Unique Spells per list

[PhoenixPhyre]

Because this came up and I had some time, I went through and manually made a list of all the spells that are unique to one class (modulo Magical Secrets) by default. Spells marked with * have one or more subclass bonus lists or racial that include them explicitly. Spells marked with ** are no longer unique after Tasha's Optional Class Features are applied.

Ignoring Wildemount and Aquisitions Incorporated because I try to pretend they don't exist. Also ignoring spells from adventures (because I don't have access to them).

Version 2: splitting out base-list uniques and subclass bonus spell access (including warlocks but mostly "bonus spell" lists). Dropping racial access. AK/ET count as wizards for this purpose, as it's about lists, not classes. "Pick spell off of other list" features are not included (because otherwise Magical Secrets swallows the list).



Bard (4, 2 1 totally unique)
Vicious mockery, dissonant whispers, compulsion, power word: heal

Cleric (27, 12 totally unique)
Sacred Flame, Thaumaturgy, word of radiance, guiding bolt, Inflict Wounds, Augury, Prayer of Healing, Spiritual weapon, Warding Bond, Beacon of Hope, mass healing word, spirit guardians, Divination, guardian of faith, Commune, Flame Strike, Hallow, Blade Barrier, forbiddance, harm, planar ally, word of recall, conjure celestial, divine word, temple of the gods, holy aura, mass heal

Druid (21, 16 totally unique)
Druidcraft, primal savagery, produce flame, shillelagh, entangle, flame blade, moonbeam, call lightning, giant insect, maelstrom, reincarnate, bones of hte earth, druid grove, primordial ward, transport via plants, wall of thorns, wind walk, animal shapes, storm of vengeance, antilife shell

Paladin (17, 5 totally unique)
Compelled duel, divine favor, searing smite, thunderous smite, wrathful smite, branding smite, find steed, aura of vitality, blinding smite, crusader's mantle, aura of life, aura of purity, find greater steed, staggering smite, banishing smite, circle of power, destructive wave

Ranger (9, 6 totally unique)
Ensnaring strike, hail of thorns, hunter's mark, zephyr strike, cordon of arrows, conjure barrage, lightning arrow, conjure volley, swift quiver

Sorcerer (1, 1 totally unique)
Chaos Bolt

Warlock (7, 4 totally unique)
Eldritch blast, armor of agathys, arms of hadar, hellish rebuke, hex, hunger of hadar, shadow of moil

wizard (33 unique, 20 totally unique)
encode thoughts (ravnica), find familiar, floating disk, acid arrow, arcanist's magic aura, phantom steed, wall of sand, faithful hound, phantasmal killer, private sanctum, resilient sphere, passwall, telepathic bond, wall of force, contingency, create homunculus, instant summons, freezing sphere, magic jar, tenser's transformation, wall of ice, sequester, simulacrum, clone, illusory dragon, maze, mighty fortress, telepathy, invulnerability, prismatic wall, weird




Note: there may be errors. Used D&D beyond and it's obviously not complete in tagging things.
Bard (2)
dissonant whispers, compulsion

Cleric (13)
Sacred Flame, guiding bolt, Inflict Wounds, Augury, Spiritual weapon, Warding Bond, mass healing word, spirit guardians, Divination, guardian of faith, Commune, Flame Strike, Hallow

Druid (3)
moonbeam, call lightning, antilife shell

Paladin (13)
divine favor, searing smite, wrathful smite, branding smite, find steed, aura of vitality, crusader's mantle, aura of life, aura of purity, staggering smite, banishing smite, circle of power, destructive wave

Ranger (3)
Ensnaring strike, hunter's mark, conjure barrage

Sorcerer (0)

Warlock (2)
arms of hadar, hunger of hadar

wizard (9)
find familiar (in this case a pact boon, but...), acid arrow, arcanist's magic aura, phantom steed, phantasmal killer, resilient sphere, passwall, telepathic bond, wall of force



These were base-list unique before tasha's added them to other base class lists. Some overlap with the sub-class one above.
Bard
power word: heal

Cleric
Augury, Prayer of Healing, mass healing word, Divination

Druid
entangle, flame blade,

Paladin
searing smite, aura of vitality

Ranger

Sorcerer

Warlock

wizard
phantasmal killer, telepathic bond, freezing sphere, prismatic wall, weird

[LudicSavant]

Spells marked with * have one or more subclass bonus lists or racial that include them explicitly.

