Best spell by level

[Skrum]

Obviously this is subjective, but I'll include a little bit of my reasoning

Cantrip: eldritch blast
EB getting the top spot has as more to do with the amount of support it gets from invocations, but even without them it is technically the strongest cantrip. BB/GFB are worth a mention, but are much more niche than EB.

1st: Shield
It's this or Silvery Barbs, and I think shield is better b/c it lasts until your next turn. Barbs can save you from one awful hit, Shield can save you from several. Known overtuned, broken spell

2nd: Vortex Warp
This might be my first hot take, but this spell is amazing. The versility is incredible (move you, move an ally, save an ally, save a hostage), the range is incredible, and it has an awesome name.

3rd: Fireball
Lots of competition at 3rd, but I give it to fireball. Tons and tons of other useful picks, but none IMO they put in the work like fireball does. It's almost never useless, and is often encounter-defining. It probably tapers off when when resistances become more common, so I'll list my runner-up in Counterspell. I wouldn't argue with anyone who said Counterspell, Spirit Guardians, Revivify, or Hypnotic Pattern as being the best, though. They're all very strong.

Yah not really as familiar with 4th and up :)
Anyone want to help finish the list?

[Darc_Vader]

Disclaimer: I’ve only ever made it past level 10 on one character, so this is pretty much entirely theoretical and based on impressions past there.

4th: Polymorph
Honourable Mention: Conjure Woodland Beings

5th: Wall of Force
H.M. Animate Objects

6th: Hard to say, maybe Mass Suggestion or Planar Ally
H.M. The other one
Special shout out to Scatter for just being fun

7th: Simulacrum
H.M. Force Cage, Reverse Gravity

8th: Maze
H.M. Illusory Dragon

9th: Wish
H.M. Foresight, Prismatic Wall, Shapechange, True Polymorph

Extra honourable mentions to literally every Chronurgy/Graviturgy spell from EGtW that I didn’t know about before looking up all the spells and which all seem stupidly strong at a glance.

[5eNeedsDarksun]

Cantrip: Guidance. Just gets so much use all the time.

1st: Bless. Good for levels 1-20, as even when casters abandon it, martials can still pick it up with a dip or feat and keep the benefit going. 3 characters on attacks and saves, so it's like 6 spells that last a whole fight.

2nd: Pass Without Trace. This thing lasts an HOUR for a basically UNLIMITED number of creatures and takes stealth into autosucced territory in many cases. You can scout/ trivialize/ avoid numerous encounters with 1 spell. For it's level this is the most OP spell in the game.

3rd: Yeah, Fireball. 28 points of damage * number is just a whopping chunk of pain. Made even better if you're an evoker or fire sorc tacking on meta-magics.

4th: Polymorph. You can solve a lot of problems with this one.

5th: Wall of Force. Very few ways to combat this spell.

[lall]

Fire Bolt - Get raw materials.
Detect Magic - Detect sensors, etc.
Lesser Restoration - Remove STDs.
See Invisibility - Detect sensors, etc.
Create Food & Water - Independence.
Fabricate - Protect demiplane.
Dream - Stay conscious.
Word of Recall - Escape.
Regenerate - Get hit points & limbs.
Demiplane - Store clones.
Wish - Clone.

[Corran]

With bold what I think of as the best ones. With blue currently my favourites.

Cantrip: Minor Illusion, Mold earth
1st: Find familiar, Feather fall
2nd: (probably) misty step edit: pass without a trace of course, Invisibility
3rd: Conure animals or animate dead (depending on pacing), Sending
4th: Find greater steed, Arcane eye
5th: Planar binding, Scrying and dream (it's a tie)
6th: Contingency, Mass Suggestion
7th: Simulacrum, Etherealness
8th: Holy aura, Clone
9th: Wish (true polymorph comes close second), Gate

[animorte]

Cantrip - Mage Hand
1st - Unseen Servant
2nd - Pyrotechnics
3rd - Leomund's Tiny Hut
4th - Otiluke's Resilient Sphere
5th - Far Step
6th - Soul Cage
7th - Forcecage
8th - Clone
9th - Foresight

Oh, wait... You said best, not favorite. :smalltongue:

[Schwann145]

This topic makes me think of the quote often misattributed to Einstein:
"Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid."

