Witch Bolt is a spell in the game Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) that allows the caster to create a beam of crackling, purple energy to strike their target. Whether Witch Bolt is good or not is a matter of opinion and depends on various factors. On one hand, Witch Bolt has some benefits. It allows for a reliable source of damage as long as the caster maintains concentration on the spell. The initial hit can deal a decent amount of damage, and if the target fails its saving throw, it takes ongoing damage for each subsequent round. This can be useful against enemies with high hit points, as it provides a consistent source of damage without having to use multiple spells.

How effective is Witch Bolt?

After reading the effect of Witch Bolt from the D&D PH, it really seemed to me like an insanely powerful spell, especially when cast at 2nd level or higher. I have had no experience with the spell, but had the initial intention to make it a prepared spell for my Eldritch Knight. Do its drawbacks outweigh its potential as compared to other 1st level damage spells?

This can be useful against enemies with high hit points, as it provides a consistent source of damage without having to use multiple spells. However, Witch Bolt also has limitations. Since it requires concentration, the caster must carefully choose when to use this spell, as maintaining concentration can be challenging in the heat of battle.

5 Answers 5

It's a situational pick.

In perfect situations where your target is in vision and has no cover for its full duration, it's a good way of dealing a consistent 1d12 damage each turn. Note that using a higher level spell slot only increases the damage on the initial hit (the one that is determined with your attack roll).

There are probably better spells for the higher spell slot (or even the same level 1 slots), but at low levels it is a nice way to be conservative with your slots as it doesn't take a spell slot to continue doing damage.

Eventually when you get your Extra Attacks, witch bolt is going to lose its kick. Outside of these other conditions, witch bolt shines when something is vulnerable to lightning damage.

My advice: I love picking it up on my Eldritch Knight, but as my character progressed, I find it simpler to just whack things and cast spells when I need to get past an elemental weakness.

It is mediocre at the beginning, and becomes very ineffective at higher levels

On subsequent rounds the spell only does 1d12 damage, independently from the spell slot used. After level 5, cantrips are better if you hit, after level 11, they are better all the time. They also don't require concentration.

Restraining spells usually require concentration too, so it is very hard to keep the target in range. The range itself is so low that most monsters could easily use their move to get to you, and beat you out of concentration or consciousness.

The initial damage is hardly better than Fire Bolt on level 1, and worse than Scorching Ray in a second level slot.

All these together mean Witch Bolt is quite weak. For levels 1-4, if you have a grappler in your party, it is ok, but not spectacular even then.
Later it is horribly underpowered.

\$\begingroup\$ Witch Bolt, in addition to requiring concentration, also requires the caster's actions while it is maintained, which precludes casting most other spells and making any attacks. \$\endgroup\$

\$\begingroup\$ @András I've edited the title a bit, feel free to rollback if you think it isn't correct now \$\endgroup\$

Witch Bolt is borderline useless

• It requires concentration
• Its range is so short that enemies can leave it in a single turn unless someone reduces their speed.
• The fact that it ends if you don't continue to use your action on it makes it very inflexible.
• The arc of lightning makes you an obvious target to all enemies.
• Even if used on the first turn of combat, many fights will end well before the full duration has expired.
• Most importantly, its damage is so low that there's always a better option.

For an Eldritch Knight:

Witch Bolt deals an average of 6.5 damage per round. A single longsword attack deals the same average damage with a Strength modifier of only +2.

Sure, the weapon attacks will miss X% of turns, but Witch Bolt will also miss X% of the time or less (ideally your weapon attack bonus is at least as high as your spell attack bonus.) What's more, Eldritch Knights gain spell slots very slowly (3 times as slow as spellcasters) so wasting a slot is a big problem.

Let's consider a 13 AC enemy (the expected AC for a CR 0 to 3 monster) and an Eldritch Knight with +3 Strength, +3 Intelligence wielding a longsword one-handed. With an attack bonus of +5, the Eldritch Knight's attacks will hit 65% of the time. Finally, let's assume you have 4 turns to deal damage.

