Top 10 Concentration Spells in DnD 5e

in this video we'll be going over some of the best concentration spells in the game for those you might not know concentration spells required to make a constitution check every time you take damage to keep using them and you can't use two of them at once because of these downsides concentration spells are some of the most powerful spells in d d so knowing which ones to prioritize is extremely important for making good use of your learned spells and number 10 we have heat metal this is a second level spell that can only be used on a single metal object within 60 feet that you can see and causes to do two d8 fire damage any creature that touches it for one minute and they're forced to drop the object if they fail at saving throw then if the creature is still in contact with the object they also have disadvantage on attacks and ability checks on their turn now one of the main reasons this spell is so good is because it has the power to turn your opponent's strengths against them some of the best armor and 5th edition d d is made entirely of metal and even light armor takes a whole minute or 10 rounds of combat to get out of that means that any enemy wearing metal armor won't even be able to attack you if they want to avoid the damage and if they don't care about the damage they will be attacking you with Advantage anyway which also makes it easier to maintain concentration since if you don't get hit you don't have to make a concentration check another thing that makes heat metal good is that you get it at the third level which is really good for the amount of damage it can put out if you're able to keep up the spell for the full duration you can do 20 d8 damage in total what's even better is that after the first casting you sustain the damage on a bonus action so you could put out even more damage using regular spells of Your Action while keeping heat metal active at lower levels a well-timed heat metal spell can easily decide and encounter all on its own unlike some spells like control Flames or control water which only work on specific substances heat metal is pretty versatile because even if your enemy isn't wearing metal armor it's very likely they will be using metal weapons or wearing metal objects which heat metal forces in the drop if they fail Constitution save meaning you can pretty effectively disarm a creature while dealing good damage at the same time even with its limitations heat metal is still an incredibly versatile spell and the fact it already bypasses some of the problems with concentration spells means it easily makes number 10 on this list however it is still very dependent on the types of enemies your DM might throw at you for example in a campaign which focuses on Devils who typically don't wear much armor and are resistant to fire damage heat metal wouldn't be nearly as effective which is why it only takes number 10 spot on this list and at number 9 we have two spells hex and Hunter's Mark both of these spells make the Number Nine spawn this list because they have very similar effects both are first level spells where the Caster can choose a creature as a bonus action and do additional damage to a Target while it's up then the target dies they get to choose another Target for the spell without expanding a spell slot the main difference between these two spells is that hex can cause an enemy to disadvantage on ability checks which is pretty good but it also does specifically do necrotic damage which some enemies are resistant to which makes the parallel both of these spells kind of even either of these are an excellent option to pick up if you're playing a class that can use them especially at lower levels doing 1d6 extra damage is almost like getting a second weapon attack on your turn at levels one to three as it even counts towards your critical hit damage what's more using this spell is almost always useful because Eva even if the creature you use it on drops to zero hit points you can always move it to a second target so you're never wasting a smell slot and even though their concentration spells both spells have a range of 90 feet so the chances of you getting hit and breaking concentration are a lot less than if you were close to the enemy unfortunately both of these spells alluded to a single class with hex being a warlock spell and Hunter's Mark being a ranger spell which makes them a lot less accessible than some of the other spells in this list it means they're only at the number nine spot because of it and at number 8 we have hypnotic pattern which is a third level spell that has the effect of incapacitating every creature within a 30-foot Cube that fills a wisdom save and it has a vision of the spell an incapacitated creature can't take actions or reactions and its speed drops to zero so this is a really strong effect to be able to apply to an area the main thing about hypnotic pattern and why it's a good concentration spell is that like many other spells in this list it's pretty good at getting around the inherent downsides of concentration spells hypnotic pattern may seem like a combat spell at first as incapacity in your opponent is pretty good but it's actually one of the best anti-combat spells in the game if you establish a a code word for using the spell ahead of time none of your party will have to make the save as they can just close their eyes and you can hit a whole cluster of enemies with it that's why there's nothing better for getting your group out of a bad situation than dropping hypnotic pattern on a large group of enemies and then rushing out immediately however even if you do decide to use it for combat it gives you and your party time to set up combos get close to hard