Picking spells at any level can be nerve-wracking and it can get downright overwhelming if you can change up your spells every day. At first level the decision of what spells to take is one that many a player has labored over for days, wanting to pick just the right spells so that they can contribute to the party and survive to the next level. It’s not an easy task, and no matter what spells you end up taking, it never seems like the right combination. This is why we fall back on taking the same old spells every time, relying on the ‘classics’ and playing it safe. We don’t want to upset the party by not taking that spell that everyone takes, even though you know you’ll never use it.

This isn’t to say that some spells shouldn’t be no brainers. There are those spells that are just too good to pass up, and you’d be a fool not to take them. Does that mean you should take them at 1st level? Well, that all depends on a great many things, from your party composition to play style to personal preference. In short, there are no right or wrong spells to take.

So why not spend some time reviewing some of the 1st level spells found in the 5th edition books. Some are common spells everyone takes, others are overrated, and a few are criminally ignored. So, for your consideration, here is an outlook at 5th Edition’s 1st level spells.

Detect Magic

Casting time: 1 action (Ritual)

Range: Self

Components: V S

Duration: Concentration, up to 10 minutes

Classes: Artificer, Bard, Cleric, Druid, Fighter (Eldritch Knight), Paladin, Ranger, Rogue (Arcane Trickster), Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard

For the duration, you sense the presence of magic within 30 feet of you. If you sense magic in this way, you can use your action to see a faint aura around any visible creature or object in the area that bears magic, and you can learn its school of magic if any. The spell can penetrate most barriers but is blocked by 1 foot of stone, 1 inch of common metal, a thin sheet of lead, or 3 feet of wood or dirt.

I have seen this spell listed as the most important 1st level spell a caster should have to an afterthought spell, with people wondering why you would waste a spell slot preparing it. Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of this spell and see if we can come up with an answer for ourselves.

Detect Magic can be used as a scouting tool when traveling through a dungeon or as a way to find that magic items after you have slaughtered the bad guys. The greedy player can cast the spell in the city and use it on every NPC that strolls on by to see if they have anything worth stealing. No matter how you decide to use the spell, it has the ability to provide you with a heck of all more knowledge than you had before.

Being able to cast Detect Magic as a ritual is an added bonus for sure. Sure, it takes 10 minutes, but with a little prep, you can save that precious spell slot for something more important. A duration of 10 minutes is decent also, and while I wish it was more like an hour, it is a first level spell, so 10 minutes makes complete sense. I’m a greedy player so of course, I want more. That said, the spell is worth taking and worth taking early. It’s the best of all the 1st level utility spells.

Find Familiar

Casting time: 1 hour

Range: 10 feet

Components: V S M (10 gp worth of charcoal, incense, and herbs that must be consumed by fire in a brass brazier)

Duration: Instantaneous

Classes: Fighter (Eldritch Knight), Rogue (Arcane Trickster), Wizard

You gain the service of a familiar, a spirit that takes an animal form you choose: bat, cat, crab, frog (toad), hawk, lizard, octopus, owl, poisonous snake, fish (quipper), rat, raven, sea horse, spider, or weasel. Appearing in an unoccupied space within range, the familiar has the statistics of the chosen form, though it is a celestial, fey, or fiend (your choice) instead of a beast.

Your familiar acts independently of you, but it always obeys your commands. In combat, it rolls its own initiative and acts on its own turn. A familiar can’t attack, but it can take other actions as normal.

When the familiar drops to 0 hit points, it disappears, leaving behind no physical form. It reappears after you cast this spell again

While your familiar is within 100 feet of you, you can communicate with it telepathically. Additionally, as an action, you can see through your familiar’s eyes and hear what it hears until the start of your next turn, gaining the benefits of any special senses that the familiar has. During this time, you are deaf and blind with regard to your own senses.

As an action, you can temporarily dismiss your familiar. It disappears into a pocket dimension where it awaits your summons. Alternatively, you can dismiss it forever. As an action while it is temporarily dismissed, you can cause it to reappear in any unoccupied space within 30 feet of you.

You can’t have more than one familiar at a time. If you cast this spell while you already have a familiar, you instead cause it to adopt a new form. Choose one of the forms from the above list. Your familiar transforms into the chosen creature.

Finally, when you cast a spell with a range of touch, your familiar can deliver the spell as if it had cast the spell. Your familiar must be within 100 feet of you, and it must use its reaction to deliver the spell when you cast it. If the spell requires an attack roll, you use your attack modifier for the roll.

I gave serious thought to writing a solo article just on the Find Familiar spell. I’m not going to, but in doing so, I won’t be listing out the entire stat block for each of the potential familiars (there are numerous places to find this list on the internet if you need it). Instead, I’m going to focus on the general things that all familiars can do. Sure, some can fly, others can swim and pretty much everyone agrees that the Owl is the go-to familiar, but familiars as a group have a set of skills they can all do and should do whenever they can.

One thing no familiar can do is attack (I’m not counting Chain of the Pact Warlocks who give up one of their attacks so that their familiar can make on attack, using its reaction), but they can pretty much use every other action, depending on what you’re fighting and how creative you can get. The common refrain is that a familiar’s purpose is to gain advantage on one skill check or attack every round. That advantage isn’t limited to just the wizard. Providing advantage to your DPS party member, looking at you Mr. Barbarian, in the first round can make a huge difference in the end result of the battle, maybe even ending it before it begins. Rogues will have a new best friend when the Warlock uses the find familiar spell and summons an imp, sprite or quasit. But the help action is just one of many actions. Since we aren’t listing out the familiars with their stats and descriptions, let’s go through the list of actions and see what we can come up with.

Attack - As stated above, nope.

