Hello magic casters of all shapes and sizes! Welcome to my spellbook and thank you so much for checking out the first ever episode of our level 1 spells series. I just finished up the cantrips super excited about it. So a couple changes i want to run past you before we actually get ino the meat and potatoes of the absorb elements 5e.
Firstly i’m gonna start including the artificer as a usable class bear in mind and it is unearthed arcana i’m super aware of that it’s not canon yet i’m super aware of that, it’s still very much being play tested.
That being said, there’s a couple first level spells even early on that only the artificer’s access to and i want to be able to review them so i thought might as well include it in every spell, i’ll also be going through the cantrips and naturally making artificer category.
That being said, let’s get started looking at this spell absorbed elements is what we’re looking at today if you haven’t already been able to tell that. You can also check out this 5e absorb elements vs shield.
Really cool spell, honestly i’ve never really taken a good look at it before and i am thoroughly impressed with it flavor-wise very well done and mechanically under the right circumstances really nice as well. It is usable by the druid, ranger, sorcerer, wizard and artificer and it is found in the elemental evil player’s companion. Let’s take a look at some mechanics here.
Mechanics
- Level: 1
- Casting Time: 1 Reaction
- Range/Area: Self
- Components: S
- Duration: 1 Round
- School: Abjuration
- Attack/Save: None
- Damage/Effect: Elemental+Resistance
One of the better things about absorb elements dnd is it’s cast time is one reaction, well there are a couple spells that use reactions this is probably one of the only ones i can think of that does damage as well as offers you a defensive benefit, we’ll get into that later too. You can also read this absorb elements shocking grasp article as well.
The range is self, the duration is one round, the effect capture some energy, get resistance to it until your next turn. Then throw it back doing 1d6 of that elements damage. Throw it back there’s a little bit of a misnomer there and i recognize it but thematically that’s how it works and i had. At higher levels you gain an extra d6 of damage per each spell slot level above one.
So level 2 spell slot would be 2d6 damage, at level three spell slots would be 3d6 damage, so forth so forth. The components are just somatic and the school is abjuration. So super cool stuff there. Now let’s get into the full description so we’re kind of on the same page here. Also read this absorb elements melee spell attack.
Description
The spell captures some of the incoming energy, lessening its effect on you and storing it for your next melee attack. You have resistance to the triggering damage type until the start of your next turn. Also, the first time you hit with a melee attack on your next turn, the target takes an extra 1d6 damage of the triggering type, and the spell ends. At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 2nd level or higher, the extra damage increases by 1d6 for each slot level above 1st.
So super cool! Awesome spell flavor-wise. I mean the ability of taking some of that power. Only to you let it fuel your own attacks. It’s super cool, i’m almost imagining something from the rise of the shield hero that anime you know where he can kind of take damage and ultimately use it against a foe in the future.
I think that’s kind of where my head goes and maybe that’s why i think it’s so neat. Let’s get into some alternative uses here. You can also read this does absorb elements reduce damage.
Alternative Uses
Something i would like to point out that does offer significant mechanical benefits is it doesn’t say you have to attack the creature from whom you got the energy from. So if someone was able to cast a fire related spell on you, you could take that fire. You may also like to read absorb elements 5e resistance.
And on your turn, you could actually attack an enemy that might be susceptible to fire or if the very least not resistant. I think that’d be really good. In heavily elemental based campaigns i could actually see the spell being kind of overwhelming and just do to them to the resistance component of it, and it’s only a first level spell and it’s capable of adding damage to. You may also like to read can you stack absorb elements?
Another thing i’d like to point out actually reading the spell is the only triggering requirement is you have to be able to make a melee attack. Now there’s a couple cantrips and a couple spells as well, that need to make a melee attack to be triggered and since it’s on your next turn you could potentially stack this with something like a booming blade for example or green flame blade too.
You’re only allowed to cast one spell for turn and that’s why i think this is very cool and a great use of a reaction my goodness, i very thoroughly impressed i think a good way to use a spell as well would be with a whip, it doesn’t say that there’s no real range requirement on this just a melee attack. So whip could get you an extra 5 feet there. Super cool and with the bugbears longer reach as well you could also stack it with that too. Anyways a great spell.
Conclusion
Thank you so much guys for checking this article in the support has been absolutely wonderful. There’s a lot of changes i’m working on and a lot of things i really want to try out. That being said, i hope you all have a great day, if you have any ideas for the spell or any cool stories involving it, i’d love to hear down in the comments below. beast bond 5e | snare 5e | cure wounds 5e | catapult 5e | shield 5e | detect magic 5e uses | what is an elemental spell.