What is Your Favorite Spell?

[Techcaliber]

Hello hello!

Today, I am not asking for help on a build or wanting DM advice, I just want to know what is your favorite spell in 5e Dungeons and Dragons, and why?

Mine is Crown of Stars. It's a solid damage dealing spell capable of doing 28d12 radiant damage at base level. and 44d12 at 9th level. But more than that, I absolutely love the visual that comes with the spell: You summon stars that float around you for an hour. I have no idea why but this idea is just amazing.

Anyways, comment your favorite spell and why!

[Wizard_Lizard]

Mine is is Storm of Vengeance. I just love the flavour.

[Christew]

Minor Illusion.
Strikes an amazing balance between allowing creative use and being limited in power. Plus it is available at level 1.

[jaappleton]

Sunbeam. By a million miles.

Maybe it’s my adoration of anime, maybe it’s my love of spells which just DECIMATE Undead, maybe it’s because I love repeatable blast spells.

But I adore Sunbeam.

I really wish there was a weaker 3rd or 4th level version of it. Some sort of similar spell, where you can fire a blast in a line. There’s some precedent for it, with similar spells such as Call Lightning, but it’s quite a very limited selection.

[JellyPooga]

I really like Moonbeam. It's a solid damage spell with a decent duration, an AoE (albeit small) and really good scaling. It's utility as both damage and field control, with a solid flavour text and accompanying ribbon feature to match.

I also really like Ray of Sickness. Damage and a Poison rider? That's a solid spell. Yeah, maybe it doesn't scale too well into the late stages of Tier 2 and beyond, but for lower level play it's a solid staple for a 1st level attack/debuff spell.

My favourite, though? Gaseous Form. It might not be the most powerful spell, but it's just such a solid spell in so many situations. I often go out of my way to acquire this spell because it's great for infiltration, spying, escape, mobility and generally being a sneaky kinda dude.

[Zetakya]

Tasha's Hideous Laughter. Useful in so many situations, from social humiliation to kidnapping, and it's even a pretty good spell for altering the force-balance of an encounter by neutralising enemy force multipliers.

[Daphne]

Fireball :smile:

[MrStabby]

A few:

Dream. So evocative and does what other spells don't. A way to communicate, to misinform and to hinder.

Command. If you want for force people to grovel at your feet thene here is the spell. If you want people to flee from you, this does it. In addition to making you a total badass as reflected by the behaviour of others it is tactically very powerful.

Maze. OK,so its a bit high level... but again, nice theme and still powerful in what it does.

[Bobthewizard]

Conjure animals. It just does so much. Damage, control, absorbing enemy attacks. I love moving all the animals around and rolling all the dice. You need to be organized and work out with your DM ahead of time what animals might appear so you can be prepared with their stats, but if you put in that work, it's so much fun.

[Jerrykhor]

Dimension Door. I love teleport spells, but this one is my favourite mainly because you don't need to see where you want to go. It also forces you to think about 3D movement, map layout and possible offensive/escape plans. On top of that, being allowed to bring one buddy with you means you don't have to do it alone.

Loved it on my edgy Hexblade warlock that would use this to cover large distances or get to enemies that are hard to reach on foot. I would also use it to chase fleeing enemies by teleporting behind them. "Nothin' personal, kid."

[Forevaxp]

Ooh, it’s a close one between Forbiddance and Legend Lore

Legend Lore: You force the DM to give you information that would otherwise be harder to find than just casting a 5th level spell

Forbiddance: Deal 5d10 radiant or necrotic damage a turn to creatures of the chosen type with no save? Great! Unless it’s dispelled... But still, this spell killed all the trivial undead in the BBEG’s sanctum, as well as weakened all of the Death Knights in the place, which earns it a spot as my favorite spell.

[airless_wing]

Spike Growth. It’s one of those spells I will always have prepared.

it’s one of those spells just I love to cast: i’m rarely disappointed in the results with a well-placed spike growth. Top tier area denial, esp for a lvl 2 spell. I wish it was upcastable.

