Complete Guide to Bludgeoning Damage Spells in D&D 5e
by Sam West, Twitter:@CrierKobold
From rocks to fists, Bludgeoning damage is most associated with the mundane. In the world of Dungeons & Dragons, there is a whole lot of magic that produces forces to batter things around with.
If you want to break bones, you could crush things with a maul. Alternatively, you could bring down the weight of a large earth elemental onto your foe. If you prefer getting magic to do your dirty work, presented for you here is every spell that deals bludgeoning damage in D&D 5e.
Bludgeoning Damage Spells by Level
The following spells can deal Bludgeoning damage when cast. Each can only deal Bludgeoning damage, deal Bludgeoning damage randomly, or has the option to deal Bludgeoning damage.
Spells that Deal Bludgeoning Damage
| Spell Level | Spells |
|---|---|
| Cantrip | Magic Stone, Shillelagh |
| 1st | Catapult, Earth Tremor, Hunter's Mark |
| 2nd | Dust Devil, Magic Weapon, Maximilian’s Earthen Grasp |
| 3rd | Animate Dead, Erupting Earth, Tidal Wave, Wind Wall |
| 4th | Black Tentacles, Control Water, Ice Storm, Storm Sphere, Summon Construct, Summon Elemental |
| 5th | Arcane Hand, Conjure Elemental, Maelstrom, Transmute Rock, Wrath of Nature |
| 6th | Bones of the Earth, Investiture of Wind |
| 7th | Whirlwind |
| 8th | Earthquake, Tsunami |
| 9th | Meteor Swarm, Storm of Vengeance |
Spells That Always Deal Bludgeoning Damage by Level
The following spells always deal Bludgeoning damage when they deal damage. They can also deal an additional damage type to qualify, such as Bludgeoning and Acid damage.
Spells that Always Deal Bludgeoning Damage
| Spell Level | Spells |
|---|---|
| Cantrip | Magic Stone, Shillelagh |
| 1st | Catapult, Earth Tremor |
| 2nd | Dust Devil, Maximilian’s Earthen Grasp |
| 3rd | Erupting Earth, Tidal Wave, Wind Wall |
| 4th | Black Tentacles, Control Water, Ice Storm, Storm Sphere, Summon Construct |
| 5th | Arcane Hand, Maelstrom, Transmute Rock |
| 6th | Bones of the Earth, Investiture of Wind |
| 7th | Whirlwind |
| 8th | Earthquake, Tsunami |
| 9th | Meteor Swarm, Storm of Vengeance |
Bludgeoning Damage Spells by Class
The following are in order of spell level per class encompassing any spell that can deal Bludgeoning damage. Spells with parentheses following them are accessible through the specified subclass.
Magic Stone
Catapult
Magic Weapon
Wind Wall (Artillerist)
Ice Storm (Artillerist)
Summon Construct
Transmute Rock
Earth Tremor
Magic Weapon (Arcana, War, Forge)
Animate Dead
Wind Wall (Nature)
Control Water
Ice Storm (Tempest)
Earthquake
Magic Stone
Shillelagh
Earth Tremor
Dust Devil
Animate Dead (Spores)
Erupting Earth
Tidal Wave
Wind Wall
Control Water
Ice Storm
Summon Elemental
Conjure Elemental
Maelstrom
Transmute Rock
Wrath of Nature
Bones of the Earth
Investiture of Wind
Whirlwind
Earthquake
Tsunami
Storm of Vengeance
Magic Stone
Wind Wall (Genie)
Black Tentacles (Great Old One)
Control Water (Genie, Fathomless)
Investiture of Wind
Catapult
Earth Tremor
Dust Devil
Magic Weapon
Maximilian’s Earthen Grasp
Animate Dead
Erupting Earth
Tidal Wave
Black Tentacles
Control Water
Ice Storm
Storm Sphere
Summon Construct
Summon Elemental
Arcane Hand
Conjure Elemental
Transmute Rock
Investiture of Wind
Whirlwind
Meteor Swarm
All Bludgeoning Damage Spells Ranked
All Bludgeoning damage spells aren’t created equally. For your consideration, here is my ranking for the worst to best Bludgeoning -damaging spells in the game. Any spell that can deal Bludgeoning damage is included in this ranking, even if only some versions of the cast deal that damage type.
