Top 10 Spells to Pick With Magic Initiate Feat - DnD 5E

the magic initiate feat allows you to choose two cantrips and one first level spell from the bard cleric druid source or warlock or wizard spell list the cantroops can be used whenever you want but the first level spell can only be used once per long rest and can't be upcast so in this video we've gone over the best spells to pick up with his feat starting off his list at number 10 is mage armor this is a first level sorcerer and wizard spell that allows one unarmored creature to change their ac to 13 plus its dexterity modifier this spell ends if the target don's armor or if the spell is dismissed as it lasts 8 whole hours this spell works really well with magic initiate as due to its duration you will only need to cast it once per day anyway so you don't have to worry about finding the right time to use it just cast at the beginning of the day and it will last all day in fact it's not uncommon for sorcerers and wizards to take mage armor through magic edition just so they don't have to spend a spell slot on it this spell is also great on classes that favor dexterity but wear little to no armor like rogues or bards as it grants them to boost their ac if they lack access to stunted leather armor even with studded leather armor mage armor is one ac higher as it's 13 plus decks versus the set of leather's 12 plus decks while this might seem like a negligible increase at lower levels creatures don't really have high attack modifiers so even adding just plus one tier ac can really help your survivability but there are some downsides to taking this spell with magic initiate which prevents this spell from being higher on this list first off it changes the way ac is calculated rather than providing any direct benefits to whomever is using the spell by default ac is calculated as 10 plus a dexterity modifier but the way ac works is that whenever you have multiple ways of calculating ac you can only use one of those calculations so if for example you were a monk and you have access to the unarmored defense feature at level 1 which allows you to calculate your ac as 10 plus your dexterity modifier plus your wisdom modifier but if you were to cast mage armor yourself you would instead use mage armor's ac calculation of 13 plus text modifier and unless you specifically do not put any points into your wisdom and dexterity scores you will probably have an ac that is on par with mage armor barbarians also have their own armored defense dragonic bloodline sorcerers have draconic resilience and some races like lizard turtles have natural armor so while mage armor is definitely a good spell to take with magic addition its overall effectiveness and flexibility of this spell is really limited to spell casters for the most part since non-casters can forget about using this spell as soon as some magic armor falls into their laps which isn't quite what we're looking for for this list which brings us to number 9 for this list eldritch blast this is a cantrip usable only by warlocks which fires bolts that deal 1d 10 force damage and has a range of 120 feet the number of bolts fired scales the way other kantrips scale so at level 1 you fire a single bolt at level 5 you fire 2 bolts level eleven three bullets and seventeen four bolts each dealing one d10 force damage these bolts can be focused on a single target or you can spread the love around and hit different enemies with each bolt but each bolt requires their own range spell attack roll this is a fantastic arranged option to take as a martial class whenever you might be lacking reliable ranged options like a bow or javelin since it has a long range with no ranged penalties like weapons do while still dealing a decent amount of damage bards paladins and sorcerers would get even more use out of eldridge blasts as well since those classes are likely to have high charisma anyway increasing the chance to hit with it and since eldridge blast is a warlock spell magic initiative will also give you access to hex hex is a bonus action concentration spell that lets you add 1d6 necrotic damage to all of your attacks against a single target for up to one hour while also imposing disadvantage unability checks with the chosen ability score so if you were to choose strength that creature would have disadvantage on grapple checks for example however the reason hex is being mentioned here is because of its ability to combo well with eldridge blast since it adds 1d6 damage to every attack you hit with it and since the baltimo eldridge blasts all count as separate attacks the extra damage would proc on each bolt thus increasing elders blast's damage even further not to mention hex also cobbles well for martial classes that favor using their extra attacks instead such as fighters and monks so if a level 5 monk hex is a target in the first turn the second turn they can make two attacks with their action then use flurry or blows for two extra attacks dealing a total of four d6 budging damage plus an additional 46 necrotic damage the reason why eldridge blast makes this list and hex doesn't however is because hex doesn't really do as much for the spellcasters that could take it the extra 1d6 damage isn't as useful for wizards or sorcerers since they'll most likely have concentration spells they'll be more useful in the fight such as web hold person or later on slow or haste which all provide far more substantial benefits meanwhile eldridge blast has more universal use as for why eldridge blast only takes number 9 spot on this list it's mainly because you kind of have to build around taking it since as said before its chances to hit depend on how good your charisma is since it's a warlock spell so if you're a barbarian or fighter who dumped charisma you'd be better off seeking other options with magic initiate feet such as the number 8 spot on this list booming blade this is a cant trip available through the wizard sorcerer and warlock spells list that allows you to make a melee attack against a creature within 5 feet of you on hit this engulfs the target in