Last Updated: September 27, 2023
Introduction
“Spellcasting Feats” is not an official term. I’m using the term to loosely group a set of feats which allow characters to learn and cast spells beyond what their racial traits and class features provide. These feats often work in place of multiclassing, allowing you to add powerful magical capabilities to your character without sacrificing class progression.
But these feats are complicated. Choosing the right feat the right spells can be a hugely impactful decision for your character, and it’s difficult to consider the broad range of options available, especially as Wizards of the Coast publishes more and more rules supplements with a gradually growing mountain of spells to choose from.
When selecting spells, consider how it fits into the rest of your build. Martial characters with little or no spellcasting often do well with Concentration spells because their Concentration generally isn’t in use. Those same characters also probably want spells with long-term effects, so long durations are good. By comparison, characters who already have spellcasting will benefit most from spells from outside of their own spell list which are good enough to justify spending a spell slot to cast them, especially if upcasting them is helpful.
For help with the Eldritch Adept feat (which doesn’t quite qualify as a “spellcasting feat” for the purposes of this article), see my Warlock Invocations Breakdown. Ritual Caster is also not covered in this article.
Table of Contents
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.
- : Bad, useless options, or options which are extremely situational. Nearly never useful.
- : OK options, or useful options that only apply in rare circumstances. Useful sometimes.
- : Good options. Useful often.
- : 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use my spell slots to cast spells gained from a spellcasting feat like Magic Initiate?
Generally yes, though Magic Initiate is an exception. Most spell feats specify that you “learn” the leveled spell(s) which it grants. Just as if you learned the spell from another source, such as from your class, you can spend spell slots to cast the spell. In addition, spell feats allow you to cast the spell at its lowest level without spending a spell slot.
The Sage Advice compendium addresses Magic Initiate: You can only use spell slots to cast the leveled spell if the class which you selected with Magic Initiate is a class in which you have levels.
Which ability modifier do I use to cast spells gained from a spellcasting feat like Magic Initiate?
The answer varies. Aberrant Dragonmark uses Constitution. Artificer Initiate is always Intelligence (because you’re using artificer spellcasting). Magic Initiate uses the same ability modifier as the class you choose to select spells. Fey Touched and Shadow Touched use whatever ability score you increase when you take the feat.
This is an important thing to understand. Choosing an ability score which you’re bad with can make your spellcasting feat much less useful, but if you’re aware of the issue you can choose spells which avoid relying on your ability modifier so it’s not a problem.
Spellcasting Feats
Aberrant Dragonmark
Aberrant Dragonmark is an unusual and often-overlooked feat option. Buried at the end of the chapter of Eberron: Rising from the Last War which details dragonmarks (essentially subraces), it’s easy to overlook the feat both because it’s a tiny block of text in a long chapter and because the benefits of the feat are easy to overlook.
Aberrant Dragonmark’s leveled spell can be cast once per Short or Long Rest, rather than once per long rest like other spellcasting feats. That’s great if you’re picking a reliable, go-to spell like Absorb Energy or Shield which you can expect to use frequently.
For martial characters (or anyone that’s not a full caster), Aberrant Dragonmark is arguably the best spellcasting feat. While it provides fewer spells Magic Initiate, it provides a Constitution increase (reducing the opportunity cost of taking a feat), and Constitution is the casting ability for the spells gained from the feat. This is helpful for martial classes who might otherwise need to weigh increasing a spellcasting ability score like Intelligence over increasing their Constitution.
Martial Classes also have higher hit dice than full casters, so Aberrant Dragonmark’s third benefit is more slightly impactful. Getting 1d10 temporary hp or dealing 1d10 damage is a bit better than 1d6 for a wizard or something.
However, those benefits come at a cost. You get one less cantrip than Magic Initiate, and you’re limited to the Sorcerer’s spell list. While that does rule out a lot of great leveled spells, the Sorcerer still gets numerous reliable 1st-level options that work on any character. If you’re planning to repeatedly use the two spells you get from Aberrant Dragonmark, this is an easy trade to make.
Aberrant Dragonmark also offers the ability to gain an Epic Boon randomly each time you gain a level. I recommend ignoring this option both because it’s unpredictable, and because when it does happen it will immediately cause problems in your game.
Cantrip Options
The spell assessments here are adjusted for characters likely to use the Aberrant Dragonmark feat. For a full list of available cantrip options and spell descriptions, see DnDBeyond. For assessments of the Sorcerer’s full spell list, see my Sorcerer Spell List Breakdown.
