Lightning Bolt: Get Your Ducks in a Row
Spell Level: 3
School: Evocation
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Self (100-foot line)
Duration: Instantaneous
Components: V, S, M (A bit of fur and a rod of amber, crystal, or glass)
A stroke of lightning forming a line 100 feet long and 5 feet wide blasts out from you in a direction you choose. Each creature in the line must make a Dexterity saving throw. A creature takes 8d6 lightning damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.
The lightning 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
If I’m making a sorcerer or wizard and have the choice between taking Fireball or Lightning Bolt, I’m taking Lightning Bolt every single time over it unless I’m dedicated to being a pyromancer. It's worse in nearly every way, for sure. Both deal 8d6 damage, and lightning is less resisted on average than fire, sure, but the area Fireball hits is so much more flexible. It doesn’t matter where you’re standing, or what's between you and your targets. You pick a spot and it explodes. No mess. Lightning Bolt cares about cover. It cares about your positioning, your speed. It wants you to be able to quickly reposition to get the most juice out of it, and sometimes risk your paladin's HP to get the absolute most out of the cast. That makes it a lot more engaging for me to play with, and for that, I adore it.
Worst case scenario, Lightning Bolt is going to be a big area of big damage you’re happy to up-cast on a lot of characters. Lightning Bolt represents a huge amount of damage the rest of your spells will always be competing with, and often lead to you regularly casting it encounter after encounter. Making the most of it requires building with speed in mind, making it an excellent flavor win for lightning based characters. If you’re in the market to harness the power of Thor, Call Lightning can feel wimpy with just 3d8 damage a shock. Lightning Bolt will deliver the blast of electricity that levels your foes you’re looking for.
No, Lightning Bolt isn’t as useful or powerful as Fireball, but it's close enough and far more engaging to play with to me. If you want to get more engagement in combat, have more decisions to make, care about your team and the enemy team’s position more and work to get every extra point of power from your character, I can’t recommend Lightning Bolt enough.
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