If you’ve ever wanted to get magical powers without the hassle of actually learning magic and with little to no downside (except maybe selling your soul) then becoming a warlock is the path for you. Warlocks combine the magic of sorcerers with the guidance of a cleric's god, minus the requirements to be good all of the time. Becoming a warlock is simple, just make a pact with a powerful other-worldly being such as a fiend, an Arch fey, or an eldritch deity, and they will gift you with magical abilities beyond your wildest dreams (you just might have to sacrifice a friend or two along the way in their honor). 

But with a list of over 136 spells to choose from, and that’s not including bonus spells you can get from your patron or race choice, it can be hard to narrow down which spells will work the best for your warlock. So here to help is an easy list of the top 3 spells, in my opinion, per warlock spell level including cantrips. 

Best Warlock Cantrips: 

Best: Eldritch Blast (Cantrip)

 This is the classic warlock spell. It is a cantrip which means you can cast it an unlimited number of times. If your warlock doesn’t have eldritch blast listed first on your spell sheet are you even playing a warlock? When your warlock casts eldritch blast a burst of energy comes from their hand and you will make a ranged attack roll. If you hit you do 1d10 of force damage.

• This is one of the only cantrips that warlocks can take that will consistently cause damage to opponents without using spell slots. As a warlock one downside is you have less spell slots than other magic classes, so having this in your arsenal is a must. 
• When you become a higher level warlock you get more beams of energy to fire in one turn. This means you can go from doing 1d10 of force damage to a target a round to 4d10 damage to up to 4 targets a round. 
• This cantrip has several bonuses you can add on at later levels that make it an incredibly powerful resource to have on your side. 

Second Best: Prestidigitation (Cantrip)

Prestidigitation is more than just a hard word to pronounce, it is also a very helpful cantrip for any magic user to have. This cantrip has a variety of uses, including lighting or snuffing out small flames, cleaning or soiling an object, create a sensory effect, among other things. 

• This cantrip in particular is very handy for after battles, infection and sickness is nothing to play around with even in the world of Dungeons and Dragons. This cantrip allows you to instantly clean armor, clothes, and any object in a 1 cubic foot space, keeping you and your party healthy. 
• When still a low level party having a quick and easy way to distract your opponents that doesn’t burn up a spell slot is a must. Imagine smelling something foul when you are trying to focus on an attack, it would be hard! 
• If you are doing a more traditional dungeon crawl style game one key ability of prestidigitation is incredibly helpful, you can make a small mark, color, or symbol appear on an object such as a wall or stone. This can help you keep track of where you’ve been in case you have a tricky Dungeon Master who would try to trick your party into looping back around. 

Third Best: Green-Flame Blade (Cantrip)

I mentioned earlier that there aren’t many warlock cantrips that can cause damage other than eldritch blast, well this is one of them. When making a melee attack with your chosen weapon for this spell if you successfully hit your target you do your normal weapon damage and you then cause green flames to jump onto a different creature that is within 5 feet of it doing fire damage equal to your charisma modifier. 

• Being able to have consistent spells that you can use to defend yourself is absolutely key to survival in Dungeons and Dragons. This cantrip allows you to do damage each round without taking away from your very few spell slots. 
• Because you are attacking with a weapon, using this spell actually lets you do damage to more than one target at a time, which can save your character some death throws of their own. 
• The higher warlock level you have the better this cantrip gets. At 5th level you now get to cause fire damage to the target you attack with a weapon and the fire damage to the second target increases. 
• Spells like this allow for some creative freedom on the player and dungeon master’s end. If your character has an affinity for ice rather than fire your DM may be willing to let you change the flame sword to an ice sword and fire damage to cold. 

Best Level 1 Warlock Spells: 

Best: Armor of Agathys (Level 1)

Defense is also incredibly important as a magic caster because often times you won’t get to wear heavy armor for safety. This 1st level spell provides a temporary buffer against damage. Frost covers you and your character, and you are given 5 temporary hit points. 

