From the wording in the spell, web doesn't call for Strength Saving throws, but Strength ability checks. It's a fine distinction, but the interaction with hex (such as if you have warlocks in the part) or barbarian's rage is a very important one.

Also, I once played with a warlock who cast Evard's Black Tentacles on top of my Web. Redundant you would say? Huh, good luck for enemies to break out of *both* spells, when each breakout requires them an action. And should they fail to do that, even if they managed to get out of one of them, they'll get caught in it on the next turn, because they couldn't move away. It was super fun. Of course, it isn't universal tactic, there are quite a few counters, but still.

I once made an archaeologist wizard (lvl 3), picked up a whole bunch of utility spells, and then thought... "But how am I gonna be effective in combat? Ah, screw it, I'll take Web, it'll be enough." It was.

My artificer uses this all the time to help get the enemies our wizard and druid don’t get. When I played a bladesinger I used it all the time just for the advantage and control aspects. I love this spell. But yes, cast it on a group, not a big angry thing.

These are the most helpful type of videos you make.

My wizard has the cloak of Arachnida. Free web cast? Yes please. Double the area of effect? Now we are talking. Can't be restrained by my own web? This just gets better and better! Can walk on surfaces, even upside down, with a climbing speed and your hands are free to use? Fantastic!

Realising i've been using this spell wrong for many sessions. I don't know why i started to think this. But we always used it like this: People roll on cast and it only restrains the people that are in the web on cast. Then the webbed people are stuck and other people walking into the web just have a hard time getting through because it becomes difficult terrain. Ah well, thanks for making me reread the spell :P

Deciding when to use Web has often been one of the hardest challenges I have faced when playing Wizards, so this is very good to see.

We used it to out-action-economy a red dragon. It was cast from a recharging item, made the dragon burn it away, and we took a lot of potshots at it before it came in charging. We didn't know we were facing a dragon when we laid out the trap but we had a turn before it's breath recharged and we split up. We still got hit by the breath next turn before it died but that "wasted" web spell probably saved our collective asses. Now, we just have to deal with it's sister.

Web turn 1. Grease turn 2. Best used when you really don't want anything getting through a chokepoint and they are melee enemies. The loss of movement by web and/or the prone/loss of movement by grease can prolong the web's effectiveness by a round or more for an enemy trying to transit the web. It also provides an extra layer of defense, which means a horde of foes becomes a dribble of one or two escapees from the zone at a time. Not for every situation, but can be very potent when used properly and not overly resource intensive at mid-levels.

I appreciate this deep dive into the spell. Control spells aren't always straightforward with how to use them.

My biggest Web accomplishment was destroying Venomfang with almost no damage to our party in the first campaign I played a wizard in, where we played Lost Mines of Phandelver, and I'm now a huge fan of the web spell against one or two very powerful targets. All you need is one person on your team who can be an effective grappler, and now they can't do anything. I was inspired by Treantmonk's Warmage build he covered a while ago. Here's what we did: - Spread out so only a couple of us were hit by a stinky breath weapon - Cast web on him. With a good DC, dragons are pretty bad at DEX saves. - Literally anyone grapple him. It actually is completely irrelevant who grapples him as long as they can survive a bit of damage. Make multiple grapple attempts if needed. - Watch as your entire level 5 party gets advantage on a CR 9 dragon, who either has to live with constant webs or pray to god he can complete 2 to 3 saves/checks in a row due to needing to use his action to break out of both webs and grapple. And then you just kill him, since everyone is level 5 with upgraded cantrips or extra attack. My favorite use of web. In general I'm just a huge fan of grapple and area effects because there's a lot of area effects like Insect Plague that trigger on entry, and if you have a good grappler they get a bunch of free forced movement. If I grapple someone with an insect plague around, that's a free 2d10 or 4d10 damage per round, and all I needed to do was walk back and forth.

A good tip for using Web (or any persistent AoE really), is if you are in a moderately sized room with walls facing large enemies, place the Web near a corner of the room with a one space gap between the web and the walls. Now you can safely move around the Web with little issue, but enemies need to move into the area and risk saves to chase you.

