Shocking Grasp — Complete D&D 5e Spell Guide

Table of Contents

• •Quick Answer
• •Overview
• •Stat Block
• •When NOT to Use This
• •Spell Slot Efficiency
• •Pro Tips
• •Common Mistakes to Avoid
• •Usage Tips
• •Rules Notes
• •Synergies
• •Anti-Patterns
• •Tactical Modules
• •Countermeasures
• •Shocking Grasp in the 2024 Rules
• •Frequently Asked Questions

Quick Answer

Shocking Grasp is an evocation cantrip for Sorcerers and Wizards. Make a melee spell attack against a creature you try to touch. On a hit it takes 1d8 lightning damage. Under the 2014 rules it can't take reactions until the start of its next turn, and you have advantage on the attack if it wears metal armor. Under the 2024 rules it can't make opportunity attacks until the start of its next turn, and the metal-armor advantage is gone. Damage rises to 2d8 at 5th level, 3d8 at 11th, and 4d8 at 17th.

Overview

Shocking Grasp is the arcane caster's way out of melee. The alternatives are a ranged cantrip at disadvantage, a Disengage that deals no damage, or eating an opportunity attack. Shocking Grasp deals damage and, if it hits, lets you walk away safely.

The 2014 version does more. "Can't take reactions" covers every reaction: a creature you hit can't Parry, cast Shield, or cast Counterspell until its next turn starts. Against heavily armored enemies, the metal-armor advantage also makes it the most accurate damage cantrip a Wizard has.

The 2024 version only stops opportunity attacks and has no advantage clause. It is still a good escape tool, but no longer shuts down an enemy caster's Counterspell.

Stat Block

When NOT to Use This

• •The target absorbs lightning. A shambling mound or a flesh golem regains hit points equal to the damage instead.
• •The target is a black pudding or an ochre jelly. Both are immune to lightning, and lightning damage triggers their Split reaction, turning one ooze into two.
• •The target is an air elemental (resists lightning) or a blue or bronze dragon (immune).
• •You aren't already next to the enemy. Walking up to touch a monster puts a fragile caster in melee for nothing.
• •You are fighting a 2014 fire elemental. Its Fire Form deals 1d10 fire damage to a creature that touches it or hits it with a melee attack within 5 feet.

Spell Slot Efficiency

When worth the action: You are in melee and want to leave, the target wears metal armor (2014), or you want to strip an enemy's reaction before your allies act (2014).

When NOT worth the action: You are at range already, or the target absorbs or ignores lightning.

Damage by character level

What metal armor is worth (2014)

A 5th-level Wizard with +7 to hit, against SRD stat blocks. Critical hits are included.

Against the knight, a +7 Fire Bolt averages 6.1 expected damage, so the 2014 Shocking Grasp wins at 7.6 despite its smaller die. Without advantage in 2024 it drops to 5.0, below the 2024 Chill Touch (a 1d10 melee touch cantrip) at 6.1.

Pro Tips

Tip #1: Hit, then walk away.

Why it works: On a hit, the target can't take reactions (2014) or make opportunity attacks (2024) until its next turn, so you can move away without provoking it. Against an ogre (AC 11), a +7 attack hits 85% of the time.

This avoids the mistake of: Spending your action on Disengage and dealing no damage, or casting Fire Bolt at disadvantage from the ogre's reach.

Tip #2: Hit the enemy mage before your party's big spell (2014).

Why it works: The 2014 mage has Shield and Counterspell, both reactions. If your Shocking Grasp lands, it can't cast either until its next turn starts, so your party's Fireball later that round can't be countered by it.

This avoids the mistake of: Letting the enemy caster keep its reaction ready for your best spell.

Tip #3: Deliver it through a familiar.

Why it works: Find Familiar lets a familiar within 100 feet deliver touch spells with its reaction, and you stay out of melee. The 2014 text says the roll uses your attack modifier.

This avoids the mistake of: Walking a low-hit-point caster up to the enemy line.

Tip #4: Strip a knight's Parry before the fighter swings (2014).

Why it works: The knight's Parry reaction adds 2 to its AC against one melee attack. Either it spends that reaction on your Shocking Grasp, or you hit and it can't take reactions until its next turn. Both leave it without Parry for your fighter.

This avoids the mistake of: Having the fighter's best attack turned into a miss by a +2 AC reaction.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Thinking a miss still protects you

Why it's bad: The reaction denial only happens on a hit. If you miss, the creature can make an opportunity attack when you leave.

Do this instead: Check the hit before you move.

Treating every armored target as metal (2014)

Why it's bad: Advantage applies only when the target wears armor made of metal. The SRD describes padded, leather, studded leather, and hide without mentioning metal.

Do this instead: Read the armor line. The 2014 SRD describes chain shirts, scale mail, breastplates, half plate, chain mail, splint, and plate as metal. Ring mail is "leather armor with heavy rings sewn into it," and shields are "made from wood or metal," so both are DM rulings, not rules text.

Shocking the shambling mound

Why it's bad: Lightning Absorption turns your damage into healing for the creature.

Do this instead: Use another damage type. Fire Bolt is only half effective, since shambling mounds also resist fire.

