Opinions on the spell: Fire Shield?

[Citadel97501]

Hello all, I was wondering how people feel about this spell? It does seem rather good although it taking up a 4th level slot seems to make Polymorph outshine it although since its non-Concentration and doesn't cost a reaction it likely has a very good place for some builds? This might also be really fun to use while Polymorphed, (Fire Shield and then cast Polymorph of course...)

[GeoffWatson]

Lack of Concentration and a useful duration (so castable before combat starts) make it decent.
You'd mainly use it for resistance to cold or fire, but the damage might matter if enemies are mainly melee.

[LudicSavant]

Hello all, I was wondering how people feel about this spell? It does seem rather good although it taking up a 4th level slot seems to make Polymorph outshine it although since its non-Concentration and doesn't cost a reaction it likely has a very good place for some builds? This might also be really fun to use while Polymorphed, (Fire Shield and then cast Polymorph of course...)

Fire Shield is a solid spell because it's a non-Concentration buff that lasts for 10 minutes (which is enough for multiple encounters in a dungeoneering situation or the like).

It offers two types of Resistance (as needed), and it offers automatically hitting retribution damage that, unlike Armor of Agathys, doesn't break after taking some amount of damage. So it can just keep on going and going. Don't underestimate action-economy-free recurrent auto-hitting damage on caster tanks.

You can also combine it with other things. For example if you have Hexblade's Curse + Flames of Phlegethos, an enemy can take 1d4+2d8+1+proficiency*2 per melee hit (where's the extra +1 from? It's because Flames of Phlegethos is worth approximately +0.5 damage per fire die (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?632633-Tiefling-Draconic-sorcerer-w-Flames-of-Phlegethos-as-a-tank#post25076509)). And then you could even potentially have Armor of Agathys and Hellish Rebuke on top of that. All while still Concentrating on something. For Evokers, it's also a valid target for Overchannel (in which case it does an auto-hitting 16 damage per hit, or 21 damage on the first hit). Or even Contingency: Overchanneled Fire Shield (using an Overchannel from a previous day of the week).

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Polymorph is a good spell, but it takes up your Concentration, and also has limited scaling; basically, beasts don't get a whole lot better than the CR 7 Giant Ape or the CR 8 Tyrannosaurus. If you get to higher levels, the transformation is going to be an offensive (and in some situations defensive) downgrade, and other things are going to be competing hard for your Concentration. You have a lot more than 6 spell slots a day, but probably not a lot more than 6 encounters, so you can only have so many Concentration spells.

[Waazraath]

I think it's a very nice spell, for the reasons already stated.

[Mercurias]

No-concentration elemental resistance with a side of retaliation damage with a duration long enough to last two consecutive fights fights? It’s very solid. Like most short-duration (at least compared to all-day spells like Mage Armor) retaliation buffs, it’s quite useful for characters that get hit often and tend to stay in melee.

Since it puts out illumination, I would avoid casting it on a Rogue or other character that relies on stealth.

I would probably pick it up as a second or third choice for a 4th level slot. It’s definitely something you can cast daily for one reason or another.

[ATHATH]

It's also nice for Moon Druids- Tasha's Cauldron of Everything added Fire Shield to the Druid spell list, and Moon Druids are generally itching for ways to make use of their spell slots (in this case, pre-battle buffing).

[diplomancer]

It's not a spell I'd take at 7th level. But it sure is a spell I'd like to have by level 11, at most.

[Chugger]

Hello all, I was wondering how people feel about this spell? It does seem rather good although it taking up a 4th level slot seems to make Polymorph outshine it although since its non-Concentration and doesn't cost a reaction it likely has a very good place for some builds? This might also be really fun to use while Polymorphed, (Fire Shield and then cast Polymorph of course...)

Fire Shield is a reasonably good, concentration-free buff - Treantmonk seems to like it, and he's very picky about spells (and he's smart - he's picky for good reasons).

Is it worthwhile to burn a level four slot to get fire or cold resistance and a damage shield? Sometimes it is. If you're up against one thing that can do one fire or cold blast per round - and if someone is good at tanking - then Absorb Elements might work better. But it eats your reaction.

A fight against Fire Giants with several Hell Hound pets - you're only absorbing ele on one of those breath blasts - and you wanna Shield in case a Giant decides to smack you. Pre-casting Fire Shield is wonderful for this fight, and ones like it.

You gotta get a feel for the campaign and how hard your DM's gonna hit u w/ fire or cold damage - but Fire Shield often makes sense. And I pick it more to resist - the damage shield aspect of it makes sense at times, too.

[Schwann145]

I think it gets too much hype for it's level.
I'd enjoy it as a 3rd level spell, but it just feels lacking as a 4th level spell, IMO, considering the main benefit you're usually after is a 2nd level effect - the extra damage is not a lot and only comes in types that are popular immunites/resistances.

[ATHATH]

If you're up against one thing that can do one fire or cold blast per round - and if someone is good at tanking - then Absorb Elements might work better. But it eats your reaction.

A fight against Fire Giants with several Hell Hound pets - you're only absorbing ele on one of those breath blasts - and you wanna Shield in case a Giant decides to smack you.
Just to clarify- the resistance from Absorb Elements doesn't need to apply to only one attack- your resistance to the triggering energy type lasts "until the start of your next turn".

[LudicSavant]

The damage aspect is pretty good. The majority of monsters have multiattack (some have LOTS of multiattacks -- for example dragons can hit you 6 times in a round), and you can totally augment it to become highly lethal (it's very possible to get triple digit retribution damage in a round).

2d8 might not sound like a lot, but it's automatically hitting (so it's like a Magic Missile each time someone hits you) and action-economy free (so it's just stapling that straight on top of your normal DPR, stacking with absolutely everything), and it doesn't break -- an enemy who actually wants to beat you to death has to chew through an awful lot of d8s. Heck, it won't even turn off when you hit zero or get incapacitated or paralyzed or something, so they have to hurt themselves when trying to finish you off, too. If an enemy actually does go through all of that, they're going to be so softened up that allies can finish them off efficiently and pop you right back up.

Fire Shield isn't really something you take right when you hit level 7, it's something that increases in value as the game progresses, because the point of it is that you can stack it up without interfering with your action economy or concentration.

Also, it's more notable for Warcaster tanks than the 'hide in the back' casters.