"Best" is basically undefinable because context matters so much, so picking a spell is impossible if it's unknown what the goal is.

[Eldariel]

With bold what I think of as the best ones. With blue currently my favourites.

Cantrip: Minor Illusion, Mold earth
1st: Find familiar, Feather fall
2nd: (probably) misty step edit: pass without a trace of course, Invisibility
3rd: Conure animals or animate dead (depending on pacing), Sending
4th: Find greater steed, Arcane eye
5th: Planar binding, Scrying and dream (it's a tie)
6th: Contingency, Mass Suggestion
7th: Simulacrum, Etherealness
8th: Holy aura, Clone
9th: Wish (true polymorph comes close second), Gate

Far as power goes, I think this is about on the point though for level 8, I'd generally rate the rather simple combat spell of Maze over Holy Aura: no save "bugger off" on an enemy is just very convenient. Antimagic Field is also pretty high up there though it's hard to use in this edition. And of course, many spells do such different things that direct comparison is practically impossible.

For level 9, I think Shapechange is a strong competitor and I'd generally rate it over Wish (I generally take Shapechange on my Arcana Clerics though if I couldn't get Simulacrum and Contingency from the Arcana Cleric ability, that would probably be different).

[diplomancer]

Cantrip: guidance
1st level: healing word
2nd level: pass without a trace
3rd level: hypnotic pattern. Yes, Conjure Animals, if DM let's you choose, and Animate Dead are more powerful, but Conjure Animals is DM dependent and undead are icky.
4th level: find greater steed
5th level: wall of force
6th level: heroes feast
7th level: simulacrum, but I don't like it and think it should not exist; if it didn't, forcecage
8th level: maze
9th level: wish

[Corran]

Far as power goes, I think this is about on the point though for level 8, I'd generally rate the rather simple combat spell of Maze over Holy Aura: no save "bugger off" on an enemy is just very convenient. Antimagic Field is also pretty high up there though it's hard to use in this edition. And of course, many spells do such different things that direct comparison is practically impossible.
Yeah, maze gave me some thought there. Ended up going with the party wide buff instead for some reason. Probably because I went with contingency over heroes' feast a couple levels earlier. But as you say, apples and oranges.

[TaiLiu]

I really dunno what's "best," but here are some spells that I like. Most of them I've seen put to spectacular use in-game. Spectacular of course doesn't mean most effective. Lots of effective spells are kinda mundane.


0th

Create bonfire is a lot of fun if your game uses grid-based maps. Lots of doors are represented by 5-foot squares. This cantrip basically forces melee enemies to save or take damage. Best during the lowest levels, before you have other goodies to concentrate on.

Special shoutout to mage hand for being anti-spectacular: it'll save you from traps and poison and excitement that your characters probably don't wanna experience.


1st

Faerie fire strips away invisibility and gives attackers advantage. A Bard/Rogue cast this at Strahd. He failed and elected to spend one of his legendary saves. Not bad for low-level magic!

Healing word is both a workhorse and a really cool spell. Being able to get your friend to go from rolling death saves to taking actions? Wow!

Bonus points to dissonant whispers for being able to trigger big damage from a party's OAs, especially at low levels. Bonus points to find familiar for letting my old group make Tony the hawk jokes.


2nd

Silence enables breaking and entering without the initial consequences.

Enlarge/reduce lets the party get by so many obstacles and wreak havoc.


3nd

Thunder step is flashy and the range isn't bad. How many buildings are over 90 feet tall? You and a friend get to hop on top and escape some of the action.

Sending is surprisingly spectacular, too. Unlimited-range communicate is sick. You can put so many things in action from far away.

Not putting fireball here. The damage is great, but it's never been particularly memorable.

Counterspell is a one of the most prominent anti-spectacular spells. Stop the big bad mage from doing something really cool.


4th

Dimension door is so good. The sheer mobility. The ability to pop people into position or take them out of position. Say a cool one-liner before you and your friend vanish.

Wall of fire gets bonus points for being fun for the whole family. The muscled Fighter gets to shove baddies in and incinerate them. The spellcaster gets to trap foes or protect the party. And, like, it's a big giant wall of fire. That's crazy. Wild.


