What spells should you take?

Choosing the right 1st-level spells can help ensure you are making the right decision for the campaign you are in. Below I give my own rankings for the 1st-level spells in the 2024 version of D&D.

Want to know my thoughts on other spell levels? Check out my guides below

Spell Reviews

How I view 1st-level spells

1st-level spells are the bread and butter spells of the game. They often lose combat value over time, but sometimes have a great deal of staying power for out-of-combat encounters. In this guide I’ll be largely viewing them in their value for Tier 1 (levels 1-4) and Tier 2 (levels 5-10) parties.

Ratings

S-tier: It’s a must take spell that may even be overpowered for its level.

A-tier: It’s a spell that you won’t regret taking. It will be widely useful or just very effective for its level.

B-tier: This is either a mediocre, middle of the road spell or it is a spell that only works well in niche builds. There may not be any major issues with the spell however there may be more powerful or less niche alternatives at its level.

C-tier: It’s a spell that might have specific, niche circumstances you can use it in but it’s likely not worth taking and may only be useful when ritual cast.

F-Tier: It’s not a spell that is worth taking in any circumstances.

Acronyms

Spells listed here are found in the 2024 Players Handbook unless otherwise indicated by the below acronyms.

Acquisitions: Acquisitions Incorporated

SCAG: Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide

EEPC: Elemental Evil Player’s Companion

HOF: Heroes of Faerun

IWD: Icewind Dale: Rhyme of the Frostmaiden

Tasha’s: Tasha’s Guide to Everything

Xanathar’s: Xanathar’s Guide to Everything

1st-level Spells

Absorb Elements (EEPC) (B-tier): It’s a helpful spell for when you are expecting to take elemental damage. Depending on the campaign, it likely won’t come up often but it is nice to have available when it does. It’s secondary benefit (the elemental damage added to an attack) is unlikely to come up often. You are taking this to help reduce the damage you take.

Alarm (C-tier): For combat the only thing this spell is now doing is avoiding your party from having disadvantage (being surprised) when combat starts. The spell was just ok in 2014 and if anything its even less impactful now. A wizard might see value in having this in their spellbook to ritual cast it, but I would probably never take this when playing a Ranger because of how few spells they can prepare.

According to the Player’s Handbook, creatures that are involved in a combat roll initiative at the start of a combat. There isn’t an opportunity for characters to join into the initiative count at a later time (as written). Which means that even sleeping party members are rolling initiative. Per the definition of Long Rest in the Players Handbook, once you roll initiative your long rest is “interrupted” (which to me means you are awake and no longer have the unconscious condition – since taking damage is on the same list as rolling initiative is).  So besides avoiding being surprised what does an alarm really help with? If you are ambushed you are going to be prone and awake regardless of whether you use the Alarm spell.

Find a quiet room and jam the door (using an Iron Spike) instead of taking this.  

Animal Friendship (F-tier): For the life of me I don’t know why this spell requires a saving throw. Charmed isn’t that powerful of a condition against a beast and at most it would have done is prevented the creature from attacking the charmer – but only as long as it didn’t take damage. The fact that it requires a spell slot, can’t be ritual cast, only works on beasts, and doesn’t even give you the ability to talk to the creature (for that you need another spell entirely) makes it a very, very situational spell. I’ve never seen anyone use this spell and I firmly believe that, were it not for backwards compatibility, WotC would have been better off merging this with several other animal and beast type spells (Speak with Animals, Beast Bond, Animal Friendship, Beast Sense, Locate Animals or Plants, and Animal Messenger could be merged to be one or at most two spells).

Armor of Agathys (B-tier): This spell can deal a good damage and gives a nice temporary hp buffer. The spell also doesn’t end before an hour as long as you still have some temporary hp from any source (not just from this spell). It’s useful on melee characters, but isn’t worth taking on a Warlock unless you plan to be in melee. Abilities that reduce damage taken, like a Goliath’s Stone’s Endurance or the Abjurer’s Arcane Ward, also work really well with it. 

It’s also been made a bonus action in the 2024 rules. This frees up using your action when you cast it, but how helpful that is is very class dependent as some classes have more uses of their bonus action than others.

The spell has some downsides. For instance, you probably want your melee character to have a high AC but having a high AC makes it less likely to be hit and trigger the spell (and if the spell isn’t triggering then you aren’t getting value out of the expended spell slot). The cold damage is also more resisted than a lot of other damage types which (depending on the campaign setting) can limit its usefulness. It triggering is also very dependent on enemies actually taking melee attacks against you – which is very DM dependent and may not happen often if enemies are taking damage when attacking you. In 2024 a lot of enemies now have ranged attack options that are as good as their melee options – so your DM may try to avoid having it trigger using those.

