats the horse because it's faster than a burdened clydesdale. You could totally beat it with a Quiver of Ehlonna and a source of flight, but what's cooler than facing the tarrasque head on and smashing it to death?

[@FrumpybutSuperSmart]

@@sharkforce8147 I'm not saying it's optimal by any stretch of the imagination. The tarrasque is, by most measurements, highly underwhelming if you game the system as you suggested. However, it cannot be denied that the visual of a paladin standing alone in front of the towering behemoth as it rages toward them and striking it down single handedly is pretty dang epic, regardless of whether there is a more efficient method.

[@FrumpybutSuperSmart]

There are different ways to play the game and feel cool. I'm glad you know how to have fun in your game.

[@pugking4518]

A idea I had about true polymorph a week ago is of a wizard turning objects into people because he was lonely which would be a pretty good surprise for the players to find this out and the people have no idea about being objects because he used modify memory of them to hide the truth from them

[@vakusdrake3224]

I think you're underestimating *dramatically OP* gate has the potential to be: You can end concentration at any time, so if you make a portal that's 20 ft across and drop concentration as soon as someone falls through that will just automatically kill the majority of enemies if you're remotely creative about where you drop them. If you get somebodies true name then that's also basically a death sentence for them, since you can summon them directly into as blatantly unfair of a trap as you have the resources to construct. Plus you can set up a wide array of traps set to go off when you create the portal, so you can just unleash a wave of ballista fire (or use hirelings in cover, say the gate is created in midair next to a fortified structure). Or you can open a portal such that it will immediately start spewing out lava or something and dealing massive damage. Also a nice bonus you can use Gate as a wall spell. Since the portal is one way, so you can shoot ranged attacks at the enemies but they probably can't even target you.

[@naumsei6221]

19:19 simulacrum, gate plus prismatic wall, boom invocation of a powerfull creature that cant go towards you , it gonna end pretty good or you're going to have two bosses to fight against you, if they negotiate something, but if they just dont like eachother its a good combo

[@Dave004]

I do agree True Polymorph is much more versatile and the option for permanency is pretty great, but Shapechange in combat to me is the better option. Keeping your spell casting, feats, class features, proficiency (if they're better than what you Shapechange to), etc, while gaining new traits, legendary resistances and massive HP is pretty powerful. Then when you run out of legendary resistances just switch to a new creature that has them as well and you're back. Or if you're against a spell caster, switch to something with lots of immunities and resistances (Rakshasa great example). So for that i'd say they're both equally blue, just different uses.

[@tannerarmstrong1496]

I think gate could be useful for rescuing someone trapped in another plane if you know their true name, which is niche, but benefitial if you need that.

[@Bezordude]

Use for Gate spell. (prep needed) You gather loads of metal iron, adamantine, lead or tungsten any heavy metal you can get your hands on in huge amounts. Opening a gate to a adamantite ore deposit in a lava pool. (maybe for fast minimum prep version) Otherwise forge a huge rod made of the chosen metal cast it so its 20 feet by x can be pretty long if the gate is open for 1 min. but lets say around 83.3 feet Because falling speed per sec in Xanathar's guide to everything is 83.3 feet per sec 83.3 feet long x 20 feet diameter = a volume of 26169.47 cu ft 26169.47 cu ft in iron is 12 824 651 lbs Which means there is now a massive rod made of iron hurtling towards the city or whatever Not sure how you would calculate the damage from this tho *Inspired By Project Thor ''Rods from god'' * PROJECT THOR: Deadly Metal From Outer Space from the youtube channel Because science But the rod we made is about 296.4 times bigger then the one he talks about. But what you do is you teleport up as far as you want and open a gate in the air and connecting under our rod and let it fall. I think it should minimum do as much damage as a meteor swarm. Sorry for any grammatical errors or mathematical

[@Ironfist85hu1]

Btw, one thing. Power Word Kill can be very effective in a circumstance, what you can create. If you polymorf an ancient dragon for example (yes, legendary blahblahblah), but pick anything what is extremely powerful. Polymorf it into a slug. PWK. It will die. Won't revert it back to enemy, it just dies. Check Jeremy Crawford about it.

