Every episode, the Dudes cast Delightful Presence at 9th level.

@Hellkite422

2 жыл бұрын

The best part is that as a 1st level spell we can all cast it! They just really put in that work upcasting it for greater impact!

One thing people dont talk much about call lightning is that is lasts 10 minutes. If you upcast it to lv9, it isnt just 9d10 damage, no... Its 9d10 damage (average 50 damage) for 100 turns. Its amazing for sieges and preserves your spell slots.

@1andrew123

2 жыл бұрын

Well theres a dex save that can halve it so its less than 50, but if youre casting it as a tempest cleric you can max the damage a couple times a day!

@mlmf2012

2 жыл бұрын

@@1andrew123 this brings up another big plus to call lightning. You can still cast another spell sa long as it doesnt need concentration. You can cast Command or Gaes on the high dex guy and still have call lightning for every other guy. Youre not limited to only call lightning in the 100 turns its out😁

@michaelstoffel9668

Жыл бұрын

One downside of call lightning is you can't use it all the time there has to be enough space.

@WexMajor82

11 ай бұрын

And the command is "stay perfectly still", @@mlmf2012. Then call down your lightning on him, auto filed DEX save.

13:03 ah yes, the most powerful spell of all, *A* truly an invaluable tool in every alphamancer's spell(ing) book

@sixofone8663

2 жыл бұрын

25:24 however the dudes do make a good point reminding us all that M is also a potent alphamancy spell to be upcast

@farrex0

Жыл бұрын

Yes! that is indeed A spell.

@viktorbartosik3234

Жыл бұрын

Kinda like the legendary beast of AAAAAAAAA from Monty Python's Holy Grail.

Mind Whip stands out among other control spells in that most other similar spells impose some sort of condition that enemy creatures might be immune to (charmed, frightened, paralyzed, stunned, etc.) but Mind Whip simply… works. Coupled together with the fact that it targets intelligence saves which is consistently poor for a LOT of enemies, it’s just an amazing control option. Ya know, together with Hideous Laughter, I feel like this Tasha lady really got some potential 🤔

@fardareismai4495

2 жыл бұрын

Meeting Tasha would be terrifying, I love it

@allmyhomieshatefreud5501

2 жыл бұрын

@@fardareismai4495 You can in Wild Beyond the Witchlight! Imagine casting Hideous Laughter on Tasha herself lol that’ll be fun

@Ahglock

2 жыл бұрын

Mind Whip can work, and in the sense you are explaining yeah it doesn't have a not on X creature limit. And when upcast the risk is reduced but initiative plays a big effect on its usefulness. Cast it on bob the orc, he goes next, he is already right next to your fighter. It did damage to him and almost nothing else as all he wanted to do is an action anyways and its the end of his turn so he has reactions again. If you know the enemies initiative in advance that obviously helps, or if its round two and you kept track of it.

@The_Crimson_Witch

2 жыл бұрын

@@Ahglock Mind Whip is good, but has flaws as you pointed out. However used in tandum with say Graviturgy Wizard or alternatively the telekinetic feat, you can completely fuck over an enemy's turn. My divination wizard used mind whip+telekinetic+the ranger's spike growth to terrifying efficiency.

@Ahglock

2 жыл бұрын

@@The_Crimson_Witch Yeah, I feel people overate is on its own, but in combination with other abilities or spells like Web it really stands out. And I'm okay with something working better due to tactics.

I've actually had Armor of Agathys proc multiple times on a single cast at level 1 as a warlock. Never underestimate the ability for a damage roll to come out a 1 or a 2. The fact that it does the full 5 even on chip damage, means that yea, the minimum damage it can deal is 5 (at level 1), the maximum it can deal is 25 (at level 1)

@mylesdrake2949

2 жыл бұрын

It's even more brutal on a goliath that's got a dip in barbarian or has heavy armor mastery with blade ward. Especially when you can cast it at lvl 3 because something multiattacks you that's going to be a lot more dmg heading it's way then it did to you.

@pjenner79

2 жыл бұрын

I wanna make a barbarian hexblade based off this spell

@demonzero677

2 жыл бұрын

@@mylesdrake2949 you don't even have to do that, I believe Blade Ward is a warlock cantrip. so bog standard locks can resist the hits and chill the fuckers back. But stacking heavy armor master on it....well it pisses off the DM because more math for figuring out how much damage you take, but it's a riot for you.

@mylesdrake2949

2 жыл бұрын

@@demonzero677 The reason you do one or the other is because with rage you can still attack. As far as the math is concerned it's -3 then halve. Then if your a goliath you can negate that by a d12+ con. Honorable mentions for reducing this damage further is the fighter's parry and bards cutting words. In other words, you can pretty much hit them back harder than they hit you rather easily lol. Especially if you got an AOE dmg aura on like cloud of flies or use bonus action attacks like maddening hex.

@jeffersonian000

2 жыл бұрын

My Mark of Warding Abjuration Armorer (Abigail Armiger) uses Armor of Agathys as her main damage dealer. Up-casting only after it’s depleted also charges Ward, effectively granting hundreds of virtual hit points preventing any damage for touching her. My best tank built to date.

A fun topic would be the best actions to do with Timestop. What spells would you cast on your party and on your enemies?

