Complete Guide to Lightning Damage Spells in D&D 5e
by Sam West, Twitter:@CrierKobold
Lightning magic is currently in the mainstream with Marvel’s Thor wielding it to obliterate his foes. If you’re looking to bring that energy to your D&D table to electrify your enemies, or are instead looking to weaponize some Lightning-specific subclasses like Tempest Domain or Storm Sorcery, provided for you here is a complete list of every spell in D&D 5e that can deal Lightning damage, sorted and ranked!
Lightning Damage Spells by Level
The following spells can deal Lightning damage when cast. Each can only deal Lightning damage, deal Lightning damage randomly, or has the option to deal Lightning damage.
Spells that Deal Lightning Damage
| Spell Level | Spells |
|---|---|
| Cantrip | Lightning Lure, Shocking Grasp |
| 1st | Absorb Elements*, Chaos Bolt*, Chromatic Orb, Witch Bolt |
| 2nd | Dragon’s Breath |
| 3rd | Call Lightning, Elemental Weapon, Glyph of Warding, Lightning Arrow, Lightning Bolt |
| 4th | Elemental Bane, Storm Sphere |
| 5th | Summon Draconic Spirit |
| 6th | Chain Lightning |
| 7th | Prismatic Spray* |
| 8th | Illusory Dragon |
| 9th | Prismatic Wall, Storm of Vengeance |
| (Spells with a * can deal lightning damage, but only randomly.) | |
Always Deals Lightning Damage Spells by Level
The following spells always deal Lightning damage when they deal damage. They can also deal an additional damage type to qualify, such as Lightning and Thunder damage.
Spells that Always Deal Lightning Damage
| Spell Level | Spells |
|---|---|
| Cantrip | Lightning Lure, Shocking Grasp |
| 1st | Witch Bolt |
| 2nd | - |
| 3rd | Call Lightning, Lightning Arrow, Lightning Bolt |
| 4th | Storm Sphere |
| 5th | - |
| 6th | Chain Lightning |
| 7th | - |
| 8th | - |
| 9th | Prismatic Wall, Storm of Vengeance |
Lightning Damage Spells by Class
The following are in order of spell level per class encompassing any spell that can deal Lightning damage. Spells with parentheses following them are accessible through the specified subclass.
Lightning Lure
Witch Bolt
Elemental Weapon (Hexblade)
Lightning Bolt (Fathomless)
Elemental Bane
Lightning Lure
Shocking Grasp
Absorb Elements
Chromatic Orb
Witch Bolt
Dragon’s Breath
Glyph of Warding
Lightning Bolt
Elemental Bane
Storm Sphere
Summon Draconic Spirit
Chain Lightning
Prismatic Spray
Illusory Dragon
Prismatic Wall
All Lightning Damage Spells Ranked Worst to Best
All Lightning damage spells aren’t created equally. For your consideration, here is my ranking for the worst to best Lightning-damaging spells in the game. Any spell that can deal Lightning 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 Lightning damage a spell is capable of dealing but how useful the spell will likely be on a character sheet. Let's dive in!
F Tier: Near Uncastable
20. 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. Sure, this does a reasonable amount of Lightning Damage for a 5th-level spell after four rounds, but that’s not NEARLY enough for a 9th-level slot with no certainty, especially when it hits a maximum of six creatures.
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.
19. Witch Bolt: If you haven’t played with Witch Bolt before, you’re better off. This spell is clunky, does pitiful damage, and usually ends up being worth less than a cantrip in terms of damage. Any creature can willingly break it, or more likely will end up letting you keep wasting actions on it, as 1d10 damage for your entire action is rarely an action want to be committed to taking. It might look cool as hell, but it is horrendous compared to the rest of the existing damage spells. Seriously, just cast Firebolt over this. At least that scales freely, doesn’t cost you a slot, and doesn’t commit you to a horrendous action.
