Lightning Bolt

Level 3 Evocation spell available to Sorcerers and Wizards. A 30m line of Lightning for 8d6, Dexterity save for half. Same damage as Fireball, different shape, better damage type. Most casters end up carrying both.

Spell description: Call forth a blast of lightning that hits all creatures in the line of the eruption.

Spell properties

• Damage: 8d6 Lightning
• Damage type: Lightning
• Range: Self
• Area: 30m (100ft) line
• Save: DEX save (half damage on success)
• Conditions applied: Electrifies water surfaces.
• Cost: Action + Spell Slot
• Recharge: Per action

Spell upcasting

Casting Lightning Bolt at a higher level deals an additional 1d6 Lightning damage for each spell slot level above the 3rd.

How to obtain Lightning Bolt

• Sorcerer, Wizard at Class level 5
• Tempest Domain (Cleric) at Class level 5, as a Domain Spell
• Eldritch Knight (Fighter) and Arcane Trickster (Rogue) at Class level 13

Source items: Markoheshkir, Scroll of Lightning Bolt

When to cast Lightning Bolt

Use it when the enemies are in a line rather than a clump: a corridor, a bridge, a row of archers on a ledge. The bolt goes 30m and hits everything in its path, so positioning your caster at one end of the room turns it into a whole-encounter spell.

Lightning is resisted far less often than Fire, which is the practical reason to keep this alongside Fireball. Fire-immune enemies in Act 2 and the Hells do not care about your Fireball. They do care about this.

Wet enemies take double Lightning damage, and a bolt through a puddle electrifies it for anyone standing there. A Tempest Cleric with Destructive Wrath turns this into a maximum-damage 48 on demand, which is one of the best combos in the game.

The line is straight and it does not stop for your friends. Aim it from an angle where nobody you like is standing in it.