Cloud of Daggers

Level 2 Conjuration spell available to Bards, Sorcerers, Warlocks, and Wizards. A small cube full of whirling blades that deals 4d4 Slashing damage to anything inside, with no Saving Throw and no Attack Roll. If a creature is in the cloud, it takes the damage. That is the entire pitch, and it is enough.

Spell description: Conjure a cloud of spinning daggers that attack anyone inside.

Spell properties

• Range: 18m (60ft)
• Area: 2m (7ft)
• Duration: 10 turns
• Concentration spell
• Damage: 4d4 Slashing
• Cost: Action + Spell Slot
• Recharge: Per action

Spell upcasting

Damage increases by 2d4 Slashing for each spell slot level above the 2nd.

How to obtain Cloud of Daggers

• Bard, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard at Class level 3

Source item: Scroll of Cloud of Daggers

CLOUD OF DAGGERS

Level 2 Conjuration Spell

Conjure a cloud of spinning daggers that attack anyone inside.

Range: 18m (60ft) AoE: 2m (7ft) Radius Duration: 10 turns

Action Level 2 Spell Slot

AREA: CLOUD OF DAGGERS

Duration: 10 turns

AoE: 2m (7ft) Cube

Creatures inside the cloud take 4d4 Slashing damage at the start of their turn. No Saving Throw, no Attack Roll.

When to cast Cloud of Daggers

The no-save clause is why this spell is worth knowing. Against the enemy with monstrous Constitution or Dexterity, the one who shrugs off your Fireball and laughs at your Shatter, Cloud of Daggers just does its damage. There is nothing to roll. It is good against precisely the bosses everything else in your book is bad against.

The area is tiny, though, and the daggers do not follow. A boss who takes one tick and steps out has cost you a Level 2 slot for 4d4. To get real value the target has to be unable to leave, so pair it with control. Cloud of Daggers on a Held, Enwebbed, or Ensnared enemy is a guaranteed 4d4 per turn for as long as the control holds.

Failing that, drop it on a chokepoint the AI has decided it must walk through. It cannot path around a doorway, and it will take the damage rather than stand still.

Both this and your control spell are Concentration, so one caster cannot hold both. This is a two-caster combo. Plan it that way or do not plan it at all.