These rankings aren’t ranking the total Bludgeoning damage a spell is capable of dealing but how useful the spell will likely be on a character sheet.
Additionally, some enhance weapon damage dice like Hunter’s Mark, meaning they technically qualify if you use a bludgeoning weapon while getting the bonus damage from it. With this in mind, let's dive in!
F Tier: Near Uncastable
31. Tsunami: Everything about Tsunami doesn’t seem terrible until you look at their cast time. I’d expect this effect to take an action to start, but nope. It requires you to sit there for a full minute to get a side-grade effect to many other upper-level spells that deal some amount of damage and afflict a condition. The cast time makes the functionally unusable at the majority of tables.
30. Storm of Vengeance: 9th-level spells normally have splashy, exciting impacts on the game. Storm of Vengeance deals pitiful damage round after round. You start with 2d6 thunder round one, get a measly 1d6 acid damage round two, a few lighting bolts round 3 for 10d6 damage, and each round after that does pathetic quantities of damage. If you want this specifically for bludgeoning damage, round four comes with a glorious 2d6 bludgeoning damage. Huzzah!
You don’t even get the heavy obscurity until you’ve had it up for five rounds, so that can’t be the main reason you’re using it. Given the only other thing this joke of a spell does is less damage over three rounds than plenty of lower-level spells, I can’t rate this anything higher than an F.
29. Earth Tremor: Earth Tremor appeals to me on so many different levels; its close range on spellcasters that don’t typically play that close has a fun condition and penalty attached to it to add some complexity to its usability and does some amount of damage while imposing the other effects.
No matter how many times I’ve tried to make this work, it always disappoints me. The difficult terrain normally is more to your detriment than your enemies. Melee allies have as much a chance to get knocked prone as your enemies, and sometimes initiative will make it so the prone condition literally can’t benefit you or your teammates meaningfully, as the prone target can just stand up if they go next, suffering next to no penalty. 1d6 damage and this effect for an action isn’t where you’re ever going to want to be. Believe me. I’ve tried.
D Tier: Most Sheets Don’t Want These
28. Ice Storm: Ice Storm does pitiful damage for its slot with just 2d8 bludgeoning and 4d6 cold, especially compared to the majority of 3rd-level options you get before it. The difficult terrain in the 20 ft. radius area isn’t nearly enough to justify the drop in damage especially given it lasts just one round.
Still, 2d8+4d6 is close to a 3rd-level Fireball. Archetypes like Oath of Ancients get extra bonuses to their casting, and this is kind of the best spell that archetype gets for the area of effect damage making it a niche option a few characters do actually want.
27. Erupting Earth: 3d12 is roughly 10 damage less on average than 8d6; you’re trading 10 damage per target for the area to also be made difficult terrain. Yes, this difficult terrain lasts longer than a single round, but finding moments where that can be meaningful is going to be challenging. Most games will find that 3d12 damage is close to enough for the slot, especially when you’re dealing with minions and swarms, but Fireball does so much more damage I have a hard time ever putting Erupting Earth on my sheet as an area of effect damage tool.
26. Tidal Wave: Tidal Wave continues the list of mediocre area-of-effect damage spells wildly outclassed by other spells of the same tier. What this has going for it over Ice Storm and Erupting Earth is its unique area and potential boon of the Prone condition, which I’d guess will be slightly more applicable to a fight than the difficult terrain the others create. 4d8 damage is still quite low compared to 8d6, and it can’t ever be up-cast for bonus damage, making it inflexible.
