The Five Best Damage Dealing Spells in Dungeons and Dragons 5e

you can't spell damage without mage so we're looking at the top five damage-dealing spells in D&D 5th edition [Music] welcome my name is Monte Martin and I'm Kelley McLaughlin and we are the dumb dudes and today we're taking a look at the top 5 damage dealing spells in Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition dealing damage as a spell caster is quite a little bit different than dealing damage as a melee or ranged weapon using character the main reason for this is that there's a huge range of spells from which you only get to select a few number of spells that you want to prepare or know depending on your class and in addition spells require you to use spell slots which you don't have that many of so you have to very carefully choose which spells to use from moment to moment although rolling a handful of dice can be really exciting you also want other aspects like having a variety of different damage types when you're choosing your spells unlike a melee or ranged damage dealer which is dealing their damage with weapons when you're selecting your spells you have to worry about the different damage types that spells can inflict versus the resistances that your foes might have such as fire cold lightning thunder and forced damage you have to worry about whether your foes have high saving throws to your spells like having a high dexterity saving throw to easily resist area of effect damage spells or a high Constitution saving throw to easily resist spells that attack the body some foes might even have magic resistance or outright immunities to certain damage types spells or other effects you also want to have a good balance between area of effect spells or single target spells both can be very good at dealing damage but it's good to have a little bit of both for certain situations some spells require your action to cast pretty normal but some spells allow you to attack using a bonus action or might require your concentration particularly with concentration based spells that allow you to deal damage consecutively over and over again during a combat encounter even though they only cost you one spouse lot to cast of course there's also can trips and very high level spells you have to wait all of these things against the other effects that you can gain with your spell's when selecting a spell to deal damage with so for our top five damage dealing spells Monty and I have compiled a list of spells that we deem are really good at dealing damage we have decided to choose spells that are fifth level or lower the main reason for this is the very high level spells deal so much damage that they're very clearly superior but you only get a few of those spells you can't rely on them around after round or necessarily even in every combat whereas a spell that's only a can trip or a third level it's something that you'll be able to deploy time and time again as a reliable strategy and there are some spells that though they are low level or even just can drips deal really competitive damage with these high level spells also of course the spell list that you're about to hear is just our opinion if you have different damage dealing spells or use spells in different ways that's a very valid possibility and our experience these are the spells that we have had the most fun dealing damage with and we have found time and time again are tried and true at dealing a good amount of damage to a good amount of enemies with that let's take a look the first spell we're looking at today is actually an evocation cantrip and that is eldritch blast this well-loved spell is available exclusively to warlocks and you can find the description on page 237 of your players handbook it does one d10 damage and you make a ranged spell attack up to a hundred and twenty feet away now eldritch blasts killer feature is twofold first of all it deals force damage which is the most rarely resisted damage type in the entire game only a handful of monsters are resistant or immune to it so it's a very reliable damage type for using as a spell caster and because it requires an attack role you don't have to worry about the saving throws of your target what makes eldridge blast even better is that as you gain levels at fifth level 11th level and 17th level I'll just blast gains addition beam's which can be directed at the same target or a different one making it an extremely flexible spell for dealing damage also it really benefits from the Warlocks in vacations which allow you to bolster and change the way eldritch blasts works making it even more potent in battle the most popular option is agonizing blasts which lets you add your charisma modifier to the damage of each beam meaning that eldritch blasts at 17th level with a 20 charisma score is dealing twenty damage plus the 40 ten that you get from all the Rays this is a pretty good chunk of damage for a can trip that you can use at will moreso than that it's very popular to combine Eldridge blasts with spells like hex or other class features such as the sorcerers quick and spell which lets you cast it as a bonus action a sorcerer warlock multi-class is a very popular combination for a damage dealing spell caster very efficient at dealing reliable and very high damage round after round elder's blasts is such a good cantrip that it's almost worth taking two levels of warlock in almost any case if you want to get this spell into your roster of course you can pick it up with magic initiate regardless of how you get the spell it's pretty difficult to get it without also needing the high charisma score that you need for the attack role and the benefits of agonizing blasts so it does mean that it's a little bit restricted to multi classing with bards or paladin's or sorcerers it is the best damage that you can get in a can trip will give an