Magic Initiate - DnD 5e Feat Guide

Introduction

The original spellcasting feat, Magic Initiate remains a staple option for many builds looking to borrow some spellcasting from other classes. You get two cantrips and a leveled spell, so in many cases it’s sufficient to remove the need for multiclassing.

Unlike other spellcasting feats, you can’t use spell slots to cast your leveled spell unless you have levels in the class which you selected. This means that your leveled spell will generally only function once per day.

Because it allows you to choose from six classes, in some ways it’s six feats in one. Your choice of spellcasting class is hugely impactful, as it sets both the spells available to you and your spellcasting ability. When selecting a spellcasting class to borrow spells from, remember that you use that class’s spellcasting ability, so unless you choose spells which don’t care about your spellcasting ability modifier you want to pick a class which uses an ability score that makes sense for your character. For example: a paladin with low Intelligence may not do well with wizard spells, but would do great with sorcerer or warlock spells because paladins typically have high Charisma.

For more information about spellcasting feats, including ratings of the various feats, see our Spellcasting Feats Guide.

Each of Magic Initiate’s six spellcasting class choices are presented below.

Introduction
Disclaimer
Magic Initiate Class Options
- Bard
- Druid
- Sorcerer
- Warlock
- Wizard

Disclaimer

RPGBOT uses the color coding scheme which has become common among Pathfinder build handbooks, which is simple to understand and easy to read at a glance.

Red: Bad, useless options, or options which are extremely situational. Nearly never useful.
Orange: OK options, or useful options that only apply in rare circumstances. Useful sometimes.
Green: Good options. Useful often.
Blue: Fantastic options, often essential to the function of your character. Useful very frequently.

We will not include 3rd-party content, including content from DMs Guild, in handbooks for official content because we can’t assume that your game will allow 3rd-party content or homebrew. We also won’t cover Unearthed Arcana content because it’s not finalized, and we can’t guarantee that it will be available to you in your games.

The advice offered below is based on the current State of the Character Optimization Meta as of when the article was last updated. Keep in mind that the state of the meta periodically changes as new source materials are released, and the article will be updated accordingly as time allows.

Magic Initiate Class Options

Bard

The Bard appeals most to other Charisma-based spellcasters, including the Paladin, the Sorcerer, and the Warlock. The Bard has access to a number of spells not available to those classes, including cantrips like Vicious Mockery and leveled spells like Healing Word. However, while these spells can diversify your options, there are few that significantly change the way your character plays.

Bard Cantrip Options

Blade Ward^PHB: Dodge instead.
Dancing Lights^PHB: Get a torch.
Friends^PHB: If you need to solve social situations, take the Skill Expert feat with Persuasion. It will be more reliable, and target sof your new-found charms won’t hate you one minute later.
Light^PHB: Buy a torch.
Mage Hand^PHB: Take the Telekinetic feat instead.
Mending^PHB: Too situational. Short of Rust Monsters, nearly nothing in 5e deals damage to your equipment.
Message^PHB: Too situational.
Minor Illusion:^PHB If you want this enough to get it from a feat you should consider playing a Forest Gnome or a Glasya Tiefling.
Prestidigitation^PHB: Really cool, but not impactful enough to your build that it’s worth a feat. See our Practical Guide to Prestidigitation for more advice.
Thunderclap^EEPC: Sword Burst but worse. If you need an AOE cantrip like this, try to get Sword Burst or Word of Radiance instead.
True Strike^PHB: Very situational. Typically you’ll get better results from attacking twice rather than using this then attacking once.
Vicious Mockery^PHB: Easily the most iconic bard spell, Vicious Mockery is unique, flavorful, and mechanically fantastic. The damage is relatively small, but the debuff is absolutely worth the poor damage.

Bard 1st-Level Spell Options

Animal Friendship^PHB: Too situational.
Bane^PHB: A decent debuff, but it’s more reliable to buff your own allies with Bless.
Charm Person^PHB: Given the choice, I would take Skill Expert with Persuasion before I spent a feat to get Charm Person.
Comprehend languages^PHB: Take Ritual Caster instead.
Cure Wounds^PHB: Take Healing Word instead.
Detect Magic^PHB: Take Ritual Caster instead.
Disguise Self^PHB: Consider playing a changeling or a race which can cast Disguise Self as an innate spell, or get proficiency in disguise kits.
Distort Value^AI: An amusing but situational novelty.
Dissonant Whispers^PHB: A good way to break a grapple, to force enemies to move away from you or an ally, or to force enemies to provoke Opportunity Attacks. But it’s not much damage so unless you want the crowd control effect skip this.
Earth Tremor^{EEPC / XGtE}: The difficult terrain effect could be useful, but the area is small and the damage won’t matter beyond very low levels.
Faerie Fire^PHB: A spectacularly effective offensive option at any level.
Feather Fall^PHB: Important in any party, but you shouldn’t need it often enough to justify this being your one leveled spell that you can cast every day.
Healing Word^PHB: Essential in-combat healing.
Heroism^PHB: A good combat buff, Heroism is perfect on any front-line martial character. The replenishing temporary hit points can mitigate a ton of damage, significantly reducing your party’s reliance on healing at a very low spell slot cost.
Identify^PHB: Borderline useless.
Illusory Script^PHB: Take Ritual Caster instead.
Longstrider^PHB: A solid buff, especially for melee builds, but it’s likely not going to have a significant tactical impact.
Silent Image^PHB: A fantastic and versatile utility.
Sleep^PHB: Doesn’t stay relevant as you level.
Speak with Animals^PHB: Too situational.
Tasha’s Hideous Laughter^PHB: A good single-target save-or-suck option, but the valid targets are intentionally limited and you don’t get anything for upcasting it.
Thunderwave^PHB: Situations where Thunderwave is a great tactical option are rare.
Unseen Servant^PHB: An amusing novelty, but not useful enough to justify the cost.