[BullyWog]

Fireball. Very few problems can’t be solved by an Evoker with fireball. Not to be too picky, but decimate means “kill every 10th one”, deci-10, mate-kill

[sithlordnergal]

I personally love Tasha's Hideous Laughter simply because it works against SO MANY THINGS! Like...if you're unsure if it'll work on a target, cast it anyway, chance are it'll work. Like...this spell works on nearly everything, even bog standard Undead Skeletons. Its also one of the few enchantment spells that doesn't care what creature type you are because it doesn't enchant/charm the target, so few creatures get to have Advantage on the save. And finally, it hands out two very powerful conditions, Prone and Incapacitated.

Second favorite spell is Chill Touch because MY GOD is that cantrip OP.

[Nifft]

Find Familiar.

It's outright disgusting how useful this thing is, and how much it constitutes my justification for either Ritual Caster or Magic Initiate.

[micahaphone]

I love Sickening Radiance. The dirty bomb radiation damage is scary, radiant is almost never resisted, and inflicting exhaustion onto your enemies? Killer. There's nothing like putting down a cloud of fallout, and your barb buddy drags the enemy in. Perfect interrogation scenario. "I know Emily has the constitution to survive for a while. Do you?"

[Eldariel]

Magic Mouth. It's just awesome in its infinite potential.

[Kane0]

I really like Thunderstep. Its not super effective but its pulls double duty, is fun to use and comes along at an early enough level that you dont have to wait half your characters career before its available to you.

[da newt]

Disguise Self - even better as mask of many faces - so many shenanigans.

[Chaos Jackal]

Wall spells. Particularly wall spells that create solid barriers. I am a big fan of battlefield control, and nothing says battlefield control like walls.

If I had to pick one, it would be wall of force, simply for being the first nearly indestructible barrier available.

[JumboWheat01]

I have two particular favorites, both because of uses in various computer D&D games.

Command - Just a one-round bit of control that was so fast to cast in Baldur's Gate. Sometimes one-round is all you need to beat the stuffing out of something, or get a much stronger spell fired out by someone else.

Knock - Pesky locks that took too long to bash in the Neverwinter Nights series were putty with Knock. And with how the resting system worked, you only needed one Knock prepared.

[WadeWay33]

C h a o s B o l t

[Porcupinata]

I'm amazed we've got this far without mention of Prestidigitation yet. It's the cantrip with a thousand and one uses.

To me, that spell more than anything is what makes a wizard a wizard (small-w I'm talking about the archetype, not the class). It's the ability to do those little everyday quality of life magic tricks that raise your existence above that of the muggles. Mage Hand and Mending both complement the spell and make a trifecta of magical convenience, but of the three Prestidigitation is definitely the biggest and best in terms of versatility.

[DracoKnight]

I love Shadow Blade. I play a lot of gish characters and there's something just metal about calling up a sword of darkness. Put it in the hands of an Eldritch Knight or Arcane Trickster and it's amazing. Bladesingers can use it to pump out a lot of damage. But my favorite character I've used it on was a Divine Soul who mixed it up in melee. It became kind of their signature spell.

I guess I love it because I love the aesthetic of someone who just looks like a normal person, unarmored and unarmed, but can change that at a moment's notice (mage armor + shadow blade) and can look like anyone (disguise self).

[DrowPiratRobrts]

Minor Illusion for me. Especially if it's Improved Minor Illusion. And if you're an Illusionist Wizard you gain the ability to make Minor Illusions move, which is just crazy useful. Easily the most versatile cantrip in the game for me.

[Regularguy]

Planar Ally: the entity has its own agenda, so it’s not just that you make a reasonable offer (say, performing a service in exchange for a quest to be undertaken, or donating gold to an allied temple) with the wrinkle that limiting one’s requests to nonhazardous tasks can and should halve the suggested payment; it’s also that, if a given request is aligned with the creature's ethos, the payment might get waived altogether.

So even on its own, the spell allows for fair-exchange problem solving; but you have every incentive to come up with plausible win-win proposals, or to otherwise frame stuff as being a good deal, by figuring out what’d sound sensible when roleplaying the ensuing sales pitch. And that fits so many scenarios that it could be a whole class, or a whole campaign.