Witch Bolt average damage over 4 turns:

If you do the math, Witch Bolt has an expected damage of 22.55 over 4 rounds, and has an average cost of 1.5 spell slots. (Or put differently, about 1/3 of the time you have to pay 2 slots and lose 1 turn's worth of damage.)

On the other hand Magic Missile can't miss and deals an average of 10.5 damage, and three longsword attacks will add an average of 7.5 * 3 * 0.65 = 14.625 for a total of 25.125 over 4 rounds, and only costs 1 spell slot. So Magic Missile is already a better option even without taking critical hits into account. (Any of the weapon attacks can score a critical, but the following turns of Witch Bolt can't.)

Burning Hands would also do the same average damage as Magic Missile if the target fails its save, and you still get half damage if it succeeds. If you can hit 2 creatures, it's a no-brainer.

And these are very conservative numbers for a Fighter! Any Fighting Style other than Armor or Protection would increase the damage further. If we're talking about a variant human with Polearm Master or Crossbow Expert, Witch Bolt doesn't stand a chance.

If you use True Strike beforehand, the damage looks like this:

There's only two outcomes since you're using 2 turns at a time. Anyways, the math works out to an expected 17.8 damage over 4 turns at an average cost of 1.14 slots. Less likely to be wasteful, but also less damage.

Against a very high AC enemy Witch Bolt might seem appealing since the damage on subsequent rounds is guaranteed, but your chance of missing and wasting the turn are also much higher. Enemies with high AC - especially at lower CRs - are usually wearing medium or heavy armor and don't have good Dexterity saving throws, so you're much better off relying on Magic Missile or Burning Hands.

In short, Witch Bolt is never a good option for an Eldritch Knight.

For a Wizard/Sorcerer: While they'll deal less damage with their cantrips than an Eldritch Knight does with weapon attacks, they get much better access to concentration spells (e.g. Sleep, Grease) and the spell slots to make use of them. At level 3, Flaming Sphere or Scorching Ray will kill things much faster, and Web becomes another candidate for concentration. At level 5 cantrips go up in power and you get very similar numbers to the Eldritch Knight's.

For a Warlock:

Witch Bolt is worse than Hex + Eldritch Blast in every practical situation. 1d10 + 1d6 add up to 9 damage per round on average. That's 23.4 damage over 4 rounds once you take the 65% hit rate into account, and costs 1 slot since Hex has no save.

On top of that Hex's ability to impose disadvantage on ability checks can help you or other party members hide by giving the enemy disadvantage on Perception checks, or help them shove or grapple that enemy by hurting their Athletics or Acrobatics.

The final nail in the coffin is that Witch Bolt is only good for one creature; Hex can easily be applied to 2 creatures or more, and in a dungeon can potentially last until your next short rest. The extra range on Hex and Eldritch Blast help make this possible since you'll be out of attack range more often and thus make make less concentration saves.

\$\begingroup\$ access to concentration spells (e.g. Sleep, Grease) - neither Sleep or Grease are concentration. \$\endgroup\$

For a Warlock (Levels 1 - 5): Witch Bolt is still useless. (At 1st level Warlock only has 1 slot of 1st level, and then at 5th level, only having 2 slots of 3rd level to cast with. And if you're going for damage as a warlock Witch Bolt is even more useless.) In fact, for Wizard/Sorcerer (Levels 1-5) Witch Bolt is arguably even more useless, since for the early leveling for a Wizard/Sorcerer, you are solely using your Cantrips. Firebolt / Eldritch Blast with a Human Variant with Magic initiate feat + Hex > Witch Bolt. Witch Bolt on a 20th level Warlock is 5d12 worth of Lightning damage. or a mere 35 points of damage on average; compare that with Eldritch Blast with Agonizing Blast + Hex. on average (considering all four beams hit the target) you're looking at 44 points of damage. Bottom line: Eldritch Blast + Hex > Witch bolt in every situation where damage is your concern.

With Witch Bolt this is too costly of an option for any serious Warlock to even begin to consider utilizing anyways, combine that with its lackluster damage after the initial cast (1d12 per round which also cannibalizes your action. Instead of carrying on the initial 5d12 cast).