I have used web to good effect on my own party when they have been charmed/controlled. This is a great use because it buy's the party time to make saves to throw off the effect and it does not actual harm to the character who is charmed. Another great use is to provide an "air bag" to jump into if you have to jump off a cliff or something. heck, you can even use it to climb down if you don't mind going slowly.

I snagged the Wand fo Web a few weeks back. Last week I webbed 5 goblins and burned them all to death next turn. That was fun. Can't wait to use it more often! Nearly infinite casts of Web gonna be so sweeeet!

Really appreciate the shorter than usual video. Nice to have a deep dive into one focused mechanic.

Ah, I love Web! It's been a staple in my wizards' spellbooks since 3rd edition, I always take it right at third level. Right up there with Glitterdust in my small list of spells I can prepare every day and know it'll be useful somehow if we fight at all.

Thank you for this video ! My wizard (who is also my first 5e character) just hit level 4 and I took this spell so this breakdown will be most helpful !

First in a series of spell tactics videos?

Well this is perfect timing, my sorcerer just got web and he's about to go into combat so thank you in advance!

I had not even considered cast it at an airborne enemy till now. Thanks

Videos like this are why I enjoy this channel so much. Great explanation.

Love this, thank you! I have lots of players in the games I run who misuse control and debuff spells like web, and get disappointed. They're not optimisers at all, so they probably wouldn't be interested in something long like your (excellent) wizard guide, but I would love to be able to point them towards more videos like this!

Swarmkeeper ranger probably makes the most use out of this spell due to their forced movement feature. By the time something has broken out of the web you can just throw them back in, and it doesn't need specific positioning like it would if you were using thorn whip or repelling blast. Though, to squeeze the most out of it you'd have to focus wisdom over dexterity; which is easy enough with the fighting style in tasha's cauldron(multiclassing also works, if you start as druid and then pick up three levels of ranger for instance), it just means that you'll take a hit to your normal dpr.

As a GM I’d probably logic homebrew when some things come up with web. Like come on there is a difference between RAW and RAI as well as adjusting to what feels correct and logical at our own tables. It’s defiantly effected by the table. I feel like it’s effective to drop an non hovering flying foe but yes it really depends on the situation. Web is an interesting spell for sure! Fun video, thanks.

My favorite use of Web was to "lock" a door to prevent reinforcements from barging in. I cast it vertically over a door, using the wall as the anchor points. I made sure to remind the DM that the description specifically says that the web is 5 feet deep, so logically if you put it on a vertical plane, it becomes a 5 foot thick sticky door in front of the actual door.

Consider pre-casting web before a fight starts, it lasts 1 hour. I've done this to a cave entrance/exit while we blowing lots of smoke in there. It can also be great to group enemies up for an AoE spell like Shatter or Rime's Binding Ice.

Along with having friends who can reposition your victims, using non-concentration effects like Rime's Binding Ice to effectively force multiple turns of dealing with Web is great fun. As is Tasha's Mind Whip; sure you might break out of the web, but you can't take an action *and* move, so better hope you make your next save. Extra points for throwing around Mind Slivers and Silvery Barbs to really gum up escape attempts. Another fun (but DM dependent) upside of Web is tacking on extra damage vs. larger creatures. A Fire Bolt cast on a large creature in a web is good for 1d10+2d4 damage, or a ~91% increase in damage. At level 5-10, it's still an extra ~45% damage. As long as you didn't burn the only webbed square the creature was in, it should still subject to the spell.

Thank you for making this video. Next session my lvl 5 divine soul sorcerer is going to fight a werewolf 1 vs 1. The fight is going to happen in cargo hold of a ship. The Cargo hold is almost full of water (only 1 feet of air) and I'm thinking my strategies, so this was extremely helpful for me

Great video, thank you. Definitely a great tool for the right situation. If you go with the Underdark Land Druid you get Web, Spike Growth, and Thorn Whip, and that is an amazing amount of flexibility and control, starting at level 3.

Such a great spell, especially when the other casters put something else on top of it and then set the thing on fire just to finish them off. You are in a web. Also sickening radiance and hunger of hadar have fun.

