Message cantrip did change. They removed the verbal component. Finally no more arguments about stealthily and quietly casting the spell in front of an enemy.
Technically it never said that the words spoken were the same as the verbal components, so yeah… it seemed weird that a secret message is being sent after a verbal component is spoken. The enemy/npc know SOMETHING is happening!
And - of course - blueberry damage. So for players going up against Sheldon the Blueberry Dragon from the Misplaced Monsters package WotC released with Extra Life, whose stat block describes him as dealing this damage type, Resistance will be of little help!
Yeah, that’s how it should be. Those two types are traditionally difficult to be resistant to without class features or very specific spells. Or weird stuff like constructs and objects.
You know, Chris, I wish that Thaumaturgy, Prestidigitation, Druidcraft and Elementalism didn't have components. The flavor is so awesome, but you can't really use it in 95% of the situations you'd want to, cause you gotta do the whole song and dance of casting the spell before anything can happen. Like, I imagine that Thaumaturgy is like Gandalf's threatening spell when he darkened Bilbo's house and yelled at him "Do not take me for some conjurer of cheap tricks". Now imagine the same scene, but Gandalf has to cast a spell for 2-3 seconds, chanting and waving his hands around, before then turning to Bilbo and starting the shpiel. It wouldn't work at all xD
Agree but also Thaumaturgy, Druidcraft and Elementalism need way more to them. Prestidigitation does so much more and is also much more open and lenient on what it does too, leading to muuuuuch more RP potential.
In the table I DM/Play we does that and also the classes who can learn those cantrip have them for free, because man, it feels so bad to say to a Druid "hey, or you have 2 actually usefull cantrips or you make a flower blossom, can't have both" and we kinda treat them as thing you can do while doing something else, like a Cleric using Thaumaturgy with Word of Radiance for some impact or the Wild Magic Sorcerer always rolling some random trinket with Prestidigitation when rolling the Wild Magic Table (it was all fun and games until the DM decided those trinkets to also be affect by the wild magic)
@@godzilagiroflex this is kinda fixed by some origin feats since you can get an extra cantrip for free. Spellcasting classes are powerful enough, they should not have extra free stuff imo
So houserule for all those spells: "When you reach level 5, you can ignore the Somatic component for casting this cantrip. At level 11, you can also ignore its Verbal component. At level 17 you can cast it as a Bonus action on your turn instead."
For Scared flame, I always imagined it just engulfed the creature instead of coming from a certain location. If you can see a body part, they are getting roasted.
Yea I also thought about radiant flames coming down over someones head, but I also just imagined it as appearing immediately above their head not being called down from the sky.
You missed a pretty big buff to Acid Splash. 2014 version targets a creature you can see; 2024 version targets a point and affects all creatures around it, which means you can hit invisible creatures with it.
I'm fairly sure that "Chill Touch" Didn't give advantage to hit an undead target, it gave Disadvantage to undead attacks against You if hit with the attack.
Which funnily would be a lot better now with touch since at 120 feet away the chances they'd attack you were really low. Very niche so I get trimming it, but I can't really imagine taking it now.
They can set down the object or hand it to you, and then take it back after you've cast Light. This wording is to prevent clever players from casting Light on an enemy. It's unnecessary, in my mind, but whatever. It doesn't change the way the spell works in terms of utility.
@@elementzero3379 Wait, what do you mean clever players? The way the spell was worded, it seemed it was intended to be cast on enemies. It literally states "If you target an object held or worn by a hostile creature, that creature must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw to avoid the spell. "
@@Notsogoodguitarguy It certainly can be used that way, and thus the restrictions in place to prevent a cantrip from becoming a more powerful tool than it was intended to be. Light has always primarily been a utility spell. Before the vast majority of playable species got darkvision (and at tables that use current lighting rules as written), having a light source mattered. Light was/is a way to avoid lugging a torch or lantern for those that want it. That's always been its most common role.
@@elementzero3379 my comment was that it wasn't "clever" to cast Light on an enemy. It was a function of the cantrip. Saying that a "clever" player used it so they had to change the wording implies that it wasn't meant to be used that way, but players found a way to use it that way. It wasn't at all whether it is more or less powerful or whatever.
Im 99% sure "descend" is meant in a figurative sense and sacred flame isn't actually coming from anywhere, the target is just bursting into flames as if by divine will
I always look at the “descriptive words” as flavor. It wouldn’t change the mechanics for me. I think the focus is 1/2 and 3/4 cover, not where the magic comes from. Additionally, 2014 PHB stated that you gain no benefit from cover “from this saving throw”. That bit in quotes means 1/2 and 3/4 was always the focus. Because for full cover you would never make a saving throw as you are behind full cover, which we all know stops spells from targeting something because of line effect.
@@jordanmetcalf3383other than weird interactions with windows if a creature is behind full cover in almost all circumstances you can't see the creature so they are not a valid target.
@@jordanmetcalf3383Yeah, if they meant for it to not work under a ceiling, they would have added a distance above the target that needed to be open. For example, 5’ or 10’ clearance above the creature, vs hundreds of feet within a huge cavern.
@@MrSeals1000 did not know fireball ignores cover, it does not say it but does say it spreads around corner... though fireball can be placed almost anywhere so it practically does for true.
If played RAW it makes lightning bolt much worse, since enemies give half cover to other enemies (at least in the 2014 book, haven't checked the new book yet)
I always assumed that Sacred Flame descended from directly above the target, so if there is a roof it originates beneath the roof and above them. It’s a cantrip, so literal fire from the heavens seems a bit too ostentatious. Also, the cover thing works because in order to target them with the spell you have to see them, and total cover comes from complete concealment.
I really, really appreciate the white text on black background. I've been watching these for many hours, and it's been tiring but awesome. There's absolutely no way I could've watched more than a few without getting a bad headache if you'd used a brighter background. 👍🏻
Sacred Flame doesn't say that it descends from the sky, just from above them. My interpretation has always been that it was directly above them (within their space).
Thorn whip now specifies you CAN pull a creature. The previous lack of that word did make it seem like the creature had to be pulled whether you wanted to or not.
It did pull "up to" 10 feet though. It could be interpreted as simply accounting for the possibility that it might not be possible to get the full 10, but I always read it as the caster deciding the distance with 0 feet as an option.
I'm glad they did that because we had a DM rule that the caster must pull them 10 feet towards them when they hit. That spawned one those, "OK, boomer," moments, and really annoyed the druid, who suddenly had a demon in his face.
That is nice for arcane tricksters. A friend of mine played an arcane trickster and we came across a stone golem, but he didn't have a magic weapon so he literally couldn't deal damage to it. So he specifically picked up shadow blade and green flame blade to get other damage types. Later on, we faced another stone golem, and that's when he discovered that they're immune to fire and psychic damage too. That was a rough day. Regardless, radiant damage tends to be a very consistent damage type that is only rarely resisted, so it's a nice option for arcane trickster.
This DOES seem like a fun pretty useful idea 😁. But then that begs the question…why DIDN’T they take this approach? I could hazard a guess that if they did it that way, it would be a new “must have” option which they’ve been trying to cut down on. There’s also martial classes that would have the ability to pick this cantrip up to consider. Eldritch Knight comes most readily to my mind. The visual of a heavily clad warrior with shimmering magical energy around their armor to further deflect harm is a fun visual in my mind, but it might create a “problem character.” It would have the potential to be SO tanky, the DM has to pull out monsters or spells that are far stronger than the bulk of the party can handle just to provide an actual challenge for this one player. Wow this reply went on far longer than I thought it would 😅. TLDR, cool idea, but I can see a possible reason why it isn’t so
If the dodge action didn't exist I would definitely agree with you but there is a character cost to selecting a cantrip. Meaning bladeward is not a free feature while the dodge action is free, the costed feature should be inherently stronger than the free feature. Over 1 round dodging is strictly better at all tiers of play as disadvantaged on incoming attacks leads to more misses than a minus 1d4 on incoming attacks. If the dice size did scale, a 17th level caster would get a minus 1d10 to incoming attacks, which is mechanically stronger than continually taking the dodge action which is nearly mechanically equivalent to the level 2 spell Blur. So is it a problem that a cantrip at 17 out scales a level 2 spell? Maybe. A level two scorching ray has an average damage of 21, whereas a firebolt cast by a level 17 caster has an average damage of 22. So it's not unprecedented to have a cantrip technically perform better than a level 2 spell at high levels of play. So it might be an issue, but in general I'm ok with that.
I noticed True Strike doesn’t specify melee weapons as well. An interesting build idea that came to mind is a Wizard with a 1 level dip in Paladin or Ranger for martial weapon mastery (on top of the obvious armor proficiency), then you can use a heavy crossbow with the Push mastery to push people into your Webs or whatever other spell. No more relying on warlocks! Of course there is a lot more forced movement now. Still could be fun!
@@Mark-ki7ic why shouldn’t ranged weapons benefit? Theres no logical or balance reason why this divination magic that just adds to hit and damage can help you hit better with a sword or greataxe but not with a dart or bow.
@@Mark-ki7icthe only requirement is that you have proficiency with the weapon. Therefore it does not care if the weapon is melee, thrown, uses ammunition, etc. The only thing I find unclear about this spell is the edge case interaction with something like War Caster. It’s not clear to me if this is a spell attack or if the target is the weapon, which then makes an attack. If the former, it works with War Caster for an opportunity attack. If the latter, it doesn’t.
