Witchbolt has the added benefit of making you look like Palpatine. For that reason it should automatically be in S for sith

@golbez1583

9 ай бұрын

True; hard to beat a lvl1 spell willing to give you UNLIMITED POWER!!!! 😂

Leapstrider is S Tier. You wake up and cast on all party by default. Its amazing!

For grease, falling prone ends your turn. It's much more significant than just needing to spend half movement to stand up

@Aestus_RPG

9 ай бұрын

Very true, that deserved a mention. My bad!

You're laughing now, but my summoned cat will rule the world in the end.

Solid list! The only thing I disagree with are the ritual spells that last until long rest. I feel like they should be at least A tier since they just give free benefits

Id say longstrider deserves A tier at least, it can actually be a significant benefit to your action economy. Against melee attackers, you can use any of the many options to avoid their opportunity attack (shove/dazed/thunderwave/whatever) and then move 40ft away. They will then dash at you, consuming their action, and the cycle repeats. The only enemies i can recall this not really working on are hyenas, steel watchers, and gith with astral step.

@yohanes2034

8 ай бұрын

Agree for me at least A. He said it’s B while longstrider basically free movement that you need to cast once per pong rest while saying disguise self is S tier because you can get githyanki bonus from items. I mean, from RP perspective I won’t change my character race just to get bonus from items

@ADT1995

8 ай бұрын

It also doesn't work well against the hook horrors... But I agree, longstrider is great. Honestly if the enemy had multiattack a lot of times I would provoke the attack of opportunity, because I figured one attack on my turn was better than 3 attacks on their turn, easy S tier, one of the best spells in the game regardless of whether you are melee or ranged

@Avoncarstien

8 ай бұрын

@@yohanes2034 This is actually probably the best argument for why it should be at least A, *or* Disguise Self should get out of S. What actual combat bonuses can you get on items from Disguise Self? A d6 damage on hit here or there, resistance to a damage type? Definitely nice stuff. But *33%* more move speed OR MORE for slower races....stacking up on things like Dash....is a D6 really going to be a 33% increase in damage? Also, looking ahead at LVL 2's if Aid is A-tier in producing a *marginal* bit more HP.... certainly not 33% more. The number of times that's going to be a huge buff to your damage because you can get to a target without spending an action to Dash. Like...unless everyone in your party has Misty Step or is a ranged attacker, this spell is enormously impactful. Just try a playthrough without it and see how often you can't kite enemies or actually get into range. And how consistently frustrating that is XD

@yohanes2034

8 ай бұрын

@@Avoncarstien I definitely notice when I forgot to use longstrider. Without haste that additional 33% more distance is great. With ritual spell status that you only need to cast once per long rest, it’s a no brainer choice for me. I rarely use disguise self because I don’t take advantage of that item race bonus. So disguise self works for thieving, in conjunction with speak death, or perhaps going into small hole. Those uses replaceable with other methods. The only time I use disguise self (and simply a must) is when using mirror of loss and that’s that. I think the decision of this tier list is definitely odd and a choice, cause most players agree that longstrider is a great lv1 spell useable from the start till the end of playthrough.

@ab-uo6rd

2 ай бұрын

for me its an easy S tier. Its basically a free buff since its a ritual and it lasts until next long rest.

Witch Bolt has an interesting and niche use-case for keeping tabs on tricky targets. I unintentionally trivialised the Hag fight by hitting her with a bolt. Whenever she tried to disguise herself as the maiden or turn invisible, the witch bolt would still be leading to her position. So she’d waste her action, and also her subsequent turns either sneaking around or RPing as the maiden. This gave me like two free rounds each time to reposition my party, heal, or dispel her clones, and when I was ready I could give her a little zap to reinitiate the fight. An entire level 1 spell reduced her to a poison spray/hold person punching bag.

@nayber2352

3 ай бұрын

that's such a cool tech, I didn't know that

@ceasarsalazar5940

14 күн бұрын

I did the same thing! I think she acknowledged it, too. Said something like "clever"

@AirLancer

9 сағат бұрын

@@ceasarsalazar5940 She always says that whenever you hit the real one.

I just love how more than half the discourse was about Longstrider not being in S tier I am personally in the camp where it is one of the best spells in the game

@Aestus_RPG

9 ай бұрын

Yeah, it's fun to see the disagreement!

@bronzebow4235

5 ай бұрын

While I agree it's very useful I don't get the passion behind the argument for it being higher. Your opinion is that it isn't as useful in combat. Mine is that it is very important for all my melee characters and has been the difference between ending a fight or dying.

@user95395

Ай бұрын

it's required for me

Longstrider S+++ tier, every single person who knows what it does uses it every chance they can. It is OP because it's a free great buff, it doesn't get much better than that.

@Aestus_RPG

9 ай бұрын

We got another one!

