can somebody explain to me why booming blade seems to be so massively hyped?

[dehro]

genuine question because I don't seem to get it.
Whenever I pick it, the enemies I face never seem to try and move once they have reached me and gotten into melee.
They stay where they are and either wail on me to my detriment (especially if they happen to be stronger/deal more damage than I can afford to take) or die from regular attacks without ever triggering it. Is that just a peculiarity of my DM's style or is that a common situation?
Now I get that there are ways to push the enemy back or otherwise put distance between ourselves and them thereby forcing them to move if they want to still attack somebody... but in actual game, those ways end up being unreliable and a lot of hoops to jump through, be it in character creation or battle tactics, just to trigger a couple of extra dice of damage...
Not saying that those dice don't count, but I just can't see how this is such a massively hyped/must have cantrip, given those constraints.

[RogueJK]

Booming Blade is only a "must have cantrip" on certain specific character builds. Most characters, and even most spellcasters, won't be able to make much use of it. But for those that can, it's a great pick.

1) The SCAGtrips are a way to get additional scaling damage on PCs built around frequently making weapon attacks, but which never gain additional Extra Attacks. Primarily stuff like Rogues, or Sorcadins going Paladin 2/Sorcerer X, but also more niche character options such as specific Arcana Cleric or Tome Warlock builds (among others). Their base weapon damage per turn will never scale past 1d8ish+MOD on one attack, but the additional BB/GFB damage continues to scale with every tier, along with its rider damage. Bonus shoutout to the Bladesinger Wizard, who not only gets Extra Attack, but can also tag in a SCAGtrip as part of it for additional basically free damage.

2) Booming Blade works best when you have a way to force/incentivize the enemy to move and therefore trigger the rider damage. Things like the Goblin or Rogue's Bonus Action Disengage, or the Mobile feat, or the Swashbuckler ability to freely Disengage, are far from "unreliable", since you can do those reliably in just about every turn of combat. Some forced movement effects like the Crusher feat works on just about every hit, while other forced movement effects like the Telekinetic feat or Minotaur horn shove are less reliable but still useful. Either way, through Disengage or Forced Movement, the point is you're wanting to create a dilemma for the enemy, putting them in a position where they can't move without taking additional BB rider damage, but if they don't move then they won't have any nearby targets for their melee attacks. Most big enemy bruisers have few or no ranged attack options.

3) When paired with the Warcaster feat, Booming Blade can be used as a tanking mechanism to attempt to punish an enemy who tries to move past you to get to a squishier ally. It again creates a dillema: They want to get to an ally with a lower AC or fewer HP or with Concentration running on a nasty spell, but if they continue to try to move past you to do so once you tag them with your Warcaster BB OA, they're going to have to pay the price in soaking up additional rider damage. This is less reliable than the above BB+Disengage routine, but still a nice secondary effect.

[Dr.Samurai]

Well, are you implementing any methods to reliably get that distance between you and the enemy? If not, they won't be incentivized to move away (the opposite actually). In that case, Booming Blade is doing what it's supposed to be doing.

But to your point... actual gameplay can vary widely from online theory-crafting.

Just because you have the Mobile feat and can move away to help trigger Booming Blade after you attack, it doesn't mean you will always want to or can move away. Similarly, if you're rocking the Crusher feat to push the enemy back, it doesn't mean you'll always be able to or want to.

Another car on the hype train is "your attack of opportunity is amaze-balls". It doesn't sound like you're getting much mileage out of that either though.

[RSP]

As others suggested above, don’t think of BB or GFB as Cantrips that are must have.

Think of them as melee weapon alternatives for unorthodox builds that want to utilize melee weapon attacks on classes/subclasses that don’t provide that play style to the character (essentially wanting to play a melee character on a class chassis that doesn’t get Extra Attack).

For instance, a melee Sorcerer or (non Bladesinger) Wizard can work: you can even dump your casting stat and only have spells that don’t rely on Spell Attacks or Saves. These two Cantrips allow those builds to function at a moderate level in combat.

They won’t do as well as melee weapon attacks with EA, but it’s better than staying at 1d6+mod forever.

[sithlordnergal]

RogueJK summed it up perfectly. Booming Blade really shines on specific builds. Its also better than Green Flame Blade because fewer creatures Resist or are Immune to Thunder damage. But outside of those specific builds/situations, its pretty middle of the road.