That's what most people are actually concerned about. True Strike is now THE go-to damage cantrip for any (non-WL) caster until lvl 11 technically. A wizard gains more from using a light crossbow and true strike than using Fire Bolt. Fire Bolt is a straight d10 (5.5) fire damage. True Strike is a d8 (4.5) + spellcasting mod (3 or 4 at lvl 1) of Radiant damage. So it's 2-3 points more damage, it's a better damage type (radiant is rarely resisted) and it has a minimum damage of 4 basically whereas Fire Bolt can roll a 1. Even at tier 2 (lvl 5+), True Strike + Light Crossbow is gonna be more damage than a Fire Bolt. I'll likely rule it so that it doesn't apply to ranged weapons or at the very least restrict its effective range to 30 feet at my table.
@@blivetwidget the cantrip may say it targets a weapon, but without a single creature to target you can’t cast it. The War Caster interaction seems pretty cut and dried to me. Any GM that rules it can’t work because of that technicality should be locked in an actual dungeon.
One use for the friends cantrip I always wanted was that if an NPC was arguing with you was to use friends, explain my point then release it, but it was never viable because it made them hostile. Now it could work that way. I see myself using friends a lot more to calm situations down.
@@Wonderwall627 The new blade ward is an effective 1-4 extra AC every time you get attacked. I'm pretty sure that actually comes out to less damage overall, at least when not looking at high CR monsters that have like +12 to hit. Edit: It's particularly effective if you already have a lot of AC. A character this could be great for is Armorer Artificers for example. (Forcing disadvantage onto enemies when they target someone that is not you)
Think about the new blade ward as an additional 12.5% miss chance. The old blade ward (IMO) was basically uuseless. You could turtle up and keep yourself a little safer, but your action was gone for offense. Now it's a concentration spell so you can stay on offense and your opponent will miss you 12.5% more often. That makes it scale really well, and gives it a ton more usability through all levels of play.
A quick correction I didn’t notice anyone point out is that chilled touch gave the undead target disadvantage on their attack rolls rather than you gaining advantage on your attack roll. Which is what I think I heard in the video
If True Strike doesn't specify melee weapons, couldn't you as a wizard shoot your lousy light crossbow at lower levels and get something out of it? It probably is even better for Arcane Trickster as they can apply it on their rapier or hand crossbow. Thorn Whip seems to have a secret buff with the wording "you CAN". So if you don't want to pull someone, you don't have to. Although I'm sure if I'm a druid, I'm absolutely using my ridiculous 300 ft long thorn whip to pull either allies out of danger or enemies into harmful effects.
True strike on an arcane trickster with a short bow seems like a solid choice. Vex allows you a way to chain easy advantage without using you bonus action, and you can build for much better saving throws on things like hold person and illusion spells.
@@MethosJK9 Not sure where you got that info from, but new Wizard (and I think all casters) are proficient with simple weapons, meaning you still are proficient with light crossbows.
Not only do you "get something out of it at lower levels" - using Light Crossbow + True Strike is absolutely the optimal damage play for any (non-WL) caster until level ELEVEN if you're not casting a leveled spell. Aside from more damage, Radiant is a less resisted damage type and true stirke will give you a minimum damage of 4 (or 5 depending on what modifier you start with). And in terms of damage comparison: * Fire Bolt at lvl 1-4 = 5.5 Fire damage. Fire Bolt at lvl 5-10 = 11 Fire damage. * True Stike at lvl 1-4 = 4.5 + spellcasting mod (i.e. 7.5/8.5 damage). True Strike at lvl 5-11 = 4.5 + 3.5 + 4 or 5 (spellcasting mod) = 12 or 13 damage.
Celestial Warlock with even a shortbow is going to be funny. With True Strike, Agonizing Blast, their lvl6 class feature and Charisma 20 they'll be doing 2d6+15 Radiant per hit.
For sacred flame, if theres a roof above them then the fire comes out from the highest point above the creature where its unobstructed. It doesnt say the flame comes specifically the heavens or 6000 feet above them, just that it descends. So i would argue, that sacred flame comes from the roof, if they have a roof above them.
For Mind Sliver is not just spell save that the 1d4 effects, it just says next saving throw. Maybe you have an melee focused party member who want to make the target prone or grappled, this will help them too
@@erickarnell You can still cast it on a sword then hand that sword to your fighter for example. So no biggie there, but yes casting it onto hostiles is gone.
but starry wisp is a better version of that effect. You could work with your DM to allow that use instead (its better than wasting a whole action to do the light thing and no damage in game's action economy)
Side note: Faithful follower subscribed for years. Your contribution to the DnD community is outstanding. You deserve that 100k subscriber plaque like no other. Just sayin.
I LOVE The cantrip changes and spell changes overall! D&D 2024 is on fire. My takes on where they could be improved still: Guidance: You touch a willing creature and choose martial (Str, Dex, Con) or mental (Wis, Int, Cha). Until the spell ends, the creature may add 1d4 to any skill checks using the chosen abilities or concentration checks Resistance: The reduction increases when you reach level 5 (1d6), 11 (2d4) and 17 (2d6) Shocking Grasp: The damage uses d10 instead of d8 Thunderclap: As an option, you and each creature that failed their saving throw becomes deafened until the start of your next turn (you must choose this as you cast the cantrip, before any saving throws are made) Vicious Mockery: On a failed saving throw, if the target is not incapacitated and does not make at least one attack roll before the end of its next turn, the target then takes an extra 1d6 psychic damage (this afftereffect damage doesn't increase with levels; i.e "the initial damage increases"...) Druidcraft, Elementalist, Prestidigitation, Thaumaturgy (and possibly Mage Hand): When you reach level 5, you can ignore the Somatic component to cast this spell. When you reach level 11, you can also ignore the Verbal component to cast this spell.
2 things that are Cantrips related.. A: there are 4? Spells that are class specific that can't be taken by the Magic initiative feat, good IMO B: Eldritch Knight and Arcane Trickster gets more Cantrips so their tactical spell use improves. Trent, didn't think of casting True Strike on the weapon that lauched the ammunition. That gives the Sling a new life, especially after 5th level.
One fun thing about Sling in 2024 is that it has the Slow mastery, which might make it very good for a Rogue based kiting build, and with Rogues getting Proficiency with Whips you could outfit yourself to inflict Slow at range with a Sling, and inflict Slow with a Whip in Melee. At level 5+ if you succeed at using Cunning Strike to also knock the target prone, you could effectively reduce an enemy with 30 feet of movement down to 10 feet of movement.
Shillelagh scaling with your level will create a very cool Wisdom-based Fighter with a dip in Druid or taking Magic Initiate as a starting feat. Doing 1d10, 1d12, or 2d6 per attack while also being able to use a shield would be insane.
@@juliamedina3322 not entirely fair comparison since it's still only one instance of damage, and protection from energy is not good for its level, but you are right that at least at high levels when the damage is high, this would be way too much protection for a cantrip.
Its stacks with pretty much EVERY damage resistance and reduction... It will take a while to people to notice that it maybe the MOST powerful cantrip now... at all levels.
Mage hand had a major, major change that makes the spell significantly more useful. You can now do something with the hand immediately as you conjure it, and only need to invest additional actions for doing more things. You don't need a seprate initial action to create it. This is huge, as it makes the spell actually potentially be usable in a combat scenario, and especially as an Arcane Trickster that can cast it as a bonus action snd can use it to pickpocket.
All the features that took away reactions before just should've been changed to removing one reaction from the target. With the two nerfs it's now among the worst attack cantrips in the game.
@@arcturuslight_I’d say that’s a bit of an exaggeration. Most of the time when I use shocking grasp it is to avoid opportunity attacks, as other types of reactions are much less common.
@@neb985 yeah I guess when the effect comes up, it can be really useful. It just feels too weak and unreliable the rest of the time for a melee cantrip.
One point that wasn’t commented with shillelagh is that now you can get it using the magic initiate feat and chose the ability modifier. might be useful to avoid a warlock dip or as a way to get int based attacks on a EK (true strike don’t work on all attacks)
Psychic and Force are missing from the Resistance Cantrip. The omission of Force damage makes sense as that seems to increasingly be the go-to damage upgrade replacement for magic slashing, piercing, and bludgeoning.
Force is also omitted from the Boon of Energy Resistance (which was understandably missed in yesterday's video on the Boon feats, because it was the _only_ exception).
Sacred Flame doesn't say a distance it needs to descent from to work, so it could literally appear 1 inch above their head and hit them. Descend also has a different meaning of "make a sudden attack on". This feels like a weird point
I think weapon masteries, and the improvements to the Grappler feat will help increase the value of Acid splash a lot as well. For instance, a number of Barbarian, and Fighter builds might try to use the Push mastery with one attack to group enemies together to be able to then use the Cleave mastery on a follow up attack. Monks with the Tavern Brawler, and/or Grappler feats would probably also be to ensure that there is at least one area of the battlefield where you could hit at least two enemies with a 5 foot radius sphere.
It used to be my go to instead of fire bolt; less resisted, prevents healing, and advantage against undead, all for an average of 1 point of damage less. Not sure why they felt the need to make it melee and remove one of the perks at the same time.
@@nathans9764 chill TOUCH was always a touch spell in previous editions And with the new Eldritch knight and valor bard needs some diversity for their melee cantrips in between attacks beside only shocking grasp and true strike
It seems to me that true strike would not be amazing to use with an Eldritch Knight or a Valor Bard. I think it would be unusual for them to have their casting stat be equal to whatever stat they are using for the rest of their attacks. So they would likely suffer a to hit penalty, in comparison, that may not be worth it. And if theyre focused on their casting stat, then the other attacks would suffer a penalty, in comparison.