@madmayhem2000

2 жыл бұрын

I think they had some suggestions for timestop in their overpowered combos video

@afroamasiaca

2 жыл бұрын

Delayed fireball or whatever it was, was listed I believe

@charleswatson4549

2 жыл бұрын

Time stop says you can't touch or influence anyone or the time stop ends, so no buffing the party with it. Sorry try again

@madmayhem2000

2 жыл бұрын

@@charleswatson4549 you having a good day Charles?

@afroamasiaca

2 жыл бұрын

@@madmayhem2000 🍻

4:52 "Sometimes monsters... just want to be held," has got to be one of the best lines you've ever uttered Kelly!

Two other beautiful things about Armor of Agathys is that there is no save, and (if you wanted) you could use things like meta magic adept to transmute the cold damage to anything else. It's probably not worth it (unless in specific circumstances like cold immunity) but its really cool to flavor your character has having acid or lightning armor.

@The_Crimson_Witch

2 жыл бұрын

It is worth doing that in two other scenarios: Cold Resistance can still make the effect of the spell fairly neglagable. But the other big one is targeting vulernabilities. Ypu fighting a frost salamander? Armor of Firey Fuck Off sounds incredibly appealing right now.

@AliceIsSleepy

2 жыл бұрын

Also, there are a lot of ways to make the Armor last a lot longer, and therefore deal a lot more damage. You have resistances? Great! You are an aberration wizard that got your hands on this spell? It's insane.

@DYMTWrecks

2 жыл бұрын

I have a Genie Warlock of an air genie and my dm let me change the damage type to Thunder damage. We describe it as a reverse booming blade. Love it.

@TheMichaellathrop

2 жыл бұрын

Could be a fun candidate for getting as an out of class spell if your going to make an evocation or order of the scribe wizard.

@punkassbamboo

2 жыл бұрын

Would be a great target for a twinned spell too!

I love how Armor of Agathys just displays as "A"

@TheBucketOfTruth

2 жыл бұрын

Mass Suggestion too. Somebody rushed the edit on this one.

@TopTierKnees

2 жыл бұрын

@@TheBucketOfTruth A couple times where Kelly starts and stops as well that are usually edited out with jump cuts. Wonder if they threw the wrong version up?

@TheBucketOfTruth

2 жыл бұрын

@@TopTierKnees Yeah that seems like a good theory. I did notice him doing a couple takes for Mass Suggestion but thought he was making a joke at first. There's also no section for the spell programmed in there either.

Major Image: Instead of just... Covering up the cave wall, place an image of a cave-in covering said cave. This way, people who DO know of the cave would be disarmed and not suspicious of the missing cave.

@CallenExile

2 жыл бұрын

I did this with Silent Image once. Works great. I also had a character who used Minor Illusion to create a Barrel to hide in. It worked often.

@TheRealElithica

Жыл бұрын

But then if they try to clear the debris whatsoever they discover the illusion.

@nova997

Жыл бұрын

Until someone goes to climb and check it out, I'd atleast check it out

I think an interesting spell to note for upcasting is Bigby’s Hand for its damage scaling. Each spell slot above 5 increases the damage by 2d8 for an attack and 2d6 for the grapple squeeze, which is some of the better scaling out there. My sorcerer has an Ascendant Dragon-Touched Focus and often uses that last property to upcast Bigby’s Hand to 9th level. 12d8 bonus action force damage is no joke.

This is a great video for Warlock players especially to be aware of. Over the course of a levels 1-13 campaign I think I cast Invisibility more often than even Hex; being able to turn four people invisible for an hour by level 9 is an incredibly valuable use for one of your scarce spell slots.

@Oscar_Milde

Жыл бұрын

Have one slot left before a short rest? Don't mind if I do. Wouldn't want to be ambushed while we take a breather

Kelly's realization of the true horror of a never-ending-party was priceless.

I've always been a fan of armor of agathys. It's come in handy in a lot of dire scenarios. I think one of my favorite was when I, a low health ranged warlock, tried to escape enemies that were closing in. I ran, which provoked an opportunity attack against me, but by doing so the person that attacked died from the cold damage. This became an even better defense as it made the enemies wary of getting too close.

@andreataccone2564

2 жыл бұрын

If you love the spell then use the Bard's Magical Secrets to steal it AND Find Greater steed (which also gets the buff). Now buff yourself and your grifon with up to 45 hp/damage at 9th level Add to it resistance with either StoneSkin or BladeWard and you have 180 hp to tank and blast any melee foe

Bestow curse is extra fun when you realize you can just name your own curse, subject to dm approval. Two particularly nasty ones I like are “you always have to sneeze, but can’t” and “moving forward gives you severe vertigo”. Having those up for even a minute can prove quite effective. Also a friend once rain a fun seemingly Stardew Valley like game where the group were retired lvl 20 adventurers. I played a sorcerer and had a healthy business as a home decorator using Major Image, starting because I decided to decorate my characters house to look like a coral reef, fish and all

Some really good honourable mentions, particularly for villainous DMs: -Geas: What is normally a 30 day long command can quickly become for a year or permanent, making it a great spell to hold over a cursed individual's head. -Glyph of Warding: When upcast, you can install higher level spells into the glyph. Also for Players: -Fog Cloud: The AOE zone of obscurement increases dramatically when upcast, making it much easier to facilitate an escape or to provide concealment over open ground safely. -Animate Dead: For each level above 3rd you get an additional 2 zombies or skeletons. That scales exceptionally well given that zombies make potent meatshields and skeletons can do surprisingly well peppering a foe with arrows at range en masse.

