Exactly! They just can't figure out one of the most iconic forms of magic for some reason. I'll go out on a sturdy limb and say 90% of necromancer spells are awful and only good thematically or for rp
@@vetobandito2635 The ones that are good are the revive spells, what used to be healing was shifted to evocation fsr, and the rest are just unbalanced like Animate Dead, which I like but it bogs down games or trivializes some encounters. Everything else is terrible.
@@gavinerickson9392 That's hardly limited to Animate Dead; most of the PH druid conjuration spells are just as unbalancing and slow down the game or trivialize encounters at least as badly, if not more so. In fact, I'd say the druid conjuration spells are still dramatically better than Animate Dead. After all, you don't have to resort to multiple castings of Conjure Animals to end up with eight (or 16, or 24) relatively low-level minions. Even upcasting Animate Dead isn't as good as doing the same with the druid conjurations. Wizards certainly does screw over necromancers.
Silvery barb would work with lv 10 slit enchantment for the school of enchantment. Combined with any single target enchantment save spell would get ridiculous like irresistible dance just of the top of my head. At lv 18 spell mastery would make this more ridiculous. Infinite casting of twin Tasha's mind whip or hideous laughter with twin silvery barbs just sounds very broken!
Silvery barbs would also be effective with the new spell from that draconic addition lv4 spell psychic lance if split enchanted 2 target worth of 7D6 damage with incapacitation for 1 turn. that's good damage & you shut down 2 target partially or completely for the enchantment spells mentioned & silvery barbs would near guarantee the slit spell hits. If silvery barbs is made official then Enchanters just had a major power boost while already strong. Enchanter are already in the top 5 of dozen or so schools. This addition would make it near comparable to a chronomancy.
@@arnijulian6241 by eighteenth level wizards can do a lot of op stuff. But spell mastery only gives you one first level spell and one second. Hold person and silvery barb would really help make sure at least one of the targets was held and you could cast the silvery barbs again on subsequent rounds if thry make the saving throw. I'm more worried about it being used with say feeblemind at that point to effectively cast an 8th spell again as a reaction if the first attempt doesn't land (you would only get the psychic damage once of course but that's not why you're casting feeblemind).
The aberrant mind sorcerer should see the most significant benefit from silvery barbs, given that he can put it on his psionic spell list and convert an arbitrary number of spell slots into sorcery points.
@@utkuutku5203 they either mean flexible casting which is a generic sorcerer thing or the 6th level feature that allows the user to use a number of sorcery points to cast a psionic spell without a spell slot (the number is dependent on the spell level) most likely they mean the latter
I'm already under the impression that two levels of Sorcerer post-Tasha's is lowkey awesome for higher-level Wizards because of Metamagic Shards and the Metamagic Adept feat. Thanks for giving me yet another reason to go this class!
@@waifusmith4043 They mean both. Convert higher slots for sorcery points so you can cast Silvery Bards directly from that stash thanks to their 6th Level Ability.
So, two things about Vortex Warp that I absolutely love: first, it's Conjuration so it'll refresh the use of Benign Transposition for Conjuration Wizards, and the second being no size limit, meaning that the large/huge enemy creature just needs to fit in a room and you could trap it behind a tight corridor/doorway.
But the drawback is it being a Constitution Save, which is usually from not terrible to the enemies’ best save. Specially bigger enemies tend to have higher Con
Wither and Bloom also combos well with the feat "Durable" as it says: When you roll a Hit Die to regain hit points, the minimum number of hit points you regain from the roll equals twice your Constitution modifier (minimum of 2). Very specific but still noteworthy.
As a Divination Wizard main, I love Borrowed Knowledge. Let's you build your character optimally (Selecting as many Int based skills as possible) then during any social situations (e.g: haggling for that sweet sweet ink and paper), you will have a decent chance at success. Not to mention it doesn't require concentration so if the rolls are really important, you can stack Enhance Ability on this for advantage. While not the best spell, it's really cool flavour wise. Wish it was skill/tool prof tho, then it would be very worthwhile.
people complaining about vortex warp having to teleport enemies onto ground or on top of liquid are forgetting that means you can teleport them onto, lava, acid pits, into walls of fire, spike growths, wall of thorns, back onto the ground in a reverse gravity so that they fall up and hit the ceiling again, or any other terrain hazard that isn't "falling down" that you can think of.
Actually, the spell description says "on a surface or in a liquid *that can support the target,* " so no, you can't teleport it onto a pool of lava or acid ... unless the target is a ghost or other creature that can just naturally float on liquids. The Spike Growth, Wall of Thorns, Wall of Fire (Web, Transmuted Rock, etc) idea is excellent, however.
@@morganpetros9635 I personally would interpret "can support the target" as in any liquid the target would be buoyant in, not that they can stand on top of. Otherwise it wouldn't let you teleport them onto liquids at all as that would only allow for like, a corn starch water mixture or something equally gelatinous, and honestly that seems too specific to be design intent. At that point the spell would probably just specify only "a solid surface"
@@morganpetros9635 I have an *EXTREMELY* pedantic correction that likely doesn't even apply in DnD (according to rules as written): Lava is incredibly dense and can definitely "support" a medium or possibly even large sized creature (assuming that they're not an earth genasi/elemental or something that is about as dense as rock). Anything (large or smaller) not resistant or immune to fire will likely die from surface contact damage MUCH faster than they'd sink more than a foot or two into lava.
Also for vortex warp, you can warp a barbarian or assassin behind enemy lines to smoke a leader or caster without needing to go with them. That's huge.
I'm so glad you're not over reacting to Silvery Barbs like a bunch of people I've seen. That said I never see people mention Order Domain clerics, Voice of Authority plays so perfectly off both Silvery Barbs and Vortex Warp. Vortex Warp will let you position your front liners and give them a quick swing at an enemy or Silvery Barbs can give someone that same free reaction attack but with advantage. Either and bloom also interacts nicely as well. Order domain was definitely the sleeper cleric in Tasha's but for a one level dip it's now almost impossible to beat
I'm a little surprised you didn't talk more about Vortex warp on Artificers. It is the only teleportation spell on the Artificer spell list. It also qualifies for the Spell Storing Item meaning you could (by 11th level) teleport an entire party of 5 twice. Enough to get in and get out of somewhere in theory. Absolutely trying to convince my dm to allow it. Personally I think Silvery Barbs would still be a blue spell at 2nd level or maybe even 3rd level.
@@DaDunge You can though! Because you don't have to be the one to use the item, you can hand it off to the party's familiar, a tiny servant or anyone else.
@@DaDunge If we're talking about Tiny Servants and Familiars, they can fly. If not, still, there probably is at least one party member with alternative movement abilities who will be able to catch up.
Wither and Bloom is great. If your ally is surrounded by enemies and then knocked unconscious, you can use this spell (as arcane caster - which is really important) to wake that friend up and also damage (and possibly kill) some enemies. And it is also necromancy and we all know, that there are not enough damaging necromancy spells. So for Necromancy Wizard, I find this spell as no-brainer - wake up unconscious friend, damage all enemies in 20x20 area and possibility to self-heal for 6 HPs if you kill anyone seems worth second level spell slot. If you could heal more friends with this spell when cast on higher level, it would be even better (to have ability to heal up to X hit dice split between any number of creatures).
It should be slightly better damage for a second level slot or at least a better saving throw. 7 damage on average on a failed CONSTITUTION save? I love this spell's theme and idea but it could be a bit better for a 2nd level And it should specify you add your spell mod to the constitution mod of the healed person, OR be able to heal multiple characters
The video highlights the incredible defensive options that vortex warp provides. I think another good application of the spell would be teleporting your front-line martial party members into ranged enemies. Teleporting a fighter/paladin/barbarian on top of an enemy spellcaster is another great use of a 2nd level spell slot, especially considering the range. This gets even more effective from a sorcerer with twin spell, who could theoretically teleport allies into a flanking position.
I have the opposite view from you about Silvery Barbs and Vortex Warp. Vortex Warp is a fine spell, and I probably will be using and having fun with it, but it isn't a power level shift at all for the character who knows it. It's just another somewhat useful spell with good utility. Silvery Barbs forcing rerolls of failed saving throws is insanely strong. Making spells more difficult to resist is something very difficult to do in 5e until now. Silvery Barbs changes everything. It changes the power dynamics of spells, classes, and even what character builds are now most optimal. It should not have been printed.
Vortex Warp is also very powerful in the right party. Teleporting enemies back inside AoE effects like Sickening Radiance or Spike Growth, or inside a Wall of Force is very good. But if you don't have allies setting up those sorts of spells is it is decently powerful - teleporting your strikers into position is very good, getting allies out of grapples & restraint is very useful but both are situational, they won't be coming up in every combat.
Silvery barbs is fantastic on a bard that doesn't get shield, but as a wizard casting silvery barbs, you leave yourself without shield or absorb elements or counterspell. While this is still extremely powerful, leaving the caster defenseless is a downside. And, like mentioned in another comment, homebrewing the spell to make it require concentration would balance the spell quite nicely, especially at higher levels.
I agree. It should be banned, just like Twilight, Peace and Arcane Abeyance should be banned. Comparing it to spells that are above the curve because they're load bearing structures in the game (like shield, fireball, revivify, and the like) is wrongheaded. I bet these things are true; Everyone who can get it, gets it. Wizards typically prepare both shield and silvery barbs. Martials fall further behind the power curve and typically dip something to get silvery barbs. BROKEN.
You guys are all forgetting you can give Silvery Barbs to the NPC spell casters too. Plus it takes out other spell options, will most likely burn through their spell slots faster, and when they use it they are open for attack that turn because they can't use their reaction for shield afterwards. I would personally use this out of combat to win persuasion/intimidation checks.
@@popturt3549 A Draconic Sorcerer has all the survivability of a bard without casting Shield, so the importance of magical defense on mages is really overrated. Yes Absorb Elements is useful, but banishing the dragon is just better because 0 damage is better than 1/2 damage.
Wizards get a nice advantage using Borrowed Knowledge over other classes, the material component book of at least 25g is always fulfilled by the wizard's spellbook. A wizard's spellbook is worth 50g according to the default 5e equipment table.
Vortex warp is hilarious. A caster who uses this to move an enemy to the party who is setting up for surprise is just going to shut down a combat. Not to mention a twin-casted version of this on front line party members who suddenly appear beside an enemy. This is an ideal spell for swapping two party members places too for sorcerers.
Honestly I think that all of the controversy around Silvery Barbs could be fixed by a single action: making the aforementioned spell concentration. It creates a better risk/reward relationship for casting it, and brings its power more in line with other first level spells. The second half of Silvery Barbs lasts a minute as is, so it already makes sense!
Yes, that means it couldn't be used with any of your own spells that also use concentration. It would be a big nerf that also promotes teamwork. Good idea.
That just introduces even more unprecedented mechanical clumsiness. Simply making it a 3rd level spell would immediately fix 99% of the potential problems with it.
Wither and bloom combi's really well with poly morph since it can allow the user to expend the beast's hit dice. So you can extend the use of polymorh for some healing without the cost.
Still a pretty suboptimal spell. If I want to play a sorcerer with healing capabilities, I'd rather play a Divine Soul and take Healing Word and Aid, or a Clockwork Soul and retain the Aid spell it gets on its bonus spell list. For a wizad it's ... okay, I guess? ... but it's still not going to be one of my first choices. And I don't understand why it was even offered to druids. They have such stupidly better options for both damage and healing that taking this spell is simply a mistake.
@@jerommeke_T That seems pretty powerful to me! Gift of the Everliving Ones would max the hit points regained for every hit die you expend. Multiclassing with Moon Druid would be a good tank. It is too bad that you cannot cast spells while wildshaped. Could you Ready An Action to cast Wither and Bloom once in Wild Shape?
I think it is worth noting how powerful Silvery Barbs is with the Wizard's Spell mastery ability. Being able to cast this spell at-will is insane. I would easily take this over Shield or any other first level spell.
I was just saying this in Destructiboy's comments section. It would mean your reactions become an integral part of combat for you, because you will never go a round without an opportunity to use this spell not presenting itself.