I'm surprised you didn't mention the careful spell metamagic option- very useful

good discussion of web. one of my fave spells that i use as a low level alternative to builds built around higher levelled similar effects such as spirit guardians, black tentacles and watery sphere. I enjoy using web with abilities like tentacle of the deep, lance of lethargy, ray of frost, grasping arrow, crusher, booming blade, tidal wave, etc

Great video. I would love to see more like this.

One thing that is always confused to me about web is that it makes it sound like they aren't just restrained but rather restrained by the web. This makes me think that if the creature is restrained in midair, they will be held aloft by the web in the air, as the web is still in the air holding them in the air

I find web to be most useful on minions, so ur fighter, barb, or paladin and focus the boss while the minions either attack with disadvantage or try to escape, anything with a male weapon in its hands besides the obvious exceptions like Dragonborn’s vets and floating things. I had a situation during a boss fight while the party was all low on HP, and two more minions ran out of the adjacent room. I webbed them and then spend 3 turns doing nothing while we finished off the boss. Since we where inside the webs went nearly to the ceiling and they had to pass through the area to get to us. All that and our paladin

About burning webs: ". Any 5-foot cube of webs exposed to fire burns away in 1 round" What this means: that even if you burn the web it will still work for 1 full round. Ex: Wizard cast Web, then the cleric cast sacred flame. The enemy will take 2d4 fire on their turn and remain trapped... only on the cleric's turn (the one responsible for burning the web) will the web square disappear.

My Level 18 Wizard got this with their "Infinite Casts of this 1st and 2nd level spell" And now I just never burn any resources in a fight, unless it is a serious problem. Worse case scenario it is something the enemies have to spend resources to play around, and at that point I have already won. (I was trapping some pit fiends in a corridor using only this spell for example)

I haven't watched the full video yet as I am at work, but I did hear the first few stinger sentences about shooting projectiles or spells through the web. Personally if the web is arranged like it is in the photo I would allow it but with disadvantage like it were cover. I feel like the fact that they are physical webs strong enough to restrain ogres, they would stop projectiles. I hope you delve more into that throughout the video but that line definitely caught my eye while I was adding the video to my watch later list!

Another combo for keeping people webbed is artillerist artificer. Their force cannon pushes enemies back, so if you get someone in the middle of the web, they are likely to just barely make it out on their turn. Push them back, and you've got another chance at the restraint.

My wizard loves teaming up with our sorceror with web. When he casts fireball they get disadvantage to save, and the visual of the sticky webs on fire and stuck all over the enemy has caused us to be refered to as the 'war crimes' team for essentially napalming foes.

Game night is tomorrow for me and this video is right on time!

I am endlessly fascinated with how impressed Chris is with the web spell. I’ve never seen it work at a table; the few affected enemies break through effortlessly, as monsters often have a high strength. Also, the area is pretty small, be lucky to get two or three creatures tops and again I’ve NEVER seen them stick. What’s the point of a web that doesn’t hold creatures fast? Maybe if it had a different save or a larger area affected, it might be worth looking at but I never ever take it

There are some out-of-combat uses up to DM's approval but that most DMs will be ok with, like stoping a boulder rolling down to the party or catching people falling. In D&D always think outside the box!

I once used Web to hold my friend who was hanging from dying enemy at the edge of an abyss. If I hadn’t cast that Web, he would have fallen and probably died.

Web pairs nicely with Twinned Tasha's Mind Whip. If you have two creatures in the web, and they're already restrained by it, they can use their action to escape, but can't leave, forcing them to remake the Dex save on their next turn. If they aren't restrained, they can use their movement to leave the area, but can't take an action that round.

One time, while exploring an abandoned facility, the party's ranger fell into a pit trap right under a mysterious pipe with an open grate attached to it. Wouldn't you know, assorted jellies, slimes and oozes started pouring out. The wizard said "I have a cunning plan," (the beginning of many bad and good ideas). He cast web open grate. The spell captured all of the jellies at once, and their weight began to cause the web spell to weigh down and sag precariously. It was only a matter of time before either the surface tension of the creatures gave way causing them to drip down, of the weight would overwhelm the web and cause it to snap. The party needed to move fast. The paladin rushed in to help rescue the ranger, and succeeded, but didn't have quite enough time to get both fully out of the way then the wizard dropped concentration on the sagging web spell and cast Wall of Fire right under the grate. The collected, merging slimes fell down directly onto the flames. A sickly sweet smell of burning slimes filled the facility, enough at least to cover the smell of a slightly roasted ranger.

