While it's hard to beat the feeling of unloading a fireball on multiple enemies and rolling a meaty handful of dice, spellcasters in Dungeons & Dragons have access to a lot more than spells that deal damage. Some other spells available in the game are those that control an enemy or alter the battlefield in the players' favor. These are called control spells, and D&D 5e has a wide variety of them available.

Eliminating multiple enemies in one fell swoop is undeniably a great use of any player's turn, but sometimes that's not an option. When your opponents are sure to take at least one turn in combat, it's often more advantageous to use a spell that has a chance to deprive them of that turn. After all, the most decisive victories are those in which you exit combat with your hit points unblemished.

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Updated on October 17, 2022, by Chris Stomberg: Locking down your enemies is especially important when you're up against a monster or monsters that hit incredibly hard. That being said, the most powerful enemies you face will have access to a mechanic called legendary resistance, which allows them to succeed on saves against control spells that they would have failed otherwise. While it might seem like a bad idea to use control spells against these creatures, it's really just a matter of using the right ones. To this point, we've added some additional control spells that you'll find useful even when the campaign's BBEG (big bag evil guy) is bearing down on you.

15 Evard's Black Tentacles

Evard's Black Tentacles is a great spell for pinning down multiple enemies while also incurring incremental damage. This concentration spell creates writhing black tentacles in a 20-foot square on the ground that makes the area difficult terrain. Creatures who enter the area for the first time on a turn or start their turn there must make a Dexterity saving throw or take 3d6 bludgeoning damage and be restrained by the tentacles.

There are some who claim that this is a save or suck spell, because creatures who succeed on the save take no damage and avoid the restrained condition. However, they do still have to deal with the difficult terrain that the spell creates. As a result, this is a great spell for choking off passages and creating a hazard that your opponents will need to circumnavigate.

14 Telekinesis

Telekinesis is one of few spells that can actually bypass the dreaded legendary resistance mechanic. This is thanks to the spell forcing the creature to make a Strength ability check instead of a saving throw. The ability check is contested by your own spellcasting ability check. Should you succeed in beating the creature's Strength ability check, you can move a Huge or smaller creature up to 30 feet in any direction as it becomes restrained by your telekinetic grip.

Any direction also includes into mid-air, allowing you to remove an enemy from melee combat completely. On future turns, you must use your action to repeat the contest if you wish to maintain your telekinetic grip. Beyond subduing creatures, telekinesis can also be used to move objects that weigh up to 1,000 pounds. Conveniently placed boulders never looked so good.

13 Dispel Magic

While dispel magic is not a control spell in the most conventional sense, it does provide your character with more control over the battlefield by giving them the ability to destroy control effects created by other spellcasters as well as magical devices. When you cast dispel magic, any spell of 3rd level or lower on the target creature, object, or effect immediately ends.

Spells of fourth level or higher can also be dealt with if you manage to succeed on a spellcasting ability check with a DC equal to ten plus the spell's level. However, you can avoid making this check by upcasting dispel magic to a level that's equal to the spell you're targeting. Savvy enemies will be sure to make use of control spells against your party, and there's no better answer to such tactics than dispel magic. It's also worth noting that buff spells like bless and haste can be done away with using dispel magic, so keep an eye out for these timely uses of it as well.

12 Grease

Grease covers a ten-foot square area in, as the name suggests, slick grease. Creatures who enter (or are inside) the area must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw to avoid falling victim to its effects, and the same holds true for those who end their turns inside this zone.

This also turns the area into difficult terrain. Though underwhelming at first glance, Grease is powerful because it can force a creature to make multiple Dexterity-saving throws in a single turn. All in all, Grease is great for delaying enemy advances and blocking attack routes, making it an ideal battlefield control spell in 5e.

11 Maze

Just like the name says, the caster can use this spell to teleport any player within casting range to an actual maze. The biggest drawback of this spell is that since it is a real maze, it's possible for the target to succeed an Intelligence throw and escape before the spell's duration of ten minutes is complete.

However, this is a high-level spell, which means as long as this is cast on a character with a low Intelligence score it's almost impossible for them to find the exit before the spell is broken.

10 Tasha's Hideous Laughter

Tasha's Hideous Laughter targets one creature within 30 feet and it's one of the best mind control spells in 5e. To avoid falling victim to the spell, the target must try their luck at a Wisdom save. If they fail, the character will become incapacitated by a terrible fit of laughter. The target can make the save again at the end of every turn, and the effect is dispelled whenever it takes damage.

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The save is made with an advantage if triggered by damage. Tasha's Hideous Laughter is great for removing a single enemy from the fight for multiple rounds. However, remember that the spell does require Concentration, so any character who casts it will need to get to cover to have a better chance at maintaining it.