I know it is not really unique in it's upcast utility, but I would like to add Heat Metal. It is a single target concentration spell, with no save for the damage(2d8 fire). You can use your bonus action to apply the damage again on every subsequent turn. If the target does not drop the heated metal piece, it suffers disadvantage on attack rolls and ability checks until the start of their next turn. Upcasting it buffs the damage, and nothing else. But being able to contiunously deal 5d8 damage per turn(level 5 spell slot), while also giving disadvantage on attack rolls and ability checks is quite good.

@XoRandomGuyoX

2 жыл бұрын

Always a fun one to bring when you expect to fight enemy soldiers. Suddenly those metal armors that take a minute to remove don't seem like such a great idea...

@Gargandan

2 жыл бұрын

Just had a very fun experience with this with an enemy mage who had a metal arm. Cast heat metal on the arm at slightly higher level. The thing with this one a lot of people miss is that only the initial casting has a range. When he teleported away after a few rounds of taking damage.... The damage from his molten arm finished him off over the next 7 rounds as it continued to cook him.

Similar to Armor of Agathys, I think Fire Shield is a great spell. Offensively AND defensively it's not as good as Armor of Agathys, but it is well worth the upcast. Armor of Agathys is just a really efficient spell, and Fire Shield does its best to compare, and the fact that this spell will continue to work even after being hit a few times is great reason why it's still worth it. I love casting both, personally.

The Summon spells from Tasha's Cauldron of Everything are much better versions of Conjure spells (or at least less problematic versions of those spells) that don't cause as many initiative problems, but they still pack an amazing punch when you upcast them. Every one of these spells gets better when you use higher level slots, and I think all of them get attacks equal to half the spell level of the casting. I've played as high as 20th level, and I felt great using my 7th, 8th, or 9th level slots for a Summon Celestial or Summon Aberration at the start of combat. And with an hour duration? I've had the summon last 3-4 combats easy.

@Foliash

2 жыл бұрын

Its rare I get to praise WotC, but damn were those spells brilliant design.

@mylesdrake2949

2 жыл бұрын

Yeah I love them, as a necro wizard, using ghouls or ghasts in tadem with the putrid summon is brutal and really the only way to make them really work because how squishy they are.

@astuteanansi4935

2 жыл бұрын

They're pretty brutal. Casting these spells with an 8th level spell slot is almost like dropping a level 20 fighter onto the battlefield.

@ricklawrence2515

2 жыл бұрын

They are potentially the best scaling spells in the game

@nickm9102

2 жыл бұрын

I see your point with on this but conjure animals is still top in my book. It is the bear vs. Wolf pack argument, the bear will win out 1v1 but the pack will be relentless and take the bear down. I personally even use the wolf when I cast the spell. I know raptor is mechanically better but oh well. And to be realistic they usually get fireballed their first round out but I halted the enemy approach and force them to focus an AOE on potentially their allies at best or NPCs at the worst. But I will admit if I want a single summon the new spells are my second favorite to summon greater demon.

I had a vampire cleric with armor of agathys that got used to great effect. She was the party healer, but because she was undead, she was incapable of healing herself. Thus, the temporary hit points from armor of agathys were great, and usually after a hit or two, enemies learned to stop hitting her.

Great episode as usual, but I just have to say I received my Dungeons of Drakkenheim box today and it far exceeded my expectations! The book is beautiful, the figures are on point. The map is wall worthy. I can't wait to dive into it all. So glad i backed your kickstarter. Job well done, and worth the wait!

When dealing with hordes of summons, you may find page 250 of the DMG 'handling mobs' helpful - work out the d20 roll that the summons need to hit their target, treat advantage/disadvantage as a +/-5. to the attack bonus. The table tells you how many attacks they need to get one hit. Now you need only roll for the remainder. You could use average damage for summons to speed things up further.

11:54 Cloudkill dealing poison damage is sometimes a pro. It means you can drop it on an ally immune to poison (yuan-ti PC, controlled undead, construct pet, etc) who can grapple to keep opponents in the cloudkill.

Remember that Aid is not just a Buff but also a healing spell. Pretty clutch use in one campaign was when a Paladin casted it after the other 3 PCs dropped to 0.

@guyman1570

2 жыл бұрын

If you have 0 hit points, receiving temporary hit points doesn’t restore you to consciousness or stabilize you. They can still absorb damage directed at you while you’re in that state, but only true healing can save you.

@andruloni

2 жыл бұрын

@@guyman1570 neat thing is Aid is not temp hitpoints

@Illianor123

2 жыл бұрын

@@guyman1570 Aid increases their max (temporarily) and current hit points (permanent). This means that later healing can also heal them up to their new temporary max. Increasing someone's health 0 to 20 is effectively healing them.

@guyman1570

2 жыл бұрын

@@andruloni 🤦‍♂️ read the whole thing AGAIN. Especially the last little part.

@guyman1570

2 жыл бұрын

@@Illianor123 🤦‍♂️ read the whole thing AGAIN. Especially the last little part.

