Delayed Blast Fireball vs Meteor Swarm
A timed bomb vs. the level-9 nuke.
Delayed Blast Fireball
- Level
- 7
- School
- Evocation
- Casting Time
- Action
- Range
- 150 feet
- Components
- V, S, M
- Duration
- up to 1 Minute
- Concentration
- Yes
- Ritual
- No
- Classes
- Sorcerer, Wizard
A beam of yellow light flashes from you, then condenses at a chosen point within range as a glowing bead for the duration. When the spell ends, the bead explodes, and each creature in a 20- foot-radius Sphere centered on that point makes a Dexterity saving throw. A creature takes Fire damage equal to the total accumulated damage on a failed save or half as much damage on a succ
Full entry →Meteor Swarm
- Level
- 9
- School
- Evocation
- Casting Time
- Action
- Range
- 1 mile
- Components
- V, S
- Duration
- Instantaneous
- Concentration
- No
- Ritual
- No
- Classes
- Sorcerer, Wizard
Blazing orbs of fire plummet to the ground at four different points you can see within range. Each creature in a 40-foot-radius Sphere centered on each of those points makes a Dexterity saving throw. A creature takes 20d6 Fire damage and 20d6 Bludgeoning damage on a failed save or half as much damage on a successful one. A creature in the area of more than one fiery Sphere is a
Full entry →Which one should you pick?
- Pick Delayed Blast Fireball: Pick Delayed Blast Fireball when you can pre-position and have a save-DC trigger window.
- Pick Meteor Swarm: Pick Meteor Swarm when you need to delete an encounter — 40d6 across four 40-ft radius spheres.
- Tiebreaker: Wish + Simulacrum + Meteor Swarm is the classic chain; the math gets hilarious past level 17.