I could see it on a valor bard, being a primary caster you want that high CHA for your save DC. Same with arcane trickster since they don't have extra attack. Not sure about it for Eldritch Knight though.
@@nathans9764For the arcane trickster cunning strike uses your dex mod for there saving throws on it so you want dex to max out. I wish true strike gave the choice of what modifier to use.
The new Blade Ward is just a modified Bane spell. It only affects attack rolls, but it’s a cantrip and there’s no save to avoid it. Anyone aims at you, they have minus 1d4 to their attack roll. It also stacks with Shield, Shield of Faith, and Defensive Duelist which is spectacular game design. The Abjuration cantrip combos with a bunch of 1st level Abjuration spells. Phenomenal.
Came back to say that I love the new True Strike. Literally no notes. My one question is why is it not on the Cleric spell list? True Strike works for Bards, Sorcerers, Warlocks, and Wizards, yet Clerics a) have better weapon and armor proficiencies that would let them use this cantrip more effectively and b) have bo way of getting extra attack, meaning Clerics are less obligated to invest in strength or dex making this a really solid choice if you want a Cleric who can mix it up in melee a bit. Maybe they don’t want Clerics double dipping with their Wisdom mod on their weapon’s damage and their level 6 upgrade adding Wisdom mod to the damage of Cleric cantrips, but Warlocks can do the same thing using Eldritch Invocations if they wanted to and they get access to this spell. I don’t get it.
I think Blade ward is underestimated here. Yes, concentration sucks, and using your action sucks. But as a cantrip you can just cast it on yourself add infinatum as you explore, essentially making it at will, self only, shield of faith. Im it kinda makes magic initiate (Wiz) even better now. Ressistance, as well, could combine well with HAM - most monsters only deal 1 type of physical damage, so you could stack it with the DR from it to really amplify its effect.
If they're making Resistance reduce damage by 1d4, they should have given it standard cantrip progression. This becomes useless at Tier 3, and arguably Tier 2 (maybe you'll still find it useful in some niche circumstances of Tier 2, but still significantly reduced. .
Doesn't True Strike outperform most other cantrips now, even with just a light crossbow? 1d8+intmod is going to be more damage than 1d10. What am i missing? Is firebolt dead on arrival?
I think that the idea for Sacred Flame, and what they should have written would have been a "creature that you can see." Full cover assumes that you can't actually see the creature to exactly target them, so that would clear the entire thing up. I agree though that Descends is weird though for indoor encounters...
Starry Wisp actually has synergy with Ranger: they get Blindsight at high levels, but can take the fighting style at low levels since they're now Feats and thus you can have multiple (IE, Druidic Warrior and Blindsight), meaning they can see invisible creatures. So if there's an invisible enemy, the Ranger can use Starry Wisp to take away the advantage it'd give them.
@@carbonbeaker409 Starry Wisp only does it for a turn, Faerie Fire does it as long as you maintain concentration and also gives advantage, and is an AOE. I think one way to look at it is that Starry Wisp is kinda a 'downcasted' Faerie Fire.
@@Godzillawolf1 Fair, but you also get the damage out of the initial action to use it. Not saying it makes faerie fire useless, it just detracts from the role of the spell.
@@Godzillawolf1 I guess to summarize my perspective, I've always as a player loved the non damaging utility spells, and encouraged my players to explore using them in creative ways, and it's just frustrating seeing more utility being forced into combat instead of having its own role.
I think with Sacred Flame, if the gods exist on another plane of existence, I don't see how the presence of a roof affects things. The radiance would need to cross dimensions, so it could just as easily come from a "portal" below the roof. It doesn't need to come from the sky, just above.
It would be great if you make a video on how the PHB supports DMs, what suggestions there are etc. I know the DMG also exists, but there must be rules in the PHB already that explain what a DM needs to do. Also, if it turns out that having the PHB alone isn’t enough to help DMs yet, and there will be an awkward and difficult phase where compatibility is hard between the different versions, that’s something potential buyers want to know.
I think resistance should scale at the standard points. I'd also like to see shocking grasp on the druid spell list, since lightning damage is absolutely within the druid's wheelhouse.
My goodness does Resistance stink. They didn't even make it scale up. Would it be game breaking to have it increase by 1d4 with the normal cantrip progression? No.
They did it, they friggin did it, they made a spall with the word "touch" in the name actually have a range of touch Now if only it was also an ice spell lol
Oddly enough, the change to produce flame makes it less effective in a very niche use case. When fighting enemies without darkvision in the dark. You would have light an your turn so you could see your produce flame attack, but the spell ended when you made the attack, so they wouldn't get light from it on their turn.
Blade Ward is going to be sneaky good on so many non-full caster builds. Thief with one level of Wizard can scribe scrolls and cast with a bonus action.
id probably rule it that the first time u get hit in a round/turn (dm discretion about how much they want to wait for rolling to get a "will this hit" response. roll 1d4 and add to your ac for simplicity.
Blade Ward on a Monk seems really good. Either go Sage for background (miss out on Dex increase most unfortunately) or go with an older background/customize for, increasing both my Dex, and Wis, feat being magic initiate of course then pick up Blade Ward, maybe Light or Minor Illusion, and the Find Familiar spell. With Monk magic action Blade Ward, bonus action attack(s).
There is one additional potentially powerful use for Blade Ward. If the table is allowing pre-2024 material, Earth Genasi from Monsters of the Multiverse can cast Blade Ward as a bonus action a certain number of times per day. So an Earth Genasi Fighter or Monk, for example, could cast Blade Ward as a bonus action and still have their action available to immediately wade into the front lines and attack.
@@arcturuslight_ Barbarians can't cast or concentrate on spells while raging, and even if they could Earth Genasi casting Blade Ward as a bonus action conflicts with activating their Rage, so it wouldn't work for them. Earth Genasi Eldritch Knight Fighters would probably be the best-equipped characters to maximize the effectiveness of Blade Ward. With armor training, shields, and defensive abilities like the Shield spell, they are one of the best-equipped classes to stack AC, increasing the probability that imposing a 1d4 penalty to enemy attack rolls will turn hits into misses. Fewer hits means having to make Con saves less often, but Fighters also get Con save proficiency and later on Indomitable, which increases the probability of them succeeding on Con saves. And an Eldritch Knight's War Magic means that if they do need to reapply Blade Ward because they lost concentration or the duration expired, but they can't cast it as a Bonus Action because they are either out of the Bonus Action uses granted by Earth Genasi or because they need the Bonus Action for something else, they can replace an attack with recasting Blade Ward. But Monks can also work because they eventually get Con save proficiency, have active defenses to redirect or mitigate damage so Con save DCs are lower, and can use Patient Defense on subsequent turns to grant Disadvantage to attack rolls against them and decrease the probability of them being hit even further.
@@CivilWarMan yeah an oopsie on my part. So that will be good on fighters that don't do dual, crossbow, polearm or shield bonus attack, so something like a great weapon fighter. Hit like a boulder, then tank like a boulder. Because you are one 🗿
Dang, man, you're not nearly as rigorous as I'd've hoped. Light was changed. It can't be dismissed and can't be cast on an object that someone else is carrying. Pretty inconvenient. Also, the size requirement changed from "no larger than 10 feet in any dimension" to "Large or smaller". So you could cast it on a 50ft rope now, since that can easily fit within a Large space when coiled. Mage Hand definitely changed - you can't dismiss it, either, and more importantly, you can use the hand on the same action you cast the spell! Previously, casting the spell only summoned the hand, and it didn't do anything until you spent another action. Message dropped its verbal component and standardized most wall materials to 1 foot. Also, the last sentence was knocked off…? I'm not sure of the implication of that. Did they think it was implied, or did they intentionally remove the ability for the message to go around corners? You missed that Produce Flame's area of light is twice as wide now.
Guidance is stronger. It can now be used for a whole minute versus a round. Yes, you are pigeonholed into a particular Skill but that was always the case when it was cast i.e. you wanted help on X Skill Check and so you got the d4 for it. And with it being a minute use, it now can meaningfully be used in combat. So now you can give a d4 buff to your grappling/shoving party member, for example.
Poison spray should be a d10. Shocking Grasp and Chill Touch should be d12. Any touch spell should be a d12. Melee is dangerous for casters. True strike should be on the cleric spell list. It is basically an arcane shillelagh, but the radiant damage screams Cleric. It pairs well with a non-martial class as an alternative to a touch cantrip.
The "target knows it was Charmed by you" part of Friends still makes it a hard pass. No NPC is ever going to be jazzed about having mind altering magic cast on them. Resistance is terrible now. Doesn't work on Death Saves anymore or can be used when you're sending the rogue to disarm a trap unless you guess what damage that trap might do now (if it even does damage. Our rogue just got hit with a Suggestion spell trap last session).
I feel like the new resistance could stand to have standard cantrip scaling on the damage reduction die. Or maybe the new Shillelagh style of scaling, but since the damage reduction is once per turn and requires concentration, I don't think it needs to be that granular. Anyone who rules a roof above the target's head would block Sacred Flame would also need to concede wearing a hat blocks it. Which is ridiculous, because the game's mechanics are meant to be more of an abstraction than that. If you can see the the target, it doesn't have enough cover to avoid the spell, period. I like the range scaling of Spare the Dying. More spells should have followed its example in instances where there's no dice to scale, like new sleep and prismatic spray. I kinda wish Thorn Whip (and other such effects) was change to be creatures one size category larger than you or smaller. Yeah, it'd be bad for small size Species options, but coming up with things to combo with size increasing effects is always a ton of fun.