• As a bonus, if a creature hits you while you have these temporary hit points they will take 5 cold damage. Another easy way to damage your enemies! 
• If you cast this at a spell slot higher than first level you will get 5 more temporary hit points per level above first. 
• Though this doesn’t make you harder to hit it does add an extra layer of protection to your magic user as they aren’t the toughest builds usually. 

Second Best: Hex (Level 1)

Just as the name implies hex is a curse you cast on another creature you can see within 90 feet. Until the spell ends or the curse is dropped when you hit the cursed target they will take an additional 1d6 of necrotic damage. 

• This spell is cast as a bonus action. That means you can cast this spell, then attack your target to cause extra damage. The more damage you can do on your turn the better. 
• This spell requires concentration, which means that you have to maintain your focus on cursing your target. If you can maintain concentration for the duration of the spell the target can be hexed for an hour. This is helpful because this curse lasts longer than most other spells. 
• If you can hold your concentration for the curse the only way to get rid of it is for someone to cast the remove curse spell. This means this is a great spell to use against opponents who are not magic users. 
• If your target dies while you are still concentrating on the spell you can use a bonus action to move the curse to a different target. You do have to cast the spell again but this means you can continue to make your opponents easier to attack. 
• You can choose an ability when you cast the spell, such as dexterity, and until the spell drops the target has disadvantage on saves using that ability. This helps your party by allowing effects from multiple party members to stack. 

Third Best: Arms of Hadar (Level 1)

This is an extremely offensive spell (as in use it for offense not defense) as it will affect not only your enemies but your allies in 10 foot sphere around you. Dark energy in the shape of tendrils or tentacles shoot out of you and strike at anyone in a 10 foot radius of you. The creatures must make a strength saving throw and if they fail they take 2d6 necrotic damage and lose the ability to take reactions until its next turn. On a success it only takes 1d6 necrotic damage. 

• This spell is usually flavored that it throws those who are hit with it away from you. This puts space between you and the enemies to give you some breathing room. 
• When you cast this spell at a higher level it does more damage, meaning that the encounter will end faster and you can recover your spell slots. Because warlocks have less spell slots they make up for it by getting all of their spell slots back on a short rest versus a long rest. 
• Depending on your DM, this can be used to help intimidate opponents at lower levels than you. Imagine seeing a 7 foot tall purple devil with black glowing tendrils flowing from their body, wouldn’t you be frightened?

Best Level 2 Warlock Spells:  

Best: Shatter (Level 2)

You select a 10 foot area within your field of vision, up to 60 feet away, and cast this spell causing a booming sound of thunder to rumble in the air. All creatures, allies and enemies, within the 10 foot sphere must make a constitution saving throw. If they fail they will take 3d8 of thunder damage, and if they successfully save they will only take half of the damage. 

• The higher level you cast this spell at the more damage it causes. 1d8 more per spell slot above second level that is used. The more damage you cause the quicker you can dispatch your enemies, but be careful with this spell because it can harm your allies as well. 
• With this spell in particular it can work extremely well against things like constructs or any creature that may be made of inorganic material (think metals or stone). With Shatter any creature made of inorganic material has disadvantage on their saving throw, making them more likely to fail and take more damage. 
• A unique way to use this spell that causes it to be the best second level warlock spell is that Shatter can damage any non-magical object that isnt worn or carried. Meaning if there is a brick wall between you and where you need to be, you can cast Shatter and actually damage the wall causing it to crumble and making a straight path to where you need to go.

Second Best:  Misty Step (Level 2)

Stuck in a dangerous spot with no sight of help coming? Having Misty Step in your list of spells may just save your character’s life. When you cast Misty Step a soft mist covers you character and you teleport to an open space up to 30 feet away. 

• The advantages to having and using this spell are very easy to see, you can literally disappear into thin air to escape your enemies bearing down on you, meaning you very well may have escaped death.
• Another advantage to this spell that isnt often talked about is avoiding fall damage. If you are falling from the top of the building or cliff and you can see the ground approaching you can cast misty step to appear safely on the ground rather than crashing onto it. 
• Almost the reverse of the last, you can actually misty step into the air. Now I dont suggest this technique unless you can fly or have a way to not come crashing to the ground yourself but midfight you can misty step to 30 feet above your enemies head and drop a heavy rock or some other improvised weapon onto them. This keep combat interesting for both you and your party.