to reach enemies and depending on how your DM rules it even group flying enemies or at least make them easier to hit they may think keeping hypnotic pattern from being further on this list is that it's a save or suck spell meaning that it's reliant on enemies found a saving throw otherwise you voice at a spell slot and especially at early levels you can't really afford to waste at their level spell slide but if the creatures do fail you can basically win the encounter or escape on damage with a single third level spell slide which is still pretty powerful and at number 7 we'll be going over guidance a Cantrell lets you touch a creature and add 1d4 to any ability check it makes guidance is easily one of the best can trips in the game and most people often forget it's a concentration spell given how little making concentration checks comes into play when you're using it which for concentration spells is always a good thing because it means you basically get to ignore the downsides of using a concentration spell in the first place you're most often going to be using guidance outside of combat so there's very little possibility for you to be taking damage and so you're basically never going to make in concentration checks when you're using the spell besides that being able to add a D4 to the ability check is incredibly powerful it might allow your fighter to win an arm wrestling competition for valuable information or allow your Rogue to pick a lock that stands between you and your goal being a cantrip guidance also doesn't even cost you a spell slot and you have no limits on casting it basically taking guidance as a cantrip gives your entire party a constant bonus to Ability checks the only thing Cuban guidance are being further on this list is that it doesn't have much application in combat which is arguably one of the most important parts of playing d d another concentration spell you might consider taking if you want something similar to guidance which is also useful in combat is bless a first level concentration spell which gives three people a D4 to add to it attack roles and saving throws and is an incredibly powerful spell that definitely also deserves a spotless list but we're just grouping it together with guidance because they're both very useful and at number six we have Wall of stone a fifth level spell that basically just makes a huge wall of stone made up of 10 10 foot by 10 foot panels with 180 hit points each or 10 to 10 foot by 20 foot panels with 90 hit points each the big advantage of all Stone over the other wall spells is that it's useful both in and out of combat the description for the spell clearly states that you can use it to surround enemies make bridges over Ravines climb up Cliffs or anything else you might be able to think of in that regard in combat it's also more useful than most of the other wall spells as well it can't deal any damage it can wool off an entire section of enemies letting your party concentrate their focus on the more important parts of the fight while keeping your distractions at Bay even though it's a fifth level spell splitting combat forces in d d is almost always useful no matter what level your party is at wall of stone is also pretty unique in that it's one of the few spells that confers a bonus effect if you maintain concentration for the entire duration the wall will then become permanent this may means that if you have enough time to rest and play your cards right you can extend a tower and made my wall of stone up to some insane Heights overall Wallace stone is an excellent multi-purpose tool which makes it a good fit for one of the halfway spots on this list and at number 5 we have banishment a fourth level spell which allows you to banish the Creature if they fail a charisma-saving throw and if they succeed it just doesn't work on them banishment is one of the more unique spells in d d and as such has a pretty interesting effect basically if you banish a creature you remove it from the plane you're currently on which is usually the material plane unless you're playing a more high-level game where you've traveled between planes this effectively means you remove that creature from combat or taking actions for a whole minute or until your concentration ends but the really interesting part comes in when you're using on a creature that's from a different plane than the one you're on if they fail the saving throw in this case then they're just gone forever unless they have some sort of planner Transportation spell so essentially if you get the worst version of the spell banishment just completely removes the creature's turn from the order for a while which is one of the most effective ways to disable an enemy in d d and if you get the best better version of the spell the creature is gone from the fight forever if you don't lose concentration which is pretty good they may downside a banishment is that it's also a saver suck spell so if the person using banishment against succeeds on the save you've kind of wasted a fourth level spell slide but even so the potential to the advantages you get from using the spell already kind of outweigh the risk of using it so that does still make it a pretty strong spell to use and at number 4 we have fly fly is arguably one of the more used spells in d d and pretty much does what it says on the tint it's a third level spell that gives whoever you touch a flying speed of 60 feet as long as you're concentrate on the smell this spell is definitely well used for a reason fly is just an insanely good spell to get at third level not only because it essentially doubles your available movement speed if you're playing a spellcaster but also because the extra directions of movement allow