FormerlyHemlock
Hero
In 5E, many of the classic (A)D&D spell combos have gone out the window due to the Concentration economy preventing buff stacking. This thread is for sharing any neat combos that you have found that still work. You can share high-power combos if you like, but my personal preference is for low-to-mid-level play and very efficient combos, so the ones I share will tend to be low-level. Also feel free to share combinations that involve skills and spell instead of just skills, like the old Hex + grapple/prone combo.
1.) Invisible Tank: Mage Armor isn't just for wizards. It turns out that if you cast Mage Armor on a summoned Air Elemental, it hits AC 18, better than an Earth Elemental--and it still does just as much damage as an Earth Elemental too and is waaay more mobile (e.g. can do grapple + fly + drop). Consider this as a way to use up first-level spell slots efficiently.
2.) Poor Man's Foresight: if you have a Planar Bound Earth Elemental (so, no concentration requirement), you can cast Darkness on a rock and give it to the earth elemental. Since it has Tremorsense, it will get advantage to hit any non-flying foes (unless they have a way to see through Darkness), and they will in turn have disadvantage to attack it.
3.) Shady Manipulator: Disguise Self takes no concentration, so you can disguise yourself and then give Suggestions without anyone ever knowing who is really responsible. Can be used in military situations (transform into a hobgoblin captain and then find a squad leader and gently "suggest" that he guard a different gate) or in social situations (transform into Duke Cupcake and "suggest" to the king that he deny Old Waldorf's request for a mining permit--once the suggestion wears off, the king will blame Cupcake for enchanting him!).
4.) Immortal Puppeteer: Magic Jar was once a great spell for possessing puppets and making them fight to the death on your behalf, but in 5E, when your puppet dies, so do you, unless you make a Charisma save against your own spell DC! Sounds risky, no? Even with a Clone spell. However, Death Ward protects you against the first drop-to-0-HP or instant death effect that you suffer during the next 8 hours, and it takes no concentration. Get a Cleric to Death Ward you (or do it to yourself using Wish), and then you get a Get-out-of-jail-free card for a failed Magic Jar save and can possess one victim with relatively little fear of sudden complications. Note that according to the spell text, you don't actually assume the victim's HP, so Death Ward won't activate to prevent the victim from dropping to 0 HP in the first place--it will simply protect you against a failed save. (Subject to DM adjudication, etc., etc.)
Feel free to comment on these suggestions, but what I'm really hoping for from y'all is new and better ideas for combos that use Concentration efficiently.
1.) Invisible Tank: Mage Armor isn't just for wizards. It turns out that if you cast Mage Armor on a summoned Air Elemental, it hits AC 18, better than an Earth Elemental--and it still does just as much damage as an Earth Elemental too and is waaay more mobile (e.g. can do grapple + fly + drop). Consider this as a way to use up first-level spell slots efficiently.
2.) Poor Man's Foresight: if you have a Planar Bound Earth Elemental (so, no concentration requirement), you can cast Darkness on a rock and give it to the earth elemental. Since it has Tremorsense, it will get advantage to hit any non-flying foes (unless they have a way to see through Darkness), and they will in turn have disadvantage to attack it.
3.) Shady Manipulator: Disguise Self takes no concentration, so you can disguise yourself and then give Suggestions without anyone ever knowing who is really responsible. Can be used in military situations (transform into a hobgoblin captain and then find a squad leader and gently "suggest" that he guard a different gate) or in social situations (transform into Duke Cupcake and "suggest" to the king that he deny Old Waldorf's request for a mining permit--once the suggestion wears off, the king will blame Cupcake for enchanting him!).
4.) Immortal Puppeteer: Magic Jar was once a great spell for possessing puppets and making them fight to the death on your behalf, but in 5E, when your puppet dies, so do you, unless you make a Charisma save against your own spell DC! Sounds risky, no? Even with a Clone spell. However, Death Ward protects you against the first drop-to-0-HP or instant death effect that you suffer during the next 8 hours, and it takes no concentration. Get a Cleric to Death Ward you (or do it to yourself using Wish), and then you get a Get-out-of-jail-free card for a failed Magic Jar save and can possess one victim with relatively little fear of sudden complications. Note that according to the spell text, you don't actually assume the victim's HP, so Death Ward won't activate to prevent the victim from dropping to 0 HP in the first place--it will simply protect you against a failed save. (Subject to DM adjudication, etc., etc.)
Feel free to comment on these suggestions, but what I'm really hoping for from y'all is new and better ideas for combos that use Concentration efficiently.
