Dungeons & Dragons offers the chance for players to feel supernatural with the use of magic, and the process of leveling up will only make spellcasters more and more powerful. Toward the end, 1st level spells are many characters’ first opportunity to create magical effects more impactful than a cantrip. Since they consume resources like spell slots, they can be a valuable asset.
If players aren’t careful, though, they’ll find themselves stuck with spells that are just a complete waste of space. Some 1st level spells might sound useful or even deadly to utilize in combat, but there might be a few details new players are missing that undermine their value.
Click the button below to start this article in quick view.
Unlike cantrips, 1st level spells can only be used so many times before a character requires a rest, and as such, it’s essential to get your bang for your buck. Especially at low levels, most spellcasters have precious few spell slots available to them. They can only have a handful of spells even prepared, so a lot of thought should rightfully go into optimizing those resources. After all, nobody wants to be a spellcaster who never gets the chance to cast a spell, so the first thing you want to look for are spells that can actually be useful.
Many spells are so highly situational that unless a player knows what they will be doing ahead of time, the opportunity to use the spell just won’t come up. Snare is a perfect example available to tons of classes, where the 1 minute casting time makes it useless in the midst of combat, and the opportunity to lay a trap for an enemy will be highly specific. Other spells like Distort Value, Create or Destroy Water, and Protection from Good and Evil are in the same boat. They may come in handy when you can use them, but those opportunities are few and far between. Options like Illusory Script are so rare they may never come up.
Even worse are the spells that have clearly superior alternatives available to them. Witch Bolt is the perfect example, with its 1d12 damage, 30-foot range and concentration requirement just horrible in any fight. When Magic Missile is superior across every metric and without requiring an attack roll, the only real reason to opt for Witch Bolt is flavor. Cure Wounds is in a similar boat, with its limited range, number of targets, and requirement of an Action paling compared to Healing Word, whose utility in combat is substantially greater.
Some spells can even be an active detriment to the rest of the party. Arms of Hadar and Grease are perfect examples, where their range often puts the spellcaster too close for comfort to the enemy and their area of effect is just as likely to affect their teammates as their target. Arms of Hadar even contests the target’s Strength, one of the strongest abilities for most monsters in Dungeons & Dragons, and while Grease knocking them prone may seem useful, it simply requires have their movement to stand back up on their turn.
All spells are situational, so it may be unfair to write off certain options from ever being useful. But the above spells will very seldom see their use, almost always have better options available, and may even put their caster in a worse position than they were at the start of their turn. If magic is supposed to make a character feel powerful, then those spells just won’t do it.
About The Author