Shadow Blade and Spirit Shroud are great upcasts for a bladesinger

For curse at 17:30, no you can't cast curse on the same target multiple times and increase the effect. PHB p.205 "The effects of the same spell cast multiple times don't combine,"

@honahamomoru151

Жыл бұрын

But if you curse a disadvantage on Wis and later a Disadvantage on Dex, would it be the same effect? Like Fire Shield, there are 2 effect that you can choose that are different from each other, so casting it twice and choose both Cold and Warm option id the same effect? That’s where it get clunky. For me, I would say Bestow Curse can debuff multiple ability, cause I spend multiple spell slots of 5th lv and higher for that effect.

@janus2773

Жыл бұрын

@@honahamomoru151 "The effects of the same spell cast multiple times don’t combine, however. Instead, the most potent effect - such as the highest bonus - from those castings applies while their durations overlap, or the most recent effect applies if the castings are equally potent and their durations overlap." the rules are pretty clear. the effect that you choose doesn't matter, what matters is that its the same spell. as a dm though if my players asked for this i would give them the ok for your examples of fire shield and bestow curse.

A spell I usually upcast when I have it is Tasha's Caustic Brew. 1st level spell, dex save to avoid, effects a 30ft line. On a fail a target takes 2d4 damage each turn, upcasting adds 2d4 damage per turn. A budguy can use their action to simply stop taking the damage, but that costs an action so isn't a bad trade for you either. Increasing the damage to tempt affected baddies to waste their action is nice control, and if they want to just take the damage that works out too.

I would love to see a video on low level spells, that don't scale, that are still worth casting at higher levels. Shield is the obvious one, but recently I had an experience where protection from Good and Evil was the only thing my utility/buff wizard was concentrating on because the disadvantage to undead attacking and Immunity to frightened/charm did so much work in a fight entirely against undead for keeping the tank up and running.

@linrichardson8250

2 жыл бұрын

Protection from Evil is insanely good in a campaign like Curse of Strahd where daemons and undead are everywhere. Against those enemies it's better than Blur thanks to the immunity to charm and frightened, and the fact that enemies can't get around it with blindsight.

You should do a video on the best ways to burn through legendary resistance. Spells/abilities that can be used multiple times, force saving throws, and have effects bad enough to cause a creature to want to use legendary resistance.

@scottbender9056

2 жыл бұрын

Treantmonk has a very interesting video on this topic. His advice is to ignore legendary resistance and hit them with spells that apply effects without a save. You can waste a lot of turns trying to exhaust legendary resistances since the BBEG also probably has really good saves, too.

@mattdodson1272

2 жыл бұрын

@@scottbender9056 Came here to say this. He also discusses spells without a save or that require an ability check so as to avoid legendary resistances altogether.

@honahamomoru151

2 жыл бұрын

It would be Mind Sliver, Command, Bane, Tasha’s Hideous Laughter, Tasha’s Mind Whip, Hold Person/Monster. These spells would be devastating if it fail the saving throw, and the monster probably cannot afford loosing it’s turn, receive penalty to saving throws, prone in front of the fighter/barbarian/rogue or get paralyzed

@ogrebattler

2 жыл бұрын

Contagion is another good spell for burning legendary resistances. One cast causes 3 saves or be hit with your choice of debilitating effect

Another interesting use of the age spell is that it can be used to bring up three downed party members. It increases their maximum hit points AND their CURRENT hit points. If you need to cast healing words three times in a turn, except no substitutes.

In my opinion Armor of Agythis is a must have for any Warlock, unless you are hard committing to long range and have a rock solid front line.

@pedrofagundes8235

2 жыл бұрын

You mean "A"

I like the idea of giving some magical items hidden abilities that can only be learned by upcasting Identify

@jasonreed7522

6 ай бұрын

Its definitely a cool idea, but just make sure your players know that you are doing this so they know to consider up casting identity on stuff. (Even if you don't directly tell them you can find a way to show them that this is a feature, even if its just a magical NPC saying its a thing.)

My favorite is when you upcast Fog Cloud. It doesn’t sound bad, but when a red dragon with blindsight 60ft upcasts it, it’s devastating. Or it gives the party the much needed time to heal or run away.

@chrisdesmarais6837

2 жыл бұрын

Fog Cloud is amazing and gets so crazy big so fast. My druid can often take a few enemies out for two or even three turns.

@XoRandomGuyoX

2 жыл бұрын

Yeah, Fog Cloud is a great spell to permanently leave on a Druid's list of prepped spells. Breaking LoS easily shuts down a lot of ranged combat.

Aid and Armor of Agathys on a Sorcadin is monster for a front liner while using Spirit Guardians and Divine Smiting.

i got Armor of Agathys on my Abjuration wizard, which we rule recieves the hit proccing the spell damage, but does not lose the temp HP if the Abjurers Ward is up. significantly increasing the length/amount of times the spell can do its damage. fun against a mob of small creatures, and with Fire Shield up too 😆

@gordonross3270

2 жыл бұрын

I don't think using homebrew is a good way compliment things.