[Tallytrev813]

Disguise Self - even better as mask of many faces - so many shenanigans.

I agree here, for me it's Disguise Self.

Fact is, when I learned D&D i was focused on combat - how to min max and win the battle.

Now that ive played a little more, ive come to realize that the most fun part of the game for me are the things that happen outside of combat.

Can i convince person X to do Y? Can i trick John Smith into doing what i need him to do? How well can i track the bad guy? Can i utilize these herbs i found in the forest?

My absolute favorite, at this point, player to play (which i haven't gotten a chance to really delve into, as the 1 time i got to play him the campaign fell apart) is the Warlock - with Friends, Mask of many faces, Feat Actor, and a lot of charisma.

I like to mold him in a sort of Boon Dock Saints meets Dragon Age Val Royeaux, with the Raven Queen as my patron. I just picture this incredibly tricky shape shifting type with the chant i molded from boondock saints ("So forth a soul shall flow to thee, to ever feed thy conspiracy. In nomine corvo, quae ducit, ad caelum." - means in latin, In the name of the Raven (She/whitch) (Leads/Guides) to the sky.)

Anyway, the whole character is built around Disguise self - and the manipulation in the social aspect of the game is just limitless.

[nickl_2000]

I adore cantrips, Minor Illusion, Guidance, Mold Earth, Themolurgy (sp?), Prestidigitation, and others.

If we are talking outside of combat, give me Command, Suggestion, and Mass Suggestion any day of the week.

[yellowrocket]

I found produce flame to be a personal favorite due to the spell being under valued by my fellow players.

As for leveled spells I love entangle. Juat a speel I usually get really good mileage out of for the slot.

[SociopathFriend]

I love Shadow Blade. I play a lot of gish characters and there's something just metal about calling up a sword of darkness. Put it in the hands of an Eldritch Knight or Arcane Trickster and it's amazing. Bladesingers can use it to pump out a lot of damage. But my favorite character I've used it on was a Divine Soul who mixed it up in melee. It became kind of their signature spell.

I was planning on getting that for my Necromancer Wizard / Life Cleric but COVID hit and we haven't played that campaign in months. I was really looking forwards to testing that thing out.


That said my fave spell is probably Death Ward. Just a giant middle-finger to death.
Reduce me to 0? Nope- back at 1.
Hit me with an auto-kill effect? Nope.
Concentration? Nope.

[Krobar]

Commune. I had an epic bard in the 3.5 days that used limited wish to cast Commune so he could invite Sharess over to his place for drinks in the hot tub. Or dinner. Or because he wanted a back rub.

Etc.

[Chronos]

Minor Illusion has the twin advantages of being incredibly versatile, and not having any resource cost to use it (I hate using up spell slots that I "might need more later", and then of course the "later" never comes). There's almost no situation where it can't be used. In combat, make a crate or a boulder or a shrub or whatever other object makes sense to hide inside, or temporarily block something's line of sight, or a fake corpse to confuse an enemy about who is or isn't really dead. Out of combat, show exactly what something looks like, or communicate stealthily, or distract someone, or just add some special effects to spice things up.

[lall]

Chill Touch

[sambojin]

Certainly not for its power, but because it's so fun to use in tightly packed combats: Wind Wall.
OK, it does almost no damage for its slot, but the zigzag'y leaping lightning style targeting is a hoot. It's one of those spells that I always try and convince a DM to let me upcast. I've never actually used it for blocking ranged attacks, but will usually cast it a couple of times per level in most adventures because it's great on a grid.

Same with Tidal Wave. It looks horrible, until you realize that it can do mid-air-proning of flyers. It's also pretty much like a 1-off Sunbeam in its targeting as well (a really fat lightning bolt). Again, I try and get it upcastable, but I usually just prepare it for the lols (druids really don't have much to go on for nonconcentration direct damage). I like the mental image of geysers of water smashing things out of the sky.

My real favourite is Conjure Animals though. Just so good at doing so many things that it's hard to not have it whenever you can get it. There is never a time where having a couple of flying mounts or more chances for restrain-on-hit isn't useful.