9 Sleep

One of the classic D&D mind control spells, Sleep has an impressive range of 90 feet. The caster gets to roll 5d8 when casting it, which makes it all the more appealing. Every creature within 20 feet of a point you choose is affected, starting with creatures with the lowest current hit points. Creatures whose current hit points amount to less than the total of the 5d8 rolled immediately fall unconscious and remain so for the next minute unless they take damage or are woken by an ally who expends their action.

When a creature is affected by the spell, subtract its current hit points from the 5d8 roll. This continues until every creature inside the area is slept or no creatures' current hit points are equal to or less than the remaining total of the 5d8. Sleep is fantastic at lower levels, but its usefulness falls off around levels four-to-five as enemy hit points climb to higher amounts.

8 Entangle

Entangle is the go-to control spell for Druids who have many fewer control options in comparison to classes like the Sorcerer, Bard, and Wizard. Entangle is a spell that requires Concentration and creates grasping vines in a 20-foot square area.

Creatures within the area must succeed on a Strength saving throw or become restrained by the ravels of plants. The area is also turned into difficult terrain. For all intents and purposes, entangle is simply a better version of Grease and also one of the best battlefield control spells in 5e. The one thing to keep in mind is that it does require Concentration, so characters casting the spell will want to take cover.

7 Suggestion​

Suggestion is a control spell in 5e that requires concentration and affects one creature within 30 feet that the caster can see. The caster comes up with one reasonable-sounding course of activity, and the creature targeted must carry the activity out upon failing a Wisdom saving throw. Examples include walking north until they come across a man atop a horse, throwing their weapon as far as they can, or ordering their men to surrender.

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Suggestion has a duration of eight hours. As a result, if they supply a task that takes an indefinite amount of time to carry out, a single enemy can easily be sent packing. The versatility of this spell is what makes it awesome to pick up.

6 Web

Web is among the most famous control spells in the game and for good reason. It requires Concentration and creates a 20-foot cube of sticky webbing. The webbing is difficult terrain and its area is lightly obscured. If a creature is in the web during a turn, it is left with no choice but to roll the dice on a Dexterity saving throw or accept being restrained. A creature can use its action to make the check again and attempt to break free.

Perhaps the coolest part about Web is the fact that the webbing is flammable. The webs burn away in a single round if subjected to fire, dealing 2d4 fire damage to any creature that starts its turn there.

5 Stinking Cloud

This spell isn't often seen due to its situational requirements. Nonetheless, Stinking Cloud is quite good. It creates a 20-foot radius sphere of utterly foul gas. The area is heavily obscured which means it cannot be seen through.

Each creature within the cloud at the start of its turn must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or spend their action retching and reeling from the stink, making it an excellent option for a battlefield control spell. While many other control spells on this list won't necessarily help the user against ranged opponents, Stinking Cloud most definitely will. Unfortunately, creatures that don't need to breathe or who are immune to poison aren't affected by the cloud.

4 Hypnotic Pattern

The other reason Stinking Cloud isn't often seen is that it's almost always worse than Hypnotic Pattern. Hypnotic Pattern is a third-level illusion spell that has a farther range, affects a larger area, and incapacitates enemies who fail its save until they take damage or are woken by an ally's action. It is a Charm effect, so it doesn't work on creatures who can't be charmed.

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Then again, there are probably fewer creatures who can't be charmed than there are creatures that don't need to breathe or can't be poisoned. Anyways, Hypnotic Pattern forces every creature in a 30-foot cube to succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or become incapacitated.

3 Forcecage

Forcecage is a spell that creates an unbreakable prison in a ten or 20-foot area, depending on if the user wants to make a solid box or a cage with half-inch diameter bars spaced a half-inch apart. The prison lasts for 1 hour. Any creature inside the area is trapped without a chance to even try a saving throw.

Creatures inside the cage are unable to leave by nonmagical means, and the cage extends into the Ethereal Plane so it can't be dispelled by dispel magic. Forcecage is the ultimate spell for when someone wants to give opponents a time-out.

2 Hold Person

Hold Person is one of the most useful, versatile, and all-around best options in D&D 5e when it comes to mind control, whether it's on the battlefield or in a tense situation. The spell paralyzes any target within a 60-foot range for a full minute, which is an eternity when it comes to turn-based RP games, so you can use it to take at least one individual out of the battle completely.

That's great as it is, but this spell gets even better after third level. Players who have Hold Person stored in a spell slot, and it's best to have at least two reserved for this spell, can target two players at the same time provided the second target is within 30 feet.

1 Wall Of Force

​​​​​While Forcecage is stupendous, Wall of Force can accomplish the same results and more for a lower-level spell slot. Wall of Force conjures an invisible magical barrier in the shape of the user's choice, which can be a solid wall that extends indefinitely or a hemispherical dome or sphere with a radius of ten feet.

Nothing can pass through the wall and it can't be taken down with damage. At the end of the day, there's no better way to control a battlefield than by splitting it with an impenetrable barrier. Good luck getting around that, baddies.

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