@christerzakis3004

2 жыл бұрын

@@gordonross3270 actually thats the way it is supposed to work but it stands to reason many dms would ban it cause its a pretty atrong interaction

@siscokidder

2 жыл бұрын

it's not really homebrew, the order of operations is as follows: Creature hits you with a melee attack Creature takes damage from Armor of Agathys Damage is dealt Damage is instead diverted to Arcane Ward. Armor of Agathys only checks to see if you get hit by a melee attack, not if you receive damage. If a melee attack somehow deals 0 damage, it still procs so long as that melee attack was a hit. Vice versa, Arcane Ward doesn't care which source of damage it mitigates, nor does it care whether or not you would first lose temp HP. It just checks if you would take damage, and any damage taken is instead taken by the Arcane Ward. So basically, when a melee attack hits Arcane Ward would first take damage, then if any leftover damage remains the temp HP / true HP gets reduced. AoA will proc since it's trigger is "If a creature hits you with a melee attack while you have these hit points", not "If you suffer damage from a melee attack while you have these hit points". AW can't be the target of a melee attack (or anything, really), it merely acts as a second, separate set of temporary hit points. If AoA had the latter quote as it's trigger, though, then AW would have to be depleted first since you aren't getting dealt damage, the ward is.

@jeffjeff376

2 жыл бұрын

The abjurer's arcane ward isn't technically temp HP, it has its own pool of HP and doesn't interact or conflict with temp HP. RAW, the spell references "while you have these hit points". So any source of temp HP that is greater than Agathys' remaining temp HP would overwrite Armor of Agathys and end the damaging effect, not extend it. That said, your group can run their table however they want.

@gordonross3270

2 жыл бұрын

@@christerzakis3004 then they don't need to say "how we rule it" just redundant. Why not just say what a rule is instead of use a specific example as if it's specific to you?

As an old grognard from AD&D back in '80, one of the things Ive liked seeing playtested and worked in most over the years is upcasting spells. We homebrewed some here and there early on but I really like how it's panned out in the (you hear this in Samuel Jackson's voice) "according to Hoyle" rules. Good stuff dudes, may your crits be timely!

Something overlooked with Aid is that can be cast on more than just party members. An additional 10-20 hp may not seem like a lot to a PC. But it would be a HUGE buff to something like a familiar. It can also be used for mounts. I also use this spell to gain trust and instill confidence in allies (especially animal ones that might otherwise be combat averse.)

Major Image needing a 6th level spell slot is why I wish Warlocks had a feature to let them cast a spell they know using their current Mystic Arcanum level. I'd be happy w/it even needing to use the Warlock's daily use of that Mystic Arcanum slot if it's figured that both restricting it to once/day+needing to use a spell slot was somehow too much; just SOMETHING to give Warlocks the option to mess around w/unique up-casts that they simply don't get access to.

@CallenExile

2 жыл бұрын

I run my games this way. Mystic Arcanum are spell slots, so you can use your higher level Arcanum to cast your other spells/Arcanum.

lovely video, a spell that's probably the strongest available imo is glyph of warding that can be upcast to let you have concentration spells for the entire duration without needing concentration. It has a costly material component, but bbeg doesn't need to worry about that

I dont know if i would put it in a top ten list, but i do find myself upcasting magic missle often enough. Not for the damage per se. I often use magic missle as a distraction spell, forcing 2+spell level concentration saves, or when an ally is charmed, 2+spell level wisdom saves to break the charm. Being able to force additional saves can sometimes be useful. I prefer using a wand for this, but it can be done with spell slots as well.

@Illianor123

2 жыл бұрын

A wand of magic missile is an incredibly useful tool. The concentration buster is a favourite use of mine.

@irenewhitcomb1813

2 жыл бұрын

MM only causes a single save/check from what I remember. Treantmonk or Kobald has a video on it.

Nice! I was homebrewing an Artificer subclass with a feature that lets them increase the effective level of their spellslots, to try to compete with full spellcasters. I was looking for good upcasting spells for their additional spells list.

There’s a fine line between “game-changing” and “broken”. I think Tasha’s Mind Whip may well be lashing beyond that line.

@thatrealba

2 жыл бұрын

Taking 20 banned it from his table. He said it was the first ever time for a thing in 5e.

@mardshima2070

2 жыл бұрын

Spellcasters enemy or enemy with very strong action like Marilith or dragon can got struct by Mind Whip and still fine.

@finalfantasy50

Жыл бұрын

quickened slow and twinned mind whip can potentially lock down 10 enemies and give you a massive advantage in combat sorcerer stronk

In a group of 4 one of the best things to do if you have a Paladin and a Cleric is for the Cleric to use a level 2 Bless at levels 3 and 4 and then swap to Spirit Guardians at 5th+ level and have the Paladin pick up the Bless Tax with their sparkly new 2nd level slots, honestly it is quite funny watching a DM try to damage concentration pop a Paladin who has Bless active... maybe we went too far by taking Resilent (Con) (16 Str, Con, and Cha at 1st) followed with Warcaster at 4th for a lovely total of +9+1d4 to Con saves at 6th level... We didn't get to the Hex warrior Dip though so the DM didn't get too upset with us :)

One of my player’s backstory was they were a Marid that Planar Binding was cast on their ancestors at 9th level, but they lost track of the portal to the plane of water, and thus her goal was to find a way to allow her family to return.

Hey guys love you content! Would love to see a video from you guys on the top 5 or 10 spells you would alter in DnD 5e!

@grimmzrivenfolk2457

2 жыл бұрын

That would probably be something like Fixing The Worst spells and probably contain spells' from the worst spells video

@rowanash7716

2 жыл бұрын

@@grimmzrivenfolk2457 could also be fixing overpowered spells as well. Some of the best spells I fell could be taken down a notch.