Overall, I’d say it can be a great spell with the right build, but for most Warlocks you are better off taking other options. It’s usefulness is too dependent on being a melee character for me to give it above a B.

Arms of Hadar (C-tier): If you want a way to prevent enemies from taking opportunity attacks or other reactions this an option. However, since only Warlocks get access to this spell it generally isn’t a great pick. Maybe if you are a multi-class character with another classes level 1 spell slots (Bard, Sorcerer, Paladin) that you can use instead you could find value in it. While higher-level enemies do use reactions for other abilities, it also becomes pretty easy for them to avoid saving throw spells (Magic Resistance, Legendary Resistance, etc). It also requires you to be in close range (10 feet) of an enemy and affects allies – which further limits its usefulness.

Bane (B-tier): Your concentration is a very valuable thing and it’s hard to justify using it on a spell that may end up doing nothing. It would be a lot better if for the duration you could attempt to apply it to new targets. If given the choice I’d take Bless over Bane, but Bane has its uses especially if used against a large number of weaker targets.

Beast Bond (EEPC) (F-tier): The spell is too niche. Since a Familiar isn’t a beast its even harder now to actually use this. It’s not worth the spell slot or your concentration. 

Bless (A-tier): Bless is a great spell that is useful at any level. However, concentration on a Cleric is such a valuable resource that you probably aren’t going to be using it at mid and higher levels. It’s also a very spell slot efficient choice since it will last for a combat encounter as long as you don’t lose concentration (and the D4 helps prevent the loss of concentration). For this reason, it is particularly good to use in situations where you expect resting to be uncommon or difficult. 

Burning Hands (B-tier): This spell is a solid pick at level 1 or 2 because it can eliminate or seriously harm the kinds of creatures (goblins, kobolds, wolves) that threaten a low-level party. 62.5% of the time you will roll at least 10 damage. An average of 10 damage is good enough to seriously harm a wolf or goblin and will kill most kobolds. It does require the right positioning, and there is a chance they will take half damage on a save, but if used strategically it can change the tide of early combat. Once you get into levels 3+ it becomes less and less useful. They should have made it scale 2d6 per spell level to keep it relevant.

Catapult (EEPC) (B-Tier): Catapult is one of those spells people sometimes find creative uses for that they then challenge their DM on – like using it to throw acid vials. However, mechanically, it only does the damage that the spell says it does and nothing more. 3d8 damage is a good amount of damage for this level and will kill a lot of single-targets at low levels. The problem with a single-target spell like this is that it is so easy for it to miss and do no damage. It’s hard to justify taking this over a control spell.

Cause Fear (Xanathar’s) (B-tier): A single-target spell that can cause the frightened condition is generally not good enough to justify the use of your concentration. I would much rather make an enemy fall prone than be frightened because being frightened doesn’t provide any advantage to the party’s attacks against the target. What it does do however, beyond the obvious (disadvantage on attack rolls and potentially limiting movement) is give disadvantage on ability checks. This won’t help with the initial grappling of a target (under 2024 rules) since that involves saving throws, but it will make it more difficult for an enemy to escape a grapple. So it has some niche uses against certain enemies. I don’t think it is worth it to take it at low levels, but the fact that it upcasts well is why I’ve given it a B-tier ranking.

Ceremony (Xanathar’s) (F-tier): I’ve never seen anyone use this spell. The 25 gold cost is quite steep for a 1st-level character to pay given its benefits and the effects that it grants are just not worth the cost at low levels. Maybe there is some niche circumstance people find this useful, but I don’t recommend anyone take it.

Chaos Bolt (Xanathar’s) (B-tier): This is very similar damage to Catapult. While the damage types include some of the more resisted types, being able to choose the damage based on the d8 roll does potentially give you a lower chance of encountering resistance to the damage. Even still, the chance of it hitting more than one target is very low. I’d take the new Chromatic Orb over this.

Charm Person (C-tier): With a range of only 30 feet the use cases of Charm Person are very similar with what you’d get out of the Friends cantrip – at the cost of a 1st-level spell slot and one of your prepared spells. If you need to charm someone and a minute won’t do then use this spell. Otherwise, just use Friends. The fact that this only works on humanoids just further makes this spell less worth it. So many creatures that used to be humanoids no longer are and it is hard to justify casting this spell when it’s outcome can be so uncertain.