- PHB: Acid Splash’s ability to target two adjacent creatures isn’t useful often enough to justify selecting it.
- PHB: Dodge instead.
- 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.
- 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.
- EEPC / XGtE: Too situational.
- 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.
- PHB: Get a torch.
- PHB: If all you want is ranged damage, grab a javelin or a bow.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- EEPC / XGtE: Too situational and too weak. If you just want something to force enemies to move take the Telekinetic feat.
- 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.
- PHB: Buy a torch.
- 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.
- PHB: Take the Telekinetic feat instead.
- PHB: Too situational. Short of Rust Monsters, nearly nothing in 5e deals damage to your equipment.
- PHB: Too situational.
- 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.
- :PHB If you want this enough to get it from a feat you should consider playing a Forest Gnome or a Glasya Tiefling.
- EEPC / XGtE: Too situational.
- 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.
- PHB: Really cool, but not impactful enough to your build that it’s worth a feat. See my Practical Guide to Prestidigitation for more advice.
- 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.
- EEPC / XGtE: Really cool, but not impactful enough to your build that it’s worth a feat.
- 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.
- SCAG / TCoE: Bad at handling crowds? Not anymore. The damage is excellent, and as you add targets it will rapidly outpace your damage output with weapon attacks. It won’t totally replace your weapon, especially against single targets, but if you can throw yourself into the middle of a crowd you can deal a ton of damage in a hurry.
- EEPC: Thunder damage is worse than Sword Burst’s force damage, and Thunderclap uses Constitution saves, which tend to be high.
- PHB: Very situational. Typically you’ll get better results from attacking twice rather than using this then attacking once.
Leveled Spell Options
The spell assessments here are adjusted for characters likely to use the Aberrant Dragonmark feat. For a full list of available spell options and spell descriptions, see DnDBeyond. For assessments of the Sorcerer’s full spell list, see my Sorcerer Spell List Breakdown.
- 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.
- PHB: AOE damage is tempting for martial characters who often struggle to handle crowds, but the damage will feel unimpressive at high levels.
- EEPC: The damage won’t stay relevant as you level.
- XGtE: Get a bow or a javelin.
- PHB: Given the choice, I would take Skill Expert with Persuasion before I spent a feat to get Charm Person.
- PHB: Get a bow or a javelin.
- PHB: Doesn’t stay relevant as you level.
- PHB: Take Ritual Caster instead.
- PHB: Take Ritual Caster instead.
- PHB: Consider playing a changeling or a race which can cast Disguise Self as an innate spell, or get proficiency in disguise kits.
- AI: An amusing but situational novelty.
- EEPC / XGtE: The difficult terrain effect could be useful, but the area is small and the damage won’t matter beyond very low levels.
- 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.
- 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.
- PHB: Situational, but a decent escape mechanism and a way to negate Advantage if your enemies have the upper hand.
- PHB: Already not a great spell, and it won’t stay relevant as you gain levels.
- PHB: Too situational.
- PHB: A +1 AC increase over light armor, but since you’re not going to cast this during combat you’re going to miss out on the cool hit die effect of Aberrant Dragonmark.
- PHB: Doesn’t stay relevant as you level. There is an interesting interaction with damage boosts like Arcane Firearm and Hexblade’s Curse which makes Magic Missile an interesting choice for some builds. Because of the “Damage Rolls” rule, each missile hits at the same time and it’s considered one damage roll. This means that Arcane Firearm and similar damage boosts apply to every target, allowing you to do an unusually large amount of damage very reliably. Even better, Aberrant Dragonmark allows you to cast your leveled spell using spell slots without multiclassing (unlike Magic Initiate), and since Magic Missile doesn’t care about your spellcasting modifier it’s an easy combination without investing heavily in Constitution.
- : Generally just not a great spell. Little damage, short duration, a commonly-resisted status condition, and it’s all on a Constitution save.
- 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.
- PHB: A fantastic and versatile utility.
- PHB: Doesn’t stay relevant as you level.
- 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.
- PHB: Situations where Thunderwave is a great tactical option are rare.
- PHB: Doesn’t stay relevant as you level.
Artificer Initiate
Magic Initiate doesn’t support Artificer as a choice. Instead, we have Artificer Initiate. In many ways it’s just Magic Initiate for the Artificer, but you give up one cantrip for a tool proficiency and the ability to use that tool as a spellcasting focus for Intelligence-based spellcasting.
