Every Wizard Cantrip Ranked Worst to Best in D&D 5e

by Sam West, Twitter:@CrierKobold

Wizards have a robust list of cantrips to pick from. Choosing which few deserve a slot on your sheet can be tough; for your consideration, presented is my comprehensive list ranking every Wizard cantrip that exists in Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition. Let's get into it!

Quick Wizard Cantrip Picks

If you’re here wondering what Wizard cantrips you should pick, here are some selections that can deliver on a specific character fantasy with meaningfully powerful effects.

Wizard Cantrip Picks for Character Types

    Character Type
    Cantrips 
    
    Generalist
    Mage Hand, Minor Illusion, Toll the Dead
    
    Arsonist
    Fire Bolt, Create Bonfire, Minor Illusion
     
    Psychic
    Message, Mind Sliver, Mage Hand
     
    Melee/Ranged
    Green-Flame Blade, Mage Hand, Sapping Sting
     
     Illusionist
    Prestidigitation, Minor Illusion, Mind Sliver
       
    Aquatic/Arctic
    Shape Water, Frostbite, Minor Illusion
       
    Earth-Shaper
    Mold Earth, Mending, Toll the Dead
       
    Poisoner
    Poison Spray, Acid Splash, Mage Hand
       
    Area Control
    Create Bonfire, Lightning Lure, Mage Hand
       
    Charlatan
    Prestidigitation, Friends, Mind Sliver
      
    Storm Caller
    Gust, Lightning Lure, Shocking Grasp

What’s important to keep in mind from these before diving in is that you want variety in your cantrip selections.

You’re not going to often want more than one cantrip that deals damage- you’ll typically default to the highest damage option you have or the option with the best conditional effect you have, making redundancy leave some cantrips wasting space on your sheet. By taking only one damaging effect, you’re left with more room for ways to empower your character out of combat, which can majorly improve what you can do at any given moment during a session.

F Tier: No Character Usually Wants These

32. True Strike: True Strike takes an action to cast and provides you a benefit on your next turn. That benefit is advantage on your next weapon attack roll, which could have just as easily been earned through other actions like Help or Hide. Alternative to casting this, you could just, you know, make an attack roll. Even the sword and sorcery hybrid builds don’t want to be anywhere near this- if you can cast this as a bonus action, you could hypothetically use any of the weapon attack-based cantrips as a bonus action, which is just… better. In every way. Advantage on your first attack on your next turn just isn’t worth an action, nor is it worth a learned cantrip.
31. Light: The time of Light has passed us by. Darkness really isn’t a concerning problem to deal with; most tables will have multiple characters with Darkvision, and for those who lack it, torches exist and are plentifully and cheap. The niche use of lighting something up and dropping it is outclassed by basically every other utility cantrip in the game. When it’s free, sure, it's a nice little bonus cosmetic. When picking your cantrips, though, this rarely will justify consideration.
30. Control Flames: Similar to Light, I tend to lump Control Flames into a category of spells I call the “Cosmetic Cantrips”. These largely exist to deliver a specific character fantasy- somebody with Control Flames should look like an expert in fire magic, weaving and controlling the flames in cool and fun ways. For that purpose, Control Flames is pretty reasonable. The issue is… that’s all it does. None of its effects are particularly practical. The best cosmetic cantrips deliver the fantasy you want while also being actually effective as a tool to use during exploration or combat. None of the modes on Control Flames meaningfully change or impact any aspect of play beyond selling a character’s narrative, and that doesn’t usually result in this being worth it on the majority of character sheets.