you to stay out of reach of most lower level enemies that can't fly while you're still able to do damage to them from above it also means large gaps or high buildings or Cliffs are basically not a problem anymore for your entire party as you can just fly on them one by one the Traverse most obstacles one fun way ladies fly beyond the often mentioned ones is to trick low intelligent enemies into letting you use it on them so they can fly and then any concentration spell when they're high enough in the air so whatever creature used it on just takes a huge amount of fall dammit it's a niche use but a pretty fun one to pull off because remember you have full control on when the spell ends even if you use it on someone else and there's very few ways to avoid taking fall damage in d d another good concentration spell to combine with fly is haste at the level spell that doubles someone's movement speed and gives them an additional action so if for example you would cast flying yourself and have another spot cast on your party cast haste on you or vice versa then you essentially become a flying death machine with Max movement speed of 360 Feet Casting fireballs and groups of enemies and then dashing back out of reach the only reason fly doesn't break the top during this list is that it's often very dependent on the situation as not every class can benefit as much from flying and you might very well find yourself in a situation where flight isn't useful at all but that's only really a consideration at lower levels where getting their level spells is a bit more rare even considering that however fly is still crazy versatile spell that gives immediate benefits When You cast it even if you don't get to maintain concentration for the whole duration which makes it more than deserve the fourth spot in this list for the third spot on this list we have illusory Dragon an eighth level spell that allows you to create a huge shadowy dragon out of thin air for one minute which you get to control using a bonus action on your turns use its breath weapon to deal 76 of acid cold fire lighting or necrotic damage to anyone within a 60-foot cone that fails an intelligent saving throw or half as much on a success also when you cast it everyone that can see the dragon regardless of range has to make it wisdom same throw or become frightened of it for one minute meaning they have disadvantaged all attack roles and ability checks while they can see it and they can't willingly move closer to it the craziest thing about illusory dragon is that even though it's an illusion it still counts as a creature and the Damage it deals can be a bunch of different damage types as opposed to a lot of the other illusion based spells which can only deal psychic damage the dragon also doesn't actually have any hit points so attacks against it automatically Miss though the creatures that are attacking it don't necessarily know that even if someone edges to figure out the dragon is illusion with an intelligence check it only gives him advantage on the breath saving throw so they'll probably still take at least half damage each turn the fact that the dragon frightens anything nearby that can see it also makes it really useful for terrorizing a town or for charting a losing fight into your favor because of the mass disadvantage you'll be giving out to your opponents add that to the fact you get to move the dragon 60 feet and make a breath attack for 76 damage as a bonus action on each of your turns and you get a crazy good spell remember you don't even need to be visible to cast's spell and enemies can't damage the creature until disappears so if you want you can hide out somewhere cast a spell and on the off chance your opponents figure out that maybe the spell is an illusion and they'll need to find you first before they can even dispel it and stop taking damage in the event you do want to fight alongside your illusion you can just use a number of high power low-level spells as your regular action while using your bonus action to wreak havoc around you with the dragon of course illusory dragon is still an eighth level spell slot and you always run the risk when using concentration Spells at your concentration Fizzles or that you need to use another concentration spell but for a spell with this amount of power using up an eighth level spell slot is a pretty fair trade-off and definitely makes it good enough to take out the number 3 spot on this list and even took the number one in our list of the top 10 8th level spells for number two on this list we have invisibility and greater invisibility two less explosive but still insanely powerful spells the reason they share number two spawn this list is that both spells allow you to make someone completely invisible which is the main use of the spell invisibility is a second level spell that allows you to turn one creature you touch along with everything the creature is wearing or holding invisible for up to one hour but they can't attack or cast spells or else they stop being invisible greater invisibility doesn't have this downside and the creatures can do anything and still remain invisible but it only lasts for one minute like many of the best spells in d d spells that Grant invisibility are mainly great because of how creative they let you be you can cast it on someone without their knowledge invisibility and greater invisibility are both unique and they don't require a willing creature you can give one person all the gold your parties stall and they turn them invisible so you won't be found out you could even argue nonstop with your DM about whether or not you get to turn in entire house invisible because technically you're holding it if you grab onto the wall with