Jan 06, 2016 by [ "James R. Miller"
]
Categories:
rpgs
Tags:
dnd
5e
cantrips
spells
Acid Splash is one of my favorite cantrips in 5E. Read on to see why it’s one of my favorites.
First, you don’t need to roll an attack; the target makes a DEX save or takes 1d6 damage. This means you’re not worrying about min/maxing a particular ability point other than your primary spellcasting ability.
Second, you can pick two targets if they’re within 5’ of each other. That makes the cantrip fairly powerful especially for a low-level PC. It gives you a little bit of crowd-control ability that you can use every single round if you want. The monsters pretty quickly learn that they need to stay apart from each other to minimize the effect of this cantrip.
Third, it has nice amount of range: 60’ is just fine. Would longer be nice? Sure. But 60’ is nothing to sneer at.
Fourth, depending on your GM, your GM may let you creatively use the cantrip as an ability to create an acid at will for other non-combat reasons. Perhaps trying to dissolve a rusty lock, or clean an old piece of steel. Perhaps to make pickles? Who knows.
The damage also scales as the game goes on, you get an additional d6 of damage at levels 5, 11, and 17; this keeps the spell relevant as the game goes on and is particularly effective against low DEX monsters.