Web can work well in conjunction with spirit guardians (well, really any spell that creates difficult terrain). Half speed from spirit guardian plus difficult terrain from the web, means even if they are not restrained the creature is unlikely to be able to move out of range of the spirit guardians, taking multiple rounds of damage and multiple rounds of saves vs restrained.

Web in flying creatures has some wierd rullings. If the creatures fail their save, they fall right at the start of their turn, likely getting out of web area in the process and, thus, no longer restrained. So, in the same turn they fall, they can stand up, take their actions AND fly again - the end result is, at most, 6d6 falling damage.

I'm working on a strategy with my teammates to web flying creatures, like Cryovein the ice dragon; then have the druid cast entangle while the target is on the ground to further keep them in place. I'm hoping it works out.

Super helpful, thank you!

Great video. There were some features about this spell I hadn't considered yet. Question: can concentration be dropped as a free action, or do you have to wait for your turn to come up?

I had a similar fight. When playing we had 2 sorcerers at the party. One cast Web with Meta: Distant Spell. DM allowed the meta to also double the area effect as well as the range. Webbed all 6 harpies from the air causing 6D6 falling damage. Once on the ground and my turn was next. I cast Grease on them and then Quickened Spell Firebolt. Dealing 1d10 fire damage + web's 2d4. The DM like Pathfinders Grease spell better so he ported it over to 5e. and uses its ability to also catch fire as well for another 1d4 fire damage direct damage. If they failed their CON Save. They take another 2d6 Fire damage. Even with a +1, they all failed! The Total damage: Falling was 31+ 8(firebolt)+6(web)+ 3(grease)+11(failed con save.) for a total of 59 damage. I think Harpies have only 38 HP. Lol, even if grease wasn't flammable for -14 damage. The damage was still 45 in total. After finding their nearby nest and rescuing the captured children our barbarian Dragonborn and Lizardman Fighter had a nice char-broiled harpie dinner for supper. Some HOW managed to convince us two sorcerers a Drow and High elf to try some harpie meat. They found it to their liking with some spices and a little hot sauce. XD

I feel like Web and Rimes binding ice have a very similar function. I would love to hear your thoughts on the differences.

Once at 3rd level I got surrounded by 3 zombies. I cast Web centered on myself trapping them and me. Next round I used misty step to get safely away.

I used to combine Web with Vitriolic Sphere.

If you're flying high enough during combat, web can be one of the moat powerful damage dealing spells of second level. Hit a few flying baddies with an airborne fly and, if they fail, they could plummet hundreds of ft to the ground in 6 seconds. Hold Person could match it but it only works on humanoids. 20d6 damage for a single failed dex save is a pretty good deal, especially if you can hit multiple targets. And even if you're too high up for them to hit the ground, it puts them several hundred feet away while you make your getaway.

“Spider-Man, Spider-Man, does whatever a spider can!” 🎶 🕷

Just got a wand of web on my telekinetic feat wizard. Love the combo

Web is definitely my favorite or second favorite spell, the other being Enlarge/Reduce. I think it’s definitely because of my DM though, since all my favorite uses of the spell are out of combat stuff that I don’t think all DMs would let me do.