[tieren]

I have a blade singing wizard and he always uses booming blade, unless there is a second enemy nearby in which case I use greenflame blade.

Bladesingers get a unique extra attack where we can swap out one of our attacks for a cantrip. Dancing up to an enemy, smacking it with booming blade, and my extra attack and misty stepping somewhere else to see if the enemy follows and takes the damage or not, is just my preferred fighting style.

It is also pretty epic when the monster you've been fighting is knocked out because it tried to move out of the booming blade effect.

[Gignere]

It’s also really good on rogues because they rely on one attack and can disengage. The extra d8s from BB allow them to keep up with the other martials DPR. It’s one of the reasons why arcane tricksters are still after many extra subclasses published is still one of the top DPR rogue subclasses.

[5eNeedsDarksun]

It’s also really good on rogues because they rely on one attack and can disengage. The extra d8s from BB allow them to keep up with the other martials DPR. It’s one of the reasons why arcane tricksters are still after many extra subclasses published is still one of the top DPR rogue subclasses.

The AT was my first thought regarding this question. As you say, the character needs to build around (and AT does this by default) hitting and moving. Without the 2nd bit it's pretty pointless and you're better with GFB.

Edit: The other thing is that if you have a BA that doesn't need the attack action to trigger (like a Rogue) you're getting some scaling damage for free anyway. 2 dice of damage for free by 11th level on top of Sneak Attack is way better than nothing.

[sithlordnergal]

The AT was my first thought regarding this question. As you say, the character needs to build around (and AT does this by default) hitting and moving. Without the 2nd bit it's pretty pointless and you're better with GFB.

Well, Sorcadins also do really well with it, bonus Action Booming Blade for a third smite is pretty huge. Its also a good option for Spore Druids, which are somewhat built to do melee. But yeah, outside of that its not amazing. I'd choose it over GFB due to how many things resist, or are immune to, Fire Damage.

[LudicSavant]

genuine question because I don't seem to get it.
Whenever I pick it, the enemies I face never seem to try and move once they have reached me and gotten into melee.
They stay where they are and either wail on me to my detriment (especially if they happen to be stronger/deal more damage than I can afford to take) or die from regular attacks without ever triggering it. Is that just a peculiarity of my DM's style or is that a common situation?
Now I get that there are ways to push the enemy back or otherwise put distance between ourselves and them thereby forcing them to move if they want to still attack somebody... but in actual game, those ways end up being unreliable and a lot of hoops to jump through, be it in character creation or battle tactics, just to trigger a couple of extra dice of damage...
Not saying that those dice don't count, but I just can't see how this is such a massively hyped/must have cantrip, given those constraints.

Booming Blade is a powerful tool for specific builds to help put enemies into a 'damned if you do, damned if you don't' situation. But it's only half the equation on its own, if you're ignoring the other half (exerting positioning pressure), you're going to miss out.

Also, I don't advise using Booming Blade and running away. Think about it the other way around -- what can you do to make 'standing still' a losing option on the enemy's decision tree? That's the key, creating that 'damned if you do, damned if you don't' scenario. Once you get that, you'll see enemies losing because of Booming Blade on a regular basis, no matter what they choose to do.

If you're thinking 'oh man, my GM isn't choosing to make them move,' you're doing it wrong. Because the proper Booming Blade builds tend to be thinking 'Ha! They're standing still! That means I win!' and 'Aw man, they moved... well, at least I got a bunch of damage as a consolation prize.'

[Kane0]

You need a way to trigger it, like Cunning Action, the Mobile feat or Boots of the Winding path.
You also need to leave the evemy where they need to move in order to attack, so dont leave your meatshield with him .

[LudicSavant]

The best Booming Blade users IMHO are those who are extremely dangerous to stand still against, who are just adding something like Warcaster Booming Blade to punish people for trying to escape their killzone. Forget this 'run away and hope they move towards you instead of using ranged abilities' stuff -- don't run away, stay in their face! Impose disadvantage on their ranged attacks! OA them if they run away, or laugh at them if they stand still and self destruct!

[CTurbo]

Booming Blade is a straight upgrade for any character that only has 1 attack even without the extra damage from the rider. On the right build, it's really powerful. Here are my 2 favorite setups for Booming Blade.