[@DarrylCross]

Totally agree on how terrible Weird is. Not only can the 4d10 damage you get from weird be matched or exceeded by lower level spells - you could deal that much damage to a creature with a lot of your cantrips by that level. Toll the Dead (by 17th level when you first get access to 9th level spells) would be doing 4d12 damage per round on failed saves after the enemy got so much as a papercut. Firebolt - 4d10. Mind Sliver would likewise be doing 4d6 damage, and making subsequent saves more difficult. Neither of these cantrips require 2 saves in a row in order to do damage; it starts from round 1. The only use for it that I can see is if you're playing an Order of Scribes wizard, so you can switch out the fire/bludgeoning damage of Meteor Swarm for psychic damage, or to use it as your burner spell when using your One With The Word ability.

[@jensn6490]

Another good use for the wish spell without losing it is using it to cast the 180-day planar binding, if either you don't have the gold or can't find the jewel worth 1k. The only drawback is not being able to cast gate at the same time to bind a named entity

[@chrisvelo2595]

True but idk if it casts the spell at whichever level you choose though

[@clarkside4493]

If you wanted to wish for immortality, you could just wish for a clone spell and have it be a younger version of yourself. Just repeat for a few days to have backup everywhere and essentially be young forever.

[@jand.4737]

On Astral Projection: Githyanki silver weapons and the Astral Dreadnought (and certainly some non 5e printed creatures) have the ability to cut the cord. But only if they roll a nat 20 on their attack. Give them disadvantage on the attack and that's very unlikely. True Polymorph: many Dragons are natural shapechangers and thus immune to the spell

[@peterosborne8315]

Kapitän JadeDejavu they're not actually immune because they don't have the shapechanger type afaik, they are merely dragons that polymorph into humans.

[@jand.4737]

@@peterosborne8315 wait, what? Why does the vampire get the shapechanger tag but the adult gold dragon not?I want my level 17+ character to turn strahd into his own Signet ring.

[@cmckee42]

@@jand.4737 that is what wish is for. That being said, a 17th level party mops the floor with Stahd, so just kill him and Polymorph the body.

[@Porphyrogenitus1]

> Adult or Ancient Dragon Transformations I've never been entirely clear on whether the RAW is clear on allowing the caster to choose *age* categories of dragons when transforming. Possible argument: Transforming into a critter is different from changing their age. One might, for example, choose to *look* older, but would this have, for example, allowed a caster to get the benefits (and penalties) of actually being "Venerable" under earlier editions? +3 to INT, WIS, and CHA simply for using a transformation spell and then declaring it affects your age, not your creature type? ("I True Polymorph into a Venerable Human mage")? If not, then I am doubtful that it lets you pick a draconic age category. But I don't know what the 5E RAW is on this (and, like I said, it's one area where I've never been clear what the RAW is for 3x/PF, either).

[@peterosborne8315]

Porphyrogenitus don't they have to be the same CR? Because if so you must have a lot of high level minions already

[@Porphyrogenitus1]

@@peterosborne8315 What about the original question. What's the answer to that?

[@peterosborne8315]

Porphyrogenitus Oh sorry I had originally posted that in another comment. Dunno why it's in here

[@TreantmonksTemple]

I would say the answer is choosing Dragons by Size rather than by age.

[@Porphyrogenitus1]

@@TreantmonksTemple Except that's what they call the same thing under a different description, since dragons are not categorized by size and their age is an effect of their size. Rather, dragons are categorized by age, and the size is a consequence of their age.

[@CarrowMind]

A fun and dirty tactic with Time Stop is to prepare about 3-4 kegs of gunpowder which deal 7d6 damage each, so 1d6 less than a Fireball, and put them into a Bag of Holding/Handy Haversack/Portable Hole e.t.c. Cast Time Stop, then casually walk up to the enemy, take out the kegs of gunpowder, which any reasonable DM should say would take a round per keg and place them around the enemy, then walk back to safe distance. On your last turn, simply cast a Fire Bolt at the nearest keg and _BOOM!_ Instant 21d6 or 28d6 damage! That's 73 to 98 damage on average on a single round! Not too shabby! Of course there are limits, the number of gunpowder barrels you can carry of course, but if you're going up against the BBEG, and they aren't immune to fire, then this is a fantastic way to open up the fight to soften them up.

