Hello magic casters of all shapes and sizes! Welcome to my spellbook and thank you so much for checking out the 15th episode of our third level spell series. Today we have a very sadly disappointing spell in store for us today, it’s not particularly as egregious as fine traps but i would put them in the same ballpark of disappointment. We’re talking about what is a daylight spell 5e?.
This spell is usable by the cleric, druid, paladin, ranger and sorcerer and it is found in the players handbook. I have very strong feelings about this but let’s take a quick look at its mechanics regardless so we can break it down a little bit.
Mechanics
- Level: 3rd
- Casting Time: 1 Action
- Range/Area: 60 ft (60 ft Sphere)
- Components: V, S
- Duration: 1 Hour
- School: Evocation
- Attack/Save: None
- Damage/Effect: Control
The effect at a glance is as followed: Create a sphere of bright light, that also extends dimlight for another 60 feet. If the spell is cast on an object it moves, its location changes with the object. The spell also dispells areas of magical darkness of 3rd level or lower. Very interesting stuff.
Its cast time is one action, it’s range is 60 feet and it provides a 60-foot sphere, the duration is one hour, the components are verbal and somatic and the school is evocation. Now let’s quickly check out the full description here and break this spell down a little bit and i’ll go over my grievances with it as well. You can also read this dawn 5e.
Description
A 60-foot-radius sphere of light spreads out from a point you choose within range. The sphere is bright light and sheds dim light for an additional 60 feet. If you chose a point on an object you are holding or one that isn’t being worn or carried, the light shines from the object and moves with it. Completely covering the affected object with an opaque object, such as a bowl or a helm, blocks the light. If any of this spell’s area overlaps with an area of darkness created by a spell of 3rd level or lower, the spell that created the darkness is dispelled.
Very interesting stuff! So in more ways than not this is an answer to the second-level spell darkness. Does the daylight spell count as sunlight? Now the reason i have a particular grievance with this spell is despite the fact that it is named daylight, this spell does not provide sunlight to any capacity.
So if you were hoping to get the jump on some vampires for example sadly not the case, there’s a sage advice, a little snip about it but it’s very disappointing so essentially it’s a glorified light spell i guess, i don’t like the fact that this consumes a third-level spell slot especially considering the fact that so many third levels are so great and in 5e when something like darkvision is super easy to come by and a lot of classes already have it, not to mention darkvision itself is only a second level spell slot and there’s a ton of items in the game that can help you get around that. It just it feels a little bit hollow to me like i think this was just created as a direct answer to darkness i really do.
In terms of how it go bow fixing it, i’d make it more akin to flaming sphere something that you could move independent as a bonus action up to certain distance, through that same rationale make it a concentration spell and provide something like 2d10 radiant damage on a hit, something like that i think it’d be a fair compromise that kind of put it more so in line with a couple other third level spells.
But i don’t know i’ll leave that up for you to decide, let me know how you would go about changing the spell down beneath in comment section or if you think it’s perfect way it is let me know why down there as well. That being said, let’s take a quick look at some alternative uses here. Do you know 5e when to give magic weapons.
Alternative Uses
So some of the better uses i could think of was firstly this is a great way to get around kind of darker environment so if you’re fighting at night or if you’re fighting in caves and all of you for some reason don’t have access to darkvision this is a great way of making true that combat, it’s gonna be more or less unempioyed which is super nice.
Outside of that this is a great ay of signaling other events for example cast the spell on an arrow and shoot it straight up into the sky, that’s almost guaranteed to be noticed and in turn might signal a restful plan to continue. You can also check out this sleep spell 5e explained.
Along the same vein of thought this is a great way of attracting aggro to one particular party member, for example have the paladin cast this on the sword and stand alone in a field or presumably alone meanwhile the rest of the parties in the bushes awaiting a sneak attack. So i think those are all fair ways of using the spell.
Conclusion
That being said, let me know how you would use it down beneath in the comment section. Also be sure to mention any thoughts, questions, comments, concerns or stories you may have regarding daylight 5e description. That being said, i hope you all have a great day and as always happy casting everyone. Keep reading 5e spell focus rules | 5e spell effects |