Spell help

[Manosnt]

I need some help with spells. In the "complete reference for 5e" app there is a list of them.For example: ''Flaming sphere. can be use by lvl2 wizards/druids ........... and does 2d6 fire damage''.And then it says "The damage increases by 1d6 for each slot level above 2nd used to cast this spell."
What does this mean? I am lv5,so i do 5d6 fire damage? Or its something else?

[Ninja_Prawn]

What does this mean? I am lv5,so i do 5d6 fire damage? Or its something else?

Something else. This doesn't work like it did in previous editions.

When you cast a spell, you expend a spell slot, right? The level of the slot determines the level of the spell. So, take burning hands. If you cast it using a 1st-level slot, it does 3d6 damage. If you cast it using a 3rd-level slot, it does 5d6.

Generally, upcasting for damage is less efficient than using a bigger spell; fireball does 8d6 out of a 3rd-level slot, so would be a better choice than burning hands III if you have it available.

[Millstone85]

What 5e calls "spell slots", think of it as "mana charges".

Spells and charges both have levels, from 1st to 9th. This is not your level in a class, nor is it your total character level. There are tables to consult.

To cast a spell, you must expend one (1) charge that is of the same level as the spell, or of a higher level than the spell.

Some spells gain additional goodies when upcast as such, like more dice to damage.

[BurgerBeast]

It means that if you cast it as a 3rd level spell, it does 3d6. As a 4th level spell, 4d6, etc.

I’m assuming that the info you have was correct from the spell because I’m AFB.

[Manosnt]

So i can cast a lvl3 spell as a lvl4 in order to make it more effective?

[Ninja_Prawn]

So i can cast a lvl3 spell as a lvl4 in order to make it more effective?

As long as the spell has an 'at higher levels' clause and you have a 4th level spell slot to burn. If you're a 5th level character, you won't have any of those.

[Vaz]

I need some help with spells. In the "complete reference for 5e" app there is a list of them.For example: ''Flaming sphere. can be use by lvl2 wizards/druids ........... and does 2d6 fire damage''.And then it says "The damage increases by 1d6 for each slot level above 2nd used to cast this spell."
What does this mean? I am lv5,so i do 5d6 fire damage? Or its something else?

Sadly not.

If you are a spellcaster, you have a select number of spell slots, with which you may cast any spell you know or currently have prepared (different classes have different learning mechanics; in short, knowledge gives you a number you know, but can't change daily, prepared can be changed each day). You may cast a spell, if you have it known, prepared, and have a spell slot of the required level available. Some spells are 3rd level, requiring a 3rd level spell slot; the spell slots you have available are listed in your Class information.

Think of each spell slot being a piece of card, with a number of stars on the card. Each time you want to cast a spell that is not a cantrip, you must discard a single card with number of stars on it equal or higher to the level of the spell you are casting.

In addition, some spells have an additional effect if you used a card with more stars than the stated level on the spell. Say for example, in your example, you are a 5th level caster. If you are a wizard, you have a couple of cards with 3 stars on it, 3 number of 2 star cards, and 4 number of 1 star cards. This means, if you were to cast Flaming Sphere, which is a 2nd level spell, you would need to expend a 2 Star Card. However, if you have already used all of your 2 star cards, you would need to expend a 3 star card to cast the spell. Flaming Sphere gives you a benefit for each higher level slot; which I'm calling "Stars" in this example - if you used your 3 star card, you'd cast Flaming Sphere, but you'd deal +1d6 damage with it's effects.

[Armored Walrus]

What 5e calls "spell slots", think of it as "mana charges".

Why not just think of them as spell slots?

The language is actually pretty clear, the only confusion is that they use the word "Level" for both things. (thanks Gary) At least no one talks about dungeon "levels" any more in 5e.

Oh, I guess there is one more point of confusion. Cantrips. If you cast a cantrip, and you the character are a higher level it does more damage. In that instance, I believe, it works the way OP thought Burning Hands did.

Edit: Ninja'ed by this:

Think of each spell slot being a piece of card, with a number of stars on the card.

... Just think of them as spell slots.... why introduce new, irrelevant terms to the glossary? A spell slot is a spell slot, the spell says "If you cast this using a spell slot of higher level."

[Vaz]

... Just think of them as spell slots.... why introduce new, irrelevant terms to the glossary? A spell slot is a spell slot, the spell says "If you cast this using a spell slot of higher level."

Because the OP was clearly not understanding the concept of Spell Slot? I taught a newcomer to 5e who couldn't understand why her spells felt worthless by using a deck of cards that had stars on it. She read through her spell list when it wasn't her turn in combat, and had a physical card which she placed down, X-reffed with the number on the card, and then calced the difference. That made sense to her, when the basic spell slot failed.

If the OP understood the spell slot concept, this thread wouldn't exist.

[Millstone85]

Why not just think of them as spell slots?

The language is actually pretty clearThe language is very counterintuitive, at least to me and a few others.

At one point, the PHB tries to justify the term "slot" by describing this magical space in which you place a spell, and then the spell grows to fill the space.

That didn't resonate with me at all, even when I had no knowledge of previous editions to confuse me.

I find it much easier to visualise this magical energy that you feed to a spell, something that many video games and such call "mana".

I am not saying we should talk about mana charges from now on. It is just to explain the concept.

[Armored Walrus]

Hmm, ok, my apologies to everyone in the thread then ;)

[pdegan2814]

I need some help with spells. In the "complete reference for 5e" app there is a list of them.For example: ''Flaming sphere. can be use by lvl2 wizards/druids ........... and does 2d6 fire damage''.And then it says "The damage increases by 1d6 for each slot level above 2nd used to cast this spell."
What does this mean? I am lv5,so i do 5d6 fire damage? Or its something else?

There are lots of things about your character that are measured in "levels", which leads to confusion with some players. Two of them are spells and spell slots. You're going to have an allocation of spell slots at various levels(we'll leave Warlocks out of this discussion). When you cast a spell that requires a spell slot(spells that don't need spell slots include cantrips, spells learned as a race feature, etc), you have to expend a spell slot of at least the same level as the spell. Let's use your character for reference. BTW, your app has it wrong. 2nd-level wizards/druids can't cast Flaming Sphere. It's a 2nd-level spell, which means it needs a 2nd-level or higher spell slot. Casters don't get those until Level 3. At 5th level, assuming you're a single-classed character, you've got 1st-, 2nd- and 3rd-level spell slots. Flaming Sphere requires at least a 2nd-level spell slot. If you use a 2nd-level slot, the damage is 2d6. But if you're out of 2nd-level slots and have to use a 3rd-level slot, it will do 3d6. You can also choose to use a higher-level spell slot if you want to boost the Flaming Sphere's power. Note, a spell only gets extra benefits from a higher-level spell slot if the spell's description says it does. For example, there's a 7th-level spell called Finger Of Death. You can cast it with an 8th- or 9th-level spell slot, but it doesn't change anything about the spell's effect.

Hope that helps.