@wezmasta

6 ай бұрын

every spell he put in s teir better

What I really like about your tier lists is that you review the spells and explain why they belong in the tier they are in.

longstrider is S because it costs NOTHING.

Longstrider on B is absurd. It's a S tier one for sure.

@jemandanders6160

9 ай бұрын

Seeing how often just a single m would mean another dead enemy, for sure.

@rubenhoelz1464

9 ай бұрын

agreed, +3 movement speed for the whole party + summons without expending a spell slot is really good imho.

@fool3609

9 ай бұрын

Wait it’s a ritual?? Hell yeah

@thatguy00271

9 ай бұрын

LONGSTRIDER IS S++++ AAAAAGHHHHHHHHH

@Tentacl

9 ай бұрын

Longstrider is S + only if you grab it as a ritual imho, or if you exploit the whole pre-buffing with a character you don't intend to take on the party imho. Otherwise it depends on what part of the game you are, once 4 lv 1 slots are irrelevant it's S, earlier on it's less value per resource spent.

witch bolt makes for a very decent single target alpha strike imo, especially if you aren't gonna concentrate on other spells for your first turn. This is because it is an attack roll (can crit), you can guarantee a crit via items or hold person/sleep, you can impose vulnerability to lightning damage via wet condition, and you can max damage via the channel divinity of tempest cleric. With a crit on a wet target, the initial cast does 24d12 damage (at 6th level), and if you use your channel divinity, it churns out to 288 lightning damage in a single hit. Very niche and still C, maybe B tier, but interesting and worthwhile if you want to play around with and know how to imo.

Great tier list as always. I support your argumentation. I even learn something new.

Great video! One thing I'd really like to see is a video about how to make your CC stick to enemies (how to improve your spell check DC, debuff enemies etc.)

Hey cool video dude. Just wanted to say I played over 500 hours bg3 and years 5e and prior versions of d&d and never realized the fear plus prone stunlock combo.

Thank you for the clarification regarding part 1. I actually feared that something might be wrong with my graphics card because I updated my drivers just before watching the video. :D Anyway, great video! Keep it up.

Dissonant whispers does dmg no matter what, the base dmg on it is the same as guiding bolt, and it completely disables melee fighters, of which the game is filled with. It's a finisher, a dps ability and and a CC tool in 1 cast. An easy S tier for me.

All the ritual spells that affect movement (enhance leap, feather fall, longstrider) are OP as hell and everyone should be abusing them as much as possible using turn based mode. Enter turn based, spam them all onto your party, and then enter combat. Enhance leap + feather fall makes jump as a bonus action move further than just walking and you can jump without worry from any height. Longstrider is like having dash permanently active and is strong too, but enhance leap just takes the cake for me. You can instantly reposition anywhere you want oftentimes regardless of terrain or enemies in the way. It's so good.

Long strider has to be higher!?!? It gives 3m not 2m. So for most classes (9m base) that’s plus 33% movement. For the small races (7.5m) that’s plus 40%!!! movement. 33 or 40% additional movement on a ritual that you can get for free outside of combat is incredible. I think you are highly undervaluing this. I always make sure someone has this spell

@Aestus_RPG

9 ай бұрын

A lot of people think S-tier means "I cast this spell a lot." That is not what it means in my videos. In my videos it means "consistently amazing/with building around." In what world is +10 feet of movement consistently amazing? I cast it a lot, because it's free, but it's not an impact full enough effect to be S-tier.

@FluffiestWalrus

9 ай бұрын

@@Aestus_RPG right right. I’m not saying it’s S because of frequency. I tried to lay out the value. A spell that can give my party +33% movement party-wide feels incredibly strong

@Aestus_RPG

9 ай бұрын

Idk... it's +2 units of movement. The party wide thing isn't a big sell for me because usually 1-2 members of my party are ranged attackers that don't need it as much.

@FluffiestWalrus

9 ай бұрын

@@Aestus_RPG that’s definitely fair. I just think of like Crusher’s ring as something that is very valuable early on and getting an item (or stacking with it) for free seems good! Either way! Love this series and can’t wait for level 2 spells next

@stuflames4769

9 ай бұрын

Rephrasing it as +2 movement instead of a 33% increase doesn't make your argument any stronger. The results are the same.

By your own logic (speak with animals), grease should be rp tier because you could just throw a bottle instead.

@Aestus_RPG

9 ай бұрын

Yeah, I was inconsistent there. I just don't care about Speak with Animals that much.

@stuflames4769

9 ай бұрын

Who wants to manage grease bottles though? There's not that many animals.

Jump is actually still a spell. It's a bonus action version of Enhance Leap, granted by the Ring of Jumping.

