Wizards as a concept have existed over hundreds of years, and they are the most renowned caster or D&D as well. With the ability to learn and expand their spell lists, wizards are the most versatile caster of all of them. They can adapt their list of spells according to any situation, as long as they either have the means to fund all that gold into scrolls or if they are willing to spend the time.
Here we have the best spells in each spell level that are without question, essential to have in a wizard’s repertoire.
Best Level 0 Wizard Spells (Cantrips)
Mage Hand is one of the spells that have been around a long time, and with good reason. The spell creates a hand made of force, and it can be directed according to the wizard’s will.
The hand can be used to open doors, lift small objects, it can move through the air. It basically can do anything a normal hand does, without the strength of a proper person behind it. The spell lasts a considerable amount of time and with it being a cantrip, you have infinite castings!
Second Best Level 0 Wizard Spell: Message
Message is our second best. The spell, as the name states, allows you to send a ‘message’ to a target, and only the target can hear it. They can in return whisper a reply back, only you can hear. The only requirement is that you need to point your finger at them, or walls and magical silence.
Why is this our second best? Message is basically like telepathy, and it can be a life-saver. You could send information to someone secretly without anyone knowing, communicate with your allies from a distance, freak poor bystanders out and more.
Best Level 1 Wizard Spells
One spell that will never, ever be useless, detect magic.
Simply as it states, detect magic allows the wizard to sense the magical auras within his range. As well as revealing what school of magic the aura belongs to. This spell is incredibly vital to any campaign, and it’s also amazing because it’s a ritual spell as well, which means you can cast it without expending spell slots through a ten minute ritual when you’ve the time.
This way, no magical items nor any spells around your person will escape your gaze.
Second Best Level 1 Wizard Spell: Mage Armor
This spell gives the target it’s cast on an AC (armor class) of base 13 + Dexterity Modifier, which means a total of +3 AC to the wizard, who mostly cannot wear any armor without penalties to their spellcasting.
It lasts 8 hours which means it’ll be more than enough for all encounters you face for the day, and it can also be cast on others in case they’ve lost their armor or for some reason cannot wear one.
A wizard needs every single point of AC they can possibly get without damaging their own skills, so mage armor is a wizard’s best friend.
Best Level 2 Wizard Spells
Ever wanted to vanish into thin air? This is how. While invisibility has its limits compared to its higher level counterpart, Greater Invisibility, this spell is another life-saver for a wizard.
For an hour, the target becomes invisible to the naked eye, as well as anything they are carrying. While they can still be heard, this spell can be incredibly useful to escape situations or espionage.
Second Best Level 2 Wizard Spell: Scorching Ray
Scorching Ray is one of the best damaging spells a wizard could get at this level. The starting point being 3 rays, each doing 2d6 damage, and allowing splitting them, this spell is one of the best evocation spells.
Why is it great? First of all, the damage. Secondly, for each ray the wizard gets to roll another ranged touch attack. At low levels it might be tough to land your spells on your enemy, but scorching ray allows you three chances to deal at least some damage.
Best Level 3 Wizard Spell
Again, one of the most vital spells a wizard must have in their repertoire. As the wizard of the party, you are likely going to be the go-to man for any magic related issues or topics. And one thing that you’ll need to do is get rid of magic, as much as you create it.
Dispel magic gets rid of spells lower than 3rd level on a target, and for every spell higher than level 3 you need to beat a DC of 10 + spell level.
Second Best Level 3 Wizard Spell: Haste
Might be seen as a questionable choice, but haste is one of the most important spells for a wizard to be able to either enhance themselves or one of their party members.
Haste virtually speeds up the target, giving them advantage on Dexterity checks, as well as +2 AC, and an extra action that can be used on hide, dash, use an object, and most importantly making an additional attack. Additional attack! It is unbelievable. The only downside is that it is a concentration spell, which means only one can be active at a time.
However! The additional ‘attack’ also means any spells that require the caster to roll an attack roll. For any and all casters, a second spell per turn is just too good to pass on.
Best Level 4 Wizard Spells
I couldn’t have not included this spell. Greater Invisibility works similar to its lower level counterpart when it comes to making someone invisible, however unlike the level 2 spell, it doesn’t end until its duration is up.
For one minute, anyone attacking a target with greater invisibility cast on them has disadvantage. And while sadly it is a concentration spell, this invisibility is not only good for escaping but also for making the odds of battle in your favor.
Second Best Level 4 Wizard Spell: Dimension Door
Short distance teleportation! Another very useful spell that can save your life in dire situations.