1. Arcane Trickster or Swashbuckler Rogue for hit and run tactics. I especially love it on a Swashbuckler that can just hit and walk away. If you're smart, you can target an enemy that almost certainly has to move or be useless on it's next turn. You wouldn't use it if it was standing beside one of your allies of course, but choose an enemy that's even a little isolated and go at it. As always this is a bit DM dependent on whether or not it chooses to move or not. I've seen a DM literally take the Dodge action with an enemy because he said it was smart enough to know if he moved, it would hurt, or maybe he(that enemy) fell for it once or twice, but then got wise to it. Either way, that's a win. Booming Blade is strong on a Swashbuckler. I like 1 level of Sorcerer or Warlock for Swashbucklers.

2. Cleric using a combo of Booming Blade and Spirit Guardians. I've taken Magic Initiate on two different Tempest Clerics for Booming Blade and it's great. Especially so when combined with Warcaster. SG has a range of 15ft away. Hit them with Booming Blade and they're either stuck in SG or they move away and trigger the BB rider. Sometimes it's even worth it to bait them and just take the AoO and hit them and step back. Now they're STILL stuck in SG, but now they possibly can't even reach you. They take the SG at the start of their turn, but if they move away, they take the BB rider damage, if they move closer to you, it triggers BB again with your reaction. Best case scenario after you've hit them with BB and step back 5-10ft, they start their turn taking SG damage, move and take the BB rider damage, and then take more BB damage with your reaction attack. Then they're STILL in your SG at the start of their next turn, and also still have the BB rider on them until the end of the round.

[CTurbo]

I think BB gets the right amount of hype. I do see some people loving it too much, but I also see a lot of people that don't realize how good it could be.

I actually think it's little brother Green Flame Blade is the under-rated one. BB gets the attention because it doesn't care about your casting stat making it perfect for Rogues and Clerics, but in the right hands, I think GFB is just as good if not better than BB. I find it's usually easier to make use of GFB's extra damage than it is to use BB's extra damage.

[Pixel_Kitsune]

It's also a deterrent.

I have a Tank that's a level 3 Hexblade/Level 8 Paladin. He just used Booming Blade and his placement to basically bait enemies. "Stand here and fight me, or regret it."

[RogueJK]

I find it's usually easier to make use of GFB's extra damage than it is to use BB's extra damage.

I disagree.

Absent specifically building around triggering BB's rider, I could see how GFB's rider would come up more often, but in that case either one is being basically left up to chance.

However, the important difference is that you can plan a character around mechanisms to routinely force BB's rider to trigger, whereas you can't do the same with GFB and its rider is still going to be almost entirely dependent on where the DM happens to position enemies.

But GFB definitely has its place in the toolbelt. Especially true on a build that gains extra benefit from specifically fire damage, like a Celestial Warlock, Alchemist Artificer, or Paladin 2/Draconic Sorcerer X Sorcadin. But that's less about triggering the rider as it is just gaining at-will fire damage on your melee attack.

[da newt]

It can also be handy if you are facing a foe with multi-attacks - you can step up, BB and then move away, sure you'll give them a opp att chance, but that's just one attack. Then if they decide to go after you they proc the bonus damage rider for their efforts.

BLatB - it's a great tool to have in your kit, especially if you are built to take advantage of it, but it's not a cheat code to win D&D.

[RSP]

Telekinetic feat is great for either BB or GFB: you can push the BB target away from melee range, causing them to have to choose to move (and taking the extra damage for doing so); or push or pull two enemies next to each other in order to line up GFB.

Nice BA to line up either one!

[5eNeedsDarksun]

I think BB gets the right amount of hype. I do see some people loving it too much, but I also see a lot of people that don't realize how good it could be.

I actually think it's little brother Green Flame Blade is the under-rated one. BB gets the attention because it doesn't care about your casting stat making it perfect for Rogues and Clerics, but in the right hands, I think GFB is just as good if not better than BB. I find it's usually easier to make use of GFB's extra damage than it is to use BB's extra damage.

I'd generally agree GFB is going to be far easier to trigger without very specific builds. Even with specific builds there are some enemies that are happy not to move, whether they're casters or have decent ranged attacks.

The main downside of GFB is fire resistance/ immunity being so common.