5th

Yeah, yeah, everyone loves wall of force. But only wall of stone lets you pretend you're earthbending.


6th

I can't believe forbiddance is a ritual spell. Hey, that vampire's castle? Just... just light it up, dude. 5d10 damage every bloody round. What a cool niche for the Cleric. Way better than turning undead.

[Ogre Mage]

My choices:

0 - Eldritch Blast
1 - Find Familiar
2 - Pass without Trace
3 - Hypnotic Pattern (Spirit Guardians is very close)
4 - Polymorph
5 - Wall of Force
6 - Heal
7 - Simulacrum

After this I am theorycrafting.

8 - Illusory Dragon
9 - Wish (too obvious)

[Chronos]

Eldritch Blast is definitely the best damage cantrip, but damage isn't the best use of a cantrip. I'd probably give the title to Minor Illusion, though Guidance and Mage Hand are also contenders.

First level has to be either Healing Word, Shield, or Find Familiar. All three remain useful throughout a caster's career, which is good, because most first-level spells quickly become obsolete, and you want something to use those four spell slots on. All three are good action economy (bonus action, reaction, and cast-out-of-combat). I'd say Find Familiar is best, but that still leaves your slots available, so we'll let Shield share the podium.

Second level has a lot of good spells, but I'll say Pass without Trace. Most good second-level spells (or, heck, most spells period) are "part of this complete breakfast", where you do your thing and party members all do their thing and it all adds up to winning an encounter. PwT, though, is Total: What it does, it does entirely by itself. I think that they must have made it very early in development, before they realized just how huge +10 (to anything) is in this edition.

For third level, dealing damage is now a contender, but I'm still not going to say Fireball. Spirit Guardians does nearly as much damage on the second round, and considerably more if it lasts for three. And it's also an almost-never-resisted damage type, and doesn't hurt friendlies. And you can double up on the damage with teamwork, if allies can push/pull/drag enemies into and out of the area. The best-case scenario for Fireball is probably better than the best-case scenario for Spirit Guardians, but the best-case scenario for Spirit Guardians is much easier to achieve.

That said, third level also has a bunch of good non-damage options opening up, like Hypnotic Pattern or Fear, and Major Image.

Fourth level, it's gotta be Polymorph. The versatility is unmatched.

[Amnestic]

Big fan of Banishment at 4th.
Targets a typically weak save (Cha), deletes a creature from combat so long as you maintain concentration and allows you to gang up on them with readied actions when they come back. And if they're extraplanar, can "one-shot" them from the fight entirely (though you don't get any loot they were carrying and they might come back). While not quite the same splitting as a wall of force for separating combatants, it can work similarly in portioning up a fight to make it easier to manage.

It upcasting is also nice - warlocks especially enjoy this.

[Skrum]

Heh, it's interesting seeing the metric people use to pick their best spells. I personally value something like "work done;" some combination of how often it's used with its expected impact. EB > Guidance b/c EB is used far more frequently. Guidance *might* make the difference on an important skill check, but EB has been putting in work nearly every round for the last 20 rounds of combat - ergo, EB is staple while Guidance is a perk. EB is the clear choice.

[Selion]

Disclaimer: I’ve only ever made it past level 10 on one character, so this is pretty much entirely theoretical and based on impressions past there.

4th: Polymorph
Honourable Mention: Conjure Woodland Beings

5th: Wall of Force
H.M. Animate Objects

6th: Hard to say, maybe Mass Suggestion or Planar Ally
H.M. The other one
Special shout out to Scatter for just being fun

7th: Simulacrum
H.M. Force Cage, Reverse Gravity

8th: Maze
H.M. Illusory Dragon

9th: Wish
H.M. Foresight, Prismatic Wall, Shapechange, True Polymorph

Extra honourable mentions to literally every Chronurgy/Graviturgy spell from EGtW that I didn’t know about before looking up all the spells and which all seem stupidly strong at a glance.


Am i the only one considering summon draconic spirit better than animate objects?
Upsides:
- 1 hour duration
- no silly setup (bag of tiny objects)
- flight, eventually mounted
- blindsight
- free resistance
- more resilient to AOE effects
- intelligent scouting option

Downsides:
- Average animate object dmg: 45 65
Average summon draconic spirit dmg: 32
- Tiny objects move more comfortably in dungeons

[Eldariel]

45 average vs. what?

