Professor Q's Guide to the 5e Controller - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

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#1 KaptainKrunch Apr 12, 2015 10:52:18	Professor Q’s Guide to the 5e Controller "A character with the controller role primarily handles crowds by creating hazardous terrain and repositioning enemies, or spreading conditions... over multiple enemies." - 4th Edition Player's Handbook ("Damage" removed) Damage vs. Control This was a huge discussion back on the 3.X forums with Treantmonk being the most verbose in his Guide to being God. Rather than going into lengthy detail on it, I will refer you to that work. (And now you can also read his 5e Version.) Sufficeth to say there is one big secret that players don’t seem to realize about DMs; Damage doesn’t matter If the party’s damage starts to get so high that encounters start becoming trivial, the easiest thing the DM can do is tweak the numbers accordingly. Using the ubiquitous 1/8 CR Kobold as an example, most experienced players know that they’ve sported around 5 hp – usually less – since 2nd edition. But with their hit dice (2d6-2) at they can have up to 10 hp – double what their suggested value is – and that’s assuming the DM is even bothering to use that limit. In fact, dealing high amounts of damage as a party can be more detrimental to your party in the long run as your DM tries to continue to provide interesting content, because it means your damage performance must ALWAYS be at its best, adding to the risk that the Dice are going to screw you over. Unless your DM is using a module and is strictly following the recommendations, this will be an issue for most parties – or at least, it’s been this way in every game I’ve played. To say Damage doesn’t matter is a bit hyperbolic though, because combat is all about the exchange of that hit point currency back and forth. But just like in any economy there are things that exist outside the standards rather than within it. That’s where Control comes in, it’s difficult to value meaning that it can be priceless or worthless depending on how it’s applied. Controllers understand the party’s true common enemy – the dice – and the best control options target forgotten defenses or ignore them entirely. Roleplaying I wanted to make a quick note about roleplaying because there will be a lot of people who will read the above passage and be quick to educate me about this other reason that supersedes control in value. Every game I run personally and my favorite games are roleplaying and story centric, rather than combat centric. This puts an extremely high value on some spells that if I rate them at all, I may be rating them low. Charm Person and Dominate Person are prime examples of this. These spells are priceless in social situations, but in combat they’re just save or lose and too often just single target. This is a guide about combat using the mechanics as they are set out in the book and while I will try to note roleplaying significance, I may not due to wordiness or my humble lack of creativity to recognize that application. Definitely discuss those applications to your heart’s content though – because that is indeed where the most fun in Dungeons and Dragons can come from. Rating System I'm using the commonly used rating system for this board, which is as follows: Red is garbage and should almost never be considered. Purple is circumstantially helpful - it has redeeming factors - but otherwise is a waste of space. Black is solid, but often outclassed by other options. Blue is a strong choice, and should always be considered carefully. Sky Blue indicates the best options - not necessarily mandatory, but extremely competitive. Gold is a no-brainer option. If this is available to your class, you should take it. You'll never regret it. Environmental (Battlefield) Control The primary advantage of this category of control spells is that it is not dependant on the dice in anyway. By using environmental aspects, your Controller imposes a control that cannot be avoided. "Environment" is typically spacial aspects but sometimes it involves the existance of an object (Like the need for a metal object to use Heat Metal.) Environmental control is stifled by the lack of favorable environmental conditions (a wall spell placed in a wide open field against a lot of fliers for instance is not a gauranteed control), but when those environmental conditions exist they are the best kind of spell youc an cast. Below are a few examples of Environmental Control: Show Wall Spells or Environmental Obstacles: Most of these play on the enemy’s movement speed – place a wall down that the enemy needs to walk around and you’ve effectively taken him out of the combat for as long as it takes him to make the jog. Fog spells can thwart ranged characters which includes most casters in 5e. Even difficult terrain can make a huge difference. Summons: Same concept as the above, but they can also provide that warm body your Rogue needs for a sneak attack, and they become golden if your DM is using any kind of flanking variant rule. But again, I want to emphasize warm bodies – enemies first have to get through your summons before they can get to you, and some summons will even help with the fliers messing up your chess board. Definitely check out txidorRS's guide to Conjuring for details on what you can summon.
#2 KaptainKrunch May 20, 2015 11:45:22	Concentration and You The great balancing mechanic added to 5e is the idea of Concentration. I view and define Concentration as a flag that prevents any other Concentration spell from being cast. Anyone familiar with 5e rules should already know that it is unwise to fill your spell list up with Concentration spells because without other options you're going to have a lot of wasted actions in the meantime. But that's not the most important factor regarding Concentration - it's the Constitution save associated with it. Most of the best control spells are flagged as concentration spells. If your control is working well, your enemies will always have one escape - and that is to hit the control's weak point for MASSIVE DAMAGE (The weak point being your soft blood-filled flesh.) There are 3 primary ways to deal with this problem... 1. Don't get hit. 2. Mitigate the Concentration DC 3. Make the saving throw. I will discuss options for each of these categories below, but note that I will be avoiding options that require concentration because that sort of defeats the purpose. DON'T GET HIT Thankfully most damage is indispensably tied to the dice that controllers are so good at ignoring. Because of that simply raising your defenses can be very effective, and even the only guaranteed damage spell in the PHB has a 1st level counter spell. Show Dexterity - No one uses Dex as a casting stat, but for pretty much all casters Dex is their finest secondary stat. Not only does it add to AC, but it grants the difficult-to-get in 5e bonus to initiative you need to lay down your controls before your enemy even gets a chance to try to attack. Armor - To-hit tactics might not be the only source of damage, but they are the primary source, and any addition to your AC is never a waste. At the VERY LEAST you'll need Mage Armor, Dragon Skin, or LIght armor - but all three of those demand you pour your ABIs into Dex (Which isn't really a bad thing overall.) Spending feats on getting armor uses that limited resource, but at the very least you get to add a point to your Dex along with it. Clerics might not be the best controllers, but they are one of the best dips for Caster Classes to mingle into their level plan. A single level in Cleric can get you Medium Armor and Shield Proficiency, raising your maximum nonmagical AC to an impressive 19 with the resonable dexterity requirement of 14 to get there (without considering feats like Medium Armor Mastery.) Shield (1st Level Wizard/Sorcerer spell) - +5 impromptu AC makes this a prime pick for any class that has access to it, and also it blocks Magic Missiles which your enemies may learn is an otherwise great way to impose Concentration rolls on you. Cast with a reaction, so doesn’t waste your control potential by using your actions. Bardic Inspiration - All uses of Bardic Inspiration help mitigate your chance of being hit. Regular inspiration lets you raise your Saving Throws, Combat Inspiration lets you add to your AC, and Cutting Words screws up your enemy's ability to hit. Unfortunately for controller bards, only Cutting Words can benefit you personally. Counterspell (3rd level Wizard/Warlock/Sorcerer Spell - Uses your reaction - so no actions wasted. As a caster this is your primary avoidance option against spells that still deal damage when you save. Stop the spell before it even starts. Also worth noting that damage isn't the only way you can lose concentration - if you're targeted by a polymorph or feeblemind spell you better stop those shenanigans too. Give them Disadvantage - Spells like Vicious Mockery will protect you (or your allies) from an attack or two. Unfortunately a lot of methods to impose disadvantage are either soft controls or flagged for concentration (invisibility). Hence my lower than sky-blue rating. If anything imposes a disadvantage withotut rolling the dice or without using concentration, take it. Circle of Power (5th Level Paladin Spell)- Concentration duration, but being one of the few ways to prevent damage completely from Constitution Save spells, and of course it affects all spells. Note that not all saving throws are spells though. Mirror Image (2nd Level Wizard/Warlock/Sorcerer spell) - You waste a turn in combat casting this, but it adds a nice layer of protection until all of the duplicates are destroyed. Blink (3rd Level Wizard/Sorcerer spell)– Similar to Mirror Image in value, due to the wasted turn, and overall less reliable. However, unlike Mirror Image, this will always work for the full minute duration while an opponent can just spend 3 turns popping your illusions with Mirror Image. Also, Blink will prevent all spell damage too (as long as it doesn’t affect the ethereal plane.) Evasion/Shield Mastery - Evasion is really hard to get (and impossible if you want level 9 spells.) Shield Mastery on the other hand isn't - it's just not as good. The idea here is to avoid damage entirely from Dex save spells since even half-damage is going to impose a save on you. This would be sky blue if it was easier to obtain for the best controllers. It's definitely a nice perk for Arcane Tricksters and Rangers.