honorable mention for those classes that can't take eldritch blast you could try fire bolt or toll the dead both are excellent but they don't quite compare to the power of eldritch blast they know they don't quite come close buttons third for fine the next spell we're looking at is a second level a vacation spell spiritual weapon available to clerics and oath of conquest paladin's spiritual weapon is found on page 278 of your players Handbook and man is this the poster child for an efficient damage-dealing spell spiritual weapon requires a bonus action to cast and when it appears you make a Mele spell attack with the spiritual weapon against a creature within 5 feet of it that deals 1d8 force damage plus your spell casting ability modifier there's that force damage again force damage so hard to resist and so easy to hurt people with on subsequent turns you can continue to use your bonus action to slam your spiritual weapon into your foes or move it 20 feet and because spiritual weapon doesn't require your concentration you can combine it with a can trip cast as your action and damage in from another concentration based spell layering them all onto a wonderful cake of destruction this means that you can have that concentration spell and still have this sword flying around it's a bonus action smashing into people weaponizing your bonus action is one of the best ways to rack up those extra points of damage and spiritual weapon is the most efficient way to do it for a spell slot this means that it's a very tempting pick for a bard or a divine soul sorcerer one of the two ways that you can gain access to the spell outside of multi classing 2 cleric because the spell doesn't require concentration if you're incapacitated or stunned you may not be able to attack with your spiritual weapon but it doesn't go away it'll be there when you get back up also I just love the image of the spell of conjuring the hammer of Thor to fight your enemies or whatever weapon your deity represents do you think it's worth up castling spiritual weapon maybe to a fourth level spell slot no not much higher than not much higher than that because you have to cast it to levels higher so it only gets additional damage using a fourth level sixth level or eighth level spell slot I think it's probably worthwhile to do the 4th level spells lot because to d8 plus your ability modifier damage is pretty respectable but I think it's biggest rank is that it's only second level but I wouldn't up cast it too far the third spell that we are going to talk about today is one of my absolute favorites of he knows this fireball fireball is a third-level evoke Asian spell available to Sorcerer's and Wizards but also light domain clerics and warlocks who swear their eldridge pact to the fiend you can find it on page 241 of your players handbook when you cast this spell you get to hurl a fireball at a group of enemies it has a 20-foot radius and requires a dexterity saving throw and you get to roll 8d 6 damage and there's nothing more fun than picking up a fistful of dice and getting to roll all of them and do that damage to multiple enemies the spell has a fantastic range and area-of-effect and it's an incendiary attack that will light unattended objects and items on fire as well it's not really a concussive blast more of an incendiary attack this is a classic and well-loved spell and it's damage is a little bit higher than spells of its level on purpose that said it's a really easy spell to get trigger-happy with and thus use it very inefficiently if you want to know the best way to use fireball it's great against large groups of lower-level targets I see a lot of people use fireball against one or two giants and think that's a good use of it but really its primary use should be against lower level targets I'd say it's a good minion killer yeah fireball is at its best when each of the foes that is caught within its area needs to make their saving throw or die when you're using it to just chip off a few points of damage off of a single large enemy or even one two or three enemies that's where you get to the point where it's not a very efficient use of your spell slot it doesn't require concentration but it just eats up that third level spell slot and there are a lot of really good third level spells so while fireball is unmatched in its capability to deal a lot of damage over a large area for a spell of its level it's not necessarily the first one that you should be throwing out against any foe but when you see that group of enemies that you can blow away oh man is it satisfying now Kelly you can up cast fireball to get an extra a couple d6 points of damage do you think this is worth doing the times that you should consider up casting it are few and far between but there are certain moments that I might consider it but it's rare I'd be really careful with that though because as soon as you do get to the point where you're using a fourth or fifth level spell slot that would be my cutoff there are better options out there at that point fireball using the evoke errs over channel ability to get 10 d6 fire damage which become 60 automatic fire damage pretty great if you do need a single target fire damage dealing spell you probably want to look at the scorching ray but in my books I think scorching ray is really inefficient for the damage that it deals compared to other options it's great kind of when it first comes online at low levels but it really quickly drops off the fourth spell we're going to talk about today is spirit Guardians which is a third level conjuration spell available to clerics and oath of the crown paladins this is a spell that is found on page 278 of your players handbook it requires one option to cast and your concentration when you cast spirit Guardians a host of friendly protective spirits flit around you in a 15 foot radius at the time