[Willie the Duck]

genuine question because I don't seem to get it.
Whenever I pick it, the enemies I face never seem to try and move once they have reached me and gotten into melee.
They stay where they are and either wail on me to my detriment (especially if they happen to be stronger/deal more damage than I can afford to take) or die from regular attacks without ever triggering it. Is that just a peculiarity of my DM's style or is that a common situation?
Now I get that there are ways to push the enemy back or otherwise put distance between ourselves and them thereby forcing them to move if they want to still attack somebody... but in actual game, those ways end up being unreliable and a lot of hoops to jump through, be it in character creation or battle tactics, just to trigger a couple of extra dice of damage...
Not saying that those dice don't count, but I just can't see how this is such a massively hyped/must have cantrip, given those constraints.

The SCAGtrips (Booming Blade especially, since it does not work with a specific stat) in general do get hyped simply by nature of upping melee combat damage for anyone with only 1 attack*. Moreso if you can put the enemy in a situation of tactically wanting to move after being subjected to it. It doesn't change that some characters really shouldn't be up in melee trading blows with the enemy. Beyond that, yes, there are a bunch of hoops to jump through (I guess 'being melee-durable' being one of those hoops). If you do not want to jump through those hoops (on a semi-regular basis), then no, Booming Blade is not an exceptional ability you ought be spending resources to acquire.
*minus exceptions X, Y, and Z like not being able to fulfill spell components, not attacking opponents 5' away, etc.

Regarding the hype (of the SCAGtrips in general), I think there are multiple factors contributing:

There are some nice (obvious, not-requiring-controversial-rulings) builds you can make around them.
Specific subclasses (Bladesinger, Arcana Cleric, retroactively Eldritch Knight and Arcane Trickster) seem built to capitalize upon their use (making any discussion of them almost necessitate talking about the SCAGtrips)
They 'break the math'/'seem like a cheat (or workaround)'/'strictly-better-than-', and that's worth noticing above and beyond how effective they really are.


The last one probably is the most influential. There's an implied pattern: -- Some classes get multiple attacks, and pay for it with limited or no spellcasting. Full spellcasters (in general) get one attack, which really limits their combat ability in upper tiers, but get great abilities through spells. Some archetypes of spellcasters do get multiple attacks (capping at two), and that is supposed to be a big advantage*, taking up (possibly alongside some better-than-normal armor proficiency) much of their Tier1&2 sub-class benefits. Rogues are an odd one out in that they don't get spells or multiple attacks**, and all sorts of other nuance contributes to overall strengths of various options. Still, there's what looks like a trend, and the SCAGtrips kinda disrupt that. Now, with (sometimes minimal) investment, those full casters not of the semi-martial subclass have a way to up their at-will melee damage -- scaling roughly with tier, and looking entirely too close to a martial classes' at-will damage (and precipitously close to that of the caster subclasses that gave up other fun abilities to get 2 attacks). It feels like maybe this is a thing that shouldn't be, or at the vary least something that should be gated behind something more substantial and less mobile/modular*** than low level spell selection.
*making them pinch-hit martials, or at least having a strong at-will combat ability
**but get a wide panoply or other abilities, including an alternate way of getting high per-round damage
***swapping around low-level spells between classes seeming like something 5e has doubled-down on as the edition has progressed

Now of course the math doesn't really break, and there are lots of circumstantial reasons why this doesn't actually pan out in most cases. Just getting a better single-attack damage doesn't mean you have good weapon and armor proficiencies; nor a good attack stat*; getting the cantrip in the first place usually requires a feat, race choice, or subclass choice; as a caster, many of your rounds are going to be spent casting levelled-spells, so investing heavily in those rounds you aren't is raising your valleys, not maxing your peak**; and anything that keeps you in melee increases the number of concentration checks you will have to make.
*there are usually ways to get your preferred stat as a casting stat, but those are additional investments
**which is an interesting (and hopefully fun) strategy, but hardly the thing that will break the game or inter-class balance.