[@StalinMcRally]

True Polymorph your Simulacrum into Titivilus to make use of his Animate Dead at will ability.

[@keeganmbg6999]

I see that this video is 48 minutes long. I’m impressed, as we all well know that Wish is the only 9th Level Wizard Spell. Right Chris? Haha. Glad to see we finally got another video, thanks for doing great content as always!

[@codysanders6873]

My wife used gate to summon bahamut for the final battle against Tiamat… I as the DM was stunned and never thought that gate could be used so effectively lol

[@BrianOxleyTexan]

FYI -- On Meteor Swarm, 40d6 averages to 140 rather than 120. d6 averages to 3-1/2 rather than 3 ( [1 + 6] / 2 == 3-1/2 ), and 40 * 3-1/2 == 120 [40 * 3] + 20 [40 * 1/2]. I write software for a living, and this kind of mistake is classic for us. It falls in the the general "off by 1" or "corner case" buckets. :)

[@Ebonzai]

Can't an Astral Dreadnaught cut the cord? If not I know a monster in Xanathars can.

[@TreantmonksTemple]

Yes it can, apparently my information is out of date. A critical hit from an AD can indeed cut the cord.

[@SilverGarrison]

These videos make me thinking about creatures with spellcasting. Eg, Homebrewed dragons that get spells. The idea of an ancient monsterous wizard casting invulnerability when the party gets it down to half has me thinking of more ways to challenge them.

[@androgenius_alisa]

Astral projection sounds like +1 life and free stuff if you transport you astral form to material plane through spells like demiplane

[@cmckee42]

Saying that silver swords are rare doesn't mean much to a 17th level party. 17th level parties deal with rare threats exclusively.

[@coreyburton8]

Very helpful. Love this series

[@quonomonna8126]

foresight for high elf bladesinger with elven accuracy sounds better than invulnerability

[@jamesengland9582]

Astral projection is the best spell for planular travel. Yes you start you trip in the astral but you are 💯 safe. Wish is better but I love it.

[@lobstervortex]

i agree on the usefulness of "imprisonment", but i just might choose it because of all the level 9 spells (heck, maybe even all the spells in the game) because this has the most flavor. this is just truly the stuff of fairy tales and legends: the princess who is asleep and can't be woken but with a kiss from a specific person, the mountain king who sleeps until great danger and a hero calls on him, prometheus who is forever chained at the face of a mountain, the monster who is forever trapped in a never-ending labyrinth, etc the possibilities for a DM are endless, for a PC less so, but still fun to fantasize about.

[@yotuel9064]

Not really. Those effects are granted by a "Bestow Curse" casted at 9th level.

[@unknownvalor9755]

Explain how you would DM a player casting clone with Wish. With wish all this goes away? "Components: V S M (A diamond worth at least 1,000 gp and at least 1 cubic inch of flesh of the creature that is to be cloned, which the spell consumes, and a vessel worth at least 2,000 gp that has a sealable lid and is large enough to hold a Medium creature, such as a huge urn, coffin, mud-filled cyst in the ground, or crystal container filled with salt water)"

[@NieJestemWikingiem]

I'm new to dnd and this video was amazing ! I wish you could say in short what each spell do that you call back, I'm new and don't know each spell yet, but it was amazing and really helpful video!

[@tannerarmstrong1496]

Power word kill should be 7th level and only effective on 50 hp or less, and you should be able to up cast it and double that number for each level above 7. So 100 at 8th level and 200 at 9th.

[@captainpandabear1422]

The Astral Behemoth can also cut the cord.

[@muddlewait8844]

That potential permastun from Psychic Scream is intriguing.

