Primal Savagery 5e D&D Guide

How will you know which spells are good and which are bad when D&D 5e already has hundreds of them?

Which spells fit the style you’re looking for?

What do those spells do, most of all?

With each new D&D expansion, more rules, spells, character traits, and class powers are added.

If you don’t stay up-to-date, it can get confusing, which is understandable given the price of some of these hardcovers.

As a Dungeon Master (DM), I’m always adding to what I know about D&D, so you can trust me with anything from the Player’s Handbook to Spelljammer experiences.

So, let’s get started with the Primal Savagery 5e Guide.

Spell Description

You use primal magic to make your teeth or fingernails sharpen, so you’re ready to hit with something acidic. Cast a spell that hits with melee against a monster within 5 feet of you.

The target takes 1d10 acid damage when hit. After the attack, your teeth or toenails go back to how they were before.

When you reach 5th level, the spell does 2d10 damage. At 11th level, it does 3d10 damage, and at 17th level, it does 4d10 damage.

1st level	5th level	11th level	17th level
Damage Dice	1d10	2d10	3d10	4d10
Minimum Damage	1	2	3	4
Average Damage	5.5	10.5	15.5	20.5
Maximum Damage	10	20	30	40

Who Can Cast Primal Savagery?

Primal Savagery is a power that can only be cast by Druids, which makes sense from a story point of view.

Those who aren’t Druids and want to cast Primal Savagery must either take the Magic Initiate feat or be a Bard and learn the spell when they reach level 10 and gain access to Magical Secrets.

What Is Primal Savagery?

Primal Savagery is a low-level spell that does damage. It changes the caster’s nails or teeth into claws or fangs made of acid.

The player then uses a melee spell attack against a creature that is within 5 feet of them. Their changed claws or teeth deal a corrosive blow to the creature.

When and Where Should I Cast Primal Savagery?

Primal Savagery is a spell that does damage and will only be used by druids who focus on fighting. Druids who focus on ranged attacks won’t be close enough to cast Primal Savagery.

Before level 5, the damage from Shillelagh is more important than the damage from Primal Savagery.

After level 5, Primal Savagery does more damage than Shillelagh, so offensive druids who have it on their spell lists should use it more often than Shillelagh.

Is it good?

In their humanoid form, druids aren’t meant for melee fighting, but it’s always good to have one around just in case. So, in fighting, you can choose between this and Shillelagh.

As for your choices at a distance, you have a lot more, whether it’s saving throw spells or spell attacks from a distance.

You can use druids as allies, debuffs, tanks, or damage as you see fit. But when you compare powers from the same class, spells from other classes can do more damage than yours.

For example, you can change a warlock’s eldritch blast so that it deals normal 1d10 damage, but add his charisma factor to the damage. A druid’s normal 1d10 damage cannot be changed.

The list could go on, but since we’re only looking at Druids, I’d say that for what it’s meant for, it’s at least as good as, and maybe even better than, other cantrips that Druids have.

I’d say this is one of the cantrips you should take early in the game instead of later on. It does a lot of damage and is one of the most powerful cantrips a Druid can use.

Even though it may not be very useful, you can quickly make up for that by taking a completely useful cantrip instead of fishing in the middle.

Let’s look at why this cantrip is so powerful in more depth.

VS Shillelagh

So, Shillelagh, why do you want to take over? Both skills are meant to help a druid in close combat, but that is the only thing they have in common.

As we’ve already said, you have to cast Primal Savagery over and over again to keep attacking another target. Even though it doesn’t add your wisdom factor to the damage, it does more damage with a 1d10 roll that goes up as your level goes up.

Shillelagh, on the other hand, only has to be used once as an extra action. The spell will stay in place as long as you don’t let go of the weapon or cast it again.

This spell turns your wooden weapon into one that does 1d8 damage plus your wisdom modifier. This effect lasts for one whole minute. At early levels, having a magic tool for one minute is a big help.

So what exactly should you think about? There are two things that stand out about them: how they scale and how they work with Attacks of Opportunity.

Scaling wise: As the level of Primal Savagery goes up, it does more damage. Adding a die instead of just the knowledge stat makes this happen. To use Primal Savagery as an attack of chance, you must have the War Caster feat.

As a side note, Shillelagh works better with classes that can hit more than once, like monk, fighter, paladin, or barbarian. On the other hand, Primal Savagery doesn’t get any better when you have more than one class.

Both have their own uses, and which one you choose depends on how you want to build your Druid. I like Primal Savagery better, but some people like Shillelagh better.

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