What do you think is the most powerful spell in POE?

[Kingsman]

We'll c'mon what do ya reckon?

 

For me.....well let's jus see what you guys say.....

[omgFIREBALLS]

Defensive Mindweb? Shrug.

 

Considering how far into the game these still see regular use, I'd also like to mention low-level spells such as Chill Fog, Combusting Wounds and Blessing.

[AndreaColombo]

It depends on your definition of most powerful. Highest DPS when spammed? Highest DPS boost to an ally? Longest-lasting disabling condition for your enemies?

[MaxQuest]

The most powerful spell in POE?

Depends on what is considered a spell. Do we include abilities, chants, invocations, cipher powers?

Should we account for cooldown, resources required, per-rest or per-encounter type, and level the spell is acquired on?

 

From the top of my head I would say:

- Unrestricted: probably a tie between Dragon Breath and Wing Slam.

- Accessible to players (non abilities): I'd say Llengrath Blunting Wisdom.

- Accessible to players and has high [usefulness] x [times it was used]: Whispers of Treason / Mental Binding.

 

Honorable mentions:

 

 

- Disintegration, Amplified Wave, Detonate, Def. Mindweb

- Shining Beacon, Cleansing Flames, Devotions for the Faithful, Minor Avatar

- Chill Fog, Kalakoth's Blights, Shadowflame, Gaze of Adragan, Confusion

- Returning/Relentless Storm, Firebug

- Aefyllath, Dragon chant, Seven Nights, White Worms and paralyze invocations.

 

 

Edited May 17, 2016 by MaxQuest

[Elric Galad]

Devotion for the Faithful.

It turns the tides of battle.

[Rostere]

Defensive Mindweb, easily.

[Wolken3156]

I'd probably say:

Chanter (Invocation) - At the Sound of His Voice, the Killers Froze Stiff or The Lover Cried out to the Beloved, "I am Yours!"

Both are switchable depending on whether you need AoE Charm or Paralyze. Both see a lot of use though and are quite strong for when you first get them, and they'll last up until endgame easily.

 

Chanter (Phrase) - The Dragon Thrashed, The Dragon Wailed

Just fire and forget and deals amazing damage. I will give honorable mention to Aefyllath Ues Mith Fyr though, as its an amazing damage buff with the right parties.

 

Cipher - Whisper of Treason or Defensive Mindweb

Whisper of Treason is useful from start to end, so that would probably be my primary choice. Defensive Mindweb once you have it though is extremely defining, so it is an easy candidate.

 

Druid - Relentless Storm

I could cop out and say all their 4th and 5th level spells since they're all incredible.

 

Priest - Devotions for the the Faithful

Best buff in the game for a lot of people. The debuff effect is nice too, but I find this spell is more effective when used as a buff. Cleaning Flame and Shining Beacon would be the honorable mentions here though as both spells are incredible damage dealers and have powerful secondary effects as well.

 

Wizard - Chill Fog

Chill Fog much like Whisper of Treason is a very useful spell from start to end so I guess it would be the "best". However, the Wizard in general though would be the hardest to write for since they have so many powerful spells. Like Druids, I could cop out and just say all their 3rd and 4th level spells.

 

If we're talking in just raw power and damage though then probably...

Recall Agony, Plague of Insects, Combusting Wounds, Cleansing Flame and The Dragon Thrashed, The Dragon Wailed

 

Mix them all together for stupid high damage over time.

Edited May 18, 2016 by Wolken3156

[Elric Galad]

Wall of many colors deserves a mention. And chained Shadowflames can win pretty much every battle of the game.

Edited May 18, 2016 by Elric Galad

[anameforobsidian]

Surprised no one mentioned wall of colors.  That spell drastically changes dragon fights.

[aluminiumtrioxid]

Never played a cipher, so I have no idea how useful Defensive Mindweb is.

 

For me, the clear winner seems to be Gaze of the Adragan.

[Elric Galad]

Never played a cipher, so I have no idea how useful Defensive Mindweb is.

 

For me, the clear winner seems to be Gaze of the Adragan.

Embrace the Earth Talon is close to strictly better ^^

 

Defensive mindweb almost won the battle for me against Llengrath. Tanking the bog party was easy with this one.

