Compulsion is the D&D version, and lives up to the reputation of every wedding reception dance number we know and love. What makes compulsion such a fantastic spell highlights something I find frustrating with 5e; teamwork.

Conjure Fey is just a pretty bad summoning spell that is wildly outshone by a bunch of spells lower level than it.

This means it's still pretty good, because summoning magic can be wildly game breaking.

Create undead is the kind of top end spell that can change how you play the game entirely. It's particularly useful in the hands of a wicked wizard working with an evil party in need of a militia. Otherwise, it’ll probably just be a fine summoning spell for a handful of ghouls to give you a bit more to do with your bonus action.

There isn’t much to say about it; this is Fireball with a clever twist. It takes an iconic spell, upgrades it, and rewards the user for strategic placement and creative thinking. This is exactly what I expect from higher level damage spells at minimum; I’m looking at you, Chain Lightning.

Demiplane is not only is a flexible tool for exploring the world and creating crazy solutions to niche problems, it doubles as an deep well of ideas for DMs to play with in creating labyrinths of extradimensional spaces and four dimensional puzzles that highlight why D&D is so amazing for so many people.

Divine Word is the natural progression of Banishment, and what makes it amazing in my mind is how it expands it to be more than just banishing multiple things. It grows in its utility, and while it remains simple, has complex use cases and great game play implications that have clear highs and lows.

You probably don’t want Earthquake. It sounds awesome from a narrative perspective; you will the earth itself to shake and break apart, sundering buildings and burying your foes! Practically, by the time you’re casting 8th level spells, Earthquake feels like a baby shake, a slight nudge, a tummy rumble.

Find the Path shouldn’t exist. If you are a table that enjoys the exploration nature of adventuring and want the challenge of finding the way to the villains lair, this spell removes all abilities and skill choices made up to this point that aid in that pillar of play.

Finger of Death is a top end necromancer fantasy that deals a good chunk of damage. You’re probably better off with Disintegrate, but if you need the spell to always do damage, Finger of Death can do that for you for a fairly substantial potential damage tradeoff.

Fire Storm is kind of just a nothing spell. It's another fire spell in a game bursting with fire spells, and this one is comparatively pretty underwhelming. Sure, you might find a time or two to bust it out and get the exact tetris shape you need, but most of the time a good old fashioned Fireball will do the trick.

Forbiddance acts as a defensive tool against extraplanar villains, teleporting masterminds, and diabolic summoners. It flays extraplanar creatures trying to exist in the space, and creates a zone where the denizens of the material can live peacefully.

Forcecage is bananas. It doesn’t require concentration, lasts an hour, imposes exactly zero saving throws to work, and modally can trap up to some huge creatures. It’s like if Polymorph turned something into a box, but that box lasted an hour and was indestructible. And the target can’t make a save against it.

Everything about Foresight feels like it should be good, then just ends up being meh. Advantage offers around a comparative +3 bonus with some upsides in critting more often; Is +3 to everything worth a 9th level slot?

If you do take Freedom of Movement, take it with specific encounters coming up in mind. If you know you’re delving into a shipwreck and nobody has better water navigation spells, consider it. Otherwise, I’d just spend your spell slots on an effect that leaves a bigger impact when you use it.

Beyond just damage, though, Freezing Sphere has two genuinely useful additional effects that take it to the next level of utility and make you forget about the damage tradeoff.

Gate hypothetically offers a means of transit to any plane you’d like by way of a sizeable portal, but under one strict condition: you are on good terms with the plane’s ruler. If you're not, they simply can veto your Gate, costing you a 9th level spell slot to realize the demon lords of the Abyss don’t really love the idea of high level adventurers teleporting in willy nilly.

If you love rolling big numbers and hate the in person bullshitting many party faces thrive in, Glibness might be for you. Are you playing a charisma caster who has no charisma skill proficiencies by 15th level? Glibness might be for you! Do you NEED it on either, or any, character? Absolutely not.

The power of Globe of Invulnerability comes into play at specific tables where Counterspell wars are common, and will do so mostly in the hands of a villain. Creating a giant middle finger to outside spellcasters is useful in exactly one scenario: you’re facing against spellcasters outside your bubble.

There comes a time in every adventurer's life where they decide to settle down, start a family with the dozen or so NPCs their party has adopted, and begin a quiet life. This humble origin, paired with Guards and Wards, are how most of the dungeons of old seemingly sprang into existence.