[Selion]

45 average vs. what?

Made a mistake sry, max dmg is 65, which is actually huge. I still prefer the dragon for versatility, but I must concede that dng of AO is pretty high.

(BTW force wall is better than both imho)

[RazorChain]

There are just so many good spells often at the same level and all are circumstantial

The Druid in my game does a goodberry spam....having extra spell slots times 10 hp in her pocket is often a lifesaver.

The same druid loves casting Heat metal on enemies which she can do almost all the time as we are in an urban campaign, then she turns into a beast form.

The wizard who had a bag of marbles just for the animate object spell.....so effing great to disrupt casters concentration


The list goes on and on

[animorte]

Heh, it's interesting seeing the metric people use to pick their best spells. I personally value something like "work done;" some combination of how often it's used with its expected impact. EB > Guidance b/c EB is used far more frequently. Guidance *might* make the difference on an important skill check, but EB has been putting in work nearly every round for the last 20 rounds of combat - ergo, EB is staple while Guidance is a perk. EB is the clear choice.

Alternatively, EB is useful strictly in combat. I still think you have a good point and I don’t favor Guidance personally. Both of those reasons are precisely why neither of them is my preferred cantrip.

[Catullus64]

I'm judging these by just about the only criterion that really matters, how much fun I have using it.

Cantrip: Minor Illusion. Practically mandatory for me on any character who can take it.
1st Level: Grease. The shenanigans you can pull with this and an understanding DM are great.
2nd Level: Phantasmal Force. One of the more versatile of the illusions, and it can do some minor damage!
3rd Level: Haste. One never fails to feel awesome when receiving this buff.
4th Level: Wall of Fire. So dramatic, so very useful.
5th Level: Mislead. Aside from just being super cool, it's tremendously useful for tense social roleplay.
6th Level: Soul Cage. A versatile spell, you feel both cool and evil as you decide how to exploit a captive soul.
7th Level: Prismatic Spray. Again, very flashy, and with lots of variance in its effects.
8th Level: Mighty Fortress. Probably the most useful of the Conjure Home Base line of spells.
9th Level: Time Stop. I don't care how much they've pruned the interaction limits of this spell, it's still great.

[KorvinStarmast]

cantrip: Guidance
1: fog cloud
2. Blindness/Deafness
3. Slow
4. Banishment
5. Raise Dead (With greater Restoration a close second)
6. Heroes' Feast
7. Prismatic Spray
8. Feeblemind
9. Wish (with True Polymorph, Shapechange, and Foresight close behind)

[5eNeedsDarksun]

I'm going to push back on Shield being in the category of best 1st level spell. Yes I agree it's good, and maybe even OP, under the right conditions, but so many other spells others have listed are more broadly useful and last longer.

In order for Shield to be optimal or even good some of the following needs to apply:

1) Short adventuring day (only lasts a round out of 20 something in a 'normal' day)
2) High enough level for full casters that 1st (and maybe 2nd) level slots are expendable
3) You're a Wizard with Arcane Recovery
4) You're at a table where the DM rolls open, so you have a guarantee that the spell actually does something

At our table #1 and #4 don't apply, so we're left with #2 for full casters once we get to later tier 2 (We generally play from 1-13ish) and #3 occasionally. With regular higher level play and/or a short adventuring day I can see coming to a different conclusion, but that's the definition of table dependent, and makes Shield clearly not the best.

[Skrum]

Very good point re: open rolls and shield. Absolutely true, it's utility drops precipitously if you don't know the enemies rolls.

I was working under that assumption, but yah, lots of tables don't.

Under those circumstances, I'm going to say Silvery Barbs. Fog Cloud close behind.

[Asmotherion]

0: Eldritch Blast: Solid Damage, Force, Can be Divided and Statistically better chances to-hit at least once. Crazy Synergy.

1st: Shield: Because not getting Hit is good, and +5 is relevant at all levels.

2nd: Misty Step: Mobility in combat, Get away from a grapple, Get in optimum place to cast an AoE the next turn. Bonus Action makes this golden.

3rd: Counterspell: Spells are awesome in this edition. Just saying "No" to your opponent doing something awesome in or out of combat is a great tactical advantage.