If my character wants to use shillelagh I'm probably going to want to use true strike as well... Would a shillelagh-ified weapons normal damage be the weapons normal damage and force, or would the force option go away if you use true strike with it?
I hate that certain spells are now no longer actually doing what they are named for. For example, True Strike isn't a True Strike anymore, it's an Arcane Smite. That's a totally different spell. Also there's minimal reason to take it until after 5th level.
I have noticed that a lot of the spells and cantrips you have covered so far which previously were available to Warlock are no longer... is this accurate? Are they trying to push Warlocks more into the martial with some casting role rather than being spell focused?
The damage die scaling of Shillelagh is debatable. The upgrade from 1d12 to 2d6 means you have a 1/36 chance of dealing max damage while before you had a 1/12 chance of dealing max damage. So you are more likely to deal middling damage - a little less exciting. Also I don’t know if it is relevant anymore, but a half orc (or other creature with Savage Attacks) who crits with a 2d6 weapon only adds 1d6 to the attack’s damage as part of that trait. An edge case, but a case all the same.
I might be tempted to *slightly* nerf True Strike to say it can’t do radiant damage until level 5. That way it might incentivise the consideration of other cantrips before then
Another change the friends cantrip got was an actual range, and the requirement to see your target By technicality, you could cast the spell across dimensions, and make the very gods hostile at you if you decided to target them with friends
The main use I could see for the new Resistance is hazardous environments, where you're taking damage every turn just for being there. Resistance could help you survive an extra few turns. Other than that I'm going to miss the old version, which I think is sorely under-rated. Just because you can't use it on every saving throw doesn't mean it isn't very valuable for the ones you can use it on. In my experience, you can see a saving throw coming at least a few times a session. You don't have to be Sherlock Holmes to know what's up when the DM describes 'a rickety bridge swaying in the wind' as your only path forward.
The way I see the new produce flame as useful is you can use it and wild shape the next turn won't get rid of it. I assume you can throw the flame as an animal as long as "your form could reasonably do so".
The charmed condition on Friends makes it so that a glamour bard can cast it before their bonus action command to basically cast command with advantage if they want i guess.
True Strike is objectively a buff, but I still feel like it's kind of weird that there are cases where casting a spell called True Strike decreases you chance to hit. If it was worded in a way where you added your spellcasting ability mod to the attack roll (minimum of 1) in addition to your Strength/Dexterity, it would better fit the flavor of using your magic to strike more accurately.
The new true strike is bad because the spell is no longer about accuracy and I taught the same thing about how to make it actually work, and since the GWM/sharshooter -5 +10 is gone accuracy shouldn’t be as strong as it was before
True Strike is mainly interesting for casters since it allows them to add their spellcasting modifier to essentially a damage cantrip. As a Wizard, using True Strike on your Light Crossbow is way better than casting a Fire Bolt. It's practically 50% more damage than Fire Bolt at lvl 1 if you manage to start with a +4 in your spellcasting mod. And even with just a +3, it's still 7.5 damage in a better damage type with a minimum damage of 4 compared to Fire Bolts 5.5 damage and more resisted damage type and minimum damage of 1.
In terms of flavour: You can try to flavour it in a different way. It isn't striking more accurately, it's about using magic instead of your physical prowess to aim your weapon. In terms of place in the game: It is not meant to be used by warriors that have higher bonus in a physical ability than a spellcasting ability, so saying it decreases your chance to hit is like saying that you have less chance to hit with a spell attack than a sword as a barbarian, which is essentially what is happening here anyway. The spell is meant to be used by primary spellcasters who want to use a weapon for some reason. In terms of balance: It is already good. Depending on the weapon, it is at least as strong as other attack cantrips, and is stronger if you have proficiency with higher damage roll weapons. And that's if you use it as intended, on like a full wizard. On some multiclass builds it is great because it can eliminate multi ability dependence, gain bonus damage from potent cantrips, utilise buffs to weapon attacks and to spells at the same time. It's, like, one of the best attack cantrips now.
Friends got nerfed compared to the Playtest version. Used to be "The spell ends early if the target takes damage or if you or an ally makes an Attack roll *against it* or forces *it* to make a Saving Throw." But now the spell ends early as soon as you make any attack or deal any damage toward any target, or cause anyone to make a saving throw.
I think it still has a great usefulness in social interactions to deescalate a situation: charm the person, argue your point, then even after it ends and the creature knows you charmed them, they don't go immediately hostile... they can ponder and accept your argument and theres a good use of this cantrip
To me, sacred flame was always a holy flash that goes off light a small grenade going off right on top of them. It coming from above is not how I envisioned it.
12:40 One change about Message: it's now a druid cantrip as well (druids were starving for cantrip options, so the more the better). 12:58 I think Mind Sliver not being an optional spell anymore is a considerable change (especially now with the improvements to Magic Initiate).
7:00 - Just to confirm (since the spell description show here doesn't specify), in the new 2024 rules, Eldritch Blast only scales with WARLOCK level (rather than character level), correct?
Friends is now sort of interesting with the fey wanderer ranger lvl 7 ability, which triggers whenever a creature succeeds on a saving throw to be Charmed. Since now they automatically succeed on a saving throw if in battle, you can trigger that ability at will if you or a party member can pick up this cantrip.
That would actually be kind of really good. Especially if someone in your party is an eldritch knight or valor bard. Giving up one attack to potentially frighten an enemy could be totally worth it.
Blade Ward also just allows you to use your action productively while casting a bonus action spell. It's not a bad niche to have available, although concentration would be tough to give up. I feel like this is GREAT now that all casters can swap out a cantrip at level up. At low levels, this seems cool. Swap it out later.
Message cantrip did change. They removed the verbal component. Finally no more arguments about stealthily and quietly casting the spell in front of an enemy.
Technically it never said that the words spoken were the same as the verbal components, so yeah… it seemed weird that a secret message is being sent after a verbal component is spoken. The enemy/npc know SOMETHING is happening!
And they threw in "Only the target" just to eliminate "well this person is close enough to hear a whisper"
This is going to solve fights, LOL!
oh thank goodness
Holy fucking shit they actually màde message useful yay
Force and Psychic aren’t covered in the new Resistance spell
And - of course - blueberry damage. So for players going up against Sheldon the Blueberry Dragon from the Misplaced Monsters package WotC released with Extra Life, whose stat block describes him as dealing this damage type, Resistance will be of little help!
Yeah, that’s how it should be. Those two types are traditionally difficult to be resistant to without class features or very specific spells. Or weird stuff like constructs and objects.
@@rupertthegood Don't forget custard damage!
Were they before?
@@rupertthegood Huh?
You know, Chris, I wish that Thaumaturgy, Prestidigitation, Druidcraft and Elementalism didn't have components. The flavor is so awesome, but you can't really use it in 95% of the situations you'd want to, cause you gotta do the whole song and dance of casting the spell before anything can happen. Like, I imagine that Thaumaturgy is like Gandalf's threatening spell when he darkened Bilbo's house and yelled at him "Do not take me for some conjurer of cheap tricks". Now imagine the same scene, but Gandalf has to cast a spell for 2-3 seconds, chanting and waving his hands around, before then turning to Bilbo and starting the shpiel. It wouldn't work at all xD
much agree
Agree but also Thaumaturgy, Druidcraft and Elementalism need way more to them. Prestidigitation does so much more and is also much more open and lenient on what it does too, leading to muuuuuch more RP potential.
In the table I DM/Play we does that and also the classes who can learn those cantrip have them for free, because man, it feels so bad to say to a Druid "hey, or you have 2 actually usefull cantrips or you make a flower blossom, can't have both" and we kinda treat them as thing you can do while doing something else, like a Cleric using Thaumaturgy with Word of Radiance for some impact or the Wild Magic Sorcerer always rolling some random trinket with Prestidigitation when rolling the Wild Magic Table (it was all fun and games until the DM decided those trinkets to also be affect by the wild magic)
@@godzilagiroflex this is kinda fixed by some origin feats since you can get an extra cantrip for free. Spellcasting classes are powerful enough, they should not have extra free stuff imo
So houserule for all those spells: "When you reach level 5, you can ignore the Somatic component for casting this cantrip. At level 11, you can also ignore its Verbal component. At level 17 you can cast it as a Bonus action on your turn instead."
For Scared flame, I always imagined it just engulfed the creature instead of coming from a certain location. If you can see a body part, they are getting roasted.
I always imagined it’s coming from above, but like, immediately above. Chris’s roof doesn’t help in how I’m imagining it.
@@henrymalinowski5125 the roof idea isnt supported raw and is just something he ended up overthinking about honestly
Yea I also thought about radiant flames coming down over someones head, but I also just imagined it as appearing immediately above their head not being called down from the sky.
Why is it scared?
The new verbal component is BOO!
You missed a pretty big buff to Acid Splash. 2014 version targets a creature you can see; 2024 version targets a point and affects all creatures around it, which means you can hit invisible creatures with it.
And creatures hiding behind cover, even full cover if they're just around a corner.
I'm fairly sure that "Chill Touch" Didn't give advantage to hit an undead target, it gave Disadvantage to undead attacks against You if hit with the attack.
Which funnily would be a lot better now with touch since at 120 feet away the chances they'd attack you were really low. Very niche so I get trimming it, but I can't really imagine taking it now.
Light changed slightly. You can no longer use it on an object that is worn or carried by someone else.
They can set down the object or hand it to you, and then take it back after you've cast Light.
This wording is to prevent clever players from casting Light on an enemy. It's unnecessary, in my mind, but whatever. It doesn't change the way the spell works in terms of utility.