@heyyou9137

9 ай бұрын

There are also boots that increase your jump distance, so that will be a really nice combo

Love these videos, thanks so much for all your work on them! I'd like to point out some niche uses of a couple spells that improve their use cases (in my opinion): Mage armor can essentially be a ritual spell for warlocks by taking a certain eldritch invocation. Adding 3 AC (when combined with decent AC robes like infernal, potent, or sparkswall) is often better than light armor, and doesn't cost a spell slot. Shield of faith can be free cast when wielding the sword of justice, which can be a good use of concentration for a fighter, and can proc things like boots of striding and strange conduit ring. These are super niche but worth considering.

Not sure if this is fixed yet, but on release the Spellmight Gloves added 1d8 damage to each magic missile projectile and you could ignore the downside as magic missiles always hit.

There’s no way you didn’t put longstrider S tier. Great interaction bait tho.

@mufasafalldown8401

9 ай бұрын

Hahah didnt even of that. Maybe it was intentional.

@Ozcaty

9 ай бұрын

It's 100% bait I typed up an enormous thing and his response was so poor it's obviously just fishing for it lmao. But hey whatever it's his prerogative. I just wish I didn't waste an hour of my life making an argument with someone who wasn't even in good faith :))

@cometken5

9 ай бұрын

@@Ozcaty yeah he should never cast longstrider on his party and see how much he’ll miss it. Dudes a goofball

@twigz3214

9 ай бұрын

@@cometken5 I agree it could be higher but I haven't cast it many times and didn't feel a difference at all. You'll probably feel more of a difference if you're using a high amount of melee attackers but personally, I've found it far more effective to have the party all play from range, they don't really lose out on damage from doing it, and have a couple melee options for when they are needed. The extra movement isn't used as often when I don't always have to use the full base move anyway.

@CosmicGumbo555

9 ай бұрын

He addresses two of the main points of the essay you posted. He was even nice enough to ignore where you misquoted him and implied he could be doing a better job with his videos. What else do you want from the man? Lol

Magic Missle for sure is pretty good, not only because it’s consistent damage, but also because it can force out a ton of concentration checks.

I imagine witch bolt becomes a lot better when you used twinned spell as a sorcerer, especially a storm sorcerer. Weird that the activation damage doesn't scale at all, kinda ruins it.

@waterenchantress7619

7 ай бұрын

You can use a Lightning Bloodline + Legendary Staff for double cha modifier

Goodberry can also be used for infinite camp supplies. So that is actually a pretty useful option

@XYNTEN

9 ай бұрын

Thats super tedious though and its not like supply aren't plentiful.

@Aestus_RPG

9 ай бұрын

In my rules I limit long rests, so this wouldn't help me.

@r6TrdSlow

9 ай бұрын

@@Aestus_RPGdo you have a video with your rules? With limited long rests, do you still use casters like Wizard/sorcerer? Or no because spell slots go so quickly on them? I could see Druid being a good caster for a run like this because of the high number of concentration damage spells. I’m much less afraid to use my high level Druid spell slots because I know there’s a good chance that I’ll get to reactivate them throughout the fight given the right circumstances

@Aestus_RPG

9 ай бұрын

Here are my rules: www.reddit.com/r/AestusGuides/comments/15oj00i/aestuss_hardcore_baldurs_gate_3_rules/?context=3

I feel like Ice Shard being castable while silenced is so underrated. Silence normally would completely cripple any spellcaster but Ice Knife still allows them to deal safe and fairly reliable damage without the need to reposition either out of range or into a more vulnerable position, even before the effect wears off or the person who casted Silence has their concentration broken. As far as I know, it is the only damaging spell to have that property.

Damn longstrider really got the lads out here in their feelings.

One niche but effective use for witch bolt is to upcast it as a tempest domain cleric, maxxed out d12's, plus make sure they're wet and the max dmg is doubled

Another great list. I’m also in the ‘Longstrider is at least A-tier’ camp, since 3m of movement speed can be a lot in this game, but I can see that argument has been done to death! It breaks my heart seeing speak with animals as RP tier because the ability to speak with animals is one of the greatest things about this game. That said, I get why you’ve put it there. I was ready for fisticuffs but you’re right about the potions. It’s the effect I love, not strictly the spell itself. I do think you should have hex slightly above hunters mark though. Hex has the added (small) bonus of nerfing a selected ability check (EDIT: not a saving throw lol). As someone else said, if there are only a few spells I disagree with then it’s a solid tier list. I’ll put down my dukes now lol EDIT to add: mage armour is less about characters without any armour proficiencies, and more about making use of some of the awesome robes in the game. For example, you probably want Gale in the Robe of the Weave purely to buff his spellcasting. Mage armour is then basically just an all-day +3 AC buff at the low cost of a level 1 spell slot. That's especially helpful if you want him to dual-wield staves instead of using a shield

@Tanduras

9 ай бұрын

For what it's worth, hex only applies disadvantage to ability checks, not saves. That being said, forcing disadvantage to strength checks, ie. athletic checks, is a pretty large upside though with how strong shove is as a bonus action. Being able to prevent enemies from getting out of opportunity attacks without them having disengage, or prevent getting shoved off a cliff, can be huge.