In that case, this list is noticeably missing asterisks, starting from the very first spell on the list (Vicious Mockery is on one of the tiefling variants).

[PhoenixPhyre]

In that case, this list is noticeably missing asterisks, starting from the very first spell on the list (Vicious Mockery is on one of the tiefling variants).

Likely. Those I only put in when I remembered them off the cuff. Which was thaumaturgy and hellish rebuke.

[ProsecutorGodot]

Armor of Agathys is also on the Conquest Paladin oath spell list.

For consideration as well, Blessed and Druidic Warrior Fighting style mean that Cleric and Druid cantrips can be poached by Ranger and Paladin.

Further nitpicking - Cleric has no unique spells, Divine Soul Sorcerer has access to their entire list.

EDIT: And Hex is available to Hexblood Lineage.

EDIT EDIT: And there's an decent sized list of spells included from the Dragonmarked Subraces:
-Armor of Agathys and Faithful Hound (Mark of Warding)
-Private Sanctum (Mark of Hospitality)
-Beacon of Hope (Mark of Handling)
-Compelled Duel (Mark of Sentinel)
-Floating Disk (Mark of Making)

[Kane0]

Don't forget the Bard's Magical Secrets, but I think that is something that can be overlooked.

[PhoenixPhyre]

Don't forget the Bard's Magical Secrets, but I think that is something that can be overlooked.

That would mean no one has unique spells, which kind ruins things.

[MrStabby]

That would mean no one has unique spells, which kind ruins things.

Yes... it does.



There is also Sacred flame gets given to celestial warlock. Sacred flame can also be picked up via a fighting style.

Then there are spells that can be picked up by other classes but not listed by name - death cleric picking up necromancy spells, arcana clerics grabbing wizard spells (both cantrips and high leve spells), spirits bard having access to necromancy and divination spells, spells from feats like fey touched. Spells like druidcraft are covered by fighting style for the ranger but also nature clerics.

Then the wizard spells are less unique - things like wall of sand are on the arcane trickster and eldritch knight lists (as are any spells below fifth level).

[PhoenixPhyre]

Yes... it does.



There is also Sacred flame gets given to celestial warlock. Sacred flame can also be picked up via a fighting style.

Then there are spells that can be picked up by other classes but not listed by name - death cleric picking up necromancy spells, arcana clerics grabbing wizard spells (both cantrips and high leve spells), spirits bard having access to necromancy and divination spells, spells from feats like fey touched. Spells like druidcraft are covered by fighting style for the ranger but also nature clerics.

Then the wizard spells are less unique - things like wall of sand are on the arcane trickster and eldritch knight lists (as are any spells below fifth level).

I was using D&D Beyond's "what list is this on" feature. So it's more about lists, not classes. Which, I think covers most arcana clerics (for things that aren't bonus spells) and other "steal from other lists" features. I really should have just ignored the racials entirely. Things like Magical Secrets are character-level, not class or list-level changes. I can't look at a bard and say "well, he has access to <X>"--that will vary by bard.

That said, a few specific things--death cleric is covered except necromancy cantrips (which they can learn from any list). But that doesn't actually reduce the uniqueness, because there are no unique necromancy cantrips. Sacred flame and celestial warlock is a good catch. Spirits bard I'd classify under "steal from other list" rather than "this is something all members of this subclass have access to."

Fighting styles and feats are also on my "steals from other list, not going to worry about it" exception list. Ad hoc, I know, but otherwise the only sane answer is "there are none, because everyone can steal things somehow." And that's unsatisfying and obscures a lot of patterns that really do exist for the 99% of the game that isn't forum optimization discussion.