The two main-regular-caster builds I know of that get a lot of coverage are the Celestial Generalist (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=23794664&postcount=1) (or any non-bladelock warlock that picks up medium armor), and the Arcana Cleric Frontliner (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=23794664&postcount=1) (or other combination that gets a cleric Booming Blade and a strong attack stat. People also sometimes try to do it with lore bards, because Cutting Words and Magic Secrets are so valued. The first one is fun and interesting (provided your DM gives you short rests and ritual spells are obtainable), but absolutely not something that approaches fighters or bladelocks*. The bard one ends up being just an armored caster instead of a melee combatant (making whatever was done to get the spell usually wasted). The cleric one is the most intricate, as getting up in the fight is something a cleric does. However, the increased damage output roughly equals the opportunity cost (making it a fun, but not overpowering, build). Getting a decent attack stat means either ASIs on Str or Dex or grabbing Shillelagh (which takes a bonus action in a round with no other non-cantrip spell). The later of which does comes free for a nature cleric, but otherwise costs a feat (or dip). SCAGtrips come free for an arcana cleric, but otherwise cost a feat (or race, or dip). Any feat (or race, as it competes with taking Vuman or custom lineage for a L1 feat) competes with getting Warcaster and Resilient:Con**, both of which you really like having if you want to wade into melee combat with Spirit Guardians up -- especially if you don't then spend your main action on the dodge action, which you won't if you are spending your rounds Booming Blade-ing your opponents. That last part is the clincher -- the amount of excess damage you produce with your attack is offset by any damage you fail to produce because your Spirit Guardians*** faltered. Also by any reduction it and your other spells (like Spiritual Weapon) have because your Wis isn't as high as someone who forwent any of the investment you made in the build and instead power-ASI-ed their max up to 20 asap.
*well, hex-bladelocks of fighter1/bladelock X-1, at least.
**con saves also can be acquired by a pre-emptive dip
*** or Bless, or whatever concentration spell you use.

None of which are reasons not to pursue such a build, just that the 'just-plain-better'-ness that they intuitively seem like they might have doesn't really materialize. And of course, none of this applies to Bladesingers, EKs, and ATs (who probably are just-plain-better if they take these spells).

[RogueJK]

I agree with most of what Willie the Duck says in their detailed post, but I want to note that melee EKs are only "just plain better if they take [BB/GFB]" for a brief window of levels, barring secondary benefits like wanting to utilize Warcaster+BB OAs.

A melee EK should really only be relying on BB/GFB from levels 7-10.

During that window of time, casting BB/GFB with their Action and then making a War Magic BA weapon attack results in higher damage output than simply Extra Attacking with two standard weapon attacks. (Unless, of course, they have something better to do with their BA during that turn.)

However, once their 3rd attack comes online at Fighter 11, that EK will be going back to taking the Attack Action and simply making three standard weapon attacks. (And leaving their BA free for other stuff).


Also, if your EK is a ranged attacker (yes, archer EKs are a thing), or has a Bonus Action attack already such as with PAM or TWF, then using BB/GFB as your EK's primary attack doesn't make sense even during those few mid levels. I wouldn't even take a SCAGtrip on those types of EKs.

[Arkhios]

IMHO, Booming Blade is really worth it only if you also have the War Caster and Spell Sniper feats, if you are using a melee reach weapon, AND if someone provokes an opportunity attack from you by moving away from an adjacent square. It's a good way to make that someone think again whether they want to move further than what they did before provoking it, as they risk taking the extra damage because of it.

So, yeah, it's a very gimmicky Cantrip in all honesty, and not really as good as people make it sound like.

[Melil12]

Generally speaking this is not the most powerful of builds. It’s just a viable option for those of us who enjoy the play style. But comes at a steep cost in feats/features.

It’s best when combined with arcana cleric or generalist celestial lock because they have ways of boosting the dmg. Ie the celestial warlock at level 6? Lets you add you casting stat once per turn to any fire/radiant based damage. The arcana cleric has more loose wording that may not pass the smell test for some DMs.

I think the celestial warlock does it the best … with its tome pact.

[RogueJK]

IMHO, Booming Blade is really worth it only if you also have the War Caster and Spell Sniper feats, if you are using a melee reach weapon

BB no longer works with Spell Sniper. It was errata'd in 2020 to change the range to Self (5' radius), so it can't be used at 10' with Spell Sniper and a reach weapon.

[Melil12]

Bonus points if you can add in fighting style dueling and Pam with shillelagh.