@@elementzero3379 Wait, what do you mean clever players? The way the spell was worded, it seemed it was intended to be cast on enemies. It literally states "If you target an object held or worn by a hostile creature, that creature must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw to avoid the spell. "
@@Notsogoodguitarguy It certainly can be used that way, and thus the restrictions in place to prevent a cantrip from becoming a more powerful tool than it was intended to be.
Light has always primarily been a utility spell. Before the vast majority of playable species got darkvision (and at tables that use current lighting rules as written), having a light source mattered. Light was/is a way to avoid lugging a torch or lantern for those that want it. That's always been its most common role.
@@elementzero3379 my comment was that it wasn't "clever" to cast Light on an enemy. It was a function of the cantrip. Saying that a "clever" player used it so they had to change the wording implies that it wasn't meant to be used that way, but players found a way to use it that way. It wasn't at all whether it is more or less powerful or whatever.
@@Notsogoodguitarguy i mean TBF does that mean its no longer clever to do so just cause its an intention?
Im 99% sure "descend" is meant in a figurative sense and sacred flame isn't actually coming from anywhere, the target is just bursting into flames as if by divine will
I always look at the “descriptive words” as flavor. It wouldn’t change the mechanics for me. I think the focus is 1/2 and 3/4 cover, not where the magic comes from. Additionally, 2014 PHB stated that you gain no benefit from cover “from this saving throw”. That bit in quotes means 1/2 and 3/4 was always the focus. Because for full cover you would never make a saving throw as you are behind full cover, which we all know stops spells from targeting something because of line effect.
A dex save implies that they are actively avoiding the spell effect rather than just spontaneously bursting into flames.
A wizard in my game is also using this set up and it's really good.
@@jordanmetcalf3383other than weird interactions with windows if a creature is behind full cover in almost all circumstances you can't see the creature so they are not a valid target.
@@jordanmetcalf3383Yeah, if they meant for it to not work under a ceiling, they would have added a distance above the target that needed to be open. For example, 5’ or 10’ clearance above the creature, vs hundreds of feet within a huge cavern.
10 years playing and I just realized cover gives you a bonus to DEX saving throws lol
Probably in part because two of the most well known dex save spells (Fireball and Sacred Flame) both ignore cover xD
@@MrSeals1000 did not know fireball ignores cover, it does not say it but does say it spreads around corner... though fireball can be placed almost anywhere so it practically does for true.
@@MrSeals1000apparently in 2024 fireball is now only line of sight from the centre of the blast.
If played RAW it makes lightning bolt much worse, since enemies give half cover to other enemies (at least in the 2014 book, haven't checked the new book yet)
@@MrSeals1000Ignored in the case of fireball, since it no longer goes through corners.
I always assumed that Sacred Flame descended from directly above the target, so if there is a roof it originates beneath the roof and above them. It’s a cantrip, so literal fire from the heavens seems a bit too ostentatious.
Also, the cover thing works because in order to target them with the spell you have to see them, and total cover comes from complete concealment.
I really, really appreciate the white text on black background. I've been watching these for many hours, and it's been tiring but awesome. There's absolutely no way I could've watched more than a few without getting a bad headache if you'd used a brighter background. 👍🏻
Sacred Flame doesn't say that it descends from the sky, just from above them. My interpretation has always been that it was directly above them (within their space).
Thorn whip now specifies you CAN pull a creature.
The previous lack of that word did make it seem like the creature had to be pulled whether you wanted to or not.
It did pull "up to" 10 feet though. It could be interpreted as simply accounting for the possibility that it might not be possible to get the full 10, but I always read it as the caster deciding the distance with 0 feet as an option.
@@predwin1998 Oh that might be true. The "can" is probably clearer though. So I'm happy with the change either way.
I'm glad they did that because we had a DM rule that the caster must pull them 10 feet towards them when they hit. That spawned one those, "OK, boomer," moments, and really annoyed the druid, who suddenly had a demon in his face.
If an arcane trickster chooses to max int rather than dex, true strike lets a viable sneak attack deal radiant damage. Neat.
That is nice for arcane tricksters. A friend of mine played an arcane trickster and we came across a stone golem, but he didn't have a magic weapon so he literally couldn't deal damage to it. So he specifically picked up shadow blade and green flame blade to get other damage types. Later on, we faced another stone golem, and that's when he discovered that they're immune to fire and psychic damage too. That was a rough day. Regardless, radiant damage tends to be a very consistent damage type that is only rarely resisted, so it's a nice option for arcane trickster.
Hot take. Cantrips that reduce damage by a d4 should scale their dice sizes at 5, 11 and 17.
This DOES seem like a fun pretty useful idea 😁. But then that begs the question…why DIDN’T they take this approach?
I could hazard a guess that if they did it that way, it would be a new “must have” option which they’ve been trying to cut down on. There’s also martial classes that would have the ability to pick this cantrip up to consider. Eldritch Knight comes most readily to my mind. The visual of a heavily clad warrior with shimmering magical energy around their armor to further deflect harm is a fun visual in my mind, but it might create a “problem character.” It would have the potential to be SO tanky, the DM has to pull out monsters or spells that are far stronger than the bulk of the party can handle just to provide an actual challenge for this one player.
Wow this reply went on far longer than I thought it would 😅.
TLDR, cool idea, but I can see a possible reason why it isn’t so
If the dodge action didn't exist I would definitely agree with you but there is a character cost to selecting a cantrip. Meaning bladeward is not a free feature while the dodge action is free, the costed feature should be inherently stronger than the free feature. Over 1 round dodging is strictly better at all tiers of play as disadvantaged on incoming attacks leads to more misses than a minus 1d4 on incoming attacks.
If the dice size did scale, a 17th level caster would get a minus 1d10 to incoming attacks, which is mechanically stronger than continually taking the dodge action which is nearly mechanically equivalent to the level 2 spell Blur. So is it a problem that a cantrip at 17 out scales a level 2 spell? Maybe. A level two scorching ray has an average damage of 21, whereas a firebolt cast by a level 17 caster has an average damage of 22. So it's not unprecedented to have a cantrip technically perform better than a level 2 spell at high levels of play.
So it might be an issue, but in general I'm ok with that.
I noticed True Strike doesn’t specify melee weapons as well. An interesting build idea that came to mind is a Wizard with a 1 level dip in Paladin or Ranger for martial weapon mastery (on top of the obvious armor proficiency), then you can use a heavy crossbow with the Push mastery to push people into your Webs or whatever other spell. No more relying on warlocks! Of course there is a lot more forced movement now. Still could be fun!
Been wondering if a thrown weapon can be enchanted with True Strike. IMO ammunition shouldn't be but thrown ie dagger, hand axe could.
@@Mark-ki7ic why shouldn’t ranged weapons benefit? Theres no logical or balance reason why this divination magic that just adds to hit and damage can help you hit better with a sword or greataxe but not with a dart or bow.
@@Mark-ki7icthe only requirement is that you have proficiency with the weapon. Therefore it does not care if the weapon is melee, thrown, uses ammunition, etc.
The only thing I find unclear about this spell is the edge case interaction with something like War Caster. It’s not clear to me if this is a spell attack or if the target is the weapon, which then makes an attack. If the former, it works with War Caster for an opportunity attack. If the latter, it doesn’t.
That's what most people are actually concerned about. True Strike is now THE go-to damage cantrip for any (non-WL) caster until lvl 11 technically. A wizard gains more from using a light crossbow and true strike than using Fire Bolt. Fire Bolt is a straight d10 (5.5) fire damage. True Strike is a d8 (4.5) + spellcasting mod (3 or 4 at lvl 1) of Radiant damage. So it's 2-3 points more damage, it's a better damage type (radiant is rarely resisted) and it has a minimum damage of 4 basically whereas Fire Bolt can roll a 1. Even at tier 2 (lvl 5+), True Strike + Light Crossbow is gonna be more damage than a Fire Bolt. I'll likely rule it so that it doesn't apply to ranged weapons or at the very least restrict its effective range to 30 feet at my table.
@@blivetwidget the cantrip may say it targets a weapon, but without a single creature to target you can’t cast it. The War Caster interaction seems pretty cut and dried to me. Any GM that rules it can’t work because of that technicality should be locked in an actual dungeon.
One use for the friends cantrip I always wanted was that if an NPC was arguing with you was to use friends, explain my point then release it, but it was never viable because it made them hostile. Now it could work that way. I see myself using friends a lot more to calm situations down.
indeed!
The new Blade Ward is going to be interesting on an Earth Genasi martial
Huge nerf in my opinion for them. If my dm doesn't keep the old rule might have to reroll my character.
@@Wonderwall627 The new blade ward is an effective 1-4 extra AC every time you get attacked. I'm pretty sure that actually comes out to less damage overall, at least when not looking at high CR monsters that have like +12 to hit.
Edit: It's particularly effective if you already have a lot of AC. A character this could be great for is Armorer Artificers for example.
(Forcing disadvantage onto enemies when they target someone that is not you)
Think about the new blade ward as an additional 12.5% miss chance. The old blade ward (IMO) was basically uuseless. You could turtle up and keep yourself a little safer, but your action was gone for offense. Now it's a concentration spell so you can stay on offense and your opponent will miss you 12.5% more often. That makes it scale really well, and gives it a ton more usability through all levels of play.
Also on a firbolg!