Unfortunately, the only other Intelligence-based spellcasters are the Arcane Trickster Rogue, the Eldritch Knight Fighter, and the Wizard. Even for those classes, the benefits of a tool proficiency and using a tool as a spellcasting are very minor. You might get a magical tool that provides a bonus to your spell attacks and save DCs, but there are plenty of focuses which do that already and don’t require a feat.
The real benefit of Artificer Initiate is buried in the Artificer’s spell list. You get many cantrips available to the sorcerer or the wizard, including staple options like Booming Blade, but the Artificer has access to spells which the wizard doesn’t like Cure Wounds, Faerie Fire, and Sanctuary. Essentially, Artificer Initiate lets you get Intelligence-based spellcasting with access to spells which historically were only available to the bard, the cleric, and the druid. Unfortunately, the the classes which benefit are all Intelligence-based spellcasters who use the Wizard’s spell list.
Cantrip Options
The spell assessments here are adjusted for characters likely to use the Artificer Initiate feat, and spell options are trimmed down to spells which are on the Artificer’s spell list but not the Wizard’s. For advice on cantrips that are on both the Artificer’s and the Wizard’s spell list, see Magic Initiate Cantrip Options, below. For a full list of available spell options and spell descriptions, see DnDBeyond. For assessments of the Artificer’s full spell list, see my Artificer Spell List Breakdown.
- PHB: Fantastic and versatile. You should probably cast this at every opportunity outside of combat.
- EEPC / XGtE: Wizards using Magic Stone will do more damage than those using Fire Bolt until 5th level when cantrip damage increases. But at level 5 wizards also get 3rd-level spells including Tiny Servant. Unlike a familiar, your tiny servant can attack. If you keep your servant within arms reach, you can cast Magic Stone, hand them the stones, and command them to attack with them. If you don’t mind spending every Bonus Action to do so, you might even upcast Tiny Servant to 4th level to get three servants and have each of them throw one stone per turn. This can get complicated if you move around in combat since your servants act on their own initiative and would need to follow you, but it may be worth the effort.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- EEPC: Sword Burst but worse.
Spell Options
The spell assessments here are adjusted for characters likely to use the Artificer Initiate feat, and spell options are trimmed down to spells which are on the Artificer’s spell list but not the Wizard’s. For advice on cantrips that are on both the Artificer’s and the Wizard’s spell list, see Magic Initiate Spell Options, below. For a full list of available spell options and spell descriptions, see DnDBeyond. For assessments of the Artificer’s full spell list, see my Artificer Spell List Breakdown.
- PHB: Healing Word would be better, but it’s only available to the Alchemist and not to the core Artificer. If you’re desperate for a healing option better than a Potion of Healing this will suffice.
- PHB: A spectacularly effective offensive option at any level.
- 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.
- PHB: Take Ritual Caster instead.
- 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.
- XGtE: Too situational.
Fey Touched
A +1 increase to any mental ability score makes this an easy choice for any spellcasting class. Misty Step is a 2nd-level spell, and is easily among the most tactically-impactful spells in the game. On top of those benefits, you get the daunting task of selecting a 1st-level Divination or Enchantment spell to learn and cast for free once per day.
Despite how powerful it is, Fey Touched is not necessarily the best way for your character to get access to these spells. If you primarily want misty step, the Eladrin and the Shadar-Kai both teleportation, and the Githyanki can cast Misty Step. Unless you plan to use both spells frequently and put additional spell slots into casting both of them more than once per day, consider other options.
The clear winner among Fey Touched’s spell options is Silvery Barbs. Silvery Barbs is wildly powerful, and if you’re allowing it your game, Fey Touched shoots up to .
Spell Options
For a full list of available spell options and spell descriptions, see DnDBeyond.
- PHB: Too situational.
- PHB: A decent debuff, but it’s more reliable to buff your own allies with Bless.
- 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.
- 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.
- PHB: Given the choice, I would take Skill Expert with Persuasion before I spent a feat to get Charm Person.
- PHB: Decent crowd control, and upcasting it works reasonably well. Against enemies which rely on weapons, you can command them to drop what they’re holding then rush over and collect it before they can.
- PHB: Excellent for tanky spellcasters like artificers, clerics, and bladesinger wizards. This doesn’t force enemies into melee with you, but it forces enemies close enough that they’re easily within your movement speed.
- PHB: Take Ritual Caster instead.
- PHB: Too situational.
- PHB: Take Ritual Caster instead.
- PHB: Take Ritual Caster instead.
- 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.
- EGtW: A good buff at any level, but unless you plan to also cast it on allies you may do better to with the Alert feat.