Chromatic Orb (A-tier): Chromatic Orb got a massive buff in 2024. Now it upscales very nicely and the more d8’s are involved the higher chance it will hit multiple targets. While the new targets do need to be within 30 feet of the target, this is a large enough radius that it shouldn’t be too big of a challenge to do in most combats. Overall, I’d say this is the best 1st-level ranged attack spell. Unfortunately, the 50 gold material cost does prevent low-level characters from using it.

Color Spray (A-tier): The range on this spell is still small, but this spell got a massive buff in 2024. While saving a Constitution Saving Throw is more common than others, being able to blind multiple targets opens up so many avenues in a combat. This means those creatures can’t take opportunity attacks, they can’t cast a number of spells, and they make attacks at disadvantage and have attacks against them have advantage. While it does only last until the end of your next turn that still frees you up to be able to attack them with advantage on your next turn as well.

Command (S-tier): The grovel option alone makes this at least A-tier. With 60 feet of range it’s possible to use this spell against flyers and being prone causes them to immediately fall to the ground (and, depending on how your DM runs things, they may take fall damage). Several of these options (grovel, halt) can be used to prevent multiple targets from taking any action on their turn. Overall I’d say for the flexibility this offers this is one of the best 1st-level spells. It also scales nicely when using higher-level spell slots.

Compelled Duel (B-tier): There is probably some niche circumstance where you are fighting a single powerful target and want them to focus on you. However, Paladin’s have very few spells they can have prepared and apart from niche circumstances I can’t see this spell being that useful generally. Especially when it takes your concentration and they can avoid its effect with a saving throw. The only reason I’m giving it a B-tier is that I think it edges out Wrathful Smite because it doesn’t allow for subsequent saving throws.

Comprehend Languages (C-tier): Comprehend languages is one of those spells that rarely comes up I find when you need it. The problem with it is that there are other ritual spells that classes that get access to it are likely to take instead. So unless you are playing a Wizard you may not even have it prepared.

You could expend a spell slot to cast this but to use it as a ritual spell you have to be in a situation where you can afford to spend 10 minutes to cast the spell (including the loss of your concentration when ritual casting it) and not in a social encounter where time is essential. It also doesn’t let you speak the language so it’s usefulness is dependent on you needing to read a language or to overhear someone speaking in another language. It’s a nice to have but it’s not something that is super essential.

Create or Destroy Water (C-tier): This spell should have been made a ritual in 2024. It can be useful in some survival themed campaigns but otherwise, outside of niche roleplaying scenarios or the occasional large fire you need to put out, it is unlikely to be very useful.

Cure Wounds (B-tier): The healing amount is good but it still isn’t good enough to justify taking this over Healing Word. You might pick this up to heal between combat but with with so many ways of getting Temporary HP now the chances of someone needing the heal are a lot lower. It’s just an ok pick.

Detect Evil and Good (C-tier): Maybe you could use this if you were in a social gathering and wanted to know if everyone who appeared humanoid really is. Outside of niche social encounters I don’t see this being much use especially given its short duration and its need for your concentration.

Detect Magic (S-tier): You basically need to have someone in your party with this spell. It is essential if only to have an easy means of knowing if something is magical. The fact that it can be ritual cast only makes it that much more essential. Ritual casting it isn’t ideal for some classes that might have long duration concentration spells (Hex, Hunter’s Mark), but it is a solid spell none-the-less.

Detect Poison and Disease (F-tier): They nerfed the spell by making it blocked by only 1 feet of wood instead of 3 feet. While it does not detect magical contagions, it is so niche that you will never get any use out of it. The only kind of campaign I can think of that would see it get regular use is some kind of plague campaign. But even then there are likely to be visible signs someone has the disease in question and it’s 10 minute duration really doesn’t make it very useful in that circumstance anyways.

Disguise Self (B-tier): Disguise Self is a decent spell on its own. Just as a regular spell, without the option of changing your appearance constantly, it is just ok. It is however a lot better if you get access to it through a Warlock invocation like Mask of Many Faces. You can only change your appearance the one time for each cast. This, coupled with the fact that it doesn’t change your voice (which is overlooked by many players and DMs), means that it isn’t quite as solid of an infiltration spell as some make it out to be. It’s still useful but it isn’t without its flaws. Especially given that mimicking someone’s voice requires the Actor feat or a class feature (Mastermind Rogue, etc).

Dissonant Whispers (A-tier): To me this is a much better spell than Arms of Hadar for eliminating an enemies reaction because it can be cast from a reasonable range. The damage type is really good (psychic is rarely resisted) and at a minimum you know it will be doing at least half damage.

