Aganazzar’s scorcher was created by the wizard Aganazzar. This spell was originally known to possess been inscribed on the primary page of the Tome of the Covenant, a spellbook created by the four founders of the Covenant, and Aganazzar was known to possess given the spell to his apprentices. The Red Wizards also got their hands on that and were known to use it shortly after Aganazzar’s death.
Aganazzar’s Scorcher from a thematic perspective. From a gameplay perspective, getting quite two (or sometimes even two) opponents during a line, where you would like to put my ‘mage’ at some extent A that successfully catches them in said line, is simply plain a harder proposition than finding opponents gathered during an X’ radius circle.
Aganazzar’s Scorcher 5e
- Casting Time: 1 action
- Range: 30 feet
- Components: V, S, M (a red dragon’s scale)
- Duration: Instantaneous
A line of roaring flame 30 feet long and 5 feet wide emanates from you during a direction you select. Each creature within the line must make a Dexterity saving throw. A creature takes 3d8 fire damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.
At Higher Levels. once you cast this spell using a spell slot of 3rd level or higher, the damage increases by 1d8 for every slot level above 2nd.
Aganazzar’s pales in potential count of targets compared to Fireball, but Fireball is admittedly an exception. Compared to Shatter though, it should be comparable generally, or better, in “how many enemies I can usually target with one cast” when, taking enemies position, you calculate where to place the middle of a Shatter or the start line of an Aganazzar’s to harm the best number of creatures.
Because many “circular” AOE effects exist, enemies, at least the smart ones, would lookout about keeping somewhere between 10 and 20 feet between them to dissuade opponents to use AOE spells. In those situations, Aganazzar’s, exactly like Lightning Bolt, gives you something which will circumvent that safety.
The thing (or rather, big problem) is, with Aganazz being a spell, it’s always cast by a caster (duh). Casters, most of them at least, usually substitute the rear. Which kinda negates the tactical utility of Aganazzar because it emanates from you.
So to use it efficiently you’d need to be already within the frontline at the beginning of your communication have enough movement to position during a way that encases quite 1 enemy. The spell was accepted among elven battlemages, who were known to craft magic rings of the fireside with it included, with command word of the fete.
That’s just too much hassle, and too much risk, for many casters, compared to using upcast Ice Knife / Spike Growth / upcast tremor / Heat Metal / Flaming Sphere / Shatter or maybe Scorching Ray worst case for spreaded targets.