- 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.
- PHB: Great on almost any character that relies on multiple attacks to deal damage. With a Bonus Action casting time it’s easy to cast before spending your Action to attack. You can also use it to give targets Disadvantage on Strength or Dexterity checks to make them more susceptible to things like Grapple and Shove. On top of that, the 1-hour duration and the ability to move to a new target means that you get a lot of mileage out of a single spell slot. This is a go-to option for fighters and paladins.
- PHB: Similar to Hex, but the benefits beyond damage are more situational and harder to abuse.
- PHB: Borderline useless.
- PHB: The 1st-level casting won’t scale, so unless you’re spending spell slots to cast it this is totally useless.
- SCoC: Extremely powerful, but also very complicated. See my blog post on Silvery Barbs for details on the numerous abuse cases which the spell allows.
- PHB: Too situational.
- 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.
Magic Initiate
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.
Each of Magic Initiate’s six spellcasting classes is presented below.
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.
Cantrip Options
- PHB: Dodge instead.
- PHB: Get a torch.
- 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.
- PHB: Buy a torch.
- PHB: Take the Telekinetic feat instead.
- PHB: Too situational. Short of Rust Monsters, nearly nothing in 5e deals damage to your equipment.
- PHB: Too situational.
- :PHB If you want this enough to get it from a feat you should consider playing a Forest Gnome or a Glasya Tiefling.
- PHB: Really cool, but not impactful enough to your build that it’s worth a feat. See my Practical Guide to Prestidigitation for more advice.
- EEPC: Sword Burst but worse. If you need an AOE cantrip like this, try to get Sword Burst or Word of Radiance instead.
- PHB: Very situational. Typically you’ll get better results from attacking twice rather than using this then attacking once.
- 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.
Spell Options
- PHB: Too situational.
- PHB: A decent debuff, but it’s more reliable to buff your own allies with Bless.
- PHB: Given the choice, I would take Skill Expert with Persuasion before I spent a feat to get Charm Person.
- PHB: Take Ritual Caster instead.
- PHB: Take Healing Word instead.
- PHB: Take Ritual Caster instead.
- PHB: Consider playing a changeling or a race which can cast Disguise Self as an innate spell, or get proficiency in disguise kits.
- AI: An amusing but situational novelty.
- 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.
- EEPC / XGtE: The difficult terrain effect could be useful, but the area is small and the damage won’t matter beyond very low levels.
- PHB: A spectacularly effective offensive option at any level.
- 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.
- PHB: Essential in-combat healing.
- 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.
- PHB: Borderline useless.
- PHB: Take Ritual Caster instead.
- PHB: A solid buff, especially for melee builds, but it’s likely not going to have a significant tactical impact.
- PHB: A fantastic and versatile utility.
- PHB: Doesn’t stay relevant as you level.
- PHB: Too situational.
- 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.
- PHB: Situations where Thunderwave is a great tactical option are rare.
- 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.
Cantrip Options
- PHB: Fantastic and versatile. You should probably cast this at every opportunity outside of combat.
- PHB: Buy a torch.
- PHB: Too situational. Short of Rust Monsters, nearly nothing in 5e deals damage to your equipment.
- 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.
- PHB: Simple and effective ranged damage.
- 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.
- PHB: Too situational and too limited. See my Practical Guide to Prestidigitation for more advice.
- XGtE: Solid damage at range and a type that’s rarely resisted. One of the best damage cantrips in the game.
- XGtE: Great for handling crowds at melee range.
Spell Options
- PHB: A decent debuff, but it’s more reliable to buff your own allies with 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.
- 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.
- PHB: Decent single-target crowd control, but without the ability to upcast it the spell loses a lot of its appeal.
- EEPC / XGtE: Too situational.
- PHB: Take Healing Word instead.
- PHB: Too situational.
- PHB: Take Ritual Caster instead.
- PHB: Take Ritual Caster instead.
- 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.
- PHB: Essential in-combat healing.
- PHB: It won’t stay relevant as you level.
- 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.
- PHB: Take Ritual Caster instead.
- 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.
- 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.
Cantrip Options
- EEPC / XGtE: Too situational.
- 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.
- PHB: Too situational and too limited. See my Practical Guide to Prestidigitation for more advice.
- 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.
- PHB: Fantastic and versatile. You should probably cast this at every opportunity outside of combat.
- EEPC / XGtE: Too situational and too weak.
- 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.
- 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).
- PHB: Too situational. Short of Rust Monsters, nearly nothing in 5e deals damage to your equipment.