[Iskande]

...

Same with Tidal Wave. It looks horrible, until you realize that it can do mid-air-proning of flyers. It's also pretty much like a 1-off Sunbeam in its targeting as well (a really fat lightning bolt). Again, I try and get it upcastable, but I usually just prepare it for the lols (druids really don't have much to go on for nonconcentration direct damage). I like the mental image of geysers of water smashing things out of the sky.

...

I enjoy tidal wave a lot, that's probably up there for me.

However, my favorite spell is heat metal.

Opponent is wearing armor? Give them disadvantage on basically everything they do for the rest of combat.

They have a scarily powerful magic weapon? Force them to drop it or take damage.

[sambojin]

Another thing I like about Tidal Wave is that its dimensions are all "up to". You want it smaller than 30'x10'x10'? Go for it. You could make it the size of a baseball and it would still knock a person down if they fail their dex save. And put out unprotected flames on the ground within 30' of it (it's magic, it doesn't have to make physical sense). And you can do it any angle if you're fat-beaming with it within that 120' cast range (so handy for tight combats or for hitting heaps of enemies).

That, and fall damage making it a far better damage spell than it looks like against anything without hover flight/ prone immunity, if they're in the air when you hit them with it.

And the "lights out" effect is actually *really big*. It can backfire, but great for when that's what you want to happen (which is mostly).

It's more like an EMP blast, than a tidal wave, and is also a very customizable-on-cast one. Fireball can't be altered nearly as easily, and virtually nothing resists magical bludgeoning damage.


(I tend to like any spell where it looks weak at first glance, until you follow what it says through to its logical conclusion in game mechanics terms).

((Wind Wall is another "up to" these dimensions spell. If there's a 2mm crack under a door, and you know there's someone on the other side of it, you can fire mini-chain-lightning under it. Targeted effect has to be on the ground, unfortunately. Tidal Wave doesn't. You can fire it through keyholes, down chimneys, along battlements, around street/ dungeon corners, into courtyards/ over walls from above, through window shutters, or whatever looks fun at the time. You don't need to see the area it's effecting, just the point-of-origin of the effect, with nothing actually blocking line-of-effect to that))

[Mad_Saulot]

Shadow of Moil is just so cool

[Stealthscout]

Shape water, hands down.

So many options and flexible wording in the spell description that allow you to play with it in hundreds of ways. The fact it is a cantrip with an hour duration is a heapfull of frosting. I dare say it rivals presdigitation that way.

[Throne12]

It hard to choose but I love illusion magic and it hard to pick just one. But major image is a good contender. You can do a lot of stuff with it.

[Callak_Remier]

Magic Jar, Plane shift, Drawmij instant summons.

[moonfly7]

Mold earth. It's easily my favorite spell ever. It's just a cantrip so it's not on par power wise with, say, fireball, or even eldritch blast in the cantrip department, but it really rewards creativity, especially with my DMs who generally allow a few logical steps with spells, especially cantrips(once our bard used Prestidigitation to send a strong puff of air at a dust mephit, DM let it deal 1d4 damage, and he critted and then killed it), so it's great for shenanigans.
We routinely use it to fortify locations, create trenches, just flat up burry fools, or other crazy stuff.
I also like control flames, gust, and shape water.

[Desamir]

Web! I pick it on every caster I can. It's just SO GOOD for a 2nd level spell. Restrained is a great condition to inflict, breaking out requires an action, and unlike Entangle you can just push them right back in.

[Sindal]

Ooo toughy.

-Magic missile.
It's iconic. It's near fullproof for its purpose and it makes me feel like a caster.

Honorable mention:
Aid - effectively a preventative aoe heal so you can focus your energy on not healing as much.

[Falconcry]

For me it’s Dragon’s Breath. I have an arcane cleric 1 / transmutation wizard 4. I’m grouped with a wildfire druid 5 that can throw two fireballs per fight and has a flaming pet. I cast DB on my familiar and was told “You can repeat the damage each turn? That’s to OP!”

