D&D players are making their case for the most useless spells in the game’s history, ranging from incredibly weak Cantrips to epic spells that are far too expensive.
Dungeons & Dragons combat involves managing resources, with players judging when to use their best abilities. This is especially true of spellcasters, who must rely on their limited spell slots to save the day, be it through healing wounded allies or inflicting a lot of damage in a single attack.
Not all spells in D&D are created equal, as some are far weaker than others of their level. This has been true throughout the history of the game and is still present to this day, with many D&D 5e fans criticizing certain Cantrips and spells.
While players might love to spam vicious mockery and eldritch blast in the heat of battle, plenty of spells are rarely used. This is because the word is out that they’re not worth the time of day it takes to cast them.
D&D players think these spells are useless
A user on the DnD Reddit has created a thread asking players what they think the most comically useless spell in the game. They suggested the 3.0 epic spell Origin of Species: Achaierai, which cost a ridiculous amount of gold and experience points to cast, all to create a single lifeform.
“In Becmi, ODnD, in the shadow elves Gazeteer, there is a spell called Lava Breathing,” one player mentioned, “This spell does not give you any sort of resistance to lava or fire, meaning you can breathe in it, but you will still burn to death.”
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“In 5e, Witch Bolt. It’s a first level spell with worse range than a cantrip, and that consumes your concentration. And once you are over 5th level, does less damage per action than a cantrip,” one user wrote, while another said, “Cantrip spell from the OG unearthed arcana book that let you summon one angry bee.”
One spell was the biggest target of all, however. “True Strike. You can use your Action now, to gain advantage on one attack NEXT round, against a single creature. You know what’s better than that? Attacking now, and then attack again next round…”
“True Strike,” another user agreed, “We all know it’s True Strike. It’s literally worse than just attacking twice.”
Poor True Strike never gets any love, with even the Baldur’s Gate 3 fanbase piling on. Hopefully, the updated D&D 5e Player’s Handbook version will finally fix poor True Strike and give casters a reason to use it in combat.
And while True Strike might suck, at least it doesn’t cost 360,000 gold pieces to summon one evil turkey like Origin of Species: Achaierai does.