Cleric

The Cleric’s spellcasting is excellent, combining a broad range of defensive, offensive, healing, and utility options. Few of the spells work regardless of your spellcasting modifier, but many are good enough that even middling Wisdom is enough to make the spells useful. Despite all of this, the availability of similarly useful options from other classes means that the Cleric’s appeal is generally limited to Wisdom casters, which means the Druid and the Ranger are the most likely characters to borrow cleric spells.

Cleric Cantrip Options

Guidance^PHB: Fantastic and versatile. You should probably cast this at every opportunity outside of combat.
Light^PHB: Buy a torch.
Mending^PHB: Too situational. Short of Rust Monsters, nearly nothing in 5e deals damage to your equipment.
Resistance^PHB: Considerably more difficult to use than Guidance. Your best bet is to throw this on an ally before going into combat, but if you have that luxury you should be casting a better Concentration spell.
Sacred Flame^PHB: Simple and effective ranged damage.
Spare the Dying^PHB: Buy a Healer’s Kit instead. You don’t need proficiency to use it to stabilize a creature and it takes the same Action.
Thaumaturgy^PHB: Too situational and too limited. See our Practical Guide to Prestidigitation for more advice.
Toll the Dead^XGtE: Solid damage at range and a type that’s rarely resisted. One of the best damage cantrips in the game.
Word of Radiance^XGtE: Great for handling crowds at melee range.

Cleric 1st-Level Spell Options

Bane^PHB: A decent debuff, but it’s more reliable to buff your own allies with Bless.
Bless^PHB: Among the best low-level buffs in the game, Bless remains effective across the level range even if you cast it as a level 1 spell.
Ceremony^XGtE: The Dedication and Wedding options are very powerful, but the cost of casting them can add up quickly at low levels so be cautious about selecting this early in your character’s career.
Command^PHB: Decent single-target crowd control, but without the ability to upcast it the spell loses a lot of its appeal.
Create or Destroy Water^{EEPC / XGtE}: Too situational.
Cure Wounds^PHB: Take Healing Word instead.
Detect Evil and Good^PHB: Too situational.
Detect Magic^PHB: Take Ritual Caster instead.
Detect Poison and Disease^PHB: Take Ritual Caster instead.
Guiding Bolt^PHB: Among the best damage for single-target spells at this level, but as you gain levels the Advantage mechanic will become the most important part of the spell. But at one use per day, it’s going to make very little tactical impact. If you’re desperate for a way to provide Advantage, consider True Strike.
Healing Word^PHB: Essential in-combat healing.
Inflict Wounds^PHB: It won’t stay relevant as you level.
Protection from Evil and Good^PHB: Situational by design, but when it works it works very well. Unfortunately, in most campaigns you can’t count on this being useful on a daily basis.
Purify Food and Drink^PHB: Take Ritual Caster instead.
Sanctuary^PHB: Potentially forcing enemies to give up an attack is great, and this doesn’t prevent the target from contributing via support spells, the Help action, summoned creatures, pets, etc.. Sanctuary also has a Bonus Action casting time, so you can attack or cast a cantrip in the same turn (likely before casting Sanctuary). However, since Sanctuary allows the attack to retarget their attack, Sanctuary isn’t as effective against ranged attacks.
Shield of Faith^PHB: A solid and reliable defensive buff at any level, and it doesn’t care about your spellcasting ability. The duration will only last through one fight, but that may be enough.

Druid

Druids have few tempting spell options which don’t depend on your spellcasting ability, so unless you’re a cleric or a ranger it’s difficult to justify choosing druid spells over other available options. Even if you are a Wisdom-based spellcaster, there aren’t many great options here and most of the good ones are also available from other spell lists.