@@thememedad202 It's also better the more you are targeted
A quick correction I didn’t notice anyone point out is that chilled touch gave the undead target disadvantage on their attack rolls rather than you gaining advantage on your attack roll. Which is what I think I heard in the video
If True Strike doesn't specify melee weapons, couldn't you as a wizard shoot your lousy light crossbow at lower levels and get something out of it? It probably is even better for Arcane Trickster as they can apply it on their rapier or hand crossbow. Thorn Whip seems to have a secret buff with the wording "you CAN". So if you don't want to pull someone, you don't have to. Although I'm sure if I'm a druid, I'm absolutely using my ridiculous 300 ft long thorn whip to pull either allies out of danger or enemies into harmful effects.
True strike on an arcane trickster with a short bow seems like a solid choice. Vex allows you a way to chain easy advantage without using you bonus action, and you can build for much better saving throws on things like hold person and illusion spells.
The new Wizard class doesn't grant any weapon proficiencies, so you'd have to dip something else first.
@@MethosJK9 Not sure where you got that info from, but new Wizard (and I think all casters) are proficient with simple weapons, meaning you still are proficient with light crossbows.
Not only do you "get something out of it at lower levels" - using Light Crossbow + True Strike is absolutely the optimal damage play for any (non-WL) caster until level ELEVEN if you're not casting a leveled spell. Aside from more damage, Radiant is a less resisted damage type and true stirke will give you a minimum damage of 4 (or 5 depending on what modifier you start with). And in terms of damage comparison:
* Fire Bolt at lvl 1-4 = 5.5 Fire damage. Fire Bolt at lvl 5-10 = 11 Fire damage.
* True Stike at lvl 1-4 = 4.5 + spellcasting mod (i.e. 7.5/8.5 damage). True Strike at lvl 5-11 = 4.5 + 3.5 + 4 or 5 (spellcasting mod) = 12 or 13 damage.
Celestial Warlock with even a shortbow is going to be funny. With True Strike, Agonizing Blast, their lvl6 class feature and Charisma 20 they'll be doing 2d6+15 Radiant per hit.
For sacred flame, if theres a roof above them then the fire comes out from the highest point above the creature where its unobstructed. It doesnt say the flame comes specifically the heavens or 6000 feet above them, just that it descends.
So i would argue, that sacred flame comes from the roof, if they have a roof above them.
The roof, the roof - The roof is on (sacred) fire!
The upgrade of Spare the Dying is a cool idea that I wish was more present.
ya im guessing they took it from the Grave Cleric since that class isnt in the new PHB if i recall
For Mind Sliver is not just spell save that the 1d4 effects, it just says next saving throw. Maybe you have an melee focused party member who want to make the target prone or grappled, this will help them too
Did they change the rules for grappling and pushing so that the defender makes saving throws now?
@@caltheuntitled8021 umm some effects used saving throws to implement those - such as battlemaster maneuvers
Light has changed, it's been nerfed. You can no longer cast it on an object held or worn by someone else, such as a hostile creature.
Wow, it's useless to me now, great
That was all I ever used it for!
@@erickarnell You can still cast it on a sword then hand that sword to your fighter for example. So no biggie there, but yes casting it onto hostiles is gone.
but starry wisp is a better version of that effect. You could work with your DM to allow that use instead (its better than wasting a whole action to do the light thing and no damage in game's action economy)
Side note: Faithful follower subscribed for years. Your contribution to the DnD community is outstanding. You deserve that 100k subscriber plaque like no other. Just sayin.
I don't usually subscribe to anything in YT, but then I've done it to Chris. He's that worthy (And I just met the guy with his D&D 2024 videos :V)
I LOVE The cantrip changes and spell changes overall! D&D 2024 is on fire.
My takes on where they could be improved still:
Guidance: You touch a willing creature and choose martial (Str, Dex, Con) or mental (Wis, Int, Cha). Until the spell ends, the creature may add 1d4 to any skill checks using the chosen abilities or concentration checks
Resistance: The reduction increases when you reach level 5 (1d6), 11 (2d4) and 17 (2d6)
Shocking Grasp: The damage uses d10 instead of d8
Thunderclap: As an option, you and each creature that failed their saving throw becomes deafened until the start of your next turn (you must choose this as you cast the cantrip, before any saving throws are made)
Vicious Mockery: On a failed saving throw, if the target is not incapacitated and does not make at least one attack roll before the end of its next turn, the target then takes an extra 1d6 psychic damage (this afftereffect damage doesn't increase with levels; i.e "the initial damage increases"...)
Druidcraft, Elementalist, Prestidigitation, Thaumaturgy (and possibly Mage Hand): When you reach level 5, you can ignore the Somatic component to cast this spell. When you reach level 11, you can also ignore the Verbal component to cast this spell.
2 things that are Cantrips related..
A: there are 4? Spells that are class specific that can't be taken by the Magic initiative feat, good IMO
B: Eldritch Knight and Arcane Trickster gets more Cantrips so their tactical spell use improves.
Trent, didn't think of casting True Strike on the weapon that lauched the ammunition. That gives the Sling a new life, especially after 5th level.
One fun thing about Sling in 2024 is that it has the Slow mastery, which might make it very good for a Rogue based kiting build, and with Rogues getting Proficiency with Whips you could outfit yourself to inflict Slow at range with a Sling, and inflict Slow with a Whip in Melee. At level 5+ if you succeed at using Cunning Strike to also knock the target prone, you could effectively reduce an enemy with 30 feet of movement down to 10 feet of movement.
It's time for magic stone and true strike to join forces.
To bad Monk weapons are melee not ranged but stacking the radiant damage, martial arts die, dex on a magic Scimitar...
Shillelagh scaling with your level will create a very cool Wisdom-based Fighter with a dip in Druid or taking Magic Initiate as a starting feat. Doing 1d10, 1d12, or 2d6 per attack while also being able to use a shield would be insane.
Resistance should have cantrip scaling. 1d4 is basically 0 at higher levels.
I feel like it should just give resistance
@@arcturuslight_ So you think a cantrip should do the same (arguably better) as the 3rd level spell Protection From Energy?
@@juliamedina3322 not entirely fair comparison since it's still only one instance of damage, and protection from energy is not good for its level, but you are right that at least at high levels when the damage is high, this would be way too much protection for a cantrip.
Its stacks with pretty much EVERY damage resistance and reduction...
It will take a while to people to notice that it maybe the MOST powerful cantrip now... at all levels.
@@bragod Have you noticed that it ends after you take damage?
Mage hand had a major, major change that makes the spell significantly more useful. You can now do something with the hand immediately as you conjure it, and only need to invest additional actions for doing more things. You don't need a seprate initial action to create it. This is huge, as it makes the spell actually potentially be usable in a combat scenario, and especially as an Arcane Trickster that can cast it as a bonus action snd can use it to pickpocket.
The nerf to shocking grasp is totally understandable and necessary given that legendary actions are getting replaced with multiple reactions.
All the features that took away reactions before just should've been changed to removing one reaction from the target.
With the two nerfs it's now among the worst attack cantrips in the game.
@@arcturuslight_I’d say that’s a bit of an exaggeration. Most of the time when I use shocking grasp it is to avoid opportunity attacks, as other types of reactions are much less common.
@@neb985 yeah I guess when the effect comes up, it can be really useful. It just feels too weak and unreliable the rest of the time for a melee cantrip.
I'd buff Shocking Grasp's damage to 1d10 at least, since its melee and not a very special damage type
@@arcturuslight_don't think cantrips should ever take away reactions at all. Buff it or give it something else.
One point that wasn’t commented with shillelagh is that now you can get it using the magic initiate feat and chose the ability modifier. might be useful to avoid a warlock dip or as a way to get int based attacks on a EK (true strike don’t work on all attacks)
Psychic and Force are missing from the Resistance Cantrip. The omission of Force damage makes sense as that seems to increasingly be the go-to damage upgrade replacement for magic slashing, piercing, and bludgeoning.
So far im loving this update in regard of damage types and strategies around them... lets wait and see the Monsters though!
Force is also omitted from the Boon of Energy Resistance (which was understandably missed in yesterday's video on the Boon feats, because it was the _only_ exception).
Sacred Flame doesn't say a distance it needs to descent from to work, so it could literally appear 1 inch above their head and hit them. Descend also has a different meaning of "make a sudden attack on". This feels like a weird point
It’s weird that viscous mockery requires being able to see or hear your target
It should only really matter if they can hear you.
You can mock without saying anything, so it’s a buff to be see or hear
ikr
Same as before, if you have a lot of cantrips, Acid Splash is nice to have when you cannot see the target(s).
I think weapon masteries, and the improvements to the Grappler feat will help increase the value of Acid splash a lot as well. For instance, a number of Barbarian, and Fighter builds might try to use the Push mastery with one attack to group enemies together to be able to then use the Cleave mastery on a follow up attack. Monks with the Tavern Brawler, and/or Grappler feats would probably also be to ensure that there is at least one area of the battlefield where you could hit at least two enemies with a 5 foot radius sphere.
Also Vicious Mockery! Though I think this should still state that the target must be able to hear the caster...
17:00 Psychic?
Force as well
Chill touch is better than inflict wounds now.
It used to be my go to instead of fire bolt; less resisted, prevents healing, and advantage against undead, all for an average of 1 point of damage less.
Not sure why they felt the need to make it melee and remove one of the perks at the same time.
@@nathans9764 chill TOUCH was always a touch spell in previous editions
And with the new Eldritch knight and valor bard needs some diversity for their melee cantrips in between attacks beside only shocking grasp and true strike
The change to Inflict Wounds boggles my mind.
@@adambielen8996 it is now a balanced spell
The problem is they didn’t nerf the other op level 1 spell that is guiding bolt
@@thomasquesada7248 Your idea of what a balanced spell is seems pretty off because Inflict Wound is just a bad spell now. And Guiding Bolt isn't OP.