Third Best: Darkness (Level 2)

Move under the shadow of darkness to help pass by your enemies or even hide a treasured item. When you cast darkness for 10 minutes a 15 foot sphere appears centering on the spot or object of your choice, in this sphere and looking at the sphere from the outside it is completely black, there is no light. 

• One of the big advantages of this spell is this is magical darkness. This means that those with regular darkvision cannot see through this darkness like they might with non-magical darkness. This evens the playing field between the more human/humanoid races and the magical ones. (Note: those with Devil’s Sight or True Sight will be unaffected by this spell.)
• Besides those in the affected area not being able to see, no light that is considered non-magical can break through it, meaning a flashlight isnt going to help you here. In order to dispel this darkness you would need a spell that sheds light, so if your opponents cant use magic you will have made them blind and easy to take down. 
• This spell does not have to be stagnant. If your party needs to move under the cover of darkness you can cast the spell on a rock or any kind of object you may be carrying and as the object moves so does the spell. Not only does this help with sneaking past enemies, it can make hiding items much easier, cast darkness on a cursed gem and toss it into the ocean and its unlikely it will ever bother you again. 

Best Level 3 Warlock Spells: 

Best: Vampiric Touch (Level 3)

Sometimes you need a boost back to your hit points while in combat, this spell allows you to do damage and gain back hit points at the same time. Mae an attack roll against a target within melee reach, if you hit do 3d6 necrotic damage to the target and you gain back half the amount of damage you did to your target. 

• One of the absolutely best features of this spell is that it continues to be able to be used for an entire minute. This means that since your turn in combat only lasts 6 seconds you can use this spell for multiple actions while only casting it once. 
• Similar to other warlock spells when you cast this spell at higher levels you get to do more damage and in turn gain more hit points back. 
• This spell is one of the best ones to help flavor how you play your character. This is not a spell to be used by characters who are going down a traditionally good path. This spell is for players with a bit of a darker personality. 

Second Best: Summon Shadowspawn (Level 3)

With this spell you call forth a shadowy spirit based on a strong emotion; fear, despair, or fury. This shapes how the shadowspawn looks. It acts as an ally to you and your party and goes right after you in combat. 

• Unlike other summoning spells this creature is your ally and will follow your verbal commands. It won’t turn on you and your allies in combat. This gives you and your party an extra boost in combat as another target for the enemies to defend against and attack. 
• If you cast this spell at a higher spell level it increases the stat block for the shadow spawn. This increases its hit points and armor class. 
• The three emotions you can choose from for this spell each provide a unique bonus. Fear is the first shape the shadow spawn can take, if shaped by fear the shadow spawn gains the ability shadow stealth so it can hide in dim light or darkness. Fury gives the bonus of advantage on attack rolls against frightened creatures. And despair gives you the weight of sorrow, all creatures except you in a 5ft radius has its speed reduced by 20 feet. 

Third Best: Counterspell (Level 3)

A simple spell but a powerful one. You can cast this spell to cancel out the effects of another. 

• Even though you may be casting this spell at 3rd level you can counter spells at higher levels, though there is a chance that the spell will fail if you try to counter a higher level spell. 
• This spell can counteract any spell that another creature including extremely powerful spells such as wish. 
• This spell is also cast as a reaction, which means you’ll still have your action and bonus action to use in combat. 

Best Level 4 Warlock Spells: 

Best: Raulothim's Psychic Lance (Level 4)

This spell essentially turns your character into a psychic unicorn of death. When you cast this spell a beam of psychic energy comes out of your forehead and the target must make an intelligence saving throw. On a failed save it takes 7d6 of psychic damage and is incapacitated until your next turn. On a successful save they only take half damage. 

• This is a great ranged spell to take for your warlock as it has a range of up to 120 feet, meaning as a spell on its own with no buffs this is one of the longest ranged spells for your warlock. 
• A fun aspect of this spell is that even if you can’t see a target but you say its name and it’s in range the attack still goes through. 
• Because this spell does psychic damage it is one of the few damage types that affects almost every creature, including barbarians in a rage state. 
• Because your target on a failed save is incapacitated until your next turn all of you allies will get advantage on attacks against that target. 