[@holokom3330]

I think you underestimate Gate: Reason : Bringing the creature to you, has no safe, and dropping concentration on the gate is a free action. So all you need to do, is create a Demi plane, and Gate that one enemy Boss you really want to kill, right into there, after you set up traps, and prepared Ready actions. And then you just have that One creature, and he will never get Backup, because finding your Demiplane is impossible, exspecially if you ward it from Planar Travel other than your own. (Very well timed Private Sanctum from another Wizard for example)

[@Reepicheep-1]

Wish a clone. Wish _Animal Shapes:_ unless you have read the description, you've no idea how good this is for mass travel or mass combat situations.

[@FrostLeaf13]

Woot! Finally! Was going through some arcane withdrawals lol

[@LordCyler]

How would you rate Gate as an 8th level spell? See any trouble with changing it?

[@TreantmonksTemple]

Purple or maybe green, and no.

[@PiiskaJesusFreak]

@@TreantmonksTemple I think you are missing the primary use of the Gate spell: planar binding. If you are a summoner trying to make a permanent concentration free army, Gate is excellent. If it was 8th level, it would be much easier to combine it with Wish induced planar binding. As it is, I think it should be orange or purple. It is circumstancial, but in the right circumstances (that is, right build and strategy), it can be excellent.

[@FreshaLab]

How would you rule the following use of gate: One end you position above or in front of an enemy, facing directly towards them. The other end you place inside a lake of lava on the elemental plane of fire or other similar place. Give them all a bath of lava!

[@kalawaki]

True Polymorph an ally into a Dragon + give them Foresight sounds like a terrifying combination.

[@Tiaopigui]

I am confused. You rated Psychic Scream poorly (orange) in this video but wrote the following about it in a 2018 post on the GitP forum: "Mass Stun - no concentration - Int save. This was my final cut from my best 9th level spells list. Very good spell." I have been unable to find a video where you cite it as one of your "best spells." Is your current opinion that Psychic Scream is a bad spell? Is this just for wizards or across the board (e.g., including sorcerers)?

[@DarrylCross]

If you had previously charmed an enemy (with spell/cantrip or ability) and then asked them if they would let you turn them into "something powerful," could you use the True Polymorph on them with the Creature into Object ability, change them into a material spell component, that your next blaster spell consumes? :)

[@martinwigham]

Hope you had a good holiday!

[@TreantmonksTemple]

I did, thank you

[@lukesandadordoceu4835]

people talk a lot about simulacrum, but I've never heard anyone talk about the true polymorph game breaking use: turning a fuckton of objects into young dragons (I think only red and gold young dragons are CR 10, all others are 8-9). With enough downtime, you can create an army of young dragons

[@SCP-001DatabaseAdministrator]

Can you wish that wish will never stop you from wishing for wishes that are not duplicates of spells that you can wish? 100% chance you can always wish for any wish? Or 2/3 chance?

[@Adurnis]

Matthew Blouse As a DM, unless that wish was VERY carefully worded, that wish would result in that person no longer knowing wish. Can you make a wish so strong even wish can’t be wished away,

[@aethon0563]

"Ask your DM."

[@SCP-001DatabaseAdministrator]

@@aethon0563 I AM THE DM

[@chrisvelo2595]

I agree with adurnis as a dm i would rule that you could no longer cast wish. Now since you can't cast it You can't ever lose it

[@SCP-001DatabaseAdministrator]

@@chrisvelo2595 good one!

[@Ironfist85hu1]

But if your simulacrum cast wish, then who cares if he can cast it again, or not, right? Btw, since a wizard, who for example can't really find new spell scrolls, will have much more 9th level spell in the book, than 8th level spell, you can cast wish to cast spells you don't have.

[@darthknight1]

Thematically, I'm not sure why Astral Projection is related to Necromancy.

[@QuiescentPilot]

Out of curiosity, why worry about the Wish downsides? Can't you just use Wish to cast Simulacrum for free, then have the Simulacrum cast Wish and wish for one of the crazy effects?

[@ben5056]

Astral dragon can cut the silver cord

[@erikwilliams1562]

*Waits patiently in Chronurgy Wizard for the right time*

[@Sharkakaka]

18:50 sorry but when you know the name of a fiend you have power over that fiend, so you could use gate to cojure a powerfull fiend to help you in combat, but i dont recomend doing this.

