Even if you are an experienced player, agonizing blast 5e has never seen extensive play in any of your campaigns. So maybe you haven’t heard of the spell, or you don’t know how to use it well.
Agonizing Blast 5e is one of those spells that can become very powerful with creativity and in the right situations! If you are wondering what a good cantrip for your warlock is to combine with Agonizing Blast, then I can strongly recommend Magic stone! This is a spell that, at the starting levels (1 to 4), is more potent than firebolt.
What is Agonizing blast 5e?
Agonizing Blast is an Eldritch invocation. It is a pretty powerful spell, and you need to have the Eldritch Blast cantrip to use it. However, the mechanics are pretty simple. Whenever you cast Eldritch blast, you can add your Charisma modifier to the damage it deals when you hit. This explanation might not give you much information if you don’t know what Eldritch Blast is.
Eldritch blast is a spell that you can find in the Player’s Handbook. In addition, it is on the spell list of the Warlock class. Since Agonizing Blast 5e is more like a modifier than a spell on its own, the requirements are the same as for Eldritch Blast.
Spell requirements
- Casting time: 1 action
- Range: 120 feet
- Components: Verbal and Somatic
- Duration: Instantaneous
- Type: Eldritch incantation – evocation cantrip
If you already know what these mean, feel free to scroll down to the next part! However, if you are new to DnD, read this. It will help you understand a great deal about how to spell work in this game.
Casting time
The casting time of this spell is one action. You have your movement action, bonus action, and your regular action. The regular action is where most of the magic happens, literally. It is where you deal damage. Spending this action wisely is the key to winning battles.
Range
The range of this spell is 30 feet. That is pretty far! Many monsters like Helmed horrors in 5e only have a movement speed of 30 feet. That means you can hit them with multiple agonizing blasts before they can reach you. An excellent way to gain the upper hand is chipping away at the damage to strong enemies before they can reach you.
Components
Spells often have a couple of different components. For example, you need a verbal and somatic component to cast Agonizing Blast in 5e (or Eldritch blast). A verbal component means you are required to be able to speak. This is because your mouth can not be restrained by magic or physical powers. In other words, you have to produce an audible noise to cast the spell.
The other somatic component you need to cast an agonizing blast is a somatic one. Somatic is a fancy word for you to be able to make gestures. Your hands can not be restricted or anything like that. You should be able to make movements and point at the target you want to hit.
Agonizing Blast does not have a material component.
Duration
Finally, there is the duration. This spell is instantaneous. This duration means it starts, does its effect, and disappears in a single turn. Some spells require you to concentrate, or they dissolve, and there are spells like Cloudkill that last up to 10 minutes before they go away.
What happens when you cast it
If you are a low-level player, when you cast Agonizing Blast (or Eldritch Blast), you fire off a beam of energy at the target NPC or creature in your range. When you can hit the beast, it will take 1d10 force damage plus your charisma modifier.
Agonizing blast at higher levels
At the higher levels, this spell becomes a lot stronger. For example, at level 5, instead of one beam, you will fire off two beams. At the 11th level, you fire three beams at once, and at the 17th level, you fire four.
Each of the beams you fire with agonizing blast 5e will benefit from your charisma modifier. That means this cantrip is very strong. That is not all. You can direct the beams at different targets. So that means that starting from level 5, this is a multi-target spell. At the 17th level, you can fire off four beams to hit four targets at once.
Roll for every hit
Don’t forget; you will need to roll for every beam to hit. So even if you pick one target, you will have to roll just as many times as you have fired beams. The same, of course, go if you pick out multiple targets to light up with your rays.
Is agonizing Blast good in 5e DnD
Agonizing Blast is one of the best spells in your arsenal as a warlock. Eldritch blast is already a very good cantrip, and adding this Invocation makes it scale very well with your character when you get stronger.
Best cantrip for warlocks
It is the best cantrip there is for warlocks. If you are looking for one, you will be able to use your entire playthrough. Getting an extra beam every five levels or so is extremely powerful. Moreover, every ray gets your charisma modifier added to it. The raw base power of the Eldritch blast cantrip is also outstanding.
Compared to another cantrip from a damage perspective, only a few are in a similar league. For example, there is Green Flame Blade, Booming Blade, and Shillelagh. However, the primary modifier for the damage is the weapon and not the cantrip itself.
Massive damage
Agonizing Blast is a must-have spell for any warlock that wants to deal massive damage and have a reliable spell in their arsenal that they can use from level one up to level 20. The fact that you don’t just get multiple beams but that you can target various targets with them makes this cantrip perfect for crowd control.
How do I use Agonizing Blast
There isn’t a lot of creativity needed to use agonizing Blast. The spell is intended to deal damage, which is all there is to it. So you shoot the beams at what you want to get out of the way. Pretty easy!
Far range
The great thing about this spell is that the range is very far. That means you can shoot down airborne targets, monsters who are far away, and creatures that you want to deal some severe chip damage.
Great to fight mobs
The spell is best used at the higher levels to damage minions and does crowd control. In my opinion, it is excellent to use in combination with a wall of water. The Wall of water will stop any ground-bound monsters from rushing you or firing projectiles at you.
