Bless is INSANE in D&D 5e! - Advanced Guide to Bless and Bane 

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"Damage now is better than damage later" Death is the ultimate CC.

0:24 Bless you!

I thought the sneeze was a mistake … until I realized it was not. Brilliant!

Honestly had no idea Bless was this good. Makes me glad I always open up combat with a casting of it

Rolling an extra dice feels so good AND each +1 is an extra 5% chance of success. It's 5e version of 3rd edition's haste. It such a good boost

Bless is one of my favorite spells, it so easy to cast, and yet it makes the whole party feel like gods!

I admit, this is one reason I like Grave Cleric: they don't have to choose between Bane and Bless because they get Bane automatically, so you just prepare bless. Then if you're in a situation where Bane would be the better choice, you can use it, but if that doesn't come up, you haven't wasted a spell slot on it. Then again, Grave Cleric is one of my favorite subclasses, so I don't really need more reasons to like it.

Banes usefulness grows as the party reaches higher levels and encounters more enemies with legendary resistance, assuming you have more than one caster in the party. Either they use their one of their very limited LRs on a 1st level spell or they become much more likely to fail some real save or suck spells and have to use their future LRs more quickly.

Bless is a great spell, and thanks to the fey touched feat, anyone can learn it!

I made a paladin with bless before. I would make some dialogue to hype my character up and would start round 1 by blessing the entire party to pretend my characters precence gave them confidence and hope.

Once my inner math demon reached to the outside world and I did some math about bless in comparison to haste and protection from energy. IMHO bless is just one of the best spells in the game, outperforming offensive spells in terms of added damage as well as defensive spells in terms of prevented damage. I even prefer bless over gift of alacrity with fey touched. It is just so simple, yet so effective.

Disregarding math, Bane is significantly worse purely because your DM _will_ forget to substract the dice from their results.

Gator snoring was the highlight of my day. Thanks!

Kobold your channel just keeps getting better. Bless you

I hope gator sticks around and doesn't leave to make his own channel

OMG, the timing! I'm playing a Cleric in a campaign, and because I was pummeled half-to-death in the last combat because I got involved in melee, I was thinking about casting Bless on the rest of the party during the combat in the next session and then simply getting out of melee range and dodging. After seeing your video I am absolutely going to do that now.

It's a running bit in my videos that Bless is the best damned first level spell in the game. I still stand by that. The numbers don't lie! It's so good!

[goes to skip the ad] "inspired by... Stormlight Archive" [unskips ad]

I was like "did dude really keep the sneeze in the video?" Then you did again and I was like "really my guy???!" And then I heard gator say bless you and I felt stupid 😭

Gator sounding like Big Bird when he’s asleep 😂

I was very much in the "more damage later is better" mindset for a long time, I think it took you talking about "damage now is better than damage later" in an earlier video to really snap me out of it.

Bless is good times. Bane is a spell slot you could be using on Bless.

We've been blessed with wisdom! Three years straight. 😎

gator: if you fail this concentration check, will you die? kobold: it would be extremely painful gator: you're a small guy kobold: for you

Thanks for the tips! This channel has made me way better in my current campaign.

I love that you are playing bagpipes in a Kvelertak t-shirt

Im under the weather too. Hope you feel better soon.

A 1st level Bard with Bane, Vicious Mockery, a couple of inspirations and total cover. May not have been the most optimal build, but was a heck of a lot of fun.

Bane, my favourite spell to use the material components for.

For some reason, the sneeze intro made me die

Ooh nice video, just started a new campaign as a cleric so this is great

Bless has come in clutch for me a few times in the Adventurers League games I attend, so yeah it is a very good spell! I like it!

Thank you for using percentage points correctly

I play a Homebrew class in one of my games that’s best described as a “non-magic support class.” My subclass gets Bless as a 7th level feature and it’s definitely worth the wait. Also, I refuse to believe Kobold is anything more than a series of PNGs, ending is non-canon.

My favourite video so far!

