Complete Guide to Slashing Damage Spells in D&D 5e
by Sam West, Twitter:@CrierKobold
Looking to cut open your enemies with serrated edges? Look no further than Slashing damage. Sure, you could find it in a myriad of decent weapons from scimitars to great swords, but you could instead pick one of these spells for its ability to do the slashing instead!
There aren’t a ton of options for dealing Slashing damage and even fewer that always deal it. Still, if you’re looking for spells that can slash it up, here are all of your options organized by spell level and class.
Slashing Damage Spells by Level
The following spells can deal Slashing damage when cast. Each can only deal Slashing damage, deal Slashing damage randomly, or has the option to deal Slashing damage.
Spells that Deal Slashing Damage
| Spell Level | Spells |
|---|---|
| Cantrip | - |
| 1st | Hunter's Mark |
| 2nd | Cloud of Daggers, Magic Weapon |
| 3rd | Summon Undead |
| 4th | Summon Aberration |
| 5th | Wrath of Nature |
| 6th | Blade Barrier, Wall of Thorns |
| 7th | - |
| 8th | - |
| 9th | - |
Always Deals Slashing Damage Spells by Level
The following spells always deal Slashing damage when they deal damage. They can also deal an additional damage type to qualify, such as Slashing and Piercing damage.
Spells that Always Deal Slashing Damage
| Spell Level | Spells |
|---|---|
| Cantrip | - |
| 1st | - |
| 2nd | Cloud of Daggers |
| 3rd | - |
| 4th | - |
| 5th | Wrath of Nature |
| 6th | Blade Barrier, Wall of Thorns |
| 7th | - |
| 8th | - |
| 9th | - |
Slashing Damage Spells by Class
The following are in order of spell level per class encompassing any spell that can deal Slashing damage. Spells with parentheses following them are accessible through the specified subclass.
All Slashing Damage Spells Ranked Worst to Best
All Slashing damage spells aren’t created equally. For your consideration, here is my ranking for the worst to best Slashing-damaging spells in the game. Any spell that can deal Slashing 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 Slashing 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
With only four unique Slashing damage spells, none, including those that can deal other damage types, are that bad.
D Tier: Most Sheets Don’t Want These
8. 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 scimitar or great sword. I don’t ever want to have to cast this, but some games will need it to let the fighter function against werewolves.
C Tier: Have a Home on Some Characters
7. Wall of Thorns: 6th-level spells are getting up there, so much so that these are often the highest-level spells some characters will ever get. Wall of Thorns will usually act like a 7d8 instantaneous burst that you’re encouraged to mess around with by forcing creatures into it over and over again. Setting that up isn’t free, nor easy, and while the damage is enough, the rest of the spell’s text basically barely qualifies as a wall as creatures can spend 20 feet of movement and pass straight through it. For Druids, who have Thorn Whip and other ways to push people around, I think it's a reasonable option, but nothing special.
6. Blade Barrier: Blade Barrier is almost identical to Wall of Thorns in its use cases. You want to push and pull things through it to mince them into chunks. It does near identical damage, but is slightly better in that you can see through it. That may not overtly seem like a perk, but it means spells like Thorn Whip have a much easier time interacting with it. It still requires a lot of work to make happen, but some characters are in groups that will enjoy shoving creatures into it or using magic to throw bodies into the grinder.
5. 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. It doesn’t help that I think the Trees Slashing damage effect is going to be one of the harder effects to pull off, making it not even that appealing as a slashing damage spell.
B Tier: Solid Options on Many Characters
4. Cloud of Daggers: A 5 ft. cube isn’t particularly big, which is the largest issue with Cloud of Daggers. That being said, the damage just happens, making it akin to Magic Missile in consistency. The primary differences are in flexibility; Cloud only hits one space, and while it can persist for a good chunk of extra damage, it's going to be challenging to get more than one instance of damage on this, making the +1 per missile Magic Missile offers a lot more compelling. It remaining in for damage over time does have value, though, and there will be a decent amount of situations where this is going to shine.
A Tier: Excellent Spells for Anyone
3. 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 slashing weapon it technically is dealing slashing damage, so it counts!
2. Summon Aberration: Summoned Aberrations can do so many nifty little things. The Slaad option has the slashing damage built into multi-attack and shuts off hit point regeneration against Trolls and similar creatures. That’s definitely not the best text here, but they also come with Regeneration, which is excellent, and all the other modes offer levitation or a horrifying whispering aura. Its an easy place to put a 4th level spell slot.
1. Summon Undead: Summon Undead gets one ranking higher because it's cheaper. 5th-level characters can conjure Putrid undead with slashing claws and a poisoning aura for a single 3rd-level spell slot. Rotting Claws from Putrid undead can also paralyze targets should they already be poisoned, acting as payoff for getting the poisoned condition in ways beyond just the Festering Aura, and you can use Ghostly undead’s Incorporeal Passage as a fantastic exploration and infiltration tool. If you just want a great ranged option, Skeletons come with Grave Bolt, and when cast using a 4th level or higher slot are making at least two attacks a round. Summon spells are usually some of the best effects you can concentrate on. They give you an entire extra character to play with.
Best Classes for Slashing Damage Spells
9. Artificer: Artificers only get access to Magic Weapon to deal Slashing damage. No thanks!
8. Paladin: Paladins barely fare better, but at least Vengeance gets Hunter’s Mark. That’s a single oath, sure, but it's better than what Artificer has going for it.
7. Cleric: Blade Barrier sets Clerics up with an actual unique slashing damage effect, and while I’m not head over heels in love with it, it certainly is worth more than a single subclass getting a great option in the case of Paladin.
6. Druid: Wrath of Nature and Wall of Thorns are both comparatively expensive and niche effects a lot of sheets aren’t going to get a lot of use out of. Blade Barrier is pretty close to Wall of Thorns, though, and Wrath of Nature is just another option on top of that, making this outshine Cleric in the Slashing damage department.
5 and 4. Bard and Sorcerer: Cloud of Daggers creates a clear boundary between the lower-ranked options and the better classes. A 2nd level-unique spell that deals Slashing damage sets these two classes up with an easy way to consistently get Slashing damage round to round. That’s better than all of the prior options can say.
3. Ranger: Hunter’s Mark would put Ranger here all on its own when paired with Slashing damage weapons. Wrath of Nature is a fine little upgrade to boot, positioning the class with a glorious two ways to deal Slashing damage with spells!
2 and 1. Warlock and Wizard: As you’d expect, the classes that get the two Summon spells rank highest. It helps that both also get Cloud of Daggers. Where I normally rank Warlock lower because of Pact Magic, all of these options actually work great when up-cast, even Cloud of Daggers, making it functionally tie with Wizards for best class for consistently dealing Slashing damage. Every effect takes Concentration, so the abundance of slots Wizards has over Warlocks isn’t a major factor to me.
Slash with Style
While there may not be an abundance of tools to rend enemies, the handful that do exist can deliver some stellar fantasies. Maybe you just want to watch a shambling horror shred your foes. Maybe you want to create a complex series of pulleys and shoves to optimize the damage of a Blade Barrier. Sometimes a simple cloud of rotating blades is just what the doctor ordered. Slashing damage spells are here for you in those moments.
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