17 Best 3rd Level Spells In Dungeons & Dragons

Sending

It’s important to talk to each other, even in D&D. Keeping lines of contact open with other players is important outside of the game as well. By sending, two people can stay in touch even when they’re not in the same place.

You can talk to any creature you know by sending it a message of 25 words or less, and it will answer you. You can use it from anywhere and even send messages to people on different planes, but there is a 5% chance that it won’t work.

Stinking Cloud

The basic idea behind this useful AoE power is in the name of the spell. The thrower makes a cloud of yellow and green poisonous gas spread out over an area 20 feet across. Anyone or anything in the area of impact has to make a saving throw against poison, and it makes it hard for them to see.

The Stinking Cloud spell can help clear out hallways or rooms with a lot of enemies, and it’s also often used to keep a crowd under control. The spell doesn’t work as well indoors because a strong wind can blow it away after only one round instead of the usual four.

Major Image

Major Image is an Illusion spell that Warlocks, Sorcerers, Wizards, and Bards can use. It’s pretty strong. It lets you make an almost perfect copy of almost anything up to the size of a 20-foot cube. When you cast Major Image, the smells, sounds, and temps that go with it are included, while other illusion spells only work in certain situations.

You can even use an action to move it and change how it looks. Any animal that looks at or feels the picture can tell it’s not real. In any case, it’s a great way to pass the time.

Haste

One spell that was much better in older versions of D&D is haste. However, even this watered-down version is still one of the best 3rd level spells. Like the word “haste” suggests, this ability makes a figure move very quickly. Someone who gets this skill has their speed doubled, but that’s not all; their defense class also gets stronger by two.

Lastly, Haste gives the person who gets it an extra move when it’s their turn. For this extra turn, you can only hit with a weapon, dash, disengage, hide, or use an item or thing. One bad thing is that a person who is hastened gets tired for one round after the spell ends.

Dispel Magic

Players may not use Dispel Magic very often, but when they do, the party will be glad the magical spellcaster didn’t just learn another Fireball. If a person, place, or thing is under a third-level spell, Dispel Magic will instantly get rid of it. A DC check of 10 plus the spell’s level is needed to get rid of a magic effect higher than 3rd level.

This great utility spell could be used to take away a party member’s bad spell effect, briefly stop a magic item from working, or get rid of a magical trap like a glyph of warding. It gets rid of an area-effect spell that was helping or hurting the party.

Counterspell

Doing nothing can sometimes help you get out of trouble faster. You can stop a spell from being cast within 60 feet with Counterspell, which only needs a Reaction. If the spell is a third or lower, it doesn’t work and fails.

It you want to get past the 4th level, you must make an ability check and beat a DC 10 plus the level of the spell. It’s possible for counterspell to really mess up an enemy’s plans, like stopping an attack, a retreat, or even the revival of an enemy’s friend.

Slow

Many spells that used to affect a group of people have been changed so that they only affect one person in 5th edition. This can be seen in haste. Slow didn’t change, which is good, and it still affects a group. You can slow down up to six targets within 40 feet of the spell’s center point. When targets fail a Wisdom saving throw, they can’t move as far and their armor class goes down by two.

When something is slowed down, it can only hit once per turn. A target that is slowed can still cast spells, but if the casting time is one action, there is a 50% chance that the spell will be delayed until the next turn, which means that the target must also use that turn’s action.

Protection From Energy

Safety from energyWith one quick cast, a lot of different spellcasters can give themselves or others a little extra safety. They can cast a focus spell on a willing creature that protects it from one type of damage, such as acid, fire, cold, thunder, or lightning.

An attack that does a certain kind of damage to a creature only does half of its damage when it has protection. Sometimes taking away some damage is all that stands between you and death in the next round.

Fly

A lot of DMs wish this spell was stronger because flight can change Skibidi Toilet. Even worse for DMs, the 5th edition version of fly lets the user give flight to an extra person for every spell slot above 3rd used to learn it. If someone has fly, they can fly through the air at 60 miles per hour.

Since the spell doesn’t say that you have to concentrate to keep the effect going, the person casting it can send spells down from above. Also, the spell doesn’t say anything about being able to move, so it’s believed that a character who is under its effects can stay in one place if they want to.

Spirit Guardians

You can call on guardian ghosts that are up to 15 feet away in Spirit Guardians. Any monster that wasn’t supposed to be in that 15-foot area can enter or begin its turn in that area, and you can deal 3d8 radiant damage or necrotic damage if you’re evil.

They must make a Wisdom saving throw to see if they take full damage if they fail or half damage if they succeed. The spell can be cast at higher levels, dealing an extra 1d8 of damage for every level above the base level. Their speed is also cut in half.

Crusader’s Mantle

The Crusader’s Mantle casts an aura around the user that lasts for 30 feet and adds 1d4 points of damage to all successful attacks from helpful creatures. It might not seem like much, but an extra 1d4 could do a lot of damage over the course of the spell’s minute-long span.

When the party is under the affects of Crusader’s Mantle, they can quickly defeat very tough enemies by focusing all of their attacks on them. The person casting this magic will be limited until it runs out because they need to focus on it.

Fireball

Players will want to run a wizard because of the skill Fireball, which is known for destroying things. With Fireball, the user can send a ball of fire anywhere within 120 feet. When it lands, it explodes and does a lot of damage to everyone within 20 feet.

Eight times as much damage is done, but if you succeed on a Dexterity saving throw, the damage is cut in half. This spell can also be made stronger by adding 1d6 for every spell spot it takes up above the third. It used to be that a fireball could only do 10d6 damage, but that limit has been lifted in 5th edition.

Create Food And Water

A group might not think about supplies until it’s too late, or they might end up on a trip they didn’t plan in a place with little food and water. The Create Food and Water spell instantly becomes life-saving at that point.

You’re not talking about just a few snacks. This spell makes 30 gallons of water and 45 pounds of food, which is enough for a normal-sized group of adventurers and their mounts to stay alive all day and night. While it’s not fancy, it will keep you fed. Players should know that the food goes bad after 24 hours, but the water stays fresh for as long as it usually would.

Call Lightning

Like Fireball, this power is much better than it used to be. The person casting Call Lightning can bring a storm cloud into the area, so it must be big enough to hold the cloud. The user can hit an area with lightning from the cloud every turn. Everyone within 5 feet of the lightning strike has to make a dexterity save or take 3d10 points of damage. If they succeed, the damage is cut in half.

Given that this spell lasts for ten minutes, the person casting it can deal a massive 300d10 damage during that time. This spell can be made stronger by adding 1d10 for every spell spot above the third one that is used. Using this power during a storm does an extra 1d10.

Vampiric Touch

If a spellcaster wants to get more health, they will do anything, like raising their Constitution to get more of it, raising their AC to protect it, or learning spells like Vampiric Touch to take it from their enemies.

You must be close to the target and use a melee spell attack. The target takes 3d6 necrotic damage, and you get half of that amount back. This spell is similar to those used by Warlocks and Wizards, but it also comes in scroll form, which other classes may be able to use based on their skills.

Revivify

Before, only high-level priests could bring the dead back to life in older versions of D&D. In 5th edition, this power is unlocked at 5th level, so a party with few characters no longer has to spend all their gold to bring a dead friend back to life. The person casting Revive must be able to touch the target, and it must be done within one minute of the target dying.

You can’t use this spell to bring back someone who died of old age, and it doesn’t heal illnesses like poison or sickness or grow missing limbs. This spell brings the target back to life with one hit point, so they will need to be healed before they can join a fight again. At least the player doesn’t have to make a new character.