18. Chaos Bolt: Chaos Bolt does less damage than it should and fails to meaningfully deliver on the promise of being a fun, chaotic effect. Most characters that take this are better off casting Chromatic Orb or any other 1st level damaging spell than this
17. Elemental Bane: While flavorful, Elemental Bane is a terrible way to spend a spell slot. You need to be actively working with some other character who is routinely dealing lightning damage every round for this to start dealing damage, and more often than not, you’re getting pitiful damage numbers. It could be cute to pair with an effect like Call Lightning, but that requires at least two people dedicated to concentrating on a spell for a bonus d6 damage a round. Oof.
16. Prismatic Spray: 10d6 damage for a 7th-level slot is a terrible rate. One in eight times, this might do twice that, but you have no control over it. Like Chaos Bolt, this fails to do anything interesting with the chaotic elements of it and feels like a waste of paper that is outclassed by most other area-of-effect damage spells in the game.
D Tier: Most Sheets Don’t Want These
15. Glyph of Warding: Glyph of Warding is a novel effect, but the reality of most D&D games is defensive spells you have to palace somewhere and get an enemy to trigger are incredibly difficult to use. Adventurers are aggressors; you’re going to be pushing into spaces far more often than holding one.
The main practical benefit of it is using it to abuse duplicating Concentration effects that are 3rd level or lower for 200 gold per cast. If you want an hour-long spell cast to get a bonus hour-long concentration spell like a second Summon Beast or Shadowspawn, this can work, but most tables aren’t going to find that this fits their adventuring schedule.
14. Prismatic Wall: The wall spells are tricky and weird to play with, and none highlights this more than Prismatic Wall. It usually is just a tool you try to push things into to get all the effects at once. For a 9th-level spell, that is way too much work for not nearly enough payoff when things like Wish and Meteor Swarm its competition. If you can get something forced through it, you’re getting 50d6 damage with a potential restrain and blind, which is great, sure, but not anything to write home about when it comes to the highest-level spells in the game.
C Tier: Have a Home on Some Characters
13. Chain Lightning: This spell really fails to deliver on the fantasy it promises. It's a classic fantasy game mechanic- a blast of electricity that arcs from enemy to enemy over and over again. In practice, this looks and plays like a Fireball, but limited in total targets it can hit, and not dealing so much more damage than a lower-level spell up-cast I’d justify putting it on my sheet. This is the kind of effect I’d expect to be able to bounce any number of times to nearby creatures, creating a cool little puzzle to figure out how to get as many creatures as possible chained together. Instead, you get a bland, big blast of electricity that will often hit fewer creatures than a regular old Lightning Bolt.
Still, 11d8 damage is a big chunk of damage. It's probably not hurting anyone's sheet to include this if it's not already flush with better, cheaper damaging options.
12. Lightning Lure: Lightning Lure’s primary issue is its range. A 15 ft. radius around you is tiny, and sure, it deals a bit more damage than Thorn Whip, but the reason Thorn Whip is decent is the pull can occasionally do some cool stuff. Lightning Lure is even further restricted in utility because of the range being reeled in by half. Its availability at least makes it a consideration for other classes setting up area of effect damage they want to try to pull enemies into, but it's pretty clunky to use efficiently. A d8 damage with a niche pull is still an entirely fine floor for a cantrip to have, though, and in the low tiers, this will do just fine at dealing damage on some shorter-ranged character sheets.
11. Chromatic Orb: 3d8 damage for a 1st level slot is entirely fine. Chromatic Orb is the floor of 1st level damage spells; anything less than this and it’s not getting onto my characters, especially if I’m mainly looking for a specific kind of damage to fulfill a role in creating an elementalist or other damage-type fantasy. There are better damage options like Magic Missile available to you, but plenty of characters in the low tiers can make great use of this.
10. Elemental Weapon: It's hard for me to say this is fine for some characters, namely because Hunter’s Mark and Hex both exist and do most of what Elemental Weapon is doing, but better in terms of dice size. +1 to hit, though, alongside making your weapon magical, makes this a massive upgrade from the mundane Magic Weapon, leaving it as something I still don’t want to have to cast, but it does improve your damage and hit modifiers meaningfully. It helps that lightning infused weapons look sweet.