that you cast a spell you get to designate a number of allies who are unaffected by it and thereafter anyone who enters within that 15 foot radius of you must make a wisdom saving throw or they take 3d8 necrotic or radiant damage depending on your alignment if they start their turn there they also have to roll or take the damage and finally well they're in the area their speed is happed which is amazing there's a lot of good points about this spell that make it really powerful one of my favorite elements of it is that it is centred on you the caster meaning unlike other spells like wall of fire or things of that nature where once you place them they stay put if the enemy tries to run away you just run after them because it's centered on the cleric who usually takes the spell although it's another great option for divine soul sorcerers and bards you can move to wherever you need the damage on the board and generally if you're in the middle of the action you'll be able to catch two or three foes who all need to be making they're saving throws and ensnared by the spiritual forces because this is a concentration based spell that is going to be dealing damage around after round after round it's extremely efficient and radiant and the chronic damage are very rarely resistant especially compared to other types like fire when you look at spirit Guardians in comparison to other spells that require your concentration and deal damage round after round it is the clear winner it is so efficient it deals great damage and is available only at a third level spells lot because you get to negate your allies from the damage of this spell it makes a really good strategy for your entire group to gather around the cleric having them all within this protective field slowing enemies down and doing damage to them while they try to reach you so Monty should we up cast spirit Guardians this is a great spell table cast yeah each spell level that you use to cast it above third adds another 1d8 damage to the damage it deals every round so this means that if you use a fourth or fifth level spell slot you're getting 48 or 5d 8 damage every single round that the spell is in effect which is pretty worthwhile you get a lot of bang for your buck by op casting the spell unlike fireball which is only going to give you that extra d6 once you'll get this extra die of damage each time the spell doesn't damage one spirit Guardians deals its damage about twice it's already dealt as much damage as a fireball this is one of those cases where fireball and spirit Guardians are both pretty good but spirit Guardians is better when the foes are gonna survive several rounds fireballs more readily available to more classes but spirit Guardians if you are playing a cleric or have the option to take the spell as a divine soul sorcerer yeah it's a better choice the last spell we're gonna look at today is animate objects which is a fifth level transmutation spell available to bard Sorcerer's Wizards and forge domain clerics wait I thought animate objects was like a weird utility spell that only had a niche use that's what I thought too until Monty destroyed so many of my villains with animate objects and I mean objects is a very strange spell because when it when you cast it you get to animate up to ten objects the larger they are though the fewer you get to animate at once it's most efficiently used to animate ten tiny objects because each of these objects becomes a mobile object with 20 hit points and an AC of 18 that gets to attack with a plus a bonus dealing 1d four plus four damage so for those of you following along at home ten tiny objects deal 10 D four plus 40 damage and they get to attack every round as your bonus action what if there's no tiny objects around well every adventure has a coin purse on them so throw some coins onto the ground in front of you animate them and use it like a gun against your enemy now of course animate objects has a few restrictions you can't animate objects that are being worn or carried and they have to be non magical objects the animated objects deal non-magical bludgeoning damage but you might be able to get around some forms of damage resistance by throwing some silver coins or bringing some adamantium daggers with you to animate yourself this means that you can rack up the damage very very quickly and especially because the objects that don't have appendages gain a flying speed of 30 feet and have blind sight on top of that why not make some very efficient little damage dealers my favorite use of the spell has been to animate several of the coins from a dragon's hoard which then beat it to death it's a fantastic spell for dealing damage but it has so many utilities as well it's well worth your consideration for any of the classes that can cast it and is probably one of the best spells in the game the amount of uses of this spell in any situation that seems not dangerous you're in the middle of a bar fight suddenly the bar stools all come to life and start to beat you of course it has some great non-combat applications as well making it a really efficient double whammy for example if you need to move that giant boulder out of the way just animate it and have it roll itself away it kind of fits this nice this beautiful niche of spells that are great for dealing damage but all have a huge range of creative applications as well spells that allow you to use the environment in creative ways the affirmation case of the dragon's hoard being animated tell you that dragon did not see that one coming at all if your foes decide to waste their spells or attacks attacking them it's kind of gravy for you your main villain stucks swinging his weapon at a bunch of coins flying at him yeah that's a great sight for the party to see yeah it's great for housekeeping I mean I used it the other week to clean up my apartment it was great I