There is one particular interesting case for Wither and Bloom: If a Sorcerer is attuned to a Bloodwell Vial, when they spend a Hit Die to regain hit points (as is the case when using Wither and Bloom) they may regain 5 sorcery points once per long rest. Which means that Wither and Bloom can become a recharge sort of spell - you can get back some HP and some sorcery points in a hurry (because sometimes you don't have the time for a short rest), and if you're doing this during the mopup phase of a fight you can even get a little bit of damage in as a bonus. I don't think it's going to be a deciding factor in an encounter, but the extra sorcery points you can get out of that might well make the difference in the next one.
One of the weaknesses of Vortex Warp is that it's yet another single-target spell that provides a saving throw ... and a CON saving throw at that. However, I think you're absolutely right; I'd practically never cast this spell on an enemy. I do think it's a bit circumstantial (you won't need to rescue a teammate in every combat), but I do agree that it's WELL worth taking. In fact, I cold see a Conjurer wizard (Conjurer just because teleportation is one of its specialties) taking both this and Misty Step right at third level and specializing in just moving people and himself around the battlefield until he gets more spells at 4th. ;-)
Wither and Bloom is amazing. It's curious you give it so little credit. Imagine the following really common scenario: The party cleric's turn comes and goes. Someone in the party is swarmed by 3 enemies and is brought to 0. Now the wizard is up. Usually, they could either ... o) ... ignore their fallen ally (which is bad, because then they lose a turn) o) ... run up and use a healing potion on their ally (this is not ideal because now the wizard is in melee with 3 enemies o) .. run up and use a 3rd/4th level spell just to teleport the ally away (they're still at 0 HP and still miss a turn) What if the ally is too far away to reach anyways? What if the monsters are blocking the path? What if we don't have 3rd/4th level slots left? In every single case, Wither and Bloom leads to a better outcome at a lower cost. The ally regains some HP and doesn't miss their turn. We expended the least amount of resources. We can heal (despite playing a class that usually can't do so) - and we do it from a very save distance. The fact that those 3 enemies around our ally take some damage and that we don't have to worry about friendly fire are minor bonuses. Then there are all the combos with HD rolling that some feats, subclasses and magic items provide and many situations where this spell would be even more effective, such as when facing minions. If Wither and Bloom can pick up an ally at 0 HP and kill even a single minion, it already pretty much achieves more than any other 2nd level wizard spell would - and that's saying a lot.
Your scenario actually sounds pretty circumstantial ... and Cris has already rated the spell better than the "overly circumstantial" level. I'd say it's useful but in no way "amazing."
I made a homebrew fighter subclass that does this. It was tricky because "move anybody" abilities tend to be high level spells, but that's also why I made the subclass. Vortex Warp makes balancing it possible!
Honestly I like wither and bloom for the fact that you can go send a zombie minion in and getting that much more mileage out of their tankiness while also dealing damage. Who cares if a minion spends hit dice, it's expendable anyway. Also one thing to note is how you can effect terrain, it's one of the few spells that can kill whole trees which can be useful for the creative and having a strong character in the party, or let's say vines block a doorway or enemies are climbing on them, that wither effect can cut off enemies from you or open new ways. It's definitely a nice flavorful addition to necromancy.
This spell is perfect for Abberant Mind Sorcerers. As an enchantment spell they could add swap it into their Psionic list. 6th level could cast Silvery Barbs for a single Sorcery Point without verbal or somatic components.
At lvl 10 when an enchantment wizard casts Silvery barbs they can actually have it effect 2 creatures. So you can do something like double Raulothim's Psychic Lance since its also an enchantment spell into silvery barbs.
@@imadethistocommentonthings4787 i dont believe you can twin cast silvery barbs unless it they are succeeding on a saving throw vs a AOE . Because you need 2 targets that have succeded on a roll20
@@jeffdybdal656 Damn you are right got caught up with the first part of the spell that i forgot tech the second part also targets someone ty 4 the correction
One thing Wither and Bloom would be good for is the sorcerer focus that gives you sorcery points when you roll a hit dice. A minor note, but pretty useful if you can do it.
Happy to see WotC giving wizards and sorcerers healing spells. I've always felt necromancy should be able to heal people, and Wither and Bloom both fills the niche of a healing spell and still feels like necromancy. Yes I know Life Transferance exists, I just don't like the idea of damaging myself to heal others, especially on a character with a d6 hit die. Also, it seems perfect for a Dark Sun Defiler type of character.
Actually...I hate it ! WotC is trying to make everyone being able to do everything !! There is no specialization anymore..We already have Bards, Clerics, Druids, Paladins, Rangers and then we had Warlocks and Sorcerer that could heal with a specific subclass...it just makes everything more of the same ..
Wither and Bloom is neat. You can use it to heal creatures that you normally wouldn't be able to heal, like constructs or undead. Now that is not going to come up in regular play all that often, but if you for example have a Battlesmith Artificer in your party with their Steel Defender, you have someone who plays the Autognome Unearthed Arcana race, or someone playing a homebrewed construct or undead race, you will be able to heal them when you normally couldn't or would have difficulty to heal them. Another neat interaction with Wither and Bloom is that the healing from it would be doubled by the Periapt of Wound Closure, if one of your party members has access to one.
The first thing I thought of was casting it on the tank when they're surrounded. The highest hit dice get the most mileage out of it, and it would catch every hostile engaged with them
With the exception of borrowed knowledge which is w/e i like all of the spells in the book, it's just a shame there's only 5 for a magical school setting set in the MTG universe that has tons of spells they could of pulled from. Vortex Warp in particular is my favourite, this brings out the divinity player in me.
I am currently playing a character based on your God Mage build awhile back, and level 4, riiiight before picking my fey touched spell and a few more level 2 spells. Vortex Warp and Silvery Barbs are going to be oh so much fun on that character and, as you said about 25 times in that video, trigger voice of authority.
The big thing I think with Wither and Bloom is that is gives wizards/sorcs a nerfed version of healing word. you dont use it for healing a tremendous amount of damage. you use it to bring someone out of unconscious.
Honestly, I'm kinda intrigued with Wither & Bloom. This is Healing Word and an AOE rolled into 1 action. So your bonus action is still free. Pick up your Martial who just dropped and ping all the enemies who managed to bring the Martial down at the same time.
Actually, it can be, but isn't necessarily, a little better than Healing Word because it "gives," or allows its target to *use,* a die anywhere from a d6 to a d12, as opposed to Healing Word's d4. So for a barbarian, it's probably going to be a little better than Healing Word cast at 2nd level, but for a wizard or sorcerer it's going to be distinctly worse. And frankly, second-level spells shouldn't be "possibly a little" better than first-level spells. The higher-level spells should simply outclass the lower level. And in the end, the character who just dropped is still sitting surrounded by enemies, which is really an unenviable ... and likely non-viable ... situation.
Love hearing about Silvery Barb so I won't have to dip a level or use a feat for my Bard to get Shield. It fits with the party and character so much more.
With the advent of SB, everyone that can is going to cast this spell A LOT. At higher levels you could burn through 1st level spell slots fast and the 2nd level slots won't be of much more value than 1st. So Borrowed Knowledge on a Diviner becomes a lot like a free use for all your 2nd level slots, since it converts a 2nd level slot that you would have otherwise used for SB, Shield, or Absorb Elements to a slot you can still use for those spells. However, in some irony, SB will make Hold Person, or any other marginal save or suck spell, a lot better, so I could see trying to cast that as a 2nd level slot (then you and your party can make them reroll a bunch until they fail the first roll, and repeat if they roll to get out)
So i am in agreement with you about votex warp and your analogy. That said, if you are playing a graviturgist and allowed it, its a perfect spell to put any creature into your more deveststing spell. I didnt hear any mention of not allowing the creature to be placed in danger so set up spell and use vortex to ensure they keep coming back.
Kinetic Jaunt on a Battlesmith Artificer (like the one I play) actually seems really good. I take the role of back-up Frontline combatant with my Steel Defender and I supporting our fighter and keeping him on his feet. I considered dipping into rogue or monk to increase my mobility and break away when the rear guard needs my bigger cure wounds spells. But KJ here gives me something else to consider. I don't concentrate on spells often right now.
Kinetic jaunt seems like a pretty useful arcane trickster pick as they can booming blade, free disengage, and dash or hide every round. Eldritch knights with polearm master could also get reliable reaction attacks out of a free disengage. In older editions of dnd, different casting classes could get access to the same spell at different levels. This kind of feels like the same thing. This and vortex warp are my favorites of the new spells (given that I don't plan to allow silvery barbs or expect other dms to do so either).
Although I doubt this is going to change your analysis at all, Zephyr Strike uses only a verbal component (good for a weapon holder) and Kinetic Jaunt uses only a somatic component (good for getting out of a Silence spell). I could see a Bladesinger making good use of kinetic jaunt to be a melee striker at low levels. But overall, I agree that Kinetic Jaunt is just an OK spell.
The main use case I have for Kinetic Jaunt is on the Battlesmith, eldritch knight & arcane trickster, they are the ones who would want multiturn skirmishing mobility but don't get access to Zephyr Strike
Everyone talks about Abberant Mind Sorcerer regarding Silvery Barbs. But the true powerhouse imho is the Order Domain Cleric. Granted, it's a bit more fiddly to get Silvery Barbs with a cleric (Magic Initiate, Fey Touched or one of the new magic items from this book). But since the spell also targets an ally Voice of Authority is applicable. Meaning the ally can immediately use their reaction to attack with advantage. You will be any rogues new best friend.
Since wither and bloom uses hit die, it can trigger things that trigger off of hit die rolls like the bloodwell vial. Using a 2nd lv spell and a bloodwell vial, a sorcerer can restore 5 sp as an action once per day
Wither and Bloom is a healing option for wizards as you mentioned, so it can be useful in an emergency or depending on your party. I’ve played in a party of 4 in which we only had one person with access to healing options, and when lever she went down in combat it would have been doom for us if I hadn’t stocked up on healing pots which I was ready to give her in such a case Edit: at lvl 18 (victory lap levels ofc) you have a form of healing up the party without short rests if you choose it for your Spell Mastery Notably, it’s not endless since it spends hit dice
Kinetic Jaunt mimics the halfling racial trait, that you can move through other People’s space… It’s perfect for melee Arcane tricksters to rush in from the second row of the battle line and have a sneak attack!
Kinetic jaunt is amazing actually... it can allow a caster to maintain distance for 10 rounds on a determined attacker if coupled with Ray of frost. Set up jaunt as a bonus action, run, then ray... a 30 speed enemy is gonna use both actions to stay even, as even a double move will now be 20 feet x 2. And even if they end up next to you, you can move away freely with your 40 speed because you can't be opportunity attacked. And that's if you don't lead them through allies (and their opportunity attacks) or difficult terrain. Now even if whatever it is is somehow willing to be kited for 10 turns, that's 10 ray of frosts it's gonna eat 45 damage on average... and 90 damage at level 5. All for a 2nd level spell. This is amazing if you have a dm with a "kill the wizard first" mentality.
This is also amazing for when your dm finds ways to separate your wizard from the party and have some tanky monster come for you. At 3rd level, being able to kite most things for 10 rounds is gonna help a lot. But... if you also happen to be a sorcerer... a single extended kinetic jaunt can allow you to kite anything for 20 rounds, doing 90 damage on average. Before it can close on you. Plus whatever you cast on turn 21. If you're level 5... well... that's 180 average damage before the thing can catch you. Obviously this is best coupled with a race that has higher than 30 speed too. If you have a tabaxi doing this you could straight solo cheese things way above your weight class.
In fact, it cannot be dash+attack, it has to be attack+dash (which makes a huge difference on melee builds). This limitation can be much bigger that it seems. If that enemy is f.i. 40 ft from you, you cannot reach him to attack and you cannot use dash to reach him, because you wouldn't have action to do any attack (if you are not Minotaur, but he still cannot do this on the same turn, because both Zephyr Strike and his horns attack cost BA). In those situations, you are forced to move closer (in our case 10 ft from enemy) do 1 attack with thrown weapon (with advantage and bonus dmg), then you can move next to that enemy and follow with your second attack (from extra attack feature after lvl 5).