25. Dust Devil: Flaming Sphere deals 2d6 damage and can be tossed around for bonus damage each round; Dust Devil looks like a close to a strictly worse version of that. The push effect would be interesting in a world where Concentration wasn’t preventing you from setting up a Wall of Fire or Spike Growth.
I might be underrating the heavy obscurity this provides as well on top of the bonus action d8-ish damage it offers, but I have a hunch there’s a reason I’ve never seen this cast.
24. Earthquake: 8th level spells need to bring something new to the table to excite me compared to lower-level slots; Earthquake does, but not in a way a ton of tables are in need of. This spell is usually at its best as a weapon against fortifications and structures at a long range. Instead of venturing into the dungeon, you use Earthquake to collapse it and draw out the creatures within or kill them outright. I just don’t foresee that many circumstances where this will regularly “defeat” an entire dungeon or top-tier enemy, and outside of that circumstance it isn’t a great way to spend an 8th-level slot if you’re looking for raw mechanical power.
23. Investiture of Wind: The Investiture spells aren’t great, namely because you’re often going to want to spend your actions casting other spells. A 6th-level slot for a 60 ft. fly speed and imposing disadvantage on ranged attack rolls is something, for sure, but not something I want to spend this costly a resource on usually. A 2d10 Dust Devil action isn’t anywhere close to a powerful enough action to make me want to spend my turns on it, especially when Dragon’s Breath does about the same damage in a similar way with just a 2nd-level spell. If you can weaponize the pushing consistently and benefit from the flight and the protection it offers, it could be worth casting, but next to no characters are going to regularly fit these criteria.
22. Wind Wall: I can envision encounters where Wind Wall is great; I have DMed and played in few that match up with this vision. You need to negate a lot of actions with the disabling of projectiles. Your team can pass through it, shoot, and pass back, but then you have to worry about readied actions, making that not the most strategically sound plan. The damage wants to hit lots of stuff, and that stuff will be close to you and then be able to engage through the wall.
If you’re in an encounter against a horde of zombies and a battalion of skeleton archers that will mindlessly shoot at the wall, it would do a lot. Most encounters will not interact with this spell anywhere near enough to justify the cast.
21. Magic Weapon: Magic Weapon at its core is a 2nd level concentration effect that gives a martial ally the ability to function normally against creatures with non-magic weapon resistance. It comes with a bonus +1 to the weapon’s hit and damage as well, meaning it technically qualifies when it's used on a maul or club. I don’t ever want to have to cast this, but some games will need it to let the fighter function against werewolves.
20. Maximillian’s Earth Grasp: Like Earth Tremor, I really want to like and find good uses for Maximillian’s Earthen Grasp. The reality of the spell is its action at 2nd level is fine, but not something you’re going to want in a lot of encounters. All of the words say the right things, but forgoing your action every round for this is rough. It isn’t as bad as Tremor, but I don’t think most characters will use this after the first cast once they discover how clunky it is.
19. Control Water: The fantasy of redirecting a river into a massive force to send crashing water endlessly pouring over the gnoll aggressors is a home run. The mechanical execution of the fantasy is suspect. It technically can do four things, but most aren’t usable in the majority of environments where water is present, and this literally doesn’t function if there isn’t water around you.
I plan on playing a lot more with this spell, but I’m confident my dreams for it will not come to fruition, as most of the text here is far too niche for non-seafaring tables. Even at those tables, I’m not thrilled with Whirlpool and Part Water, and Redirect Flow and Flood aren’t exactly going to regularly make a big impact on exploration.
C Tier: Have a Home on Some Characters
18. Shillelagh: Quarterstaffs and clubs do bludgeoning damage. If you want to use your Wisdom modifier instead of your Strength when attacking with these, which you probably do as a druid, Shillelagh lets you do just that. 1d8+3 is entirely reasonable damage at 1st and 2nd levels, and while it usually isn’t going to do much in the mid-tiers and beyond, it’ll be a great little tool in the early game that can feel close to a martial weapon proficiency.
