Witch Bolt is worse than Hex + Eldritch Blast in every practical situation. 1d10 + 1d6 add up to 9 damage per round on average. That’s 23.4 damage over 4 rounds once you take the 65% hit rate into account, and costs 1 slot since Hex has no save….For an Eldritch Knight:
| Probability | Damage |
|---|---|
| 0.35³ × 0.65 | 6.5 |
| 0.35⁴ | 0 |
Is witch bolt any good?
Witch bolt is not very useful. It consumes your concentration and action each round in exchange for doing marginal damage that an enemy can escape just by moving 30 feet. Fights also are generally so short that the auto hit on subsequent rounds is less potent than you’d think.
How much damage does a witch bolt do?
It’s supposed to be Star Wars-style Force lightning, which is totally why this spell shows up on the warlock spell list. The problem is, dealing a guaranteed average of 6.5 damage per round is not nearly as good as it seems like it should be. For more on this, see below – it’s part of bringing all of the spell’s features together.
Which is more effective witch bolt or eldritch blast?
Bottom line: Eldritch Blast + Hex > Witch bolt in every situation where damage is your concern. With Witch Bolt this is too costly of an option for any serious Warlock to even begin to consider utilizing anyways, combine that with its lackluster damage after the initial cast (1d12 per round which also cannibalizes your action.
What’s the difference between witch bolt and Fire Bolt?
Witch bolt still has guaranteed damage going for it, though, so let’s break it down a little further. This is going to get mathy. I’ll be comparing witch bolt to fire bolt, for being a cantrip open to sorcerers and wizards that just kicks out damage.
Which is more effective witch bolt or longsword?
A single longsword attack deals the same average damage with a Strength modifier of only +2. Sure, the weapon attacks will miss X% of turns, but Witch Bolt will also miss X% of the time or less (ideally your weapon attack bonus is at least as high as your spell attack bonus.)