Second Best: Dimension Door (Level 4)

This spell is similar to misty step in its ability to teleport your player away from danger it is just a stronger version. Rather than only teleporting 30 feet away you can teleport up to 500 feet away. 

• A great advantage to using dimension door is you can teleport to more than just places you can see. You can also visualize a place within range or even a specific direction and teleport there. 
• With this spell you can bring objects with you as long as they don’t go over your carrying limit. This is helpful for getting important treasure or items out of an area where they could be damaged. 
• This spell also allows you to bring up to one willing creature that is within 5 feet of you with that is your size or smaller. This means you can help get a party member who is injured or dying out of the area of damage. 

Third Best: Summon Greater Demon (Level 4)

This spell is a risky choice, but no risk no reward. You cast this spell and can summon a demon with a challenge rating of 5 or less. This demon has its own turn in combat and at the end of its turn it has to make a charisma saving throw if it fails it will continue to follow your command but here’s the risk if it succeeds it starts attacking the closest non-demon to it. 

• The reason this spell is still a good option to take is because greater demons are incredibly powerful and can be a great asset as even a distraction to allow you and your party to escape. 
• There is a way to protect yourself and anyone else in the summoning circle while summoning the demon, if you use a vial of blood from a humanoid that died within the last 24 hours it will not be able to attack you, which means you can cast this circle around you and your party and let the demon handle your enemies, even if it succeeds the saving throw. 
• If you cast this spell at a higher level you can summon a higher challenge rating of a demon, but be careful the bigger the reward the greater the risk. 

Best Level 5 Warlock Spells:  

Best: Synaptic Static (Level 5)

Ever heard of the expression to blow someone’s mind? This spell takes that expression literally. When you cast this spell at a point within a range on 120 feet, from that point a 20 foot sphere erupts and all creatures within that sphere must make an intelligence saving throw. On a failed save a creature takes 8d6 psychic damage and half as much on a successful save. 

• This spell does psychic damage, which like stated before is one of the least common damage types to have resistance to. Even barbarians in a rage don’t get resistance to psychic damage so this kind of damage can really incapacitate your opponents. 
• A fun extra of this spell is that on a failed save the targets must roll a d6 and they must subtract that roll from all attacks and ability checks due to having muddled thoughts, if this target is a spell caster then the roll also affects its constitution saving throws for concentration. This effect lasts for 1 minute or until the target can succeed on an intelligence saving throw, whichever comes first. 
• Because this is a 5th level spell your warlocks spell save difficulty challenge should be up near 16 or 17 which can be difficult for certain creature types to make intelligence saves that high making this particularly effective against them. 

Second Best: Enervation (Level 5)

This spell is a personal favorite of mine. It is similar to vampiric touch but at a much stronger level. This is a ranged spell rather than a melee one with a range of 60 feet. Tendrils of darkness reach out to a target of your choice and they must make a dexterity saving throw to avoid the tendrils. On a successful sav the target only takes 2d8 necrotic damage but on a failed save they take 4d8..

• This spell is another one that both heals and harms. When you do damage to a creature with it you gain back hit points equal to half of the damage you did. Meaning the more damage you do the more you heal. 
• This spell has a duration of 1 minute and for as long as the target fails you can continue using your action to do an automatic 4d8 of necrotic damage and get hit points back equal to half the damage done. 
• This spell can also be cast at higher levels to do more damage per turn. 

Third Best: Dream (Level 5)

This spell works well when paired with a spell caster who has the spell sleep. You or a messenger of your choice can infiltrate the dreams of another creature. You or the messenger can interact with the dream world and speak with the target, the target will wake up remembering the dream. 