Druid Cantrip Options

Control Flames^{EEPC / XGtE}: Too situational.
Create Bonfire^EEPC: A low-budget area control spell. It does as much initial damage as most cantrips, but the ongoing damage only applies when a creature enters the area or ends their turn there, so you can only get extra damage if you can force an enemy into the space or if you cast it on them and they remain in their space. It does require Concentration, which is a problem for most spellcasters, but for martial classes with little reliance on Concentration that’s probably not a problem. If you like to grapple enemies, this is an interesting way to capitalize on immobilizing a target.
Druidcraft^PHB: Too situational and too limited. See our Practical Guide to Prestidigitation for more advice.
Frostbite^{EEPC / XGtE}: Low damage for a cantrip (d6-based), but the big appeal is Disadvantage on the target’s next weapon attack. Unfortunately, it works on Constitution saving throws, and those tend to be relatively high compared to other saving throws.
Guidance^PHB: Fantastic and versatile. You should probably cast this at every opportunity outside of combat.
Gust^{EEPC / XGtE}: Too situational and too weak.
Infestation^XGtE: Too unpredictable, and too unreliable since Constitution saves tend to be high and because poison resistance is so common. If you just want something to force enemies to move, take the Telekinetic feat. If you want damage, look elsewhere.
Magic Stone^{EEPC / XGtE}: Tempting as a ranged attack option, but it has several pain points which are hard to spot and make the spell difficult for many characters to use. First, you make spell attacks so it depends on your spellcasting ability, but otherwise it works like a weapon attack so you need to take the Attack action to use it. Classes with Extra Attack might think that’s reasonable, but Magic Stone doesn’t solve the issue of drawing ammunition, so it’s no better than throwing javelins. Since the pebbles aren’t weapons, you can’t use two-weapon fighting and you can’t use Fighting Style (Thrown Weapon).
Mending^PHB: Too situational. Short of Rust Monsters, nearly nothing in 5e deals damage to your equipment.
Mold Earth^{EEPC / XGtE}: Too situational.
Poison Spray^PHB: Good damage compared to most cantrips, but poison damage is commonly resisted, the range is essentially melee, and it’s a Constitution save so enemies will frequently pass the save.
Primal Savagery^XGtE: This will deal more damage than un-modified weapon attacks with one-handed weapons starting at level 11. But by level 11 everyone except the Druid will have something that modifies their weapon attacks so that they’ll deal more damage. This isn’t a great choice for the Druid, but it’s outright bad for everyone else.
Produce Flame^PHB: Decent ranged damage, but nothing fancy.
Resistance^PHB: Considerably more difficult to use than Guidance. Your best bet is to throw this on an ally before going into combat, but if you have that luxury you should be casting a better Concentration spell.
Shape Water^{EEPC / XGtE}: Really cool, but not impactful enough to your build that it’s worth a feat.
Shillelagh^PHB: Magically turn your quarterstaff into a Wisdom-based attack. For Wisdom-based casters looking to jump into melee, this can be a huge asset. It’s a staple for weapon-using druids and Druidic Warrior ranger builds, and it’s very tempting for clerics who absolutely insist on swinging a weapon instead of casting cantrips.
Thorn Whip^PHB: Similar in many ways to Lightning Lure, but since it doesn’t rely on a Strength saving throw it’s easier to use on big, strong enemies. The range is also considerably better.
Thunderclap^EEPC: Sword Burst but worse. If you need an AOE cantrip like this, try to get Sword Burst or Word of Radiance instead.

Druid 1st-Level Spell Options

Absorb Elements^{EEPC / XGtE}: A fantastic defensive option at any level, this will save your life when you encounter an unpredictable source of elemental damage like as a trap or a spell. The bonus damage on your next attack may be useful for martial characters, too. But remember that it has Somatic components and no material component, so most characters need an empty hand to cast it.
Animal Friendship^PHB: Too situational.
Beast Bond^{EEPC / XGtE}: Too situational. Most classes have little reason to invest the resources to make an animal friendly enough to be the subject of Beast Bond.
Charm Person^PHB: Given the choice, I would take Skill Expert with Persuasion before I spent a feat to get Charm Person.
Create or Destroy Water^{EEPC / XGtE}: Too situational.
Cure Wounds^PHB: Take Healing Word instead.
Detect Magic^PHB: Take Ritual Caster instead.
Detect Poison and Disease^PHB: Take Ritual Caster instead.
Earth Tremor^{EEPC / XGtE}: The difficult terrain effect could be useful, but the area is small and the damage won’t matter beyond very low levels.
Entangle^PHB: Excellent area control provided that your save DC is sufficiently high.
Faerie Fire^PHB: A spectacularly effective offensive option at any level.
Fog Cloud^PHB: Situational, but a decent escape mechanism.
Goodberry^PHB: A good, easy source of cheap healing but the amount of healing won’t scale as you gain levels and tactically this has no more impact than
Healing Word^PHB: Essential in-combat healing.
Ice Knife^PHB: Already not a great spell, and it won’t stay relevant as you gain levels.
Jump^PHB: Too situational.
Longstrider^PHB: A solid buff, especially for melee builds, but it’s likely not going to have a significant tactical impact.
Purify Food and Drink^PHB: Take Ritual Caster instead.
Snare^XGtE: Too situational.
Speak with Animals^PHB: Too situational.
Thunderwave^PHB: Situations where Thunderwave is a great tactical option are rare.

