The 2024 edition of theDungeons & DragonsPlayer’s Handbook added a lot of changes to spells, some of them being nearly unrecognizable from what they used to do. Yet it also added quite a few new spells, from useful cantrips to endgame storms of damage.
Not everyone will have a use for all these spells, but they could change how we approach roleplaying in the future. Keeping these spells in mind can have you deal with both combat and social scenarios in a completely different way, be it due to better crowd control or because you can summon a cauldron filled with healing potions.
7Elementalism
Cantrip for Druids, Sorcerers, And Wizards
Cantrips like Gust or Shape Water have existed for quite some time in D&D, letting players roleplay their magical characters with a grandiose flair. Now, unfortunately, you were forced to pick your favorite out of the four elements, since there wasn’t a spell that let you do harmless tricks with all of them.
Elementalism is here to fill that void, letting you become the elemental bender you always wanted to be. Of course, the cantrips dedicated to each element have a few more options, but for the limited use players gave them, Elementalism ends up being the better, more fun alternative.
6Tasha’s Bubbling Cauldron
Level 6 Spell For Warlocks And Wizards
Tasha’s Bubbling Cauldron summons a magical cauldron that can copy any common or uncommon potion, letting you produce copies of said potion up to your spellcasting ability modifier. While the rarity of the potions might not seem like much, the fact that your whole party can benefit from it is nothing to scoff at.
Simply being able to give away plenty of healing potions is already a great deal, especially in an emergency. Another common use for potions is to resist a certain kind of damage; you can now improve the use of that Potion of Fire Resistance so everyone benefits from it, making the fight against that Red Dragon a bit easier than it might be otherwise.
5Fount Of Moonlight
Level 4 Spell For Bards And Druids
Fount of Moonlight is one of the most aggressive ways to light up a room. Once cast, your character will start emitting a bright light while also blinding enemies that hit you, although you need to use your reaction for the blinding effect to happen.
The real benefit of the spell is the additional 2D6 damage all your melee attacks do, no matter if it is a bard’s rapier or a bear’s claw. You do need to maintain concentration on the spell, butCircle of the Moon druidswill likely have this spell as the first thing they cast before Wild Shaping into a fearsome beast.
4Arcane Vigor
Level 2 Spell For Sorcerers And Wizards
Support spells are just as important as damaging ones, but you can’t always count on your party members to aid you. That can be for any number of reasons; maybe the cleric ran out of spell slots, or maybe no one picked cleric to begin with; either way, both sorcerers and wizards need ways to look after themselves.
Enter Arcane Vigor, a spell that heals you for a small amount but as a bonus action. With their already low health pools, these fragile spellcasters finally have a way to keep themselves afloat while still dealing some damage with their cantrips (since you can only spend one spell slot per turn).
3Sorcerous Burst
Cantrip For Sorcerers
Sorcerous Burst is a simple cantrip that deals 1D8 damage of an element of your choice, but it has the potential to deal quite a lot more. You see, each time you roll an 8 on the die, you may roll another D8, and keep adding them to a max of your Charisma modifier.
This makes Sorcerous Burst potentially deadly against many creatures, but even if it often doesn’t happen, the damage is still on par with most other cantrips. It was about time that sorcerers had their own unique options when it came to cantrips, and we can hardly imagineanyone picking this classand going for any other main damage source.
2Shining Smite
Level 2 Spell For Paladins
Smites arethe bread and butter of paladins, being their main choice for expending spell slots, particularly at early levels. Shining Smite is a great addition to their repertoire, but not because of the 2D6 damage it adds or because it prevents enemies from going invisible; it is because of the advantage it grants.
You see, hitting an enemy with Shining Smite makes it shine brightly, making all hits against the target be done with advantage. Since you are always playing D&D with a group, this makes this Smite variant the best one overall, since now everyone is way more likely to hit the boss thanks to the Paladin landing a single hit.
1Jallarzi’s Storm Of Radiance
Level 5 Spell For Warlocks And Wizards
Jallarzi’s Storm of Radiance creates a mighty storm in a 10-foot radius, dealing 2D10 radiant damage as well as 2D10 thunder damage. In addition, creatures inside the storm are blinded, deafened, and can’t cast spells with a verbal component.
It’s hard to overlook a spell that is doing so many things, so this will likely be something many warlocks and wizards keep on their characters at all times. Even if other spells at the same level deal more damage, being able to blind and silence several enemies in an area can be outright game-breaking.