Distort Value (Acquisitions)(C-tier): This is the kind of spell that sounds great on paper but is very difficult to get away with using more than a few times. Because this is such a low-level spell, experience shopkeepers may have encountered it before and they may be on the lookout for it. The minute long casting time and vocal component make it worthless to use on objects that are owned by the shop (unless you have a means of casting it subtly). Unless you are just passing through an area and want to make a bunch of gold quickly, I’d take a pass on this out of any future need to deal with a merchant. Warlocks though can get a large amount of use of this given its 8 hr duration.

Divine Favor (B-tier): This spell got a massive buff from 2014 since they removed the concentration requirement from this spell. Even still, you have to give up a use of your bonus action to use it and it only does 1d4 damage per hit. I don’t think its as bad as some commentators have made it out to be but it does require a dual-wielding character to be good (see below paragraphs). Generally, unless you are fighting a Vampire, something that can regenerate, or something susceptible to radiant damage, you are better off expending the spell slot on Divine Smite instead.

I’ve crunched the numbers on it and basically, a 5th level Paladin with 18 strength and Polearm Master who makes two 1d10 polearm attacks, a 1st-level Divine Smite (2d8), and then a d4 bonus action attack will be doing probably about 10 damage more than a similarly equipped character using Divine Favor on their first turn. It’s likely not until the third turn that Divine Favor is active that a character using it will be ahead from a damage standpoint compared to someone who cast a 1st-level Divine Smite instead.

If you take the Dual Wielder feat, nick mastery, and attack with multiple weapons this will give a better damage output with it. Though even then the Polearm Master feat gives you a more reliable reaction attack (which you can take when creatures move into your reach) which probably outweighs this enough to still make it your 3rd turn before you see Divine Favor as the better choice. Plus you are giving up the reach that a Paladin rocking a polearm has. Overall, I’d say use Divine Smite instead unless you want to build around this. It could be good to use on a single-class Paladin however since it is spell slot efficient to use.

Divine Smite (B-tier): It’s a poor amount of damage for a 1st-level spell slot that benefits from the fact that you cast it only when you hit (so the spell slot is only wasted if you are doing an excessive amount of damage). The spell comes at the cost of using your bonus action however. Someone with Polearm Master and 18 strength can do 1d4+4 damage with their bonus action instead which is about 2.5 less average damage than a 1st level Divine Smite. It’s a spell that is only worth using on a Paladin in low levels or if you really need to kill a specific target fast.

Earth Tremor (EEPC) (C-tier): There is probably a niche build out there to make this work especially now that you can cast a Misty Step spell on the same turn as this provided you don’t expect a spell slot to do so. The area of the difficult terrain is quite large but because it is centred on you it isn’t large enough that you can’t work around it. My reading of the spell is that it also only affects loose ground and loose stone so interpretation will be important for when it can be used. If you grab this spell on a Archfey Warlock I could see it comboing nicely with some of your other abilities. It is a spell you have to build around and ultimately too many things have to line up perfectly for you to get regular use out of it.

Ensnaring Strike (B-tier): Restrained is a great condition to impose on an enemy. The problem with this spell however is that a lot of the creatures that you’d want to cast this spell on creatures who are large in size or greater or they are creatures that probably already have good strength values and are likely to make the save. Your best and most reliable use of this is likely on enemy casters however I’ve found the prevalence of enemy casters is also very campaign dependent. In short, it’s a great spell in the right campaign but it’s a hard pick at low levels because of your limited spell slots and Hunter’s Mark requiring your concentration.

Entangle (B-tier): Restrained is a great condition. Unfortunately, because of its large area of effect Entangle is one of those spells that I’ve never seen anyone actually use (even with Druid’s and Ranger’s in my party). It’s very hard to pull off in a lot of situations and its probably best used in situations where you are outside but no NPC’s will get caught in it or in narrow areas where all the enemies are in one room and you happen to go first and can blanket the area with this spell. It would be more effective if it wasn’t applying to such a large area. It’s hard to justify preparing a spell that you aren’t going to see regular use of however.

Expeditious Retreat (C-tier): There are builds like Eldritch Knights that could probably find a regular use for this (especially any character that doesn’t have a high spellcasting ability modifier). Unfortunately, there aren’t that many and even then its a spell that is really only likely to be useful for one or two turns in a combat; perhaps as a means of closing the distance between your fighter and enemy casters. Your Wizard of Sorcerer likely has better uses of their concentration at pretty much all times instead of using this.

Faerie Fire (A-tier): Advantage on attacks against enemies is a great benefit. Unfortunately, this a Dexterity Saving Throw so enemies that are most likely to attack you in melee are more likely to save against it. Still, once they are affected the only way to lose this effect is to end the spell. It’s a very solid spell that works in a wide variety of fights. 

