Scorching Ray

For the equivalent  Way of the Four Elements spell, see  Embrace of the Inferno.

Scorching Ray is a level 2 evocation spell. This spell allows spellcasters to hurl 3 rays of fire at targets within range. You can either target a single creature or multiple creatures with the rays. Each ray rolls a separate Attack Roll and deals Fire damage.

Description

Hurl 3 rays of fire. Each ray deals 2d6Fire damage.

Properties

Cost

Action + Level 2 Spell Slot

Damage

2d6 (2~12) Fire per ray

Details

Attack roll

 Range: 18 m / 60 ft

At higher levels

Upcast: Casting this spell at a higher level hurls an additional ray for each Spell Slot Level above 2nd.

How to learn

Classes:

• Class Level 3: Sorcerer, Wizard, Fiend, and Light Domain (Domain)

• Class Level 6: College of Lore (via Magical Secrets)

• Class Level 7: Eldritch Knight

• Class Level 8: Arcane Trickster

• Class Level 10: Bard (via Magical Secrets)

Granted by the following items:

• Circlet of Blasting ( Recharge: Long rest)
• Gloves of Cinder and Sizzle ( Recharge: Long rest)
• Hellfire Hand Crossbow ( Recharge: Short rest)
• Scroll of Scorching Ray

Notes

• A target afflicted by  Hex will take an additional 1d6Necrotic damage from each ray.
• When interacting with effects like  Death Ward and dealing multiple attacks to the same creature, assuming the 1st attack was sufficient to  down the target the 2nd attack appears to apply before the  Death Ward activates, which means that after 2 attacks the target would lose the  Death Ward but remain with 1HP. If the initial attack would have 3 applications then the target would be  downed on 1st attack and again on 3rd attack. In case of Avatars it means that, whilst having a  Death Ward applied, they would need to receive 6 attack applications to fully die: 2 to break down the ward, 1 to get downed and 3 more to fail 3 Death Saves. This effect seems to apply to all multi-application attacks, like  Magic Missile and  Eldritch Blast (as of 4.1.1.3669438).
• The incantation for Scorching Ray is Ardē, the Latin command "burn/blaze!"

External Links

• Scorching ray on the Forgotten Realms Wiki