Jun 4

Jun 4 For Your Consideration - 4th Level Spells

It’s been a minute since I wrote about spells, so I figured I would bring back the “For Your Consideration” series and look at 4th level spells. To mix it up a bit, we’re going to explore not only overall great spells but class-specific spells and spells you should avoid.

The 4th level spells are a mixed bag of great, horrible, and bizarre spells. There’s isn’t an iconic spell at the level of fireball available, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t some great spells available for your destructive pleasure.

Death Ward
Casting time: 1 action
Range: Touch
Components: V, S
Duration: 8 hours
Classes: Alchemist, Cleric, Paladin

You touch a creature and grant it a measure of protection from death.
The first time the target would drop to 0 hit points due to taking damage, the target instead drops to 1 hit point, and the spell ends. If the spell is still in effect when the target is subjected to the effect that would kill it instantaneously without dealing damage, that effect is instead negated against the target, and the spell ends.

Do you play a Cleric? Are you tired of the rest of the party complaining when you don’t heal them? Do you get yelled at when a party member dies? Well, death ward is the spell for you then. It is highly beneficial for the party’s glass cannon - looking at you wizard - as the spell gives them one more chance to cast fireball instead of dying to a finger of death spell. The 5th edition has a plethora of ways to prevent a character from actually dying after they’ve been reduced to 0 hit points, but staying conscious is always the preferable option.

The immense power of the spell is contained in the last line of the spell where you basically have a free counterspell against a deadly spell. Sticking with our finger of death example, you’ve not only prevented someone from taking 7d8+30 necrotic damage, but your enemy has now burnt a 7th level spell slot for nothing. Even more amazing is that you’ve used a simple 4th level spell instead of having to use a 7th level spell slot to use counterspell. The wizard should give you their cut of the treasure for not only preventing their demise but for saving them a 7th level spell slot for them to cast delayed blast fireball.

Polymorph
Casting time: 1 action
Range: 60 feet
Components: V, S, M
Duration: 1 hour
Classes: Bard, Druid, Sorcerer, Wizard

This spell transforms a creature that you can see within range into a new form. An unwilling creature must make a Wisdom saving throw to avoid the effect. The spell does not affect a shapechanger or a creature with 0 hit points.
The transformation lasts for the duration or until the target drops to 0 hit points or dies. The new form can be any beast whose challenge rating is equal to or less than the target's (or the target's level, if it doesn't have a challenge rating). The target's game statistics, including mental ability scores, are replaced by the statistics of the chosen beast. It retains its alignment and personality. (for full description, see polymorph spell, PHB.)

Hands down, the most powerful 4th level spell in the game. While the spell allows you to transform hostile creatures, a majority of the time, you’ll be casting this spell on yourself or a fellow party member so they can have a little fun. Of course, you can always cast it on your dog Fido and turn her into a dire wolf, if she’s been whining about not being able to join the fray.

A wizard gains access to 4th level spells upon reaching 7th level. So when they decide that they are tired of casting battlefield control spells so everyone else can hit things, they can use polymorph to transform into a CR 7 beast. Here are just a few choice examples of what they can become:
Brontosaurus - a CR 5 gargantuan dinosaur that can stomp on you for 5d8+5 damage or knock you into tomorrow with its tail for 6d8+5 damage.
Giant Ape - a CR 7 huge beast that can deliver a one-two punch combo for a total of 6d10+12 damage. If your foes think they are smart and keep their distance, you can also hurl rocks at them for 7d6+6 damage. Ouch.
Giant Shark - Playing in a campaign focusing on being a pirate or traveling the open seas? Change yourself into Jaws.
Mammoth - another huge CR 5 beast. If you’re tired of people walking all over you, transform into a mammoth and stomp, gore, and trample anyone that gets in your way.

All great options while you’re biding your time until 8th level, whereupon you can transform into everyone’s favorite beast, the T-Rex.

Wall of Fire
Casting time: 1 action
Range: 120 feet
Components: V, S, M
Duration: 1 minute
Classes: Druid, Sorcerer, Wizard

You create a wall of fire on a solid surface within range. You can make the wall up to 60 feet long, 20 feet high, and 1 foot thick, or a ringed wall up to 20 feet in diameter, 20 feet high, and 1 foot thick. The wall is opaque and lasts for the duration. When the wall appears, each creature within its area must make a Dexterity saving throw. A creature takes 5d8 fire damage on a failed to save, or half as much damage on a successful save. One side of the wall, selected by you when you cast this spell, deals 5d8 fire damage to each creature that ends its turn within 10 feet of that side or inside the wall. A creature takes the same damage when it enters the wall for the first time on a turn or ends its turn there. The other side of the wall deals no damage.