#3 KaptainKrunch May 22, 2015 12:08:03	No-Concentration Spells Since spells without the concentration flag are the exception, not the rule, I figured it would be more helpful to include them in a separate section. While concentrating, you will always have actions you’ll be looking for things to do with. While throwing a fireball or saving your slots with a cantrip isn’t suboptimal, these spells allow you to stack in even more control with those actions. If a spell in this section allows a save, I will be including the defense it targets in parenthesis after the class bracket. Show Cantrips Minor Illusion (PHB) [Ba/So/Wi/Wa] – 5’ of illusion isn’t much space, but it’s enough to give you cover or otherwise block sight with some creativity. The main draw here over silent image is the no-concentration aspect. Level 1 Spells Charm Person (PHB) [Ba/Dr/Wi/Wa/So] (Wis) This is kind of a tricky spell for combat. On the one hand, it’s no concentration, and it has more than enough duration without any subsequent saves to make it better than Tasha’s hideous laughter as far as locking an enemy out. On the other hand, if combat has already started, they get advantage on the Wisdom throw, which in the earlier levels makes it not even worth trying. Complicating things further is the specificity of the target (only persons) and the fact that a lot of things have resistance to Charms. As such, this is a great social spell and a poor combat spell. Not a bad pick for a combat opener though (Magical Ambush.) Color Spray (PHB) [Wi/So] At lower levels this is likely going to hit, but the duration makes it hardly worth it, in my opinion – at least not for the slot it eats. If you are certain you can take the enemies out in two rounds, this could save your party from taking any damage – and it gives your friends advantage on their attack rolls. But I kind of wonder if it’d be better to just throw out a Burning Hands spell and then have your friends clean up the scraps the normal way. Earth Tremor (EE) [Ba/Dr/Wi/So] (Con) 10’ radius difficult terrain that might knock your enemies prone. Since it takes half your movement to get up from prone, if they fail their save they might be at a dead stop for one round, but the same thing applies to targets who fail their save against a Web spell. The biggest fault of this spell is the range – anyone casting it is going to be trapped in their own difficult terrain, which regardless if you’re melee or ranged is a bad thing. This is a Con save instead of a Dex or Str save, giving it the diversity option, but that’s really the only thing that makes this spell even a little worth considering. Grease (PHB) [Wi] (Dex) The area of effect is a bit small, but the actual result is pretty potent. The save is made simply by entering the area, and could stop enemies dead in their tracks besides just being difficult terrain. What really helps Grease become a staple though is that it doesn’t have to compete with spells with the concentration flag. Sleep (PHB) [Ba/So/Wi] – Oh boy Sleep. The damage on this doesn’t scale terribly well, meaning that it’s usefulness is at its peak at level 1, and it dips into relative worthlessness (Red) at about level 5 when you can cast better spells. So how good is it at level 1? Well, you’re pretty much guaranteed to sleep at least one creature of CR ¼ or lower. I really don’t like how it targets the weakest enemies first, and that’s really what makes this a dubious spell for me. Whether this is the best cast for the situation is contingent on the positioning of your enemies. It’s got a great AOE, so if your enemies are spread out this is definitely the best choice, but the average damage being 21.5, doling out this pseudo damage across multiple creatures is less effective than just dealing the 10.5 average straight damage against ALL of the same creatures with something like Burning hands (Keeping in mind that they have a chance to halve this damage.) Sleep is USUALLY better, but not ALWAYS better. I think sleep is good, and you should definitely grab it at level 1, but switch it out by level 5 (At which point Fireball is a better 3rd level cast – Hypnotic Pattern aside.) Level 2 Spells Blindness/Deafness (PHB) [Cl/Ba/So/Wi] (Con) This spell basically gets a free pass only because it’s no-concentration. Blindness is a great condition, and this becomes a multi-target spell from a level 3 slot and upwards. Thanks to Pyrotechnics though, this spell is a little outclassed when cast at level 2. Can anyone tell me what good “deafness” does in 5e? It says you autofail checks that require your ears, but the only thing I can think of that is covered by that is Stealth – and if you aren’t expecting someone to be sneaking around wouldn’t suddenly going deaf be a clue to start looking around? Pyrotechnics (EE) [Ba/So/Wi] – (Con/Environmental Control) For the price of one memorization/spell known slot, you get two first level spells! Fog Cloud and Color Spray. Color spray will most certainly be better at lower levels (though this has a range advantage), but past level 7 or so this will be the better second level slot cast. With that said, my issue with Color Spray applies here – it’s just one round. Occasionally it’ll be useful though, so having two options makes the existence of a lesser option innocuous. Where this spell’s real value comes in is the ability to create a fog cloud without using concentration. The only thing keeping this from a sky blue rating is the need for an existing flame, but you ‘ve got a lot of options for that. Throwing a torch is the simplest approach, and one your party can tag-team with. Using Create Bonfire and quicken spell is an option for Sorcerers (though not ideal due to the Sorcery point cost.) My favorite option though is to put your fireball to good use – it says it lights things on fire, which before meant very little, but now that fire is a viable source for a control spell. You can technically firebolt something and light it up too, but that requires you to spend you action doing nothing but lighting the fire – so again, not ideal. Level 3 Spells Animate Dead (PHB) [Wi/Cl] – This is Blue for Necromancers. No concentration duration means that with a little preparation you can have 4 or more bodies useful for impeding your enemies that don’t require anything from you besides one of your slots every day to keep them around. Even at level 5 these creatures are a little weak though, and past level 10 (or against any dragon) they start to hit uselessness. Necromancers improve the longevity with a substantial HP increase, but against most legendary encounters you should probably leave your pets outside unless you plan on remaking your army. Erupting Earth (EE) (Dex) [Dr/Wi/So] This is a ranged 20’ cube that creates permanent difficult terrain for the purposes of combat, and when scaled it deals better damage than fireball. If you’re in one of those situations where dealing damage is the best thing you can do, this is great. For two levels higher than grease though, it's a bit weak as a control. Glyph of Warding (PHB) [Ba/Cl/Wi] – I was incredibly harsh on the symbol spells in my Guide to the Pathfinder Wizard because of the enormous expense involved. In 5e, the expense is much more reasonable, especially considering the fact that this basically behaves like an immobile contingency. The gold cost and casting time are still inhibitive, but with proper preparation this can turn impossible odds into a manageable effort. It would be really fun in some campaign to dump 2,000 gold on a party Cleric/Bard/Wizard, give him a fort, and tell him to prepare for a siege using this spell. The versatility of being able to attach ANY spell to a spell ward could let you design your own dungeon, and the added benefit that you can use concentration spells without actual concentration make this a very potent spell. Magic Circle (PHB) [Cl/Pa/Wa/Wi] – All but the Warlock are prepared casters, and this is a prepared caster’s spell. The 100 gp cost per circle keeps this from being top notch, but the defenses are good and best of all, unlike protection from evil/good, this doesn’t use concentration. Plant Growth (PHB)[Ba/Dr/Ra] – Creates a massive area of super difficult terrain. Seriously, this cuts movement by 75% instead of just half. You can also sculpt it however you like, meaning that any creature that isn’t flying can consider itself controlled. Also, this spell can make you money in agricultural development. Tidal Wave (EE) [Dr/Wi] – (Dex) Damage and knocks enemies prone. I dunno, even for a damage spell it doesn’t seem that great and prone isn’t the world’s greatest condition. Considering also that this will have some severe friendly fire implications, your melee friends might not even be able to get there in time to get the advantage on their attacks, but it could slow down your targets to prevent them from cutting across difficult terrain you’ve set up (this does have very nice long range.) Level 4 Spells Ice Storm (PHB) [Dr/So/Wi] –(Dex) Damage isn’t that great, but it does cause difficult terrain making it technically an environment control. If your group is using Elemental Evil spells this is completely outclassed by Erupting Earth. The storm is pretty tall, meaning you could hit fliers with it, but that’s nothing terribly useful unless it actually knocked them out of the air. Level 5 Spells Bestow Curse (PHB) [Cl/Wi/Ba] – (Wis) Yeah I know this can be cast as a level 3 spell, but I think it’s a little unfair to look at it like that because I too wouldn’t bother with this spell at its lowest slot. This spell really comes into its own as a no-concentration 5th level spell (duration being just icing.) Touch range is a bit precarious, but with enough armor to survive melee, this gives you a fantastic thing to do with your action while you’ve got some other control or buff up. If this spell lands, the effect is extremely potent, and it’s only the single target factor that keeps me from rating it higher. Contagion (PHB) [Cl/Dr] (Con) My interpretation of this spell is that the effect taking place after the enemy fails 3 saves – if your DM says it takes place immediately, this is gold and you can make him regret that decision. Waiting 3 to 5 turns for the effect is too long for most combats, but the effect here is phenomenal and the right disease will end combat against that target at least. Really the biggest detractor here for me is the touch range/single target factor. Since the effect takes hold on a to-hit roll and doesn’t require concentration though, if you know a combat could last longer than 5 rounds there’s no reason not to apply this. Something