Attack air targets
This will give your party a nice layer of defense, giving you time to either regroup or avoid being overwhelmed by sheer numbers of enemies. Also, when you are attacked from the sky, Agonizing Blast has enough range for monsters that can fly, like the Giant Four-Armed Gargoyle.
What other Eldritch invocation options are there?
| Invocation | Description |
|---|---|
| Agonizing Blast | Modifies Eldritch Blast to add your Charisma modifier to damage. |
| Lance of Lethargy | Reduces the movement speed of a target by 10 feet when hit with Eldritch Blast. |
| Eldritch Spear | Increases the range of Eldritch Blast to 300 feet. Can be further increased to 600 feet with the Spell Sniper feat. |
| Repelling Blast | Pushes the target 10 feet away in a straight line when hit with Eldritch Blast. |
| Grasp of Hadar | Pulls the target 10 feet closer to you when hit with Eldritch Blast. |
| Other Eldritch Invocations | There are various other Eldritch Invocations available in Dungeons and Dragons that can modify different aspects of spells or grant additional abilities. Check the source material. |
To make a fair comparison and judge how great antagonizing blast 5e is, I think it is necessary to compare it with other invocations that can modify Eldritch blast. Therefore, here are a couple of alternatives you could use to increase the utility of this cantrip if you are not looking for raw power.
Lance of Lethargy
When you pick this as your Eldritch Invocation, you can reduce the movement speed of a target you choose by 10 feet once per turn. The creature can not stop this effect.
There is no saving throw to roll. This is very powerful. You can use this spell to get away from enemies you do not want to fight or make them so slow they can not escape your allies, like your Planar Ally, who stays behind.
Eldritch Spear
If you think Agonizing Blast 5e hasn’t the range you need, then Eldritch spear is what you are looking for. When you use this Invocation to power up your Eldritch Blast, the range is increased to a stunning 300 feet. This means you can start sniping enemies from far away.
You can also start shooting down targets trying to flee or think they are safe in the skies. However, this is not where the fun ends. If you have access to Spell Sniper, you can double the range of this spell. That means you can hit your target from 600 feet away! Of course, that counts for all four beams you plan to shoot on it.
Repelling Blast
This is quite a funny invocation if you use it creatively. This aspect buffs your eldritch Blast, not by adding damage but by blasting the target 10 feet away in a straight line. The cool thing is that it does not matter how heavy or oversized the target is; it will get blasted 10 feet away. This effect is per beam!
So that means you can shoot your target 40 feet away per turn. You can also force it to be hit by a spell-like Create Bonfire multiple times if they have no choice but to come at you in a straight line.
Grasp of Hadar
Grasp of Hadar is the opposite of the repelling Blast. It doesn’t repel your enemies, but it moves a target creature 10 feet closer to you. Once again, you can use your multiple beams to pull them up to 40 feet closer. Grasp of Hadar is a bit more niche than the other options, but it is an excellent assist spell.
If an airborne monster is attacking you, you can take it to the ground for your melee allies to help attack it. It can also be brought in the range from ranged and magic spells with a shorter ranger than the 120 feet eldritch Blast.
What you should remember from this Agonizing blast 5e guide
The main takeaway from this guide is that Agonizing Blast is one of the best ways to make your Warlock a reliable damage dealer. This tremendous damage is because the spell has a very long-range, scales very well with your level, and can hit multiple targets at once.
If you have high charisma, this spell can deal severe damage. Modifying Agonizing blast with your charisma is a massive damage increase since your charisma modifier is added to all the beams you shoot. At the early levels, it is one of the best ways to start attacking strong enemies from far away to make sure the battle is more in your favor.
One of my favorite ways to use this spell is utilizing the long-range to damage slow creatures and creatures in the sky. There are a couple of other Eldritch incantations you might want to consider, but this one is my favorite.
Agonizing Blast 5e FAQ
What are the Eldritch invocations?
Next to Agonizing Blast, four other interesting Eldritch invocations will make your cantrip a lot stronger. These are Repelling Blast, Lance of Lethargy, Grasp of Hadar, and Eldritch spear. You can start to add one of these to your cantrip when you reach level two. This will increase the spell’s range or damage, or add a funky effect like pushing or pulling the target.
Does the Charisma modifier work on each beam of Agonizing Blast in 5e?
Yes, all the beams will have increased damage. This is part of the reason why this spell is so good and scales so well. At the beginning levels, just having a +3 charisma modifier will add an average of 55% of damage to the spell. That is a massive amount of damage that will surely help you take down strong creatures and challenges your Dungeon Master throws at you.
Do I need to roll for every beam of agonizing blast?
You need to roll for every beam. So, even if all the beams are aimed at the same target, you will need to roll once for every beam you fire. This means that some beams can fail and the damage to the beam could be different. So make sure you account for this randomness if you are going to fire off multiple beams!
Do you enjoy reading about Dungeon and Dragon spells like Agonizing Blast? Then check out my guide about Catnip 5e! This spell is non-combat, but extremely strong if you can use it creatively!