It can be a lot of fun to play a spellcaster in Dungeons and Dragons, and cantrips are a great tool that you’ll need to use. Plus, cantrips aren’t limited to spellcasters, since you might be able to learn them from racial abilities or feats, too. The best part about cantrips is that they don’t use a spell slot when you cast one, meaning they’re generally a safe option if you’re not sure about an enemy’s vulnerabilities. They vary a lot in what they can do, and you might find unexpected ways to make the most out of their limited power in situations that require creative problem-solving.
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Cantrips can lead to unexpected and creative solutions to problems, and keep open other spell options since you don’t need to use a spell slot to cast them. Because of their potential, it’s useful to read through spell descriptions carefully—for all spells, not just cantrips—so that you can use them to their fullest extent. With that in mind, here are the 10 best cantrips in D&D that you should be using.
10. Light is a Magical Torch
Light is a good utility cantrip, especially if you have party members without darkvision. It’s basically a magic torch, as the object you cast Light on will then emit a radius of Light for the spell’s duration. Naturally, the downside is that a lot of players pick race options with darkvision, or have alternative methods to acquire darkvision, such as the Darkvision spell or Goggles of Night.
A fun use for Light is as a way to keep track of an enemy if you end up pursuing them. You can cast it on an item or object that another creature is holding or wearing, and they need to make a Dexterity throw to avoid it. If you succeed, you basically have a beacon on them that helps you stay on their trail.
9. Guidance is an Early-Game Savior
Guidance is a great tool to have throughout a campaign, but especially in the early levels of your journey. When used, Guidance lets a creature roll an extra 1d4 and add the number to their roll. It doesn’t seem like much, but sometimes you only miss the threshold by 1, and Guidance can reduce the number of times that happens. Considering that Dungeons and Dragons relies on teamwork if you want to tackle challenges with your party and make it to the other side alive, having a member with Guidance to help everybody can be the difference between passing and failing an important roll.
8. Mending Fixes Broken Items (Sometimes)
Mending lets you fix a break or tear in an object that you touch, but it can’t restore magic to a broken magical item. At a glance, it might not seem like a useful ability, but it can actually be a lifesaver. Aside from helping your party keep appearances by repairing clothing, you can also mend items such as broken keys if you have all the pieces for it. You never know when you might find the tool you need for a task, but end up breaking it. In those situations, Mending is the perfect spell to have.
7. Fire Bolt is a Classic Damage Option
With a distance of 120 feet, you can shoot a Fire Bolt that’s able to do 1d10 damage at first, but increases up to 4d10 by Level 17. If you don’t have a lot of spell slots left, or you want to save your spell slots for utility and healing options, Fire Bolt is a solid option to take as the action for your turn. You can also use this cantrip to become a complete menace, since flammable objects that aren’t worn or carried will ignite if hit with Fire Bolt, meaning you could cause a lot of problems if the enemies happen to have gunpowder or oil nearby.
6. Prestidigitation Might Be the Perfect Distraction
You can’t deal damage with Prestidigitation, but you can perform minor magical tricks with the potential for big effects. Possible effects include lighting or snuffing out candles, heating, warming, or flavoring non-living material, cleaning or dirtying objects, and creating sensory effects like faint music or a bit of wind. You only have a range of 10 feet, but that can be enough to get a guard to look the other way, or leave to search for the source of a sound you made them hear in another direction. It’s the perfect cantrip to get creative with, since it’s so versatile in what effects you can create with it.
5. Message Sends Quiet Information
Message lets you send a message to a creature up to 120 feet away, as long as there aren’t barriers like magical silence, one foot of stone, one inch of metal, or three feet of wood blocking them. You also need to be familiar with the creature you use the spell on, but nobody else will be able to hear the message, and the creature can reply in a whisper that only you can hear. If your party or only a few members of it get in a tough situation, Message can be the perfect way to plan your next steps, or just keep everybody on the same page. After all, communication is important.
4. Mage Hand Is a Classic Utility Cantrip
For one minute, you have a floating, spectral hand with a range of 30 feet. It can’t attack, activate magic items, or lift more than 10 pounds, but it can open or close objects, store or retrieve items, and manipulate items, as long as they don’t pass its weight limit. It’s also possible to have an invisible Mage Hand, depending on your class. This means that you can stealthily grab items, handle light items that could be dangerous if you’re too close to them, or grab an item that’s out of your normal reach. Mage Hand is the kind of spell that’s only limited by how creative you can get with it.
3. Chill Touch Stops Healing
Regeneration of any kind makes enemies annoying to fight, but Chill Touch can help with that. Chill Touch doesn’t have high damage potential, but its utility more than makes up for that. On a hit, enemies take 1d8 necrotic damage and can’t regain hit points until the start of your next turn. So, in exchange for casting a higher damage spell, you can use Chill Touch on an enemy that keeps healing to give your party a chance to kill them before your next turn.
2. Spare the Dying Saves Lives
Magically stabilize your allies with the help of Spare the Dying. From the Artificer and Cleric lists, you can use this cantrip to touch a creature with 0 hit points to stabilize them, meaning they no longer need to make death saves. Even if you aren’t the party’s healer, it’s great to have Spare the Dying when you can grab it, since the healer might not always be in a position to save a downed ally. This lets you help take a bit of the burden from them, buying extra time to help somebody by removing the threat of death saves.
1. Eldritch Blast Is Worth Your Soul
Exclusive to Warlocks, Eldritch Blast has the same base damage potential as Fire Bolt. However, it’s the Eldritch Invocations that make it the best cantrip. Eldritch Invocations are basically Eldritch Blast upgrades, but not all of them require you to use the cantrip to gain the effect. Some options for invocations include Agonizing blast, which lets you add your Charisma modifier to your damage when you hit with Eldritch Blast; Eldritch Spear, which increases its range to 300 feet; and Grasp of Hadar, which lets you pull an enemy 10 feet closer to you when you hit them with Eldritch Blast. These are far from your only options, but they give you a glimpse at how powerful this cantrip can be.
Cantrips aren’t as flashy as other spells, and they often don’t deal as much damage. However, they can be powerful tools depending on how you use them. If you’re not sure which ones to take, then hopefully this list can give you some ideas.
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