@ProbeAway

9 ай бұрын

@@Tanduras whoops, I typed without thinking! Have fixed now. Yes sadly nowhere near as useful as debuffing saving throws but still a nice little bonus

@-Pol-

6 ай бұрын

@@Tanduras I turned Wyll into a battering ram by giving him with the Club of Hill Giant strength and Adamantine shield. I forgot Hexing strength nixes enemies' athletics save though, so thanks for the reminder. Now individuals meleeing him are easily shoved into optimum eldritch blast range.

Great content One note about witch bolt- pure storm sorc run I used it early but after developing a lightning charges build I focused on other spells. Until Yurgir. Witch bolt persists on invisible targets, and if cast with distant spell the range is damn near infinite. We approached the fight from the side, and after casting, I retreated. Every single turn, he would turn invisble and I would yank the leesh. It also persists through walls. He was unable to run, or even see me, and when the ai finally told him to go the long route, the cast only broke in the 65m range area. Still a mediocre spell but for the memes its hilarious

Do you take out of combat utility into the equation when ranking these spells? For ex. I have found Enhanced Leap really useful for navigating various puzzles, moving around dungeons, etc.

@Aestus_RPG

9 ай бұрын

Not really. It's a combat tier list, that is the focus of my channel.

I'd rate the spells applying entanglement higher. They not only guarantee your hits against the target but in case of melee targets also cancel their turn if they fail saving throw. They won't even hit you with opportunity attacks (unlike if they are feared). Served me well against act one bosses, e.g. Bulette.

I think Ensnaring Strike or whatever it's called -- the Ranger smite thingy -- DOES in fact counts as an attack. So, when you hit something with that spell, you still get that second attack at lvl 5. The only downside that you get by casting this spell is that you could've used your bonus action for something else, like Hunter's Mark or something. I feel like the spell is low B-tier, it's not completely useless.

@Aestus_RPG

9 ай бұрын

Yes, you are right. I misremembered in the video I'm afraid. Sorry for the confusion!

@Boomerrage32

9 ай бұрын

@@Aestus_RPG Consider yourself forgiven. :) Looking forward to the tier list for 2nd lvl spells.

@Sunny-gj6mh

6 ай бұрын

By selecting Bounty Hunter as Favoured Enemy, you also impose disadvantage on enemies saving against it. That kind of reliability is rare so early in the game. Useful for locking those chunky melee enemies where they stand, even when they have high STR saves. More reliably than other spells that do similar stuff. I find it to be a better use of bonus action compared to hunter's mark in most cases! The damage scales well at higher level casts too. Consistently good & situationally amazing. A tier, at least.

I love clicking on videos that challenge me to a fight.

@Aestus_RPG

6 ай бұрын

New KZread meta.

Damn that Djinn not letting me get that jackpot

For me, Witch Bolt is pretty useful just because you can run away and hide behind terrain and still reactivate it. Against difficult enemies, it’s a really good way to consistently deal out safe damage without your caster being able to take any damage in return. Admittedly, this really only matters a lot when you have good terrain to exploit.

Cool thing about thunderwave and thundurus smite is that it can knock cazador off the map in his mist form. Allows you to beat him on the 1st turn.

You played down mage armor a bit there. Sure almost anyone can use light armor, but there are unique robes with effects i would value more than a level 1 spell slot on a wizard

@Aestus_RPG

8 ай бұрын

Good point!

Only issue with helish rebuke is the same issue all fire damage spells have. Lots of enemies have fire resistance or immunity

On magic missile you speak of abjuration wizards adding their int modifier but that would be the evocation wizard Empowered Evocation feature.

@Aestus_RPG

9 ай бұрын

I often mix up Abjuration and Evocation! I was thinking of Evocation, but I said the wrong one. Sorry!

Looking at this I realize just how many spells there are in the game. Larian is insane in the best way possible.

I just want to say, doubt anyone will see this and there are tons of other spells to do it with, but the witch bolt scroll on Lazell when she has the sword that gives her 1d4 psychic AND the ring that does the same but needs to be concentrating on something is really amazing. It’s a cheap and easy scroll to find and depending on the build she may not really have much to concentrate on so it’s literally free lightening damage in addition to the 1d4 psychic the ring adds while concentrating AND if you can make her target wet before hand it obviously doubles the damage. Absolutely melts people. It’s just a niche thing to do but super powerful I think people are sleeping on. I’ve probably actually cast this combo more than sanctuary, cloud of daggers, magic missile combined…I’m clearly playing the game wrong lol. Edit: as an actual spell I never cast Witch Bolt. This is literally the only way I do it and it was just because I was trying to find scrolls I could cast with Lazell to trigger the Strange Conduit Ring’s concentration effect.

@Aestus_RPG for your hardcore ruleset with a limit to 5 longrests do you count the heal station right before the finale of act 2 as a long rest or not

@Aestus_RPG

8 ай бұрын

No, I don't count it unless it uses camp supplies.

