by Claude Helper | Sep 8, 2026 | Spells
Level 2 Transmutation spell available to Druids and Rangers. Turns a 6m patch of ground into hardened spikes: 2d4 Piercing damage for every 1.5m a creature moves through it, and its Movement Speed is halved. There is no save. In a game where enemies love to charge you, this is a punishment field.
Spell description: Shape a piece of ground into hard spikes. A creature walking on the spikes takes 2d4 Piercing damage for every 1.5m it moves. The spikes are difficult terrain, halving a creature’s Movement Speed.
Spell properties
- Range: 18m (60ft)
- Area: 6m (20ft)
- Duration: 100 turns
- Concentration spell
- Damage: 2d4 Piercing
- Conditions applied: Difficult terrain. Movement Speed is halved. Creatures take 2d4 Piercing damage for every 1.5m they move.
- Cost: Action + Spell Slot
- Recharge: Per action
Spell upcasting
Casting Spike Growth at higher levels provides no additional benefits.
How to obtain Spike Growth
- Druid at Class level 3
- Ranger at Class level 5
Source item: Scroll of Spike Growth
Shape a piece of ground into hard spikes. A creature walking on the spikes takes 2d4 Piercing damage for every 1.5m it moves. The spikes are difficult terrain, halving a creature’s Movement Speed.
Duration: 100 turns
AoE: 6m (20ft) Radius
Difficult Terrain. Movement Speed is halved. Creatures take 2d4 Piercing damage for every 1.5m they move through the area.
When to cast Spike Growth
Do the arithmetic and this stops looking like a Level 2. An enemy with 9m of movement crossing the field eats six ticks of 2d4, around thirty damage, no save, one slot. Halve their speed and it takes them two turns to cross, so they eat it twice.
Place it between you and them, not on top of them. Standing still in Spike Growth costs nothing. Walking through it is what hurts. Drop it across the corridor they have to use and let them come to you.
Then there is the combo everyone eventually finds. Anything that forces movement drags an enemy back and forth across the spikes for free damage every turn. Thorn Whip, Repelling Blast, Thunderwave, Gust of Wind. A Repelling Blast Warlock standing next to a Druid with Spike Growth up is one of the nastiest things you can do at low level.
The ground does not care whose side you are on. Your melee characters take exactly the same damage, and the AI will happily bait them in. Fight from range while it is up.
by Claude Helper | Sep 8, 2026 | Spells
Level 2 Illusion spell available to Bards, Clerics, and Rangers. A 6m sphere in which no sound exists. Nothing inside can cast a spell that needs speech, which is almost all of them, and nothing inside takes Thunder damage. It lasts 100 turns and it is a hard shutdown for enemy casters.
Spell description: Create a sound-proof sphere. All within are Silenced and Immune to Thunder damage.
Spell properties
- Range: 18m (60ft)
- Area: 6m (20ft)
- Duration: 100 turns
- Concentration spell
- Ritual spell
- Conditions applied: Silenced. Cannot cast spells that require speech. Immune to Thunder damage.
- Cost: Action + Spell Slot
- Recharge: Per action
Spell upcasting
Casting Silence at higher levels provides no additional benefits.
How to obtain Silence
- Bard, Cleric at Class level 3
- Ranger at Class level 5
Source item: Scroll of Silence
Create a sound-proof sphere. All within are Silenced and Immune to Thunder damage.
Duration: 100 turns
AoE: 6m (20ft) Radius
No sound can be created within or pass through the sphere.
- Cannot cast spells with a verbal component.
- Immune to Thunder damage.
- Cannot be heard, and cannot hear.
When to cast Silence
Drop it on the enemy caster and they are done. No Fireball, no Hold Person, no Counterspell, nothing with a verbal component, which in this game means nearly the whole list. A Silenced Wizard is a man in a robe holding a stick.
The enemy can walk out of it, of course, and the AI will, so pair it with something that stops them. Web or Spike Growth under the Silence, or a Fighter standing on the edge with a Reaction ready. Silence plus Hold Person on the same caster is one of the cleanest lockdowns in the game.
It is also a stealth tool. Cast Silence on the door you are about to force and nobody hears the lock break. Cast it on the guards and they cannot raise the alarm. Combat is the obvious use, but the sneaky one is more fun.
It is Concentration and it affects your side too. Do not drop it on your own Cleric.
by Claude Helper | Sep 8, 2026 | Spells
Level 2 Evocation spell available to Bards, Sorcerers, Warlocks, and Wizards. A burst of ringing sound for 3d8 Thunder damage in a 3m radius. It is the closest thing Level 2 has to a Fireball, and far fewer things resist Thunder than resist Fire.
Spell description: Generate a painfully intense ringing noise that deals 3d8 Thunder damage to all nearby creatures and objects. Affected creatures made of inorganic material such as stone have Disadvantage on their Saving Throws. On a successful save, creatures still take half damage.
Spell properties
- Range: 18m (60ft)
- Area: 3m (10ft)
- Save: CON save
- Damage: 3d8 Thunder
- Conditions applied: Creatures made of inorganic material such as stone have Disadvantage on their Saving Throw.
