Magic Missile can be one of the best blast spells in Dnd 5e! - Advanced guide to Magic Missile (2023)

Introduction

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Content

It's magic missile time.

Classic.

Everyone knows this spell or do.

They you'll be surprised welcome to pack tactics, magic.

Miss off first level, action, instantaneous you create three glowing darts of magical force.

Each dart hits a creature of your choice that you can see within a hundred.

And twenty foot range, a dart deals, one, d4, plus one force damage to the target the darts all strike simultaneously and can direct them to hit one creature or several upcasts.

The spell creates one more darts for each slot level above first we're, not done yet note, the darts all strikes simultaneously in damage rolls.

It says, if a spell or another effect deals damage to more than one target at the same time, roll the damage once for all of them it's, unclear, what happens if you target only one creature, which you can do with magic missile let's read? What crawford says for extra measures, he confirms you roll, one damage die.

But you may also choose to roll each individual die.

If you wish basically rules as written, you roll, one d4, plus one once and multiply it by three or whatever slot it is but it's unclear.

If you do the same for focus fire me and many others assume it's the same thing it's, a hundred percent to hit so it's, just to add the average of the die and you'll get 10.5 dpr with force damage, that's, the best damage type in the game only five creatures in the books are immune to force damage and 9 with the resistance.

I know, there's new people watching me nowadays, poor, you you're getting corrupted by a power gamer.

And this is a basic spell a lot of new players.

Look up.

So to give you an idea, what good damage is for a full caster.

This is above average with a first level slot when you pick it up, but upcasting, it isn't worth it simply because you have better spells like web or shatter area of effect.

Stuff is really your main specialty as a full caster to give you an idea.

What a second level shatter does it's, 10.46 average damage at a 10 foot radius, it's very easy to get three creatures in that radius.

And if you do that's, 31.38 average damage.

So as you can see that second level magic missile simply can't compete with this in the damage factor, even though it's a hundred percent to hit shatter in that calculation assumes 55 percent chance of the creatures failing to save by the way that half damage does majority of the work.

But there might be cases here.

And there where missile is the move to make anyways.

One of these examples, although not a very strong case is versus spell casters, sort of some casters have shield spell.

It says, you take no damage from magic missile.

This is a reaction spell.

You have to watch out for that.

Good news rules as written wise a lot of spellcasters in the official books, don't have shield spell like an archmage of all things don't have this spell.

Bad news is I think majority of dms put shields on their casters still, though this doesn't apply to all caster creatures, usually the ones who clearly have, for example, an arcane spell list will have it like.

I can guarantee you that the archmage will have shield.

Even though rules is written.

They don't have it a priest who has a completely different spell list.

Can't get the shield spell.

Well, I mean they can the dm can do what they want, but they tend to stay consistent with different types of spell lists.

And what they have access to a sign where magic missile might be a good idea of a cast is when the enemy caster is concentrating on something dangerous like for example, spirit guardians, you know that spell isn't on the arcane spell list.

So this enemy doesn't have shield, cast magic missile at first level, all the darts hit automatically.

They take their damage.

And they have to roll three concentration checks due to each individual darts, going enemy.

Casters usually have horrible constitution modifiers.

So chances are very high they're gonna lose that concentration.

I don't know, the average though by the way, but even versus these arcane casters magic.

Missile might be the right move.

Even though you know for a fact they have the shield spell like if this enemy already used their reaction on another spell like absorb elements, silvery barbs or counter spell that then gives you the safe.

Go ahead to cast magic missile to drop their concentration or kill them straight out by the way.

Quick note in case, you forget shield, lasts a whole round, not a turn so pay extra attention that's, the basics of magic missile.

So far a good spell that quickly turns into an okay-ish or bad spell.

Nothing flashy on the surface.

You always have better things to cast in general.

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Then they gave me 74s to play with that's a 5th level spell slot.

I cast magic missile on you gator, what kobold I'm out of spell slots don't, do it? Well, that's? What you get for stealing my money? Ah, 27 damage, cobalt that's.

All my hit points.

Ah, so you're, saying, how do I want to do this? Um, I make you fly across the room from all the magic missiles.

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If your dm goes by raw, then this is relevant information for you.

