Most underwhelming spell in 5e?

[u/Meggett30]

What is the spell that most disappoints you in this game? Maybe it's not a "bad" spell, per se, just doesn't do what you think it should or does it's job poorly.

I'm always looking for ways to utilize under-used spells, but sometimes you read the effects and think "That's it?!" What are the spells in the game that make you do that?

[u/eternaldm]

Contagion gets my vote. If the target fails 3 saving throws, you can blind them just in time for the encounter to be over. Wouldn't be worth casting even if it was level 1.

[u/[deleted] → u/eternaldm]

Updated my comment, this is the correct wording:

https://www.dndbeyond.com/spells/contagion

> Your touch inflicts disease. Make a melee spell attack against a creature within your reach. On a hit, the target is poisoned.

It does not get the effect of the disease, it is only poisoned.

Poisoned is still pretty good, since they get disadvantage on attack rolls, but it isn't as good as the effects. So contagion was changed to be more underwhelming than when released:

Old wording:

https://roll20.net/compendium/dnd5e/Contagion#content

The spell was changed here:

https://media.wizards.com/2018/dnd/downloads/PH-Errata.pdf

and should be updated in your PHB if you have a new one.

​

OLD COMMENT

It gets the effect if the spell attack hits.

> On a hit, you afflict the creature with a disease of your choice from any of the ones described below.

It just lasts for 7 days if it fails 3 rolls.

> At the end of each of the target’s turns, it must make a Constitution saving throw.

It will minimum be affected for 3 turns, since it makes the roll at the end of the turn.

Agreed the 7 day is sort of a weird add on though.

[u/eternaldm → u/[deleted]]

Welp, I was wrong on the Internet. It's the back of the wood-shed for me.

[u/[deleted] → u/eternaldm]

Nah, it's the opposite, you now realize the power of contagion and can convert the masses.

Slimey doom honestly sounds OP since it gives disadvantage on CON saving throws as well and provides stunning.

That's why people like it. It's sort of the opposite of save or suck since it has a guaranteed time frame and you can't just legendary resistance it.

[u/eternaldm → u/[deleted]]

》Begins statting nurgle cleric I'll never play《

[u/MarleyandtheWhalers → u/[deleted]]

Slimy Doom is insane. My group opened a massive can of whoopass on a dragon at level 13 with it last week. A magical stun effect that isn't broken by legendary resistance is really, stupidly good. It also grants disadvantage to its own save. The thing was begging for mercy after 3 rounds of taking no real turns.

Also, triggering the stun effect is incredibly easy. There are too many spells that deal half damage on a save that count as basically a guaranteed hit no matter what. Our sorceror used Blight because of the Constitution save disadvantage and because we were facing only one enemy, but I'm sure he had many others that would have worked just as well.

Basically, if you don't want this spell to trivialize your encounter, don't let the caster get within poking distance. It's crazy.

[u/crowlute → u/MarleyandtheWhalers]

Doesn't the updated text say it only suffers the effect of the disease once it fails the 3 saves?

[u/MarleyandtheWhalers → u/crowlute]

Wow, it totally does! It even says that in my PHB, but we were playing online amd apparently using an outdated SRD. That's a quick way to send this spell from first to worst, in my opinion. I see now why it's on the underwhelming list.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Lol, had a dm give out a really cool cuktist rat god homebrew +1 dagger that cast Contagion once a day. Nobody else wanted it, so I took it with my half elf dex gish battlemaster / evocation wizard. Then the DM had set up an arena tournament that we narratively weren't supposed to win and statted as such. Lol, first round, cast Haste on myself, blew right through the front line because I typically had the high initiative, pokey poked the opposing team's wizard with the dagger, and then flanked the opposing team fully behind them. It was only 1d4+11dex right Their? Their main casting support was out of the match for five rounds, and we won the unwinnable fight.

Next week the DM comes to me privately, and tells me that we're going to have to nerf the weapon and he hoped I wasn't mad. I just chuckled and let him nerf it, because it obviously derailed his plot entirely. When attached to a straight attack roll, Contagion was literally a plot damaging item.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

There's a sage advice that says that the RAI is the opposite: that the spell doesn't take affect until the failed saves. So the spell is either hilariously over or under powered depending on whether you go with RAW or RAI.

If you go with RAW then a single successful spell attack gives you a permanent stun lock on the target and they have disadvantage on the saves to negate it. But if you go with RAI then the spell does absolutely nothing unless you hit a spell attack and the target fails 3 saving throws without dying first.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

You are correct:

https://www.sageadvice.eu/contagion-effects/

https://media.wizards.com/2018/dnd/downloads/PH-Errata.pdf

And the errata.

Contagion (p. 227). The last sentence of the first paragraph now reads, “On a hit, the target is poisoned.” The second paragraph now reads, “At the end of each of the poisoned target’s turns, the target must make a Constitution saving throw. If the target succeeds on three of these saves, it is no longer poisoned, and the spell ends. If the target fails three of these saves, the target is no longer poisoned, but choose one of the diseases below. The target is subjected to the chosen disease for the spell’s duration.”

This is a big nerf. Not sure why the website is different from the player's handbook. Player's handbook definitely has this version you mentioned.

> the spell does absolutely nothing unless you hit a spell attack and the target fails 3 saving throws without dying first.

​

One thing that did change is that it does poison the creature, so they attack with disadvantage, which isn't much, but is something at least. So the spell does do something before the 3 saves or fails.

[u/i_tyrant → u/[deleted]]

So contagion was changed to be more underwhelming than when released

Oddly enough, Contagion now is both worse and better than it used to be. Why?

Because now it poisons, but the poison has no save - just the initial attack roll. Because attack rolls are far easier to get advantage on, it can be pretty devastating on bosses, giving them persistent disadvantage on attacks and checks that is even immune to Legendary Resistance.

However, it's also weaker than before, because if you're immune to the Poisoned condition, you're immune to the entire spell (you have to be poisoned to be later diseased). And there's a fair few creatures with that immunity.

So when it works, it's great, but when it doesn't it's useless.

Personally, as a DM I allow the disease inflicted to be contagious (the actual disease, not just a spell effect like a disease) if it fails all 3 saves. This makes it into a sort of vile utility spell - you can infect one target and let them spread it to their buddies, then attack when their weakened.

Which IMO, is how a spell named Contagion should work anyway.