4rth: Dimension Door: See misty step. Also, a great way to take advantage of Spell Sniper and other abilities that increase the range of your spells. 500 feet is a distance that non-monks (or other speed-based creatures) won't cover in a combat, and as long as you have visibility, you can snipe away.

5th: Planar Binding: Get your Pick of a companion from the MM. That's an extra hand in combat. Starts small with 24 hours duration, but caps at a year and a day when cast as a 9th level spell which is awesome.

6th: Disintegrade: Damage aside, this little thing can help you bypass obstacles in a dungeon, and some of it's more creative used can give a lot of utility.

7th: Forcecage: Encounter ender. It's cost makes it impractical to rely on, but awesome for a boss fight, especially if you want to capture someone alive.

8th: Mind Blank: Don't let nosy wizards read your mind or scry on you from afar. Oh, and remember the strategy when one from the Party gets Dominated and turns on the party? Well, you can know for sure this someone won't be you, the caster at least.

9th: Wish: I can see Time Stop arguements, and I can see Gate arguements. Both are awesome spells, and Gate gives you a ton of utility. But the sheer versatility of being able to not only duplicate almost any spell in the game, but also diminish it's casting time to 1 action AND bypass expensive components is the key to how awesome this spell is. Wish for Clones, Simulacra and every other spell you can think of with an expensive component or long casting time is on the table. As one Action.

This is my personal list.

[Zetakya]

Eldritch Blast is really only as good as people think it is when backed up by various invocations. On its own it's nothing particularly special. So you can't really class it as "the best Cantrip" when you have to sink such an excess amount of character power into it to get it that good, IMO.

[Amnestic]

Eldritch Blast is really only as good as people think it is when backed up by various invocations. On its own it's nothing particularly special. So you can't really class it as "the best Cantrip" when you have to sink such an excess amount of character power into it to get it that good, IMO.

Even without invocations it's still the "best" damage cantrip imho - d10, force damage and using separate attack rolls that lets you split the damage if necessary (so nothing is 'wasted') put it on the top of the pile.

Its not without its flaws (firebolt can ignite objects, EB can't even target them RAW) mind you, but it's not hard to see why people rate it so highly even without invocation support.

[strangebloke]

Cantrip: guidance
1st level: healing word
2nd level: pass without a trace
3rd level: hypnotic pattern. Yes, Conjure Animals, if DM let's you choose, and Animate Dead are more powerful, but Conjure Animals is DM dependent and undead are icky.
4th level: find greater steed
5th level: wall of force
6th level: heroes feast
7th level: simulacrum, but I don't like it and think it should not exist; if it didn't, forcecage
8th level: maze
9th level: wish

pretty close to my feelings, with a one notable exception:

Healing Word is not better than silvery barbs. Silvery Barbs can nuke enemy initiative, pick apart enemy saves, and should logically be 3rd level

Everything else is spot on. People picking damage spells like disintegrate or eldritch blast or fire bolt are just ??? to me.

[Skrum]

Everything else is spot on. People picking damage spells like disintegrate or eldritch blast or fire bolt are just ??? to me.

Damage is fun, and damage wins fights.

I know it's all subjective, but there's no real argument in my mind that puts guidance over eldritch blast. Guidance adds a d4 to a roll, but only preemptively - good chance it has no chance of affecting the outcome. It also takes concentration, so if there's a spell you're holding between combats, Guidance isn't usable. The benefit of this spell is really overstated.

[strangebloke]

Damage is fun, and damage wins fights.

I know it's all subjective, but there's no real argument in my mind that puts guidance over eldritch blast. Guidance adds a d4 to a roll, but only preemptively - good chance it has no chance of affecting the outcome. It also takes concentration, so if there's a spell you're holding between combats, Guidance isn't usable. The benefit of this spell is really overstated.

We're not arguing hypotheticals here. Guidance is insanely useful at a lot of tables. It isn't used a lot at every table, but that normally comes down to table culture. People don't want to spam its use constantly because they think its annoying or unrealistic or whatever. I'd disagree with that, personally - spamming guidance (aka praying constantly to the point it annoys the other party members) is both very useful and extremely in flavor for a cleric - but the fact certain tables don't like to abuse this spell doesn't mean it isn't abuseable. Plus, while you have to use it preemptively, it does have a minute duration, so casting it before breaking into a house or jumping a chasm is pretty doable.