*actual bagpipe footage* It's about time

Did a whole bunch of math for my 3rd level players to see "who does the most damage" a while back and decided to show how much Bless adds. The cleric, who normally just does basic cantrip spam and nothing else, added a fat 6dpr to himself just from casting Bless on the three martials. They become the third highest "damage" dealer while retaining their utility, from the sheer power that Bless provided.

Honestly, if you ever feel like uploading more of just you playing the bagpipes... It's good in the background of your vids, I'd be really cool to hear it on its own.

Ive watched enough of your videos, to know commenting early is optimal to try to get top comment (bless doesnt help me with this ability check)

I had so much fun once with this spell. It was a lvl 3 oneshot, where I had a CL (kind of mutated hamster) chrono wizards 2/peace cleric 1. Except one cantrip I had no way to deal damage but together with the bond of peace cleric and I just watched my party demolish the enemy... The fun part was, that neither bless nor bond made a difference, as all rolls were either so abysmal, that even +8 would have done nothing or good enough to hit on their own. So basically my whole idea of buffing the party was obsolete that night.

What a face reveal! Bless is insanely good, I literally just made a build centered on it haha. Also I remember watching your original video on it and liking it, it helped me realize it's power way back. Thanks for that.

Another cool thing about Bless is targeting yourself as the caster of Bless. Since it's a concentration spell and it adds a d4 to Saves, it gives you better chances to maintain concentration as it's a Constitution Save.

I love these types of videos. Thank you.

I do agree that Bless is unquestionably the stronger of the two, but Bane can have its uses in combat if you've got an ally going right after you with a shut down ability. Fireball may not care all that much if the target succeeds or fails the save, but things like, say, Hypnotic Pattern or Stunning Strike *really* do. And while Bane does require a failed save to work, the fact that it's a Charisma save is a point in its favor, since most monsters do not have the greatest Charisma. That said, I will reiterate that, yes, I think Bless is definitely better, if only for the reliability and the boost to saving throws. Reliable save boosts are not super easy to come by, and is one of the reasons just having a Paladin in the party can dramatically increase the success rate of the group. And with regards to boosting saves, Bless on average is going to be like the Paladin having a +4 to +6 to their Charisma.

As someone who took the spell from Fey Touched as a Gloom Stalker STRanger I can perfectly say that's a gamechanger not for my character, but for the party too. Obviously I try to cast the spell just before combat starts, you know, to not waste the Dread Ambusher feature, but if for some reason a combat is taking too long or I can´t hit a target for any reason, casting it in combat also helps (once per day for free from the feat, or upcasting it).

Bless you, Kobold (and Gator)!

between adding to the party's damage and helping them keep from getting incapacitated or killed, arguably Bless is as good a use of your concentration as Spirit Guardians, good as the latter spell is. i use Bless more often with my cleric - in part because my party gets so excited for it!

Something you are overlooking with Bane, it can be cast while another character does bless.

Bless time Kobold

Bless your kind soul

I made a Dragonborn Conquest Paladin with Dragon Fear, Conquering Presence, Aura of Conquest, and Shield Master to frighten a whole area, reduce their speed to zero, knock them prone, and deal psychic damage. Bane is useful to keep them from succeeding any wisdom saves while the party kills or captures them.

Bless does what it says on the tin! My group recently fought a Bodak and Bless was crucial for both offense and saving throws.

Bless also gets better at higher levels because saves come up much more often with legendary actions, auras effects, lair actions and creatures save vs suck effects get worse. No one usually talks about those parts. And holy aura is so good too when it comes into the game.

One way to increase bane effectiveness is to make the saving throw succes a little worse. Like if the target succed, on his next attack or saving roll he must subtract a 1d4. If he fails the save, bane last for the entire duration of the spell or until removed with dispel magic (or remove curse).

As a cleric blessing is something I do a lot of, although up casting is rarely worth it - a balanced party rarely has more than 3 characters who really benefit from it. The saving throw bonus is nice, but ideally you want it on a paladin or warlock to help with dpr.

