Magic Missile is a 1st-level evocation spell for sorcerers and wizards. It creates three darts that each deal 1d4 + 1 force damage to creatures you can see within 120 feet. There is no attack roll and no saving throw, so every dart hits. That is 10.5 damage on average at 1st level, and each slot level above 1st adds one more dart. The Shield spell blocks all of it.
Magic Missile is a 1st-level evocation spell that deals guaranteed force damage. Sorcerers and wizards can cast it from 1st level. You create three darts, and each one hits a creature of your choice that you can see within 120 feet. You can send all three at one target or split them up.
The spell's strength is certainty, not size. A 1st-level slot buys 10.5 average damage, which is less than many other options. But it never misses, it ignores AC, and very few creatures resist force damage. That makes it good for finishing off a wounded enemy, hitting a target with very high AC, and forcing concentration saves.
The weak points are clear. The Shield spell negates it completely. It cannot target objects. And as a slot-for-damage trade, it falls behind area spells once you face groups.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Level | 1 |
| School | Evocation |
| Casting Time | 1 action |
| Range | 120 feet |
| Components | V, S |
| Material | None |
| Duration | Instantaneous |
| Concentration | No |
| Ritual | No |
| Save/Attack | None (automatic hit) |
| Classes | Sorcerer, Wizard |
| Metric | Assessment |
|---|---|
| Slot Efficiency | Modest: 10.5 average damage for a 1st-level slot, plus 3.5 per extra slot level. Strong only when certainty matters. |
| Action Economy | One action for guaranteed damage split across up to three targets at 1st level. |
| Opportunity Cost | Competes with Shield, Mage Armor, Sleep, and Burning Hands for the same 1st-level slots. |
When worth the slot: Finishing a fleeing or nearly dead enemy, breaking an enemy's concentration, or hitting a target your attacks keep missing.
When NOT worth the slot: Against groups, against Shield users, and in long adventuring days when slots are tight.
Why it works: Each dart that damages a concentrating creature forces its own Constitution save. Under the 2014 rules, official Sage Advice treats each dart as a separate source of damage. Three darts means three saves at DC 10.
This avoids the mistake of: Saving your biggest single hit for a concentrating caster when three small hits are more likely to break it.
Why it works: You can split darts after you know exactly who is wounded. A goblin with 2 hit points left dies to one dart, and the other two can go elsewhere.
This avoids the mistake of: Spending a whole spell on a creature that one dart would have killed.
Why it works: An attack against AC 20 with a +5 bonus hits only 30% of the time. Magic Missile hits 100% of the time.
This avoids the mistake of: Throwing cantrips at a plate-armored knight round after round.
Why it's bad: Shield's trigger includes being targeted by Magic Missile. The caster takes no damage from the spell at all, not just a reduced amount.
Do this instead: Make the enemy use its reaction first, or pick a spell that calls for a saving throw, such as Burning Hands or Lightning Bolt.
Why it's bad: The text says each dart hits a creature. A rope, lock, or door is not a creature.
Do this instead: Use Fire Bolt, which can target objects, or a weapon attack.
Why it's bad: The darts are not attacks, so they cannot critically hit, and features that add to attack damage do not apply.
Do this instead: Count 1d4 + 1 per dart and nothing more unless a feature specifically adds to spell damage. Check that feature's exact wording.
The 2024 spell is almost unchanged. It is still 1st level, still deals 1d4 + 1 force damage per dart, and still adds one dart per slot level above 1st. The class list is still Sorcerer and Wizard.
One rule around it did change. The 2014 rule says that if a spell deals damage to more than one target at the same time, you roll the damage once for all of them. Many tables applied that to Magic Missile and rolled a single 1d4 for every dart. The 2024 rule for rolling damage once now sits under saving-throw damage and covers effects that force two or more targets to save at the same time. Magic Missile has no save, so that rule no longer clearly covers it. Rolling each dart separately is the plain reading, but ask your DM.
The 2024 Evoker's Empowered Evocation adds your Intelligence modifier to one damage roll of the spell, so it boosts one dart, not all of them. Shield still blocks the spell completely in 2024.
At 1st level it deals 3d4 + 3 force damage in total, which is 6 to 15 and averages 10.5. Each dart deals 1d4 + 1. Every slot level above 1st adds one dart, so a 3rd-level cast deals 5d4 + 5, averaging 17.5.
No. It has no attack roll and no saving throw. The only ways to stop it are not being targetable, such as invisibility or total cover, or taking no damage from it, through the Shield spell or a Brooch of Shielding.
Yes, completely. Shield can be cast as a reaction when you are targeted by Magic Missile, and you then take no damage from the spell. It works against every dart aimed at you, not just one.
It depends on your table. The 2014 rule says to roll once when a spell damages several targets at the same time, and many DMs apply that to the darts. The 2024 rule only covers effects that force saving throws, so rolling each dart is the plain reading there. The average damage is the same either way.
It can. Each dart that damages a concentrating creature forces a separate DC 10 Constitution save under the official 2014 guidance. Three darts on one caster means three saves, which is why it is good at breaking concentration.
No. Critical hits happen on attack rolls, and Magic Missile does not use one. Each dart always deals 1d4 + 1 force damage.
It is reliable but not efficient. It is the best 1st-level spell for guaranteed damage, finishing wounded enemies, and breaking concentration. For raw damage per slot, area spells and higher-level spells do more.
Yes. The spell says you can direct the darts to hit one creature or several. All of them strike at the same moment.
Citations: SRD 5.1 (Magic Missile, Shield, Damage Rolls, Concentration); SRD 5.2.1 (Magic Missile, Damage against Multiple Targets, Evoker)
Includes SRD 5.1 and SRD 5.2.1 content per CC BY 4.0.
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