I was just looking this up yesterday for a new PC. As always you guys are clutch!

I would love to see a new episode of tier list for dmg dealers.

Loved the shoutout to the critrole finale!!

Great video! I often look at Aid as "preemptive healing." At 5th level as the Dudes say, that is 3x25 =75 HP of "preemptive healing" for one slot. Pretty good and no dice roll for it. Bless vs Bane, Bless has no Save on willing allies. The Sorcerer Meta Magic Twin spell can function like upcasting for Fly, Invisibility, and others (but limited to two). While the Sorcery Point costly, a Sorcerer twin casting Polymorph can often cast this and just fade back and out of range as the 2 Polymorphed PCs tear the place apart.

Hold Person is my favourite to upcast. I was a Warlock with a very high Spell Save DC and the other two party members were a Barbarian and a Paladin who didn't mind getting advantage and a free crit against bandits who never knew what hit them

Been playing a Spores Druid... - Start day by upcasting Animate Dead at 6th level - Upcast Conjure Animals at 5th level - Have Awakened Tree from prior Awaken spell - Use reaction to resurrect dying humanoids or beasts as Zombies Tons of fun!

Spiritual Weapon: concentration free +1d8 per turn as a bonus action (beeing 2d8+Spellcasting Mod for 4th level, wouldnt upcast it to 6 for 3d8+Mod tho)

@illegalmemedealer3549

2 жыл бұрын

Wouldn’t SW at 6th level be 4d8+Mod?

@beneteus3833

2 жыл бұрын

@@illegalmemedealer3549 no spiritual weapon only gains 1d8 every 2 spell levels so only at 4 6 and 8th level.

@liammcgucken1402

2 жыл бұрын

Spiritual Weapon @6th level compares very farorably to Mordenkainen's Sword (@7th). 3d8+casting stat vs, 3d10. It also does not require concentration, And everyone said Mordenkainen was a smart guy....

@beneteus3833

2 жыл бұрын

@@liammcgucken1402 isnt mordekainens sword also a action to cast? then on subsequent turns its a bonus action.

This is a great video, I love the Planar binding and will use in my long term campaign. the major image is going to be awesome to use at the end of a long day. and others. great Video

My favorite spell to up cast is magic missile. Yeah it doesn’t do that much damage but because each missile is a separate hit it is a concentration caster’s worst nightmare eventually they will role lower than a ten after rolling for each hit.

@jjjbjbbnjbjbjbjbjb9415

2 жыл бұрын

So you know, that is subject to DM interpretation, apparently....and note I think this ruling is stupid....but according to Jeremy Crawford what your are supposed to do is roll the 1d4+1 and multiply it by the number of missiles that are hitting the target. This works really well with evocation wizards who take a dip in hexblade for hexblade's curse. Most DM's I have played with rule it the way your DM evidently does, and I agree they should, but it is worth knowing that may technically be homebrew and you should check with your DM on how they rule Magic Missile.

I love up-casting Hold Person. Easiest way to end an encounter.

Amazing video! You've made me see several spells in a different light!

One of my favs spells and it upcast really nicely is Ashardalon's Stride from Fizbans, by it's own it gives you +20 Speed without provoking AoO and 1d6 of fire damage when you pass withing 5 feet of a creature, but when you use a higher spell slots it gives an extra 5 feet of movement and an extra d6 of damage (+25 speed and 2d6 at 4th level), and yes, the "free" damage is without a saving throw. I'm sure it's not 100% optimal at all, but moving around the battlefield dealing some extra damage and with tons of speed it's really fun. Also I love upcasting the new Tasha's and Fizban summons because it gives you a stronger version for every higher spell slot you use.

healing spirit increases healing by 1d6 on each charge so up to 6d6 per spell level once you get your spelcasting modifier to +5. even upcasting it by just one level (from 2 to3) doubles the amount you heal.

@andrewh5212

2 жыл бұрын

That's money. 👍

You can avoid rolling attacks for large groups of identical monsters if you use the optional mob rule from the DMG. You just consult the table how high they need to roll for a certain target and then check the other column to see how many of the group actually hit.

An interesting interaction with Armor of Agathys is that if you somehow get it on an Abjuration Wizard (Magic Initiate is a way and it's supposed to allow you to cast it with Wizard Spell slots, although this according to Sage Advice and not RAW, so not exactly official), it becomes amazing, because you can use your Arcane Ward in order to withstand more hits while you have the spell on, therefore dealing more damage and also since it's an Abjuration spell it also recovers your Arcane Ward every time you cast it, so crazy good.

@Choomy8542

2 жыл бұрын

Mark of Warding dwarf is another way, although that would also need to be run by a DM

@life-destiny1196

2 жыл бұрын

There's also just taking a level in Hexblade, which is probably a good idea anyway for the armor proficiencies.

The 5 temp/max HP from a 1st level spell is awesome at 1st level and pretty good at 3rd for a . For some classes that is an entire level of HP. As you level it's less awesome, but it's still a level worth of HP. At 5th aid is like giving most characters 2-4 levels worth of HP. When I play a Cleric or multi class as a Cleric Aid takes my highest level spell slot. It's great just in terms of healing, but better yet it's already there without requiring an action.

