Fire Bolt: Kill It with Fire

Usable By: Artificer, Sorcerer, Wizard

Spell Level: 0 (cantrip)

School: Evocation

Casting Time: 1 Action

Range: 120 feet

Duration: Instantaneous

Components: V, S

You hurl a mote of fire at a creature or object within range. Make a ranged spell attack against the target. On a hit, the target takes 1d10 fire damage. A flammable object hit by this spell ignites if it isn't being worn or carried.

This spell's damage increases by 1d10 when you reach 5th level (2d10), 11th level (3d10), and 17th level (4d10).

Review by Sam West, Twitter: @CrierKobold

I’m a sucker for the devil infused anti-hero archetype. Something about turning the fires of hell on to evil-doers satisfies that edgelord in me I try to bury deep down. As boring as it is, Firebolt does a good enough job at giving me something to blast with early in the game to satisfy the hell-spawn fantasy, but that’s really the only time you’ll throw it out.

Mechanically the isolated interesting element of the spell is its range. It and Eldritch Blast share a lot of common ground, namely their range and damage dice. Why both are great options to have for a fall back damaging cantrip is their range. On basically every battle map, you’re going to be in range of whatever you want to hit. Creatures with 30 ft. speeds have to dash twice to get to you if they’re staring you down across a blank field at this range. While there will be almost no battlemaps where this will actually occur, in a vacuum, it's a meaningful upside.

Beyond that, 1d10 damage is about as much average damage as a shortbow wielder is dealing with a way lower damage floor. If you ever hit a creature with a Firebolt and deal 1 point of fire damage you’ll feel like you basically wasted your turn. Things that deal a minimum of 3 or 4 tend to feel tons better to use early, as smaller creatures with less total hit points are getting felled occasionally by those small amounts. One point of damage rarely is the difference between killing and annoying even the lowest CR creatures.

At the end of it all I find the damaging cantrips you can’t really build around more or less uncastable. I’d almost always rather have a +2 Dex and a shortbow if it's an option. If you’re married to taking a damaging cantrip, Firebolt is about as much as you can ask for out of the PHB options outside, and something you can expect will rarely to never get cast at higher tiers when you can instead expend one of the ample amounts of lower level slots at your disposal. Outside the PHB, options like Create Bonfire and Mind Spike come with neat utility alongside mediocre damage, making them far more appealing. If all you want is damage, or are in the market to be the fire mage, Firebolt will suffice.

5e Spells

Fire Bolt: Kill It with Fire