booming energy meaning that until the start of your next turn and if they willingly move five feet or more before then they take one d8 thunder damage this damage does scale though so by level 17 it's now doing 4d8 thunder damage the initial attack also gains additional thunder damage as you level up starting at 1d to level 5 3d8 at 17 for a potential total of 78 thunder damage would cast at level 17. which for a single can trip isn't half bad as this is before you include the damage from the weapon attack itself the nice thing about this spell is that it doesn't require any spellcasting modifiers to deal damage or to hit you just make a normal melee attack roll against the creature and apply the effects making this a perfect option for martial classes however because you are casting a spell and not using the attack action you will be locked up from using your extra attack as a result so this is definitely something to be mindful when taking the scan trip rogues are by far the best martial class to take booming blade with because they only get one attack anyway so this is just extra damage for them and because they're making a melee attack role when they use a spell it does work with sneak attack so it is just a flat damage increase unfortunately what keeps this from being any higher on this list is the fact that many martial classes don't really benefit from this spell fighters lose all of the extra attacks when they use it and monks would lose some of their class features because a lot of them require you to take the attack action such as flurry or blows and unless you're playing a martial based caster like a pact of the blade warlock or blade singing wizard spell casters won't be making use of booming blade much either green flame blade is a similar character you can take but didn't make this list as while both age and booming blade use melee attacks green flame blade even has an added benefit of any additional target for a good amount of fire damage the overall utility of booming blade just makes it a little bit better and since the magic initiative allows you to take two cantrips there's nothing stopping you from just taking both of them alongside hex as all three of them are on the warlock spell list and at number 7 we have pressed digitation this is a cantrip available through the bard sorcerer wizard and warlock spell list that allows you to create magical effects within 10 feet of you that can last for up to 1 hour it does not require concentration and you are allowed to have up to 3 of its instantaneous effects active at a time the effects you can choose from vary wildly but are all small and harmless magical effects this is a very simple spell it mostly exists for flavor and role playing the actual usefulness of this spell depends entirely on how creative you are some ways you might use it would be to make bad foods like ones laced with poison taste not bad dirty someone else's clothes to get them to leave an area they're guarding change the color of your clothes to aid you and escape from authorities creating a talisman that you can flash to a guard that guarantees your entry into an area like the crest of the local nobles but this is really just scratching the surface as you can really do just about anything you can dream up with this spell the fun of this spell is further enhanced if you take it alongside minor illusion which is probably the best non-damaging kandra in the game but we'll talk more about that later the reason this spells higher on this list and the previous spells is because the other spells on this list are strictly used for combat situations and are pretty limited in who can use them press the digitation however can be taken by any class and its usefulness is only limited by the players that takes it not to mention the very small possibility of being able to take advantage of some of these effects during combat even if they aren't exactly harmful even outside of combat you might be able to use the spell for distractions which in itself can be quite handy but the class that can take advantage of the spell better than any other is sorcerer as they can use subtle spell metamagic which allows them to spend one sorcery point in order to cast any of their spells without using the verbal or somatic components meaning you can soil a guard's outfit have it smell rancid and create a noise to draw attention to the guard all without needing to wave a finger or speak a single word allowing you to remain undetected during your trickery and at number 6 we have mei chan this is a cantrip that is made available for the bard sorcerer warlock and wizard spell list it allows you to create a spectral floating hand at a point you can choose within 30 feet of you that lasts for 1 minute if the hand moves more than 30 feet away from you or if you cast the spell again the hand will vanish using your action you can control the hand and manipulate an object and move the hand up to 30 feet each time you use it it's not unrestricted though as the hand cannot attack activate magic items or carry more than 10 pounds just like press the digitization this spell is very good for flavor and role playing it can allow you to create distractions retrieve objects from a distance or just cause mischief in general but what sets us apart from precious vegetation is its usefulness in helping you avoid damage for example if you're inside a dungeon and you suspect that there are traps you can use your mage hand to feel around the room from a safe distance the hand might end up triggering pressure plates or trap wires activating the traps while you remain at a relatively safe distance another thing you can do is use the hand to mess around with a chest or an object that you suspect might be a mimic there's also basic uses for the hands such as letting it carry a torch or secure a rope to something from a distance as well but the reason why this spell takes a higher spot over pressed vegetation is because meichan doesn't require the player to be as creative with the spell in order to get the most use out of it and even some of the basic