Sorcerer

The Sorcerer appeals most to other Charisma-based spellcasters, including the Bard, Paladin, and the Warlock. The Sorcerer’s spell list includes numerous very effective offensive options as well as several utility options, but very few of these spells are exclusive to the Sorcerer, and the ones that are exclusive are typically attack spells which will lose relevance as you gain levels.

Because it also allows you to select sorcerer spells, strongly consider taking Aberrant Dragonmark (see above) instead if it’s a better fit for your character than Magic Initiate.

Sorcerer Cantrip Options

Acid Splash^PHB: Acid Splash’s ability to target two adjacent creatures isn’t always useful, so I would only select this as a second choice if you already have a reliable ranged damage cantrip.
Blade Ward^PHB: Dodge instead.
Booming Blade^{SCAG / TCoE}: The go-to cantrip for martial builds. It notably doesn’t care about your spellcasting ability modifier, so there’s no need to raise your spellcasting ability to 20 to keep it reliable.
Note that Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything published an updated version of Booming Blade. According to Jeremy Crawford on the official Dragon Talk Podcast, the updated version can’t be twinned with Twin Spell.
Chill Touch^PHB: The benefits over Fire Bolt or Mind Spike are too situational. If you’re only going to have one cantrip, you want it to be consistently useful.
Control Flames^{EEPC / XGtE}: Too situational.
Create Bonfire^EEPC: A low-budget area control spell. It does as much initial damage as most cantrips, but the ongoing damage only applies when a creature enters the area or ends their turn there, so you can only get extra damage if you can force an enemy into the space or if you cast it on them and they remain in their space. It does require Concentration, which is a problem for most spellcasters, but for martial classes with little reliance on Concentration that’s probably not a problem. If you like to grapple enemies, this is an interesting way to capitalize on immobilizing a target.
Dancing Lights^PHB: Get a torch.
Fire Bolt^PHB: If all you want is ranged damage, grab a weapon.
Friends^PHB: If you need to solve social situations, take the Skill Expert feat with Persuasion. It will be more reliable, and target sof your new-found charms won’t hate you one minute later.
Frostbite^{EEPC / XGtE}: Low damage for a cantrip (d6-based), but the big appeal is Disadvantage on the target’s next weapon attack. Unfortunately, it works on Constitution saving throws, and those tend to be relatively high compared to other saving throws. If it’s an option, consider going for bard to get Vicious Mockery instead.
Green-Flame Blade^SCAG: Perpetually second-best to Booming Blade, Green-Flame Blade is harder to use both due to the position requirement to hit multiple targets and due to your spellcasting modifier being used for part of the damage bonus. This makes it difficult for anyone except artificers and bladesingers to use to maximum effect.
Gust^{EEPC / XGtE}: Too situational and too weak.
Infestation^XGtE: Too unpredictable, and too unreliable since Constitution saves tend to be high and because poison resistance is so common. If you just want something to force enemies to move, take the Telekinetic feat. If you want damage, look elsewhere.
Light^PHB: Buy a torch.
Lightning Lure^{SCAG / TCoE}: Despite the 15-foot range, this can be a great option for melee builds. Against enemies with poor Strength (like many enemy spellcasters), you can use this to drag them into melee with you and force them to teleport or Disengage in order to get away from you unharmed. If you’re flying, you may even be able to pull enemies into the air to cause a small amount of falling damage. The save is Strength, so try to reserve this for physically weak foes like other spellcasters.
Mage Hand^PHB: Take the Telekinetic feat instead.
Mending^PHB: Too situational. Short of Rust Monsters, nearly nothing in 5e deals damage to your equipment.
Message^PHB: Too situational.
Mind Sliver^TCoE: Intelligence saves tend to be low, so this is easy, reliable damage at range. It also only requires verbal components so you don’t need to juggle items to cast it.
Minor Illusion:^PHB If you want this enough to get it from a feat you should consider playing a Forest Gnome or a Glasya Tiefling.
Mold Earth^{EEPC / XGtE}: Too situational.
Poison Spray^PHB: Good damage compared to most cantrips, but poison damage is commonly resisted, the range is essentially melee, and it’s a Constitution save so enemies will frequently pass the save.
Prestidigitation^PHB: Really cool, but not impactful enough to your build that it’s worth a feat. See our Practical Guide to Prestidigitation for more advice.
Ray of Frost^PHB: Decent single-target ranged damage, but if all you want is damage you should grab a bow. The speed penalty is nice, but it won’t win you any fights on its own.
Shape Water^{EEPC / XGtE}: Really cool, but not impactful enough to your build that it’s worth a feat.
Shocking Grasp^PHB: If you’re going to be in melee, you’re almost certainly using a weapon. If you’re using a weapon, you’re going to be better served by Booming Blade. Even before Booming Blade existed, sticking to weapon attacks was probably still a better idea.
Sword Burst^{SCAG / TCoE}: Great for handling crowds, but it allows a save so it’s only reliable if you’re already a Charisma-based spellcaster.
Thunderclap^EEPC: Sword Burst but worse.
True Strike^PHB: Very situational. Typically you’ll get better results from attacking twice rather than using this then attacking once.