Bane is a very good spell for first tier bc its a multi target debuff that has a string debuff for the level. Subtracting anything can really save ppls lives and increase the dmg of ur save spells like toll of dead and sacred flame. Once u get 3rd level spells it is a waste of a prep tho, since u can prep better util spells and higher level spells will easily carry u even if u cant cast them as much.

Bless is my proof that any build not concentrating is suboptimal (which is fine). I often dip or choose my subclasses purely to get bless

As my group was going to fight a beholder, the cleric anounced he wanted to cast Bless as they were opening the door to start the fight. Upcast to get every party member but himself. The party completely demolished the encounter. Just demolished it. Bless both made attacks hit, but more importantly, allowed 5 extra saves from eyestalks rays that otherwise would have been failures.

Always keep Bless rolling on my paladin. Resilient con (16) too. Very handy.

Remember to Bless yourself as the caster, gonna help with those concentration checks 👍 probably skippable if you take War Caster feat, but otherwise I always include myself in the Bless targets

Whoa, bod reveal! :O

Bless you

Makes me seriously think about how strong the Peace Cleric’s Emboldening Bond is, basically bless but only once per turn but doesn’t require concentration.

You can also Bless the party just before initiating combat

"Sponsor time!": I sleep "Heavily inspired by Dragon Age and Stormlight Archive!": Real shit

A: Mind Sliver BA: Cartomancer: Bane.

Literally starting a D&D campaign later today as a cleric, so this is a well timed video :D

I was mulling over using enlarge on a monk to take advantage of buffing their damage on multiple attacks. I ended up deciding against by comparing to bless 1) most people value +1 to hit over +1 to damage 2) bless is 3 targets instead of 1 3) bless is lvl1 instead of lvl2 4) bless gives you a saving throw bonus

Surprise Dire Kobold at the end! I reject any reality where Kobold is human and substitute it with my own, as one should.! 😆

I would say it's a face reveal, but he looks exactly the same as he does in the video as he does in real life. Although, he must have taken the actor feat, as he mimicked gator's voice

I think the fact that Bane is a Cha Save is a good thing going for it. I might be wrong, but I feel like Cha Saves bonuses are fairly rare.

The other thing about Bane is that, while Bless will hopefully last on all targets for the duration of the combat, you're going to be taking out enemies over the course of that combat, and once you down one or more of the Baned enemies, that means you're getting less effect from the Bane over the course of the combat even if they all failed their save.

Great video. Thanks like always.

Reducing incoming damage reduces incoming damage. Increasing your damage increases your damage, AND reduces incoming damage via the dead condition.

OMG YOU ACTUALLY PLAY BAGPIPES, NOW I REALLY WISH I SAW THAT GIG

I always looked at damage first as the way to win most rpg combat. Of course depending on combat systems, but the classic statement is that the best defense is a good offense.

Bless is best hands down, but its not fun choosing the same spell over and over again if you have the choice. And if you use Bane and it effects your target, the to hit penalty is less useful especially against creatures with strong attack bonuses. But the penalty to saving throws are great, as DM curses you since the boss failed another saving throw due to bane and they have to use their legendary resistances sooner and faster.

Disintegrate is an escape spell. It destroys a Wall of Force or a Forcecage.

Be an alchemist/peace cleric multiclass now you get 3d4 to attacks and saves, combined with flash of genius and you never have to worry about enemy control spells ever again

9:55 Body/hair/bagpipe reveal (I didn't even know you had a real bagpipe)! 😲

Letsgo Bagpipes!

I just realized how _blessed_ I am that my neighbours don't practice bagpipes.

have used both in a party before with a bard and a cleric. cleric holds bless since they have durability, and bard is using bane, rest of the melee fighters are doing serious damage since on hit or on save since opponents fail both ways, same with attacks coming back.

Bane could be good with subtle spell and social situations

Bless at the start of combat is the only thing that can make my paladin consistently use a spell slot for something else than divine smite!

An upcast Bless in some kind of off loaded spell storing item is just really strong. Freeing up concentration for another strong spell is too good to pass up.