9. Call Lightning: This is a spell once upon a time I thought was broken. It gives you an area of effect lightning blast every turn- the constraint is you’re locking it in as both your concentration and action. I adore that it deals bonus damage in a storm, and at 5th and 6th level, I can foresee encounters where you just want to slam down a Call Lightning and fly around as a bird while making blasts rain from the sky. Beyond that tier, it's not going to be an action worth using over 4th and 5th level slots, nor will it usurp Summon and Conjure spells as what you want to be concentrating on.
8. Lightning Arrow: Similar to Call Lightning, I used to have a very different opinion about Lightning Arrow, only in the opposite direction. What I overlooked then is its efficiency; this mechanically is close to a Smite spell but in a class without Divine Smite and provides an effect with a lot higher impact than a small amount of bonus damage to a single creature. This efficiency paired with the explosive arrow adds up to something close to a 3rd level spell, especially when you take into account the other attack you get to make with Extra Attack. It's still lower damage than I’d like to see, but I can imagine some rangers finding it's a decent enough trick arrow to pull out when their concentration drops from their Summon Beast or Hunter’s Mark.
7. Shocking Grasp: I’m the kind of DM that loves playing around with enemy reactions to define their abilities. Shocking Grasp is uniquely powerful at my tables, then, as there aren’t many existing monsters in the MM or other resources this meaningfully affects. Its floor is still a d8 lightning damage that occasionally has advantage, and while Touch can be tough, I think it also acting as a form of Disengage makes it something a reasonable amount of sorcerers and wizards will pick up as their third or fourth cantrip and be pretty happy with that.
B Tier: Solid Options on Many Characters
6. 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 is fairly unimpressive. 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. If you get three or more bonus action attacks with it, it’ll definitely feel like it was worth using.
5. Dragon’s Breath: A bonus action setup for a repeatable 15 ft. cone of damage will stretch your resources in the early tiers, as you can just commit to one 2nd level spell for a fight and not need to mess around with the far worse damaging options cantrips tend to cover.
As far as effective ways to deal lightning damage over multiple rounds goes, I think this is one of the best and cheapest options you get access to.
4. Illusory Dragon: Despite you literally creating an Illusory Dragon that flies around and blasts breath weapons at people, this spell works closer to an Arcane Hand than a Summon Draconic Spirit. In that context, though, Illusory Dragon is one of the best bonus action damaging spells in the game. An 8th-level spell needs to be dealing north of 14d6 damage to justify casting it as a damage spell; this spell gives you half that damage each turn it's out. Getting two uses from it isn’t a particularly high bar, and should anything opt to waste actions trying to discern this is an illusion instead of attacking you, you’re getting even more out of it.
The short duration, cost, and concentration component are holding this back from A tier. Casting an 8th-level spell for one round of 7d6 damage before losing concentration and getting nothing further is rough. As long as you get three rounds from this, though, it’ll be superb.
If you want a top-end lightning-damaging spell, this by far is the best option you’ve got.
A Tier: Excellent Spells for Anyone
3. Summon Draconic Spirit: Summon Draconic Spirit can act as a bonus blast of lightning damage every round, no action required by you. This is on top of two, three, or four attacks based on the spell slot used. It's large as well, meaning if you’re medium and want a flying mount, you’ve got it here. The Summon spells are all great, and this is literally the only lightning damage option you’ve got.
2. Absorb Elements: Absorb Elements is cheap to cast, using only a reaction and a 1st level slot, is on a ton of spell lists, and reduces incoming damage substantially. The bonus lightning damage you can then deal on hit is gravy; the main use case of this is helping you survive enemy Storm Spheres and Chain Lightnings. Any character that can put Absorb Elements on their sheet, especially those past 5th level, will benefit from having it.