• This spell works great for both your allies and enemies. If you and your party member are separated you can find them in their dream and converse with them to find them and rejoin them. Enemies’ dreams  can be used in a similar way to locate them or even attempt to influence their decisions. 
• This spell can turn very quickly from a dream to a nightmare. You or the messenger can appear in a monsterous form. This limits what can be said to 10 words but the target has to make a wisdom saving throw and if they fail they are plagued with night terrors, they will wake up with no benefits of a rest and will 3d6 psychic damage when they wake up. 
• The target may not know if you are controlling their dreams. This can make you a very influential presence in their mind. You can leave ideas and suggestions that may come into play to help you or your party later in the campaign. 

Best Level 6 Warlock Spells: 

Best: Flesh to Stone (Level 6)

Imagine having the power and abilities of Medusa (minus the snakes for hair), that’s what this spell essentially is. With this spell you target a creature with flesh (so constructs are excluded from this typically) that you can see within a range of 60 feet and they must succeed on a constitution saving throw. If the creature fails it becomes restrained as their body begins to harden to stone. At the end of the creatures turns it makes another constitution saving throw until it fails three times or saves three times (it doesn’t have to be consecutive). If the creature fails 3 times its flesh becomes hardened stone and it’s paralyzed. 

• This spell is amazing to have in your back pocket, it gives several advantages to both you and your party against opponents. One of them is that if your target is restrained all attacks against the target get advantage automatically. 
• If the target fails 3 times on their save their body completely becomes stone, this lasts for up to 1 minute as long as you maintain concentration. While they are turned to stone if you or your party happen to injury or maim the target when they turn back to flesh those injuries remain. So if you smash the stone into pieces when the spell ends, well so does the person. 
• This is a very fun spell to add some personalized flavor to as long as your DM allows it. You can change stone to any sort of hard solid substance like ice, gemstone, or even metal but not all of these are as easy to destroy. 

Second Best: Eyebite (Level 6)

This is a fun spell that can be used to terrorize your opponents in battle or really at any time. You pick a target that is within 60 feet of you and they must make a wisdom saving throw, if they fail one of three effects occur: Asleep, Sickened, or Panicked. Each of these have their own unique effect on the person targeted until the end of the spell. 

• This spell allows for multiple opponents to be targeted throughout the duration of the spell, up to one minute. If one target failed their saving throw on your last turn you can target a different creature on your next turn (as long as the target hasn’t already succeeded on a saving throw). This makes this spell incredibly powerful against larger hoards of enemies. 
• Asleep has one of the best abilities, it knocks the target unconscious, and as long as the target doesn’t take damage or isn’t shaken awake they will remain out. This can make it easy to knock out a whole group of creatures to sneak by or even set them up in a trap for when they wake up. 
• Sickened also is a powerful choice, this effect causes the target to have disadvantage on all attack rolls and ability checks. This combined with Asleep would make a powerful combo to take out your enemies. 

Third Best: Tasha's Otherworldly Guise (Level 6)

This is a fun spell that grants you a buff from either the upper or lower planes, it’s your choice which plane and therefore which buffs you get. You gain 6 different abilities to make you a more formidable opponent. You do have to hold concentration on this spell and it can last up to a minute. 

• Some of the buffs you receive are universal such as: gaining wings with a fly speed of 40 feet, a +2 bonus to your AC, all of your attacks with weapons are magical even if it’s not a magical weapon and you can add your spell casting modifier instead of strength, you also gain a second attack each round. 
• If you choose the lower plane you are immune to fire and poison damage and you are immune to the poisoned condition. This is great for you fighting against creatures like devils and demons as their attacks won’t have much damage as long as they can’t hit you with a weapon. 
• Picking the upper planes also comes with advantages. You gain immunity to radiant and necrotic damage and you cannot be charmed. This is an amazing buff to have against the undead and the get because it takes away several advantages that they have on you or your party. 
• This spell is a bonus action which means you can cast this spell and then take another 2 actions with your now magical weapons. 

Best Level 7 Warlock Spells:  

Best: Finger of Death (Level 7)

This spell is a great way to end a powerful enemy and intimidate any minions of it that may still be hanging around hoping to sneak in an attack. With this spell you simply point at a target you are able to see within a range of 60 feet and they must make a constitution saving throw, on a failed save the target takes 7d8 + 30 points of necrotic damage. If the target succeeds it will take half as much damage. 