False Life (C-tier): This spell is great if you get it as part of the Warlock Fiendish Vigor Invocation. Only any other character it probably sucks. I guess an Eldritch Knight or Arcane Trickster could use this but the Eldritch Knight has enough health that this won’t be that helpful and the Arcane Trickster has its own tricks to avoiding taking damage.

Feather Fall (C-tier): This is one of those spells that you need it when you need it – which is basically never. I could see it being useful if you were riding dragons in a large combat encounter or if you planned to rob a place and needed to jump out a window (but couldn’t teleport). Both of them are cases that you are probably going to be able to prepare for. Generally I wouldn’t bother taking this.

Find Familiar (A-tier): The only thing stopping me from giving this S-tier is how cost prohibitive it is at low levels. 10 gold isn’t a lot by the time you are level 5 but it is when you are low level and just trying to be equipped. Especially now that the non-magical adventuring gear items have been revised and they now have a lot more usability in low-level campaigns. Find Familiar is an extremely flexible spell that, provided you have the gold, you won’t regret taking.

Fog Cloud (B-tier): This is a spell that is often overlooked. With the 2024 rules it’s taken on a new interesting dimension for Arcane Trickster Rogues because they can use it and a bonus action to Hide to hide basically anywhere. It’s good for making things difficult for enemy casters and as a means to prevent enemies from making opportunity attacks if for whatever reason your party needs to flee.

Frost Fingers (IWD) (C-tier): 2d8 cold damage over an area is not much for a 1st-level spell. There may be some use in niche circumstances where you can use this to freeze some water but generally it’s not very good. The only thing that this has going for it over Burning Hands is cold is less likely to be resisted. But even still it’s not very good.

Goodberry (C-tier): Unfortunately, you can only marginally benefit from the Life Domain Cleric’s feature to make this spell better now (since it only works on the turn the spell is cast). 10 hitpoints healing is not that good now that other healing has been improved. A Cure Wounds could be healing 2d8+3 for the same spell slot by comparison. If you are playing a survival game this spell is essential but otherwise it’s now an easy spell to pass on. Healing 1 hp per bonus action just isn’t worth it in combat either and it’s unlikely that 10hp split between party members will make a big difference.

Grease (A-tier): Grease is a great spell because it provides a small area of crowd control that works perfectly in doorways. The area is also small enough that you can also safely cast this spell against a small group of enemies and not risk hitting party members too. Making enemies prone is a great way to reduce their movement especially if someone else in your party has a means to grapple them. Best of all the spell doesn’t require your concentration so you can even get away with using this at higher levels as needed.

Guiding Bolt (B-tier): 4d6 damage is solid single-target damage for a 1st-level spell. The ability to cause the next attack against that target to be done at advantage is also great. Unfortunately, it is one of those spells that really is hard to justify spending a spell slot on unless you have advantage on the attack beforehand. Expending a spell slot on this, especially at lower levels, is very hard to justify unless it is extremely critical that the target die quickly.

Hail of Thorns (C-tier): The benefit of this spell is that it is being cast as a bonus action. But it just doesn’t do enough damage to justify using it beyond maybe the first few levels of Ranger. I probably wouldn’t even have this prepared beyond 3rd level.

Healing Word (A-tier): Healing Word is an essential spell at low levels for preventing characters from outright dying. As parties gain levels however and likely gain more temporary hitpoints the threat of dying diminishes significantly and the value of getting 2d4+5 worth of healing diminishes as well. Overall, I think it is a great spell but with all the sources of temporary HP that you can get it has become overrated.

Hellish Rebuke (C-tier): This is just a hard spell to justify casting especially on a Warlock. The damage isn’t very good and your spell slots are so few that it’s rarely going to be worth the damage. Maybe a Tiefling Wizard could find a use for this but even they have options like Shield and Absorb Elements that may be better picks.

Heroism (C-tier): There are so many ways to get temporary hitpoints in the game now. Why would you use your Action and your concentration on a spell that only lasts for 1 minute to get a bit of temporary hp each turn? The only value I see this spell have is being able to eliminate the frightened condition temporarily. Maybe there is some niche build out there that I’m unaware of that you can make a great character using this – but I doubt it.

Hex (A-tier): Hex is interesting because on Warlocks it really is best used at low levels. Enemy health scales such that it becomes hard to get much value in the spell beyond 5th level. Where the spell is good is that it lasts an hour so you can get multiple combats out of it and as by the time you hit level 3 as a Warlock you can take a short rest with it, regain your slots, and it will last longer than the short rest. In theory, 10th level Warlocks do get a buff to their Hex spell that grants disadvantage on the chosen Saving Throw. But the problem is Hex by that point still requires concentration so that feature really only helps for a small number of spells. Unfortunately, at mid levels Warlocks just get much better options for their spell slots and concentration.