Clerics aren't typically a class that has long-duration concentration spells carrying between combats that aren't back to back, so that point is sort of irrelevant, except that you probably don't pre-cast guidance.

And, sure, even under those conditions, its not going to be used all the time. But guidance does something unique and powerful. Eldritch blast does not. Eldritch Blast's main advantage over say fire bolt is that its a bit more consistent / efficient. It also exploits spells like hex and features like hexblade's curse that give damage on hit, but there are a lot of things that work with those spells and features and generally hex/HM/etc. are tremendously overrated and get cast way too often.

[RSP]

Cantrip: eldritch blast

1st: Shield

2nd: Vortex Warp

3rd: Fireball

Tough as different play styles will have a different “best” but:

Cantrip: agree it’s EB, and agree this has to do with supporting abilities (RB is absolutely fantastic)

1st: Shield

2nd: way too many spells that do a thing really well: this is probably the toughest level for me. Maybe Spike Growth or Phantasmal Force.

3rd: Fireball is probably the call just for how often it’s on PC’s lists, and gets used, but I actually like Fear better.

4th: Banishment, maybe, or Wall of Fire (similar reasoning to Fireball). My favorite is Ottiluke’s Resilient Sphere, but it’s not the best by any means.

5th: Wall of Force and Animate Objects are popular, though I personally love Dream and Modify Memory.

6th: Upcasted Major Image, hands down the best 6th.

7th: Simulacrum probably, as it gets you so many more spell castings. Upcasted Conjure Fey for a Korred is good.

8th: Mind Blank or AMF

9th: Wish

[icedraikon]

Since my opinion is obviously worth so much, would love to throw in my $0.02 as well. Obviously the "best" depends on the situation. Sometimes you need a blast, sometimes you need a buff, sometimes you need good mobility.

Best (In my opinion, of course)
Cantrip: Minor Illusion
1st: Find Familiar
2nd: Web, Pass Without Trace, or Find Steed
3rd: Hypnotic Pattern (Animate Dead if you're willing to go through the hassle to really optimize it and your table/dm are okay with it)
4th: Polymorph or Summon Greater Steed
5th: Wall of Force
6th: Contingency or Mass Suggestion
7th: Simulacrum (HM to Forcecage)
8th: Antipathy/Sympathy
9th: Wish (HM to Shapechange)

[tiornys]

Eldritch Blast, no Invocation support, is the best damage cantrip by a little bit but damage cantrips in general are mediocre; there's a decent argument that Thorn Whip is better overall since it combines damage with solid control. Agreed with Minor Illusion and Guidance as the real contenders here.

Eldritch Blast + Agonizing Blast + Repelling Blast is hands down the best cantrip build-around package in the game and is strong enough that you can shoehorn it onto anything that can remotely support it and end up with a strong build.

I tend to agree with most of the prevailing opinions in the thread. The main exception is 2nd level spells, where I think it's clearly a 2 spell race between Web and Pass Without Trace but no one even mentioned Web until icedraikon.

[Leon]

Cantrip: Hard Choice between Light and Mage Hand
1st: Bless
2nd: Spike Growth
3rd: Fly
4th: Resilient Sphere
5th: Wall of Stone
6th: Disintegrate
7th: Teleport
8th: Anti-magic Field
9th: Wish

[Asmotherion]

Eldritch Blast is really only as good as people think it is when backed up by various invocations. On its own it's nothing particularly special. So you can't really class it as "the best Cantrip" when you have to sink such an excess amount of character power into it to get it that good, IMO.

It's the best damaging cantrip in the game. Not only does it divide it's damage if necessary (which usually guarantees at least 1 hit per turn, while the other cantrips are hit or miss), it also stacks hits for the purpose of Hex/Hunter's Mark/Bestow Curse. That alone makes it very good, but it also deals force damage, a damage type that is resisted by 3-4 monsters in the entire MM and other books combined. Even Invocationless it still can get you some awesome synergy, and the synergy it gets with Invocations just make it more interesting.