[Bobthewizard]

Yes. I think the subclass/racial analysis just makes it more confusing. I'd just remove those asterisks and only compare base class lists. I also think Tasha's is widely-used enough that those ** items should just be removed.

I think this makes sense to me. Wizards, clerics, and druids have their own unique spell lists. Bards, warlocks, and sorcerers get access to some, but not all, wizard spells. Their spell lists are more limited in exchange for other class benefits. The thing that jumps out to me though is how many unique paladin spells there are compared to unique ranger spells. I mean, I knew that was true, but these numbers make it more clear.

[PhoenixPhyre]

Yes. I think the subclass/racial analysis just makes it more confusing. I'd just remove those asterisks and only compare base class lists. I also think Tasha's is widely-used enough that those ** items should just be removed.

I think this makes sense to me. Wizards, clerics, and druids have their own unique spell lists. Bards, warlocks, and sorcerers get access to some, but not all, wizard spells. Their spell lists are more limited in exchange for other class benefits. The thing that jumps out to me though is how many unique paladin spells there are compared to unique ranger spells. I mean, I knew that was true, but these numbers make it more clear.

One thing I wanted to make clear (for myself) is deltas in uniqueness--how much does Tasha's change the landscape? Subclasses are interesting as well, at least for the pure bonus spell/additional spell list thing. Race is a whole lot less interesting, I agree. I think I may rewrite it to separate them out and have sections for base class lists, ones for "these otherwise unique spells are available via subclass bonus lists" and for "Tasha's adds these ones".

[MrStabby]

I was using D&D Beyond's "what list is this on" feature. So it's more about lists, not classes. Which, I think covers most arcana clerics (for things that aren't bonus spells) and other "steal from other lists" features. I really should have just ignored the racials entirely. Things like Magical Secrets are character-level, not class or list-level changes. I can't look at a bard and say "well, he has access to <X>"--that will vary by bard.

That said, a few specific things--death cleric is covered except necromancy cantrips (which they can learn from any list). But that doesn't actually reduce the uniqueness, because there are no unique necromancy cantrips. Sacred flame and celestial warlock is a good catch. Spirits bard I'd classify under "steal from other list" rather than "this is something all members of this subclass have access to."

Fighting styles and feats are also on my "steals from other list, not going to worry about it" exception list. Ad hoc, I know, but otherwise the only sane answer is "there are none, because everyone can steal things somehow." And that's unsatisfying and obscures a lot of patterns that really do exist for the 99% of the game that isn't forum optimization discussion.

Yeah, I think I agree with a lot of your exclusions - spells from race, feats etc. that any class can get is probably too broad. Likewise magical secrets makes the resulting empty se utterly meaningless as well.

I would probably suggest keeping the Eldrich Knight/Arcane trickster spells as maked duplicates though. Much like a warlock can select a paricular spell (but needednt) from their choice of subclass, these subclasses can also do the same. I suspect they have been missed not as a matter of choice, but as a matter of presentation - if each of the wizard spells from which you could chose had been listed as a subclass specific spell then I think they might have made he cut.

You migh also need to add the Aberant mind and Clockwork soul sorcerers.

Firsly, their ability to pick up spells from other lists, but even by default they get some you have marked as unduplicated here. Arms of Hadar and hunger of hadar on the warlock list are on the aberant mind list from memory.

[PhoenixPhyre]

Yeah, I think I agree with a lot of your exclusions - spells from race, feats etc. that any class can get is probably too broad. Likewise magical secrets makes the resulting empty se utterly meaningless as well.

I would probably suggest keeping the Eldrich Knight/Arcane trickster spells as maked duplicates though. Much like a warlock can select a paricular spell (but needednt) from their choice of subclass, these subclasses can also do the same. I suspect they have been missed not as a matter of choice, but as a matter of presentation - if each of the wizard spells from which you could chose had been listed as a subclass specific spell then I think they might have made he cut.