Bless is especially good because its not very contested on the paladin spell list until its not very relevant anymore (lv9 onward). So in a 4 man squad your paladin can always upcast bless to lv2 to get everyone and in bigger groups you can just focus on the characters doing a lot of attack rolls. But overall I'd put more value on bless's ability to help with saves because many classes especially early on can be hit with some debilitating stuff that could make them useless for a few rounds and/or force others to spend actions to save them.

Bless you!

OMG PACT ATTICS BODY REVEAL!

How I always looked at bless is that it gives you a bigger window in that you can hit an enemy, that being a 2.5 increase on the d20 meaning 12.5% chance to hit increase. So damage wise when cast on three people it gives overall a 12.5×3 potential damage increase(37.5%) as well as great defencive bonus to saving throws. Haste is a third level spell that gives one additional attack so when you get it at 5th level and you have a friend with polearm master you essentially give then a 4th attack so technically it is a 25% damage increase. It is not very accurate since you might be playing on a table where you get to have better stats or magic item bonuses so a bless might do less, but in my experience even at those tables benefits that bless gives you are invaluable.

Wow I knew Bless was a solid buff but didnt realize it was THAT strong. Worth using even as a low level paladin that really wants to save slots for smite as long as concentration isnt broken too early. In comparison Bane really feels lacking, would need to drop the concentration requirement or give it stronger short term sticking power to make it worth using outside RP reasons or specific multiturn setups. Even applying its -roll to its save to affect targets would help a little.

I think Bless and Bane get compared too closely to one another. Bane is not as good a spell as Bless overall, but they are not competing for the same niche. Bless buffs your party's attacks, but Bane buffs every single saving throw effect aimed at the target, not just spells. This includes BM manoeuvres, stunning strike, Swarmkeeper forced movement, a lot of the better damaging cantrips, and any traps/hazards on the battlefield. Bless doesn't help at all with that stuff. Also, they stack with each other. You can have one person Bless the party and another Bane the enemies.

bless you

My DM actually gave me a cool alternative to Bane he called "Karmic Balance", it's a 2nd level spell and it works better than Bane because you can take that d4 from anyone who fails the save and give it right to one of your allies.

I’ve always wanted to use Bane as an arcane trickster, it would just be harrowing to cast on enemies before the rest of the party ambushes the monsters.

One thing I will say about Bless: If your group uses a lot of rules that grant Advantage on Attack Rolls, or if your Party Members are already hitting 30+ on their Attack Rolls with even a small degree of regularity, Bless might not be a massive bonus. And out of Combat, you might not have time to brace for a Saving Throw, but if you do... I think that's what the Resistance Spell is for. As for Bane: It's actually pretty useful against Targets that have poor Charisma Saves, since they're likely to fail, and like you said: "Damage now, is better than damage later." And if your enemies can't get damage now, then they have to deal it later. Not to mention, it can help immensely with some combos. And don't forget: on average, it's effectively a +2.5 AC and Spell DC boost against all Enemies that fail the Save. Not great, but on a solo enemy, or if you plan on focusing on a different Target, I think there's a decent argument for Bane. And don't forget: If someone in the Party is already concentrating on Bless, you can concentrate on Bane (assuming nothing is more important in the moment).

👜+🪈+🐊 = yip yip

Bless is the most OP spell in dnd. I've been saying this for years. Forget Shield. Forget Silvery Barbs. Forget everything in all of DnD. Bless needs a nerf or ban. A big point here that wasn't mentioned enough was that it works on 'attacks'. Not just melee, not just ranged, but SPELL attacks as well and is VERY GOOD with spells that have multiple attacks like Eldritch Blast, Scorching Ray, Steel Wind Strike (each 'ray' or attack gets a +1d4). 12.5% for every attack and save for an entire encounter? Broken.

I used to think "muh Bane isn't that good because it requires a save to be failed unlike Bless which does the same in reverse as a buff", but with it being a Charisma save you'd be surprised how many enemies fail it - especially for my Cleric with the Amulet of the Devout +2. Put bane on 3 enemies and watch 'em miss + fail saves against other vital effects.