- EEPC / XGtE: Too situational.
- 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.
- 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.
- PHB: Decent ranged damage, but nothing fancy.
- 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.
- EEPC / XGtE: Really cool, but not impactful enough to your build that it’s worth a feat.
- 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.
- 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.
- EEPC: Sword Burst but worse. If you need an AOE cantrip like this, try to get Sword Burst or Word of Radiance instead.
Spell Options
- 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.
- PHB: Too situational.
- 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.
- PHB: Given the choice, I would take Skill Expert with Persuasion before I spent a feat to get Charm Person.
- EEPC / XGtE: Too situational.
- PHB: Take Healing Word instead.
- PHB: Take Ritual Caster instead.
- PHB: Take Ritual Caster instead.
- EEPC / XGtE: The difficult terrain effect could be useful, but the area is small and the damage won’t matter beyond very low levels.
- PHB: Excellent area control provided that your save DC is sufficiently high.
- PHB: A spectacularly effective offensive option at any level.
- PHB: Situational, but a decent escape mechanism.
- 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
- PHB: Essential in-combat healing.
- PHB: Already not a great spell, and it won’t stay relevant as you gain levels.
- PHB: Too situational.
- PHB: A solid buff, especially for melee builds, but it’s likely not going to have a significant tactical impact.
- PHB: Take Ritual Caster instead.
- XGtE: Too situational.
- PHB: Too situational.
- 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.
Cantrip Options
- 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.
- PHB: Dodge instead.
- 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.
- 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.
- EEPC / XGtE: Too situational.
- 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.
- PHB: Get a torch.
- PHB: If all you want is ranged damage, grab a weapon.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- EEPC / XGtE: Too situational and too weak.
- 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.
- PHB: Buy a torch.
- 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.
- PHB: Take the Telekinetic feat instead.
- PHB: Too situational. Short of Rust Monsters, nearly nothing in 5e deals damage to your equipment.
- PHB: Too situational.
- 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.
- :PHB If you want this enough to get it from a feat you should consider playing a Forest Gnome or a Glasya Tiefling.
- EEPC / XGtE: Too situational.
- 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.
- PHB: Really cool, but not impactful enough to your build that it’s worth a feat. See my Practical Guide to Prestidigitation for more advice.
- 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.
- EEPC / XGtE: Really cool, but not impactful enough to your build that it’s worth a feat.
- 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.
- SCAG / TCoE: Great for handling crowds, but it allows a save so it’s only reliable if you’re already a Charisma-based spellcaster.
- EEPC: Sword Burst but worse.
- PHB: Very situational. Typically you’ll get better results from attacking twice rather than using this then attacking once.
Spell Options
- 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.
- PHB: AOE damage is tempting for martial characters who often struggle to handle crowds, but the damage will feel unimpressive at high levels.
- EEPC: The damage won’t stay relevant as you level.
- XGtE: Get a weapon.
- PHB: Given the choice, I would take Skill Expert with Persuasion before I spent a feat to get Charm Person.
- PHB: Get a weapon.
- PHB: Doesn’t stay relevant as you level.
- PHB: Take Ritual Caster instead.
- PHB: Take Ritual Caster instead.
- PHB: Consider playing a changeling or a race which can cast Disguise Self as an innate spell, or get proficiency in disguise kits.
- AI: An amusing but situational novelty.
- EEPC / XGtE: The difficult terrain effect could be useful, but the area is small and the damage won’t matter beyond very low levels.
- 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.
- 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.
- PHB: Situational, but a decent escape mechanism and a way to negate Advantage if your enemies have the upper hand.
- PHB: Already not a great spell, and it won’t stay relevant as you gain levels.
- PHB: Too situational.
- 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.
- 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.
- : Generally just not a great spell. Little damage, short duration, a commonly-resisted status condition, and it’s all on a Constitution save.
- 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.
- PHB: A fantastic and versatile utility.
- PHB: Doesn’t stay relevant as you level.
- 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.
- PHB: Situations where Thunderwave is a great tactical option are rare.
- 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.
Cantrip Options
- PHB: Dodge instead.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- PHB: Take the Telekinetic feat instead.
- 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).
- 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.
- 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.
- PHB: Really cool, but not impactful enough to your build that it’s worth a feat. See my Practical Guide to Prestidigitation for more advice.
- SCAG / TCoE: Great for handling crowds, but it allows a save so it’s only reliable if you’re already a Charisma-based spellcaster.
- EEPC: Sword Burst but worse.