It seems to me that true strike would not be amazing to use with an Eldritch Knight or a Valor Bard. I think it would be unusual for them to have their casting stat be equal to whatever stat they are using for the rest of their attacks. So they would likely suffer a to hit penalty, in comparison, that may not be worth it. And if theyre focused on their casting stat, then the other attacks would suffer a penalty, in comparison.
I could see it on a valor bard, being a primary caster you want that high CHA for your save DC. Same with arcane trickster since they don't have extra attack. Not sure about it for Eldritch Knight though.
@@nathans9764For the arcane trickster cunning strike uses your dex mod for there saving throws on it so you want dex to max out. I wish true strike gave the choice of what modifier to use.
The new Blade Ward is just a modified Bane spell. It only affects attack rolls, but it’s a cantrip and there’s no save to avoid it. Anyone aims at you, they have minus 1d4 to their attack roll. It also stacks with Shield, Shield of Faith, and Defensive Duelist which is spectacular game design. The Abjuration cantrip combos with a bunch of 1st level Abjuration spells. Phenomenal.
Came back to say that I love the new True Strike. Literally no notes.
My one question is why is it not on the Cleric spell list? True Strike works for Bards, Sorcerers, Warlocks, and Wizards, yet Clerics a) have better weapon and armor proficiencies that would let them use this cantrip more effectively and b) have bo way of getting extra attack, meaning Clerics are less obligated to invest in strength or dex making this a really solid choice if you want a Cleric who can mix it up in melee a bit.
Maybe they don’t want Clerics double dipping with their Wisdom mod on their weapon’s damage and their level 6 upgrade adding Wisdom mod to the damage of Cleric cantrips, but Warlocks can do the same thing using Eldritch Invocations if they wanted to and they get access to this spell. I don’t get it.
I think Blade ward is underestimated here. Yes, concentration sucks, and using your action sucks. But as a cantrip you can just cast it on yourself add infinatum as you explore, essentially making it at will, self only, shield of faith. Im it kinda makes magic initiate (Wiz) even better now.
Ressistance, as well, could combine well with HAM - most monsters only deal 1 type of physical damage, so you could stack it with the DR from it to really amplify its effect.
If they're making Resistance reduce damage by 1d4, they should have given it standard cantrip progression. This becomes useless at Tier 3, and arguably Tier 2 (maybe you'll still find it useful in some niche circumstances of Tier 2, but still significantly reduced. .
Doesn't True Strike outperform most other cantrips now, even with just a light crossbow? 1d8+intmod is going to be more damage than 1d10. What am i missing? Is firebolt dead on arrival?
A fighter can take magic initiate and have free blade ward, its pretty good to me
I think that the idea for Sacred Flame, and what they should have written would have been a "creature that you can see." Full cover assumes that you can't actually see the creature to exactly target them, so that would clear the entire thing up. I agree though that Descends is weird though for indoor encounters...
Starry Wisp actually has synergy with Ranger: they get Blindsight at high levels, but can take the fighting style at low levels since they're now Feats and thus you can have multiple (IE, Druidic Warrior and Blindsight), meaning they can see invisible creatures. So if there's an invisible enemy, the Ranger can use Starry Wisp to take away the advantage it'd give them.
It does take away any use from faerie fire though. That was kinda the go to anti invis spell.
@@carbonbeaker409 Starry Wisp only does it for a turn, Faerie Fire does it as long as you maintain concentration and also gives advantage, and is an AOE.
I think one way to look at it is that Starry Wisp is kinda a 'downcasted' Faerie Fire.
@@Godzillawolf1 Fair, but you also get the damage out of the initial action to use it. Not saying it makes faerie fire useless, it just detracts from the role of the spell.
@@Godzillawolf1 I guess to summarize my perspective, I've always as a player loved the non damaging utility spells, and encouraged my players to explore using them in creative ways, and it's just frustrating seeing more utility being forced into combat instead of having its own role.
How will the Shillelagh damage dice changes interact with the polearm master d4 bonus attack?
I feel like the best archer now is eldritch knight with true strike and GWM.
Vicious mockery also works around corners now.
I think with Sacred Flame, if the gods exist on another plane of existence, I don't see how the presence of a roof affects things. The radiance would need to cross dimensions, so it could just as easily come from a "portal" below the roof. It doesn't need to come from the sky, just above.
It would be great if you make a video on how the PHB supports DMs, what suggestions there are etc.
I know the DMG also exists, but there must be rules in the PHB already that explain what a DM needs to do.
Also, if it turns out that having the PHB alone isn’t enough to help DMs yet, and there will be an awkward and difficult phase where compatibility is hard between the different versions, that’s something potential buyers want to know.
Good Morning Temple Fam! Enjoy your coffee with Cantrips this morning! ♥️
Sip sip
I think resistance should scale at the standard points. I'd also like to see shocking grasp on the druid spell list, since lightning damage is absolutely within the druid's wheelhouse.
My goodness does Resistance stink. They didn't even make it scale up. Would it be game breaking to have it increase by 1d4 with the normal cantrip progression? No.
Yeah it defintely needs at least scaling.
They did it, they friggin did it, they made a spall with the word "touch" in the name actually have a range of touch
Now if only it was also an ice spell lol
It's rare that I cast Chill Touch and DON'T say, "--which is neither chill nor touch..."
Oddly enough, the change to produce flame makes it less effective in a very niche use case. When fighting enemies without darkvision in the dark. You would have light an your turn so you could see your produce flame attack, but the spell ended when you made the attack, so they wouldn't get light from it on their turn.
Even worse, you can no longer dismiss it. Before it wrote: "The spell ends if you dismiss it as an action or if you cast it again."
Blade Ward is going to be sneaky good on so many non-full caster builds. Thief with one level of Wizard can scribe scrolls and cast with a bonus action.
I wonder how Blade Ward will work at tables. Roll minus 1d4 every time you're potentially hit I guess.
id probably rule it that the first time u get hit in a round/turn (dm discretion about how much they want to wait for rolling to get a "will this hit" response. roll 1d4 and add to your ac for simplicity.
Concerning TRUE STRIKE, They Should've Made The Attack At ADVANTAGE & They Should've DROPPED The 1 CP Value Of The Weapon Used...
Blade Ward on a Monk seems really good. Either go Sage for background (miss out on Dex increase most unfortunately) or go with an older background/customize for, increasing both my Dex, and Wis, feat being magic initiate of course then pick up Blade Ward, maybe Light or Minor Illusion, and the Find Familiar spell. With Monk magic action Blade Ward, bonus action attack(s).
There is one additional potentially powerful use for Blade Ward. If the table is allowing pre-2024 material, Earth Genasi from Monsters of the Multiverse can cast Blade Ward as a bonus action a certain number of times per day. So an Earth Genasi Fighter or Monk, for example, could cast Blade Ward as a bonus action and still have their action available to immediately wade into the front lines and attack.
Totally. And if you’re going to the front, expect to makes a bunch of saving throws to keep that up.
Barbarian, maybe. A fighter or monk can do more useful things with a bonus action.
@@arcturuslight_ A lot of fighters don't have much to do with their bonus actions. Monks do, though.
@@arcturuslight_ Barbarians can't cast or concentrate on spells while raging, and even if they could Earth Genasi casting Blade Ward as a bonus action conflicts with activating their Rage, so it wouldn't work for them.
Earth Genasi Eldritch Knight Fighters would probably be the best-equipped characters to maximize the effectiveness of Blade Ward. With armor training, shields, and defensive abilities like the Shield spell, they are one of the best-equipped classes to stack AC, increasing the probability that imposing a 1d4 penalty to enemy attack rolls will turn hits into misses. Fewer hits means having to make Con saves less often, but Fighters also get Con save proficiency and later on Indomitable, which increases the probability of them succeeding on Con saves. And an Eldritch Knight's War Magic means that if they do need to reapply Blade Ward because they lost concentration or the duration expired, but they can't cast it as a Bonus Action because they are either out of the Bonus Action uses granted by Earth Genasi or because they need the Bonus Action for something else, they can replace an attack with recasting Blade Ward.
But Monks can also work because they eventually get Con save proficiency, have active defenses to redirect or mitigate damage so Con save DCs are lower, and can use Patient Defense on subsequent turns to grant Disadvantage to attack rolls against them and decrease the probability of them being hit even further.
@@CivilWarMan yeah an oopsie on my part.
So that will be good on fighters that don't do dual, crossbow, polearm or shield bonus attack, so something like a great weapon fighter. Hit like a boulder, then tank like a boulder. Because you are one 🗿
Dang, man, you're not nearly as rigorous as I'd've hoped.
Light was changed. It can't be dismissed and can't be cast on an object that someone else is carrying. Pretty inconvenient.
Also, the size requirement changed from "no larger than 10 feet in any dimension" to "Large or smaller". So you could cast it on a 50ft rope now, since that can easily fit within a Large space when coiled.
Mage Hand definitely changed - you can't dismiss it, either, and more importantly, you can use the hand on the same action you cast the spell! Previously, casting the spell only summoned the hand, and it didn't do anything until you spent another action.
Message dropped its verbal component and standardized most wall materials to 1 foot. Also, the last sentence was knocked off…? I'm not sure of the implication of that. Did they think it was implied, or did they intentionally remove the ability for the message to go around corners?
You missed that Produce Flame's area of light is twice as wide now.