[Willie the Duck]

melee EKs are only "just plain better if they take [BB/GFB]" for a brief window of levels, barring secondary benefits like wanting to utilize Warcaster+BB OAs.
A melee EK should really only be relying on BB/GFB from levels 7-10.
Agreed. BB works perfectly for Arcane Trickster rogues, the Bladesinger wizard seems specifically built to capitalize upon it, and for the EK it's just a situational benefit/small perk at specific times.

[Arkhios]

BB no longer works with Spell Sniper. It was errata'd in 2020 to change the range to Self (5' radius), so it can't be used at 10' with Spell Sniper and a reach weapon.

Pfft. Whatever. That only proves my point: it's a gimmicky cantrip that really isn't all that good. In fact, it's even worse than it was earlier.

[Pixel_Kitsune]

My curiosity is why the convo is so dead centered on damage. It's not always about damage. It's a movement deterrent. It's one of a handful of tools that can be used to encourage an enemy to not want to move.

I'm not using Booming Blade for damage, I'm using it to tank so it makes it easier for the other PCs to do damage.

[Gignere]

IMHO, Booming Blade is really worth it only if you also have the War Caster and Spell Sniper feats, if you are using a melee reach weapon, AND if someone provokes an opportunity attack from you by moving away from an adjacent square. It's a good way to make that someone think again whether they want to move further than what they did before provoking it, as they risk taking the extra damage because of it.

So, yeah, it's a very gimmicky Cantrip in all honesty, and not really as good as people make it sound like.

BB is great for rogues, it’s a substantial increase to DPR with very little opportunity cost. Magic initiate is almost a no brainer pick for rogues because it can get them both BB and GFB and they can get find familiar/mage armor for that one feat investment. Easy 10% damage bump and another source of advantage why wouldn’t you take it? Since rogues are SAD and gets an extra feat, I don’t see why BB would be a gimmick for rogues.

[RSP]

My curiosity is why the convo is so dead centered on damage. It's not always about damage. It's a movement deterrent. It's one of a handful of tools that can be used to encourage an enemy to not want to move.

I'm not using Booming Blade for damage, I'm using it to tank so it makes it easier for the other PCs to do damage.

To be fair, the movement deferent is just damage, so damage needs to be weighed with that as well.

In my experience, whether a creature moves or not with the BB effect up, is based on whether the DM thinks they can absorb the damage or not.

So it’s not like Sentinel, which actually prevents movement; it just adds damage if they move.

[Pixel_Kitsune]

To be fair, the movement deferent is just damage, so damage needs to be weighed with that as well.

In my experience, whether a creature moves or not with the BB effect up, is based on whether the DM thinks they can absorb the damage or not.

So it’s not like Sentinel, which actually prevents movement; it just adds damage if they move.

Which prevents movement based on the monster not wanting the damage. If the monster does want the damage then suddenly you can't ignore the rider in your calculation and the damage potential goes up.

Level 11 fighter is either 3 attacks at up to 6d6+15 or 2 attacks at up to 4d6+10 plus 2d8 Thunder Damage and the Monster doesn't move. So you've locked the monster and only dealt a bit less damage.

Or the monster moves in which case it's 3 attacks for 6d6+15 vs 2 attacks for 4d6+15+5d8.
IE it's a range of 21-51 vs 16-50 with no move or 19-74.
If you add GWM it's 51-81 vs 36-70 with no move or 39-94

You're giving up a little bit of bottom range in exchange for locking an enemy down or potentially dealing more damage.

And that's just Fighters, everything else that wants BB doesn't have 3 attacks so doesn't have the judgement to make.

[RSP]

And that's just Fighters, everything else that wants BB doesn't have 3 attacks so doesn't have the judgement to make.

Sure, but only EKs and Bladesingers get to work Cantrips and attacks without spending resources. No one else can continually churn out BB+Attack.

[Pixel_Kitsune]

Sure, but only EKs and Bladesingers get to work Cantrips and attacks without spending resources. No one else can continually churn out BB+Attack.

And the only class that might consider it that gets multiple attacks is a Paladin or BladeLock.

So for a Paladin it is a max of 4d6+10 or 4d6+30 vs 2d6+5+2d8+No Move up to 2d6+15+5d8.

So a range of 14/34-34/54 vs 9/19-57/67

Not sure the question here.

And that's not even looking at something like a Rogue where the comparison is 1d8+5+6d6 vs 3d8/6d8+5+6d6

[Aaron Underhand]

No one has mentioned the combo of BB and flaming sphere. At teir 1 you get weapon attack, bonus action attack with the sphere, and with the correct placement you then have the enemy in a double bind. Stay and take the extra flaming sphere damage, or move and take the BB rider.

Not every mage wants to be in combat, but this has worked well for me...

[Pixel_Kitsune]

No one has mentioned the combo of BB and flaming sphere. At teir 1 you get weapon attack, bonus action attack with the sphere, and with the correct placement you then have the enemy in a double bind. Stay and take the extra flaming sphere damage, or move and take the BB rider.

Not every mage wants to be in combat, but this has worked well for me...

Not even always a mage thing. How about a Cleric with Magic Initiate, a Strixhaven background or a race with a cantrip?

BB is a great add on if you're dealing the normal Spirit Guardians and Spiritual Weapon path.

[Witty Username]

A brief note that booming blade nonbos with movement reduction abilities like difficult terrain or spirit guardians.

The blade cantrips are definitely overhyped. Bb is neat as a tactical option, but if your trying to protect squishies, trip attacks and grappling are about as good.
Bladesingers have a reason to use them, as do single attack characters. But basically everyone with multiple attacks lose significant gains to use them. EK does have some edge cases, mostly because the options for bonus actions are not great.

All cantrips have the note at high levels (10+) they are upgrades over single attacks, but are generally ouperformed by 2. Blade cantrips are stronger than this, but sacrifice position to do so (need to be in melee) and need to get the secondary damage to get the gains most people cite with them.

That being said,
Rogue, has good mobility to get in and out of trouble and booming blade has little opportunity cost beyond melee (no bonus action attack for two weapon fighting). This is still a tactical decision as there is likely an option of melee or ranged with rogue, as a damage can be worth it to maintain distance.
Bladesinger, at 6th level replaces a single attack with a cantrip rather than an action. There is still the shadowblade in the room, which will outperform booming blade with a 3rd level casting, even with the secondary damage. If your table allows booming shadowblade, this isn't a concern.
EK, as mentioned booming blade can be worth it if, you don't have a bonus action to take, or/and know you will get the secondary damage. At 5th:or, at 11th:and.

I personally think EK should get war magic replaced by the bladesinger version, replace an attack with a cantrip, it gives a late level buff all martials including EK need, and at low levels the change is insignificant, and allows for better order of operations with eldritch strike.

[Willie the Duck]

My curiosity is why the convo is so dead centered on damage. It's not always about damage. It's a movement deterrent. It's one of a handful of tools that can be used to encourage an enemy to not want to move.

I'm not using Booming Blade for damage, I'm using it to tank so it makes it easier for the other PCs to do damage.

It hasn't been. References to using booming blade to make opponents make hard choices about whether to move or not have been brought up repeatedly throughout the thread (1 (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25791042&postcount=2) 2 (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25791046&postcount=3) 3 (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25791181&postcount=10) 4 (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25791185&postcount=11) 5 (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25791189&postcount=12) 6 (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25791237&postcount=13) 7 (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25791362&postcount=15) 8 (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25791497&postcount=17) 9 (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25791572&postcount=18) 10 (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25791676&postcount=22))

[5eNeedsDarksun]

Not even always a mage thing. How about a Cleric with Magic Initiate, a Strixhaven background or a race with a cantrip?

BB is a great add on if you're dealing the normal Spirit Guardians and Spiritual Weapon path.

We found Strixhaven a decent bump, particularly the 2 of us who optimized our characters. A 'free' blade-trip can definitely be a part of that.

[Theodoxus]

To be fair, the movement deferent is just damage, so damage needs to be weighed with that as well.

In my experience, whether a creature moves or not with the BB effect up, is based on whether the DM thinks they can absorb the damage or not.

So it’s not like Sentinel, which actually prevents movement; it just adds damage if they move.

I've killed (well, allowed to die) plenty of monsters for my players using BB. Granted, most were low/non Int beasties like undead or giant insects and the like. But I've also had my share of humanoids who didn't understand the danger they were in, scoff at the shimmering field and walked through it, and then promptly dying.

I might be alone in that practice though... I get a kick letting my players enjoy doing fun things I can only dream of when I get a chance to play... as a player, I find your experience mirrors mine. Sadly.