Elemental Bane: Resistance is Futile

Usable By: Artificer, Druid, Warlock, Wizard

Spell Level: 4

School: Transmutation

Casting Time: 1 action

Range: 90 feet

Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute

Components: V, S

Choose one creature you can see within range, and choose one of the following damage types: acid, cold, fire, lightning, or thunder. The target must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or be affected by the spell for its duration. The first time each turn the affected target takes damage of the chosen type, the target takes an extra 2d6 damage of that type. Moreover, the target loses any resistance to that damage type until the spell ends.

At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 5th level or higher, you can target one additional creature for each slot level above 4th. The creatures must be within 30 feet of each other when you target them.

Review by Sam West, Twitter: @CrierKobold

In all my years of playing 5th edition, I have not once seen somebody cast Elemental Bane. I’ve always wondered why. It SEEMS so nifty; it empowers all subsequent damage a creature would take against a specific damage type, and removes resistance. It's only a single save, meaning once a creature’s Baned, its Baned until you drop concentration. I think the unfortunate reality of Elemental Bane is when you’d want to cast it is so rare that it just never sees the light of day, ultimately becoming something for a handful of super niche builds and seeing no play anywhere else.

This is the kind of effect that will rarely work with your team; if you want the benefits, YOU need to commit to the damage type, and have ways to get more out of it. For it to really be worth the slot, you need to be getting 10d6 or more damage out of it. Hitting something FIVE times is an enormous ask; you basically are committed to spells like Scorching Ray to make it happen within the encounter, and even then you need to spend three rounds casting upper level spells to actually get enough damage out of this to make it justified. Then you’re left wondering if casting this and an up-cast Scorching Ray was worth it, or if you just should have cast two 4th level Scorching Rays?

Elemental Bane ends up being something you’d want if you’re committed to an elemental build (probably fire based) when specifically diving in to fight things of that type. It's a way your cool build can deal with damage resistant creatures, and specifically very large damage resistant creatures. Outside of that niche that nearly never happens, I’d just cast spells that deal the damage up front.

5e Spells

Elemental Bane: Resistance is Futile