Poison Spray vs Shocking Grasp
Two melee cantrips with riders.
Poison Spray
- Level
- Cantrip
- School
- Necromancy
- Casting Time
- Action
- Range
- 30 feet
- Components
- V, S
- Duration
- Instantaneous
- Concentration
- No
- Ritual
- No
- Classes
- Druid, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard
You spray toxic mist at a creature within range. Make a ranged spell attack against the target. On a hit, the target takes 1d12 Poison damage.
Full entry →Shocking Grasp
- Level
- Cantrip
- School
- Evocation
- Casting Time
- Action
- Range
- Touch
- Components
- V, S
- Duration
- Instantaneous
- Concentration
- No
- Ritual
- No
- Classes
- Sorcerer, Wizard
Lightning springs from you to a creature that you try to touch. Make a melee spell attack against the target. On a hit, the target takes 1d8 Lightning damage, and it can't make Opportunity Attacks until the start of its next turn.
Full entry →Which one should you pick?
- Pick Poison Spray: Pick Shocking Grasp on a metal-armoured enemy — auto-reaction-blocking is huge against legendary monsters.
- Pick Shocking Grasp: Pick Poison Spray for a single high-die hit (2d12 at level 17), but watch for poison resistance.
- Tiebreaker: Shocking Grasp's "no reactions" rider is more often relevant than it looks — opportunity attacks, Shield, Counterspell all gone.