@@JuckiCZ if the enemy is 40 ft away, could the ranger not fire an arrow, move at least 40 ft, then make their second attack with a sword? I allow drawing a weapon to be part of the attack action, so they either drop the bow or stowe it (bonus action at my table). You don't have to hit with the attack, so a Strength ranger could still shoot an arrow or throw a dagger then get in melee, right?
@@jeepersmcgee3466 Not everyone allows such actions at their table. And doing one attack only to turn this ability on and wasting opportunity to attack with your main weapon (possibly magical), main stat is really sub-optimal. If you normally do with longsword +8/1d8+7 and instead of that attack with bow for +2/1d8-1, it really isn’t OK.
Relieved to see the calm assessment of silvery barbs 🙂 Looking forward to seeing vortex warp and kinetic jaunt in play, mobility options early into 5e seemed thin on the ground but now we're seeing more it'll lead to much more dynamic and cinematic combat.
On first look it seems to me Kinetic Jaunt could be pretty great for Gish builds, like Sword bards or Bladesinger wizards. The spell seems custom made for getting in and out of combat quickly, not having to worry about oppertunity attacks or getting surrounded and trapped. Teleport spells just don't cut it for that circumstance. I'm mostly wondering if there are spells of the same level competing for your concentration.
@@mattconw It takes arcane tricksters a long time (level 9) to be able to cast it. Sure it's nice, but their BA disengage / dash is just as effective most of the time.
Teleports are great, except when you have to cast them every round to skirmish because you aren’t a coward caster. Zephyr Strike is great, if you’re a Ranger. For every other use case where you don’t have a free disengage (so most), Kinetic Jaunt.
Borrowed knowledge sounds good but... Enhance ability is also a Lv2 spell. When you put the 2 against one another i think Enhance ability has the advantage, so to speak
@@davidcollins8639 This. So much this. I don't think I'd take it for a bard since they have a limit on spells known and also have access to Enhance Ability, which is slightly better, especially for the Jack-of-all-Trades bard, but I would *TOTALLY* take this with a wizard who can buy spell scrolls and scribe them into his spellbook, or a cleric who can choose his prepared spells daily.
The big problem I see with Borrowed Knowledge is, like Guidance, you would have to cast it before the DM asks you for the roll. You can't cast it after they say "Roll a nature check", so you have to know in advance which skill they may ask you to roll.
Actually, I think that in many cases you COULD cast the spell after being told to make a check; especially if it's a knowledge check (as would usually be the case in the scenario you describe). Now no, you couldn't do that if the DM called for a Perception check (or used your passive Perception score), but if you're looking for information? Absolutely you could use the spell first, just as you could use it just before entering a negotiation.
Kinetic jaunt looks like a spell tailor made for sorcadins. You mean my smite-machine can sprint past their meat shields and dance with their backline? Yes please!
About the “reroll the d20” and advantage: I can think of a different way to read it. With advantage, you roll 2d20, take the highest. The way I read it, Silvery Barbs can make you reroll the higher d20 and “use” its result, but only for that die: it’s still part of the overall roll made with advantage. if the lower d20 from the initial roll with advantage is higher than the rerolled d20, *that* result, not the rerolled die, would determine if the save succeeds.
I understand your logic and I would frankly love to nerf this spell but I think your interpretation is overly complex and not what was intended. I think comparing the spell to the cronurgy wizard feature with its limited uses, to the grave cleric ability to counter crits and to the heightened metamagic shows it is overpowered and is incredibly applicable to many different combat scenarios. A 6th level aberrant mind sorcerer who put it on their psychic spell list could cast this six times for 1 sourcery point a time before dipping into their spell slots at all. That is way to much time bending reroll if you don't like the dice for me personally. And so much better than casting two heightened spells
I think this is the correct interpretation. 1. You roll 2d20, discard the lower, use the higher, let's call it X, X succeeds on the roll 2. Caster casts silvery barbs 3. You roll 2d20, discard the lower, keep the higher, let's call it Y 4. Then you compare X and Y, discard the highest, and use the lower
@@nicka3697 Plus it is available through Fey Touched feat so it isn't at all unlikely for you to have two characters in the same party capable of casting Silvery Barbs.
I really can't believe that they didn't cover this more explicitly in the spell. Is it really too much to ask to have one or two extra sentences to cover a really common situation? Even if the designers feel it's covered by a strict reading of the exact wording elsewhere, surely they realise most people aren't lawyers and could do with a hint.
My five cents: Borrowed Knowledge is a nice pick for an Arcane Trickster because of Reliable Talent. Silvery Bards and Vortex Warp are crazy good for the level, not particularly broken but the power creep is real.
Borrowed Knowledge seems like it'd be really good on a level 11 Arcane Trickster rogue. Cast a spell, and suddenly you can roll any skill check you want with a minimum of 10 on the die.
Kinetic jaunt is a great spell for the artificer to have as its spell stored item ability at 11th lvl if you’re certain you are going to need speedy exits from dungeons, etc. You can give the whole party this ability for one minute.
Longstrider or Expeditious Retreat are better for that purpose. The former is without Concentration, the latter gives a bigger speed bonus. And both last longer. The purpose of Kinetic Jaunt is mostly for in-combat mobility, not for escapes. Oh, and that not mentioning that you can't put it into Spell-Storing Item at all since it requires a spell with a casting time of 1 action.
I feel like no one has mentioned this for vortex warp but you can teleport enemies into your friendly casters field control spells like evards black tentacles, sickening radiance, etc.
Silvery barbs: Contender for new best spell in the game. forcing a reroll of a saving throw after the facts is incredibly strong for battlefield controllers. Imagine this on an Eloquence bard, that used its bonus aciton für unsettling words. Borrowed Knowlegde: very thematic. funny thing: Spell-books- kost 50 gp, so no ned for wizards to buy components. Kinetic jaunt: I actually think the best comparison to this is Misty Step. It covers the one big downside when trying to escape with misty step: the need to see the target space. Niche case of course. Vortex warp: realyl interesting Spell. It is really strong to rearrange your party and/or enemies around dangerous terrain/situation. Strong spell. Witehr and blood: The healing is not that impressive, and the damage isnt either, but target seelction is nice, and multipurpose is also good. ALso actual healing for arcane classes could be an intresting "panic button"
@@antongrigoryev6381 You cant cast misty stepin (magical) darkness, fog or while blinded, that is covered by Jaunt, as you simply move. disadvantge of jaunt is of course, it doesnt work whiel restraiend or grappeld. on the other hand.
@@TainakaRicchan I mean, how often are you both in darkness and totally surrounded by enemies that you can't just walk away? They can't do an opportunity attack if they don't see you anyways. Even if they do see you, just Disengage. If you wouldn't have much to do with your action anyways if you were to use a bonus action spell.
@@antongrigoryev6381 in my personal experience:: too often. Truesight/devilsight/blindsight is stupidly common iny my rounds for some reason. Admitedly, one the roudns is in avernus atm, so yeah, lots of devils... also if you disengage, you dont need to misty step either, so that is not an arguemnt for or against either. ;)
The main use case I have for Kinetic Jaunt is on the eldritch knight & arcane trickster, they are the ones who would want multiturn skirmishing mobility but don't get access to Zephyr Strike
There's a specific subclass that can make really good use of Wither and Bloom: Shepard Druid with Unicorn Totem summoned. The Unicorn's description specifically says 'if you cast a spell using a spell slot that restores hit points', which applies to Wither and Bloom. Thus it gives you a way to deal decent damage, heal the people in range of the spell going off, AND heal everyone in the aura all at the same time. In addition, my Druid got a really lucky roll and race combo and has 20 Wisdom to start with, so that healing is automatically +7 regardless of the actual dice roll. I ended up fully healing up our Paladin tank who'd taken heavy damage AND healed myself nearly up to full thanks to the Unicorn Totem.
I think one thing you overlooked on Silvery Barbs is that, rules as written, it can even over-write legendary resistances. Those say that, when you fail a saving throw, you may choose to save, thus triggering the 'when a creature saves ....' in Silvery Barb an negating the use of legendary resistance. DMs may homebrew that away, but that seems to be the rules as written at least.
Another thing People haven't noticed about vortex warp. If there's spike growth, you can put the enemies in that place, it won't always work, becuase CON save, but there's that option Though as you've said, it's better as a way to get allies out of danger
I really don't get how you can't think of silvery barbs as a "clear standout". It's easily the best level 1 spell and one of the best spells (for its cost) in the game. The effect is so strong and versatile that you would often use level 2 or even 3 spellslots for it. Sometimes an enemy failing a saving throw can end whole encounters, a measily level 1 slots to boost the chances for that significantly (with the added bonus of advantage for an ally) is extremely worth. And at mid to high levels the only level 1 spells worth using are shield and mage armor anyway, both ones which Bards don't even have. To measure how underpriced the spell really is, just compare it to other features. It is cutting words, unsettling words, chronal shift, Sentinel at Death's Door, Warding Flare, Heightened Spell and many other features and spells all in one (often even stronger than those features). Most often it's the iconic feature of a subclass. Heightened Spell costs 3 sorcery points, and you need to activate it before the target makes the saving throw, rendering it useless if the target would fail anyway. This spell is just pure powercreep, way too cheap and versatile. It shouldn't exist
If a spellcaster can win a challenging fight with one failed saving throw then it wasn't a very well designed encounter, silvery barbs or not. Chris' response seems reasonable to me, it's a blue spell (must have) and he says it can easily eat spell slots from potential overuse because of it's versatility. Power creep, maybe a little but not too much. Mostly it seems to be a massive buff to Bards and spellcasters lacking a good reaction via fey touched (e.g. Clerics and Warlocks). Whereas Wizards and Sorcerers always had shield, absorb elements and counterspell as options, silvery barbs doesn't raise the bar much for them by comparison.
@@reespewa I see your point, and agree with the single failed saving throw shouldn't end a good encounter. But even for wizards and sorcerers their level 1 and 2 slots are only for defensive tools, that you use when you are already in a bad situation. But Silvery Barbs is not only extremely good defensive (pretty much negating crits, and granting on average as much AC as shield would against a single attack), but is at its strongest if used offensively. You even count counterspell which is a level 3 spell, it shouldn't even be comparable to a level 1 spell. And I think you ignored the point on how a level 1 slot is not nearly enough for the effect. Comparable features that I mentioned above use either very limited or contested resources. 3 Sorcery Points for Heightened Spell is pretty much a level 3 spellslot, Warding Flare has 3-5 uses per long rest. Just to make an example of how broken this spell is: You are a wizard casting Hold Monster on the biggest threat in a fight. The monster succeeds on its saving throw. Now, normally, the wizard would have to try again in the next turn, use his/her action and a level 5 spellslot. Now with Silvery Barbs he/she would use a reaction and a level 1 spell to pretty much cast Hold Monster again, all while giving advantage to the Paladins next attack.
@@KawaiiAzusa so it made a mediocre spell better? I'm not sure that's the game breaker you think it is, sounds more like it's rebalancing the game. I've seen arguments for Silvery Barbs that it does a lot to rebalance save and suck spells as well as boost classes like Bard who needed a good reaction. I won't argue that it's powerful, it definitely is. Is it worth a 2nd level spell slot? Maybe. But I'd argue the same for Shield and many of the best 1st level spells. In my personal view there's not actually a huge power difference between the best 1st level spells and a lot of 2nd lvl spells (at high levels 1st and 2nd spell slots are pretty interchangeable), it's 2nd - 3rd that's always been the biggest jump imo. I can live with it being a 1st or 2nd level spell, both seem within the variation of 5e's current power curve.
@@reespewa If you really think Bard, one of the best classes in the game, needs a boost, then I really don't know what to say. Silvery Barbs is just a huge buff to casters, so now martials fall even harder behind. Many save or suck spell don't need rebalancing, they do what they are supposed to do. And you say it's ok to make them pretty much double as powerful with an extra level 1 slot is a good idea? And that is only one application of a spell that has one of the biggest range of utility in the game. A single level 1 spell should not rebalance alot of the game, especially if it is a clear buff to the best classes in the game and obtainable on your spell list with a feat. So now never again should old features like cutting words or heightened spell be used anymore, as there are way better and cheaper alternatives?