Hunter’s Mark (B-tier): Hunter’s Mark pairs really nicely with a dual wielding Ranger and is just ok on any other build. You want to maximize the amount of attacks you can get with it and ultimately how much damage it can dish out. The spell not very good to use once you get access to 3rd level spells in particular (Conjure Animals is far more damaging). Overall it is a good low-mid level choice.

Ice Knife (B-tier): Ice Knife is not a bad spell but I have found it is a bit overrated. While it is good that it explodes regardless of whether the initial attack hits, because enemies that save against it take no damage (it doesn’t do damage on a failed save) it is not as good as it might appear on first glance. 1d10 is also a very swingy amount of damage for the initial attack (the average is 5.5 but you are as likely to get a 1 as you are a 10). The 60 foot range is really what makes it better than say a Burning Hands but not much better. One thing it has going for it is the lack of a vocal component so it can be used when silenced.

Identify (C-tier): This is one of those spells that every Wizard feels the need to take but hardly gets any actual use. The problem is less with the spell and more with the fact that magic items just aren’t that common in 5th edition – especially at low levels but even at mid levels as well. In fact, if you have 10 minutes to ritual cast this you probably have enough time to take a short rest to identify a magic item’s properties. A lessor known property of the Identify spell is you can also use it to see what spells are affecting a character – but this feature is hardly ever going to come up in a game. In theory, you could use this to identify the properties of a trap or magic door as well (if you know it is magical per something like the Detect Magic spell) but in practice these also don’t come up often enough for this to be regularly useful to have.

Illusory Script (F-tier): As a player you will never find a use for this spell. This is a spell only dungeon masters will use. Even dungeon masters may find that that they have to extend the duration because it may be hard for a low-level party in particular to find someone with truesight who can read what is on it by the time ten days are up.

Inflict Wounds (F-tier): They made this spell so much worse for no good reason. In 2024 it is now a Constitution Saving Throw and not an attack roll. It is however still a touch spell. Worse yet, any Cleric can choose to have martial weapon proficiency at level 1. So a Cleric with 16 Strength/Dexterity could have a long sword/rapier and do 1d8+3 (7.5) damage on an attack without expending any resources. 2d10 on average is 11 damage. So you are going into touch range and expending a spell slot to perhaps do an extra 3.5 damage compared to what Cleric’s can do all the time without expending a resource. I understand that the math is more complicated than that (because they still do half damage on a save) but even factoring in the fact that it always does damage it’s not really doing enough damage to be worth the spell slot. Just use the 2014 version.

Jump (C-tier): It is now a bonus action so that is a significant improvement from 2014. However, it is still too much of a niche spell. As is, the game has provided so many uses of your bonus action that it’s hard to justify casting this.

Longstrider (B-tier): The 1 hour duration makes this spell useful at time when you can cast it well in advance of combat. It gives a nice buff to mobility that isn’t anything crazy but because you can cast it on other characters it has some value for parties throughout the game.

Mage Armor (B-tier): Mage Armor is one of those spells that everyone talks about Wizards and Sorcerers needing to take. Looking at things specifically from the standpoint of damage reduction over the course of an adventuring day it is probably better to take Mage Armor over Shield, but I would still take Shield over Mage Armor because you may only get attacked a few times and you may want to use your few slots at low levels to cast a control spell instead. I wouldn’t even consider casting Mage Armor before 5th level unless you are playing a Bladesinger or Abjurer. It’s a fine spell but it is a lot easier to justify expending a spell slot on it once you hit level 5 at least.

Magic Missile (A-tier): It always hits and the multiple hits of the spell can be used to break an enemies concentration. The damage is almost never resisted. Because it always hits it also surprisingly competes for average damage with later spells like Scorching Ray when cast at 2nd level on a single target.

Protection from Evil and Good (F-tier): This spell takes your concentration, lasts only 10 minutes, requires your action, is a touch spell, and has a 25 gold cost of the consumed material component. All of these combined make it very difficult to justify taking it especially at low levels. The effect of the spell is powerful but it can’t be twinned by a Sorcerer or upcast to apply to more than one character. It’s clearly a spell meant to be cast before combat given its touch requirement, duration, and it needing an action. But the relatively short duration means you’ll only get to see use out of it in one or perhaps two combats. It’s so bizarre because this would be a great spell to have active if you were in the Feywild or somewhere you expected to be charmed or frightened – but it requiring your concentration makes it hard to justify using.

Purify Food and Drink (F-tier): You will never have a need to prepare this spell. It feels like a spell that should have been merged into a bunch of other utility spells in order to give some value in having it prepared.

