Entangle is a spell both druids and rangers can get a decent amount out of, and probably can find a home on most of those sheets. It does its job efficiently and effectively; if you want to restrain up to sixteen squares worth of creatures, there isn’t a cheaper way to do it.

Hellish Rebuke on any other class would be a top tier spell. It's a reaction spell you take when damaged that deals a decent chunk of fire damage. If you’ve got slots to burn, this is an easy place to put them. Warlocks, unfortunately, don’t have slots to burn.

Hunter’s Mark is like two spells for the price of one. It adds additional damage to your attacks AND aids in tracking your quarry.

The duration at first level is one hour, which is great for dishing out damage over the course of several fights if you’re going through a dungeon full of baddies.

Divine Favor is a war domain cleric spell first, and a paladin spell second. It is cheap to cast, and can add up over a long fight, but when attached to concentration and smites are on the table, it quickly becomes apparent how much worse this is than just dealing 2d8 radiant damage in a burst with a single attack.

Heroism needs to be cast immediately prior to a fight to justify its value, and that’s not always going to be given. It's tricky to make work.

Wrathful Smite reads like it has potential, but you won’t be casting in the majority of fights. It can occasionally be wasted when used in a fight nearing its end should you miss a few attacks in a row.

Arcane Lock is like a zip-tie on steroids. It's a major hassle for most, and a great tool to have to help in some niche scenarios. It won’t revolutionize the way you’re playing Dungeons & Dragons, but in the right hands, it can feel like a signature spell.

As a DM, there are next to no use cases where Arcanist’s Magic Aura is going to feel good from the player’s perspective. They use information gathering tools to detect and learn; this is a way you can just lie to them in the rules.

At its core, for Blur to be at its best, you’re going to need to have a high AC already and look to get attacked multiple times a round with the expressed goal of taking no damage. How many full-casters are going for that exact build, and then how many full-casters also don’t have something better to be concentrating on than this?

A Continual Flame produces no heat and consumes no oxygen. At first impression, that might make it seem like a weak-sauce Light spell. You might ask yourself why anyone would eat up a precious Level 2 spell slot or pay the exorbitant cost of the material components to cast this garbage when they could just carry a torch instead. I’m going to try to make a case for Continual Flame.

Darkness is a neat little tool that is marginally better than Fog Cloud in some unique ways. While similar, both existing is helpful, and there is enough meaningful distinction between them I think you have plenty of reasons to consider taking either one or the other.

Lesser Restoration solves five specific problems: diseases and the blinded, deafened, paralyzed, and poisoned conditions for a 2nd level spell slot. As something you can prepare when you need it, Lesser Restoration is great to have. As something you’d have to learn, it is quite a bit worse.

Darkvision is going to be terrible at the vast majority of tables. You’re trading a 2nd level spell for a racial trait nearly half the race roster already has that mitigates a problem commonly mitigated by a copper costed piece of material in a myriad of adventuring packs.

Detect Thoughts can be the best information gathering tool in the game. If you can get a surface level thought to be the general location you need to head in, that can be a no-save way to learn, and that is powerful.

Flaming Sphere is an entirely reasonable 2nd level damage spell for the options that get it that you’ll probably forget about as soon as you reach 5th level. Up until then, though, it can be a great asset to character sheets looking for a repeatable source of area of effect fire damage.

Gentle Repose is a ritual spell with no good reason to use its ritual tag. At its best, it's a flavor enhancer for the protector of the dead, a tool to mitigate zombie rebirth in a undead centric campaign, but that’s it. And that isn’t good enough for more or less any character to take.

Gust of Wind can be extremely rewarding to play with, but isn’t necessarily going to be all that powerful, especially in the mid to upper tiers. Concentration is precious, especially on druids, sorcerers, and wizards, all of which have far more potent options to consider past 3rd level.

Invisibility opens up a ton of doors otherwise closed to you and your party, and is a tool that can assist both in engaging in combat and manipulating the world outside of initiative. It's excellent.

Because Spiritual Weapon deals force damage, few creatures will be resistant to it, and it uses your spellcasting ability modifier for damage, so clerics who don't have a high Strength score can still pack a punch. Also, since it uses a melee spell attack, it's possible to crit with it.

Silence is a certified banger of a spell that I will regularly find I want on my sheet. It's cheap, effective, and flexible, all things I want out of my spells. Its effect is powerful at all tiers and is one of few ways to actually challenge powerful magic in the upper tiers beyond just Counterspell and Dispel Magic.