Guidance is stronger. It can now be used for a whole minute versus a round. Yes, you are pigeonholed into a particular Skill but that was always the case when it was cast i.e. you wanted help on X Skill Check and so you got the d4 for it.
And with it being a minute use, it now can meaningfully be used in combat. So now you can give a d4 buff to your grappling/shoving party member, for example.
Poison spray should be a d10.
Shocking Grasp and Chill Touch should be d12. Any touch spell should be a d12. Melee is dangerous for casters.
True strike should be on the cleric spell list. It is basically an arcane shillelagh, but the radiant damage screams Cleric. It pairs well with a non-martial class as an alternative to a touch cantrip.
The "target knows it was Charmed by you" part of Friends still makes it a hard pass. No NPC is ever going to be jazzed about having mind altering magic cast on them. Resistance is terrible now. Doesn't work on Death Saves anymore or can be used when you're sending the rogue to disarm a trap unless you guess what damage that trap might do now (if it even does damage. Our rogue just got hit with a Suggestion spell trap last session).
Friends + Fey Wanderer's Beguiling Twist. Charming~
I feel like the new resistance could stand to have standard cantrip scaling on the damage reduction die. Or maybe the new Shillelagh style of scaling, but since the damage reduction is once per turn and requires concentration, I don't think it needs to be that granular.
Anyone who rules a roof above the target's head would block Sacred Flame would also need to concede wearing a hat blocks it. Which is ridiculous, because the game's mechanics are meant to be more of an abstraction than that. If you can see the the target, it doesn't have enough cover to avoid the spell, period.
I like the range scaling of Spare the Dying. More spells should have followed its example in instances where there's no dice to scale, like new sleep and prismatic spray.
I kinda wish Thorn Whip (and other such effects) was change to be creatures one size category larger than you or smaller. Yeah, it'd be bad for small size Species options, but coming up with things to combo with size increasing effects is always a ton of fun.
Mind Sliver is bout to be CRACKED for Eldritch Knights
If my character wants to use shillelagh I'm probably going to want to use true strike as well... Would a shillelagh-ified weapons normal damage be the weapons normal damage and force, or would the force option go away if you use true strike with it?
I hate that certain spells are now no longer actually doing what they are named for. For example, True Strike isn't a True Strike anymore, it's an Arcane Smite. That's a totally different spell. Also there's minimal reason to take it until after 5th level.
I have noticed that a lot of the spells and cantrips you have covered so far which previously were available to Warlock are no longer... is this accurate?
Are they trying to push Warlocks more into the martial with some casting role rather than being spell focused?
The damage die scaling of Shillelagh is debatable.
The upgrade from 1d12 to 2d6 means you have a 1/36 chance of dealing max damage while before you had a 1/12 chance of dealing max damage. So you are more likely to deal middling damage - a little less exciting.
Also I don’t know if it is relevant anymore, but a half orc (or other creature with Savage Attacks) who crits with a 2d6 weapon only adds 1d6 to the attack’s damage as part of that trait. An edge case, but a case all the same.
I'll allow a d20 shillelagh at my table
Because of overkill, consistent average damage is actually better mathematically than high variance damage.
On average*
@@jiaan100 it is better, but there are some edge cases that make it.. not.. better
Does slow and Tasha's mind whip still remove reactions? If so, they're much better now that legendary actions are turning into reactions
I might be tempted to *slightly* nerf True Strike to say it can’t do radiant damage until level 5. That way it might incentivise the consideration of other cantrips before then
NOOOOOO MAGIC STONE!! but it got incorpareted in true strike und abuse saved
Another change the friends cantrip got was an actual range, and the requirement to see your target
By technicality, you could cast the spell across dimensions, and make the very gods hostile at you if you decided to target them with friends
The main use I could see for the new Resistance is hazardous environments, where you're taking damage every turn just for being there. Resistance could help you survive an extra few turns.
Other than that I'm going to miss the old version, which I think is sorely under-rated. Just because you can't use it on every saving throw doesn't mean it isn't very valuable for the ones you can use it on. In my experience, you can see a saving throw coming at least a few times a session. You don't have to be Sherlock Holmes to know what's up when the DM describes 'a rickety bridge swaying in the wind' as your only path forward.
It was very unconfortable to use anyways... I'd rather have this new version tbh
Blade Ward is functionally a no-save Bane for just yourself which seems pretty good for the characters you mentioned
The way I see the new produce flame as useful is you can use it and wild shape the next turn won't get rid of it. I assume you can throw the flame as an animal as long as "your form could reasonably do so".
There is slight change in Toll the Dead also in that now it specifies how far away the sound of the bell can be heard.
Mark my words :
Quickened True Strike.
I never even considered that...
innate sorscory true strike with rouge levels for 1 minute of advantage attacks with a weapon attack.
Bladeward can be a pain if you end up in a game where someone always casts it every minute. Take it on a rogue or monk and it could be very powerful.
The charmed condition on Friends makes it so that a glamour bard can cast it before their bonus action command to basically cast command with advantage if they want i guess.
Resistance does not give damage Resistance. It gives minor Damage reduction. (Another spell name issue)
True Strike is objectively a buff, but I still feel like it's kind of weird that there are cases where casting a spell called True Strike decreases you chance to hit. If it was worded in a way where you added your spellcasting ability mod to the attack roll (minimum of 1) in addition to your Strength/Dexterity, it would better fit the flavor of using your magic to strike more accurately.
The new true strike is bad because the spell is no longer about accuracy and I taught the same thing about how to make it actually work, and since the GWM/sharshooter -5 +10 is gone accuracy shouldn’t be as strong as it was before
True Strike is mainly interesting for casters since it allows them to add their spellcasting modifier to essentially a damage cantrip. As a Wizard, using True Strike on your Light Crossbow is way better than casting a Fire Bolt. It's practically 50% more damage than Fire Bolt at lvl 1 if you manage to start with a +4 in your spellcasting mod. And even with just a +3, it's still 7.5 damage in a better damage type with a minimum damage of 4 compared to Fire Bolts 5.5 damage and more resisted damage type and minimum damage of 1.
In terms of flavour: You can try to flavour it in a different way. It isn't striking more accurately, it's about using magic instead of your physical prowess to aim your weapon.
In terms of place in the game: It is not meant to be used by warriors that have higher bonus in a physical ability than a spellcasting ability, so saying it decreases your chance to hit is like saying that you have less chance to hit with a spell attack than a sword as a barbarian, which is essentially what is happening here anyway.
The spell is meant to be used by primary spellcasters who want to use a weapon for some reason.
In terms of balance: It is already good. Depending on the weapon, it is at least as strong as other attack cantrips, and is stronger if you have proficiency with higher damage roll weapons. And that's if you use it as intended, on like a full wizard. On some multiclass builds it is great because it can eliminate multi ability dependence, gain bonus damage from potent cantrips, utilise buffs to weapon attacks and to spells at the same time.
It's, like, one of the best attack cantrips now.
Mind sliver a little more powerful now you can cast it as a bonus action with sorcerer then following it up with a saving throw leveled spell!
3:24 Huh???? It's 9 squares. The center, sides, top, bottom, corners.
Friends got nerfed compared to the Playtest version.
Used to be "The spell ends early if the target takes damage or if you or an ally makes an Attack roll *against it* or forces *it* to make a Saving Throw."
But now the spell ends early as soon as you make any attack or deal any damage toward any target, or cause anyone to make a saving throw.
Yeah, it is just as useless in social interactions, now it also can't be used to debuff someone before combat
Also, they now know they were charmed afterwards, which wasn't in the playtest. So a pretty serious nerf.
I think it still has a great usefulness in social interactions to deescalate a situation: charm the person, argue your point, then even after it ends and the creature knows you charmed them, they don't go immediately hostile... they can ponder and accept your argument and theres a good use of this cantrip
I think true strike is a very cool spell now, allowing Gandalf to smack orcs with his staff
The cleric cantrips are pretty poor as a set, and there are so few of them. It's a shame they didn't even get True Strike.
Anyone else notice that blade ward, which has a better effect anyway, applies to all attacks while resistance applies once a turn?
If shillelagh and spare the dying can scale then resistance should scale too. 4d4 at 17th level on a cantrip that uses concentration seems fine to me
since cantrips should scale up in lvl I think resistance should be based on the casters profiency bonus
For Blade Ward, no reason not to just cast this every minute you’re not concentrating on anything else.
To me, sacred flame was always a holy flash that goes off light a small grenade going off right on top of them. It coming from above is not how I envisioned it.
12:40 One change about Message: it's now a druid cantrip as well (druids were starving for cantrip options, so the more the better).
12:58 I think Mind Sliver not being an optional spell anymore is a considerable change (especially now with the improvements to Magic Initiate).
7:00 - Just to confirm (since the spell description show here doesn't specify), in the new 2024 rules, Eldritch Blast only scales with WARLOCK level (rather than character level), correct?
nope, cantrips scale with character level still.
Friends is now sort of interesting with the fey wanderer ranger lvl 7 ability, which triggers whenever a creature succeeds on a saving throw to be Charmed. Since now they automatically succeed on a saving throw if in battle, you can trigger that ability at will if you or a party member can pick up this cantrip.
That would actually be kind of really good. Especially if someone in your party is an eldritch knight or valor bard. Giving up one attack to potentially frighten an enemy could be totally worth it.
Earth genasi got a pretty nice upgrade with the change to blade ward.
Blade Ward also just allows you to use your action productively while casting a bonus action spell.
It's not a bad niche to have available, although concentration would be tough to give up.
I feel like this is GREAT now that all casters can swap out a cantrip at level up. At low levels, this seems cool. Swap it out later.