Scorching Ray

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

Scorching Ray is a level 2 evocation spell. It allows spellcasters to hurl 3 rays of fire at one or more targets within range. Each ray has 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: 6~36

2d6⁠Fire

+ 2d6⁠Fire

+ 2d6⁠Fire

Details

 Attack roll

 Range: 18 m / 60 ft

At higher levels

Upcasting: Casting this spell at a higher level hurls an additional ray for each spell slot level above 2nd.

Technical details

UID

Projectile_ScorchingRay

Spell flags

HasHighGroundRangeExtension, HasSomaticComponent, HasVerbalComponent, IsHarmful, IsSpell, RangeIgnoreVerticalThreshold

How to learn

Classes:

• Class level 3: Sorcerer, Wizard, The 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 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

Other ways to learn:

• Wizards with  Level 2 Spell Slots can scribe a  Scroll of Scorching Ray to their spellbooks.

Notes

• Any bonus damage provided by passives and conditions is applied to each ray. Examples include  Hex,  Elemental Affinity: Damage,  Hexblade's Curse and the  Callous Glow Ring.
• When interacting with effects like  Death Ward and dealing multiple ray attacks to the same creature, assuming the 1st attack was sufficient to  down the creature with Death Ward active, the 2nd attack appears to apply before Death Ward activates. This means that after 2 ray attacks the creature loses Death Ward but remains with 1HP:
  • If the initial attack has 3 rays the creature is downed on the 2nd ray attack and again for an actual kill on the 3rd ray attack.
  • In the case of party members with Death Ward applied, they need to receive 6 ray attacks to actually die: 2 to break down the ward, 1 to get downed and 3 more to fail 3 Death Saving Throws. This effect appears to apply to all multi-application attacks such as  Eldritch Blast and  Magic Missile (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