Glad to see Spirit Guardians make the list - my favourite upcast. :-)

I made an entire character around maximum upcastings of Armor of Agathys. She's a small-sized "backpack" for medium-sized creatures. She uses squishy party members as mounts, and has the Mounted Combatant feat. Enemy attempt to target her mount? Oops! You're taking 30-45 cold damage probably! Throw some invisibility on that (or even just a disguise kit) and they might not even know which one's the "bad target". And of course, she can still attack stuff. I really went all out with the ice theming and gave her a maul flavoured as a giant magically-intact ice block on a handle that smashes and reforms with every strike (it's all just flavouring; it's a normal plus-whatever-she-can-find maul in terms of rules).

Magic Missile is intended to proc a concentration save for each missile. A level 3 MM can be a nearly sure fire concentration breaker. Also, if you are a L10 Evoker and follow the ruling that you only roll 1d4+1 once and apply it to all missiles, Empowered Evocation can turn MM into a remarkably potent damage spell. With a 20 Int, a single missile will minimally deal 7 damage, which translates to a solid chunk or pretty reliable damage when upcast.

@MethosJK9

2 жыл бұрын

Except for the words "The darts all strike simultaneously" meaning if they all strike one target that's just one save for all the damage.

@scottbender9056

2 жыл бұрын

Jeremy Crawford says otherwise. Even hitting simultaneously, each missile is still a distinct source of damage. My sense is that “simultaneously” is to prevent shenanigans with timing like waiting to see if one target drops and then sending the remaining missiles to another target.

@ReallyRobEgan

2 жыл бұрын

Came here to say just this about MM. When you absolutely need the enemy to drop concentration.

@MethosJK9

2 жыл бұрын

@@scottbender9056 it's still only one spell, hence one source to me. It all depends on what exactly do you consider a "source". And the examples in the PHB don't help. It's in a gray area that isn't clarified by Crawford's comments at all, and since there's nothing in Sage Advice about it, it's all up to how the table wants to rule it.

Played a master summoner, in a PF/3.5 game, only reason I was allowed was due to an app that auto rolled everything and calculated all feats that were applied to summoner monster. Was hella fun! "Ahh a flying demon, 1d4+2 air cheetahs(which gain fly).". "oh creatures are running away 1d3+1 Giant Earth sharks(burrow speed), chance down my enemies."

I feel like I need to talk about Inflict Wounds. Not because of how much it increases, but because it starts at such a low level at 3d10 and then goes up from there makes the spell scary

@ashtonpeterson4618

10 ай бұрын

The downsides are that it's melee, and if it doesn't land, nothing happens. There are ways to increase odds but yeah, great damage potential.

An interesting combo I had for a Warlock I played using Armor of Agathys was being a Goliath with Stones Endurance. If you take the hit and reduce the damage to nothing with Stones Endurance you still took a hit and dealt out the cold damage for it but the temp HP didn't go away, making the spell far more effective at early levels. This could probably be used in conjunction with other damage reduction abilities like the Interception Fighting Style or if you get Heavy Armor Proficiency somehow Heavy Armor Master in tandem with those things.

Upcasting spells like hold person or hold monster can also be pretty brutal. Nothing scares a party of adventurers when they all have to make a test and half of them are parylized xD

I think you missed a cool opportunity to talk about Geas in this video but overall awesome content! Keep up the good work dungeon dudes!

My Hexblade made so much amazing use out of level 5 Armor of Agathys + Shadow of Moil + Blade Ward. He could hold a chokepoint forever, and was often doing more damage than if he was attacking. He also had War Caster so he could Booming Blade anyone who tried to run. Enemies had little choice but to activate his trap card.

Bestow Curse at 5 with the lose action curse is effectively Hold Monster that doesn't end when they pass save as long as the initial spell hits and doesn't require concentration. one of my favorite single target control effects. Conjure Animals at 7 for 32 velociraptors with 2 attacks each and pack tactics. roll 128 d20s.

You missed spells that increase the area of effect like fog cloud. lvl 1 20ft radius aka 50 tiles. Each slot above first increases the radius by 20ft so lvl 5 is 100ft radius aka 1256 tiles.

Thanks for the guide, Dudes :)

I would also say that upcasting hunter's mark and hex can be really useful. Especially hex because you can cast it at 5th level and maintain it all day and through short rests where you get all your spell slots back for a warlock.

I like how the on screen text for Mass Suggestion is just “M” and Monte looks down and directly at the location on screen, like he he is staring at the mistake.

For single-target damage dealing spells, it's hard to compete with upcast Scorching Ray, along with Hex and/or Hexblade's Curse. If you have both of those on, then each upcast level of SR yields 3d6 + your proficiency bonus. At 6th level, that's better than Disintegrate! At 9th level, that's more single-target damage than Meteor Swarm! While you're at it, upcasting Hex to 3rd level lets you apply it to Scorching Ray all day, or until you need your concentration for something else. (BTW, I assume that you intentionally ignored the cheese involving Magic Missile and Empowered Evocation, and I thank you for that.)

Bestow Curse can also be dispelled by Dispel Magic. The spell has no protection against it like Force Wall, and has a duration. It'd need a roll to match it so it's less effective then the specialized Remove Curse.

Armor of Agathys is amazing as an upcast spell. I think in all the campaigns i have been in, Bless, Bane, and Armor if Agathys are the main ones that are upcast.

I feel like this sort of buried the lede with Blindness/Deafness. Blindness is one of the best non-concentration debuffs because you can remove several enemies from a combat.