Wall of Fire is one of the great battlefield control spells out there. It is the first of the wall spells that can also damage when your foes make the poor life decision to walk through it. The downside is that more creatures have resistance to fire than any other type of damage. The good news is that a 60 foot long and 20-foot high wall of flames is going to give most creatures pause while they decide how badly they want to eat you.

For more information on the uses of this spell regarding battlefield control, check out our Battlefield Control post on the potential of wall spells in combat.

Best Class-Specific Spell

Staggering Smite
Casting time: 1 bonus action
Range: Self
Components: V
Duration: 1 minute
Classes: Paladin

The next time you hit a creature with a melee weapon attack during this spell’s duration, your weapon pierces both body and mind, and the attack deals an extra 4d6 psychic damage to the target. The target must make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, it has disadvantage on attack rolls and ability checks and can’t take reactions until the end of its next turn.

The name of the game when playing a paladin is smiting your enemies. It takes a while to obtain this spell - you have to wait until the 13th level to gain access to it - but it’s worth the wait. Let’s look at our friend Hector the Paladin and the damage he can inflict in a single round when he casts this spell.

Let’s assume Hector has a +2 longsword sword and a Strength of 18. On a successful hit, he’ll do a base 1d8 (4.5) + 2 + 4 = 10 slashing damage. Hector then burns a 3rd spell slot to use his divine smite ability, dealing another 5d8 damage (at 11th level, he picked up improved divine smite, adding that additional 1d8) for an average of 22 radiant damage. Up to 32 points of total damage now, Hector uses his bonus action to cast staggering smite, dealing an additional 14 points of psychic damage. The total damage for this attack is now 46 points of damage. Not bad.

The additional damage is nice, especially since psychic damage is what the fewest number of creatures are resistant to. It’s forcing the creature to attack at disadvantage that is huge when you are fighting a single creature. If you’re fighting a high-level creature that one of those pesky reactions, it’s even better as they’ll spend a turn stripped of that ability. A failed Wisdom can be the beginning of the end, or the actual end, of a skirmish.

Spells that aren’t worth your time, let alone a spell slot.

Fabricate
Casting time: 1 action
Range: 120 ft.
Components: V, S
Duration: Instantaneous
Classes: Artificer, Wizard

You convert raw materials into products of the same material….Creatures or magic items can't be created or transmuted by this spell. You also can't use it to create items that ordinarily require a high degree of craftsmanship, such as jewelry, weapons, glass, or armor, unless you have proficiency with the type of artisan's tools used to craft such objects. (for full description, see fabricate spell, PHB).

You get to make stuff. Not cool magical stuff, just regular old stuff. Sure, you won’t need the smith’s tools to create new shiny armor, but if you have proficiency in smithing, stop being a cheap ass. Spend the 20 gold, buy the tools and have something to do on your downtime days. The casting time is 10 minutes, so if you’re running from a horde of kobolds and need to cross a raging river to escape, I hope you have a big head start cause it will take some time to fabricate a bridge.

Secret Chest
Casting time: 1 action
Range: Touch
Components: V, S, M* (an exquisite chest, 3 feet by 2 feet by 2 feet, constructed from rare materials worth at least 5,000 gp, and a Tiny replica made from the same materials worth at least 50 gp)
Duration: Instantaneous
Classes: Wizard

You hide a chest, and all its contents, on the Ethereal Plane…After 60 days, there is a cumulative 5 percent chance per day that the spell's effect ends…the spell ends, and the larger chest is on the Ethereal Plane; it is irretrievably lost. (for full description, see secret chest spell, PHB).

You can hide a chest that can hold your wand, but not your staff, on the ethereal plane. It’s expensive as hell, so it better be a pretty expensive and powerful wand to justify spending 5K gold. That begs the question of why you wouldn’t be used the wand, but we’ll ignore that.

For all of you saying that it’s a good way to hide your phylactery when you’ve become an all-powerful lich, you’d be mistaken. Leave it there too long, and it disappears. You have a maximum of 80 days for the chest to be hidden until you have to cast the spell again, or you’re bottled up soul will be floating around lost on the ethereal plane forever.

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