interesting about diseases – it’s not a condition and I can’t think of anything in the monster manual that is actually immune. So the Black rating here is assuming this is universally applicable to anyone but an immune Paladin, but if your DM takes a sensible houserule against giving Golems Slimy Death, this is probably purple or worse. Hallucinatory Terrain (PHB) [Ba/Dr/Wa/Wi] Just 10 minutes could save you 100% on control spells and concentration effects. The 24 hour duration lets you set up a trap area for your enemies only limited by your imagination. Just be careful to create things that your enemies won’t stumble into and break the illusion and you’ll be able to pull the same wall effects and etc. that the other illusions can pull without the concentration. Or, you can put your illusion exactly where they will stumble into them, like over a pit. Transmute Rock (EE) [Dr/Wi] – (Str) Apparently it takes a level 5 slot to duplicate Web without a need for concentration. It’s not just web though, it’s twice the size and it acts as super difficult terrain (need 4 feet of movement for each 1.) You do need a rocky ground to use this, making it slightly limited, but for a no concentration spell it’s otherwise superb. This needs an errata since it says the mud “remains there for the spell’s duration” but the duration is instant – which is obviously not the intended duration. Depending on how your DM houserules this, it could knock this spell down a rating, but if it lasts at least 5 rounds I think it’s at least a solid blue. Level 6 Spells Bones of the Earth (EE) [Dr] – (Dex/Str) Creates 6 pillars that can be used to block LOS. Though they are weak they will create permanent (until cleared) difficult terrain if destroyed. Put the pillars in a contiguous line, and it’s like an instant 30’ wall of stone. If you’re indoors you can restrain enemies like it was Evard’s Black Tentacles with selective spell. Comparing this to previous spells, it’s both unique and redundant, but the fact that it’s an instant duration – all effects permanent after cast – makes this one of the best environmental control memorizations you can have. Create Undead (PHB) [Cl/Wa/Wi] Create and maintain up to 3 ghouls with a 6th level slot. HP-wise, ghouls aren’t an upgrade over Zombies, which means the primary benefit here is the DC 10 paralysis they can cause. That DC doesn’t justify the upgraded slot, in my opinion, but it is a little more cost effective to throw 3 ghouls into your army instead of upslotting Animate Dead. Again, this is blue for Necromancers. Major Image (PHB) [Ba/So/Wi] Like Bestow Curse, this is best rated at the level which it becomes a no-concentration effect. This also becomes a permanent effect too. This has everything that makes Silent Image good and then some. For Illusionists, this is Gold. Mass Suggestion (PHB) [Ba/So/Wi/Wa] (Wis) Get up to 12 creatures to do your bidding for 24 hours – no saves to escape this effect, and it only breaks when your friends or you deal damage, not anything else. Higher slots get you geas-like durations… This spell is incredible. The only thing keeping it from a gold rating is the Charm condition aspect. Otiluke's Freezing Sphere (PHB) [Wi] (Dex) For damage this does 1d6 less than an upscaled fireball, but it does it to triple the area of effect. The control effect only applies when you’re in water, but it doesn’t look like there’s a save at all for the initial restraining effect. So, in a pirate campaign this is a blue option. It’s slightly circumstantial about how enemies have to be swimming on the surface of the water, that surfacing Kraken technically fits the bill and this doesn’t specify creature size. In spite of the fact that said Kraken could probably easily break the ice, it has to spend an action to do so. Programmed Illusion (PHB) [Ba/Wi] For the purposes of combat, Major Image covers most of what you’d need, but if you happen to need an animated distraction or maybe you want to duplicate some of the benefits of Mislead, Programmed Illusion is the better cast. The area of effect of the programmed illusion is also slightly larger than Major Image. Level 7 Spells Divine Word (PHB) [Cl] Your low level schmuck control. The saving grace of this spell is that you can target as many creatures as you can see, letting you take out a horde of minions if you ever face them. I don’t really like how it allows a save and has HP requirements, but it’s way better than a scaled sleep spell and because of the AOE effect the added restrictions are reasonable. Finger of Death (PHB) [So/Wa/Wi] (Con) Looking at this as a damage spell, for the level this is only weaker than disintegrate, but it has the advantage in that if the target saves, you still deal damage. But this isn’t a damage spell, it’s a method of growing your Zombie horde. If you kill a creature with this , the zombie you get is permanently under your control – not restricted by daily casting to reassert control or by some arbitrary horde limit. It’s through this spell that you can start your true zombie apocalypse – gaining up to 2 zombies a day. After about 10 years working at it, you should have enough! Like other Zombie creation spells, this is Blue for Necromancers, with the added note that it also makes a good self-healing spell using their first school ability. Force Cage (PHB) [Ba/Wi/Wa] – One of the trinity of master control spells. If the target is smaller than a 10’ cube, you’ve got them trapped with no way to get out but a charisma save –assuming they can teleport in the first place. Larger creatures can also be fit into this cage, but if they have any way to fit through the bars that gives them one extra escape. This lockout is almost perfect, and totally worth the 1,500 gold entry fee. Mirage Arcane (PHB) [Dr/Wi] – The summon holodeck spell. A strict upgrade to Hallucinatory Terrain, though the higher level slot helps keep the previous spell relevant. This “illusion” creates tactile sensation, so it’s basically a literal creation spell. If you have 10 minutes, you can have complete control over your terrain giving you unprecedented control over your enemies, if you can lure them into your trap that is. BedlamBlade wrote:
#4 KaptainKrunch Jul 06, 2015 20:54:24	Direct Control Spells and Abilities by Saving Throw No Save Show Level 1 Hex (PHB) [Wa] I’d probably turn my snooty controller elitist nose up at this spell if it were just a damage buff, but it’s not. It’s a no-save penalty to ability checks of your choice. My prime pick is strength, and then have your fighter or your Wizard’s Bigby’s Hand go in and hold them while you punch. Oh, and bonus action. Hunter's Mark (PHB) [Ra] Excuse me while I turn my snooty controller elitist nose up at this spell. Though I will give it an extra star for helping you keep track of your target. Level 2 Branding Smite (PHB) [Pa] – Makes invisible targets visible, and that’s it. The damage is even less than a normal divine strike using the same slot. Here’s a question, how do you hit with this when your target is invisible? This could be a lot more interesting, like if it worked similarly to Guiding Bolt or something, but it doesn’t. Level 5 Spells Banishing Smite (PHB) [Pa] – The capstone Paladin smite spell that banishes the enemy if they fall below 50 hp from the smite. By the time you get this spell, once the enemy hits 50 hp, you probably just want to finish them off. Level 6 Spells Otto's Irresistable Dance (PHB) [Ba/Wi] – While this control "just works" the target can technically take actions, making it less useful against casters or creatures with abilities (like the ability to breathe fire.) Another drawback is that it has a Charm Effect typing, but since the target has to spend an action to make their wisdom save to break it, for at least one round you’ll lock out a non-charm immune enemy of your choice, giving them disadvantage on dex saves for comboing with a partner (have your Sorcerer cast disintegrate – for instance), and it combos well with all party members thanks to the advantage on attack rolls. Level 8 Spells Maze (PHB) [Wi] One of the trinity of master control spells. No initial save, meaning this is at least a single turn lockout, but since it’s a DC 20 INT save to get out of this maze, they could be trapped for the entire 10 minutes if they are unlucky. That DC 20 is non-scalable, but it’s a point higher than you can achieve without magical items. Power Word Stun (PHB) [Ba/So/Wa/Wi] 150 is a lot of HP, and stun is a fantastic debuff, so this is worth casting if you know the target’s HP. But that’s the problem, rules as written the DM won’t normally tell you that. If he does, this is probably Blue or even Sky Blue. Otherwise it’s just your guess. You’re guaranteed 1 round if you can land it, so it’s as good as any of the best control spells in the designated circumstance. Class Abilities Bend Luck (PHB) [Wild Mage Level 6] – The main attraction to playing a wild mage effectively increases your spell DC by 2, since you can use this after the dice is rolled (Though many DM’s won’t let you see the numeric result before making this decision.) Still, this takes no action, giving you unprecedented accuracy with direct controls. Corona of Light (PHB) [Light Domain Cleric Level 14] – So this gives disadvantage on saving throws against two types of spells that deal damage, so this in turn requires us to look through what options are available to a 17th level Cleric that are also control spells. Oh… Just destructive wave. Chime in in the comments if you can think of others. This does seem to be at-will though so if there are nice controls that also deal fire or radiant damage that Clerics can get this could be up to a sky blue ability. Shame they don’t get sunburst. Cutting Words (PHB) [Lore Bard 3rd Level] – Use your inspiration dice as a reaction to cut down an enemy’s roll. After level 10, this becomes better than using Shield as a spell for avoiding damage, and if you pick up something like Bigby’s Hand with Magical Secrets, you can cut their strength checks to resist grappling – just as an example of where the ability check factor will come in handy in combat. There is a flaw though – the creature has to be susceptible to charm effects. Hurl through Hell (PHB) [Fiend Patron Warlock Level 14] – Take a creature out of combat guaranteed for one round. Also deals guaranteed damage to every creature type but fiend (it makes me laugh that it doesn’t exclude constructs.) Great capstone ability and one level before the Wizards get their Maze spell. Maneuvering Attack (PHB) [Battlemaster Fighter Maneuver]- Lets a friend use their reaction to move. Positioning your friends Is as useful as positioning your enemies. Portent (PHB) [Diviner level 2] – Lets you auto-succeed on direct controls against a single target -0 and can help mitigate the effects of saving throws that come your direction too. You’re generally going to want to roll lower than 7 on your dice, which between two dice means every morning you’ll have about a 57% chance of getting what you want, so every other day you can break a combat. The daily randomness is what keeps this from being gold, but since a bum roll like a 10 or 11 isn’t actually going to hurt you this is still a top tier ability. At level 14, you have about a 72% chance of getting a 7 or lower on at least one of your dice. Totemic Attunement – Wolf (PHB) [Barbarian 14rd Level totem option] – As a Barb without Frenzy you have few options for your bonus action, so why not knock your enemy down with no save? The problem? Well, with your level 3 ability all your friends ALREADY get advantage on their attacks against the guy you’re standing next to, and you can just reckless attack to get it yourself. So basically this is just to halve your enemy’s movement speed for a round – which isn’t bad, especially for a free spammable power. Warding Flare (PHB) [Light Domain Cleric Level 1] – Spend your reaction to cause disadvantage on attacks. This is pretty solid and could help you keep your concentration in a pinch.