- Cost: Action + Spell Slot
- Recharge: Per action
Spell upcasting
Deals an extra 1d8 Thunder damage for each spell slot level above the 2nd.
How to obtain Shatter
- Bard, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard at Class level 3
Source items: Markoheshkir, Sentient Amulet, Scroll of Shatter
Generate a painfully intense ringing noise that deals 3d8 Thunder damage to all nearby creatures and objects. Affected creatures made of inorganic material such as stone have Disadvantage on their Saving Throws. On a successful save, creatures still take half damage.
When to cast Shatter
Two things make Shatter better than its damage number suggests. The first is the damage type. Almost nothing in the game resists Thunder, while Fire resistance is everywhere from Grymforge onward. A 3d8 Shatter that lands in full often beats an 8d6 Fireball that gets halved.
The second is the stone clause. Constructs, animated armour, and anything made of rock roll their save with Disadvantage. The things that shrug off the rest of your spellbook are exactly what this is for.
The 3m radius cuts both ways. It is much easier to catch a cluster without cooking your own frontline than it is with Fireball, but you do need them genuinely bunched. Save it for the moment three of them pile into the same doorway.
It damages objects, which includes every smokepowder barrel in Act 1. That is either the best thing that has ever happened to you or a very expensive mistake.
by Claude Helper | Sep 8, 2026 | Spells
Level 2 Illusion spell available to Sorcerers, Warlocks, and Wizards. Conjures a blade of solid shadow into your main hand: 2d8 Psychic damage, lasts until a Long Rest, no Concentration. For any caster who fancies actually swinging something, this is the spell.
Spell description: Creates a Shadow Blade in the caster’s main hand which deals Psychic damage.
Spell properties
- Range: Self
- Duration: Long Rest
- Damage: 2d8 Psychic
- Cost: Bonus Action + Spell Slot
- Recharge: Per action
Spell upcasting
Damage increases to 3d8 Psychic with a Level 3 or 4 spell slot, and to 4d8 Psychic with a Level 5 or 6 spell slot.
How to obtain Shadow Blade
- Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard at Class level 3
Source items: Shadow Blade Ring, Scroll of Shadow Blade
Creates a Shadow Blade in the caster’s main hand which deals Psychic damage.
Duration: Until Long Rest
A finesse weapon of solid shadow dealing 2d8 Psychic damage. Attacks have Advantage in dim light or darkness. Damage rises to 3d8 at Level 3 or 4 slots and 4d8 at Level 5 or 6.
When to cast Shadow Blade
2d8 beats a greatsword, and almost nothing in the game resists Psychic, so a Wizard holding a Shadow Blade hits harder in melee than most Fighters do at the same level. Bonus Action to summon, no Concentration, and it persists until you rest. There is essentially no downside.
The build it exists for is the Eldritch Knight or Arcane Trickster who wants to cast and swing in the same turn. Conjure the blade once in the morning, then spend the rest of the day making Extra Attacks with it while your spell slots go on control.
Upcasting is unusually efficient because the duration does not change. A Level 5 Shadow Blade is 4d8 a swing, all day, for one slot. If you have spare high-level slots at the start of a long day, this is one of the best places to put them.
The catch is that it swings on a normal weapon Attack Roll, not your spellcasting modifier. A caster with no Dexterity to speak of will conjure a magnificent blade and then miss with it repeatedly. Build for it, or leave it alone.
by Claude Helper | Sep 8, 2026 | Spells
Level 2 Divination spell available to Bards, Sorcerers, and Wizards. You can see Invisible creatures until a Long Rest, and anything Invisible within 9m that fails a Dexterity save loses it on the spot. It is a counter to one trick, and the game uses that trick more than you would like.
Spell description: Allows the spellcaster to see Invisible objects and creatures within range while not Incapacitated. Creatures within range which fail a Dexterity Saving Throw lose their Invisibility.
Spell properties
- Range: Self
- Area: 9m (30ft)
- Duration: Long Rest
- Save: DEX save
- Conditions applied: Creatures within range that fail a Dexterity Saving Throw lose their Invisibility.
- Cost: Action + Spell Slot
- Recharge: Per action
Spell upcasting
Casting See Invisibility at higher levels provides no additional benefits.
How to obtain See Invisibility
- Bard, Sorcerer, Wizard at Class level 3
Source items: Assassin of Bhaal Cowl, Volo’s Eye, Scroll of See Invisibility
Allows the spellcaster to see Invisible objects and creatures within range while not Incapacitated. Creatures within range which fail a Dexterity Saving Throw lose their Invisibility.
When to cast See Invisibility
There are a handful of fights in Acts 2 and 3 built around enemies that vanish, hit you, and vanish again, and they are infuriating without an answer. See Invisibility is the answer. Cast it on the turn they disappear and they stop being a problem.
The area effect is the part people miss. It is not just you seeing them: anything Invisible within 9m makes a Dexterity save or becomes visible to everyone. Your whole party gets to attack again, not just the caster.
It lasts until Long Rest and it is not Concentration, so on a day when you expect Invisible enemies you cast it in the morning and forget it. On every other day it is a dead spell known, which is why the Bard is usually better off with a scroll.
Range: 18m (60ft)
Save: CON save 