I believe they fixed the damage riders counting as their own separate hits in a recent patch. At least that's something I remember seeing in a patch overview.

Im currently using mage armor in both Gale and my Monk. Gale has shield, my monk doesn’t, but scales well with unarmored defense. Of course this is Act 1, later on you get so many options that becomes obsolete

How come divine smite isnt on the list? Also longstrider goated

@jemandanders6160

9 ай бұрын

Divine Smite is not technically a spell, but a class ability iirc.

I guess my only question about longstrider is consistency. If guidance is an S-tier cantrip because you cast it a lot and it provides a small boost to all checks in dialogue, why is Longstrider so much lower if its a ritual spell that you cast a lot and provides a small boost to all combat encounters?

@Aestus_RPG

8 ай бұрын

Higher level spells have higher standards. Its difficult to compare cantrips to 1st level spells, they don't compete for the same resources.

@jesusjah

8 ай бұрын

@@Aestus_RPG i should mention i'm not trying to argue for longstrider S tier. I think to a certain extent that's fair but I feel like the way you set up your lists already lends itself so that cantrips can be directly compared to spells in an opportunity cost vs. potency way. for example, if you were just comparing cantrips to themselves (i.e. there are no spells in the game, only cantrips) then it wouldnt make sense to put a cantrip like shocking grasp in A tier and not S tier since, compared to the rest of the cantrips, it is one of the only ways to cast a cantrip that can exploit weakness with advantage at melee ranged, meaning it is literally one of the most reliable and highest damage methods in the game that can be built around. but instead you put in A tier since there are better things to do (i.e. casting spells) then casting cantrips. you put eldritch blast in S tier and acknowledge it's a really good attacking strategy, perhaps one of the best in the game. i agree with this placement; even compared to first level spells it'd still probably be S tier. you can compare cantrips to spells since they're all essentiall ritual spells with low opportunity cost. you often use opportunity cost in your comparisons since u talk about armor of agathys in this way, mentioning it being especially good since it effectively has no opportunity cost (you can cast it out of combat). similarly, i would not be against comparing guidance power to that of S tier spells. the issue with longstrider is that longstrider matters more from a strict optimization sense. if bg3 was a harder game it probably would be S tier since it has the potential to convert no action into an attack or an attack into a better positioned attack many times a fight with no cost. we just don't notice it cuz this isnt the difference between winning and losing bg3. but since we are trying to analyze bg3 from an optimization sense i think it does deserve A tier.

@Aestus_RPG

8 ай бұрын

@@jesusjah I'm fine with A-tier tbh. I put it at the very top of B-tier, and the tiers blend together at the extremes.

I have to disagree with find familiar and festher falling. Feather falling is of course a ritual and you can pre cast it before fights. Find familiar may not impact fights super significantly but it does not even take up a slot of your spells known, in the early game it can be a good source of damage(i would always recommend the spider) aswell as a means to jump on ranged enemies to threaten them. Later on, you may gain acess to things like aid and heroes feast that allows your familiar to take a few hits, which can absolutely be the difference between someone important going down.

Also something that I really like about Hunter's Mark and what made me fall in love with it : it stacks upon itself. I realized that by accident during the ambush against Kar'niss in act 2 where I casted it upon Kar'Niss with my Paladin at the start of my turn, then one of the Harpers also casted it on him and I realized that the two stacked up, so I then used my character that had the helmet Grym dropped and casted it AGAIN on him. Needless to say that with 3 Hunter's Mark, his HP got DRAINED after every successful hit, that is 3-18 added to every single successful damage roll, that is just insane. Of course you cannot do that to every enemy and isn't necessarily the most optimal play, but GOD DAMN IS IT FUN TO STACK IT

@Aestus_RPG

8 ай бұрын

Interesting! Its a concentration spell, so folks don't usually stack it. I'll have to play around with that.

@sephikong8323

8 ай бұрын

@@Aestus_RPG Exactly, but I think it still has a niche in the Early to Mid game when you do not yet have too many options for good concentration spells, so if you have a fight with a single beefy enemy, I think there's room for that strategy. I still have not yet tested a build around that, but I think the perfect fight to test it would be against the Bulette, it's a lone target with massive HP at a time in the game where you don't have that many great options for concentration spells to deal with this type of enemy (and also you get Phalar Aluve just before so that also combos really well). It's near the top of my list of "fun strategies that I want to try for fun", because admittedly........ that is really fun

@Aestus_RPG

8 ай бұрын

@@sephikong8323 Without testing it, I think it should be a top tier strategy. Its another way to get damage on Eldritch Blast, for example. Two Eldritch Blaster's, each stacking Hex, that is a very reliably damage strategy. Hex cannot be saved. Does Hex also stack?