[MarkVIIIMarc]

Sending has probably been my favorite out of combat spell. Its just nice to be able to message old allies/NPC's every so often. The DM comes up with some funny lines. Ending up in a 6 spell slot conversation about "well how is it dark there but light here?" which elves just seem to know the answer to is priceless.

[Arkhios]

Thunderwave.

Simple, effective, and LOUD. xD

[Callak_Remier]

Sending has probably been my favorite out of combat spell. Its just nice to be able to message old allies/NPC's every so often. The DM comes up with some funny lines. Ending up in a 6 spell slot conversation about "well how is it dark there but light here?" which elves just seem to know the answer to is priceless.

My favorite 3rd level spell for sure.

[Phhase]

So many choices....

I'm going to confine myself to mostly non-psionics, just so I don't create an integer overflow with my character count.

Dust Devil: Ironically, I just realized how cool this spell is since I took it on my Wu Jen Mystic. It really helps me push my Desert flavor, since I'm an undead Thri-kreen. Using my light weight and hang gliding skills I can ride the whirlwind, which is super cool. You can also fill it up to churning with nasty things like caltrops, oil, poison, you name it.

Shape Water: It's Fabricate, but 1 action and ice only. I once fortified a barn into an ice castle. I called that session Assault on Icecrown.

Mold Earth: Since my DM is quite kind, this handy thing ended up being just like Shape Water, but for earth and stone. It's really nice to be able to just pull things like writing tablets right out of the ground (More desert flavor!).

Gaseous Form: Technically the Misty Form psionic discipline, but essentially the same thing. Being able to turn into a breeze is just the coolest thing, and suuuuper useful. I now have an underground base that is only accessible through a small broken pipe in the sewer. It's also great for searching for hidden cracks and compartments.

Prestidigitation:
"Hey, I'm thirsty, pass me some water?"
*Casts Prestidigitation discreetly* "Here" *Passes over canteen of distilled 90% ethyl alcohol, with the flavor and smell removed*
(Drinks) "Thanks!"

Rope Trick: (Assassin's Creed Noises)

Suggestion: Has surprising utility. The best use I've ever seen was one of my players casting it on themselves. They'd just been hit with a potent Abyssal curse that seemingly transported them to the Abyss, but in truth, only put them in a fake vision (Though still damaging). The Suggestion was "Wake up". It didn't work the way it was intended since they weren't technically asleep, merely turned invisible and paralyzed, but I ruled it allowed them to use their mind to make their illusions into reality within the bounds of the vision, which was arguably more fun in the end.

[Warlush]

#1. Eldritch blast!!!!!
#2. Hex

[KorvinStarmast]

My Five Favorites In Order
1. Fog Cloud
2. Tasha's Hideous Laughter
3. Banishment
4. Find Familiar.
5. Lesser Restoration (condition removal for the win at low cost)

[Bardon]

My Five Favorites In Order
1. Fog Cloud
2. Tasha's Hideous Laughter
3. Banishment
4. Find Familiar.
5. Lesser Restoration (condition removal for the win at low cost)


See, I *love* Banishment ... except for the material component: an item distasteful to the target

Unless you have a Handy Haversack this is much more limited than I'd like, and in some cases it's really difficult to work out what some entities find distasteful. Not so bad for a wizard but if you're spell-limited like a sorcerer it can make it very difficult to choose Banishment.

[Desamir]

See, I *love* Banishment ... except for the material component: an item distasteful to the target

Unless you have a Handy Haversack this is much more limited than I'd like, and in some cases it's really difficult to work out what some entities find distasteful. Not so bad for a wizard but if you're spell-limited like a sorcerer it can make it very difficult to choose Banishment.

As a component without a cost, it can be replaced with a spellcasting focus or a component pouch.

[micahaphone]

Maybe distasteful is very loosely applied? A fiend thinks your Macaroni art of Pelor is just uncalled for, you keep lettuce in your pouch for undead, a squirt gun is gauche to a fire elemental.

[Blood of Gaea]

Mirage Arcane, hands down. Nothing beats the feeling of just changing the entire terrain in a massive area into nearly whatever you like.