This is more for dms than players, but as a tool for your bb, I would like to show you 9th level Gaes. You give the creature a service or task. On a failed save it must perform the service or task for you, taking psychic damage each time they act counter to your instructions. When casted at 9th level, this effect is perminent. Imagine slowly building up armies of unwilling minions using this spell over the course of decades. Sewing spies into a populas. Or even building support by using the spell on infants. The world building of this can get crazy.

I've seen the armor of agathy vs minion in a game I ran. The PC was multi-classed and had the parry maneuvre, and used it to reduce incoming damage so that the AofA stuck around longer. The minions had a *very* bad time...

Mass suggestion is a hilarious upcast: it is just a duration increase, but it goes from 24 hours at 6th, to 10 days, to a month to a year plus a day at 9th level. The idea of using mass suggestion at 9th level to just tell like a rival adventuring party "give up on adventuring and become bakers" or a dark group off necromancers "dedicate your next year and a day to the God Pelor". Even at just 7th level, telling someone to go hikeing for about week and a half is both hilarious to me, and just the best way to end a combat encounter. My dream is to pull an obi-wan kenobi and tell a group of bad guys to "go home and rethink their lives", just to see what happens. Maybe they are become even more evil, maybe they thank you for the advice, who knows?

Armor of Agathys is also great when combined with spells or abilities that reduce damage taken. Having warding bond or other sources of resistance keep your shield up longer, basically doubling its output. Heavy armor master is also a solid combo.

Clockwork Soul Sorcerers can make great use of Armor of Agathys thanks to their Bastion of Law ward helping absorb damage, since the ward uses its own Hit Point pool and isn't tied to Temp HP

@torunsmok5890

2 жыл бұрын

Mix it with abjuration wizard, arcane ward is ANOTHER separate hp pool. Tank backlash damage mage made of the squishiest classes lmao

@cronykil74

2 жыл бұрын

My current character is an Earth Genasi Cavalier/Clockwork Soul that's built for tanking and utility. He tanks and taunts more than the Paladin 😄

@Leif47

2 жыл бұрын

@@cronykil74 Ooooh I like that combo. I went for a Cavalier/Barbarian so I can tank physical damage with rage. How many sorcerer levels do you plan on taking? I was thinking only 1-2 Barb levels cause that Cavalier capstone is really tempting lol

Oh man you guys gotta do the Spore Druid soon! I think you would have an interesting experience with them for sure!

Armor of agathys is also really good as a abjuration wizard or a warlocke with false life invocation. Cause armor of agatha last a hr so if your getting hit alot and cause anything that gives you temp hit points doesn't end it it just changes ur temp. And if u armor of agatha fire sheild and polymorph to great ape you will hurt your enemies when ur ape gets hit. And ur apes hit points get used be4 the temp.

Armor of Agathys is at its best when on an abjuration Wizard- the ward soaks damage before the armor does :)

Bestow curse for damage, hex, and scorching ray for an efreeti genie warlock can do devastating damage, especially if you add on crown of stars.

Nice video - I think there are a bit of parts wrongly cut but in general good stuff, as usual! ;)

Surprised create undead and Geas didn't make the list. Combined with a 9th lvl caster you can make an army of wights.

Armor of Agathys is really good. Especially when combined with damage resistance from Blade Ward or Stoneskin or some other source. Love this spell and it can be really cool on a Scribes Wizard....damage change to....meh, force LOL. BTW, two things. First, a video of spells that "just work" like this one, would be fun. Second, just got my Kickstarter Box for Dungeons of Drakkenheim...EPIC!!! Thanks Guys

We had a mission in our last campaign where a town was being attacked on 3 sides. Between us and the town guard, there was only enough people to defend two sides. I upcasted conjure animals for a bunch of giant owls, which was just enough to hold off the 3rd wave and buy us the time we needed.

Command: Autodefenestrate, possibly one of the most fun words for command for a few reasons 1. explaining to your DM what the word means. 2. up casting it on multiple mobs when theirs only one window. 3. Using it when your outside of a building instead of inside nothing quite as funny as making a foe jump into a rando NPC's house through the window.

Love to see you do a Oder of Scribes build video

Speaking of having Planar Binding to get an army going, you could use Major Image to hide them around your base. Make those Earth Elementals look like harmless pieces of furniture until an intruder gets too close. It would be great to do that as a DM too, surprise a party when the 4 sofas in the room turn out to be angry Elementals...

To cut down on the time it takes when any of the conjure spells is used have each group of conjured beings have one initiative and one set of attacks . Yes it does mean that you take the chance of having lots of attacks miss but you have the chance of lots of attacks hitting with the single roll .

Another great upcast that isn't obvious is Continual Flame. The Darkness spell blocks all nonmagical light and light created by spells of second level or lower. If you upcast Continual Flame to third level, suddenly it can shine through a Darkness spell without permanently dispelling it. This is great if you have a party member using darkness + blind fighting/devil sight. Spellcasting party members that need to see in order to cast their spells can unveil the Continual Flame during their turn and then hide it or move away before the end of their turn.

You mentioned Major Image and it reminded me of a time where I completely nerfed a minion boss encounter by scaring off all the minions with major image of a double size gelatinous cube.

Greetings from Costa Rica, please do a list of your favorites spells to write on spell scrolls

A is for Armor of Agathis