Kinetic Jaunt looks nice for Artificers, who do not have access to Misty Step or most teleportation spells. It doesn't specify if you can stop in an occupied space to make an attack before finishing your move, you could see it as gaining half your movement in reach. Vortex Wrap is the first teleportation spell Artificers get and they can't teleport themselves with it. While it can't cause fall damage there is nothing preventing you from placing an enemy in a harmful effect like a Wall of Fire.
First thing I thought of with Silvery barbs....level 1 enchantment spell that grants advantage on your next attack? And is applicable to Arcane Trickster? Aw yeah :D
1. Use Mold Earth to dig deep holes. 2. Vortex Warp your enemies to the bottom. 3. Bury them! Teleporting enemies to the Sickening Radiance sounds nasty too. If there is two casters with Vortex warp you can make teleportation chain.
I like that Wither and Bloom can be used to heal a downed ally from range while still causing damage to multiple targets, even if light damage. It’s like Healing Word but with damage for a higher slot.
I got the impression Vortex Warp would be good. The two systems aren't completely comparable, but it reminds me a lot of the Warp and Rescue staves/tomes from Fire Emblem. In certain Fire Emblem games you can rip maps in half by just using Warp (although in some of those games Warp has infinite range), like by getting one of your strongest units in range of a boss or having a tank choke a point, and this is Warp with the ranged targeting of Rescue that you could also use on enemies to get them into disadvantageous positions. All in all, a very interesting transportation spell. I like that it's on the Artificer list, as well.
re: Vortex Warp, that person is ignoring a lot of other options. You could stick someone up in a tree, giving them the opportunity to fall on their way down and taking them out of combat. You can also put your enemy in water, taking them out of combat for a bit (bonus points if they're in heavy armor and now having to swim). Put them on thin ice, let the fun begin. Obviously works better with allies, but there are so many inconvenient places you can try to transport enemies.
ב"ה Bards have only 4 slots per day for silvery barbs, but wizards can get them back with arcane recovery, so 8 1st level slots for this spell for them. Other comments already mentioned the abberant mind sorcerer casting it for a single sorcery point. And you know what? This spell is so good that I can see myself using 2nd level slots for it if I run out of 1st level slots.
My name is David and I'm not a supporter and I've been debating diving in. This was a well-timed video, sir. Re: Kinetic Jaunt v. Zephyr Strike -- it certainly seems like the latter is geared for a player and the former a DM that got their BBEG caster caught in a Silence spell and flanked by a Sentinel-having Fighter. Super situational.
I think the whole point of KJ is the multiround duration, so misty step is not a good comparison. This is meant for gish builds like the ranger who don't get Zephyr strike. arcane tricksters, sword bards, battlesmits, bladesongs, eldritch knights.
I too was amazed over all the fuzz around SB and no one talked about Vortex warp. Saving friends is a given but even against enemies it's really strong. Put the bad guy in lava. Draw the human bandit leader away from their campfire and place him in the dark forest were you and your darkvision party members make short work of him. In naval combat you can place their captain in the ocean. Place an enemy at a ledge and push them over with eldrich blast or something. Put them on a stable surface and then change the property of that surface, a plank hanging over a ravine locked in place, for now. Save the princess without fighting the dragon. Kidnap the evil emperor. My dm will absolutely hate this spell and I will have the time of my life
Teleport an enemy into a control or persistent area effect spell, pop the enemy or ideally ally next to each other or away from each other - Vortex Warp is frankly amazing...
I've tried to homebrew a spell for my twilight cleric that's all about using a balance of Light(offense) and Darkness(defense/healing), so I wanted to make a spell that dealt damage AND healed, and I found _no such spell_ on the internet, then I talked to my DM and we came to the conclusion that even if we ignore how busted the Twilight Cleric is, it'd break the action economy and DnD's design for healing if we had a spell that healed AND dealt damage (since usually if you're healing you're not doing damage). And I honestly thought that such a spell would never exist, but I liked the way WotC found a way to balance it out (spending a hit die to heal one person and dealing small damage), and even though I'm not going to use this spell for my character, I really want to use it for a future character
Well you also have Life Transference and Vampiric Touch. Life Transference deals damage to yourself so to homebrew you'd have to balance out the negative since what you want is all positive, so perhaps instead of 4d8 damage to yourself for 8d8 healing, your spell could just deal 3d8 damage to a creature and only heal an ally for 3d8. Then it would basically act like a slightly weaker upcast Cure Wounds with a slightly weaker basic Guiding Bolt attached to it for free. Then you have the rather weak Vampiric Touch which is melee, deals only 3d6 damage (for a third level slot), only heals yourself for half that, and requires concentration so you can't do it while concentrating any other (better) spells, but you can continue doing it as an action each turn after if you really wanted to spend your action that way but it doesn't seem like the greatest option. If you were still interested in homebrewing something for that type of character, you could look at is improving Vampiric Touch and just using a combination of those two spells. I like that sort of health manipulation as a mechanic. On a MUD that I played (and briefly developed for long ago), I had started working on a class called a Channeler that would act as a healer by channeling their own health into their teammates, then replenish their health by draining it directly from enemies, so you have this sort of constant resource management. If you had an actually useful version of Vampiric Touch active while you were casting Life Transference to heal up people that could be pretty interesting.
@@tarrickmerdev2324 that's some really awesome ideas! Tbh, it sounds a lot like Soraka from LoL, which I like very much. And even though I'm not going to use that type of healing for my twilight cleric, I think I'm gonna use it for a character on my first GURPS campaign this week, thanks!
While it is not normally a great feat, I could see a lot of goodness out of combining Wither and Bloom on a caster with Durable on a Fighter or Barbarian for some really reliable healing, especially for the Wizard or Sorcerer who may normally lack healing options.
Or on the pact of the chain warlock with gift of the everliving one and a periapt of wound closure ''While you wear this pendant, you stabilize whenever you are dying at the start of your turn. In addition, whenever you roll a Hit Die to regain hit points, double the number of hit points it restores.'' I'm fairly certain there are some other cleric or druid subclasses that could boost this healing even more (life domain, star circle)
I think the main reason Kinetic Jaunt isn't too much better than Zephyr Strike is because Zephyr Strike is normally available *only* to the half-caster ranger, so their first level spell would naturally be closer in power to a 2nd level spell.
One of the main things I kept seeing with Vortex Warp is What is a Surface/Liquid Teleport a creature onto a Wall of Force suspended over a cliff then drop concentration Lava is a liquid that could potentially support creatures.
You know, I was kind of on the fence about Vortex Warp. The ability to teleport enemies into an AOE concentration spell is cool, but I'm not a fan of CON saves. I didn't even think about teleporting allies. I also didn't think that it gave you effectively 180. I always think of range in one direction. I never thought of a spell using range in all directions like that. 🤯
I think vortex warp is better than I originally thought, but I still don’t think it deserves blue. At the very least, it DEFINITELY shouldn’t be better than silvery barbs. Being able to rescue allies is cool and all, but a lot of the time, the people that need to be rescued are the squishies themselves; aka, you. I wouldn’t take this spell over misty step, and having both would start creating redundancy/opportunity cost. If a cleric could take it it’s awesome, and it’s definitely great on artificer, I just feel like that as a wizard, you should focus your spells more on debuffing opponents than rescuing allies at this level. It’s great on sorcerers as a twinspell option though. Meanwhile silvery barbs would be usable as a third level spell
SB could have just offered the bane effect, subtract a d4 to successful saving throw, and it still would be quite good and I would always want it whenever possible. Only saving throws, much less of a negative effect, and no advantage to someone else, still very good.
For Kinetic Jaunt, I can see that being clutch for those classes to use defensively in a situation where people are getting out of Dodge or in a chase situation. Misty step is a thing yes, but for the cost of a single misty step, you get 10 rounds of 10 more feet of movement, no opportunity attacks, and can move through blockers (better than misty step in a multi round situation described above). Is it maybe a bit niche, sure, but its pretty clutch in those niche situations and it can be used as a poor man's misty step in battle if you are just trying to be a bit fresh. All in all, I think its a good add.
Right? Really the closest thing to this benefit previously was Far Step, which at 5th level is a really limited resource for most classes, if you even make to that level, and requires your bonus action every use. Granted there was ranger only zephyr strike and 3rd level Ashardalon's stride but neither lets you move through an enemies space.
Kinetic Jaunt probably ought to have had a 10 minute duration. It's a spell you'd like to setup before combat or potentially use for a few combats while rushing through an area. Also, why does this spell only affect the caster? Just imagine what a rogue could get up to while under the effect of both this spell and invisibility, for instance.
Cheers Treant, Informative as always! Just a question regarding Silvery barbs. Don't you think that the phrasing regarding the single d20 should be read in regard of the first part of the spell description ("1 reaction, which you take when... --succedes-- ....)? In case of advantage, the succeeding roll would be the higher of the two (which is ultimately the one used to determine success/failure). This would be a little different mechanically than simply canceling advantage, since you are actually "pivoting" on the higher value (succeeding) into a disadvantage roll. Es: roll 18/12 (adv), 18 selected, roll a third dice, 15, which being the lower in [15,18] gets picked.
If you are using xanathar's crafting rules, with Borrowed Knowledge, the caster can craft things that normally they could not. For example, my Forge cleric does not have a proficiency in Arcana. With this spell, I can now create spell scrolls and magic items. Second, not so reachable advantage of the spell may be the wizards' ability to cast 2nd level spells without expending a spell slot at 18th level. They could Misty Step infinitely, or they are proficient in all skills in the game, every day, when Misty Step'ping is not necessary.
Vortex Warp sounds great! get your allies out, and your enemies into all those nasty areas, like wall of fire or spike growth~ only thing i‘m wondering is: why is it a CON save? WotC please! that should be CHA!
Thanks, Chris! We just hit 3,000 last night!! Really appreciate your friendship!
Your channel is great. I expect those numbers will only grow.
@@elementzero3379 Hope so! Thanks!
Congrats! Let's shoot for higher!
@@TreantmonksTemple Heck yeah!
@@FryMinis 5K before new years eve... I just added one at least...
Why does WoC think that a requirement for something to be a necromancy spell is that it can't be very good?
Exactly! They just can't figure out one of the most iconic forms of magic for some reason. I'll go out on a sturdy limb and say 90% of necromancer spells are awful and only good thematically or for rp
@@vetobandito2635 The ones that are good are the revive spells, what used to be healing was shifted to evocation fsr, and the rest are just unbalanced like Animate Dead, which I like but it bogs down games or trivializes some encounters. Everything else is terrible.
@@gavinerickson9392 That's hardly limited to Animate Dead; most of the PH druid conjuration spells are just as unbalancing and slow down the game or trivialize encounters at least as badly, if not more so. In fact, I'd say the druid conjuration spells are still dramatically better than Animate Dead. After all, you don't have to resort to multiple castings of Conjure Animals to end up with eight (or 16, or 24) relatively low-level minions. Even upcasting Animate Dead isn't as good as doing the same with the druid conjurations. Wizards certainly does screw over necromancers.
@@morganpetros9635 I agree, but we're strictly speaking Necromancy here, Conjuration is definitely one of the most powerful schools.
Well, as a plus side, Wither and Bloom can be used to heal an undead minion. Probably still not worth the spell slot, but maybe in some cases.
Damn! I started a dnd session just now so I can't watch... I want to know the full stance on silvery barbs! Oh well, adleast I'm playing dnd!
Silvery barb would work with lv 10 slit enchantment for the school of enchantment.
Combined with any single target enchantment save spell would get ridiculous like irresistible dance just of the top of my head.
At lv 18 spell mastery would make this more ridiculous. Infinite casting of twin Tasha's mind whip or hideous laughter with twin silvery barbs just sounds very broken!
Silvery barbs would also be effective with the new spell from that draconic addition lv4 spell psychic lance if split enchanted 2 target worth of 7D6 damage with incapacitation for 1 turn. that's good damage & you shut down 2 target partially or completely for the enchantment spells mentioned & silvery barbs would near guarantee the slit spell hits.
If silvery barbs is made official then Enchanters just had a major power boost while already strong. Enchanter are already in the top 5 of dozen or so schools.
This addition would make it near comparable to a chronomancy.