Sorcerer 1st-Level Spell Options

Absorb Elements^{EEPC / XGtE}: A fantastic defensive option at any level, this will save your life when you encounter an unpredictable source of elemental damage like as a trap or a spell. The bonus damage on your next attack may be useful for martial characters, too. But remember that it has Somatic components and no material component, so most characters need an empty hand to cast it.
Burning Hands^PHB: AOE damage is tempting for martial characters who often struggle to handle crowds, but the damage will feel unimpressive at high levels.
Catapult^EEPC: The damage won’t stay relevant as you level.
Chaos Bolt^XGtE: Get a weapon.
Charm Person^PHB: Given the choice, I would take Skill Expert with Persuasion before I spent a feat to get Charm Person.
Chromatic Orb^PHB: Get a weapon.
Color spray^PHB: Doesn’t stay relevant as you level.
Comprehend languages^PHB: Take Ritual Caster instead.
Detect Magic^PHB: Take Ritual Caster instead.
Disguise Self^PHB: Consider playing a changeling or a race which can cast Disguise Self as an innate spell, or get proficiency in disguise kits.
Distort Value^AI: An amusing but situational novelty.
Earth Tremor^{EEPC / XGtE}: The difficult terrain effect could be useful, but the area is small and the damage won’t matter beyond very low levels.
False Life^PHB: A good way to improve your durability, but if this is the reason you’re here you might be better served by the Tough feat. You’ll also mitigate more total damage as you level with Absorb Elements or Shield since False Life won’t scale, but the damage that you take will.
Feather Fall^PHB: Important in any party, but you shouldn’t need it often enough to justify this being your one leveled spell that you can cast every day.
Fog Cloud^PHB: Situational, but a decent escape mechanism and a way to negate Advantage if your enemies have the upper hand.
Ice Knife^PHB: Already not a great spell, and it won’t stay relevant as you gain levels.
Jump^PHB: Too situational.
Mage Armor^PHB: A +1 AC increase of light armor. If permanent magic armor isn’t a possiblity or if you’re just not proficient in armor, this is a safe and reliable choice that you can cast every day without changing your tactics in combat.
Magic Missile^PHB: Doesn’t stay relevant as you level. There’s an amusing interaction with effects like Arcane Firearm and Hexblade’s Curse which makes Magic Missile a reliable delivery vehicle for damage boosts, but unless you multiclass you won’t be able to cast Magic Missile more than oncer per day with Magic Initiate so the novelty really isn’t worth the effort.
Ray of Sickness: Generally just not a great spell. Little damage, short duration, a commonly-resisted status condition, and it’s all on a Constitution save.
Shield^PHB: A reliable and consistent improvement to your AC, but remember that it has Somatic components and no material component, so most characters need an empty hand to cast it.
Silent Image^PHB: A fantastic and versatile utility.
Sleep^PHB: Doesn’t stay relevant as you level.
Tasha’s Caustic Brew^TCoE: I really like this spell, and if you can hit multiple targets and maintain Concentration it can deal a decent amount of damage across the full level range. However, beyond its damage it’s not super impactful.
Thunderwave^PHB: Situations where Thunderwave is a great tactical option are rare.
Witch Bolt^PHB: Doesn’t stay relevant as you level.

Warlock

The Warlock is an excellent choice both for charisma-based spellcasters like the Bard and Sorcerer and for martial classes looking to use cantrips like Booming Blade.