Usage Tips

• •Worked example (escape): A 5th-level Wizard (+7 to hit) is next to a 2014 hobgoblin in chain mail. With advantage the attack hits 75% of the time for 9 average damage. The hobgoblin has 11 hit points, so a hit drops it when the 2d8 roll is 11 or more: 21 of 64 outcomes, about 33%. On any hit, the Wizard walks away without an opportunity attack.
• •Worked example (2024 escape): The same Wizard against a 2024 guard (AC 16) has no advantage and hits 60% of the time: a 60% chance to deal damage and leave safely, versus Disengage's certain escape with no damage.
• •Oozes: A black pudding or ochre jelly that is Medium or larger and has at least 10 hit points splits when it is subjected to lightning damage. Both are immune to lightning, so they take nothing and still split. In the 2014 rules Split is a reaction and Shocking Grasp's hit also says the target can't take reactions. The text doesn't say which applies first, so that is a DM ruling, not rules text.
• •Fire elemental (2014): Whether a missed touch attack counts as touching it for Fire Form is a DM ruling, not rules text.
• •Roll damage in the dice roller.

Rules Notes

• •Melee spell attack against a creature you try to touch; 2014 grants advantage if it wears armor made of metal.
• •On a hit: 1d8 lightning. 2014: no reactions until the start of its next turn. 2024: no opportunity attacks until then.
• •As a melee attack, it takes no disadvantage for being next to an enemy.
• •Scaling uses total character level, not your level in one class. The 2024 SRD's multiclassing rules say so. The 2014 SRD text says only "when you reach 5th level," and its multiclassing section doesn't mention cantrips; Wizards of the Coast's 2014 rulings (Sage Advice, outside the SRD) give the same character-level answer.

Synergies

• •Shield: Survive the round you spend in melee, then Shocking Grasp and leave on your turn.
• •Allies acting later in the round (2014): The reaction lockout ends when the target's next turn starts, so it helps allies whose turns fall between yours and the target's.

Anti-Patterns

• •Walking into melee on purpose to use it when Fire Bolt was available.
• •Shocking oozes, shambling mounds, and flesh golems.

Tactical Modules

• •Escape hatch: Pinned in melee, cast it, then move back behind the front line.
• •Counterspell blackout (2014): Hit the enemy caster so allies who act before its next turn can cast safely.

Countermeasures

• •Threat: Lightning resistance or absorption. Response: Another damage type. Fallback: Disengage.
• •Threat: High natural armor. Response: A saving-throw spell. Fallback: Accept the lower hit chance if escaping matters most.
• •Threat: Several adjacent enemies. Response: It stops only one, so Disengage or Misty Step instead. Fallback: Shield to survive the opportunity attacks.

Shocking Grasp in the 2024 Rules

The 2024 Player's Handbook keeps Shocking Grasp's school, classes, touch range, melee spell attack, 1d8 lightning damage, and scaling.

Two things changed:

• •No metal-armor advantage. The 2024 text removes the advantage on targets wearing metal armor.
• •Opportunity attacks only. On a hit, the target can't make opportunity attacks until the start of its next turn. It can still use other reactions, such as Parry, Shield, or Counterspell.

Access changed too. The 2024 Sorcerer class lists Shocking Grasp among its recommended starting cantrips. Circle of the Land Druids who choose temperate land always have it prepared from Druid level 3. The Magic Initiate (Wizard) feat lets any character learn it, and the 2024 Evocation Wizard's Potent Cantrip now deals half damage on a missed attack, though a miss still doesn't deny opportunity attacks.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does Shocking Grasp do in 5e?

A melee spell attack for 1d8 lightning damage. On a hit the target can't take reactions (2014) or make opportunity attacks (2024) until the start of its next turn. Damage grows to 2d8 at 5th level, 3d8 at 11th, and 4d8 at 17th.

Does Shocking Grasp let you escape without an opportunity attack in 5e?

Yes, if it hits. The target can't make an opportunity attack against you until its next turn starts, so you can move away. It only affects the creature you hit. Other enemies near you can still attack.

Does Shocking Grasp have advantage against metal armor in 5e?

In the 2014 rules, yes. You have advantage on the attack roll if the target is wearing armor made of metal. The 2024 version removed that clause.

Does Shocking Grasp stop Counterspell in 5e?

In the 2014 rules, yes. A creature hit by it can't take reactions until the start of its next turn, and Counterspell is cast as a reaction. In the 2024 rules, no. It only stops opportunity attacks.

Does a shield count as metal armor for Shocking Grasp?

The rules don't say. The 2014 SRD lists shields in the Armor table but says a shield "is made from wood or metal and is carried in one hand," while the spell asks whether the target is wearing armor made of metal. It is a DM ruling, not rules text. The question disappears in 2024, which has no metal clause.

Can a familiar deliver Shocking Grasp in 5e?

Yes, if it is within 100 feet of you, using its reaction. The 2014 text says the attack roll uses your attack modifier.

Is Shocking Grasp good in 5e?

It is the best escape cantrip on the Sorcerer and Wizard lists, but its damage trails Fire Bolt's and it requires melee, so it is a utility pick rather than a main attack.

Is Shocking Grasp a melee attack in 5e?

Yes, a melee spell attack, so there is no disadvantage for being next to the enemy. Effects that trigger on melee attacks, such as the knight's Parry, apply to it.

Citations: SRD 5.1 (2014 rules), SRD 5.2.1 (2024 rules)

Includes material from the System Reference Document 5.1 and 5.2.1 by Wizards of the Coast LLC, licensed under CC BY 4.0.