Some one should be studying :p
@@blairbrook1336 Shush! lol
@@arnijulian6241 by eighteenth level wizards can do a lot of op stuff. But spell mastery only gives you one first level spell and one second. Hold person and silvery barb would really help make sure at least one of the targets was held and you could cast the silvery barbs again on subsequent rounds if thry make the saving throw. I'm more worried about it being used with say feeblemind at that point to effectively cast an 8th spell again as a reaction if the first attempt doesn't land (you would only get the psychic damage once of course but that's not why you're casting feeblemind).
The aberrant mind sorcerer should see the most significant benefit from silvery barbs, given that he can put it on his psionic spell list and convert an arbitrary number of spell slots into sorcery points.
uhmm where do the arbitrary number of spell slots come from?
@@utkuutku5203 they either mean flexible casting which is a generic sorcerer thing or the 6th level feature that allows the user to use a number of sorcery points to cast a psionic spell without a spell slot (the number is dependent on the spell level) most likely they mean the latter
I'm already under the impression that two levels of Sorcerer post-Tasha's is lowkey awesome for higher-level Wizards because of Metamagic Shards and the Metamagic Adept feat. Thanks for giving me yet another reason to go this class!
@@waifusmith4043 They mean both.
Convert higher slots for sorcery points so you can cast Silvery Bards directly from that stash thanks to their 6th Level Ability.
@@waifusmith4043 It takes both my man. They peas and carrots.
So, two things about Vortex Warp that I absolutely love: first, it's Conjuration so it'll refresh the use of Benign Transposition for Conjuration Wizards, and the second being no size limit, meaning that the large/huge enemy creature just needs to fit in a room and you could trap it behind a tight corridor/doorway.
But the drawback is it being a Constitution Save, which is usually from not terrible to the enemies’ best save. Specially bigger enemies tend to have higher Con
Wither and Bloom also combos well with the feat "Durable" as it says: When you roll a Hit Die to regain hit points, the minimum number of hit points you regain from the roll equals twice your Constitution modifier (minimum of 2).
Very specific but still noteworthy.
As a Divination Wizard main, I love Borrowed Knowledge. Let's you build your character optimally (Selecting as many Int based skills as possible) then during any social situations (e.g: haggling for that sweet sweet ink and paper), you will have a decent chance at success. Not to mention it doesn't require concentration so if the rolls are really important, you can stack Enhance Ability on this for advantage. While not the best spell, it's really cool flavour wise. Wish it was skill/tool prof tho, then it would be very worthwhile.
people complaining about vortex warp having to teleport enemies onto ground or on top of liquid are forgetting that means you can teleport them onto, lava, acid pits, into walls of fire, spike growths, wall of thorns, back onto the ground in a reverse gravity so that they fall up and hit the ceiling again, or any other terrain hazard that isn't "falling down" that you can think of.
Actually, the spell description says "on a surface or in a liquid *that can support the target,* " so no, you can't teleport it onto a pool of lava or acid ... unless the target is a ghost or other creature that can just naturally float on liquids. The Spike Growth, Wall of Thorns, Wall of Fire (Web, Transmuted Rock, etc) idea is excellent, however.
@@morganpetros9635 I personally would interpret "can support the target" as in any liquid the target would be buoyant in, not that they can stand on top of. Otherwise it wouldn't let you teleport them onto liquids at all as that would only allow for like, a corn starch water mixture or something equally gelatinous, and honestly that seems too specific to be design intent. At that point the spell would probably just specify only "a solid surface"
@@morganpetros9635 I have an *EXTREMELY* pedantic correction that likely doesn't even apply in DnD (according to rules as written): Lava is incredibly dense and can definitely "support" a medium or possibly even large sized creature (assuming that they're not an earth genasi/elemental or something that is about as dense as rock). Anything (large or smaller) not resistant or immune to fire will likely die from surface contact damage MUCH faster than they'd sink more than a foot or two into lava.
Also for vortex warp, you can warp a barbarian or assassin behind enemy lines to smoke a leader or caster without needing to go with them. That's huge.
I'm so glad you're not over reacting to Silvery Barbs like a bunch of people I've seen. That said I never see people mention Order Domain clerics, Voice of Authority plays so perfectly off both Silvery Barbs and Vortex Warp. Vortex Warp will let you position your front liners and give them a quick swing at an enemy or Silvery Barbs can give someone that same free reaction attack but with advantage. Either and bloom also interacts nicely as well. Order domain was definitely the sleeper cleric in Tasha's but for a one level dip it's now almost impossible to beat
I'm a little surprised you didn't talk more about Vortex warp on Artificers. It is the only teleportation spell on the Artificer spell list. It also qualifies for the Spell Storing Item meaning you could (by 11th level) teleport an entire party of 5 twice. Enough to get in and get out of somewhere in theory. Absolutely trying to convince my dm to allow it.
Personally I think Silvery Barbs would still be a blue spell at 2nd level or maybe even 3rd level.
Never any artificer love :(
Not an entire party of 5 unfortunately you can never teleport yourself with vortex warp. That said I prepared it first chance I got on my artificer.
@@DaDunge You can though! Because you don't have to be the one to use the item, you can hand it off to the party's familiar, a tiny servant or anyone else.
@@patrickhobing8785 Yes but then they get stuck. The person holding the item gets stuck.
@@DaDunge If we're talking about Tiny Servants and Familiars, they can fly. If not, still, there probably is at least one party member with alternative movement abilities who will be able to catch up.
Wither and Bloom is great.
If your ally is surrounded by enemies and then knocked unconscious, you can use this spell (as arcane caster - which is really important) to wake that friend up and also damage (and possibly kill) some enemies.
And it is also necromancy and we all know, that there are not enough damaging necromancy spells.
So for Necromancy Wizard, I find this spell as no-brainer - wake up unconscious friend, damage all enemies in 20x20 area and possibility to self-heal for 6 HPs if you kill anyone seems worth second level spell slot.
If you could heal more friends with this spell when cast on higher level, it would be even better (to have ability to heal up to X hit dice split between any number of creatures).
It should be slightly better damage for a second level slot or at least a better saving throw. 7 damage on average on a failed CONSTITUTION save? I love this spell's theme and idea but it could be a bit better for a 2nd level
And it should specify you add your spell mod to the constitution mod of the healed person, OR be able to heal multiple characters
The video highlights the incredible defensive options that vortex warp provides. I think another good application of the spell would be teleporting your front-line martial party members into ranged enemies.
Teleporting a fighter/paladin/barbarian on top of an enemy spellcaster is another great use of a 2nd level spell slot, especially considering the range. This gets even more effective from a sorcerer with twin spell, who could theoretically teleport allies into a flanking position.
I have the opposite view from you about Silvery Barbs and Vortex Warp. Vortex Warp is a fine spell, and I probably will be using and having fun with it, but it isn't a power level shift at all for the character who knows it. It's just another somewhat useful spell with good utility. Silvery Barbs forcing rerolls of failed saving throws is insanely strong. Making spells more difficult to resist is something very difficult to do in 5e until now. Silvery Barbs changes everything. It changes the power dynamics of spells, classes, and even what character builds are now most optimal. It should not have been printed.
Vortex Warp is also very powerful in the right party. Teleporting enemies back inside AoE effects like Sickening Radiance or Spike Growth, or inside a Wall of Force is very good. But if you don't have allies setting up those sorts of spells is it is decently powerful - teleporting your strikers into position is very good, getting allies out of grapples & restraint is very useful but both are situational, they won't be coming up in every combat.
Silvery barbs is fantastic on a bard that doesn't get shield, but as a wizard casting silvery barbs, you leave yourself without shield or absorb elements or counterspell. While this is still extremely powerful, leaving the caster defenseless is a downside. And, like mentioned in another comment, homebrewing the spell to make it require concentration would balance the spell quite nicely, especially at higher levels.
I agree. It should be banned, just like Twilight, Peace and Arcane Abeyance should be banned. Comparing it to spells that are above the curve because they're load bearing structures in the game (like shield, fireball, revivify, and the like) is wrongheaded. I bet these things are true; Everyone who can get it, gets it. Wizards typically prepare both shield and silvery barbs. Martials fall further behind the power curve and typically dip something to get silvery barbs. BROKEN.
You guys are all forgetting you can give Silvery Barbs to the NPC spell casters too. Plus it takes out other spell options, will most likely burn through their spell slots faster, and when they use it they are open for attack that turn because they can't use their reaction for shield afterwards. I would personally use this out of combat to win persuasion/intimidation checks.
@@popturt3549 A Draconic Sorcerer has all the survivability of a bard without casting Shield, so the importance of magical defense on mages is really overrated. Yes Absorb Elements is useful, but banishing the dragon is just better because 0 damage is better than 1/2 damage.
Wizards get a nice advantage using Borrowed Knowledge over other classes, the material component book of at least 25g is always fulfilled by the wizard's spellbook. A wizard's spellbook is worth 50g according to the default 5e equipment table.
That's not even including any of the spells inside it, which themselves are valuable in their own right.
Vortex warp is hilarious. A caster who uses this to move an enemy to the party who is setting up for surprise is just going to shut down a combat. Not to mention a twin-casted version of this on front line party members who suddenly appear beside an enemy. This is an ideal spell for swapping two party members places too for sorcerers.
Honestly I think that all of the controversy around Silvery Barbs could be fixed by a single action: making the aforementioned spell concentration. It creates a better risk/reward relationship for casting it, and brings its power more in line with other first level spells. The second half of Silvery Barbs lasts a minute as is, so it already makes sense!
Yes, that means it couldn't be used with any of your own spells that also use concentration. It would be a big nerf that also promotes teamwork. Good idea.
That just introduces even more unprecedented mechanical clumsiness. Simply making it a 3rd level spell would immediately fix 99% of the potential problems with it.
Wither and bloom combi's really well with poly morph since it can allow the user to expend the beast's hit dice. So you can extend the use of polymorh for some healing without the cost.
That’s smart!
Still a pretty suboptimal spell. If I want to play a sorcerer with healing capabilities, I'd rather play a Divine Soul and take Healing Word and Aid, or a Clockwork Soul and retain the Aid spell it gets on its bonus spell list. For a wizad it's ... okay, I guess? ... but it's still not going to be one of my first choices. And I don't understand why it was even offered to druids. They have such stupidly better options for both damage and healing that taking this spell is simply a mistake.
How would this work with Wild Shape?
@@alanschaub147 the same. You expend the Beasts hit dice
@@jerommeke_T That seems pretty powerful to me!
Gift of the Everliving Ones would max the hit points regained for every hit die you expend. Multiclassing with Moon Druid would be a good tank.
It is too bad that you cannot cast spells while wildshaped. Could you Ready An Action to cast Wither and Bloom once in Wild Shape?
I think it is worth noting how powerful Silvery Barbs is with the Wizard's Spell mastery ability. Being able to cast this spell at-will is insane. I would easily take this over Shield or any other first level spell.
I was just saying this in Destructiboy's comments section. It would mean your reactions become an integral part of combat for you, because you will never go a round without an opportunity to use this spell not presenting itself.
There is one particular interesting case for Wither and Bloom: If a Sorcerer is attuned to a Bloodwell Vial, when they spend a Hit Die to regain hit points (as is the case when using Wither and Bloom) they may regain 5 sorcery points once per long rest. Which means that Wither and Bloom can become a recharge sort of spell - you can get back some HP and some sorcery points in a hurry (because sometimes you don't have the time for a short rest), and if you're doing this during the mopup phase of a fight you can even get a little bit of damage in as a bonus.
I don't think it's going to be a deciding factor in an encounter, but the extra sorcery points you can get out of that might well make the difference in the next one.
One of the weaknesses of Vortex Warp is that it's yet another single-target spell that provides a saving throw ... and a CON saving throw at that. However, I think you're absolutely right; I'd practically never cast this spell on an enemy. I do think it's a bit circumstantial (you won't need to rescue a teammate in every combat), but I do agree that it's WELL worth taking. In fact, I cold see a Conjurer wizard (Conjurer just because teleportation is one of its specialties) taking both this and Misty Step right at third level and specializing in just moving people and himself around the battlefield until he gets more spells at 4th. ;-)
Wither and Bloom is amazing. It's curious you give it so little credit.