You can make magic missile into one of the best blast spells in the game with a classic build 10 levels in evoker, wizard one level in hex blade.

The 10th level feature for evoker called empowered evocation says, you add your intelligence modifier to one damage roll of any wizard evocation spell.

You cast your intelligence is most likely 20 at these levels.

So that's, a plus five to magic missile let's, cast it as a first level slot so 8.5, then multiply it by three and you'll, get 25.5 dpr that's more damage than a fifth level match missile cast normally here's, everything as you can see upcasting is worth it.

Now versus single targets, we might as well talk about that real quick don't spread the damage with magic.

Miss off focus fire with it.

Instead, if you want to do aoe use a better spell for it like fireball, for example, hitting two targets is 54.44 average damage.

Now for hex blade levels, let me be a hundred percent, clear magic missile doesn't work with hex.

Some people make that confusion, hex says, you deal, an extra 1d6 necrotic damage to the target.

Whenever you hit it with an attack magic.

Missile is not an attack you just deal damage.

So forget about hex hex is a trap hex sucks.

But hexblade's curse works with magic missile.

First bullet point says you gain a bonus to damage rolls against the cursed targets.

The bonus equals to your proficiency bonus by the time.

This build comes online.

Your proficiency bonus is four stack that with the empowered devication and that first level spell slot.

And you get 12.5.

Then multiply it by three and you get 37.5 dpr that's.

Basically one point below the 17th level, warlock baseline, that's, awesome, here's.

What the damage looks like up gas.

The downside to hex blade's curse is it's a one-time use.

And then you need to finish a short or long rest normally features like that aren't that good.

But this is a first level dip that also gives you hex warrior, where you gain medium armor and shield proficiency.

So that's a big deal.

Lastly, once you hit 17th level your proficiency bonus is then six.

So then your magic missile does even more damage, but kubold.

How are you gonna justify the hex blade level as a wizard gator? I went to the forest yesterday and I found this stick right here.

It asked me if I wanted to be friends and I said, yes, and from there, it gave me hexplay powers.

It only talks to me when no one is looking or listening.

Flavor is free by the way my patreon can be anything.

This part of hexblade is just flavor.

Text, not rules.

Oh, cool.

Okay.

Bye-Bye making a backstory for hexplate is super easy, just think of any object and say it talk to you right? And then you basically have the backstory or you could just be like, oh, I have amnesia.

Then the dm has to think of things.

Anyways, there's more combinations, you can build to improve the magic missile further like two levels in fighter for action surge, but they're, not worth it.

I don't recommend.

It remember you're a 10th level.

Wizard go after the god spells screw action, surge, get similacram and force cage and stuff.

Instead, don't waste your time, improving magic missile from here and don't heavily rely on it.

It's.

Awesome don't, get me wrong, there's tons of cases.

Now where this is the right move to make.

But mass shutdown is still just better casting wall of force is a better spell.

For example.

So be careful with that build.

It can be a trap that makes you greedy to single target damage.

Always remember mass shutdown is the king of the game last topic.

I have to mention how awesome wand of magic.

Missile is it's, an uncommon.

Magic item that requires no attunement.

And you don't need a spell casting feature to use it.

So anyone can use it, including npcs, arma kobold or a commoner with it.

Army are familiar with it.

This wand has seven charges while holding it.

You can use your action to extend one or more of its charges to cast magic, miss off from it for one charge.

You can cast the first level version of the spell.

You can increase the spell slot level by one for each additional charge.

You extend the wand regains, one, d6, plus one, extended charges daily at dawn.

If you extend the last charge there's, a 5 chance that the wand will break if you do extend all the charges at once that's, a 7th level, magic missile slot, 31.5, dpr, just like that they're, the submachine guns of 5v.

So if there's a magic shop in your game, for example, I recommend buying many of these wands and arming npcs you're familiar or even martial friends with them.

Those melee marshals desperately need this in order to fight flying creatures.

I think you get the points conclusion.

Magic missile is good optimizing.

Magic missile through evoker is awesome, but can be a trap as in greedy for damage when you could be casting something that's better wand of magic missiles is the best and should be sought out by absolutely everyone end.

The video I recommend you buy some cool dice from only grits.

I also hope to earn your subscription.

Thank you for watching bye.