- XGtE: Solid damage at range and a type that’s rarely resisted. One of the best damage cantrips in the game.
- PHB: Very situational. Typically you’ll get better results from attacking twice rather than using this then attacking once.
Spell Options
- PHB: 5 temporary hp won’t stay relevant as you level.
- PHB: Too situational. Use Disengage or something.
- XGtE: Frightened is a good debuff at any level, but you can find better uses for your Concentration and immunity to fear is common.
- PHB: Given the choice, I would take Skill Expert with Persuasion before I spent a feat to get Charm Person.
- PHB: Take Ritual Caster instead.
- AI: An amusing but situational novelty.
- PHB: Too situational.
- 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.
- 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.
- PHB: Take Ritual Caster instead.
- 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.
- PHB: An amusing novelty, but not useful enough to justify the cost.
- 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.
Cantrip Options
- 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.
- PHB: Dodge instead.
- 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.
- 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.
- EEPC / XGtE: Too situational.
- 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.
- PHB: Get a torch.
- GGtR: Too situational.
- PHB: If all you want is ranged damage, grab a weapon.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- EEPC / XGtE: Too situational and too weak.
- 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.
- PHB: Buy a torch.
- 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.
- PHB: Take the Telekinetic feat instead.
- PHB: Too situational. Short of Rust Monsters, nearly nothing in 5e deals damage to your equipment.
- PHB: Too situational.
- 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.
- :PHB If you want this enough to get it from a feat you should consider playing a Forest Gnome or a Glasya Tiefling.
- EEPC / XGtE: Too situational.
- 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.
- PHB: Really cool, but not impactful enough to your build that it’s worth a feat. See my Practical Guide to Prestidigitation for more advice.
- 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.
- EEPC / XGtE: Really cool, but not impactful enough to your build that it’s worth a feat.
- 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.
- SCAG / TCoE: Great for handling crowds, but it allows a save so it’s only reliable if you’re already an Intelligence-based spellcaster.
- EEPC: Thunder damage is worse than Sword Burst’s force damage, and Thunderclap uses Constitution saves, which tend to be high.
- XGtE: Solid damage at range and a type that’s rarely resisted. One of the best damage cantrips in the game.
- PHB: Very situational. Typically you’ll get better results from attacking twice rather than using this then attacking once.
Spell Options
- 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.
- PHB: Too situational.
- PHB: AOE damage is tempting for martial characters who often struggle to handle crowds, but the damage will feel unimpressive at high levels.
- EEPC: The damage won’t stay relevant as you level.
- XGtE: Frightened is a good debuff at any level, but you can find better uses for your Concentration and immunity to fear is common.
- PHB: Given the choice, I would take Skill Expert with Persuasion before I spent a feat to get Charm Person.
- PHB: Get a weapon.
- PHB: Doesn’t stay relevant as you level.
- PHB: Take Ritual Caster instead.
- PHB: Take Ritual Caster instead.
- PHB: Consider playing a changeling or a race which can cast Disguise Self as an innate spell, or get proficiency in disguise kits.
- EEPC / XGtE: The difficult terrain effect could be useful, but the area is small and the damage won’t matter beyond very low levels.
- PHB: Too situational.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- PHB: Situational, but a decent escape mechanism and a way to negate Advantage if your enemies have the upper hand.
- ID:RotF: Burning hands but worse.
- 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
- PHB: Already not a great spell, and it won’t stay relevant as you gain levels.
- PHB: Borderline useless.
- PHB: Take Ritual Caster instead.
- AI: Lots of risk for little reward.
- PHB: Too situational.
- PHB: A solid buff, especially for melee builds, but it’s likely not going to have a significant tactical impact.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- : Generally just not a great spell. Little damage, short duration, a commonly-resisted status condition, and it’s all on a Constitution save.
- 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.
- PHB: A fantastic and versatile utility.
- PHB: Doesn’t stay relevant as you level.
- XGtE: Too situational.
- 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.
- 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.
- PHB: Too situational.
- PHB: Situations where Thunderwave is a great tactical option are rare.
- PHB: An amusing novelty, but not useful enough to justify the cost.
- PHB: Doesn’t stay relevant as you level.
Shadow Touched
A +1 increase to any mental ability score makes this an easy choice for any spellcasting class, but the spellcasting options simply aren’t as universally appealing as Fey Touched. First, Invisibility is a powerful but not universally useful spell. While any adventurer can use Misty Step to great effect, Invisibility isn’t always helpful if you’re stomping around in full plate. Similarly, the 1st-level spell options number less than half as many as the options for Fey Touched, and there are few that are truly appealing.