Imagine the following really common scenario:
The party cleric's turn comes and goes. Someone in the party is swarmed by 3 enemies and is brought to 0. Now the wizard is up. Usually, they could either ...
o) ... ignore their fallen ally (which is bad, because then they lose a turn)
o) ... run up and use a healing potion on their ally (this is not ideal because now the wizard is in melee with 3 enemies
o) .. run up and use a 3rd/4th level spell just to teleport the ally away (they're still at 0 HP and still miss a turn)
What if the ally is too far away to reach anyways? What if the monsters are blocking the path? What if we don't have 3rd/4th level slots left?
In every single case, Wither and Bloom leads to a better outcome at a lower cost. The ally regains some HP and doesn't miss their turn. We expended the least amount of resources. We can heal (despite playing a class that usually can't do so) - and we do it from a very save distance. The fact that those 3 enemies around our ally take some damage and that we don't have to worry about friendly fire are minor bonuses.
Then there are all the combos with HD rolling that some feats, subclasses and magic items provide and many situations where this spell would be even more effective, such as when facing minions. If Wither and Bloom can pick up an ally at 0 HP and kill even a single minion, it already pretty much achieves more than any other 2nd level wizard spell would - and that's saying a lot.
Your scenario actually sounds pretty circumstantial ... and Cris has already rated the spell better than the "overly circumstantial" level. I'd say it's useful but in no way "amazing."
This was my thought too. It's Healing Word plus a little bonus damage for a 2nd level slot.
With Wiher and Bloom you can heal your skeleton/zombie as a necromancer
Vortex warp looks like such a fun spell, being able to rearrange friends and foes will be so much fun.
I made a homebrew fighter subclass that does this. It was tricky because "move anybody" abilities tend to be high level spells, but that's also why I made the subclass. Vortex Warp makes balancing it possible!
Like Spellcasters playing chess.
Honestly I like wither and bloom for the fact that you can go send a zombie minion in and getting that much more mileage out of their tankiness while also dealing damage. Who cares if a minion spends hit dice, it's expendable anyway. Also one thing to note is how you can effect terrain, it's one of the few spells that can kill whole trees which can be useful for the creative and having a strong character in the party, or let's say vines block a doorway or enemies are climbing on them, that wither effect can cut off enemies from you or open new ways. It's definitely a nice flavorful addition to necromancy.
This spell is perfect for Abberant Mind Sorcerers. As an enchantment spell they could add swap it into their Psionic list. 6th level could cast Silvery Barbs for a single Sorcery Point without verbal or somatic components.
At lvl 10 when an enchantment wizard casts Silvery barbs they can actually have it effect 2 creatures. So you can do something like double Raulothim's Psychic Lance since its also an enchantment spell into silvery barbs.
Too broken with the aberrants its just crazy. We can cast this like 10 times and not even break a sweat.
@@imadethistocommentonthings4787 i dont believe you can twin cast silvery barbs unless it they are succeeding on a saving throw vs a AOE . Because you need 2 targets that have succeded on a roll20
Aberrant Mind, yes. Enchantment Wizard, no. There are 2 targets of Silvery Barbs the re-roll target & the Advantage target, so not eligible.
@@jeffdybdal656 Damn you are right got caught up with the first part of the spell that i forgot tech the second part also targets someone ty 4 the correction
One thing Wither and Bloom would be good for is the sorcerer focus that gives you sorcery points when you roll a hit dice. A minor note, but pretty useful if you can do it.
Good to see a reputable law firm, Dewey, Cheatem, and Howe support you.
Classic joke 😂
'Wither and Bloom' may be good to cast on a surrounded barbarian ally.
Happy to see WotC giving wizards and sorcerers healing spells. I've always felt necromancy should be able to heal people, and Wither and Bloom both fills the niche of a healing spell and still feels like necromancy.
Yes I know Life Transferance exists, I just don't like the idea of damaging myself to heal others, especially on a character with a d6 hit die.
Also, it seems perfect for a Dark Sun Defiler type of character.
Actually...I hate it ! WotC is trying to make everyone being able to do everything !! There is no specialization anymore..We already have Bards, Clerics, Druids, Paladins, Rangers and then we had Warlocks and Sorcerer that could heal with a specific subclass...it just makes everything more of the same ..
Silvery barbs looks like a class feature in a 1st level spell. If hated counterpells, this is going to double down on that feeling.
Wither and Bloom is neat. You can use it to heal creatures that you normally wouldn't be able to heal, like constructs or undead. Now that is not going to come up in regular play all that often, but if you for example have a Battlesmith Artificer in your party with their Steel Defender, you have someone who plays the Autognome Unearthed Arcana race, or someone playing a homebrewed construct or undead race, you will be able to heal them when you normally couldn't or would have difficulty to heal them. Another neat interaction with Wither and Bloom is that the healing from it would be doubled by the Periapt of Wound Closure, if one of your party members has access to one.
The first thing I thought of was casting it on the tank when they're surrounded. The highest hit dice get the most mileage out of it, and it would catch every hostile engaged with them
Vortex I think will scale really well into later levels when you can start stuffing enemies into force cages and whatnot. Or into cloudkills. Ect
With the exception of borrowed knowledge which is w/e i like all of the spells in the book, it's just a shame there's only 5 for a magical school setting set in the MTG universe that has tons of spells they could of pulled from.
Vortex Warp in particular is my favourite, this brings out the divinity player in me.
Vortex Warp, aka Teleportation from DOS2, aka the most broken spell in that game. I already love it.
I am currently playing a character based on your God Mage build awhile back, and level 4, riiiight before picking my fey touched spell and a few more level 2 spells. Vortex Warp and Silvery Barbs are going to be oh so much fun on that character and, as you said about 25 times in that video, trigger voice of authority.
The big thing I think with Wither and Bloom is that is gives wizards/sorcs a nerfed version of healing word. you dont use it for healing a tremendous amount of damage. you use it to bring someone out of unconscious.
Kinetic Jaunt - “I will defeat my enemies through the power of interpretative dance!”
Honestly, I'm kinda intrigued with Wither & Bloom.
This is Healing Word and an AOE rolled into 1 action. So your bonus action is still free.
Pick up your Martial who just dropped and ping all the enemies who managed to bring the Martial down at the same time.
Actually, it can be, but isn't necessarily, a little better than Healing Word because it "gives," or allows its target to *use,* a die anywhere from a d6 to a d12, as opposed to Healing Word's d4. So for a barbarian, it's probably going to be a little better than Healing Word cast at 2nd level, but for a wizard or sorcerer it's going to be distinctly worse.
And frankly, second-level spells shouldn't be "possibly a little" better than first-level spells. The higher-level spells should simply outclass the lower level. And in the end, the character who just dropped is still sitting surrounded by enemies, which is really an unenviable ... and likely non-viable ... situation.
Love hearing about Silvery Barb so I won't have to dip a level or use a feat for my Bard to get Shield. It fits with the party and character so much more.
If my DM allows my eloquence bard to take this, I'm gonna have a field day.
With the advent of SB, everyone that can is going to cast this spell A LOT. At higher levels you could burn through 1st level spell slots fast and the 2nd level slots won't be of much more value than 1st. So Borrowed Knowledge on a Diviner becomes a lot like a free use for all your 2nd level slots, since it converts a 2nd level slot that you would have otherwise used for SB, Shield, or Absorb Elements to a slot you can still use for those spells. However, in some irony, SB will make Hold Person, or any other marginal save or suck spell, a lot better, so I could see trying to cast that as a 2nd level slot (then you and your party can make them reroll a bunch until they fail the first roll, and repeat if they roll to get out)
So i am in agreement with you about votex warp and your analogy. That said, if you are playing a graviturgist and allowed it, its a perfect spell to put any creature into your more deveststing spell. I didnt hear any mention of not allowing the creature to be placed in danger so set up spell and use vortex to ensure they keep coming back.
Kinetic Jaunt on a Battlesmith Artificer (like the one I play) actually seems really good. I take the role of back-up Frontline combatant with my Steel Defender and I supporting our fighter and keeping him on his feet. I considered dipping into rogue or monk to increase my mobility and break away when the rear guard needs my bigger cure wounds spells. But KJ here gives me something else to consider. I don't concentrate on spells often right now.
Kinetic jaunt seems like a pretty useful arcane trickster pick as they can booming blade, free disengage, and dash or hide every round. Eldritch knights with polearm master could also get reliable reaction attacks out of a free disengage.
In older editions of dnd, different casting classes could get access to the same spell at different levels. This kind of feels like the same thing. This and vortex warp are my favorites of the new spells (given that I don't plan to allow silvery barbs or expect other dms to do so either).
I don't think you'd actually have to disengage, since Kinetic Jaunt says you're not subject to Attacks of Opportunity.
@@morganpetros9635 that's what I meant by free disengage
Although I doubt this is going to change your analysis at all, Zephyr Strike uses only a verbal component (good for a weapon holder) and Kinetic Jaunt uses only a somatic component (good for getting out of a Silence spell).
I could see a Bladesinger making good use of kinetic jaunt to be a melee striker at low levels. But overall, I agree that Kinetic Jaunt is just an OK spell.
The main use case I have for Kinetic Jaunt is on the Battlesmith, eldritch knight & arcane trickster, they are the ones who would want multiturn skirmishing mobility but don't get access to Zephyr Strike
Everyone talks about Abberant Mind Sorcerer regarding Silvery Barbs. But the true powerhouse imho is the Order Domain Cleric. Granted, it's a bit more fiddly to get Silvery Barbs with a cleric (Magic Initiate, Fey Touched or one of the new magic items from this book).
But since the spell also targets an ally Voice of Authority is applicable. Meaning the ally can immediately use their reaction to attack with advantage. You will be any rogues new best friend.
Since wither and bloom uses hit die, it can trigger things that trigger off of hit die rolls like the bloodwell vial. Using a 2nd lv spell and a bloodwell vial, a sorcerer can restore 5 sp as an action once per day
Wither and Bloom is a healing option for wizards as you mentioned, so it can be useful in an emergency or depending on your party. I’ve played in a party of 4 in which we only had one person with access to healing options, and when lever she went down in combat it would have been doom for us if I hadn’t stocked up on healing pots which I was ready to give her in such a case
Edit: at lvl 18 (victory lap levels ofc) you have a form of healing up the party without short rests if you choose it for your Spell Mastery
Notably, it’s not endless since it spends hit dice
Kinetic Jaunt mimics the halfling racial trait, that you can move through other People’s space… It’s perfect for melee Arcane tricksters to rush in from the second row of the battle line and have a sneak attack!
battlesmiths, eldritch knights & other gishes too
Kinetic jaunt is amazing actually... it can allow a caster to maintain distance for 10 rounds on a determined attacker if coupled with Ray of frost.
Set up jaunt as a bonus action, run, then ray... a 30 speed enemy is gonna use both actions to stay even, as even a double move will now be 20 feet x 2. And even if they end up next to you, you can move away freely with your 40 speed because you can't be opportunity attacked. And that's if you don't lead them through allies (and their opportunity attacks) or difficult terrain.
Now even if whatever it is is somehow willing to be kited for 10 turns, that's 10 ray of frosts it's gonna eat 45 damage on average... and 90 damage at level 5.
All for a 2nd level spell.
This is amazing if you have a dm with a "kill the wizard first" mentality.
This is also amazing for when your dm finds ways to separate your wizard from the party and have some tanky monster come for you. At 3rd level, being able to kite most things for 10 rounds is gonna help a lot. But... if you also happen to be a sorcerer... a single extended kinetic jaunt can allow you to kite anything for 20 rounds, doing 90 damage on average. Before it can close on you. Plus whatever you cast on turn 21.
If you're level 5... well... that's 180 average damage before the thing can catch you.
Obviously this is best coupled with a race that has higher than 30 speed too. If you have a tabaxi doing this you could straight solo cheese things way above your weight class.
zephyr strike has a downside you missed. You must make an attack to get the 30ft move, so it just turns an attack into a dash+attack
True, although given it's a bonus action on a ranger that's a very easy trigger to achieve
well, you also have your movement available, so it can be dash+attack+dash, like a mini cunning action. Helpful if needed, save it if you dont need it
In fact, it cannot be dash+attack, it has to be attack+dash (which makes a huge difference on melee builds).