@sephikong8323

8 ай бұрын

@@Aestus_RPG I haven't been able to test with it no. I found out about HM stacking just before my pc died and I'm only getting it back tomorrow so I couldn't test it for a while, excited to see what I could do with that discovery and what it could be applied to (and also hoping it still works, maybe the patch killed it but I doubt it, but if it did I would be so mad I couldn't take advantage of it before it got axed)

Ensnaring Strike only uses one attack from your extra attack though.

@Aestus_RPG

9 ай бұрын

Misremembered. Thanks for the correction!

@OutlookJonas

9 ай бұрын

Still trash, because it's concentration and bonus action. Can't use Hunters Mark with it and can't have Spike Growth either.

@revpro06

9 ай бұрын

@@OutlookJonas I agree it's still trash but still an important distinction.

I think you underestimated Ice Knife just a bit. It's definitely better than Chromatic Orb and arguably better than Magic Missile, so I'd put it in low S or at least high A. What makes Ice Knife so good is that it has a mechanics combination that AFAIK is only shared with one other spell, Chain Lightning: Ice Knife is an AoE damage spell that benefits from Wet AND can use Twinned Spell metamagic. Starting as soon as level 2 a Sorcerer can Twin Ice Knife on two enemies near each other, and it's possible for one enemy to take the cold AoE twice in a single cast, if another enemy is close enough. That's potentially 1d10+4d6 damage at character level 2, or 1d10+6d6 at level 3. Because of this, Ice Knife is THE best AoE damage 1st level spell for Sorcerers, and situationally the best single target as well, with a condition that's pretty easy to satisfy. As well as some utility in frozen ground. Ice Knife combos great with the Minor Illusion cantrip. Have someone sneaky bunch up enemies before a big fight, have a Cleric summon the rain and then just shred them. I agree with your current ranking if, and only if, we're talking about Wizards, Druids, Arcane Tricksters and Eldritch Knights. But every spell needs to be checked for Twinability to discuss Sorcerer applications.

i wonder if you blind a target with fog or darkness gives all creatures in it a dex disadvantage because if they have a disadvantage then combine a AOE dex spell and nearly dominate that area

Well, this is the most accurate tier list I've seen. Longstrider, 'nuff said by others. Goodberry is rp. I never thought of using them to trigger "on healed" effects, but not worth using a spell slot. unless you have a camp buffer, and I got two words for anyone that uses a camp buffer... GIT GUD. Interesting idea to make a waste of a spell slot less useless, however. Edit: I forgot to say I enjoyed the video. Looking forward to more. The reaction to longstrider is amazing considering the lack of reaction to sleep. All hail the comment algorithm, lol. (And no I don't think you did that for the algo. If you did, kudos.) You broke your rules with sleep in A tier. It's just not. It falls off way too quickly, and you would never come close to making a build where that would be integral past the druid's grove, really, not Act 1. You just don't have enough slots to waste one slotting sleep. It can be used at the ruins, though it's thoroughly unnecessary. Probably in the goblin camp as well, but there are too many mobs to wake up sleeping comrades, imo. If you prepare it past where the caster gets level 2 spell slots, you're wasting a slot, or you've made really poor spell selections on your always prepared casters.

@Aestus_RPG

9 ай бұрын

But Sleep is my favorite spell, so...

@senexiratus973

9 ай бұрын

@@Aestus_RPG Yes, that was clear when you put it there. But hey, you were wrong on maybe 3 rankings out of all of those spells. That's legit. Shows you know wtf you're talking about, and your discussion of each spell and why it's good or bad is unmatched by other creators. They should watch and learn. I learned a lot about spells for classes I don't play. The spell description alone vs. the spell description plus why use it or don't is invaluable. Looking forward to the next one.

@senexiratus973

9 ай бұрын

@@Aestus_RPG I actually like sleep on Eldritch knight, especially as a RP thing. It's a backup to Magic missile. I use spells on EK for better odds of death than melee attack, and late fight, you get that ass hole that you just can't seem to land attacks on. Sleep will handle more hp than magic missile.

can you do a build tier list or your personal favs

@Aestus_RPG

9 ай бұрын

Maybe at some point!

Are you still planning on making some EK build videos?

Some things I think might be worth mentioning: Falling prone (grease, ice patches etc.) will also break your concentration without a save, and end your turn. Goodberry can also be used as camp supplies, so you can just dump your remaining spell slots as goodberries at the end of the day. Ranger and Paladin spells may not have fantastic scaling, since the classes are half-casters and only get up to level 3 spells.