[Chronos]

The component for Banishment isn't an item without a cost; it's an item with an unspecified cost. What the cost is depends on what the item is, which depends on what you're trying to banish. For instance, a holy symbol will work for undead and some outsiders, and it costs 5 GP, so it can't be replaced by a component pouch.

[elyktsorb]

At the moment it's Thorn Whip, so I can pretend to be Scorpion from Mortal Combat. Of course pulling things off of ledges is neat.

[NaughtyTiger]

At the moment it's Thorn Whip, so I can pretend to be Scorpion from Mortal Combat. Of course pulling things off of ledges is neat.

i was gonna post this...
i like that it is really useful on friendlies in a bad situation.
i like that i have to decide if 1d6 against a friendly is worth it. (often is)
some DMs give more flexibility (spider man web sling or no damage...)

[Man_Over_Game]

Catapult. You can do so many things with it. Throw something off-scene to distract someone, pull the McGuffin off the floor and near your party, Ready it and grab someone's thrown javelin to launch it back at them. Not to mention that it keeps going until it hits a target, meaning it can easily get more value tactically than something like Chromatic Orb.

[Christew]

The component for Banishment isn't an item without a cost; it's an item with an unspecified cost. What the cost is depends on what the item is, which depends on what you're trying to banish. For instance, a holy symbol will work for undead and some outsiders, and it costs 5 GP, so it can't be replaced by a component pouch.
Per PHB Material Components: "Casting some Spells requires particular Objects, specified in parentheses in the component entry. A character can use a Component pouch or a Spellcasting focus (found in “Equipment”) in place of the Components specified for a spell. But if a cost is indicated for a component, a character must have that specific component before he or she can cast the spell.

If a spell states that a material component is consumed by the spell, the caster must provide this component for each casting of the spell.
A spellcaster must have a hand free to access a spell’s material components—or to hold a Spellcasting focus—but it can be the same hand that he or she uses to perform somatic Components."

No "cost is indicated," ergo "a character can use a Component pouch or a Spellcasting focus."

I agree that requiring specific distasteful items for different targets opens some interesting roleplaying opportunities, but that kind of house rule should be telegraphed before the game starts since it is not strictly RAW and could impact player's spell selection.

[Nifft]

See, I *love* Banishment ... except for the material component: an item distasteful to the target

Unless you have a Handy Haversack this is much more limited than I'd like, and in some cases it's really difficult to work out what some entities find distasteful. Not so bad for a wizard but if you're spell-limited like a sorcerer it can make it very difficult to choose Banishment.

Just carry around a stack of gnome porn.

[Ogre Mage]

Invisibility and Greater Invisibility. One is a great infiltration and/or escape tool, the other provides big offense and defense bonuses in combat.

[DMJosh]

DM: Have you all been tracking your rations?

Me: Nope!

DM: Oh, right. Goodberry.

Me: Yep!


A first level spell that lets me skip resource tracking? Yes, please. Easy favorite.

[Mork]

I want to play a druid just so that I can cast Wrath of nature. I find it so flavourfull.

Also recently got the level where my bard could cast simulacrum. And it was loads of fun RP'ing the simulacrum existential crisis as knowing to be a construct with a limited live span but at the same time having all the hopes and dreams of the original. She immediatly started her own quest line trying to become a real person :P

[Snownine]

There are so many great spells it is so hard to pick. Fireball is so classic and just plain useful. I have a lot of fond memories of it's use over the years.

Destructive wave is also up there for me as paladins are my favorite class and it provides them with excellent aoe attack with good damage, typing, and a knock down effect and the cherry on top is it does not carry the risk of friendly fire. Too bad it comes online so late for the paladin, the tempest cleric gets it much earlier. Speaking of cleric, spirit guardians is another fave of mine. Decent, repeating, friendly fire avoiding, aoe, radiant damage with a very useful enemy slowing effect.

And I have to put shillelagh up there as well. It is far from the most powerful spell out there and, and is best used in some niche builds, but I absolutely love the flavor.

[Euclidodese]

Skywrite.

It's just so fantastically limited and situational, but there are uses. Advertising, celebrating an event like a royal wedding, threatening to use it to reveal the position of your enemies secret camp, the sky is the limit...