Ray of Sickness (C-tier): The damage on this spell is too poor to generally justify taking it. The poison effect is nice but outright killing a creature is better than poisoning it and Chromatic Orb is better at outright killing (especially at low levels). A fair number of creatures are also immune to poison damage and the poisoned condition which diminishes the value of this spell over the long term. It can be good to use on bosses however because many will be reliant on making a bunch of physical attacks to do damage (so having disadvantage on those attacks is helpful).

Sanctuary (C-tier): It’s a good spell to use on a familiar or mount, if you can, but it’s short duration makes even that somewhat limited. By casting this as a bonus action you are likely also forgoing using your main action to cast a levelled spell. It’s hard to justify casting this on your first turn of combat for that reason. Maybe you could use this to help an ally that is surrounded by enemies but the short range makes it harder to explain the circumstances where there aren’t better options in that situation.

Searing Smite (B-tier): This spell has been significantly improved since 2014. It now no longer requires your concentration and all damage from the spell increases by 1d6 for each spell level it is cast at. This means if cast using a 2nd-level spell slot you do 2d6 initial damage and another 2d6 damage at the start of that creature’s turn before they even get a chance to save (4d6 damage guaranteed). This can be helpful against enemy casters who are less likely to be able to save against its Constitution Saving Throw and who will have to make at least two concentration checks. Compare this to Divine Smite’s 3d8 damage when cast using a 2nd-level spell slot and it’s actually a comparable amount of damage with the benefit that it could keep doing further damage. This said, fire damage is a commonly resisted damage type.

Shield (S-tier): This is just a spell that works in so many circumstances on so many different builds. It can save your character against multiple attacks over a round and the cost (a 1st-level slot and your reaction) is a fairly minor cost for characters because a reaction is something you are least likely to use each turn.

Shield of Faith (A-tier): It is a spell that is widely applicable across combat and that can help either yourself or an ally. It can also be cast from range. It’s only downside is it needs your concentration which can be a problem once you start getting more powerful uses for it.

Silent Image (B-tier): A creative player could find a use for this spell. Maybe to create the illusion of a wall or monsters from a distance. Now that Illusionists no longer get malleable illusions it has lost a bit of its sheen. You probably don’t want to expend your magic action or concentration on this during combat – so this is more of a out of combat spell.

Silvery Barbs (S-tier): I have personally ban this spell as a DM – just because its too good for its level, slows down the game, and is not very interesting. Since it works on all D20 tests It’s an extremely good choice and becomes even more impactful at higher levels. If you have the choice to take it I would.

Sleep (A-tier): This spell has seen significant chances since 2014. Now it takes your concentration, doesn’t rely on health to determine who sleeps, and won’t immediately cause the unconscious condition (it takes two failed saves for that). Having played a low-level Wizard in 2024 this spell has saved my party multiple times. You’ll want to use it when you can hit at least two enemies – so it is a bit use dependent in that sense – but even if you just manage to incapacitate a few enemies for a turn it can completely change the challenge of an encounter.

Snare (Xanathar’s) (F-tier): You can restrain a creature for 8 hours by setting up a trap (1 minute casting time). This spell is clearly intended for DM’s to use and not players. For players I would never take this because it consumes rope (even if it doesn’t accomplish anything) and because restraining someone for 8 hours isn’t that useful given the spells purpose. That creature could spend the next 8 hours yelling for help from their friends – which is the last thing you want given this spell is likely to be used by players prior to them resting. Maybe you could use this to set up some kind of an ambush but I’ve never seen anyone actually using it. The 5 foot radius (10 feet diametre) should be large enough to put it in front of most doorways however.

Speak With Animals (B-tier): There isn’t another spell like this and if used with a creative and adaptive DM it can be a lot of fun to have. It is very DM dependent, but I would still generally recommend taking this because you never know what you’ll learn. My only criticism of it is its short duration. The Emerald Enclave background grants a feat that will make this 8 hours duration. I think that is the way to go if you want to really get a lot of use out of this.

Spellfire Flare (HOF) (B-tier): This is generally a better option to use over Scorching Ray (even upcast) though it does have a shorter range. I can’t see myself casting it at level 1 unless I had advantage when making the attack (particularly through the Sorcerer’s Innate Sorcery feature). Even then, a Sorcerer with True Strike and a Light Crossbow could do 1d8+3 damage with its attack without expending a spell slot. Cast as a level 1 spell the damage difference between 2d10 and 1d8+3 (True Strike with a Light Crossbow) is only 3.5 damage. That’s enough of a difference at low levels to kill a really weak enemy but at these levels you are also really spell slot deprived and there are better uses for your slot.

