Arcane Gate can be a blast to use, but the strict limitations make most problems you’d look to solve with it outclassed by lower level options. Crossing large gaps can be remedied with a Conjure Animals, Fly up-cast, Wall of Stone, or any other assortment of tools.

It's a shame that Armor of Agathys is so terrible because the fantasy it sells is unique in the game; the numbers are just far too low, and you have no means of recouping or reusing the spell over time. As is, this spell offends the eyes, and doesn’t belong on your character sheet unless you DESPERATELY want cold armor that claps back.

A 4th level spell that keeps people off of 0 hit points, negates max HP reduction, and provides resistance to a rare damage type isn’t the text of a good spell; it's a list made to shit on one specific kind of undead.

For Aura of Purity to be “worth it”, you need it to either net your side at least an action by preventing people from dropping from poison damage (which is unbelievably niche), negate at least one disease that would majorly affect an ally, or mitigate enough conditions that it nets you more “action economy” than the action spent to cast it.

Banishing Smite has one thing going for it: you can banish a low health target elsewhere in addition to the force damage. This CAN be worth it, but it's trickier to evaluate than it looks.

Beast Sense is at its best with trained animals. Should you end up with a ranger Animal Companion or pick up a pet you manage to animal handle your way into obedience, you can comfortably use this spell all the time, and functionally build a worse version of a familiar. You functionally get an inconspicuous scout capable of blending seamlessly in organic environments.

There are just so few instances where any character will meaningfully gain something from Blade Ward. It is without a doubt one of the worst cantrips you could consider. Don’t go near it. Take utility cantrips, take Light, heck, take Resistance. Sure, both are bad, but at least you can reasonably prepare Resistance before a trap. Just don’t waste your time with Blade Ward.

If you’re in the market for something to hit home the “more righteous than thou” paladin, Blinding Smite helps fulfill that fantasy. It's a tool that can be fine, with a floor high enough you’ll never feel awful when something passes the blind save. When it works, it can rock a single enemy for a round or two, and that can absolutely be worth it.

If you’re looking to build around a damage type, and want a basic tool to emphasize your connection to said damage type, Chromatic Orb has you covered. It's not embarrassingly bad, but it definitely is going to get outshone slightly by other options. If you’re not in the market for a specific damage type theme, I’d steer clear and take some tried and true damage options.

To maximize the damage on Cloud of Daggers, you’re going to want some friends, or other spells that push and pull around enemies. Cloud of Daggers can deal damage to a creature every turn in initiative, meaning the only ceiling on its damage is the number of creatures you can get to take turns that can move something through the cloud.

Big area of effect buff spells can be finicky. Concentration spells on paladins can feel impossible to use. Circle of Power lands in both camps; while the effect its offering is sweet, it just can’t flourish on the majority of paladins.

Compelled Duel was an experiment to bring the taunt and aggro mechanic to D&D, and while I think it was a noble effort, man, this spell SUCKS.

Synaptic Snap doesn’t require that much bookkeeping, has a relevant debuff I’m thrilled to see implemented like this, can always do something decent when you cast it the majority of the time, and fits a good amount of archetypes people want to play.

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.

Elemental Weapon is D&D’s “catch all” for facilitating this fantasy, and does it in a way that I guess is acceptable, but I think you’ll struggle to find times you’d realistically want to cast it.

If you’re playing a bard, and want to be able to damage and control the battlefield, Dissonant Whispers delivers. Having this in your back pocket will make your life so much easier.

Like all the upper level half caster exclusive spells, Destructive Wave suffers from a poorly scaled spellcasting system. Spell levels at a fixed rate regardless of class leads to what should be powerful, impactful effects earned at the highest tiers of play feeling lackluster

Best case scenario for Crusader’s Mantle is in a group of martial characters fighting undead (specifically zombies). Granting radiant damage to all your friends stands out there as the damage type matters and they all can use the buff meaningfully.

If you’re an enchanter looking to play the mind controller archetype, this is going to be your bread and butter for a large chunk of the game. It functions at its best against groups of moderately threatening enemies in medium numbers.

If this spell did twice as much damage, it’d still be pretty bad, but at least feel usable. 8d6 damage maximum for a 2nd level spell. You’re a 5th level character at this point, and you had to set up a trap of some kind to get the spell to effectively work.