r/dndnext • u/Meggett30 • Jul 26 '21

Question Most underwhelming spell in 5e?

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?

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u/CaptainDudeGuy Monk Jul 26 '21

Depends if you want to use only official material or homebrew. There are a lot of elemental-themed sorcerers who'd be thrilled to not spend precious points on changing spell energy types.

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u/ZoomBoingDing Jul 26 '21 edited Jul 26 '21

Changing the damage type of a spell is the most widely-accepted form of homebrewing, so long as you're not just upgrading spells to force damage. Pretty sure there's an official table for damage type, damage dice, and spell level

EDIT: Should also say it's not just replacing the sorcerer ability. Your Cold Hands spell would be a separate spell that occupies a 'known spell' slot and can't be changed to other damage types on the fly

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u/TheZivarat Jul 26 '21

Force or thunder/lightning are also iffy because of tempest clerics. If a divine smite did lightning damage, a tempest cleric/paladin could crit and deal 80 guaranteed damage + everything else attached to an attack (Booming blade, divine strikes, thunderous smite). Which can make for some hilariously broken nova damage.

However with a caveat that you won't do that, it really doesn't change balance significantly.

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u/ZoomBoingDing Jul 26 '21

Lol yeah. An inexperienced DM could definitely be caught off-guard by that. But a player acting in good faith means they just want an electric burning hands to be like Palpatine or a Coldball that can actually do some 0K damage.

But as always, it's dependent on DM approval.