The thing is, Mage Hand, Prestidigitation, Minor Illusion, Guidance and the rest are also excelent cantrips. I just personally prioritise a good source of at-will damage over utility when building a character, and that's not true for everybody. So, I respect both opinions, but I believe that, if not "the best" objectivelly, it's at least objectivelly "one of the best".

[kingcheesepants]

I'll define best as the ones I've had the most fun with and therefore my list might be a little odd.
Cantrip- Vicious Mockery
1st: Find Familiar
2nd: Vortex Warp
3rd: Phantom Steed
4th: Polymorph
5th: Modify Memory
6th: Mass Suggestion
7th: Simulacrum
8th: Glibness
9th: Prismatic Wall* (this is the only 9th level spell I've ever cast as a PC so take it with a grain of salt)

other notably fun/interesting spells in no particular order; fog cloud, disguise self, major image, suggestion, detect thoughts, seeming, fly, reverse gravity, glyph of warding, draconic transformation, dominate monster, minor illusion, demiplane

These are all spells that I've enjoyed using in real games and enabled extremely fun, exciting, and creative sessions where we were able to do all sorts of shenanigans or RP stuff that would have otherwise been impossible. There are some spells like Fireball, Shield, Animate Objects, summons, or whatever that got used more often and were more important to the outcome of a battle and thus might be considered better but these are the ones that I've had the most fun with. Some of these such as Polymorph, Mass Suggestion, and Simulacrum are common on other peoples best spell lists while others such as Modify Memory (my overall favorite spell btw) are not.

[Chronos]

Ooh, I forgot about Goodberry! That's another strong contender for best 1st level spell: Like the other contenders, it never goes obsolete and has good action economy, but it also has perfect spell slot economy: It doesn't use up any of today's spell slots, and it guarantees that you didn't waste any spell slots yesterday. When I played a ranger in a party with two clerics, I think I still ended up healing more than either of them, entirely due to that one spell.

[cZak]

I suppose in a vacuum, Bless ranks pretty high

But recently had a game where a twinned Prot f Evil just ganked the bad guys; that Disadvantage on attacks is HUGE

Heroism by itself loses a lot of 'umph' past ~5th level, but upcast to include those that need it the immunity to Fear would be a big buff

[Bobthewizard]

Here are my votes. I think all of these have been mentioned except maybe command (non-concentration action denial with a 1st level slot that also upcasts to affect more targets).

Cantrip: eldritch blast
1st: command
2nd: web
3rd: conjure animals
4th: polymorph
5th: wall of force
6th: mass suggestion
7th: forcecage
8th: maze
9th: wish

[Sandeman]

just based on my groups latest campaign we have seen some spells coming up quite often and being very useful both in and out of combat

cantrip - prestidigitation, it is very useful. clean up clothes and stuff from bloody fights or trips to the sewer, heat up your tent in cold weather, light campfires and so on.
1 - Shield. it gets constantly used by all kinds of casters in our campaign. for example, its very useful for an eldritch knight tank in the middle of the fight
other contenders are faerie fire and goodberry, which both have saved us many times
2 - Silence, the bard has used this spell creatively several times and saved the party from a lot of problems
other contenders are misty step and invisibility, which are very handy when needed
3 - Fireball, the evocation wizard has really not held back using this spell at every opportunity

[Zuras]

Best spell by level varies by campaign, obviously, but some have been consistent MVP candidates at my tables:

Cantrips: Mage Hand, Shape Water, Minor Illusion and Prestidigitation have all been amazing in the right hands. Chill Touch has killed so many things with regeneration I easily rate it the best damage cantrip for non-warlocks.

1st Level: Disguise Self has so much utility in low-level social games, it’s easily the top non-combat pick. Healing Word and Bless are the other standouts.

2nd Level: Pass Without Trace is easily the most powerful I Win button available for many scenarios. Nothing else really comes close.

3rd Level: Counterspell warps the game the most, and Conjure Animals has been the strongest at every table I’ve ever sat at.

4th Level: Polymorph.

5th Level: Wall of Force

Above 5th, I have no idea—Simulacrum and Wish are the only ones that really stand out. Spell effectiveness really varies wildly in high level play. Some days protection from Evil and Good on the Barbarian really is the best use of a 20th level clerics concentration.