Wizard. Pick one cantrip from the list and why

[Whit]

Which one cantrip would you pick and why for your go to range cantrip damage. From lvl 1-10
Acid splash
Chill touch
Create bonfire
Fire bolt
Frostbite
Poison spray
Ray of Frost
Toll the dead

[Aaedimus]

Which one cantrip would you pick and why for your go to range cantrip damage. From lvl 1-10
Acid splash
Chill touch
Create bonfire
Fire bolt
Frostbite
Poison spray
Ray of Frost
Toll the dead

Depends on the campaign setting...

Acid splash - I'm expecting mobs

Chill touch - I'm expecting undead

Create bonfire - I'm expecting small spaces and have other primary methods of damage

Fire bolt - not in a setting with allot of fire resistant creatures

Frostbite - I'm expecting a few strong guys

Poison spray- it's thematic

Ray of Frost - I want to keep my distance

Toll the dead - no one is resistant to necrotic, and I want DAMAGE. Also if I'm going vs religous nuts or high wisdom creatures I might not choose

Chill Touch is really nice vs undead, acid splash vs mobs, I wouldn't take poison spray unless it's thematic

[Kane0]

Ray of Frost: Decent range, decent damage, decent rider. Attack roll vs save has it's own pros and cons attached, damage type could be better but beats fire and poison.

[Lunali]

Chill touch, good range, decent damage, stops regen and healing. It's probably not the best choice, but enemies healing annoys me to no end.

[guachi]

Acid splash because I'm an evocation wizard and I want a save spell and I don't have the book with Toll the Dead.

(I do, but this is a hypothetical exercise)

[Greywander]

Chill touch, good range, decent damage, stops regen and healing. It's probably not the best choice, but enemies healing annoys me to no end.
This. Most of the time, it's just a modest attack cantrip, less damage than Fire Bolt, but a better damage type. When either of the riders come up (especially the no-healing), it can radically change the way a fight shakes out. If I could only take one damage cantrip, and no one else in the party had Chill Touch, this would be high on my list.

Ray of Frost is also a good one, but has less range and deals a worse damage type. You'll be using it as much for the control as you will for the damage. This might depend on your DM, but my interpretation is that Ray of Frost can stack, so if you have three casters (or can cast three times), then you can completely immobilize a good chunk of monsters. Cold damage isn't great, though.

I don't really like Frostbite, mostly because I view it as a cheap knock-off of Vicious Mockery. It's worse than VM in every way except the damage die. Worse save, worse damage type, and even the rider has more restrictions. I don't think any of this makes it necessarily a bad choice, and if VM didn't exist I'd probably view it more favorably. I do think VM is one of the better "damage" cantrips in the game, but less so for damage and more so as a spammable support spell, so Frostbite should still be a decent choice for all the same reasons.

Acid Splash, a lot of people write this one off, unfairly in my opinion. Acid is a good damage type, but 1d6 isn't great. The AoE-lite aspect is probably why most people take it, but it seems circumstantial to me, and not game-changing like Chill Touch when it comes up. No, the real reason to take Acid Splash is that it doesn't require you to be able to see your target(s). Of course, neither does Chill Touch, or Ray of Frost, or Fire Bolt. However, those are all attack cantrips, and you will almost certainly have disadvantage on an attack roll if you can't see the target. Acid Splash is a DEX save, not being able to see the target has no effect. This makes it the best cantrip to use when (a) facing an invisible enemy, (b) you are blinded, or (c) darkness, a fog cloud, or similar effect is obscuring the battlefield. So many spells require you to be able to see the target, so it's nice to have something handy for those rare occasions when you can't. In fact, you could build a party specifically to drop Darkness or a Fog Cloud and then Acid Splash with impunity while your enemies flail around trying to hit you.

Toll the Dead, not really much to say about this one. It's not a bad damage cantrip, but it's kind of boring. To me, the only reason to take this one is because it is specifically a WIS save. Combined with Frostbite, Acid Splash, and an attack cantrip like Chill Touch or Ray of Frost means we have a lot of flexibility in which of an enemy's defenses we target. Of course, I'd only recommend getting more than one damage cantrip if you have cantrips to spare, otherwise get some utility cantrips.

Speaking of, you can also use a light crossbow. This gives you a decent ranged attack. If you do want a damage cantrip, it might make more sense to get one that targets a save, and you can use your crossbow when you want to target AC.

[Spore]

The one that fits my character concept the best.

Acid Splash for a Lizardfolk 'shaman'
Chill Touch/toll the dead for a necromancer
Create Bonfire/Firebolt for any pyromancer, or the bogstandard wizard
Ray of Frost/Frostbite for any Cryomancer (WoW style) or if my group's frontline has poor AC/HP
Poison Spray I'd never pick. Short range, every other encounter you have important targets be immune, just NO.

[Laserlight]

Firebolt, because adventurers tend to add "and then we set it on fire" to every plan.

[Aaedimus]

Firebolt, because adventurers tend to add "and then we set it on fire" to every plan.

Lol isn't that a reason to avoid it?

[Foxhound438]

Firebolt, because adventurers tend to add "and then we set it on fire" to every plan.

I can agree with that

jokes aside, I think it can also depend on what you plan to do with your character. I assume with this specific case that you're looking to build either a high elf or a variant human with magic initiate, and choosing a utility cantrip as the other pick. Or maybe you have some other reason to have the same choice, like some kind of "mini-boon" or a magic item or something. Create bonfire is a pretty solid option if you aren't going to concentrate on anything else, as you can use it in melee in some situations to force an enemy to either stay in place risking taking the damage again, or take an opportunity attack from someone. The trade off there is that it's only a 60' range, of course. But honestly any of the d8 cantrips (and firebolt) are probably worth considering for their specific effects. Ray of frost can delay an enemy's escape, chill touch can prevent healing, firebolt is a pretty good general purpose with a bit more damage, and toll the dead does some more damage against enemies that have already taken damage.

Me personally, create bonfire is my favorite when I don't have other concentration spells (hence why I mentioned that one first), or if I do have something to concentrate on I'd probably go for ray of frost most of the time.

[Kane0]

Firebolt, because adventurers tend to add "and then we set it on fire" to every plan.

Can't argue with that.

[Vessyra]

Firebolt, because adventurers tend to add "and then we set it on fire" to every plan.
Bah! Do you think that we need magic to set things on fire? Or oil, torches or flint? No matter what we have, my group will ALWAYS find a way to set something on fire. ALWAYS. (Rest in piece, four or five taverns from last session)

Jokes aside, if I had to pick one... I think I'd go with chill touch, fire bolt a close second, with frostbite and toll the dead in a far behind 3rd and 4th place (unknown order of the last two). Fire bolt has great damage, and setting things on fire is always helpful, no matter the situation... but chill touch is great as stopping enemy healing is always nice, and one of the only creatures with resistance/immunity to necrotic damage, undead, suffers disadvantage in place of extra damage, which is an easy trade.