17. Magic Stone: Similarly, Magic Stone gives you a bunch of magic Bludgeoning rocks that will feel close to a shortbow, but using your casting modifier instead of Dexterity. Want a decent 1st level weapon on Druid, Warlock, or Artificer? Magic Stone works!
16. Wrath of Nature: Specifically for druids, Wrath of Nature gives you a mid-game ability to awaken the woods for some interesting and powerful effects. The 3d8 bonus action damaging rock is the meat of the text, but not something so thrilling I’d want it without at least one or two of these other effects with it. Still, a 3d8 rock bonus action floor is pretty reasonable for a 5th-level slot, and it's all upside past that.
15. Black Tentacles: Also known as Evard’s Black Tentacles, this 4th-level Wizard and Great Old One Warlock spell definitely sticks the landing in terms of fantasy. An area of effect restrain effect like this has a lot of utility, especially when it's also stapled to 3d6 Bludgeoning damage. Restrained creatures have to take damage and waste actions to get out of it, too.
The area isn’t the best, and 4th level is probably what it's worth price-wise. Warlocks don’t really want to spend a 5th-level slot on it though, making it a lot better in the toolbox of a wizard for a decent AOE restraint with moderate damage if you’re not spending your concentration on more powerful stuff.
14. Transmute Rock: I’ve been unkind to Transmute Rock in the past. This spell has a lot going for it, and while it isn’t the most consistent effect in the world, as an upgraded modal Plant Growth I think you can get a lot of mileage out of it. Four times costed movement is restrictive and will grind ground-based enemies to a halt, and while plant matter isn’t given in most environments, Rock is far more common in adventuring areas.
If you can get this working in a tunnel shorter than 40 ft. tall, not only can you create the super-difficult terrain, but you can also make it rain on the melee creatures for some bonus damage. Altogether, I think it's entirely fine, but requires you fight in fairly narrow areas against non-flying creatures.
B Tier: Solid Options on Many Characters
13. Catapult: Chromatic Orb isn’t a spell I’m ever thrilled to put on my sheet; Catapult does identical damage dice worth of Bludgeoning damage and has some added utility in throwing around specific objects. That’s really all it takes to make me want this kind of effect.
You’re not often going to make great use out of selectively tossing an object about. It can’t be worn or carried, making this unable to disarm creatures, and most of the time you’ll pick a light chair or rock nearby as the projectile. There is a lot of fun to be had thematically with this, and while it's not revolutionary or particularly powerful, a blast to have on your sheet.
12. Maelstrom: To justify its cast, you really want two rounds of creatures stuck in the Malestrom, as 12d6 damage is worth the area and damage offered here. The only issue is getting creatures to stay in the area- fortunately, this is where Druids tend to have a lot of supporting tools. Thorn Whip works early to get creatures ripped through Spike Growths. Maelstrom gives you an upgrade on this effect.
With the worst-case scenario being creatures only take 6d6 damage and dash out, I’m still happy, making Malestrom a great option for druids wanting for area of effect damage tools.
11. Storm Sphere: Storm Sphere’s initial damage is pretty awful- however, it also comes with a bonus action lightning bolt for 4d6 damage for a minute. It isn’t too tall an order to get three of these off, and should you manage that, it’s great.
The difficult terrain here isn’t as useful as it is on Maelstrom as it's affecting a 10 ft. smaller radius. Still, that can come up from time to time in forcing creatures to dash, and if that ever happens, Storm Sphere will have earned its cast.
10. Whirlwind: I adore Whirlwind. A 7th-level slot is a bit pricey, but you get a giant pillar of death that hurls enemies around and scoops them up and restrains them for multiple rounds. Where Maelstrom shines as an area-of-effect damage tool, Whirlwind takes that further as both a great damaging tool and a spectacular mass-restrain tool.
