Lowest Spell With Wish

[Pex]

Out of curiosity, what is the lowest level spell you would be willing to duplicate with Wish barring absolute desperation? What is the highest level too low for you that to use Wish is too much inefficiency you can't do it?

I can comfortably use it for a 7th level spell. 6th level is possible for a good cause. 5th level I'm nearing desperation. 4th level I have to be desperate. I am comfortable virtually upcasting a low level spell I don't have as if using an 8th level spell slot should the need arise.

[MarkVIIIMarc]

Out of curiosity, what is the lowest level spell you would be willing to duplicate with Wish barring absolute desperation? What is the highest level too low for you that to use Wish is too much inefficiency you can't do it?

I can comfortably use it for a 7th level spell. 6th level is possible for a good cause. 5th level I'm nearing desperation. 4th level I have to be desperate. I am comfortable virtually upcasting a low level spell I don't have as if using an 8th level spell slot should the need arise.

Are you thinking about situations like if a Wizard's cleric friend died and the Wizard had Wish he could "Revivify" the Cleric back to life?

That's the most extreme I could think of in short notice, so I guess 3rd level?

[ProsecutorGodot]

The threshold is pretty high for Wish, seeing as it avoids all of the hindering aspects of some spells like casting time or material costs.

From a pragmatic point of view, I wouldn't want to use wish to duplicate a spell that I'm already able to cast, especially if I'm already able to cast that spell more than once if I need to. 6th level is probably the lowest I'd be willing to go, 5th level if pushed hard enough. I can't think of a 5th level spell that I'd rather use over one of a higher level though.

[lunaticfringe]

Probably 5th because it has 3 spells with out of combat cast times that could be clutch if cast as an action.

Hallow, Geas, & Planar Binding.

That's just off the top of my head though. Maybe revivify, but that seems super desperate and my wizard would probably opt to bounce with fellow survivors with a Wish before Revivifying 1 PC (unless I was super deep into the roleplay of the character).

[Mr.Spastic]

In combat, I would go with what everybody else has said. Out of combat, anyspell I might need of any level. Being able to bust out a free cleric or druid spell as a wizard can come in real handy.

[Vessyra]

It does sort of depend. If this is during combat, I would rarely dip below sixth level. Maybe a fifth if the situation called for it; it's possible that I might do revivify, but unless there's a cleric who can bring them back up into the high hit points, I would probably resurrect them, as the -4 penalty would be a worth trade of for going up to full.
If not, then I'd be fine using wish to replicate a cantrip, as long as its likely we'll get a rest soon.
Of course, I'd put all spells with a duration up to 8th level, even if they don't scale, just in case someone tried casting dispel magic.

One spell of 5th level that I would be willing to cast via wish, without second thought? Hallow. Bypassing the 1000 gp material cost and the 24 hours casting time (and really, who is even going to be able to stay awake through 24 hours of nothing but spell casting) in order to instantly provide protection from that demon horde, or spend a few weeks sealing off the town against extra dimensional threats.

[MaxWilson]

Out of curiosity, what is the lowest level spell you would be willing to duplicate with Wish barring absolute desperation?

As a Sorcerer or Bard, I would be willing to Wish for Find Familiar during downtime, so 1st level. Because hey, free familiar.

[Xihirli]

As a Sorcerer or Bard, I would be willing to Wish for Find Familiar during downtime, so 1st level. Because hey, free familiar.

Ditto for Find Greater Steed and Create Homunculus. Have all the actions.

[MaxWilson]

Ditto for Find Greater Steed and Create Homunculus. Have all the actions.

Plus Fabricate, Simulacrum, and a bunch of Planar Bindings. But I only mentioned Find Familiar because it's the lowest-level one.

I can even conceive of Wishing for Unseen Servant during downtime, so I don't have to do my own dishes that day. It depends how peaceful things are/how busy my 9th level slot is with other things.

[dragoeniex]

Agreeing with Find Greater Steed, Find Steed, and/or Find Familiar for timeskips. Get your own mini menagerie! Sure, it's getting spendy with your daily resources, but you're a caster with free time. You're probably going to make worse decisions in this month.

Outside of that, Scrying comes to mind. Spells like Project Image, Teleport and the like become better when you've seen a variety of relevant places. Find out about some commoners' distant relatives or use acquaintances or even just names off records to begin slowly expanding your horizons. This is another downtime-only use, and only if you haven't picked up scrying itself.

There is something endearing about the idea of a sour, old wizard watching a nervous teammate get up for a performance or speech or something... then using Wish to pull in whatever will help most. Anything from a big effect to a quiet, lv 2 Enhance Ability when you pat their shoulder.

[Potato_Priest]

I think for me it would be level 4- the Hallow spell. That spell costs a ludicrous amount of money, and you have to recast it a bunch of times if you want a permanent effect. Hallow is unfortunately one of my favorite spells ever though because of how cool the effects are, so I would definitely be willing to use wish.