Warlock Cantrip Options

Blade Ward^PHB: Dodge instead.
Booming Blade^{SCAG / TCoE}: The go-to cantrip for martial builds. It notably doesn’t care about your spellcasting ability modifier, so there’s no need to raise your spellcasting ability to 20 to keep it reliable.
Note that Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything published an updated version of Booming Blade. According to Jeremy Crawford on the official Dragon Talk Podcast, the updated version can’t be twinned with Twin Spell.
Chill Touch^PHB: The benefits over Fire Bolt or Mind Spike are too situational. If you’re only going to have one cantrip, you want it to be consistently useful.
Create Bonfire^EEPC: A low-budget area control spell. It does as much initial damage as most cantrips, but the ongoing damage only applies when a creature enters the area or ends their turn there, so you can only get extra damage if you can force an enemy into the space or if you cast it on them and they remain in their space. It does require Concentration, which is a problem for most spellcasters, but for martial classes with little reliance on Concentration that’s probably not a problem. If you like to grapple enemies, this is an interesting way to capitalize on immobilizing a target.
Eldritch Blast^PHB: While you likely can’t get Agonizing Blast, Eldritch Blast is still one of the best damage cantrips in the game. Splitting the damage across multiple attacks means that you’re more likely to deal at least some damage rather than the hit-or-miss of other cantrips, force damage is the best damage type, and you can combine Eldritch Blast with on-hit damage bonuses like Hex just as easily as a real warlock can.
Friends^PHB: If you need to solve social situations, take the Skill Expert feat with Persuasion. It will be more reliable, and target sof your new-found charms won’t hate you one minute later.
Frostbite^{EEPC / XGtE}: Low damage for a cantrip (d6-based), but the big appeal is Disadvantage on the target’s next weapon attack. Unfortunately, it works on Constitution saving throws, and those tend to be relatively high compared to other saving throws.
Green-Flame Blade^SCAG: Perpetually second-best to Booming Blade, Green-Flame Blade is harder to use both due to the position requirement to hit multiple targets and due to your spellcasting modifier being used for part of the damage bonus. This makes it difficult for anyone except artificers and bladesingers to use to maximum effect.
Infestation^XGtE: Too unpredictable, and too unreliable since Constitution saves tend to be high and because poison resistance is so common. If you just want something to force enemies to move, take the Telekinetic feat. If you want damage, look elsewhere.
Lightning Lure^{SCAG / TCoE}: Despite the 15-foot range, this can be a great option for melee builds. Against enemies with poor Strength (like many enemy spellcasters), you can use this to drag them into melee with you and force them to teleport or Disengage in order to get away from you unharmed. If you’re flying, you may even be able to pull enemies into the air to cause a small amount of falling damage. The save is Strength, so try to reserve this for physically weak foes like other spellcasters.
Mage Hand^PHB: Take the Telekinetic feat instead.
Magic Stone^{EEPC / XGtE}: Tempting as a ranged attack option, but it has several pain points which are hard to spot and make the spell difficult for many characters to use. First, you make spell attacks so it depends on your spellcasting ability, but otherwise it works like a weapon attack so you need to take the Attack action to use it. Classes with Extra Attack might think that’s reasonable, but Magic Stone doesn’t solve the issue of drawing ammunition, so it’s no better than throwing javelins. Since the pebbles aren’t weapons, you can’t use two-weapon fighting and you can’t use Fighting Style (Thrown Weapon).
Mind Sliver^TCoE: Intelligence saves tend to be low, so this is easy, reliable damage at range. It also only requires verbal components so you don’t need to juggle items to cast it.
Poison Spray^PHB: Good damage compared to most cantrips, but poison damage is commonly resisted, the range is essentially melee, and it’s a Constitution save so enemies will frequently pass the save.
Prestidigitation^PHB: Really cool, but not impactful enough to your build that it’s worth a feat. See our Practical Guide to Prestidigitation for more advice.
Sword Burst^{SCAG / TCoE}: Great for handling crowds, but it allows a save so it’s only reliable if you’re already a Charisma-based spellcaster.
Thunderclap^EEPC: Sword Burst but worse.
Toll the Dead^XGtE: Solid damage at range and a type that’s rarely resisted. One of the best damage cantrips in the game.
True Strike^PHB: Very situational. Typically you’ll get better results from attacking twice rather than using this then attacking once.

Warlock 1st-Level Spell Options

Armor of Agathys^PHB: 5 temporary hp won’t stay relevant as you level.
Arms of Hadar^PHB: Too situational. Use Disengage or something.
Cause Fear^XGtE: Frightened is a good debuff at any level, but you can find better uses for your Concentration and immunity to fear is common.
Charm Person^PHB: Given the choice, I would take Skill Expert with Persuasion before I spent a feat to get Charm Person.
Comprehend languages^PHB: Take Ritual Caster instead.
Distort Value^AI: An amusing but situational novelty.
Expeditious Retreat^PHB: Too situational.
Hellish Rebuke^PHB: A little bit of easy damage. Not super impactful, but it feels nice and it won’t cut into the important parts of your action economy on most characters.
Hex^PHB: A damage bonus for martial characters and people who use Eldritch Blast, a debuff if you like to Grapple or Shove, and with a one-hour duration and the ability to move to new targets you get tons of benefit out of one casting.
Illusory Script^PHB: Take Ritual Caster instead.
Protection from Evil and Good^PHB: Situational by design, but when it works it works very well. Unfortunately, in most campaigns you can’t count on this being useful on a daily basis.
Unseen Servant^PHB: An amusing novelty, but not useful enough to justify the cost.
Witch Bolt^PHB: Doesn’t stay relevant as you level.