You don’t even need to spend future actions moving it to get value from it; pushes and shoves easily pull things into the damage zone. You can cast this on two or three creatures, restrain them for a round or two, then move it later to re-grab them.
It still has issues, namely in its short duration, fairly small area, and mediocre damage, but its an absolute hoot to cast.
9. Bones of the Earth: One major component of Druid is Concentration; a lot of the high-ranking Druid spells we’ve talked about here use concentration. Bones of the Earth stands out as a splashy, high-damage instantaneous druid spell with both interesting utility and reasonable damage. 6d6 damage with restrained conditions can be exceptional, as can spontaneous 30 ft. pillars to get a better vantage point from or move you out of immediate danger. It's a cool effect you’ll often want to think about, especially if your sheet is largely filled with druid’s best concentration effects.
A Tier: Excellent Spells for Anyone
8. Hunter’s Mark: Even Rangers built with Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything variant, Favored Foe, can reliably use Hunter’s Mark to massively improve their damage. It's got a long duration, is easy to slide around, enhances tracking in a pinch, and otherwise gives you a form of scaling extra attack damage the class sorely lacks at a cheap rate. If you use a bludgeoning weapon it technically is dealing bludgeoning damage, so it counts!
6. Summon Construct: Summon Construct gives you a reasonable chunk of hit points on a multi-attacking ally dealing bludgeoning damage with each swing. The different modes have a bit of added utility with Clay getting a sweet reaction attack and Metal coming with a bonus d10 fire damage on hit or contact. It lacks a bit in utility beyond this, but still is an excellent combat tool that inflates the party’s actions, hit points, and power.
5. Summon Elemental: All of Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything’s Summon spells are great, and Summon Elemental is no exception. Three out of the four elementals deal bludgeoning damage on hit, too, and get Extra Attack for two attacks a round at no action cost to you. I still prefer getting larger and heartier elementals with Conjure Elemental, but if you want a more “fair” option, Summon Elemental is great.
4. Conjure Elemental: As mentioned in Summon Elemental, Conjure is basically an upgraded version of it with some added risk. Where a Summon Elemental elemental is making two attacks for 1d10+8, an Earth Elemental is packing two slam attacks with 2d8+5 on top of over double the summoned elemental’s hit points and a higher AC, plus a burrow speed and Earth Glide.
The downside is sometimes you break concentration and your own summoned ally hunts you till death. I love that for it, but if you don’t want that risk for this reward, Summon Elemental will work just fine.
3. Animate Dead: It kind of feels like cheating to include Animate Dead on this list, specifically because the bludgeoning damage option, zombies, are way worse than their piercing damage counterparts, Skeletons. Still, it counts and deserves a near-top spot as the best tool in the game for creating your own undead army that wildly imbalances the action economy. With a dozen zombies at your disposal, you’ll feel comfortable using your meat wall to beat your foes to death.
2. Arcane Hand: As far as spells that are flexible go, Arcane Hand is near the top with four different modes all of which offer a ton of utility round to round, and all for just your bonus action each subsequent turn.
Want a great bonus action attack? Clenched Fist gives you a 4d8 force damage attack. Want a restrain and damage? Grasping Hand can grapple then crush it! Interposing Hand protects you, and Forceful Hand throws enemies all over the place. It's my favorite bonus action effect in the game; if you can get it and aren’t already committed to a different bonus action, it’ll do great things for you.
1. Meteor Swarm: I don’t normally rank the highest damage option as the best of a damage type; Meteor Swarm isn’t just the highest fire or bludgeoning spell in the game, but the highest damage dealing spell out of all the damage types, and by a huge margin. 40d6 damage in three massive areas instantaneously is ridiculous. It slays armies. It's what a 9th-level damage spell should look like.
Best Classes for Bludgeoning Damage Spells
I think you could reasonably build towards bludgeoning damage with a multi-attack character paired with just three or four spells, making many of these viable options to consider if you want to go all-in on bludgeoning damage for some reason. Still, some are way better than others at dealing bludgeoning damage. For your consideration, I’ve ranked them here!