Everything I'm about to say here is not RAW, but several GMs who are more flexible with how they interpret the rules have allowed this kind of trick in several different editions, so I figure it's worth asking. :) For the example with the bone devils around 6:05, I'd ask if I could anchor the web *to the bone devils*. The spell description says "solid masses" and I think it's reasonable to say that two large creatures (which may have the same volume as the trees in the first example) count as solid masses. Another, similar trick is casting it anchored on a single, mounted (flying) target. In both of these cases the GMs let me do this, though I did need to roll a skill check to make it work. You can make a very reasonable argument that this is the domain of metamagic and not something a skill check should be able to cover, and I wouldn't argue with you. But this has worked at my tables, so I figured I would share my experience with others. Again, absolutely not RAW, but something to consider. Maybe your GM is stricter with interpreting how spells work than mine have been (and they're completely justified), but I've been very fortunate to have GMs who allow me some freedom and flexibility. The worst thing that can happen is they say no, right? So it can't hurt to ask. :)

I got the most from it in a choke point while using bonus action telekinesis to knock enemies back into it.

i love being a wizard with web in a party that also has a bard with cloud of daggers, i trap them in the web and they drop a cloud of daggers right in it

I know this isn't necessarily RAW but I'll allow my players to make a check as a free action in combat to determine whatever it is they're fighting might have magic resistance or a high modifier in a certain spell, and I'll give them advantage on that check if that player is playing a Ranger.

My Alchemist (level 13) still gets amazing use out of this. I lay down web. Then my Tiny Servant or familiar use my spell storing item to Vortex Warp creatures not in the web (or who make their save) back into the web. Finally, round 2, I lay down Pipes of Haunting to just make it really hard for creatures to move towards me.

Not gonna lie, when I first saw the thumbnail I thought this was a website building tutorial :P

I love and respect you so much, in the example above w the Web w Trolls in it how would you run that as a DM? Your opinions are always super fair to both players and the DM

Sorry this is off topic but I've got a build concept for you. A Beast Master Ranger with a Sidekick Animal companion. I haven't seen anyone commenting on the use of the sidekick character classes and I think this is a unique way to capitalize on it. The original animal companion has you pick a CR 1/4 or lower medium or smaller beast, that fits within the sidekick requirements of and monster of CR 1/2 or lower. I have a build that takes 5 levels BM ranger and 15 levels phantom Rogue that from my napkin math outpaces the build you showcased recently at every level 2-20. Side side note Find steed Sidekicks are also a concept that would be cool to see someone besides myself explore.

Great help, thanks. 1 minor point, when you first show the graphic of the web, it's sized correctly at 20', in the next graphic with the "sand" background it's sized at 25'. But this also leads me to a question, because you used the larger creatures as an example... how would you rule this if the creature were only partially in the grid with the web? Thanks again.

It might just be how many DM sets up encounters but I have almost never been in a situation where I can cast Web. Enemies are almost always to spread out to hit more than 2 of them. And when I have cast it almost everything makes the save even though my Sorcerer has 20 Charisma. I am level 7 now and I have had 1 battle where I managed to hit 3 enemies with web and 2 of them made the save.

I like the idea here. Good advice and explanation of strength/weaknesses. Personally I’d like to know how best to use expert divination, always seems to just burn my highest spell slot for nothing.

I use it and sliverly bards and my dm hates it.

Pertinently at low levels, consider dealing fire damage to the creatures if it will effectively add 2d4 fire damage, this can be significant extra damage that will secure the kill when otherwise it might not, worth losing a small patch of web. But try to find out how DM rules it first.

I'm sorry, but there is one thing about flying creatures. They make their saving throw only at the start of their turn. And if they fail, they will fall. And in the same turn they can make Strength check, stand up, and fly away at half of their speed. Not in the next round, all just in one round.

On using Web on flying creatures: “If a flying creature is knocked prone, has its speed reduced to 0, or is otherwise deprived of the ability to move, the creature falls, unless it has the ability to hover or *it is being held aloft by magic, such as the fly spell.* “ In this case, if we use Web to restrain a flying creature, isn’t it being held aloft and in place by the magic of the Web spell? When the Web collapses in our following turn, the creature would no longer be held aloft, but it is then also no longer restrained and can continue its flying business on the sky?

Order of Scribes wizards can fireball a web without burning it. Seems like it could be fun.

wow... I never use web... thanks for the great video!

If I find that web is not doing what it should have done, but there are still any enemies in the area, and I'm planning to drop concentration, I'll encourage my group to light it up.

good work

Ps. Love the videos you make. Off to watch magic jar.

nothing says you cant cast web in a diagonal square shape, so you could still snag both trolls with the corners

I didn't understand why the flying creatures could simply get up after falling to the ground. Wouldn't the web collapse just at the start of the CASTER turn? Wouldn't that force flying creatures to make a strength check before the next turn of the caster?