Wizard

The Wizard is generally your go-to choice for Magic Initiate. Wizard spells are powerful and diverse, and include numerous options which work well even for characters with low Intelligence. Booming Blade and Shield are among the most popular choices for Magic Initiate, and they serve as great examples of why the Wizard is such an easy choice.

Wizard Cantrip Options

Acid Splash^PHB: Acid Splash’s ability to target two adjacent creatures isn’t always useful, so I would only select this as a second choice if you already have a reliable ranged damage cantrip.
Blade Ward^PHB: Dodge instead.
Booming Blade^{SCAG / TCoE}: The go-to cantrip for martial builds. It notably doesn’t care about your spellcasting ability modifier, so there’s no need to raise your spellcasting ability to 20 to keep it reliable.
Note that Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything published an updated version of Booming Blade. According to Jeremy Crawford on the official Dragon Talk Podcast, the updated version can’t be twinned with Twin Spell.
Chill Touch^PHB: The benefits over Fire Bolt or Mind Spike are too situational. If you’re only going to have one cantrip, you want it to be consistently useful.
Control Flames^{EEPC / XGtE}: Too situational.
Create Bonfire^EEPC: A low-budget area control spell. It does as much initial damage as most cantrips, but the ongoing damage only applies when a creature enters the area or ends their turn there, so you can only get extra damage if you can force an enemy into the space or if you cast it on them and they remain in their space. It does require Concentration, which is a problem for most spellcasters, but for martial classes with little reliance on Concentration that’s probably not a problem. If you like to grapple enemies, this is an interesting way to capitalize on immobilizing a target.
Dancing Lights^PHB: Get a torch.
Encode Thoughts^GGtR: Too situational.
Fire Bolt^PHB: If all you want is ranged damage, grab a weapon.
Friends^PHB: If you need to solve social situations, take the Skill Expert feat with Persuasion. It will be more reliable, and target sof your new-found charms won’t hate you one minute later.
Frostbite^{EEPC / XGtE}: Low damage for a cantrip (d6-based), but the big appeal is Disadvantage on the target’s next weapon attack. Unfortunately, it works on Constitution saving throws, and those tend to be relatively high compared to other saving throws.
Green-Flame Blade^SCAG: Perpetually second-best to Booming Blade, Green-Flame Blade is harder to use both due to the position requirement to hit multiple targets and due to your spellcasting modifier being used for part of the damage bonus. This makes it difficult for anyone except artificers and bladesingers to use to maximum effect.
Gust^{EEPC / XGtE}: Too situational and too weak.
Infestation^XGtE: Too unpredictable, and too unreliable since Constitution saves tend to be high and because poison resistance is so common. If you just want something to force enemies to move, take the Telekinetic feat. If you want damage, look elsewhere.
Light^PHB: Buy a torch.
Lightning Lure^{SCAG / TCoE}: Despite the 15-foot range, this can be a great option for melee builds. Against enemies with poor Strength (like many enemy spellcasters), you can use this to drag them into melee with you and force them to teleport or Disengage in order to get away from you unharmed. If you’re flying, you may even be able to pull enemies into the air to cause a small amount of falling damage. The save is Strength, so try to reserve this for physically weak foes like other spellcasters.
Mage Hand^PHB: Take the Telekinetic feat instead.
Mending^PHB: Too situational. Short of Rust Monsters, nearly nothing in 5e deals damage to your equipment.
Message^PHB: Too situational.
Mind Sliver^TCoE: Intelligence saves tend to be low, so this is easy, reliable damage at range. It also only requires verbal components so you don’t need to juggle items to cast it.
Minor Illusion:^PHB If you want this enough to get it from a feat you should consider playing a Forest Gnome or a Glasya Tiefling.
Mold Earth^{EEPC / XGtE}: Too situational.
Poison Spray^PHB: Good damage compared to most cantrips, but poison damage is commonly resisted, the range is essentially melee, and it’s a Constitution save so enemies will frequently pass the save.
Prestidigitation^PHB: Really cool, but not impactful enough to your build that it’s worth a feat. See our Practical Guide to Prestidigitation for more advice.
Ray of Frost^PHB: Decent single-target ranged damage, but if all you want is damage you should grab a bow. The speed penalty is nice, but it won’t win you any fights on its own.
Shape Water^{EEPC / XGtE}: Really cool, but not impactful enough to your build that it’s worth a feat.
Shocking Grasp^PHB: If you’re going to be in melee, you’re almost certainly using a weapon. If you’re using a weapon, you’re going to be better served by Booming Blade. Even before Booming Blade existed, sticking to weapon attacks was probably still a better idea.
Sword Burst^{SCAG / TCoE}: Great for handling crowds, but it allows a save so it’s only reliable if you’re already an Intelligence-based spellcaster.
Thunderclap^EEPC: Thunder damage is worse than Sword Burst’s force damage, and Thunderclap uses Constitution saves, which tend to be high.
Toll the Dead^XGtE: Solid damage at range and a type that’s rarely resisted. One of the best damage cantrips in the game.
True Strike^PHB: Very situational. Typically you’ll get better results from attacking twice rather than using this then attacking once.

