Cordon of Arrows

2nd level Transmutation
Casting Time
1 Action
Range
5 Feet
Duration
8 hours
Components
V
S
M
Materials Required
Four or more arrows or bolts
Class
Ranger

Spell Description

You plant four pieces of nonmagical ammunition – arrows or crossbow bolts – in the ground within range and lay magic upon them to protect an area. Until the spell ends, whenever a creature other than you comes within 30 feet of the ammunition for the first time on a turn or ends its turn there, one piece of ammunition flies up to strike it. The creature must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw or take 1d6 piercing damage. The piece of ammunition is then destroyed. The spell ends when no ammunition remains.

When you cast this spell, you can designate any creatures you choose, and the spell ignores them. 

At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 3rd level or higher, the amount of ammunition that can be affected increases by two for each slot level above 2nd.

1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th
Damage Dice 4d6 6d6 8d6 10d6 12d6 14d6 16d6 18d6
Min Damage 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
Average Damage 14 21 28 35 42 49 56 63
Max Damage 24 36 48 60 72 84 96 108
Lvl Dice Min Avg Max
1st
2nd 4d6 4 14 24
3rd 6d6 6 21 36
4th 8d6 8 28 48
5th 10d6 10 35 60
6th 12d6 12 42 72
7th 14d6 14 49 84
8th 16d6 16 56 96
9th 18d6 18 63 108

Is Cordon of Arrows Good?

Overall Rating: Orange. This means that cordon of arrows is an OK spell.

Overall Notes: 4d6 damage is just not that impressive for a 2nd-level spell. A much more effective battlefield control spell is spike growth.