Cast a spell - Everyone knows familiars don’t have spellcasting abilities, but that doesn’t mean they can’t cast spells. Ok, they aren’t actually casting the spell, but they can deliver one. For a raven, that’s about as close to being a wizard as they are ever going to get.

Dash - Pretty straightforward. Helpful when you are in combat and you need someone to scout ahead to see if bad guy reinforcements are incoming.

Disengage - Again, straightforward, but it won’t be used much.

Dodge — Sure, but can’t see it being used unless you know shit is going south fast.

Grapple - The Player’s Handbook considers the Grapple and Shove as “special melee attacks”, so what I am proposing here is only for players who have that special breed of DM that is willing to bend the rules. First, make the argument that by allowing this you aren’t breaking the rules just bending them. Argue that a grapple in 5th edition isn’t truly an attack since there is no attack roll, but an ability check. How can making an ability check be considered an attack? It can’t, that’s how! Also, an attack roll implies that there is the potential for damage depending on if it hits. Since there is no damage that goes along with grapple, is it truly and attack? So, if you can get that to past muster, you can let hijinks ensue. You know what creature was made to grapple medium-size creatures? The Octopus. If you find yourself fighting small creatures, then things really get fun. Another eight-legged creature, the spider is available to grapple now. If you’re a Warlock, then you can RP your pretty little head off when your Imp grabs ahold of a kobold and it starts to cry. Sure, this is all for moot if your DM doesn’t allow it, so be convincing and roll high on your persuasion check.

Help - This is the big one. Move the familiar into position to grant you advantage on your attack roll, or have it tag alone when someone needs to make an ability check.

Hide - When things actually do go south, it’s time to hide (also see Dash)

Ready - Set up that next harassing action or time when the spell its holding is to be let loose.

Search - Sometimes in the heat of battle, you need that one object to defeat the BBEG but you have no idea where it is. Now is not the time to start poking around for that magical gem that you need to imprison the evil spirit. It sounds like a perfect job for your familiar while you are busy trying not to get your head bashed in.

Shove - See Grapple

Use an Object - The most common example of this is when you send your familiar off with a potion of healing and have it force it down the throat of a dead party member. You are only limited by your imagination when it comes to having your familiar use this as its action. We once had an owl drop a grenade on a group of creatures. Fun times.

The above list doesn’t begin to cover all the use for your new little friend. From having the raven scout ahead - don’t worry about writing for it to fly back, just use your action to dismiss it and have it reappear within 30 feet - to having your owl just sit peacefully on your shoulder, granting you 120 feet of darkvision, the things that a familiar brings to the table are many. The Find Familiar spell is a no brainer must have first level spell for the Wizard.

Illusory Script

Casting time: 1 minute (ritual)

Range: Touch

Components: S M (a lead-based in worth at least 10 gp, which the spell consumes)

Duration:10 days

Classes: Bard, Fighter (Eldritch Knight), Rogue (Arcane Trickster), Warlock, Wizard

You write on parchment, paper, or some other suitable writing material and imbue it with a potent illusion that lasts for the duration.

To you and any creatures you designate when you cast the spell, the writing appears normal, written in your hand, and conveys whatever meaning you intended when you wrote the text. To all others, the writing appears as if it were written in an unknown or magical script that is unintelligible. Alternatively, you can cause the writing to appear to be an entirely different message, written in a different hand and language, though the language must be one you know.

Should the spell be dispelled, the original script and the illusion both disappear.

A creature with truesight can read the hidden message.

Now let’s talk about a spell you should NOT take, Illusory Script. I know there are plenty of people out there that can come up with a reason that this spell is useful and should be taken. That said, those situations are almost always going to be situational. If you happen to find a scroll or a spellbook with Illusory Script within, then, by all means, go ahead and copy it into yours, but to take it when you level up is a waste.

A common misperception about Illusory Script is that it works like the psychic paper from Dr. Who. This paper appears to the reader as whatever the user wants them to see. It can be a badge, a will or maybe a writ of passage. This is not what the spell does, which is too bad cause psychic paper could have some legit uses in-game. How the spell is set up now, don’t bother as almost every other 1st level spell is more useful.

Shield

Casting time: 1 reaction

Range: Self

Components: V S

Duration: 1 round

Classes: Sorcerer, Wizard

An invisible barrier of magical force appears and protects you. Until the start of your next turn, you have a +5 bonus to AC, including against the triggering attack, and you take no damage from magic missile.

Making almost every list of best 1st level spells is the Shield spell. At lower levels, Shield is crucial to the survival of a wizard. When you can’t wear armor, +5 to your AC is huge. There are better buff spells out there that you can cast ahead of combat that have a longer effect time, but that means you know you’re heading into battle and actually being smart enough to cast the spell ahead of time.

What makes the Shield spell great is that it is a reactive spell, allowing you to sidestep an attack (hopefully) when it happens. Avoiding the hit allows you to disengage and run away on your next turn instead of dying. Let the barbarian go fight up close while you cast spells from a distance. Finally, there are not many ways to avoid being hit by the Magic Missile spell, so a first level spell that grants you immunity is not something to be overlooked.

Cure Wounds

Casting time: 1 reaction

Range: Touch

Components: V S

Duration: 1 round

Classes: Bard, Cleric, Druid, Paladin, Ranger

A creature you touch regains a number of hit points equal to 1d8 + your spellcasting ability modifier. This spell has no effect on undead or constructs.

At Higher Levels: When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 2nd level or higher, the healing increases by 1d8 for each slot level above 1st.

I only mention this spell since I play a lot of Cleric and god help you if you don’t take this spell. If there ever was a spell you HAVE to take as a cleric at the first level, this is it.

So there is the first pass at D&D 1st level spells. There are so many that I want to talk about what we may continue 1st level spells very soon. But for now, this will hopefully assist you in picking those ever so important 1st level spells.