[Malinthas]

Animate Object.
It's a decent damage dealer, and adds one or more targets to the fight that aren't members of the party. But the real reason I love it is just the idea of bringing the giant statue of the BBEG to life to fight him in his lair!
Also, there's real comedy value in the bad guys being attacked by the furniture.

[Civis Mundi]

For me, it's a lot of the favorites that have already been said. In no particular order:

1. Shield, for all the reasons everyone has discussed in the "best defensive spell" thread. I've surely straight-up used it more than any spell by far.
2. Find familiar. Beyond its many utilities, it's also a built-in way to have an animal companion to play off of, like you would with a Beastmaster Ranger, without having to be a Beastmaster Ranger.
3. Shadow blade is just a very stylish spell, as others have stated. It's the staple of my Bladesinger build, even if something like haste is probably optimal.
4. Haste is an addictive substance when you're playing a martial character. When you're a spellcaster and they're your buddy, the look on their face is its own reward. And if you're a martial character casting it on yourself, well, that's even better.
5. Guidance is unassuming, but its near-constant availability makes it one of the best utilities around. I've seen it salvage some bad checks into mediocre ones and mediocre ones into good ones, and it can be a staple for skillmonkey builds. It can also be a nice dip for martial characters. The biggest gap between them and spellcasters is having things to do out-of-combat that provide utility and resources, circumventing problems rather than facing them head-on, and shaping the world. Skills can be the best way to do that, and there are plenty of easy ways to grab guidance (and perhaps some double-proficiency in your skill of choice, by race or feat or Rogue dip).

Honorary Mention: Counterspell. I was very close to putting counterspell on the list, because it is one of my favorite spells on a caster. But I gave my reasoning, and I decided against it: "It's very satsifying on one end of it, and very frustrating on the other." There's always counterspelling the counterspell (which could lead theoretically lead to a chain with multiple casters), or doing something like a Subtle counterspell, but I'm not sure how "fun" they tend to be for whoever wastes their spell, moreso if they waste their action. Sometimes you really want some antagonist to cast a spell that will shape the fight in an interesting way, and simply negating their ability to do that can make the encounter less fun for everyone at the end of the day. On the other hand, if you know you've got counterspeller among your players, you should design your encounters accordingly. You can find ways to create environmental effects without the use of spells--but this could be a lot harder for a less seasoned DM.

[Ertwin]

The hunger of Hadar

Huge area with difficult terrain and everyone inside it is blinded with no save. Lots of damage potential. It's great for taking care of one group of enemies while you deal with another. If you've got devil's sight, you can still take pot shots at the poor victims inside.



Magic missile is also great for just straight up damage, no attack roll, no save.

[Christew]

The hunger of Hadar

Huge area with difficult terrain and everyone inside it is blinded with no save. Lots of damage potential. It's great for taking care of one group of enemies while you deal with another. If you've got devil's sight, you can still take pot shots at the poor victims inside.
Bonus points for having some of the best creepy flavor text in the game.

[HPisBS]

There's just too many cool spells.

C - Mage Hand / Prestidigitation
1 - Shield / Find Familiar
2 - Detect Thoughts / Mirror Image / Spiritual Weapon / Pass Without Trace
3 - Bestow Curse / Conjure Animals / Hypnotic Pattern / Spirit Guardians / Counterspell

4 - Greater Invisibility / Find Greater Steed
5 - Animate Objects / Telekinesis / Geas / Destructive Wave
6 - Sunbeam / Create Undead / Transport via Plants / Wind Walk / Contingency

7 - Finger of Death / Simulacrum / Magnificent Mansion
8 - Clone / Demiplane / Feeblemind / Mighty Fortress
9 - True Polymorph / Wish

[XmonkTad]

Animate Dead! Has some good support if you play a necromancer. Be the zombie apocalypse! Works well with magic stone (my favorite cantrip, because with a bonus action you can buff a virtually non-combat follower to be useful) and really changes the whole playstyle for the party.

[ForeverFlame]

Shapechange.
druids best class don't @ me
but really, druids rule, and this is the ultimate druid spell.