Go to spells for all casters at higher levels

[Aaron Underhand]

I saw the thread on "Go-to spells for clerics at higher levels", http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?555430-Go-to-spells-for-clerics-at-higher-levels and was really surprised by the very limited selection, and the comments about upcast spells. I haven't played much 5e at high level, so was wondering if this is universal across casting classes - if so it makes split builds (say 8 cleric/8 druid, or 8 bard/8 sorcerer much more interesting as practical designs, rather than the 1-2 level dips I've generally used.

So I thought I'd asked the wider question - What actually gets used from the higher level spells, and what key low level spells end up upcast? I'm looking for the go-to spells from each class. I've tried to define a format to make things clear, and if I get enough responses I'll do a consolidated table here - the example entries are some theory crafting for my Bard, so I'll delete them when I get actual data


Class: [ Bard, Cleric, Druid, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard ]



Spell Level
Con Spell
Non-Conc spell
Upcast Conc
Upcast Non-Conc


5
Animate Objects
Cone of Cold (MS)




6
True Seeing
Chain Lightning (MS)

Major Image (non conc at this level)


7






8
Glibness
Mind Blank




9
Foresight
Wish (anyspell...cheap Hero's feast?)

[MaxWilson]

It really depends on the nature of your adventure and/or campaign, but True Polymorph, Wish, Foresight, Forcecage, Wall of Force, Mass Suggestion (e.g. "Flee!"), Planar Binding, Simulacrum, Maze, Clone, Feeblemind, Teleport, Contingency, Symbol/Glyph of Warding, and Meteor Swarm are all obvious standouts. Magic Jar isn't exactly a go-to spell, but it is potentially transformative to e.g. Magic Jar from a sickly human body into a werebear's body, although that's more of an NPC villain thing than a PC thing, and its utility is heavily influenced depends on how the DM runs Counterspell and Dispel Magic.

(I have flipped the rules for Dispel Magic N so that instead of auto-Dispel up to level N and ability check to Dispel spells over level N, it is ability check to Dispel up to level N and auto-fail to dispel above it. No longer can a single Nycaloth disassemble teleport blocks and fortresses of wards by simple repeated at-will castings of Dispel Magic III. Counterspell retains the auto-success up to N/ability check over N property though on the theory that magic is more vulnerable to disruption while it's still being cast.)

Generally in a Combat As War-style game you want spells that allow you to be proactive, and that stack with themselves, more than you want spells that cost concentration and require actions in the moment. You also want spells that function as counter-countermeasures to countermeasures that your opponents are likely to employ. So, spells like Counterspell and Animate Dead continue to be useful to some degree at high level. And you want a way to survive when things fall apart, which is where Teleport, Clone, and Contingency come in.

Depending on how interested you are in empire-building and minion control, Geas + Dream can have a lot of applications too, but that's more "situational" than "go-to"--like Magic Jar, it tends to be more of a villain thing or a theory-crafting PC thing than something that players actually do in game.

[History_buff]

Foresight is not a concentration spell.