D Tier: Niche Options Few Want

29. Blade Ward: Blade Ward narrowly dodges F tier, but for most characters, this is nearly as terrible as True Strike simply because the Dodge action exists. Not a whole lot of people are spending actions dodging in combat. When you can use this as a bonus action it is a lot better, though, and while that specific use case is entirely fine, it's not enough to keep this far from the vast majority of character sheets that can’t use it as a bonus action.
28. Infestation: Random movement is hard to make much use of. The movement doesn’t provoke attacks of opportunity, doesn’t guarantee a “disengage”, and won’t typically put an enemy into a harmful area. It's left then as a flavorful insectoid d6 damage cantrip, which is lower than it should be for its effect. It won’t be unusable, and occasionally you’ll help an ally disengage in the low tiers by forcing an enemy to move back 5 feet, but the vast majority of casts will look at this as a d6 damaging cantrip with no other meaningful text.
27. Encode Thoughts: Thematically, I adore Encode Thoughts. In a game dedicated to espionage and thought detecting, it could be a superb tool in engaging with the underworld. There could be markets around buying and selling memories. They could be a pivotal source of evidence courts weigh heavily, extremely critical pieces of material to find in complex murder mysteries and puzzles. In Ravnica, that can be the case; outside of that, this requires way too much DM buy-in to function beyond a niche way to record your own memories, or occasionally pair with Detect Thoughts to record somebody thinking something. Most tables won’t have much use for this, but its floor isn’t unusable.
26. Gust: Gust is another Cosmetic Cantrip, but unlike Control Flames, it has modes that actually impact gameplay. A 5 ft. ranged push can act as a disengage action for an ally, while the object manipulation can push a critical piece of evidence out a nearby window in a pinch. It's still not particularly powerful, and definitely won’t come up every adventure, but it has a slightly higher impact than Control Flames while also letting you feel like you can control the winds.
25. Dancing Lights: Where Gust is a slightly better Control Flames, Dancing Lights is a slightly better Light. You get three little motes that can look like a creepy figure, which is a cute cosmetic fey looking effect, but more importantly, you can remotely send these out around you. That’s not solving many problems in this day and age but still can help illuminate a dark region from multiple locations at once with a single cantrip. You can watch far behind you and ahead of you in the dark with a single cantrip, which is a meaningful upside over something like a torch or Light.
24. Friends: Listen: Friends isn’t good. You’re setting yourself up to get beat up when inevitably the minute passes, and advantage on Charisma checks isn’t usually worth a cantrip when the Help action can do similar things. However: Friends is silly amount of fun. Sometimes you want to start trouble, and Friends is one of the easiest ways to do it. It sells the fast-talking charlatan character, and while not the most fitting on every wizard, Illusionists and Enchanters can make it fit beautifully onto their sheets as a Cosmetic Cantrip that sells the swindler fantasy.
23. Thunderclap: A d6 damage around you in a 5 ft. area technically means this and the other d6 5 ft. radius explosion cantrips scale best, as you multiply the number of extra dice by however many creatures you can get in range. Unfortunately, that range is pitiful and rarely is worth using on any character. Melee characters tend to have great attack actions that outdamage this, and should they be put in situations where you’re surrounded, there are dozens of 1st level and higher spells you’d much rather cast to take advantage of clumped-up enemies. You’ll be lucky to get more than two creatures in the area and want to use this over numerous better upper-level effects, but in those windows, it's fine. Still not great, but fine.
22. Sword Burst: Sword Burst earns a higher slot than Thunderclap because it doesn’t make a massive booming sound to alert everyone nearby you that you used a bad cantrip. Otherwise, it has all the same problems.
21. Booming Blade: Booming Blade predominately is a cantrip that makes an attack roll, meaning when you can cast a cantrip in place of an attack or as a bonus action, this gives you a way to make a weapon attack with that feature. That’s notable for options like Bladesinger or Sorcerer multiclass options with Quicken Spell, but otherwise isn’t something that I’m too eager to take. The damage condition isn’t that easy to force to occur, and while options like Arcane Trickster don’t really have any downsides for using it, most wizards don’t want to be anywhere near this.
20. Green Flame Blade: Green Flame Blade shares Booming Blades issues but has a more consistent bonus damage attached to that hits multiple enemies as part of your attack. It still isn’t enough for me to want to cast this on an average Abjurerer or Conjurer, but for Bladesingers and Arcane Tricksters, I’m pretty happy sticking this on my sheet as an empowered attack roll.
19. Acid Splash: Acid Splash outclasses Sword Burst and Thunderclap, but still isn’t something most characters want. It more consistently hits two targets and does so safely from range. D6s are still low, and the doubled-up damage is by no means guaranteed. There are an abundance of higher damage options on a single target or options that match this damage but also come with major debuffs or team bonuses. Those will routinely be worth a lot more than an occasional bonus d6 or 2d6 on a nearby target.
18. Shocking Grasp: Disengaging isn’t an action I’m eager to take; Shocking Grasp can be a damage option stapled to a single target disengage, but that isn’t too much to get excited about. You’re still not going to find yourself readily in environments where the disengage after taking a d8 lightning attack action puts you somewhere far enough away from your enemy they can’t just run you down and keep attacking.

C Tier: Fine Options to Consider

17. Poison Spray: D12s rule. It's just a fact. Look at them, they’re like d20s with wider faces. I want every excuse to bust one out- Poison Spray is an easy way to make that happen.
Shorter ranged Wizards can find Poison Spray as a great early game tool paired with defensive spells to deal reasonable close-range damage. It is definitely worse than the far safer, barely lower damage options like Toll the Dead and Fire Bolt, but if you’re playing a Necromancer, Abjurerer, or Warmage and want a reasonable close-range, high-damage cantrip, Poison Spray technically hits the hardest out of all the cantrips in the game.
16. Mold Earth: “What exactly qualifies as ‘loose dirt’?” should be the first question your ask your DM before putting Mold Earth on your character sheet. Even in the scenario where this primarily digs up recently excavated graves or churned-up mole tunnels, there is enough text here to get a lot of mileage on a character that cares about having earthen magic. This is a great example of a reasonable Cosmetic Cantrip; you can sculpt earth to look ways you’d want, move around big chunks of it, and make some tight tunnels harder to get through to set up better positions for ambushes. It does a lot of little things well, and in some games plays like an excavator, which is when it's truly outrageous.
15. Mending: I have yet to play in a game where Mending was critical, but it typically is useful. It's something you pull out to fix a cannonball hole in a ship or patch up a broken-in window during a zombie siege. That’s not going to typically be every adventure.
You could use it to repair arrows if you’re in a game with tight resources as a predominant gameplay element. It helps deliver the artisan fantasy pretty well, which is a plus, but I’m usually going to want other utility cantrips more than this.
14. Lightning Lure: Lightning Lure, with no other context, is a pretty mopey spell. It's a short-range d8 pull that looks horrendous when compared to something like Thorn Whip, a pull with nearly double the range. It gets a lot better when you’re quick, and when you’ve got something like a Create Bonfire set up you can double up damage on with this. You can maneuver around a battlefield to consistently pull enemies through your Druid buddy’s Spike Growths, or through your own Cloud of Daggers for bonus damage. When that happens, it's one of the best cantrips damage-wise in the game, but that’s not going to be easy, nor consistent, to set up.
13. Chill Touch: Denying hit point regeneration isn’t that meaningful an upside. Imposing disadvantage on undead attack rolls isn’t that big of an upside. That leaves Chill Touch mainly as a Necromancy cantrip that deals a d8 damage at a reasonable range. In games featuring undead, it is excellent, as it's a solid damage cantrip that also protects yourself and allies from an undead creature’s attacks. Most games will have some undead in them, which is where this cantrip will have a nice moment to shine, and the rest of the time its a fine enough 120 ft. range damage cantrip that’s slightly worse than its competition.
12. Prestidigitation: Want to pull a rabbit out of a hat in D&D? Look no further than Prestidigitation, my favorite cosmetic cantrip! All of the effects it gives are middlingly useful, with changing smells and tastes having a surprising amount of unexpected utility. The real juice in the spell is in its open-ended nature; what you can do with a “nonmagical trinket or illusory image that can fit in your hand” leaves tons of potential to get little temporary objects that can have a big impact on the world. Six unique effects, many of which can do multiple things, set Prestidigitation up as a solid generic magic user Cosmetic Cantrip.
11. Sapping Sting: In groups seriously dedicated to melee combat, Sapping Sting is excellent. Prone creatures have melee weapon attacks made against them made with advantage; if you’re working with a Barbarian, Monk, and Fighter, this spell can trade one action for a bit of damage and a massive bonus to hit and crit. Outside of that instance, the prone condition isn’t particularly compelling, especially with Sting’s short range. In melee-heavy parties, it's excellent. Outside of that, I’m not too interested.
10. Ray of Frost: 1d8 cold damage at a 60 ft. range is entirely fine; that’s most of what Ray of Frost is. Occasionally, you’ll find yourself in the narrow window where a creature is 10 feet away from having to dash, and in that window, this gets quite a bit better. Unfortunately, that’s normally at the start of fights when you’re most eager to use 1st level and higher spells. On rounds two or three of a fight, most creatures are standing where they’re going to die, making the movement mitigation hardly relevant.
9. Shape Water: While Prestidigitation has a ton of flexibility in its various mods, Shape Water has a lot stronger, more straightforward options. Changing opacity can create heavy obscurity in aquatic environments, and changing the flow of water can have major implications when it comes to rivers, streams, or canals. The biggest perk, though, is freezing water, creating 5 x 5 ft. cubes of ice that last an hour. This acts as a tool to instantaneously create massive chunks of solid matter that can be manipulated in all kinds of ways; you can stack them, clog areas with them, take cover behind them, and more. It's by far the strongest mode here, yet still not something tones of characters want, especially in games not featuring frequent pools, lakes, or oceans.

B Tier: Great Fits for Many

8. Mind Sliver: Where Mind Sliver shines in its kind of debuff- as opposed to imposing disadvantage, it reduces the roll by a die, meaning it stacks with disadvantage. This, at minimum, empowers your next Mind Sliver, but can empower critical other save or dies you need to land. A d6 is enough damage, and the save debuff is a fantastic addition to many sheets.
7. Create Bonfire: If you’re not dedicated to concentrating on a specific spell, which many 1st level characters aren’t Create Bonfire can act as one of a few low-tier tools to get multiple instances of damage out on the map at a time. Sticking this in a corridor will present oncoming enemies a choice- take bonus damage, or wait out the Bonfire. You can play around with it and Lightning Lure to double up the damage creatures take with it. Its base rate of 1d8 fire damage is also entirely reasonable agnostic of doubling up the damage over multiple rounds. It's a really solid way to learn and play around with damage over time effects and clever positioning of spell effects.
6. Message: Who doesn’t want telepathy of some sort? Message is just that. In a world where you’re a member of a small group working regularly around evildoers, having a silent method of communication is fantastic. It long ranged, has a great flavor built into it, and often will be an integral part of communicating over 120 ft. distances to enact your schemes.
5. Frostbite: Vicious Mockery used to be the best cantrip for imposing disadvantage on an attack roll; now, Frostbite has entered the fray for a variety of classes and outstages Vicious Mockery in damage. A d6 damaging cantrip in the early tiers is reasonable, and disadvantage on an attack roll can help keep your front-line allies alive. Want some damage and support options? Frostbite is both bundled into a convenient package.
4. Fire Bolt: Prior to the #3 spell, Fire Bolt was the default ranged damage spell for casters. 1d10 is a reasonable, and while I’ll typically prefer Create Bonfire for the early game, this will certainly do a reasonable amount of damage on the turns you don’t want to spend more 1st level or higher slots.
3. Toll the Dead: Toll the Dead one-ups Fire Bolt by dealing slightly more damage most of the time. Damaged creatures are usually the creatures you care most about dealing more damage to. Tactically, you want to remove enemies from fights as fast as you can to reduce enemy actions, and Toll the Dead rewards that with a d12 damage dice. Even against full hit point enemies, a d8 is still completely fine damage for the cantrip, and with the upside being the usual case, Toll the Dead deserves the slot above Fire Bolt.

Notably, no damage spell escapes B tier into A tier; this is because, for the most part, the difference between the worst damaging cantrip and the best damaging cantrip isn’t that wide. Anything dealing a d8 or more damage usually feels good enough for levels 1 and 2 cantrips, and past that point, you’re going to find damaging cantrips quickly fall on your list of actions to prioritize in combat in favor of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd level spell slots. That makes the utility cantrips a lot more appealing, as they tend to see regular play for the majority of campaigns they’re a part of.

A Tier: Excellent for Everyone

2. Minor Illusion: Want access to every 5 ft. or smaller object and instantaneous sound in existence? You’ve got it with Minor Illusion. These serve the role of feigning existence, which is usually good enough to serve a myriad of functions. You can take cover in illusory rocks, make a distance rumble sound signal incoming danger to enemies, or feign you have more of something you’re bartering with than you actually do. The possible solutions illusions present are near infinite, only limited by your DM's willingness to engage with them and discern them for real or fake and your creativity.
1. Mage Hand: I nearly consider Mage Hand a wizard class ability. While telepathic communication is great and all, telekinesis is a whole other beast that declaws tons of traps and hazards while simultaneously giving you a remote method for thievery and object manipulation. There are no other cantrips in the game I’ve seen used more, and no other cantrip that comes close to matching the potential of this little floating hand.

Your Bread and Butter Wizard Abilities

Cantrips are what set your Wizard up for greatness in the early game. With this list in mind, go forth into the world and craft the perfect spell list to fulfill your wizard’s dreams and ambitions.

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