1. Lightning Bolt: While it's no Fireball, Lightning Bolt is closer than it looks. Obviously, it's doing the same exceptional damage, reshaping how DMs can run encounters. Anything with 15 or less hit points usually dies by default, no save, to this, making masses of enemies challenging to work with. The line of this holds it back from warping every encounter it's a part of, but you can still reliably set up moments where you’ll blast creatures into fine dust with damage that matches what I consider the best damage spell in the game. If you haven’t played with it before, I recommend it. It’ll make your positioning and other movement-based abilities much more rewarding as they help set up perfect Lightning Bolts.
Best Classes for Lightning Damage Spells
If you want a character entirely dedicated to dealing Lightning Damage, there a bunch of options available to you, with four three standing out above the rest.
9. Bard: Bards get Glyph of Warding and Magical Secrets to give them a means of harnessing Lightning. That’s not really anywhere close to enough to build around.
8. Paladin: Paladins barely do better, but Elemental Weapon can allow a character to at least deal lightning damage every round. It's by no means a decent class to deliver on the wielder of lightning fantasy, though.
7. Cleric: Tempest Domain opens up Call Lightning for you and has some support options for maximizing Lightning Damage, but that’s kind of it. It tends to work better with Thunder damage, and the rest of base cleric isn’t getting much to support a lightning-based character. I would consider a 2-level dip into Tempest for Destructive Wrath and Wrath of the Storm on any of the higher-ranking options, though, as they definitely give you lots of bonuses for harnessing the power of Zeus.
6. Ranger: Lightning Arrow and Elemental Weapon are both entirely fine ways to deal Lightning damage and Absorb Elements is an excellent defensive tool. If you’re past 9th level, you can reliably and regularly put out lightning blasts with Ranger. It won’t be all that impressive compared to its competition higher on this list.
5. Warlock: Fathomless provides Warlocks access to Lightning Bolt with Pact Magic, setting them above Ranger just barely. Their base includes Lightning Lure for access to lightning damage early, and if you opt for Hexblade instead, you also can pick up Elemental Weapon for another form of weapon-based Lightning damage. It really primarily is leaning on Fathomless for its lightning damage fantasy if you want an option better than Ranger.
4. Artificer: Armorer gets Lightning Bolt at 9th level, and the base class comes with Lightning Lure, Shocking Grasp, Absorb Elements, and Elemental Weapon, all of which come together to offer ample lightning access. There’s still a pretty giant divide between it and the top three options.
3. Druid: Circle of the Land can provide druids Lightning Bolt access on top of Call Lightning for round-to-round lightning blasts. Summon Draconic Spirit easily gives you a tool for blasting out cones of it every round, no action required, which is gross. Storm of Vengeance may utterly suck, but the rest of the options with the right subclass do outpace Artificer and the prior options.
2. Wizard: Wizard normally gets everything Sorcerer gets and more; this time, the “more” is just Illusory Dragon. You’ve got Lightning Lure and Shocking Grasp as cantrips, Chromatic Orb for a 1st-level consistent lightning damage effect, Dragon’s Breath for a 2nd level area of effect lightning damage option, and Lightning Bolt coming in as your 3rd level all-star damage spell. Storm Sphere and Chain Lightning keep the lightning train rolling in the upper tiers, basically meaning throughout the entire game, you’re going to have some new lightning toys to play with. Summon Draconic Spirit is also an excellent source of Lightning Damage if you’re looking for a lightning summon in the mid tiers.
1. Sorcerer: Sorcerer has a specific subclass, Storm Sorcery, that wants to play around with Lightning and Thunder damage. With the only spell their missing compared to Wizard being Illusory Dragon, I think Metamagic pushes sorcerer to the #1 spot. You can Twin lightning cantrips and Chromatic Orb, Heighten Lightning Bolt, and use Temepstuous Magic to fly around and Heart of the Storm to get some bonus damage on each cast.
Wield the Power of the Gods with Lightning Spells
Whether you’re looking to mimic the all-mighty Thor or just want to play a bubbly, over-caffeinated lightning bug druid, you can make it happen with the lightning spells of 5th Edition. I do wish there were some more exciting and unique options, but with the list they're given, you can sculpt a decent spell list dedicated to frying enemies with electricity.
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