Hello magic casters of all shapes and sizes! Welcome to my spellbook and thank you so much for checking out the 16th episode of our first level spell series. Today we’re going to be talking about one of the most iconic spells in d&d. May i introduce to you the ball of many flavors chromatic orb 5e usable by the wizard and sorcerer and naturally through extension anyone else with access to their spell lists and it is found in the player’s handbook which isn’t too surprising. Let’s get into some mechanics here.
Table of Contents
Mechanics
- Level: 1st
- Casting Time: 1 Action
- Range/Area: 90 ft
- Components: V, S, M
- Duration: Instantaneous
- School: Evocation
- Attack/Save: Ranged
- Damage/Effect: Acid (…)
Your damage is an impressive 3d8 plus an additional d8 for each spell slot level used above first. The cast time is the standard one action and the range is the slightly better than average of 90 feet. The duration is instantaneous, the saving throw isn’t really applicable because it’s a range spell attack.
The components are the holy trinity somatic, material and verbal. If you’re curious about the material component it is a diamond worth at least 50 gold piece and does chromatic orb consume the diamond the answer is no it is not consumed in this spell so you can cast this spell without a diamond. The school is evocation which isn’t very surprising and the damage type is a little complicated because it is acid, cold, fire, lightning, poison or thunder it’s your choice.
That being said, let’s take a look at the full description so we’re all on the same page here so that we can get to know what does chromatic orb do in d&d?. You may also like to read about chromatic orb vs ice knife.
Description
You hurl a 4-inch-diameter sphere of energy at a creature that you can see within range. You choose acid, cold, fire, lightning, poison, or thunder for the type of orb you create, and then make a ranged spell attack against the target. If the attack hits, the creature takes 3d8 damage of the type you chose.
At Higher Levels: When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 2nd level or higher, the damage increases by 1d8 for each slot level above 1st. * – (a diamond worth at least 50 gp).
Very cool stuff….very very cool stuff! Really it’s kind of a hit hard or completely misspelled which i’m not super huge fan of but i can see the utility behind it as well. That being said, let’s take a quick look at some alternative uses here.
Alternative Uses
To be honest i really struggled with this one because it doesn’t give me a whole lot to work with. I suppose you could use it to pick the damage type that’s best complimented to the opponent. But it doesn’t specify that the fire orb would light things on fire or that the coal board would cause things to freeze or the ass verb because things to melt.
That being said, it can only be used on a creature so it’s really rough for me to come up without any alternative uses on this one. I will say it is quite good damage potential is definitely there. And with the feat combination i could really see it working out for you. The thing is it doesn’t really lend a whole lot in terms of creative playstyle.
In any case if you ask me what is the disadvantage of chromatic orb? Then i would say its main drawback is its cost. Unless the most basic evocation spells, chromatic orb has a costly material component. This thing i could say. You can also read this chromatic orb vs magic missile.
Conclusion
With that being said, maybe i am wrong. If you have any alternative uses or any cool stories involving chromatic orb i’d really like to hear them down in the comments beneath and i know for a fact everyone else checking this article would as well. With that out of the way, thank you so much guys and as always happy casting. silvery barbs 5e | scorching ray 5e | chaos bolt 5e | chronurgy wizard 5e | dnd ice knife 5e | magic missile 5e | what is witch bolt 5e?