just had all my furniture animate they walked out onto the street in the rain they clean themselves and then they put themselves away afterwards it was great this spell has so many creative applications it has a wonderful fantasy that resonates with famous Wizards like Merlin from the once and future king and Mickey Mouse's antics in Fantasia it deals so much damage has so much creativity it's one of the best spells in the game and if you are a barred sorcerer or wizard or a forger main cleric you need to take this spell so we have a few honorable mentions as well they didn't quite make the cut for our top five but they're good enough that we want to let you know about them first of all is guiding bolt the first level avocational available to clerics which deals 46 radiant damage and awards advantage to the next ally that attacks that target it's a really efficient first level spell and a fantastic choice to kick things off next up we have dissonant whispers which is a first level enchantment spell it does 3d six psychic damage and causes your enemy to flee which may allow your allies to make an opportunity attack against them it's found on page 234 of the players handbook and it's available to bards and warlocks of the great old one it's a great extra way to sneak in that a little bit of extra damage and even gain a positional advantage over one of your foes our next honorable mention is conjure animals a third-level conjuration spell available to druids and Rangers that is found on page 226 of your players handbook conjure animals allows you to summon animals of up to challenge rating - but because we're really efficient damage dealer when it's used to summon eight challenge rating 1/4 animals such as the elk which can stampede doing 2d6 extra damage when they charge meaning it's 3 D 6 damage yeah it's a total of 13 points of damage on average per elk and you get eight of them meaning this spell can potentially deal more damage to one target than animate objects the only problem with conjurer animals is that the Elks are large creatures which means that it's harder to get them all to leverage their attacks against a single target and there's a little bit of subjectivity involved with contra animals because there have been a few sage advice rulings that state that the dungeon master chooses the animal to appear so you could want to summon your stampede of Elks but you might not get it so depending on how it works at your table it might be a very powerful damage dealing spell but talk to your DM about how they plan on it working at your table the next honorable mention is destructive wave which is a very rare spell available to high level paladins and tempest domain clerics it is a fifth level Eve occasion spell which deals 5d6 radiant or in a chronic damage and 5d6 thunder damage to creatures you designate within 30 feet of you also potentially knocking them prone it's a fantastic blast buff for fifth level but it's so rare because you need to be a tempest domain cleric very high level paladin with fifth level spells or take it as a bards magical secrets to get it but it's worth noting because it technically is better than fireball but it's just so rare and although we talked mostly about low level spells we would be remiss not to mention meteor swarm the ninth level damage dealing monster of a spell meteor swarm is a ninth level spell available to sorcerers and wizards and it deals 20 d6 bludgeoning and 20 d6 fire damage to a very large number of enemies this is about a hundred and forty damage on average it is the perfect spell for when you need to blow up the world but man oh man you get a lot of results for that little spell that said not quite the 50 d6 points of damage that you might get from slamming someone into a prismatic wall so to summarize if you want to be the most powerful damage dealing spell caster on the battlefield it looks like you may want to pick up the cleric or a divine soul sorcerer or possibly some sort of interesting sorcerer warlock bard multi-class this is going to be able to get you most of the spells on this list and so we'd be interested to hear your ideas for the best class combination or build that you would use to get access to as many of these spells what your tactics and strategies might be and furthermore how do you might roleplay such a character as always these are just our opinions backed up by our experience playing at our table or if you disagree or think that we miss some of your favorite damage dealing spells let us know in the comments below so this has been our top 5 damage dealing spells in Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition we hope that you're ready to annihilate your foes and of course if you want to see some of these spells in action you can watch Kelly and I playing D&D live in our campaign dungeons of dragon high it airs Tuesdays at 6 p.m. Eastern Time on twitch.tv slash dungeon underscore dudes you can find prior episodes here on YouTube with the latest episode being uploaded on Fridays so if you want to learn more about spells and spell casting we do have an episode on that right up over here and if you're interested in sneaking in eldritch blast through the magic initiate feat you can check out our guide to that feat right over here please subscribe to our Channel and don't miss an episode thank you so much for watching and we'll see you next time in the dungeon

Channel: Dungeon Dudes

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Keywords: dungeons, dragons, tabletop, gaming, roleplaying, games, accessories, rules, rule, gameplay, play, game, rpg, d20, player, character, D&D, 5e, DM, PC, tips, advice, guide, guides, review, dice, books, book, damage, best, top, spells, spell, wizard, warlock, sorcerer

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Length: 23min 55sec (1435 seconds)

Published: Thu Dec 06 2018