9. Bard: With literally just Earth Tremor available to them, Bard ranks worst in terms of Bludgeoning Damage spells. Magical Secrets isn’t nearly enough when so many other classes have such robust options.
8. Paladin: While Ice Storm paired with Oath of Ancients is a nifty option to have, Magic Weapon isn’t nearly compelling enough to get ample spells to bludgeon people with.
7. Cleric: Animate Dead definitely does the most bludgeoning damage with the option, and while I’m not thrilled with the rest of the list, you can pick up effects like Control Water and Earthquake to build a natural disaster-style character bringing your god’s wrath to the world.
6. Warlock: Magic Stone definitely sets this up for success, with your other big options being Black Tentacles and Control Water contained in some subclasses. If you go Pact of the Blade with a Maul there could be some bonus on-hit damage to seek out to bring the build to life, but it doesn’t get to critical mass to completely commit to bludgeoning damage.
5. Ranger: Rangers get three critical spells that, alongside a Maul or Club, can commit you fully to the church of bludgeoning: Hunter’s Mark, Summon Elemental, and Warth of Nature. These three easily provide you ample resources to dish out fistfuls of damage dice.
4. Artificer: Where Artificer steps up their game is with Catapult. A 1st level, consistent bludgeoning damage spell alongside Magic Stone in a class with access to two subclasses with Extra Attack to make multiple enhanced bludgeoning damage attacks per round sets it up to be the best bludgeoning damage martial option in the game.
3. Sorcerer: Sorcerer lacks Magic Stone, but gets Storm Sphere, Erupting Earth, Catapult, and Tidal Wave, all of which act as bigger and badder Bludgeoning effects. Metamagic can Twinned Spell Catapult for more bludgeoning damage, too! Its a full-caster, and can leverage these spell slots to consistently and reliably deal the kind of damage it wants. There are two other full-casters that have a bit better selection, though.
2. Druid: It pains me that Druid can’t earn the #1 spot as they have a robust list of excellent bludgeoning damage spells, many of which are unique to the class. Shillelagh and Magic Stone give you great bludgeoning cantrips. Erupting Earth, Tidal Wave, Summon Elemental Conjure Elemental, Maelstrom, Transmute rock, and Bones of the Earth all are great options in combination with each other to build a character entirely devoted to earthen magic. What’s missing is a solid 1st and 2nd level bludgeoning damage spell, and it's very apparent. Still, their mid-game effects will absolutely set you up to crush enemies in rock and stone.
1. Wizard: Wizard gets a similar list to Druid but also get Catapult and Maximillian’s Earth Grasp which sures up their early tiers. No bludgeoning cantrips is a bit sad, but it is more than made up for here, especially when the option caps off with Meteor Swarm. Arcane Hand also definitely bumps it up in rank- having the top two bludgeoning damage spells and a great 1st and fine enough 2nd level option can make Abjurerers one of the best presentations of bludgeoning damage casters you can make.
Casting Rock Has Never Felt Better
There is no shortage of great spells that either enhance your bludgeoning damage or outright smash things for you. From Catapult to Meteor Swarm, you’ve got ample room to mix and match your preferred battering tools to get exactly the kind of stone mage you’re looking for.
Hopefully, this ranking has given you some insight into some spells you’d never considered or maybe inspired you to build a character all about bludgeoning things to death with magic. Thanks for reading!
Thank you for visiting!
If you’d like to support this ongoing project, you can do so by buying my books, getting some sweet C&C merch, or joining my Patreon.
The text on this page is Open Game Content, and is licensed for public use under the terms of the Open Game License v1.0a.
‘d20 System’ and the ‘d20 System’ logo are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
and are used according to the terms of the d20 System License version 6.0.
A copy of this License can be found at www.wizards.com/d20.