This limitation can be much bigger that it seems. If that enemy is f.i. 40 ft from you, you cannot reach him to attack and you cannot use dash to reach him, because you wouldn't have action to do any attack (if you are not Minotaur, but he still cannot do this on the same turn, because both Zephyr Strike and his horns attack cost BA). In those situations, you are forced to move closer (in our case 10 ft from enemy) do 1 attack with thrown weapon (with advantage and bonus dmg), then you can move next to that enemy and follow with your second attack (from extra attack feature after lvl 5).
@@JuckiCZ if the enemy is 40 ft away, could the ranger not fire an arrow, move at least 40 ft, then make their second attack with a sword? I allow drawing a weapon to be part of the attack action, so they either drop the bow or stowe it (bonus action at my table). You don't have to hit with the attack, so a Strength ranger could still shoot an arrow or throw a dagger then get in melee, right?
@@jeepersmcgee3466 Not everyone allows such actions at their table. And doing one attack only to turn this ability on and wasting opportunity to attack with your main weapon (possibly magical), main stat is really sub-optimal. If you normally do with longsword +8/1d8+7 and instead of that attack with bow for +2/1d8-1, it really isn’t OK.
Relieved to see the calm assessment of silvery barbs 🙂
Looking forward to seeing vortex warp and kinetic jaunt in play, mobility options early into 5e seemed thin on the ground but now we're seeing more it'll lead to much more dynamic and cinematic combat.
On first look it seems to me Kinetic Jaunt could be pretty great for Gish builds, like Sword bards or Bladesinger wizards. The spell seems custom made for getting in and out of combat quickly, not having to worry about oppertunity attacks or getting surrounded and trapped. Teleport spells just don't cut it for that circumstance.
I'm mostly wondering if there are spells of the same level competing for your concentration.
Particularly arcane tricksters, moving around to get that sneak attack each round and get out
@@mattconw It takes arcane tricksters a long time (level 9) to be able to cast it. Sure it's nice, but their BA disengage / dash is just as effective most of the time.
Teleports are great, except when you have to cast them every round to skirmish because you aren’t a coward caster. Zephyr Strike is great, if you’re a Ranger. For every other use case where you don’t have a free disengage (so most), Kinetic Jaunt.
@@agilemind6241 7th.
Borrowed knowledge sounds good but... Enhance ability is also a Lv2 spell. When you put the 2 against one another i think Enhance ability has the advantage, so to speak
Borrowed knowledge is good, and no reason you can stack both. They're both really good downtime or out of combat spells.
@@davidcollins8639 This. So much this. I don't think I'd take it for a bard since they have a limit on spells known and also have access to Enhance Ability, which is slightly better, especially for the Jack-of-all-Trades bard, but I would *TOTALLY* take this with a wizard who can buy spell scrolls and scribe them into his spellbook, or a cleric who can choose his prepared spells daily.
The big problem I see with Borrowed Knowledge is, like Guidance, you would have to cast it before the DM asks you for the roll. You can't cast it after they say "Roll a nature check", so you have to know in advance which skill they may ask you to roll.
Actually, I think that in many cases you COULD cast the spell after being told to make a check; especially if it's a knowledge check (as would usually be the case in the scenario you describe). Now no, you couldn't do that if the DM called for a Perception check (or used your passive Perception score), but if you're looking for information? Absolutely you could use the spell first, just as you could use it just before entering a negotiation.
Kinetic jaunt looks like a spell tailor made for sorcadins. You mean my smite-machine can sprint past their meat shields and dance with their backline? Yes please!
Misty Step?
About the “reroll the d20” and advantage: I can think of a different way to read it. With advantage, you roll 2d20, take the highest. The way I read it, Silvery Barbs can make you reroll the higher d20 and “use” its result, but only for that die: it’s still part of the overall roll made with advantage. if the lower d20 from the initial roll with advantage is higher than the rerolled d20, *that* result, not the rerolled die, would determine if the save succeeds.
I understand your logic and I would frankly love to nerf this spell but I think your interpretation is overly complex and not what was intended.
I think comparing the spell to the cronurgy wizard feature with its limited uses, to the grave cleric ability to counter crits and to the heightened metamagic shows it is overpowered and is incredibly applicable to many different combat scenarios. A 6th level aberrant mind sorcerer who put it on their psychic spell list could cast this six times for 1 sourcery point a time before dipping into their spell slots at all. That is way to much time bending reroll if you don't like the dice for me personally. And so much better than casting two heightened spells
I think this is the correct interpretation.
1. You roll 2d20, discard the lower, use the higher, let's call it X, X succeeds on the roll
2. Caster casts silvery barbs
3. You roll 2d20, discard the lower, keep the higher, let's call it Y
4. Then you compare X and Y, discard the highest, and use the lower
@muddlewait That is my interpretation as well
@@nicka3697 Plus it is available through Fey Touched feat so it isn't at all unlikely for you to have two characters in the same party capable of casting Silvery Barbs.
I really can't believe that they didn't cover this more explicitly in the spell. Is it really too much to ask to have one or two extra sentences to cover a really common situation? Even if the designers feel it's covered by a strict reading of the exact wording elsewhere, surely they realise most people aren't lawyers and could do with a hint.
My five cents: Borrowed Knowledge is a nice pick for an Arcane Trickster because of Reliable Talent. Silvery Bards and Vortex Warp are crazy good for the level, not particularly broken but the power creep is real.
Borrowed Knowledge seems like it'd be really good on a level 11 Arcane Trickster rogue. Cast a spell, and suddenly you can roll any skill check you want with a minimum of 10 on the die.
Kinetic jaunt is a great spell for the artificer to have as its spell stored item ability at 11th lvl if you’re certain you are going to need speedy exits from dungeons, etc. You can give the whole party this ability for one minute.
Longstrider or Expeditious Retreat are better for that purpose. The former is without Concentration, the latter gives a bigger speed bonus. And both last longer. The purpose of Kinetic Jaunt is mostly for in-combat mobility, not for escapes.
Oh, and that not mentioning that you can't put it into Spell-Storing Item at all since it requires a spell with a casting time of 1 action.
I feel like no one has mentioned this for vortex warp but you can teleport enemies into your friendly casters field control spells like evards black tentacles, sickening radiance, etc.
Silvery barbs: Contender for new best spell in the game. forcing a reroll of a saving throw after the facts is incredibly strong for battlefield controllers. Imagine this on an Eloquence bard, that used its bonus aciton für unsettling words.
Borrowed Knowlegde: very thematic. funny thing: Spell-books- kost 50 gp, so no ned for wizards to buy components.
Kinetic jaunt: I actually think the best comparison to this is Misty Step. It covers the one big downside when trying to escape with misty step: the need to see the target space. Niche case of course.
Vortex warp: realyl interesting Spell. It is really strong to rearrange your party and/or enemies around dangerous terrain/situation. Strong spell.
Witehr and blood: The healing is not that impressive, and the damage isnt either, but target seelction is nice, and multipurpose is also good. ALso actual healing for arcane classes could be an intresting "panic button"
Kinetic Jaunt: How does it cover that downside? You can't move through objects, only creatures, and you usually can see space behind enemies.
@@antongrigoryev6381 You cant cast misty stepin (magical) darkness, fog or while blinded, that is covered by Jaunt, as you simply move.
disadvantge of jaunt is of course, it doesnt work whiel restraiend or grappeld. on the other hand.
@@TainakaRicchan I mean, how often are you both in darkness and totally surrounded by enemies that you can't just walk away? They can't do an opportunity attack if they don't see you anyways. Even if they do see you, just Disengage. If you wouldn't have much to do with your action anyways if you were to use a bonus action spell.
@@antongrigoryev6381 in my personal experience:: too often.
Truesight/devilsight/blindsight is stupidly common iny my rounds for some reason.
Admitedly, one the roudns is in avernus atm, so yeah, lots of devils...
also if you disengage, you dont need to misty step either, so that is not an arguemnt for or against either. ;)
The main use case I have for Kinetic Jaunt is on the eldritch knight & arcane trickster, they are the ones who would want multiturn skirmishing mobility but don't get access to Zephyr Strike
There's a specific subclass that can make really good use of Wither and Bloom:
Shepard Druid with Unicorn Totem summoned. The Unicorn's description specifically says 'if you cast a spell using a spell slot that restores hit points', which applies to Wither and Bloom.
Thus it gives you a way to deal decent damage, heal the people in range of the spell going off, AND heal everyone in the aura all at the same time.
In addition, my Druid got a really lucky roll and race combo and has 20 Wisdom to start with, so that healing is automatically +7 regardless of the actual dice roll.
I ended up fully healing up our Paladin tank who'd taken heavy damage AND healed myself nearly up to full thanks to the Unicorn Totem.
I think one thing you overlooked on Silvery Barbs is that, rules as written, it can even over-write legendary resistances. Those say that, when you fail a saving throw, you may choose to save, thus triggering the 'when a creature saves ....' in Silvery Barb an negating the use of legendary resistance.
DMs may homebrew that away, but that seems to be the rules as written at least.
Treantmonk already did a video about how it doesn't work.
Silvery Barbs being an enchantment spell makes it a great choice for fey touched.
Another thing People haven't noticed about vortex warp.
If there's spike growth, you can put the enemies in that place, it won't always work, becuase CON save, but there's that option
Though as you've said, it's better as a way to get allies out of danger
I really don't get how you can't think of silvery barbs as a "clear standout". It's easily the best level 1 spell and one of the best spells (for its cost) in the game. The effect is so strong and versatile that you would often use level 2 or even 3 spellslots for it.
Sometimes an enemy failing a saving throw can end whole encounters, a measily level 1 slots to boost the chances for that significantly (with the added bonus of advantage for an ally) is extremely worth. And at mid to high levels the only level 1 spells worth using are shield and mage armor anyway, both ones which Bards don't even have.
To measure how underpriced the spell really is, just compare it to other features. It is cutting words, unsettling words, chronal shift, Sentinel at Death's Door, Warding Flare, Heightened Spell and many other features and spells all in one (often even stronger than those features). Most often it's the iconic feature of a subclass. Heightened Spell costs 3 sorcery points, and you need to activate it before the target makes the saving throw, rendering it useless if the target would fail anyway. This spell is just pure powercreep, way too cheap and versatile. It shouldn't exist
If a spellcaster can win a challenging fight with one failed saving throw then it wasn't a very well designed encounter, silvery barbs or not.
Chris' response seems reasonable to me, it's a blue spell (must have) and he says it can easily eat spell slots from potential overuse because of it's versatility. Power creep, maybe a little but not too much. Mostly it seems to be a massive buff to Bards and spellcasters lacking a good reaction via fey touched (e.g. Clerics and Warlocks). Whereas Wizards and Sorcerers always had shield, absorb elements and counterspell as options, silvery barbs doesn't raise the bar much for them by comparison.
Absorb Elements is also worthwhile at mid and high levels, and that too is a 1st-level spell.
@@reespewa I see your point, and agree with the single failed saving throw shouldn't end a good encounter.
But even for wizards and sorcerers their level 1 and 2 slots are only for defensive tools, that you use when you are already in a bad situation. But Silvery Barbs is not only extremely good defensive (pretty much negating crits, and granting on average as much AC as shield would against a single attack), but is at its strongest if used offensively. You even count counterspell which is a level 3 spell, it shouldn't even be comparable to a level 1 spell.
And I think you ignored the point on how a level 1 slot is not nearly enough for the effect. Comparable features that I mentioned above use either very limited or contested resources. 3 Sorcery Points for Heightened Spell is pretty much a level 3 spellslot, Warding Flare has 3-5 uses per long rest.
Just to make an example of how broken this spell is: You are a wizard casting Hold Monster on the biggest threat in a fight. The monster succeeds on its saving throw. Now, normally, the wizard would have to try again in the next turn, use his/her action and a level 5 spellslot. Now with Silvery Barbs he/she would use a reaction and a level 1 spell to pretty much cast Hold Monster again, all while giving advantage to the Paladins next attack.