Dimension door allows the caster to teleport up to 500 ft to an unoccupied space that they can either see or visualize. The distance can be split between height and length, and the wizard can take a willing creature with them as well as any items they’re carrying.
Best Level 5 Wizard Spells
Missing a rope to climb up a wall? Forgot your keys to your house? You want to buy something, but do not have enough valuables?
Creation has your back. This spell uses Shadowfell energy to create matter that the wizard has enough knowledge on. They cannot be bigger than a 5-foot cube, and depending on what matter you choose to create (wood, stone, metal, valuable gems, adamantine) the duration the object persists changes.
Second Best Level 5 Wizard Spell: Cloudkill
A great spell to have in a wizard’s arsenal, cloudkill is an area spell that inflicts damage upon a failed constitution save and half on a success. 5d8 is the base damage for this spell.
It is useful for area control which means you can corner your enemies, and meanwhile kill them.
Best Level 6 Wizard Spells
Wizards are each other’s biggest foes at times, and the globe of invulnerability is a wonderful solution against the annoying caster slinging spells at you.
When cast spending a level 6 slot, the spell creates a 10ft globe around the caster, nullifying any magic that is level 5 or lower entering the area. It renders targeted or even area of effect spells, no matter what. Meanwhile the spells exiting the globe still keep their properties.
Second Best Level 6 Wizard Spell: True Seeing
As the name suggests, the true seeing spell grants its targets truesight, they can see all ethereal creatures within their field of sight (120ft). Not only that but it also shows any hidden doors shrouded through magic.
Obviously the truesight ability it grants is the best, and here’s why. Truesight allows the target to see through any and all kinds of darkness, see every invisible creature or object, and see through all illusions. Even those who shapechange and transform themselves through magic are not capable of fooling the target.
Best Level 7 Wizard Spells
This spell is the better version of the 4th level spell Dimension Door.
This spell can teleport you and 8 more willing creatures with you to a destination you have knowledge upon. Depending on how good this knowledge is, the teleportation’s success may vary.
But the extreme part of this spell and why we put it here is that there's no distance but your own mind’s limits. As long as your destination is on the same plane as you, you can show up elsewhere in an instant.
Second Best Level 7 Wizard Spell: Etherealness
The ultimate form of any type of invisibility spell unless used in battle, etherealness grants the caster incorporeal, ethereal form, shifting their existence one way into the ethereal plane.
For 8 hours you are shrouded from any gaze without true-seeing or truesight, and can move in any direction you want without worrying about solid objects. Traps, doors, locks, people mean nothing to you, there are no obstacles. You cannot interact with anything, but nothing can interact with you either.
Best Level 8 Wizard Spells
Telepathy is the utmost form of connection. With this spell, you can connect yourself telepathically to a willing creature for 24 hours, and can communicate words, sensory or emotional feelings, images, no matter where you or your linked friend are. Any creature with an intelligence score of at least 1 can be linked with, and can understand your words even if you do not speak the same language.
Second Best Level 8 Wizard Spell: Demiplane
This… is one of my favorite spells, and one of the most epic spells in 5e, in my opinion. Demiplane reveals the scope and strength of a high level wizard, with what it creates.
No spell or verbal components are needed. Through this spell you can create a 30-feet cube empty room, in a demi-plane. The room is empty, and the door remains in existence for 1 hour. Any object or creature left inside after the duration are trapped there, until you open up the door to this specific room once again.
You can open doors to others’ demiplanes if you have enough knowledge about them.
But why is creating an empty room worthy of giving second best place? Because first of all, no one can enter that room unless they know what is in it. You can keep prisoners in demiplanes. You can keep your most valuable artifacts and treasures in demiplanes. You can hide and live in a demiplane. You can have a storage, no, infinite storages you can have access to no matter where you are.
Best Level 9 Wizard Spells
Wish is no doubt the strongest spell in the D&D universe, and the most legendary. This spell virtually allows you to do,
Anything. And absolutely anything. You can use this spell to cast any other spells of 8th level or lower, or make your wildest dreams come true. Just… make sure to word your wish very, very well and without any loopholes.
Second Best Level 9 Wizard Spell: Time Stop
This immensely powerful spell stops time for everyone but you, for 1d4+1 turns that you take consecutively. The only terms this spell ends before its duration is up is when you affect anything else but yourself and your own objects or move more than 1.000 feet away from where you cast it. (You can still affect objects that are not worn or carried by another person freely.)
No one else can act during this time, so you are free to do whatever you want without any consequences. Talk about a lifesaver.