You could also pair this with a Hex spell (via the Fey Touched feat) and do decent damage that way. After character level 5, it’s not worth it to use this spell unless you are upcasting it because True Strike with a Light Crossbow has better range and is likely to do a similar amount of damage to this (or maybe more if you have 18 Intelligence). Since the Celestial Warlock’s 6th level feature (for spells to do extra radiant damage) only works once per turn I can’t see a scenario where this is better than a B rating.

Tasha’s Caustic Brew (B-tier): Doing constant damage can be good because of its ability to disrupt enemy concentration. However, the fact that this spell uses your own concentration really limits its usefulness in my opinion. Especially given its area of effect is fairly constrained already. Maybe there is a build, say on an Alchemist, where it is worth taking this spell. As is, I think it’s just ok.

Tasha’s Hideous Laughter (A-tier): Having both the Prone the Incapacitated conditions applies to you completely takes you out of a fight. This spell is maybe not as useful at 1st level to take, but it can completely throw off enemy encounters if you upcast it. It’s range is likely too short to pull it off against a flying creature but if you can (because it is a Wisdom Saving Throw) it can be very effective for using it to allow your party to dogpile or grapple a downed flyer. Overtime the spell is less ideal to use as you gain more access to powerful control spells but it is still a great spell in my opinion.

Tenser’s Floating Disk (F-tier): I’ve never seen anyone use this. In most cases you can just get a medium sized pack animal like a mule or (at medium or higher levels) a bag of holding. The fact that it can’t go over canyons makes it even harder to justify.

Thunderwave (A-tier): It’s a spell that is good for clearing trash opponents at low levels. By the time you hit level 3 you will find 2d8 damage doesn’t have quite the punch it once did.

Unseen Servant (F-tier): Mage Hand is better at doing what you want this to do (activating traps, interacting with objects). The problem with this spell is that it can only move 15 feet. Your party moves twice as fast as it so inevitably it won’t last the full hour unless you walk very slowly through places. So you’ll have to ritual cast right before most times you want to use it for setting traps off. To run this spell as written for use in a dungeon would be tedious for these reasons.

I’ve yet to hear of anyone doing something substantive with this spell that justifies taking it. While it has hitpoints and AC (like all objects) it isn’t described as being a creature but rather a “force” so it’s not even benefiting from spells or abilities targeting creatures that might give it more health. It’s debatable what actions it could even use (beyond what is provided in its description) since it isn’t a creature. With only 2 Strength it also isn’t very good at carrying anything. I don’t see this spell being that useful and there are much better ritual spells you can take.

Wardaway (HOF) (C-tier): The damage it does is weak and the only effect that it is doing is halving a targets speed. Technically it also requires the target to choose between an action or bonus action, and some of the new monsters do have bonus actions, but odds are you’ll use this and it won’t make much difference. It also doesn’t upscale to hit more than one monster despite having a fairly modest effect.

Witch Bolt (B-tier): 2d12 damage is nothing to scoff at (it’s an average of 13 damage). This is nearly on par with a Guiding Bolt as far as damage is concerned, with the added benefit that you can deal further damage on subsequent rounds whether you miss or not. I wouldn’t say its an amazing spell as it’s concentration requirement really limits what levels you are going to be using at. It isn’t worth using more than a 2nd-level spell slot on it because the damage doesn’t sufficiently scale. It’s a good choice for low-level parties, because it’s reasonably spell slot efficient, but after level 4 you’ll not find yourself using it.

Wrathful Smite (C-tier): Paladin’s typically don’t have many means of imposing conditions and this spell gives them one option for that. This is probably it’s biggest selling point. The problem with this spell is at low levels you could instead just expend the same spell slot and kill or seriously hurt the target using Divine Smite (2d8 damage). This spell is really better at higher levels when you don’t want a target to move away from you but by that point it’s likely they will make the save (because Paladin’s typically don’t go beyond 14 or 16 Charisma). The spell was probably better in 2014 because the enemy had to use their action to try to escape being frightened. If you are playing a Conquest Paladin then maybe you’d use this – but beyond that I think Paladin’s are better off just expending the 1st-level spell slot to use Divine Smite.

Zephyr Strike (Xanathar’s) (A-tier): Not being at risk of opportunity attacks is a very helpful feature to have on a melee Ranger. Even a ranged Ranger may find this helpful to escape from an enemy who is right next to it. I think this gives Rangers a very helpful mobility tool in their toolkit. The extra damage may not ever happen if you miss with your attack, but the extra movement and avoidance of opportunity attacks makes this well worth the slot.