[@jakubkucharczyk5255]

I think Invulnerability spell is a key if you want to make a build that can solo Tiamat. Not only it makes you immune do all damage, but it does it fot 10 minutes, so duration is fantastic. I actually consider this spell very underrated.

[@Delderi]

It makes you immune to damage, but not conditions. So incapacitated condition will cause you to loose concentration. So either hypnotic pattern, or Tasha's Hideous laughter beats it. 9th level spell beaten by 3rd and 1st level spell.

[@joaogomide5959]

Tiamat doesn’t cast spells. At least that’s whats written on her stat block (only Divine Word, which is worthless) Invulnerability makes you a god against spell-less foes. This is kinda soloing the tarrasque with a flying character lol

[@beckerscantbechoosers6768]

The other spell lists: Treantmonk: "This just isn't worthwhile damage for this level." Commenters: "But what about against an army?" Treantmonk: "Eh, that's too niche." Meteor Swarm: Treantmonk: "This isn't that good damage, but if we were up against an army......." Said in good fun and comedy, no judgment.

[@Zepherus14]

So maybe I've just missed where it says you lose the class levels for sure, but what's stopping you from True Polymorphing into a wizard dragon? I keep hearing you lose the levels, but why not just change into a thing that does? Like change into the party's barbarian or druid or what have you?

[@binolombardi]

Can you meteor swarm a “small” group of enemies and try to hit them with 4 meteors for 4 saves to see if they have a higher chance to fail on one of the meteors? Can you focus meteors on one spot for 4 saves vs one damage roll?

[@TreantmonksTemple]

The rules imply that being hit by multiple meteors does not change how the target is affected, but a generous DM might allow it.

[@greatestoldone7658]

Gate is way better than you give it credit for, you didn't really touch on the amazing offensive potential it has of pulling through an enemy out of it's lair with no save to be ganked by your waiting party (or several Glyphs of Warding you prepared earlier). You can also use it to pull something big and nasty through before your party dips with a Teleport/Planeshift/Word of Recall, leaving whatever you are fighting to deal with a very angry monster that's just been summoned without it's consent.

[@redram9]

So I'm pretty sure that if you Polymorph a creature and cast Power Word Kill on it, it dies, then it turns back into its previous form, but dead. Still not a great spell, but it can be useful with some prep

[@chrisvelo2595]

Im unsure if that's how it works but if it did, this is a combo that requires two 9th level spells which is a large requirement

[@TreantmonksTemple]

Generally if you are successful in polymorphing an enemy, you shouldn't need a 9th level spell to finish them off

[@DougAdams]

@@TreantmonksTemple But if an enemy uses Polymorph on itself -- maybe to create a temporary health pool or to give itself some special ability like flight, then Power Word Kill would be good to take it out instantly (versus just knocking it back to its original form).

[@ForgottenEssenceX]

So what do you think about meteor swarm plus Manifested Mind?

[@smolangelo9969]

Treantmonk: "Casting Wish, other that for replicating spells, it's risky." Me, Wishing a simulacrum to wish for me: *surprised pikachu face*

[@samblood5350]

I mean that works, as long as you are casting the simulacrum normally and with the full cost. If you use wish to cast Simulacrum it won't have a 9th level spell slot

[@bwhit7919]

Use wish to cast simulacrum, then use simulacrum to cast wish.

[@tyleremery7088]

Meteor swarm isn't a combat spell, in my opinion. Meteor swarm is a siege spell.

[@kelkamer630]

If you true polymorph a familiar into a dragon... do you end up with a dragon familiar?

[@RavenWolfStarcraft2]

Do you think Weird is the worst Wizard spell in the game overall?

[@mattdespard6576]

Tell me how you really feel about the Weird spell

[@FelineElaj]

If my wizard casts Wish to duplicate the effect of Simulacrum, would the resulting simulacrum have the 9th spell slot to cast another Wish?

[@JohnWilliamShatner]

The simulacrum would have the 9th level spell, and so could theoretically cast wish. However, any DM would be within their rights to say wish in particular is off limits for a simulacrum though. Or, the DM could just choose to be very harsh with the "unintended" effects of wish cast in this scenario.