@@KawaiiAzusa so it made a mediocre spell better? I'm not sure that's the game breaker you think it is, sounds more like it's rebalancing the game. I've seen arguments for Silvery Barbs that it does a lot to rebalance save and suck spells as well as boost classes like Bard who needed a good reaction.
I won't argue that it's powerful, it definitely is. Is it worth a 2nd level spell slot? Maybe. But I'd argue the same for Shield and many of the best 1st level spells. In my personal view there's not actually a huge power difference between the best 1st level spells and a lot of 2nd lvl spells (at high levels 1st and 2nd spell slots are pretty interchangeable), it's 2nd - 3rd that's always been the biggest jump imo. I can live with it being a 1st or 2nd level spell, both seem within the variation of 5e's current power curve.
@@reespewa If you really think Bard, one of the best classes in the game, needs a boost, then I really don't know what to say. Silvery Barbs is just a huge buff to casters, so now martials fall even harder behind.
Many save or suck spell don't need rebalancing, they do what they are supposed to do. And you say it's ok to make them pretty much double as powerful with an extra level 1 slot is a good idea? And that is only one application of a spell that has one of the biggest range of utility in the game. A single level 1 spell should not rebalance alot of the game, especially if it is a clear buff to the best classes in the game and obtainable on your spell list with a feat.
So now never again should old features like cutting words or heightened spell be used anymore, as there are way better and cheaper alternatives?
Kinetic Jaunt looks nice for Artificers, who do not have access to Misty Step or most teleportation spells. It doesn't specify if you can stop in an occupied space to make an attack before finishing your move, you could see it as gaining half your movement in reach.
Vortex Wrap is the first teleportation spell Artificers get and they can't teleport themselves with it. While it can't cause fall damage there is nothing preventing you from placing an enemy in a harmful effect like a Wall of Fire.
First thing I thought of with Silvery barbs....level 1 enchantment spell that grants advantage on your next attack? And is applicable to Arcane Trickster? Aw yeah :D
1. Use Mold Earth to dig deep holes. 2. Vortex Warp your enemies to the bottom. 3. Bury them!
Teleporting enemies to the Sickening Radiance sounds nasty too.
If there is two casters with Vortex warp you can make teleportation chain.
I like that Wither and Bloom can be used to heal a downed ally from range while still causing damage to multiple targets, even if light damage. It’s like Healing Word but with damage for a higher slot.
I got the impression Vortex Warp would be good. The two systems aren't completely comparable, but it reminds me a lot of the Warp and Rescue staves/tomes from Fire Emblem. In certain Fire Emblem games you can rip maps in half by just using Warp (although in some of those games Warp has infinite range), like by getting one of your strongest units in range of a boss or having a tank choke a point, and this is Warp with the ranged targeting of Rescue that you could also use on enemies to get them into disadvantageous positions. All in all, a very interesting transportation spell. I like that it's on the Artificer list, as well.
Vortex warps seems like the equivalent of unsummon in MTG, can 'bounce' allies to move them to safety or enemies for tempo.
I hadn't thought of it like that. That's kind of cool. An MTG book should bring some translations.
Kinetic jaunt is definitely how are you emulate Spider-Man‘s fighting style as an artificer, But the range on vortex warp is mad good.
re: Vortex Warp, that person is ignoring a lot of other options. You could stick someone up in a tree, giving them the opportunity to fall on their way down and taking them out of combat. You can also put your enemy in water, taking them out of combat for a bit (bonus points if they're in heavy armor and now having to swim). Put them on thin ice, let the fun begin. Obviously works better with allies, but there are so many inconvenient places you can try to transport enemies.
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Bards have only 4 slots per day for silvery barbs, but wizards can get them back with arcane recovery, so 8 1st level slots for this spell for them.
Other comments already mentioned the abberant mind sorcerer casting it for a single sorcery point.
And you know what? This spell is so good that I can see myself using 2nd level slots for it if I run out of 1st level slots.
silvery Barbs, is the most OP spell right now.
My name is David and I'm not a supporter and I've been debating diving in. This was a well-timed video, sir.
Re: Kinetic Jaunt v. Zephyr Strike -- it certainly seems like the latter is geared for a player and the former a DM that got their BBEG caster caught in a Silence spell and flanked by a Sentinel-having Fighter. Super situational.
I think the whole point of KJ is the multiround duration, so misty step is not a good comparison. This is meant for gish builds like the ranger who don't get Zephyr strike. arcane tricksters, sword bards, battlesmits, bladesongs, eldritch knights.
You can also use Vortex Warp to put a creature back into a Forcecage if they escape.
I too was amazed over all the fuzz around SB and no one talked about Vortex warp.
Saving friends is a given but even against enemies it's really strong.
Put the bad guy in lava.
Draw the human bandit leader away from their campfire and place him in the dark forest were you and your darkvision party members make short work of him.
In naval combat you can place their captain in the ocean.
Place an enemy at a ledge and push them over with eldrich blast or something.
Put them on a stable surface and then change the property of that surface, a plank hanging over a ravine locked in place, for now.
Save the princess without fighting the dragon.
Kidnap the evil emperor.
My dm will absolutely hate this spell and I will have the time of my life
Teleport an enemy into a control or persistent area effect spell, pop the enemy or ideally ally next to each other or away from each other - Vortex Warp is frankly amazing...
Onto a covered pit trap? Definitely into/onto a trap...
I've tried to homebrew a spell for my twilight cleric that's all about using a balance of Light(offense) and Darkness(defense/healing), so I wanted to make a spell that dealt damage AND healed, and I found _no such spell_ on the internet, then I talked to my DM and we came to the conclusion that even if we ignore how busted the Twilight Cleric is, it'd break the action economy and DnD's design for healing if we had a spell that healed AND dealt damage (since usually if you're healing you're not doing damage).
And I honestly thought that such a spell would never exist, but I liked the way WotC found a way to balance it out (spending a hit die to heal one person and dealing small damage), and even though I'm not going to use this spell for my character, I really want to use it for a future character
Well you also have Life Transference and Vampiric Touch.
Life Transference deals damage to yourself so to homebrew you'd have to balance out the negative since what you want is all positive, so perhaps instead of 4d8 damage to yourself for 8d8 healing, your spell could just deal 3d8 damage to a creature and only heal an ally for 3d8. Then it would basically act like a slightly weaker upcast Cure Wounds with a slightly weaker basic Guiding Bolt attached to it for free.
Then you have the rather weak Vampiric Touch which is melee, deals only 3d6 damage (for a third level slot), only heals yourself for half that, and requires concentration so you can't do it while concentrating any other (better) spells, but you can continue doing it as an action each turn after if you really wanted to spend your action that way but it doesn't seem like the greatest option.
If you were still interested in homebrewing something for that type of character, you could look at is improving Vampiric Touch and just using a combination of those two spells. I like that sort of health manipulation as a mechanic. On a MUD that I played (and briefly developed for long ago), I had started working on a class called a Channeler that would act as a healer by channeling their own health into their teammates, then replenish their health by draining it directly from enemies, so you have this sort of constant resource management. If you had an actually useful version of Vampiric Touch active while you were casting Life Transference to heal up people that could be pretty interesting.
@@tarrickmerdev2324 that's some really awesome ideas! Tbh, it sounds a lot like Soraka from LoL, which I like very much.
And even though I'm not going to use that type of healing for my twilight cleric, I think I'm gonna use it for a character on my first GURPS campaign this week, thanks!
When I first read Wither and Bloom, I thought you would rate it orange. The rest didn't surprise me.
Wither and bloom can have some funky interactions for a life cleric and/or shepherd druid using unicorn totem.
While it is not normally a great feat, I could see a lot of goodness out of combining Wither and Bloom on a caster with Durable on a Fighter or Barbarian for some really reliable healing, especially for the Wizard or Sorcerer who may normally lack healing options.
Or on the pact of the chain warlock with gift of the everliving one and a periapt of wound closure ''While you wear this pendant, you stabilize whenever you are dying at the start of your turn. In addition, whenever you roll a Hit Die to regain hit points, double the number of hit points it restores.'' I'm fairly certain there are some other cleric or druid subclasses that could boost this healing even more (life domain, star circle)
Borrowed Knowledge can be used by Arcane Tricksters, allowing them to gain the benefit of Reliable Talent for any skill in the game.
I think the main reason Kinetic Jaunt isn't too much better than Zephyr Strike is because Zephyr Strike is normally available *only* to the half-caster ranger, so their first level spell would naturally be closer in power to a 2nd level spell.
Vortex warp is basically the teleport ability in divinity original sin, and it was one of the best
One of the main things I kept seeing with Vortex Warp is
What is a Surface/Liquid
Teleport a creature onto a Wall of Force suspended over a cliff then drop concentration
Lava is a liquid that could potentially support creatures.
You know, I was kind of on the fence about Vortex Warp. The ability to teleport enemies into an AOE concentration spell is cool, but I'm not a fan of CON saves. I didn't even think about teleporting allies. I also didn't think that it gave you effectively 180. I always think of range in one direction. I never thought of a spell using range in all directions like that. 🤯
I think vortex warp is better than I originally thought, but I still don’t think it deserves blue. At the very least, it DEFINITELY shouldn’t be better than silvery barbs. Being able to rescue allies is cool and all, but a lot of the time, the people that need to be rescued are the squishies themselves; aka, you. I wouldn’t take this spell over misty step, and having both would start creating redundancy/opportunity cost. If a cleric could take it it’s awesome, and it’s definitely great on artificer, I just feel like that as a wizard, you should focus your spells more on debuffing opponents than rescuing allies at this level. It’s great on sorcerers as a twinspell option though.
Meanwhile silvery barbs would be usable as a third level spell
Silvery barbs is not that great on a low level wizard, but it's cash on a high level wizard. Too bad high levels are a myth.
SB could have just offered the bane effect, subtract a d4 to successful saving throw, and it still would be quite good and I would always want it whenever possible. Only saving throws, much less of a negative effect, and no advantage to someone else, still very good.
For Kinetic Jaunt, I can see that being clutch for those classes to use defensively in a situation where people are getting out of Dodge or in a chase situation. Misty step is a thing yes, but for the cost of a single misty step, you get 10 rounds of 10 more feet of movement, no opportunity attacks, and can move through blockers (better than misty step in a multi round situation described above). Is it maybe a bit niche, sure, but its pretty clutch in those niche situations and it can be used as a poor man's misty step in battle if you are just trying to be a bit fresh. All in all, I think its a good add.
Right? Really the closest thing to this benefit previously was Far Step, which at 5th level is a really limited resource for most classes, if you even make to that level, and requires your bonus action every use. Granted there was ranger only zephyr strike and 3rd level Ashardalon's stride but neither lets you move through an enemies space.
Kinetic Jaunt probably ought to have had a 10 minute duration. It's a spell you'd like to setup before combat or potentially use for a few combats while rushing through an area. Also, why does this spell only affect the caster? Just imagine what a rogue could get up to while under the effect of both this spell and invisibility, for instance.
Cheers Treant, Informative as always! Just a question regarding Silvery barbs. Don't you think that the phrasing regarding the single d20 should be read in regard of the first part of the spell description ("1 reaction, which you take when... --succedes-- ....)? In case of advantage, the succeeding roll would be the higher of the two (which is ultimately the one used to determine success/failure). This would be a little different mechanically than simply canceling advantage, since you are actually "pivoting" on the higher value (succeeding) into a disadvantage roll. Es: roll 18/12 (adv), 18 selected, roll a third dice, 15, which being the lower in [15,18] gets picked.
Vortex Wrap would be great to save a friend. Getting 40K vibes from the name. I really like these utility spells.
If you are using xanathar's crafting rules, with Borrowed Knowledge, the caster can craft things that normally they could not. For example, my Forge cleric does not have a proficiency in Arcana. With this spell, I can now create spell scrolls and magic items.
Second, not so reachable advantage of the spell may be the wizards' ability to cast 2nd level spells without expending a spell slot at 18th level. They could Misty Step infinitely, or they are proficient in all skills in the game, every day, when Misty Step'ping is not necessary.
Vortex Warp sounds great! get your allies out, and your enemies into all those nasty areas, like wall of fire or spike growth~
only thing i‘m wondering is: why is it a CON save? WotC please! that should be CHA!