One thing for witch bolt is that it is the highest potential damage Lightning spell that can crit. With luck of the far realms and wrath of the storm that makes a 6th level spell slot deal 144 damage against a wet target (before vulnerability). Chain lightning or lightning bolt hit more enemies but for a single target it’s not bad. Doesn’t really change the tier too much but that build is common enough I wanted to write that down here

Love the way you explain spells. You can also rename the tiers so people don't have to check their meaning in the cantrips video

One use i like for thunder wave is as a general get off me button, I play sorcerer and ill use it if multiple enemies cluster on me so i can move away without eating attack opportunities

Grease in bg3: average Grease in Pathfinder wort: menace to society

I'm so sad! I thought the upscale damage on witchbolt went for every proc on it after. But you're right and I feel betrayed by my favorite spell 😭

I've heard Grease described as one of the most OP spells in the game...

The best thing about Longstrider is a bug - that it casts a condition out of combat that remains even if you drop the spell or even the spellcaster. I don’t know of any other spell like that and it seeks like a bug. Other buffs even non-concentration will drop if you drop the spell from your prepared slots. Summoned elementals remain if you drop the spell from prepared but not if you drop the spellcaster. Anyone know anything other spell that sticks like Longstrider?

@brosephstinson1297

7 ай бұрын

Aid can be used by someone and you can kick em off the party, Aid persists. Same goes for heroes feast. So you can have aid + heroes feast cast without losing the spellslots, especially that sweet 6th level.

Im more surprised people are fighting over the longstrider placement over the bless placement 😂. Since ring of whispering promise provides a free bless without concentration comboed with hell riders pride to apply blade ward ontop. Slap these on a cleric/anyone with an extra attack to throw potions and you can apply bless without concentration. And bless considerably falls off in act 2-3 especially 3 due to the sheer numerous ways to get it for free (statue, wavemother donation, shadowhearts questline)

Does witchbolt get any better if you combine it with all the lightning charge items that are available in act one?

@Aestus_RPG

2 ай бұрын

Sure! They certainly don't make it worse.

Longstrider is goated for melee units

Almost changed my mind about which bolt, until I remembered it’ll override your current concentration spell….

Goodberry isn't great, but in tabletop eating one also provides a full day's worth of nutrition. It would be cool if in bg3 they also counted as 10 camping supplies each or something

Is ice knife any good on an encrusted with frost EK? as a way of spreading chilled to multiple enemies? going for a mourning frost varient or is it better to save the slot for shield?

@Aestus_RPG

6 ай бұрын

Mourning Frost EK is great, but I doubt Ice Knife would be that effective. The chill proc is unpredictable, so it's better to just build around Ray of Frost and fish for it that way.

@kurtcobane1762

6 ай бұрын

@@Aestus_RPG sorry to be a pain but I'm confused on a stat spread any idea on that?

@Aestus_RPG

6 ай бұрын

@@kurtcobane1762 Depends tbh. I usually put Int at 16, strength at 17, then split the rest between dex and con.

@kurtcobane1762

6 ай бұрын

@@Aestus_RPG thanks man was theory crafting it a while but theres no optimal builds for it on reddit or yt that i could find anyways

42:40 Thunderous Smite, notably, is not conc. And i think that kicks it up a notch in the realm of smite spells.

I think mage armor is good for a build that focuses on some bonuses clothes items can give you. Unless there's better ways to do that.

Honestly upcasting witch bolt is pretty good I feel just y'know not much of a reason to cast it multiple times, just because of lightning vulnerability.

Prone only doesnt cancel a turn if it happens outside of their turn. If you cast it on someone and they run thru it and fall over on their turn, their turn is over.

I'm hoping for an honour mode specific tier-list, maybe a lil' bit shorter than this. This is my 4th run after dying in act I and II and ending 10-20 hour playthroughs in honour. Game is much more interesting now for the likes of us!

I mostly disagree with your lists except the unarguable ones (like healing words or create water) BUT I learned lots of different ways to use lots of spell from you, for that thank you!

I wonder if hellish rebuke is worth the A slot considering only Warlocks can cast it. I usually find i dont want to spend the limited spell slots Warlocks get for this spell.

@sladewright5779

3 ай бұрын

Great content by the way! Really like your videos!!

Had a team of warlocks, all with hellish rebuke. One boss in the game walked up and aoed the party, and lost half of his hp. I couldnt stop laughing that he was half dead before we had even had a turn

Grease is B? Idunno I've used it to great success. Fog cloud, grease, bless, sneak attack and my MC doing their thing...control is much higher value compared to damage, and I can say that as an RP veteran with 27 years of ttrpg experience. Tashas cast at lv2 can be much better than example hold person

Hmm, did you mean to say the squirrel (Timber) in the grove gives you a hyena ear or can it really give you different things? You said it gives a worg tooth. 🤔

@Aestus_RPG

8 ай бұрын

Does it give a Hyena Ear? Still good. I thought it was a worg tooth. I probably just misremembered

@marcusolsen96

8 ай бұрын

@@Aestus_RPG I see, yep it’s a hyena ear. Just did that yesterday and wondered why it had that 😄

I think with longstrider it's more of a thing in early game. I've found it's S tier then because there's so many encounters that my melee dudes would just waste an entire turn trying to get to an enemy and longstrider closes the gap. later in the game with misty steps (and tons of extra spell slots) and huge jumps it just falls off imo (but we cast it anyway because we have been all game). For mage armor it feels like something that you would be silly not to cast if you want to use a robe for its stats but otherwise useless. So it's either a must cast or a waste of a spell prep.

healing word hard carried my no long rest run

I love your content and this list, but if I do have one nitpick it’s that I think scalability in general is somewhat overrated. Since these are level 1 spells especially, their value in Act 1 and Act 2 shouldn’t be overstated. It’s for this reason too I’m not fond of builds that only feel powerful in Act 3. If a spell is really strong for half of the game, then imo that is a really strong spell period.