Bottom line (Wizard): As a wizard you have so many options at your disposal. For Wizard. Firebolt, Fireball, Hold Person/Monster > Witch Bolt. Hold Person/Monster is a much stronger option than wasting your concentration on Witch Bolt.

For Sorcerers however, (Note: This is assuming that you're either Storm Sorcery, Draconic Bloodline, or just about any Sorcerer archetype. ). So, without any further ado. For Sorcerer. Proper use of Flexible Casting, Metamagic (i.e., Twinned Spell Disintegrate at 9th level opener. Which correct me if I'm wrong but I think that is a total of 38d6+40 Force damage. 192 points of damage on average). and from just that alone 9th level Witch Bolt's 63 points of damage on average drastically pales in comparison with the iconic max level Sorcerer opener. And that's not factoring in Flexible Casting, where you sacrifice all of your 4th level slots and lower to grant you more sorcery points, that you can use to make more slots of 5th level (a maximum of 8 slots of 5th level. while still having 16 sorcery points leftover). Basically everything in your sorcerer toolkit > Witch Bolt.

Thread: Witch Bolt Usefulness

Witch Bolt is one of those spells that looks cool on paper, but in practice it flops in all but one occasion.

something multiclassed into a Tempest Cleric using Destructive Wrath on a 9th level witch bolt. 108 guaranteed lightning damage, which is more than a 9th level lightning bolt and may or may not be close to 9th level disintegrate.

Although if you're a wizard, you might as well just use meteor.

How would you make Witch Bolt useful?Witch Bolt might actually see some use past 1st level if the continuing damage actually scaled.

Spoilers

Additionally, the damage from Witch Bolt is not particularly impressive compared to other spells of similar level. It can also be ineffective against enemies with resistance or immunity to lightning damage. Another factor to consider is that Witch Bolt uses a spell slot of higher level (initially 1st level) but the damage it deals remains the same, making it less appealing as the player levels up and gains access to more powerful spells. In conclusion, whether Witch Bolt is good or not depends on the situation and the preferences of the player. It can be a viable option when facing enemies with high hit points or when consistent damage output is needed. However, its limitations and lower damage compared to other spells make it less effective in certain circumstances. Ultimately, the effectiveness of Witch Bolt will vary depending on the playstyle, strategy, and the specific campaign or scenario in which it is used..

Reviews for "Is Witch Bolt Worth Preparing as a Spell in D&D?"

1. John - 1 star

Witch bolt is extremely underwhelming. It may sound great on paper, but in practice, it falls flat. The initial damage is decent, but the fact that it requires concentration and can be easily broken by moving out of range makes it pretty useless in most situations. Not to mention the fact that it only targets a single creature, meaning it's not great for crowd control. Overall, there are much better spells out there to use instead of witch bolt.

2. Sarah - 2 stars

I had high hopes for witch bolt, but unfortunately, it just didn't deliver. The damage over time is alright, but it's not worth the risk of losing concentration, especially in combat situations. Additionally, the fact that it only affects a single target limits its usefulness. There are other spells that can hit multiple enemies or have more versatile effects, making witch bolt seem lackluster in comparison. I would not recommend investing in this spell.

3. Mike - 2 stars

I was excited to try out witch bolt, but it turned out to be a disappointment. Sure, it has the potential for decent damage, but it requires concentration and restricts your movement. This makes it impractical in many combat scenarios, especially if you're facing multiple opponents or need to reposition frequently. Witch bolt may have its uses in certain specific situations, but overall, it's not worth the spell slot. There are far better spells available that offer more versatility and effectiveness in combat.

4. Emily - 1 star

Witch bolt is one of the most overrated spells out there. It sounds cool at first, dealing ongoing lightning damage to a target, but the reality is far from impressive. Not only does it require concentration, but the damage output is mediocre at best. Plus, the fact that it can be easily broken by moving out of range of the initial attack means it's not reliable in most combat encounters. If you're looking for an effective damage-dealing spell, you're better off choosing something else over witch bolt.

Witch Bolt: Finding Creative Uses Outside of Combat