Wizard 1st-Level Spell Options

Absorb Elements^{EEPC / XGtE}: A fantastic defensive option at any level, this will save your life when you encounter an unpredictable source of elemental damage like as a trap or a spell. The bonus damage on your next attack may be useful for martial characters, too. But remember that it has Somatic components and no material component, so most characters need an empty hand to cast it.
Alarm^PHB: Too situational.
Burning Hands^PHB: AOE damage is tempting for martial characters who often struggle to handle crowds, but the damage will feel unimpressive at high levels.
Catapult^EEPC: The damage won’t stay relevant as you level.
Cause Fear^XGtE: Frightened is a good debuff at any level, but you can find better uses for your Concentration and immunity to fear is common.
Charm Person^PHB: Given the choice, I would take Skill Expert with Persuasion before I spent a feat to get Charm Person.
Chromatic Orb^PHB: Get a weapon.
Color spray^PHB: Doesn’t stay relevant as you level.
Comprehend languages^PHB: Take Ritual Caster instead.
Detect Magic^PHB: Take Ritual Caster instead.
Disguise Self^PHB: Consider playing a changeling or a race which can cast Disguise Self as an innate spell, or get proficiency in disguise kits.
Earth Tremor^{EEPC / XGtE}: The difficult terrain effect could be useful, but the area is small and the damage won’t matter beyond very low levels.
Expeditious Retreat^PHB: Too situational.
False Life^PHB: A good way to improve your durability, but if this is the reason you’re here you might be better served by the Tough feat. You’ll also mitigate more total damage as you level with Absorb Elements or Shield since False Life won’t scale, but the damage that you take will.
Feather Fall^PHB: Important in any party, but you shouldn’t need it often enough to justify this being your one leveled spell that you can cast every day.
Find Familiar^PHB: Tempting for rogues and probably no one else. It’s a hard choice for your one leveled spell per day because you’re going to try very hard to avoid casting it once you have a familiar. If you really want a familiar and don’t need cantrips, strongly consider taking Ritual Caster instead of Magic Initiate.
Fog Cloud^PHB: Situational, but a decent escape mechanism and a way to negate Advantage if your enemies have the upper hand.
Frost Fingers^ID:RotF: Burning hands but worse.
Grease^PHB: Even if creatures fall prone, that only eats half of their movement, and with a radius of just 10 feet most creatures can walk out unimpeded once they’re no longer prone
Ice Knife^PHB: Already not a great spell, and it won’t stay relevant as you gain levels.
Identify^PHB: Borderline useless.
Illusory Script^PHB: Take Ritual Caster instead.
Jim’s Magic Missile^AI: Lots of risk for little reward.
Jump^PHB: Too situational.
Longstrider^PHB: A solid buff, especially for melee builds, but it’s likely not going to have a significant tactical impact.
Mage Armor^PHB: A +1 AC increase of light armor. If permanent magic armor isn’t a possiblity or if you’re just not proficient in armor, this is a safe and reliable choice that you can cast every day without changing your tactics in combat.
Magic Missile^PHB: Doesn’t stay relevant as you level. There’s an amusing interaction with effects like Arcane Firearm and Hexblade’s Curse which makes Magic Missile a reliable delivery vehicle for damage boosts, but unless you multiclass you won’t be able to cast Magic Missile more than oncer per day with Magic Initiate so the novelty really isn’t worth the effort.
Protection from Evil and Good^PHB: Situational by design, but when it works it works very well. Unfortunately, in most campaigns you can’t count on this being useful on a daily basis.
Ray of Sickness: Generally just not a great spell. Little damage, short duration, a commonly-resisted status condition, and it’s all on a Constitution save.
Shield^PHB: A reliable and consistent improvement to your AC, but remember that it has Somatic components and no material component, so most characters need an empty hand to cast it.
Silent Image^PHB: A fantastic and versatile utility.
Sleep^PHB: Doesn’t stay relevant as you level.
Snare^XGtE: Too situational.
Tasha’s Caustic Brew^TCoE: I really like this spell, and if you can hit multiple targets and maintain Concentration it can deal a decent amount of damage across the full level range. However, beyond its damage it’s not super impactful.
Tasha’s Hideous Laughter^PHB: A good single-target save-or-suck option, but the valid targets are intentionally limited and you don’t get anything for upcasting it.
Tenser’s Floating Disk^PHB: Too situational.
Thunderwave^PHB: Situations where Thunderwave is a great tactical option are rare.
Unseen Servant^PHB: An amusing novelty, but not useful enough to justify the cost.
Witch Bolt^PHB: Doesn’t stay relevant as you level.

Magic Initiate – DnD 5e Feat Guide