Edited May 18, 2016 by Elric Galad

[falchen]

Cyphers amplified wave hands down, knocking down every enemy on the screen that's not immune is priceless.

[Elric Galad]

You're not going to knock them all if your accuracy isn't high enough. Same for Relentless storm, wall of many colors, adragan gaze...

 

Nothing in this game beats High Acc + CC spell. There are a lot of CC spells, from okayish to awesome. But there's only 1 spell that provide a HUGE party-wide Acc buff that stacks with most other (smaller) buffs. That's why Devotion is the best spell.

 

Not to mention might boost and debuff, but that's only icing on the wedding cake.

 

If you consider the best combination of 2 spells, there will always be Devotion + Something.

Edited May 19, 2016 by Elric Galad

[Kingsman]

Cyphers amplified wave hands down, knocking down every enemy on the screen that's not immune is priceless.

Have you tried amplified wave post patch 3.02?

 

The radius has been nearly halved, the prone time reduced and the damage reduced.

 

Amplified wave is now very balanced.

 

The spell that in my opinion is currently the most powerful is relentless storm ladies and gents. Call to slumber and shadow flame also get honourable mentions.

[MaxQuest]

Defensive mindweb almost won the battle for me against Llengrath.

So did the Whispers of Treason. Because Turisulfus is not immune to charm

 

Have you tried amplified wave post patch 3.02?

 

The radius has been nearly halved, the prone time reduced and the damage reduced.

There was a sneak change, that didn't got into 3.02 update notes?

 

The only change that I see made to it past 2.00, is the prone duration set to 8s in 3.00.

Edited May 19, 2016 by MaxQuest

[falchen]

 

Cyphers amplified wave hands down, knocking down every enemy on the screen that's not immune is priceless.

Have you tried amplified wave post patch 3.02?

 

The radius has been nearly halved, the prone time reduced and the damage reduced.

Yup, was still able to chain cast it to make most fights trivial.

[Elric Galad]

1 - Devotion

2 - Wall of many colors

3 - Relentless Storm

 

To complete the top list.

[anameforobsidian]

You're not going to knock them all if your accuracy isn't high enough. Same for Relentless storm, wall of many colors, adragan gaze...

 

Nothing in this game beats High Acc + CC spell. There are a lot of CC spells, from okayish to awesome. But there's only 1 spell that provide a HUGE party-wide Acc buff that stacks with most other (smaller) buffs. That's why Devotion is the best spell.

 

Not to mention might boost and debuff, but that's only icing on the wedding cake.

 

If you consider the best combination of 2 spells, there will always be Devotion + Something.

 

This is why continuous debuffs like wall of colors are so powerful.  They keep ticking, and eventually hit, making it easier to make that cascading defense failure.  Add to that the charm effect, and you have bosses tanking their own adds.

[Wolken3156]

Surprised no one mentioned wall of colors.  That spell drastically changes dragon fights.

I didn't mention it because you get it so late ^^

 

It is an amazing spell make no mistake, I only put Chill Fog because of how long you have it. Though in hindsight I probably should've put Confusion or Shadowflame... though I did make mention of Wizard 4th spells being the best of the best >_>

[omgFIREBALLS]

If you consider the best combination of 2 spells, there will always be Devotion + Something.

You speak wisely. 400+ hours played but only after reading your post could I explain why my parties always feel so much more powerful after level 7.

[Kingsman]

1 - Devotion

2 - Wall of many colors

3 - Relentless Storm

To complete the top list.

I do use devotion fairly often, probably 35% of encounters.

 

It is a very powerful buff. Your entire party basically instantly becomes far better at offense.

[rheingold]

I'd probably vote for slicken. It's an absolutely crazy spell, it's first level and retains its usefulness for a long long time. I don't play mages but for most of the game it's pretty much the only spell from a Mage that I miss.

[anameforobsidian]

It's lost a bit of its usefulness since flyers are now immune (as they should be), but it's still high on the utility list, that and Confusion (which is now per encounter).

[Elric Galad]

If you choose Confusion over shadowflame... which I don't.

[Odd Hermit]

It's definitely Iconic Projection as long as enemy priests are casting it.