both hands even with all the potential weird ruling questions and invisibility and greater invisibility might bring up the thing that really makes this take the second spot on this list is that while being extremely fun they're also extremely good for in combat and out of combat uses for example sneaking into a heist location or slipping Behind Enemy Lines together in town the main advantage of Greater invisibility over invisibility is that even though it lasts a minute where invisibly lasts for a full hour greater invisibility allows you to stay invisible even when attacking or casting spells which can for example give the Arcane trickster Rogue a full minute of sneak attack bonus die and has a bunch of interactions with other classes like linear wizard terrify enemies of the Fireballs appear out of thin air also at greater invisibility lets you live out the full fantasy of being an unseen assassin and slipping out unnoticed which can be pretty fun if you get to pull it off as I've already talked about in a few other top tens and visibility as a spell is incredibly powerful in d d and great invisibility just gets rid of some of the damn downsides regarding not being able to attack or cast spells however regular invisibility is still great in certain situations where you might not want to use a fourth level spell slot or when you might want to make multiple members of your party invisible for longer which is why they share the spot on this list and at number one on this list we have a shared spot between polymorph and true polymorph once again because they're very similar spells just with slightly different power levels depend on the spell slots you can afford to use now polymorph is a fourth level spell that allows you to transform any crit you see into a beast equal to the creature's challenge rating or its level if they fail a save and throw and if they succeed it has no effect on them true polymorph is a 9th level spell which allows you to transform any creature or object into any creature object which is either the same size challenge rating or level as the original Target if they fail to save and throw what's more like we talked about with the wall of stone earlier true polymorph has an additional benefit that if you maintain concentration spell for the full duration the change becomes permanent both of these spells are crazy strong so it's no surprise that they take up the top spot in this list polymorph is one of the best fourth level spells where regardless of category and true polymorph is one of the best ninth level spells which are already insanely strong spells because of the level since you get polymorph at 7th level already you instantly have an insane range of really good targets to turn yourself into while many people instantly go for a giant ape or they can't wait to turn themselves into a Tyrannosaurus Rex there's a bunch of lowercr forms that can be really beneficial for scouting as well like owls bats Aquatic wallaces and even giant sharks for aquatic combat polymorph is definitely the better ability to use if you just want to gain a bunch of health and keep tanking damage even at higher levels because it essentially just gives you a second B for your health bar for fourth level spell slot because most of the damage you take will transformed doesn't transfer over to your character however if you want to get really into the creature's shape-shifting angle of polymer spells true polymorph is unquestionably the better spell to use mainly because it's not limited to just beasts of course which stat blocks you can use is always up to your DM but generally when you get the 9th level spell at level 17 you can already turn yourself permanently into an adult dragon or a frostworm both of which have insanely good stats and attacks with the adult Dragon dealing 18 D6 damage on a rechargeable fire breath attack and the frost weren't being able to bury through solid rock and swallow large creatures whole at later levels you get access to some of the strongest creatures in d d like pit fiends and ancient dragons the best way to make use of troop polymorph on yourself is just to sit down your monster manual for an evening and check out all the insane stuff you can change into true polymorph is also a great spell to use offensively because unlike regular polymorph you get to turn your enemies into literal inanimate objects if you catch someone unaware with this or just get lucky on them feeling the save you can turn your BBG of your DM's campaign into a flower pot to throw them off a cliff for maximum fall damage kick them into a demi plane of your own making or just use them to decorate the living room of your newly acquired Castle just make sure no one ever casts to spell magic in that general area and you'll probably be fine all in all polymorph is just a great ability for using at mid-level to do serious damage and for tanking damage at higher levels where true polymorph is great for giving you access to some of D D's craziest creatures alright and there you have it the best concentration spells in the game if you know of any other concentrate spells I may have missed in the video or have any ideas for future videos just like this one please let us know down in the comments below and we'll be sure to check them out [Music]

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Keywords: D&D, Dungeons and Dragon, s Dungeon & Dragons, D&D Beyond, DnD, Wizards of the Coast D&D, Heroes Campaign RPG, tabletop, gaming, roleplaying, rule, rules, d20, d12, d10, d8, d6, d4, DM, PC, tips, tricks, advice, guide, dice, book, PHB, VGTM, dungeons and dragons, 5th edition, best, overpower

Id: xKqglZG3MOU

Length: 17min 22sec (1042 seconds)

Published: Mon Nov 21 2022