#5 TenaciousJ Apr 13, 2015 8:48:54	It might be worth mentioning spells that like Telekinesis and Maximilian's Earthen Grasp that let you continually try to control even if they fail one attempt. These spells are great for longevity.
#6 mellored Apr 13, 2015 9:05:19	You should probably add disables under hard control. Stun, paralyze, ect...
#7 Hermes_Trismegistus Apr 13, 2015 10:04:10	Looks like a good start, KaptainKrunch. I look forward to seeing this guide evolve!
#8 awaken_D_M_golem Apr 13, 2015 14:33:09	KaptainKrunch wrote:
#9 KaptainKrunch Apr 13, 2015 19:16:40	TenaciousJ wrote:
#10 KaptainKrunch Apr 13, 2015 20:05:05	mellored wrote:
#11 KaptainKrunch Apr 14, 2015 2:05:45	awaken_D_M_golem wrote:
#12 mellored Apr 14, 2015 6:40:45	KaptainKrunch wrote:
#13 KaptainKrunch Apr 14, 2015 6:47:45	mellored wrote:
#14 KaptainKrunch Apr 19, 2015 20:20:57	About half way through the spells now. Taking a little bit of a break. Hope to have this done by the end of April though.
#15 QwertyAzerty Apr 20, 2015 7:53:57	Great work, maybe it's my unconditional love for sorcerer, but I think sorcerer should be sky blue. Yes they lack some of the most powerfull control spell that the wizard/druid have access to. But he got metamagic. Like you said heighten spell is AWESOME, but twinned spell is also great. think about it, all those single target control spell are now 2 targets spells (without the need to increase the spell level like Hold person allow to do) using a spell level 2 you can hold person 2 creature for 2 SP, (when the wizard need to wait level 5 and use a 3rd level slot for that) the sorcerer can banish 2 targets etc... Not only about controled, but also for buffing your team: you can cast greater invisibility on 2 targets, you can cast haste on 2 players. isn't part of controlling the enemy is to channel them into attacking the fighter with 25AC and riposte ability, instead of the rogue, well greater invisibility both melee "striker" and the enemies are more likely to attack the fighter since the others are invisible. Think about it, telekenisis 2 targets to restrain them and give them disvantage on dex save, then twinned disintegrate them. It costed you 11 sp and 1 spell level 5 and one level 6, but when done against the proper target it can be very useful.
#16 mellored Apr 20, 2015 8:12:34	I would drop all the colors in the "don't get hit" and "mitigate concentraion check" down 1. Keep things more nutral. Also, elemental absorbtion is a good spell. 1/2 damage from elemental attacks will cut down concentration checks a good bit. Warding bond can be case on yourself. Depending on your bonuses, making 2 DC 10 saves could be easier then then making 1 DC 15 save. Or it might be harder.
(Reply to #15) KaptainKrunch	QwertyAzerty wrote:
#18 KaptainKrunch Apr 20, 2015 11:39:13	mellored wrote:
#19 mellored Apr 20, 2015 12:01:38	KaptainKrunch wrote:
#20 KaptainKrunch Apr 20, 2015 12:14:15	mellored wrote:
#21 ChrisKlink Apr 20, 2015 14:35:29	I think Destructive Wave deserves a bump - or at least a mention that it's safe from friendly fire. I can see how it might not be the cream of the crop specifically within the context of "Controller," but I still think a huge (30-foot radius) prone effect plus no friendly fire can be pretty darn good in the right situation. - Not to mention the 10d6 worth of damage (which, to be fair, isn't really the purview of a Controller). Also, you mention Pyrotechnics in a couple of spots, but don't actually have it in the spell list. (I know it's still WIP - just want to make sure it doesn't get missed. - I'm looking forward to your thoughts on it.)
(Reply to #21) KaptainKrunch	ChrisKlink wrote:
#23 ChrisKlink Apr 21, 2015 9:27:16	KaptainKrunch wrote:
#24 MurdochMan Apr 21, 2015 13:15:16	Great guide! Just one minor ommision: Oath of Vengeance paladins also get access to Haste as an oath spell. Of course, they're probably also drawing a lot of hits, requiring concentration saves, and have a lot of competition for that concentration slot. Still worth noting in the list, though.
#25 KaptainKrunch Apr 24, 2015 7:10:22	MurdochMan wrote:
#26 gignere Apr 24, 2015 19:28:19	Thank you KaptainKrunch this is an awesome guide. I didn't see sleep and that seem kind of strange isn't that the no save control spell of choice at low levels this edition. Anyway I digress my main goal for posting is to attempt to defend animate objects spell. I don't think that it is nearly as bad as you think of the spell you just need a little preparation. Imagine you are carrying 10 nonmagical silver daggers, you toss them on the ground free action cast animate object and suddenly you have 10 flying creatures with blindsight, hover, +8 to hit that does 1d4 + 4 each, and a collective of 200 hps. I know that you aren't focus on damage but having 10 extra creatures surround your enemies can cause them to be stopped in their tracks. Would you move if you can potentially trigger 10 attack of opportunities? At a minimum you will burn the target's action for the round if they want to maneuver. With the objects being silvered (and maybe a few sets with other materials to overcome different resistance) you can go through resistances that conjure animals and elementals can't overcome. Yes the duration is low but I haven't been in a fight that lasted 10 rounds yet in 5th E. Also with blindsight these babies can search out invisible and hidden creatures that animals and elementals would have problem even locating. I think this spell deserves a bump in rating at a minimum, personally I think it is easily as useful as conjure elementals just under different circumstances. Need one big tank conjure elemental, if you need a small flying army that can overcome material resistance with blindsight animate objects would be my go to spell. The damage potential of this spell also blows all of the other similar level conjure spells out of the water. This spell can also be up cast to animate upwards of 18 objects all with their own move and attack actions and reactions. That is nuts you just destroyed the action economy of the game.
#27 KaptainKrunch Apr 25, 2015 4:53:20	gignere wrote:
#28 KaptainKrunch Apr 25, 2015 6:47:20	Everything is now up and hopefully in a state where it's easy enough to read. Will be coming back to change the stars into colors and add spoiler tags to bite-size everything up a little bit. Oh yes, and I'm sure I missed something here or there, so let me know if I did. And of course, let me know if I was unfair to a favorite spell of yours - or too fair to a spell you hate - and I'll take another look at it.
#29 mellored Apr 25, 2015 12:47:10	you provoke when leaving reach, whatever that may be. i'm not sure about the reach of tiny (away from book), but i would rule it's only when they leave the square.
#30 BedlamBlade Apr 25, 2015 15:01:17	Mirage Arcane should be GOLD for Illusionists. 1) It doesn't offer any save, has a diameter of one mile, and lasts for 10 days 2) It can create walls and difficult terrain (or remove difficult terrain for allies) - this requires only one action for those with the 3) Malleable Illusion (lvl 6 specialist power) ability allows the illusionist to create these effects on the fly 4) One level after you can cast it, you can make parts of it real for 1 minute with the Illusory Reality specialist power Few dungeons (or cities!) exceed one mile in diameter, so your illusionist is gonna be good to go for most of the crawl, if not all of it.
#31 KaptainKrunch Apr 25, 2015 18:50:20	mellored wrote:
(Reply to #31) gignere	KaptainKrunch wrote:
#33 KaptainKrunch Apr 26, 2015 10:08:33	gignere wrote:
#34 Gruff_Ironfist Apr 26, 2015 18:02:43	KaptainKrunch wrote:
#35 gignere Apr 27, 2015 3:50:32	Deafness is useful to shut down monsters that uses echolocation as their sight, so probably effective against the blindsight of bats or other creatures that relies on hearing for their blindsight. Basically it allows the spell to create blindness to a wider range of creatures. Also KaptainKrunch, I believe Phantasmal Force is a level 2 spell not level 1.
#36 KaptainKrunch Apr 28, 2015 19:14:41	Gruff_Ironfist wrote:
#37 mrmay28 Apr 28, 2015 21:28:18	Great resource, thanks for doing this! I'm currently debating between an abjurer or druid controller for an upcoming campaign. I noticed that you included Plant Growth in the concentration section -- actually, this spell is fire-and-forget! Combined with the huge area of effect and super-difficult terrain, I think this spell may be verging on gold for druid controllers. The only thing keeping it from being gold is the fact that it requires plants to work with. Also, Earth Tremor is a first level rather than second (though I still more-or-less agree with your rating). As far as druids are concerned, how would you rate the land druid's Land's Stride ability? More effective use of difficult terrain seems like a boon to a controller, and depending on the DM's interpretation of "nonmagical difficult terrain", it may even apply to difficult terrain created e.g. by Plant Growth (since it's instantaneous and not persistently magical).
#38 KaptainKrunch Apr 29, 2015 7:30:23	mrmay28 wrote:

Post/Author/DateTime

Post

KaptainKrunch

Apr 12, 2015 10:52:18

Professor Q’s Guide to the 5e Controller

"A character with the controller role primarily handles crowds by creating hazardous terrain and repositioning enemies, or spreading conditions... over multiple enemies." - 4th Edition Player's Handbook ("Damage" removed)

Damage vs. Control

This was a huge discussion back on the 3.X forums with Treantmonk being the most verbose in his Guide to being God. Rather than going into lengthy detail on it, I will refer you to that work.

(And now you can also read his 5e Version.)

Sufficeth to say there is one big secret that players don’t seem to realize about DMs;

Damage doesn’t matter

If the party’s damage starts to get so high that encounters start becoming trivial, the easiest thing the DM can do is tweak the numbers accordingly. Using the ubiquitous 1/8 CR Kobold as an example, most experienced players know that they’ve sported around 5 hp – usually less – since 2nd edition. But with their hit dice (2d6-2) at they can have up to 10 hp – double what their suggested value is – and that’s assuming the DM is even bothering to use that limit.

In fact, dealing high amounts of damage as a party can be more detrimental to your party in the long run as your DM tries to continue to provide interesting content, because it means your damage performance must ALWAYS be at its best, adding to the risk that the Dice are going to screw you over.

Unless your DM is using a module and is strictly following the recommendations, this will be an issue for most parties – or at least, it’s been this way in every game I’ve played.

To say Damage doesn’t matter is a bit hyperbolic though, because combat is all about the exchange of that hit point currency back and forth. But just like in any economy there are things that exist outside the standards rather than within it. That’s where Control comes in, it’s difficult to value meaning that it can be priceless or worthless depending on how it’s applied.

Controllers understand the party’s true common enemy – the dice – and the best control options target forgotten defenses or ignore them entirely.

Roleplaying

I wanted to make a quick note about roleplaying because there will be a lot of people who will read the above passage and be quick to educate me about this other reason that supersedes control in value.

Every game I run personally and my favorite games are roleplaying and story centric, rather than combat centric. This puts an extremely high value on some spells that if I rate them at all, I may be rating them low. Charm Person and Dominate Person are prime examples of this. These spells are priceless in social situations, but in combat they’re just save or lose and too often just single target. This is a guide about combat using the mechanics as they are set out in the book and while I will try to note roleplaying significance, I may not due to wordiness or my humble lack of creativity to recognize that application. Definitely discuss those applications to your heart’s content though – because that is indeed where the most fun in Dungeons and Dragons can come from.

Rating System

I'm using the commonly used rating system for this board, which is as follows:

Red is garbage and should almost never be considered.

Purple is circumstantially helpful - it has redeeming factors - but otherwise is a waste of space.

Black is solid, but often outclassed by other options.

Blue is a strong choice, and should always be considered carefully.

Sky Blue indicates the best options - not necessarily mandatory, but extremely competitive.

Gold is a no-brainer option. If this is available to your class, you should take it. You'll never regret it.

Environmental (Battlefield) Control

The primary advantage of this category of control spells is that it is not dependant on the dice in anyway. By using environmental aspects, your Controller imposes a control that cannot be avoided. "Environment" is typically spacial aspects but sometimes it involves the existance of an object (Like the need for a metal object to use Heat Metal.) Environmental control is stifled by the lack of favorable environmental conditions (a wall spell placed in a wide open field against a lot of fliers for instance is not a gauranteed control), but when those environmental conditions exist they are the best kind of spell youc an cast.

Below are a few examples of Environmental Control:

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Wall Spells or Environmental Obstacles: Most of these play on the enemy’s movement speed – place a wall down that the enemy needs to walk around and you’ve effectively taken him out of the combat for as long as it takes him to make the jog. Fog spells can thwart ranged characters which includes most casters in 5e. Even difficult terrain can make a huge difference.

Summons: Same concept as the above, but they can also provide that warm body your Rogue needs for a sneak attack, and they become golden if your DM is using any kind of flanking variant rule. But again, I want to emphasize warm bodies – enemies first have to get through your summons before they can get to you, and some summons will even help with the fliers messing up your chess board.

Definitely check out txidorRS's guide to Conjuring for details on what you can summon.

KaptainKrunch

May 20, 2015 11:45:22

Concentration and You

The great balancing mechanic added to 5e is the idea of Concentration. I view and define Concentration as a flag that prevents any other Concentration spell from being cast. Anyone familiar with 5e rules should already know that it is unwise to fill your spell list up with Concentration spells because without other options you're going to have a lot of wasted actions in the meantime.

But that's not the most important factor regarding Concentration - it's the Constitution save associated with it. Most of the best control spells are flagged as concentration spells. If your control is working well, your enemies will always have one escape - and that is to hit the control's weak point for MASSIVE DAMAGE (The weak point being your soft blood-filled flesh.)

There are 3 primary ways to deal with this problem...

1. Don't get hit.

2. Mitigate the Concentration DC

3. Make the saving throw.

I will discuss options for each of these categories below, but note that I will be avoiding options that require concentration because that sort of defeats the purpose.

DON'T GET HIT

Thankfully most damage is indispensably tied to the dice that controllers are so good at ignoring. Because of that simply raising your defenses can be very effective, and even the only guaranteed damage spell in the PHB has a 1st level counter spell.

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Dexterity - No one uses Dex as a casting stat, but for pretty much all casters Dex is their finest secondary stat. Not only does it add to AC, but it grants the difficult-to-get in 5e bonus to initiative you need to lay down your controls before your enemy even gets a chance to try to attack.

Armor - To-hit tactics might not be the only source of damage, but they are the primary source, and any addition to your AC is never a waste.

At the VERY LEAST you'll need Mage Armor, Dragon Skin, or LIght armor - but all three of those demand you pour your ABIs into Dex (Which isn't really a bad thing overall.)

Spending feats on getting armor uses that limited resource, but at the very least you get to add a point to your Dex along with it.

Clerics might not be the best controllers, but they are one of the best dips for Caster Classes to mingle into their level plan. A single level in Cleric can get you Medium Armor and Shield Proficiency, raising your maximum nonmagical AC to an impressive 19 with the resonable dexterity requirement of 14 to get there (without considering feats like Medium Armor Mastery.)

Shield (1st Level Wizard/Sorcerer spell) - +5 impromptu AC makes this a prime pick for any class that has access to it, and also it blocks Magic Missiles which your enemies may learn is an otherwise great way to impose Concentration rolls on you. Cast with a reaction, so doesn’t waste your control potential by using your actions.

Bardic Inspiration - All uses of Bardic Inspiration help mitigate your chance of being hit. Regular inspiration lets you raise your Saving Throws, Combat Inspiration lets you add to your AC, and Cutting Words screws up your enemy's ability to hit. Unfortunately for controller bards, only Cutting Words can benefit you personally.

Counterspell (3rd level Wizard/Warlock/Sorcerer Spell - Uses your reaction - so no actions wasted. As a caster this is your primary avoidance option against spells that still deal damage when you save. Stop the spell before it even starts. Also worth noting that damage isn't the only way you can lose concentration - if you're targeted by a polymorph or feeblemind spell you better stop those shenanigans too.

Give them Disadvantage - Spells like Vicious Mockery will protect you (or your allies) from an attack or two. Unfortunately a lot of methods to impose disadvantage are either soft controls or flagged for concentration (invisibility). Hence my lower than sky-blue rating. If anything imposes a disadvantage withotut rolling the dice or without using concentration, take it.

Circle of Power (5th Level Paladin Spell)- Concentration duration, but being one of the few ways to prevent damage completely from Constitution Save spells, and of course it affects all spells. Note that not all saving throws are spells though.

Mirror Image (2nd Level Wizard/Warlock/Sorcerer spell) - You waste a turn in combat casting this, but it adds a nice layer of protection until all of the duplicates are destroyed.

Blink (3rd Level Wizard/Sorcerer spell)– Similar to Mirror Image in value, due to the wasted turn, and overall less reliable. However, unlike Mirror Image, this will always work for the full minute duration while an opponent can just spend 3 turns popping your illusions with Mirror Image. Also, Blink will prevent all spell damage too (as long as it doesn’t affect the ethereal plane.)

Evasion/Shield Mastery - Evasion is really hard to get (and impossible if you want level 9 spells.) Shield Mastery on the other hand isn't - it's just not as good. The idea here is to avoid damage entirely from Dex save spells since even half-damage is going to impose a save on you. This would be sky blue if it was easier to obtain for the best controllers. It's definitely a nice perk for Arcane Tricksters and Rangers.

KaptainKrunch

May 22, 2015 12:08:03

No-Concentration Spells

Since spells without the concentration flag are the exception, not the rule, I figured it would be more helpful to include them in a separate section. While concentrating, you will always have actions you’ll be looking for things to do with. While throwing a fireball or saving your slots with a cantrip isn’t suboptimal, these spells allow you to stack in even more control with those actions.

If a spell in this section allows a save, I will be including the defense it targets in parenthesis after the class bracket.

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Cantrips

Minor Illusion (PHB) [Ba/So/Wi/Wa] – 5’ of illusion isn’t much space, but it’s enough to give you cover or otherwise block sight with some creativity. The main draw here over silent image is the no-concentration aspect.