SPIDERMAN!!!!

the other good effect is also that the enemy do dexterity saves with disadvantage.. soo fireball it..

My spider-queen-averse drow would probably avoid this spell like the plague. Black tentacles are limited to floors, and there would be better things for an arcane trickster to take anyway; when she migrates to bladesinger, on the other hand...

Grat! More Mastering videos! :)

They are not restrained until their turn. The whole party will have advantage for at least one turn if they fail.

What interaction would Web have with Entangle? I play a party with both a Wizard and a Druid. If we were in a 20 ft wide tunnel being chased by a hoard of goblins, would with create a nearly impassible barrier that we can shoot and cast spells across?

I used the Web spell today using the official D&D spellbook cards and it was NO concentration on the card! The DM allowed it because the card said so. So, concentration or non? Is that the reason why there are no Tasha`s spellbook cards, because the cards had flaws?

i've been playing D&D, TTRPGs, and war games for a long time. this modern explanation of the web spell makes no sense. how big an area does the spell cover? is it a 20-foot cube? that would be a cube which has 2.7-foot sides covering an area of about 7 square feet rendering the spell useless. do they mean a cube covering an area of 20 square feet? that's a little better as the cube would have 4.5-foot sides. the v3.5 spell created "Webs in a 20-ft.-radius spread". that is a useful spell. v3.5 goes on to state fire "can set the webs alight and burn away 5 square feet in 1 round" - implicating that the entire web would require (1250sqft/5sqft per round) about 250 rounds to clear. what does the modern version state? what does it mean? depends on the size of the web (cubic feet), not it's coverage. somewhere, some pin-headed git "modernized" the spell without understanding a single thing about how to play the game - not surprising. what is surprising is that none of the youtube wotc shills caught it despite their "experience DM'ing the game"...

I have a question. If the players web something the creatures fails its save it is restrained. So movement goes to zero. If the creature makes its save on a following turn can it move in that turn? It's movement was zero then it breaks free. Does it get its movement back?

If you've never used Web to snatch a flying enemy outta the air for your barbarian to maul, you haven't really lived.

For 5:46, I heard people say that an unsupported web collapses immediately and falls to the ground right away, and flying creatures end up unaffected. Does this ruling seem valid to you?

I use web to swing into action and fight crime!

My wizard has a wand of web, and the campaign has gotten a little high level for me a little scary. Level 12. I do have essentially 7 uses of the web spell without spell slots. Opportunity cost and the concentration mechanic are my biggest consideration as far as when to use it. I’m a blade singer so I think I’ll web them up then steel wind strike them with advantage or something like that. Any other interesting combos you can think of?

can web be 64 contiguous 5' cubes? (math??) can i send it 320' down a 5' corridor? (again math?)

I think you made a mistake on the turn based stuff for the flying creatures. Because they don’t make the saving throw until their turn they would be restrained or prone for an entire round. Unless I’m misunderstanding!

question can you stop concentrating on a spell whenever or just on your turn?

I am struggling to find use for webbing flying enemies. Lets say I go after the enemy, creating the most opportunity for the rest of the party to do things. I cast web, but it doesnt take effect immediately. If the rest have ranged attacks, they would have reached it without me casting the web. If the rest dont have ranged attacks, they cant do anything, because the target didnt fall yet. The enemy's turn comes. Best case scenario, it fails the save, gets restrained, and it falls. At most it can fall 80 feet, 8d6. There is no way it will kill the target. Target takes 48 damage at best, lands prone. Then uses half of its movement to stand up, and flies 15 feet into the air where we still cant reach it. Yay.

I think you underestimate the usefulness of restraint condition giving disadvantage on dex saves. Thats alot of creatures that can now have a weakness to other spells. Me (a bard) and a wiz would team up in Descent to Avernus to pair spells like Bane and Slow to help with the demons resistant to magic. Not enough casters comboing in my opinion in D&d.