@Aestus_RPG

9 ай бұрын

It often feels like Act 3 is half the game though.

7 months later but idc. I agree with the longstrider placement just because I did two full playthroughs without using it because I just didn't think about it and I never encountered a situation where I was like damn if only I had longstrider here I would have lived. Those situations just don't happen so it's hard to say it's one of the best spells when you have other crazy shit that's much more impactful.

Shield (at least currently for me) does not negate magic missile unfortunately.

While I don't disagree with your placement of the spell, upcasting a twinned Witchbolt to your highest spell level with a Draconic Lightning Sorcerer on wet enemies is honestly hilarious. I can recommend.

Guiding bolt being slightly above fairy fire seems off to me.

Have you missed gust of wind or is it me that missed it ? For those that have it, there is a box with items from DOS2. One of them is a headwear piece (it belonged to Fane) that allows you to play lots of different races, so having the spell Disguise Self is pretty redundant, which is notable as you have it in S tier. I'd have Longstrider in A tier, because it is a free cast on all your team and lasts all day. Extra movement is always good, mostly for getting you into base to base combat. One of the things that is important and is often missed, is which ability a saving throw applies to. Wisdom saves are often harder for an enemy to save against than Strength saves or Dexterity saves. Many enemies also have low Charisma saves, too.

@Aestus_RPG

9 ай бұрын

I think Longstrider A-tier is a fair take. Gust of Wind is a level 2 spell.

Sanctuary is S+ tier for caster solo tactician

Tasha is S in a sorcerer. Unfortunatelly it can only be used by Copper Dragon Ancestry, and the acid damage bonuses and resistance are really irrelevant, but having twinned cast tasha's can make several encounters trivial, including the Gith in act 1 as early as lv 3.

funny enough you can move a moonbeam without breaking sanctuary even if it damages something.

I agree with most things however seeing longstrider in B tier really hurts my feelings. Free movespeed lasting the whole day, the caster doesn't even need to stay in the party. That's so good ! At the very top of S tier for me.

Ice knife is interesting, it is one of the only good spells for sorcerer to twin in my opinion.

Tasha’s laughter is S tier still, it’s an absolute boss killer, not because of damage, but because if the boss has low wisdom you can keep them in the ground for pretty much the entire fight while you deal with their minions, Orin, Sarevoc, and many other bosses are pretty much negated by this. And what you did to longstrider is shameful, it is a free +3 movement to all party members and summons that you have at all times, at the cost of just picking the spell, which doesn’t sound like much, but the number of times being able to run away 3 more feet has saved my spell caster, or put my barbarian in range of an enemy has saved me more times than I can count.

I will say grease is a bit underrated, if you cast it on a concentrating caster they instantly lose concentration and become prone.

@Aestus_RPG

7 ай бұрын

I agree! I should have ranked it higher.

lol came for the drama my guy.

@Aestus_RPG

8 ай бұрын

Hopefully it delivered!

Goodberry not being S-tier or even A-tier at minimum blows my mind. It completely breaks spell economy. One cast of the spell gives you 4 camp supply. A long rest is 40. You only need 10 casts of the spell to provide a long rest. The game gives you 2 druid companions, (3 if you hire one from Withers) even if you bring one of the Druid companions with you, you still have the other sitting at camp with full spell slots just able to cast Goodberry whenever you swap to them. This allows you to long rest for free whenever you want. You can long rest after every single fight, no matter how big or small. Saving spell slots becomes (almost) entirely a thing of the past. Did that rat with 11 HP look at you funny? Cast a level 6 fireball at it, it literally doesn't matter if a druid in your camp knows Goodberry. In another comment, you mentioned how you run limited long rests so that portion of Goodberry doesn't factor in to your rating. In the previous video, you also mentioned how you don't allow yourself to use Fog to obscure characters in combat but still held that in account for its ranking.

@Aestus_RPG

3 ай бұрын

I do allow fog to obscure characters, I just don't allow hiding in it.

Don't understand why Jump is A while Longstrider is B. Longstrider beats Jump in every other way except maybe when you need to navigate across certain terrian.

@Aestus_RPG

8 ай бұрын

Jump is a multiplier, Longstrider is a flat bonus.