Level 1 Spells

Charm Person (PHB) [Ba/Dr/Wi/Wa/So] (Wis) This is kind of a tricky spell for combat. On the one hand, it’s no concentration, and it has more than enough duration without any subsequent saves to make it better than Tasha’s hideous laughter as far as locking an enemy out. On the other hand, if combat has already started, they get advantage on the Wisdom throw, which in the earlier levels makes it not even worth trying. Complicating things further is the specificity of the target (only persons) and the fact that a lot of things have resistance to Charms. As such, this is a great social spell and a poor combat spell. Not a bad pick for a combat opener though (Magical Ambush.)

Color Spray (PHB) [Wi/So] At lower levels this is likely going to hit, but the duration makes it hardly worth it, in my opinion – at least not for the slot it eats. If you are certain you can take the enemies out in two rounds, this could save your party from taking any damage – and it gives your friends advantage on their attack rolls. But I kind of wonder if it’d be better to just throw out a Burning Hands spell and then have your friends clean up the scraps the normal way.

Earth Tremor (EE) [Ba/Dr/Wi/So] (Con) 10’ radius difficult terrain that might knock your enemies prone. Since it takes half your movement to get up from prone, if they fail their save they might be at a dead stop for one round, but the same thing applies to targets who fail their save against a Web spell. The biggest fault of this spell is the range – anyone casting it is going to be trapped in their own difficult terrain, which regardless if you’re melee or ranged is a bad thing. This is a Con save instead of a Dex or Str save, giving it the diversity option, but that’s really the only thing that makes this spell even a little worth considering.

Grease (PHB) [Wi] (Dex) The area of effect is a bit small, but the actual result is pretty potent. The save is made simply by entering the area, and could stop enemies dead in their tracks besides just being difficult terrain. What really helps Grease become a staple though is that it doesn’t have to compete with spells with the concentration flag.

Sleep (PHB) [Ba/So/Wi] – Oh boy Sleep. The damage on this doesn’t scale terribly well, meaning that it’s usefulness is at its peak at level 1, and it dips into relative worthlessness (Red) at about level 5 when you can cast better spells. So how good is it at level 1? Well, you’re pretty much guaranteed to sleep at least one creature of CR ¼ or lower. I really don’t like how it targets the weakest enemies first, and that’s really what makes this a dubious spell for me. Whether this is the best cast for the situation is contingent on the positioning of your enemies. It’s got a great AOE, so if your enemies are spread out this is definitely the best choice, but the average damage being 21.5, doling out this pseudo damage across multiple creatures is less effective than just dealing the 10.5 average straight damage against ALL of the same creatures with something like Burning hands (Keeping in mind that they have a chance to halve this damage.) Sleep is USUALLY better, but not ALWAYS better. I think sleep is good, and you should definitely grab it at level 1, but switch it out by level 5 (At which point Fireball is a better 3rd level cast – Hypnotic Pattern aside.)

Level 2 Spells

Blindness/Deafness (PHB) [Cl/Ba/So/Wi] (Con) This spell basically gets a free pass only because it’s no-concentration. Blindness is a great condition, and this becomes a multi-target spell from a level 3 slot and upwards. Thanks to Pyrotechnics though, this spell is a little outclassed when cast at level 2. Can anyone tell me what good “deafness” does in 5e? It says you autofail checks that require your ears, but the only thing I can think of that is covered by that is Stealth – and if you aren’t expecting someone to be sneaking around wouldn’t suddenly going deaf be a clue to start looking around?

Pyrotechnics (EE) [Ba/So/Wi] – (Con/Environmental Control) For the price of one memorization/spell known slot, you get two first level spells! Fog Cloud and Color Spray. Color spray will most certainly be better at lower levels (though this has a range advantage), but past level 7 or so this will be the better second level slot cast. With that said, my issue with Color Spray applies here – it’s just one round. Occasionally it’ll be useful though, so having two options makes the existence of a lesser option innocuous. Where this spell’s real value comes in is the ability to create a fog cloud without using concentration. The only thing keeping this from a sky blue rating is the need for an existing flame, but you ‘ve got a lot of options for that. Throwing a torch is the simplest approach, and one your party can tag-team with. Using Create Bonfire and quicken spell is an option for Sorcerers (though not ideal due to the Sorcery point cost.) My favorite option though is to put your fireball to good use – it says it lights things on fire, which before meant very little, but now that fire is a viable source for a control spell. You can technically firebolt something and light it up too, but that requires you to spend you action doing nothing but lighting the fire – so again, not ideal.

Level 3 Spells

Animate Dead (PHB) [Wi/Cl] – This is Blue for Necromancers. No concentration duration means that with a little preparation you can have 4 or more bodies useful for impeding your enemies that don’t require anything from you besides one of your slots every day to keep them around. Even at level 5 these creatures are a little weak though, and past level 10 (or against any dragon) they start to hit uselessness. Necromancers improve the longevity with a substantial HP increase, but against most legendary encounters you should probably leave your pets outside unless you plan on remaking your army.

Erupting Earth (EE) (Dex) [Dr/Wi/So] This is a ranged 20’ cube that creates permanent difficult terrain for the purposes of combat, and when scaled it deals better damage than fireball. If you’re in one of those situations where dealing damage is the best thing you can do, this is great. For two levels higher than grease though, it's a bit weak as a control.

Glyph of Warding (PHB) [Ba/Cl/Wi] – I was incredibly harsh on the symbol spells in my Guide to the Pathfinder Wizard because of the enormous expense involved. In 5e, the expense is much more reasonable, especially considering the fact that this basically behaves like an immobile contingency. The gold cost and casting time are still inhibitive, but with proper preparation this can turn impossible odds into a manageable effort. It would be really fun in some campaign to dump 2,000 gold on a party Cleric/Bard/Wizard, give him a fort, and tell him to prepare for a siege using this spell. The versatility of being able to attach ANY spell to a spell ward could let you design your own dungeon, and the added benefit that you can use concentration spells without actual concentration make this a very potent spell.

Magic Circle (PHB) [Cl/Pa/Wa/Wi] – All but the Warlock are prepared casters, and this is a prepared caster’s spell. The 100 gp cost per circle keeps this from being top notch, but the defenses are good and best of all, unlike protection from evil/good, this doesn’t use concentration.

Plant Growth (PHB)[Ba/Dr/Ra] – Creates a massive area of super difficult terrain. Seriously, this cuts movement by 75% instead of just half. You can also sculpt it however you like, meaning that any creature that isn’t flying can consider itself controlled. Also, this spell can make you money in agricultural development.

Tidal Wave (EE) [Dr/Wi] – (Dex) Damage and knocks enemies prone. I dunno, even for a damage spell it doesn’t seem that great and prone isn’t the world’s greatest condition. Considering also that this will have some severe friendly fire implications, your melee friends might not even be able to get there in time to get the advantage on their attacks, but it could slow down your targets to prevent them from cutting across difficult terrain you’ve set up (this does have very nice long range.)

Level 4 Spells

Ice Storm (PHB) [Dr/So/Wi] –(Dex) Damage isn’t that great, but it does cause difficult terrain making it technically an environment control. If your group is using Elemental Evil spells this is completely outclassed by Erupting Earth. The storm is pretty tall, meaning you could hit fliers with it, but that’s nothing terribly useful unless it actually knocked them out of the air.

Level 5 Spells

Bestow Curse (PHB) [Cl/Wi/Ba] – (Wis) Yeah I know this can be cast as a level 3 spell, but I think it’s a little unfair to look at it like that because I too wouldn’t bother with this spell at its lowest slot. This spell really comes into its own as a no-concentration 5th level spell (duration being just icing.) Touch range is a bit precarious, but with enough armor to survive melee, this gives you a fantastic thing to do with your action while you’ve got some other control or buff up. If this spell lands, the effect is extremely potent, and it’s only the single target factor that keeps me from rating it higher.

Contagion (PHB) [Cl/Dr] (Con) My interpretation of this spell is that the effect taking place after the enemy fails 3 saves – if your DM says it takes place immediately, this is gold and you can make him regret that decision. Waiting 3 to 5 turns for the effect is too long for most combats, but the effect here is phenomenal and the right disease will end combat against that target at least. Really the biggest detractor here for me is the touch range/single target factor. Since the effect takes hold on a to-hit roll and doesn’t require concentration though, if you know a combat could last longer than 5 rounds there’s no reason not to apply this. Something interesting about diseases – it’s not a condition and I can’t think of anything in the monster manual that is actually immune. So the Black rating here is assuming this is universally applicable to anyone but an immune Paladin, but if your DM takes a sensible houserule against giving Golems Slimy Death, this is probably purple or worse.

Hallucinatory Terrain (PHB) [Ba/Dr/Wa/Wi] Just 10 minutes could save you 100% on control spells and concentration effects. The 24 hour duration lets you set up a trap area for your enemies only limited by your imagination. Just be careful to create things that your enemies won’t stumble into and break the illusion and you’ll be able to pull the same wall effects and etc. that the other illusions can pull without the concentration. Or, you can put your illusion exactly where they will stumble into them, like over a pit.

Transmute Rock (EE) [Dr/Wi] – (Str) Apparently it takes a level 5 slot to duplicate Web without a need for concentration. It’s not just web though, it’s twice the size and it acts as super difficult terrain (need 4 feet of movement for each 1.) You do need a rocky ground to use this, making it slightly limited, but for a no concentration spell it’s otherwise superb. This needs an errata since it says the mud “remains there for the spell’s duration” but the duration is instant – which is obviously not the intended duration. Depending on how your DM houserules this, it could knock this spell down a rating, but if it lasts at least 5 rounds I think it’s at least a solid blue.