If you are eyeing Shadow Touched, first ask yourself: How is taking this feat better than playing a Glasya Tiefling or a Pallid Elf? If you don’t have a good answer to that question, skip the feat and consider changing races.
Spell Options
For a full list of available spell options and spell descriptions, see DnDBeyond.
- XGtE: Frightened is a good debuff at any level, but you can find better uses for your Concentration and immunity to fear is common.
- PHB: Doesn’t stay relevant as you level.
- PHB: Consider playing a changeling or a race which can cast Disguise Self as an innate spell, or get proficiency in disguise kits.
- AI: An amusing but situational novelty.
- 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.
- PHB: Take Ritual Caster instead.
- PHB: The damage scales reasonably well with spell level, so if you have spell slots to spend to cast this again it may be worthwhile.
- PHB: Generally just not a great spell. Little damage, short duration, a commonly-resisted status condition, and it’s all on a Constitution save.
- PHB: Illusions are a ton of fun, but unless you really want Invisibility from Shadow Touched I would consider Magic Initiate first so that you can also learn Minor Illusion.
Spell Sniper
Easily overlooked as a spellcasting feat, Spell Sniper qualifies since it allows you to select a spell beyond your class features. The primary appeal is to add a good ranged spell attack option for classes that don’t have them, and remove the nuisance of cover for classes like the Warlock which rely heavily on spell attacks.
Because you’re limited to cantrips which make spell attacks, your choices are very limited, and very few of the spell options are worth selecting. And, since you use the spellcasting ability of the class which take the spell from, spellcasters are typically locked into classes which share a spellcasting ability, severely limiting Spell Sniper’s usefulness. Even worse, several spellcasting classes have no qualifying cantrips.
The incredibly narrow function of the feat, the sparse cantrip options, and the situational nature of the feat’s other benefits mean that there is an extremely narrow set of characters who benefit from Spell Sniper in any meaningful way. Warlocks who are heavily reliant on Eldritch Blast will find the cover benefit helpful, and bards and sorcerers will enjoy eldritch blast as a go-to damage cantrip, but that’s basically the extend of Spell Sniper’s useful benefits. Any other characters will be better served by Magic Initiate, and even those classes which do benefit from Spell Sniper are probably still better off with Magic Initiate.
Bard Cantrip Options
Bards have no cantrips which qualify for Spell Sniper.
Cleric Cantrip Options
Clerics have no cantrips which qualify for Spell Sniper.
Druid Cantrip Options
The Druid’s spells are potential options for clerics and for rangers who take Fighting Style (Druidic Warrior). For the Cleric, Thorn Whip is basically the only option worth having. For the Ranger, you can already get all of these spells and the ability to ignore partial cover with them is so situational that there is basically no reason to consider it a benefit.
- : I honestly have no idea if this qualifies, but I think that it would because it doesn’t actually do anything interesting unless an attack is made. Even if it does, it’s not a good choice.
- XGtE: If you can add damage to your weapon attacks from basically any source beyond your ability modifier (Divine Strike, Hunter’s Mark, etc.) your weapon attacks will probably outpace Primal Savagery until high levels.
- PHB: Sacred Flame is considerably better, and if Sacred Flame is available to you I wouldn’t both with Produce Flame.
- PHB: The pull effect is nice.
Sorcerer Cantrip Options
The Sorcerer gets access to Fire Bolt and Ray of Frost, neither of which are available to the Bard or the Warlock, but otherwise the Sorcerer’s options overlap with the Warlock.
- SCAG / TCoE: Why would you take Spell Sniper to take a melee cantrip?
- PHB: Too situational to justify taking this over a more reliable high-damage cantrip.
- PHB: Simple, reliable damage at range. The only problem is that fire resistance is common. But since the Bard is the only one who might reasonably take this and Eldritch Blast is an option, this appeals to literally no one.
- SCAG / TCoE: Why would you take Spell Sniper to take a melee cantrip?
- : Fine dmaage and a passable debuff.
- : Why would you take Spell Sniper to take a melee cantrip?
Warlock Cantrip Options
Eldritch Blast. I could go further, but honestly that’s all that there is to say. Put Eldritch Blast on your bard or sorcerer.
- SCAG / TCoE: Why would you take Spell Sniper to take a melee cantrip?
- PHB: Too situational to justify taking this over a more reliable high-damage cantrip.
- PHB: The definitive reason to take Spell Sniper. Good range, good damage, multiple attacks, and basically nothing resists Force Damage.
- SCAG / TCoE: Why would you take Spell Sniper to take a melee cantrip?
- : I honestly have no idea if this qualifies, but I think that it would because it doesn’t actually do anything interesting unless an attack is made. Even if it does, it’s not a good choice.
Wizard Cantrip Options
The only spellcaster that this appeals to is the Artificer, and the Artificer gets nearly all of these spells.
- SCAG / TCoE: Already on the Artificer’s spell list.
- PHB: Too situational to justify taking this over a more reliable high-damage cantrip.
- PHB: Already on the Artificer’s spell list.
- SCAG / TCoE: Already on the Artificer’s spell list.
- : Already on the Artificer’s spell list.
- : Already on the Artificer’s spell list.
Strixhaven Initiate
In many ways, Strixhaven Initiate feels like an updated version of Magic Initiate. The cantrip options are iconic options from several classes which were published in the Player’s Handbook alongside Magic Initiate, so limiting characters to those options prevents players from taking potentially problematic cantrips like Booming Blade which are added in other supplements. In exchange for that loss of flexibility, we gain the ability to pick our spellcasting ability score, somewhat more flexibility in your choice of class for the granted 1st-level spell, and the ability to re-cast the leveled spell using spell slots regardless of your class (Magic Initiate only allows you to re-cast the spell if you have levels in the class you picked for the feat).
Rather than picking a single class, Strixhaven Initiate instead allows you to pick from one of the 5 Strixhaven colleges. Your choice of college determines your spell options, so choosing your college is just as important as choosing a class for Magic Initiate.
Due to the ability to re-cast the leveled spell you select, the biggest beneficiaries of Strixhaven Initiate are full spellcasters. Partial casters like artificers or eldritch knight fighters can also benefit, but their reduced number of spell slots reduces the usefulness of the feat.
Lorehold
Nothing amazing here. If you want cleric spells, Silverquill is a better choice. If you’re going Lorehold, you want Sacred Flame and a leveled wizard spell. Good options include Bless, Heroism, and Shield of Faith from the Cleric and Absorb Elements, Mage Armor, Shield, and Silvery Barbs from the Wizard. This could be a good option for bards or druids.
Cantrips
- PHB: A staple utility, but available to most full spellcasters.
- PHB: Simple and effective ranged damage.
- PHB: Too situational and too limited. See my Practical Guide to Prestidigitation for more advice.
Prismari
Nothing amazing here. The cantrips are staple wizard options, and access to either bard or sorcerer spells is tempting. Bard offers options like Healing Word and Faerie Fire, while Sorcerer offers options like Absorb Elements, Chromatic Orb, Mage Armor, Magic Missile, Shield, and Silvery Barbs. This is an effective choice for clerics and druids.
Cantrips
- PHB: Simple, reliable damage at range. The only problem is that fire resistance is common. But since the Bard is the only one who might reasonably take this and Eldritch Blast is an option, this appeals to literally no one.
- PHB: Really cool, but not impactful enough to your build that it’s worth a feat on its own. See my Practical Guide to Prestidigitation for more advice.
- 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.
Quandrix
All three cantrip options are utility options. Guidance is a staple and everyone who can get it should, but that’s not enough to make Quandrix a great option. Good leveled spell options include Goodberry and Healing Word from the Druid and Absorb Elements, Mage Armor, and Shield from the Wizard. This is a good option for clerics who want wizard spells and for sorcerers, warlocks, and wizards who want Guidance and Healing Word.
Cantrips
- PHB: Too situational and too limited. See my Practical Guide to Prestidigitation for more advice.
- PHB: Fantastic and versatile. You should probably cast this at every opportunity outside of combat.
- PHB: A good utility options.
Silverquill
Two good offensive cantrips from different classes. Good leveled spell options include Faerie Fire from the Bard, Bless and Heroism from the Cleric, and Healing Word from either. This is a great option for many spellcasters, including druids, sorcerers, warlocks, and wizards, but bards and clerics may both still find Silverquill appealing.
Cantrips
- PHB: Simple and effective ranged damage.
- PHB: Too situational and too limited. See my Practical Guide to Prestidigitation for more advice.
- 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.
Witherbloom
Just go for Quandrix. You get the same leveled spell options with better cantrips.
Cantrips
- PHB: Decent damage, but not as good as Fire Bolt or something.
- PHB: Too situational and too limited. See my Practical Guide to Prestidigitation for more advice.
- PHB: Buy a Healer’s Kit.
