In order to get around those resistances, just use acid or thunder damage.Īnother treacherously resistant monster type are oozes, and their resistances are hard to predict. Fiends are often resistant or immune to cold, fire, and lightning damage, and with Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus promising some fiend-fighting action, being able to overcome those damage resistances early is a huge boon. Other high-damage spells like burning hands and ice knife suffer from a restrictive damage type that make them hard to use against certain foes like fiends.

This flexibility is chromatic orb’s greatest strength, though its high average damage is impressive, too. The type of damage this spell deals can be chosen from a list of five: acid, cold, fire, lightning, or thunder. If this attack hits, the target takes an average of 13 (3d8) damage. When you cast this spell, you make a ranged spell attack against the target. For wizards and sorcerers, the power to be far away from enemies is a huge boon. The Power of Chromatic OrbĬhromatic orb is a single-target damage-dealing spell best used from long range. Fiends and incorporeal creatures laugh at elemental damage like fire and cold. The spell’s damage type, cold, is resisted by many of the same low-level foes that resist fire damage. Assuming the spell hits and its area-of-effect affects two creatures and one of those creatures succeeds on its saving throw, this spell deals an average of 12 cold damage.

Then, regardless of if the attack hits or not, the ice knife explodes, forcing the target and all creatures within 5 feet to succeed on a Dexterity saving throw or take 2d6 cold damage. If the spell hits its target, the target takes 1d10 cold damage. Ice knife is an attractive spell that can be fired from long range and do some area-of-effect damage. This is enough to kill some of the weakest monsters with a single casting, but only enough to inconvenience any creature stronger than challenge rating 1/4 or so. This spell’s biggest drawback is its relatively low damage output only an average of 10 damage. Its missiles always hit, can be spread across multiple targets, can be fired from long range, and deal hard-to-resist force damage. Magic missile is a spell in almost every 1st-level wizard’s spellbook, and it’s easy to see why. Your garden-variety kobolds and goblins won’t resist this magic, but there are a handful of low-level foes that easily resist fire, like fiends, oozes, and incorporeal undead like shadows and specters. Also, fire is one of the most commonly resisted damage types in the game. If it doesn’t, now you’re in the line of fire, and most 1st-level wizards don’t have sturdy enough defenses to take very many counterattacks. If you’re close enough to enemies to cast this spell, you’d better make sure this spell kills them. That’s pretty good, but its drawbacks hurt it.

Assuming one creature succeeds on its Dexterity saving throw and one fails, this deals an average of 15 fire damage. As far as game balance is concerned, D&D’s balancing math assumes that this hits two creatures in an average casting. How does chromatic orb stack up against other 1st-level damaging-dealing spells available to 1st-level wizards and sorcerers? It has a few rivals for damage-dealing potential, but all come with significant drawbacks.īurning hands deals 3d6 fire damage in a 15-foot cone. If you’re a 1st-level wizard or sorcerer, you should definitely consider learning this mighty damage dealing spell, especially if you plan on joining the School of Evocation or playing a damage-focused character. Monstrous Compendium Volume One: Spelljammer CreaturesĬhromatic orb is one of the most powerful 1st-level spells in Dungeons and Dragons, with the power to do a whopping 3d8 damage of your choice of acid, cold, fire, lightning, or thunder damage at a range of 90 feet.

Chromatic fire