• This spell is a great offensive tactic because it can take out one of your bigger opponents that way your party can handle the smaller targets without needing to focus entirely on the main guy. 
• If you are able to kill your opponent with this spell they will rise on their next turn (as long as they were a humanoid) as a zombie that is now permanently under your control. 
• Since warlocks get their spells back on a short rest, a warlock would be able to build up a zombie army at a very quick rate. This would make you and your party an extremely formidable foe to have.

Second Best: Power Word Pain (Level 7)

This is the first power word spell on this list but it is not the only one. Power word spells are very powerful as with the utterance of a single word you are able to inflict powerful magic against your enemies. With power word pain simply say your chosen word and one target that you can see within a 60 foot range begins to feel waves of crippling pain (as long as they have 100 hit points or less). 

• This may seem like an odd choice for a spell because it doesnt do direct damage, however it allows for more damage to be done per round. Because your target is in debilitating pain its movement is reduced to 10 feet per round, it also gets disadvantage on all attacks, ability checks, and saving throws except for constitution. This makes your target easier to catch up to and take out.
• This spell is also particularly useful against spell casters, especially if they have weak constitution (looking at you wizards). If your target is experiencing the pain from your spell, they have to make a constitution saving throw to cast their spell and if they fail their spell slot is wasted. 
• Power word spells are great as they are only cast with verbal components, meaning you can be tied up or unable to do much besides speak and you can still fully carry out this spell. 

Third Best: Plane Shift (Level 7)

There have been a few teleportation spells on this list but this one is slightly different. This spell both allows you and up to 8 willing creatures to teleport to an entirely different plane or it allows you to use the spell as a melee attack against an unwilling creature to banish them to another plane if they fail a charisma save after being hit. 

• The first big advantage of this transportation spell versus others on this list is that you can bring 8 other willing creatures with you. This allows you and you entire party to get to somewhere that may not be normally accessible to you or even escape danger at the last second. 
• There are certain creatures in Dungeons and Dragons that are just not meant to be fought and beaten, like a tarrasque, because of this one of the only ways to beat those kinds of monsters is to banish them somewhere else. 
• Though this spell is described as teleporting you to an entirely different plane, you can also use it to teleport to other locations on the plane you are already on. This makes risky escapes much more successful. 

Best Level 8 Warlock Spells:

Best: Maddening Darkness (Level 8)

This spell may seem similar to the third best level 3 spell, darkness, and thats fair as it has several similar properties. However this darkness is a bit more sinister than the previously mentioned. You choose a point you can see within 150 feet of you and from there a 60 foot in radius sphere of magical darkness appears. Any creatures in this darkness on the start of their turn or that enter this darkness start hearing maddening laughter and must make a wisdom saving throw. If they fail they take 8d8 psychic damage, half as much if they succeed. 

• Because many creatures dont have a speed above 30 feet per round there is a high likelihood of them being in this darkness for more than one round, which means they will be taking damage more than one time, and since its psychic damage its hard to be resistant to. 
• Non-magical light wont help your targets in this darkness and neither will any spell that creates light under 8th level, the darkness will automatically absorb it. And darkvision wont help them either, they still wont be able to see. 
• Because this spell has a duration of 10 minutes it is a great way to distract and damage your enemies while your party sets up attacks and traps for when the enemies exit the dark, as they will be weakened and will have just come out of an area where they were completely blinded.

Second Best: Feeblemind (Level 8)

Do you want to curse your enemies in a way that will last longer after the battle is over (if they make it out alive that is), then this is the spell for that. You select a target in range to try and destroy the personality of. They automatically take 4d6 psychic damage and then must make an intelligence saving throw. If it fails both its charisma and intelligence score drop to 1. In 30 days the creature can try the save again to have the curse reversed. 

• Because this spell drops your targets intelligence score to 1, that is a negative 5 modifier, so any roll that creature makes automatically is 5 less than the rolled number. This makes actually passing the saving throw 30 days later almost impossible, meaning this is permanent. 
• The only other ways to remove this curse are with the spells greater restoration, wish, or heal. All of these spells are 5th level or higher and the person it was cast on wont be able to use it, and they cant communicate with anyone so it would have no way to ask for help ending the curse. 
• Though this spell wouldn’t be the best to use against intelligence based enemies it could be great against ones like evil bards, who need their charisma and ability to speak to have any use at all. 