You migh also need to add the Aberant mind and Clockwork soul sorcerers.

Firsly, their ability to pick up spells from other lists, but even by default they get some you have marked as unduplicated here. Arms of Hadar and hunger of hadar on the warlock list are on the aberant mind list from memory.

I'll note that I was just going through D&D Beyond and looking at the class list tags on each spell. So things like EK/AT that simply use subsets of the wizard list don't appear there. I'm surprised that they didn't have the clockwork/aberrant bonus spells on those lists, but not too surprised. It's a buggy data set.

[Bobthewizard]

One thing I wanted to make clear (for myself) is deltas in uniqueness--how much does Tasha's change the landscape? Subclasses are interesting as well, at least for the pure bonus spell/additional spell list thing. Race is a whole lot less interesting, I agree. I think I may rewrite it to separate them out and have sections for base class lists, ones for "these otherwise unique spells are available via subclass bonus lists" and for "Tasha's adds these ones".

It's fine if you don't want to remove the Tasha's spells. I don't think it changes the ratios much. The data is pretty clear that wizards have the most unique spells, followed by clerics and druids, but the thread seems bogged down in procedural questions and comments to the point that your analysis is being ignored. I thought it would help if you streamlined the data.

[MrStabby]

It's fine if you don't want to remove the Tasha's spells. I don't think it changes the ratios much. The data is pretty clear that wizards have the most unique spells, followed by clerics and druids, but the thread seems bogged down in procedural questions and comments to the point that your analysis is being ignored. I thought it would help if you streamlined the data.

Well I think the story changes somewhat (though not totally) depending on what you include. If you include those spells that other classes subclass features grant then the wizard list of totally unique spells is seriously diminished.

I mean you can pretty much chose your conclusions if you are selective about which things you do an don't include. Not quite, but close.

[PhoenixPhyre]

It's fine if you don't want to remove the Tasha's spells. I don't think it changes the ratios much. The data is pretty clear that wizards have the most unique spells, followed by clerics and druids, but the thread seems bogged down in procedural questions and comments to the point that your analysis is being ignored. I thought it would help if you streamlined the data.


Well I think the story changes somewhat (though not totally) depending on what you include. If you include those spells that other classes subclass features grant then the wizard list of totally unique spells is seriously diminished.

I mean you can pretty much chose your conclusions if you are selective about which things you do an don't include. Not quite, but close.

This thread really didn't have a polemic point. More of "here's a resource, use it for whatever reasons you wish". So breaking down the various types of "uniques" is more useful to me than trying to pick one and defend the assumptions.

Contrary to what some may assume, not everything I post is an attack against wizards :smallwink:

Personally, the one that stands out the most to me is that the only base class to have native access to antilife shell is druids. At least per D&D Beyond's info. That's a major headscratcher. The nature and life loving druids, foes of all undead and not particularly fond of artificial constructs are the only ones who have a "create a zone around me where no living thing can enter, only undead and constructs" spell? I mean, you can rationalize it, but you can rationalize anything.

[RogueJK]

Personally, the one that stands out the most to me is that the only base class to have native access to antilife shell is druids. At least per D&D Beyond's info. That's a major headscratcher. The nature and life loving druids, foes of all undead and not particularly fond of artificial constructs are the only ones who have a "create a zone around me where no living thing can enter, only undead and constructs" spell? I mean, you can rationalize it, but you can rationalize anything.

It's not necessarily a pro-undead/construct spell... The point isn't to allow the Druid to surround themselves with undead and constructs. It's just a limitation of a spell focused on safely blocking out living creatures that it doesn't work on unliving things, like undead and constructs.

There's plenty of reasons why a Druid might want to prevent any other living creature from getting within 10 feet of them. And importantly, it doesn't harm the living creatures or punish them; it simply prevents them from entering the 20' area and coming into direct contact with the Druid.

For example, this could allow a Druid to move past/through a group of territorial animals, like a cave entrance inhabited by a mama bear and her cubs, without being attacked by them and without harming them.