Ensnaring Strike: Withered on the Vine

Usable By: Ranger

Spell Level: 1

School: Conjuration

Casting Time: 1 bonus action

Range: Self

Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute

Components: V

The next time you hit a creature with a weapon attack before this spell ends, a writhing mass of thorny vines appears at the point of impact, and the target must succeed on a Strength saving throw or be restrained by the magical vines until the spell ends. A Large or larger creature has advantage on this saving throw. If the target succeeds on the save, the vines shrivel away.

While restrained by this spell, the target takes 1d6 piercing damage at the start of each of its turns. A creature restrained by the vines or one that can touch the creature can use its action to make a Strength check against your spell save DC. On a success, the target is freed.

At Higher Levels. If you cast this spell using a spell slot of 2nd level or higher, the damage increases by 1d6 for each slot level above 1st.

Review by Sam West, Twitter: @CrierKobold

Picture this; you and your friend have irreversibly irritated the local goblin king by stealing his precious jeweled crown he stole from the old king (as you do) and are facing down his bugbear general with a morningstar twice the size of your halfling companion. You know that should your halfling wizard friend get within smacking range, there will be only the tiny pile of blood, bones, and innards to remember him by. At that moment, what you really need is Ensnaring Strike. Or at least, what you’d THINK you’d need is Ensnaring Strike; more realistically, you should try to trip, push, or kill the baddy instead, as Ensnaring Strike is horrendously unreliable.

I’m generally not a fan of the half caster only spells, as typically they are at the most replicating spell effects the full casters have had access to for a couple levels now. Ensnaring Strike does offer up a genuinely powerful effect on the game somewhat comparable to Hold Person; you get the ability around when your full caster companions do. That’s pretty rad. Unfortunately, Hold Person doesn’t come with as many detrimental caveats, and doesn’t require two subsequent rolls to go well to have any effect at all.

The utility its packing is just restraint with a little damage padded in, and does come on the condition of eating your concentration (preventing Hunter's Mark from being a reliable option). It simultaneously requires you hit the creature you’re attacking to get the effect. There will be instances where you cast Ensnaring Strike, miss your next two attacks, and the encounter ends before a save is even made. It works against itself, as often the kinds of creatures you most want to restrain are large, especially as the game progresses. Ensnaring Strike ensures you have the most likely chance of wasting a slot by imposing disadvantage on ITSELF if a creature happens to be a bit bigger than you. This piles onto your already likely mediocre spell save DC to make an effect that’s going to be worse than a coin flip, and losing that coin flip costs you a spell slot for nothing at all.

I really want to like Ensnaring Strike. I do. It fits the utility fighter fantasy so well. If you want a character with bolas, tripwire, or nets built to tangle up enemies, I feel like I should be able to recommend you a spell built to restrain creatures. Unfortunately I can’t in good conscience recommend a spell that so often will just waste your bonus action and a spell slot. There can be moments where Ensnaring Strike hits the dragon around the middle and tears them to the ground; that 1/400 chance isn’t likely going to happen in any of the five times you try casting this mess before giving up on it.

5e Spells

Ensnaring Strike: Withered on the Vine