Third Best: Power Word Stun (Level 8)

This is another of the power word spells. This one rather than causing pain with just a single word actually stuns your enemies. As long as your target has less than 150 hit points and is within range it becomes stunned, no saving throw needed. 

• Stun as a condition is particularly helpful in combat. A creature that is stunned has disadvantage on strength and dexterity saving throws, is considered incapacitated, and all attacks made against the target while stunned have advantage. This means this is one less target you’ll have to worry about your party can take them out with that advantage. 
• Creatures that have low constitution modifiers are great targets of this spell as they can try to make a saving throw on their next turn to become no longer stunned but if they fail it stays. This is a perfect way to take out an opposing wizard you may be facing. 
• This spell doesnt require concentration, which means until the target of this spell succeeds on a saving throw its going to stay stunned. 

Best Level 9 Warlock Spells: 

Best: True Polymorph (Level 9)

This spell is one of the best in the entire game, second only to maybe wish. This spell allows you to change creatures and objects into different creatures or objects. This spell can cause the transformation to be permanent but only if you can maintain the concentration for the hour needed. 

• An amazing advantage of this spell is you can turn a very powerful creature into a very weak one. Imagine turning a tarrasque into a cat, you go from fighting an absolutely unstoppable force to a new pet. This is a fun and very roleplay heavy way to handle problems that seem impossible. 
• With this spell you can also change creatures into objects. If you are facing down a demon lord and they transform into a ceramic vase, you hold concentration for an hour and suddenly you have a beautiful new decor piece and there’s one less demon lord in the world. 
• This spell can help lift a curse on you or your party members. If for some reason you had been transformed into a different race, like you are a tiefling that had been turned into a gnome by a powerful witch, this spell can reverse that and put you back into your true form. 

Second Best: Power Word Kill (Level 9)

Can you imagine ending the life of a creature by uttering a single word? That’s what this spell is. But if it’s so powerful why wasn’t it the best 9th level spell for warlocks? Well that’s because true polymorph has the ability to end someone in a single blow as well but can also lift or remove curses that changed the form of you or your party. Simply say your chosen word while looking at a target within a range of 60 feet and if they have 100 hit points or fewer they immediately die. 

• Some of the benefits of this spell are very simple, you can kill someone by saying one word! Thats just an insane amount of power to have. It can end the campaign in one fail swoop by taking out the big bad guy in one breath. 
• This spell has come in handy multiple times in campaigns I have been in. It works even better if you can pair it with true sight, that way even an invisible target can be taken out. 
• This spell is different than other spells that cause effects similar to this, there is no saving throw to prevent the death from happening. As long as they are under 100 hit points they are finished. 

Third Best: Blade of Disaster (Level 9)

This is a great spell to add some dramatic effect to your battles. When you cast this spell a massive sword shaped rift in the plane that’s around 3 feet long. You can use this sword to make 2 melee attacks against objects, creatures, and structures. On a successful hit the target takes 4d12 force damage. As long as you maintain concentration on this spell you can use it for up to a minute for attacks. 

• Once the sword is cast, you can use a bonus action to move the sword up to 30 feet away as long as you can see it and on top of the movement this sword can pass through any barrier, this includes spell barriers like wall of force which keeps out almost everything else. 
• This spell allows you to crit on more than just a natural 20. If you roll an 18 or higher on the attack it automatically crits and the target takes an additional 8d12 of damage. That means if you roll an 18 and a 19 on your attacks, and then roll full damage on both of those that’s a total of 288 points of damage which can take down lots of enemies you may face. 
• Because this doubles your attacks per round this doubles your chances of hitting your targets. Once you are a 9th level warlock you will be facing very powerful enemies and having that extra attack with this sword can really be the difference between life and death. 

If you enjoyed this article here are three others you may enjoy! 

• Most Powerful DnD Spells 
• DnD Best Magic Items 
• DnD Best Warlock Multiclass