Level 6 Spells

Bones of the Earth (EE) [Dr] – (Dex/Str) Creates 6 pillars that can be used to block LOS. Though they are weak they will create permanent (until cleared) difficult terrain if destroyed. Put the pillars in a contiguous line, and it’s like an instant 30’ wall of stone. If you’re indoors you can restrain enemies like it was Evard’s Black Tentacles with selective spell. Comparing this to previous spells, it’s both unique and redundant, but the fact that it’s an instant duration – all effects permanent after cast – makes this one of the best environmental control memorizations you can have.

Create Undead (PHB) [Cl/Wa/Wi] Create and maintain up to 3 ghouls with a 6th level slot. HP-wise, ghouls aren’t an upgrade over Zombies, which means the primary benefit here is the DC 10 paralysis they can cause. That DC doesn’t justify the upgraded slot, in my opinion, but it is a little more cost effective to throw 3 ghouls into your army instead of upslotting Animate Dead. Again, this is blue for Necromancers.

Major Image (PHB) [Ba/So/Wi] Like Bestow Curse, this is best rated at the level which it becomes a no-concentration effect. This also becomes a permanent effect too. This has everything that makes Silent Image good and then some. For Illusionists, this is Gold.

Mass Suggestion (PHB) [Ba/So/Wi/Wa] (Wis) Get up to 12 creatures to do your bidding for 24 hours – no saves to escape this effect, and it only breaks when your friends or you deal damage, not anything else. Higher slots get you geas-like durations… This spell is incredible. The only thing keeping it from a gold rating is the Charm condition aspect.

Otiluke's Freezing Sphere (PHB) [Wi] (Dex) For damage this does 1d6 less than an upscaled fireball, but it does it to triple the area of effect. The control effect only applies when you’re in water, but it doesn’t look like there’s a save at all for the initial restraining effect. So, in a pirate campaign this is a blue option. It’s slightly circumstantial about how enemies have to be swimming on the surface of the water, that surfacing Kraken technically fits the bill and this doesn’t specify creature size. In spite of the fact that said Kraken could probably easily break the ice, it has to spend an action to do so.

Programmed Illusion (PHB) [Ba/Wi] For the purposes of combat, Major Image covers most of what you’d need, but if you happen to need an animated distraction or maybe you want to duplicate some of the benefits of Mislead, Programmed Illusion is the better cast. The area of effect of the programmed illusion is also slightly larger than Major Image.

Level 7 Spells

Divine Word (PHB) [Cl] Your low level schmuck control. The saving grace of this spell is that you can target as many creatures as you can see, letting you take out a horde of minions if you ever face them. I don’t really like how it allows a save and has HP requirements, but it’s way better than a scaled sleep spell and because of the AOE effect the added restrictions are reasonable.

Finger of Death (PHB) [So/Wa/Wi] (Con) Looking at this as a damage spell, for the level this is only weaker than disintegrate, but it has the advantage in that if the target saves, you still deal damage. But this isn’t a damage spell, it’s a method of growing your Zombie horde. If you kill a creature with this , the zombie you get is permanently under your control – not restricted by daily casting to reassert control or by some arbitrary horde limit. It’s through this spell that you can start your true zombie apocalypse – gaining up to 2 zombies a day. After about 10 years working at it, you should have enough! Like other Zombie creation spells, this is Blue for Necromancers, with the added note that it also makes a good self-healing spell using their first school ability.

Force Cage (PHB) [Ba/Wi/Wa] – One of the trinity of master control spells. If the target is smaller than a 10’ cube, you’ve got them trapped with no way to get out but a charisma save –assuming they can teleport in the first place. Larger creatures can also be fit into this cage, but if they have any way to fit through the bars that gives them one extra escape. This lockout is almost perfect, and totally worth the 1,500 gold entry fee.

Mirage Arcane (PHB) [Dr/Wi] – The summon holodeck spell. A strict upgrade to Hallucinatory Terrain, though the higher level slot helps keep the previous spell relevant. This “illusion” creates tactile sensation, so it’s basically a literal creation spell. If you have 10 minutes, you can have complete control over your terrain giving you unprecedented control over your enemies, if you can lure them into your trap that is.

BedlamBlade wrote:

KaptainKrunch

Jul 06, 2015 20:54:24

Direct Control Spells and Abilities by Saving Throw

No Save

Show

Level 1

Hex (PHB) [Wa] I’d probably turn my snooty controller elitist nose up at this spell if it were just a damage buff, but it’s not. It’s a no-save penalty to ability checks of your choice. My prime pick is strength, and then have your fighter or your Wizard’s Bigby’s Hand go in and hold them while you punch. Oh, and bonus action.

Hunter's Mark (PHB) [Ra] Excuse me while I turn my snooty controller elitist nose up at this spell. Though I will give it an extra star for helping you keep track of your target.

Level 2

Branding Smite (PHB) [Pa] – Makes invisible targets visible, and that’s it. The damage is even less than a normal divine strike using the same slot. Here’s a question, how do you hit with this when your target is invisible? This could be a lot more interesting, like if it worked similarly to Guiding Bolt or something, but it doesn’t.

Level 5 Spells

Banishing Smite (PHB) [Pa] – The capstone Paladin smite spell that banishes the enemy if they fall below 50 hp from the smite. By the time you get this spell, once the enemy hits 50 hp, you probably just want to finish them off.

Level 6 Spells

Otto's Irresistable Dance (PHB) [Ba/Wi] – While this control "just works" the target can technically take actions, making it less useful against casters or creatures with abilities (like the ability to breathe fire.) Another drawback is that it has a Charm Effect typing, but since the target has to spend an action to make their wisdom save to break it, for at least one round you’ll lock out a non-charm immune enemy of your choice, giving them disadvantage on dex saves for comboing with a partner (have your Sorcerer cast disintegrate – for instance), and it combos well with all party members thanks to the advantage on attack rolls.

Level 8 Spells

Maze (PHB) [Wi] One of the trinity of master control spells. No initial save, meaning this is at least a single turn lockout, but since it’s a DC 20 INT save to get out of this maze, they could be trapped for the entire 10 minutes if they are unlucky. That DC 20 is non-scalable, but it’s a point higher than you can achieve without magical items.

Power Word Stun (PHB) [Ba/So/Wa/Wi] 150 is a lot of HP, and stun is a fantastic debuff, so this is worth casting if you know the target’s HP. But that’s the problem, rules as written the DM won’t normally tell you that. If he does, this is probably Blue or even Sky Blue. Otherwise it’s just your guess. You’re guaranteed 1 round if you can land it, so it’s as good as any of the best control spells in the designated circumstance.

Class Abilities

Bend Luck (PHB) [Wild Mage Level 6] – The main attraction to playing a wild mage effectively increases your spell DC by 2, since you can use this after the dice is rolled (Though many DM’s won’t let you see the numeric result before making this decision.) Still, this takes no action, giving you unprecedented accuracy with direct controls.

Corona of Light (PHB) [Light Domain Cleric Level 14] – So this gives disadvantage on saving throws against two types of spells that deal damage, so this in turn requires us to look through what options are available to a 17th level Cleric that are also control spells. Oh… Just destructive wave. Chime in in the comments if you can think of others. This does seem to be at-will though so if there are nice controls that also deal fire or radiant damage that Clerics can get this could be up to a sky blue ability. Shame they don’t get sunburst.

Cutting Words (PHB) [Lore Bard 3rd Level] – Use your inspiration dice as a reaction to cut down an enemy’s roll. After level 10, this becomes better than using Shield as a spell for avoiding damage, and if you pick up something like Bigby’s Hand with Magical Secrets, you can cut their strength checks to resist grappling – just as an example of where the ability check factor will come in handy in combat. There is a flaw though – the creature has to be susceptible to charm effects.

Hurl through Hell (PHB) [Fiend Patron Warlock Level 14] – Take a creature out of combat guaranteed for one round. Also deals guaranteed damage to every creature type but fiend (it makes me laugh that it doesn’t exclude constructs.) Great capstone ability and one level before the Wizards get their Maze spell.

Maneuvering Attack (PHB) [Battlemaster Fighter Maneuver]- Lets a friend use their reaction to move. Positioning your friends Is as useful as positioning your enemies.

Portent (PHB) [Diviner level 2] – Lets you auto-succeed on direct controls against a single target -0 and can help mitigate the effects of saving throws that come your direction too. You’re generally going to want to roll lower than 7 on your dice, which between two dice means every morning you’ll have about a 57% chance of getting what you want, so every other day you can break a combat. The daily randomness is what keeps this from being gold, but since a bum roll like a 10 or 11 isn’t actually going to hurt you this is still a top tier ability. At level 14, you have about a 72% chance of getting a 7 or lower on at least one of your dice.

Totemic Attunement – Wolf (PHB) [Barbarian 14rd Level totem option] – As a Barb without Frenzy you have few options for your bonus action, so why not knock your enemy down with no save? The problem? Well, with your level 3 ability all your friends ALREADY get advantage on their attacks against the guy you’re standing next to, and you can just reckless attack to get it yourself. So basically this is just to halve your enemy’s movement speed for a round – which isn’t bad, especially for a free spammable power.