things it's able to do can be quite helpful no imagination required and at number 5 we have good berry this is a first level spell that you can take from the druid spell list it allows you to create up to 10 berries that can be summoned one at a time as an action restoring one health and provides enough nourishment to sustain a creature for one day though the berries lose their potency 24 hours after you cast a spell if they haven't been consumed yet there aren't a lot of ways you can really use a spell outside of what it says in description like the previous couple of spots but you can gain a lot of value out of it regardless if your party doesn't have a druid or ranger and the campaign focuses on resource management like ensuring you have enough food then good berry is a must pick as it eliminates the need for finding food ever again that said most games ban it as it becomes too strong in such games given its low level on top of that it can also be used to revive unconscious party members as it restores one hit point which is all you need to keep a party member up and because the potency of the berries lasts 24 hours this is a spell you don't have to worry about wasting spell slots for as you only need to cast it once a day even if food never comes up in game the 10 hit points of healing is amazingly good as if someone is knocked unconscious in the middle of combat and you have the berries you can feed them one which will make them conscious once again while rules as written makes force feeding someone a good berry ambiguous back in 2015 jeremy crawford of sage advice replied to a tweet saying that he would allow force feeding of good berry so most tables will allow to happen even if it isn't strictly raw the overall usefulness of good berry definitely varies from one campaign to another but it is still an amazing spell and is only solo on this list because other spells we'll be talking about are even more bonkers gracing us with its presence at number 4 we have bless this is a first level concentration spell that lasts up to 1 minute and is only available to the cleric spell list what it does is allow you to bless up to three creatures of your choice within 30 feet of you allowing those creatures to add an extra d4 to their attack roles and saving throws for the duration of the spell bless is primarily used in combat and can turn the tide of a battle in a pinch especially at lower levels rick creatures tend to have lower acs and the party doesn't really have magic items yet having a higher chance to hit creatures is just straight up a power boost and as this affects up to three creatures it could cover most of your party even if it's just for a single combat today this buff is not one to be overlooked and at higher levels bless grants just as much value while you may now have a bunch of magic items the extra d4 is added on top of all of them making it a spell you can reliably benefit starting at level 1 going all the way up to level 20. this is an excellent choice for pretty much every class except barbarians as they cannot concentrate on spells while they're raging spellcasters may have other things to concentrate on but even at higher levels you can't really go wrong with bless and because this is a cleric spell you will also gain access to some canned trips that might also help a character looking to assist their teammates such as spare the dying or dispel the next spot on this list and at number 3 we have guidance this is a canter that requires a concentration that lasts for one minute is only available through clerics and druid spell list and what this spell does is it allows you to touch one willing creature and before the spell ends that creature can add a d4 to an ability check of its choice and then once used the spell ends ability checks are probably the most common roles you'd be making in any campaign and they can be the most important roles you make as well a persuasion check might decide whether you start a fight or avoid a combat a sleight of hand check can be the difference between disarming a trap or having it blow up in your face and a stealth check could be the difference between escaping unnoticed or being caught by the guards so having access to a spell that you can use repeatedly for almost any ability check in the game is one of the most powerful things you can have in your arsenal and because the spell is so good it's actually really common for players to take magic initiate just for guidance since the possibility of turning a potentially important ability check into successful one can be too good to pass up the spell works especially well when combined with the help action which you can use to give the creature under guidance advantage on their ability check as well since they can choose to roll the extra d4 before or after rolling in my game we have a specific homebrew rule regarding help action in an effort to decrease its power a little bit we change it so that you can only help a creature in a skill check if you're proficient in that skill this is because my players always have guidance and as i've said in other videos once a single part member has it they will use it for almost every single ability check for the rest of the campaign the reason this spell is higher in this list than bless is because while bless works really well in combat scenarios guidance can help prevent those combat scenarios from ever occurring in the first place but just be warned creatures can see you cast guidance so it can't always be used in social situations to help on persuasion roles in our pen-ultimate spot at number 2 we have minor illusion this is a non-concentration cantrip that's available through the bard sorcerer warlock and wizard spell list that has a duration of one minute and it has the effect where it allows you to create almost any sound or image and much like pressed vegetation is really only limited to one's imagination if you create an image it must be no larger than a 5 foot cube and cannot create sound light smell or any other sensory effects physical interactions reveal it as an illusion so things can pass through it if a creature examines the sound or image they can make an investigation check against your spell save dc upon a success the illusion becomes faint to that creature this spell has many of the same benefits that precious digitation has in that it can be used in order to deceive potential threats or work your way out of an otherwise tricky situation this is helped in no small part by the increase in range as where press agitation has a range of 10 feet minor illusions has a range of 30 feet meaning you don't have to be practically adjacent to your target to actually use the spell but the major difference between the two is that minor illusion can be used much more actively in comparison and offers more variety in ways in which you can track your opponent or create chaos if you just knocked a guard unconscious and need a way to hide the body in a pinch you might create an illusion of matching terrain you might be able to use minor illusion to improve morale of your party or group of soldiers by creating music or using it to start a cheer which others can then join in or scare away some wolves by imitating a dragon's roar you can also use this spell to create cover to hide behind or inside of as long as you fit inside the space and not considered large according to the sage advice from jrb crawford since the magic initiate feat allows you to take two cantrips the best thing you can do with minor illusion is to take precious digitation because of how well they can combo with each other you can use minor illusion to create a mess that would have a rancid smell to it like a dead animal carcass then use pressed digitation to recreate the smell of decaying flesh if perhaps you wanted to cause a scene to draw attention away from yourself allowing you to escape more easily minor illusion is an excellent spell all around and also a great choice to take with magic initiate and is only just beaten out by the top spot on this list and at number 1 we have find familiar this is a first level spell available only through the wizard spell list and it has a cast time of 1 hour and allows you to conjure a spirit which takes the form of one of various animals in an occupied space within 10 feet of you you can dismiss and re-summon it at any time using an action and when it's hit points are reached zero it disappears and leaves behind anything it was wearing or carrying in combat it takes its own initiative but can't attack although it can take other actions instead being within 100 feet of familiar allows you to communicate with it telepathically as an action you can see through the eyes of your familiar and hear what it hears until the start of your next turn this comes with a downside of you being deaf and blind while this is taking place you can cast the spell again in order to cause it familiar to adopt a new form if you so wish and finally when you cast the spell with a range of touch your familiar can deliver the spell as if it had cast it instead you're familiar must be within 100 feet of you to do this however and it must use as a reaction in order to cast the spell this spell makes an amazing candidate for magic initiate because it only requires a single cast in order to receive the full benefits of it you don't need to maintain concentration on it nor do you need to recast it every single day it's a one and done deal for the most part as for what you can do with the familiar after it's summoned well you can use it to do anything from spine on your enemies to getting something down off the top shelf for you and anything else you can think of in between similar to other spells in this list the effectiveness of familiar gets better the more creative you are as a player however even using its most straightforward ability it can still be very useful in combat as you see during combat your familiar can't make attacks but can take other actions on its turn instead including the help action which allows you to aid a friendly creature in attacking something within 5 feet of you giving them advantage on the next attack before your next turn this only works for a single attack roll so your fighter with extra attack will only be able to receive the advantage on their first attack roll but this is still really good and if you're familiar uses the help action in order to grant advantage on your rogue's next attack role they'd be able to apply sneak attack if they hid since a habit advantage fulfills one of the conditions needed in order to proc sneak attack's damage one of the best ways to do this is to make you familiar in an owl because it has the flyby trait which allows it to fly out of a creature's range without provoking opportunity attacks this allows your family to fly up next to a creature use the help action then fly out to safety as the help action does not say the creature must remain next to the target it is helping you attack this too was confirmed by sage advice from 2014. find familiar is such a powerful option and benefits any class that chooses to take it so many players will go out of their way to choose magic initiate over even the ritual caster feet just to get their hands on the spell and with all of the restrictions magic initiate has find familiar bypasses all of them because you only need to cast it once unless you're resuming it whenever it's hit points or reaches zero and all of the actions the familiar can take don't require any of your actions to use it also doesn't deal direct damage so you don't have to worry about taking this with a low intelligence score as your spock has to modifier will never matter the versatility of this spell is unmatched which is why it takes the top spot on this list alright and that's the video do you think there are any better spells to take with the magic initiate feat or maybe have ideas for future videos just like this one if so i'd love to hear about them down in the comments below and if you liked the video don't forget to subscribe [Music] you

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Length: 19min 34sec (1174 seconds)

Published: Mon Sep 05 2022