We’ll examine the cantrip Blade Ward that can be found in the Bard, Sorcerer, Warlock, and Wizard spell lists.

While it’s not a great cantrip, due to its reliability in causing damage, like lightning bolt, or the utility that comes from prestidigitation, it could be considered a bad decision.

Guidelines for Blade Ward, which can be found on page 218 of the Player’s Handbook, include:

Blade Ward 5e

Abjuration cantrip

Time to Cast 1 action

Range Self

Components: V, S

Duration 1 round

Your hands are stretched out while you make a shield in the skies.

From the moment you finish your next session, you’ll be able to stand up to the bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage that are caused by weapons.

According to these rules, the procedure is quite simple: you gain resistance to three kinds of physical harm.

There are some nuances that can be positive and negative. They need further study.

What is the reason? Blade Ward is not good?

The most significant and primary restriction on the spell comes because of the precision of its formula – be aware that resistance is a weapon-based ability that deals with damage kind.

If you experience bludgeoning, damaging, and slashing from any method different than weapons, it does absolutely nothing against it.

Most likely, the most famous image of the issue is the fall damage that is 1d6 bludgeoning injury for every 10 feet you fall, which can be 20d6 damage.

Spellcasters who wish to protect against this need to make use of the feather fall spell which will ignore any falling damage.

Hot Tip

When you have the quantity of hit points, chances of surviving the fall from any height (even in space!) because the mean of 20d6 is approximately 70 points of damage!

Other physical causes of harm are more rare and usually stem from nature-based causes such as falling boulders or incidents like catapults.

Another limitation to the power of spells is that it is the spell must be completed procedures to cast it..

It means that you cannot apply actions like Dash or Disengage, or use a spell to make an attack, etc.

If we look at the fields of ” the action economy,” we can see the reasons why this isn’t a great idea.

The typical D&D group consisting of four players (let’s take a look at the classic group consisting of Fighter, Rogue, Wizard, and Cleric) will be faced with an equal number of foes, including bandits.

In a full-on fight, every creature takes an opportunity to turn. This includes actions such as movements, actions, and bonus actions and responses.

Since they are the same numbers, the action economy is described as balanced.

However, the Wizard in this particular instance, uses their abilities for casting Blade Ward but they do nothing to assist their side in winning the fight.

Yes, it is true that the Wizard will be less likely to suffer injury whenever bandits strike them, but they’ll be taking only half of the damage.

If the bandits strike at fellow members, and the other members of the group (excluding the wizard due to them throwing Blade Ward) could attack the bandits, that’s three attacks resulting due to what the entire party against the bandits’ actions.

If the party isn’t much more powerful or armed than the bandits, the basic math suggests that they’ll probably be unable to win the contest.

In this manner, it will become evident that using your action to safeguard yourself is typically not the right approach to adopt.

However, there are certain circumstances that require caution, which I’ll discuss further down.

Also Read: 5e Point Buy D&D Guide : Everything You Need To Know

What makes Blade Ward Great?

At first glance, Blade Ward can only be useful in specific circumstances, for example, when you are trapped in danger by the presence of an animal or enemy.

It is possible to use this magical spell to protect yourself throughout this spell in the hope to escape or trust other members of the party to assist you.

As I explained in my previous article on action economy, these spells aren’t perfect, however they can help you combat a horrific situation, and isn’t too bad for only one round of fighting.

But, assigning one of your options of cantrips on something made to stop any mishap that might occur isn’t something you can justify as being an excellent idea.

The value of Blade Ward is apparent when it is utilized in conjunction with certain subclasses that can help to offset this decrease in effectiveness of the actions.

The first can be described as that of the Eldritch Knight Fighter subclass. Eldritch Knights are able to learn as well as cast a handful of magical spells from the Wizard spell list, but they can only cast spells from the abjuration and Evocation class of magic.

Luckily, Blade Ward is an abjuration spell. Therefore, it’s a great option.

The synergy is apparent when we study the 7th level of the Eldritch Knight’s game feature: War Magic.

This allows the Eldritch Knight to launch an attack which is a bonus when they are able to make use of this ability, the cantrip.

If you are facing a particularly challenging combat, it could be beneficial for an Eldritch Knight to focus on strengthening their defenses, rather than doing the greatest damage.

In this instance, casting Blade Ward can be extremely effective as it allows the Eldritch Knight to deal fewer harm, but strike at least one time each round.

The second comes from the Bladesinger Wizard subclass. At the level of 6, you can make use of a Bladesinger to attack twice due to the ability Extra Attack and can substitute one attack, allowing you to use a cantrip.

Similar to The Eldritch Knight above, allowing the Bladesinger to defend and attack at the same time. However, it’s slightly better as this is built on one move per turn instead of an action or bonus.

Final Words

When used often, Blade Ward is an unsuitable option for a cantrip.

If utilized in the right context and synergistically in a way which doesn’t negatively impact the financial aspects of the act, Blade Ward has its advantages, and should not be regarded as an undesirable option.