Warding Flare (PHB) [Light Domain Cleric Level 1] – Spend your reaction to cause disadvantage on attacks. This is pretty solid and could help you keep your concentration in a pinch.

TenaciousJ

Apr 13, 2015 8:48:54

It might be worth mentioning spells that like Telekinesis and Maximilian's Earthen Grasp that let you continually try to control even if they fail one attempt. These spells are great for longevity.

mellored

Apr 13, 2015 9:05:19

You should probably add disables under hard control. Stun, paralyze, ect...

Hermes_Trismegistus

Apr 13, 2015 10:04:10

Looks like a good start, KaptainKrunch. I look forward to seeing this guide evolve!

awaken_D_M_golem

Apr 13, 2015 14:33:09

KaptainKrunch wrote:

KaptainKrunch

Apr 13, 2015 19:16:40

TenaciousJ wrote:

#10

KaptainKrunch

Apr 13, 2015 20:05:05

mellored wrote:

#11

KaptainKrunch

Apr 14, 2015 2:05:45

awaken_D_M_golem wrote:

#12

mellored

Apr 14, 2015 6:40:45

KaptainKrunch wrote:

#13

KaptainKrunch

Apr 14, 2015 6:47:45

mellored wrote:

#14

KaptainKrunch

Apr 19, 2015 20:20:57

About half way through the spells now. Taking a little bit of a break. Hope to have this done by the end of April though.

#15

QwertyAzerty

Apr 20, 2015 7:53:57

Great work, maybe it's my unconditional love for sorcerer, but I think sorcerer should be sky blue.

Yes they lack some of the most powerfull control spell that the wizard/druid have access to. But he got metamagic. Like you said heighten spell is AWESOME, but twinned spell is also great.

think about it, all those single target control spell are now 2 targets spells (without the need to increase the spell level like Hold person allow to do) using a spell level 2 you can hold person 2 creature for 2 SP, (when the wizard need to wait level 5 and use a 3rd level slot for that) the sorcerer can banish 2 targets etc...

Not only about controled, but also for buffing your team: you can cast greater invisibility on 2 targets, you can cast haste on 2 players. isn't part of controlling the enemy is to channel them into attacking the fighter with 25AC and riposte ability, instead of the rogue, well greater invisibility both melee "striker" and the enemies are more likely to attack the fighter since the others are invisible.

Think about it, telekenisis 2 targets to restrain them and give them disvantage on dex save, then twinned disintegrate them. It costed you 11 sp and 1 spell level 5 and one level 6, but when done against the proper target it can be very useful.

#16

mellored

Apr 20, 2015 8:12:34

I would drop all the colors in the "don't get hit" and "mitigate concentraion check" down 1. Keep things more nutral.

Also, elemental absorbtion is a good spell. 1/2 damage from elemental attacks will cut down concentration checks a good bit.

Warding bond can be case on yourself. Depending on your bonuses, making 2 DC 10 saves could be easier then then making 1 DC 15 save. Or it might be harder.

(Reply to #15)

KaptainKrunch

QwertyAzerty wrote:

#18

KaptainKrunch

Apr 20, 2015 11:39:13

mellored wrote:

#19

mellored

Apr 20, 2015 12:01:38

KaptainKrunch wrote:

#20

KaptainKrunch

Apr 20, 2015 12:14:15

mellored wrote:

#21

ChrisKlink

Apr 20, 2015 14:35:29

I think Destructive Wave deserves a bump - or at least a mention that it's safe from friendly fire. I can see how it might not be the cream of the crop specifically within the context of "Controller," but I still think a huge (30-foot radius) prone effect plus no friendly fire can be pretty darn good in the right situation. - Not to mention the 10d6 worth of damage (which, to be fair, isn't really the purview of a Controller).

Also, you mention Pyrotechnics in a couple of spots, but don't actually have it in the spell list. (I know it's still WIP - just want to make sure it doesn't get missed. - I'm looking forward to your thoughts on it.)

(Reply to #21)

KaptainKrunch

ChrisKlink wrote:

#23

ChrisKlink

Apr 21, 2015 9:27:16

KaptainKrunch wrote:

#24

MurdochMan

Apr 21, 2015 13:15:16

Great guide! Just one minor ommision: Oath of Vengeance paladins also get access to Haste as an oath spell. Of course, they're probably also drawing a lot of hits, requiring concentration saves, and have a lot of competition for that concentration slot. Still worth noting in the list, though.

#25

KaptainKrunch

Apr 24, 2015 7:10:22

MurdochMan wrote:

#26

gignere

Apr 24, 2015 19:28:19

Thank you KaptainKrunch this is an awesome guide. I didn't see sleep and that seem kind of strange isn't that the no save control spell of choice at low levels this edition. Anyway I digress my main goal for posting is to attempt to defend animate objects spell. I don't think that it is nearly as bad as you think of the spell you just need a little preparation. Imagine you are carrying 10 nonmagical silver daggers, you toss them on the ground free action cast animate object and suddenly you have 10 flying creatures with blindsight, hover, +8 to hit that does 1d4 + 4 each, and a collective of 200 hps. I know that you aren't focus on damage but having 10 extra creatures surround your enemies can cause them to be stopped in their tracks. Would you move if you can potentially trigger 10 attack of opportunities?

At a minimum you will burn the target's action for the round if they want to maneuver. With the objects being silvered (and maybe a few sets with other materials to overcome different resistance) you can go through resistances that conjure animals and elementals can't overcome. Yes the duration is low but I haven't been in a fight that lasted 10 rounds yet in 5th E. Also with blindsight these babies can search out invisible and hidden creatures that animals and elementals would have problem even locating.

I think this spell deserves a bump in rating at a minimum, personally I think it is easily as useful as conjure elementals just under different circumstances. Need one big tank conjure elemental, if you need a small flying army that can overcome material resistance with blindsight animate objects would be my go to spell. The damage potential of this spell also blows all of the other similar level conjure spells out of the water. This spell can also be up cast to animate upwards of 18 objects all with their own move and attack actions and reactions. That is nuts you just destroyed the action economy of the game.

#27

KaptainKrunch

Apr 25, 2015 4:53:20

gignere wrote:

#28

KaptainKrunch

Apr 25, 2015 6:47:20

Everything is now up and hopefully in a state where it's easy enough to read.

Will be coming back to change the stars into colors and add spoiler tags to bite-size everything up a little bit.

Oh yes, and I'm sure I missed something here or there, so let me know if I did.

And of course, let me know if I was unfair to a favorite spell of yours - or too fair to a spell you hate - and I'll take another look at it.

#29

mellored

Apr 25, 2015 12:47:10

you provoke when leaving reach, whatever that may be. i'm not sure about the reach of tiny (away from book), but i would rule it's only when they leave the square.

#30

BedlamBlade

Apr 25, 2015 15:01:17

Mirage Arcane should be GOLD for Illusionists.

1) It doesn't offer any save, has a diameter of one mile, and lasts for 10 days

2) It can create walls and difficult terrain (or remove difficult terrain for allies) - this requires only one action for those with the

3) Malleable Illusion (lvl 6 specialist power) ability allows the illusionist to create these effects on the fly

4) One level after you can cast it, you can make parts of it real for 1 minute with the Illusory Reality specialist power

Few dungeons (or cities!) exceed one mile in diameter, so your illusionist is gonna be good to go for most of the crawl, if not all of it.

#31

KaptainKrunch

Apr 25, 2015 18:50:20

mellored wrote:

(Reply to #31)

gignere

KaptainKrunch wrote:

#33

KaptainKrunch

Apr 26, 2015 10:08:33

gignere wrote:

#34

Gruff_Ironfist

Apr 26, 2015 18:02:43

KaptainKrunch wrote:

#35

gignere

Apr 27, 2015 3:50:32

Deafness is useful to shut down monsters that uses echolocation as their sight, so probably effective against the blindsight of bats or other creatures that relies on hearing for their blindsight. Basically it allows the spell to create blindness to a wider range of creatures.

Also KaptainKrunch, I believe Phantasmal Force is a level 2 spell not level 1.

#36

KaptainKrunch

Apr 28, 2015 19:14:41

Gruff_Ironfist wrote:

#37

mrmay28

Apr 28, 2015 21:28:18

Great resource, thanks for doing this! I'm currently debating between an abjurer or druid controller for an upcoming campaign.

I noticed that you included Plant Growth in the concentration section -- actually, this spell is fire-and-forget! Combined with the huge area of effect and super-difficult terrain, I think this spell may be verging on gold for druid controllers. The only thing keeping it from being gold is the fact that it requires plants to work with. Also, Earth Tremor is a first level rather than second (though I still more-or-less agree with your rating).

As far as druids are concerned, how would you rate the land druid's Land's Stride ability? More effective use of difficult terrain seems like a boon to a controller, and depending on the DM's interpretation of "nonmagical difficult terrain", it may even apply to difficult terrain created e.g. by Plant Growth (since it's instantaneous and not persistently magical).

#38

KaptainKrunch

Apr 29, 2015 7:30:23

mrmay28 wrote: