Fireball: It’s What You Went to Wizard School For
Spell Level: 3
School: Evocation
Casting Time: 1 Action
Range: 150 feet
Duration: Instantaneous
Components: V, S, M (a tiny ball of bat guano and sulfur)
A bright streak flashes from your pointing finger to a point you choose within range and then blossoms with a low roar into an explosion of flame. Each creature in a 20-foot-radius sphere centered on that point must make a Dexterity saving throw. A target takes 8d6 fire damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.
The fire spreads around corners. It ignites flammable objects in the area that aren’t being worn or carried.
At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 4th level or higher, the damage increases by 1d6 for each slot level above 3rd.
Review by Sam West, Twitter: @CrierKobold
“How close did you say you were to the goblins? 5 ft.? And how many hit points do you currently have again? You’ve got a decent Dex, right?” - An average wizard trying to justify casting Fireball in a space that will probably kill their friends
5th level changes D&D 5e forever once reached. Martial characters gain access to extra attack while full casters get 3rd level spells. As a DM, the first time you go from running an encounter for 4th level characters to 5th, you’ll feel the difference as likely whatever fights you had planned you thought were balanced will get squashed by the massive power increase.
The leading cause of this shift to me is Fireball. Fireball trivializes any encounter relying on groups of small creatures, and requires from this point forward a DM can challenge a group that can instantly kill all creatures in a 40 ft. sphere with 15 hit points or less, 30 if they’re bad at Dex saves. 8d6 damage is a gigantic uptick in damage for a single spell; before this, optimizing your damage as a caster typically involved lining up a Burning Hands to hit three to four creatures, and was only doing a maximum of 4d6 damage to each. Now, you have access to magic that hits over double the space, can be cast from what feels like anywhere on the planet, and normally is hitting every creature you need it to.
This leads me to shape encounters and spaces around Fireball and access to it. Fights involving masses of creatures need ways to attack from different areas. I can include waves of creatures knowing my players have an “oh shit button” in their back pocket should they start to get overwhelmed.
From this point forward, basically every damaging spell out there has to compete with Fireball. Any time you go to cast a higher level spell exclusively to deal damage, you’ll want to ask yourself “why am I casting this instead of just casting Fireball?” A lot of spells don’t meet this bar; Circle of Death, Cone of Cold, and Ice Storm all just don’t offer me enough as a player to want them if I already can just up-cast Fireball and do functionally the same damage and hit about the same number of creatures. Each might have a niche scenario where it inches out Fireball in damage or utility, but this is at the cost of taking a utility based spell at the higher spell level. It just isn’t worth it.
Even Lightning Bolt, the other iconic spell from older editions, doesn’t come close to the power of Fireball. Lightning Bolt is a lot more fun for me to use, as maximizing its effectiveness comes down to clever positioning and neat risky maneuvers to line up as many baddies as possible, but if you’re looking to just take a no risk high damage option, Fireball is that. It’ll nearly always hit more creatures, and doesn’t come with the awkwardness of it originating at your position.
Fireball is iconic for a reason. The spell does what it says on the tin, and does it better than most other spells in the game. It's a grenade that always goes exactly where you want it, and forces the DM to change up how they can present enemies. It allows for harder encounters with larger quantities of creatures, and ups the ante of fights radically. If you can, having Fireball at the ready will wildly power up your character.
Fireball vs Lightning Bolt:
For an in-depth comparison between these two spells, please see the entry for Lightning Bolt.
Fireball FAQ:
Does Fireball require line of sight?
No. Spells that require line of sight have that specifically pointed out in their spell descriptions. The description for Fireball makes no mention of it. While you might not be able to cast it through a solid object such as a wall, you could cast it into the middle of a Fog Cloud or into an area affected by a Darkness spell.
Also, the blast spreads around corners, so even those under the supposed protection of total cover are in for a rude awakening.
Is Fireball overpowered?
Perhaps a little, but come on. It’s Fireball! Also, it’s important to keep in mind that fire is one of the most common resistances in the game. So Fireball is far from being a go-to solution for every enemy your characters will face.
For DMs who are concerned that their players are overusing the spell, consider the consequences of detonating a massive ball of fire in whatever setting they’re in.
After the first burning tavern crashes down on their heads, they might think twice about casting it indoors again. When every fey creature in the forest is hunting them down for causing a massive wildfire, they likewise might consider other options before casting it in the forest again.
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