Whether you’re out to ease people’s worries or sow discord among the harmonious, the School of Enchantment has the bewitching magic that you’re looking for. Enchantresses call upon subtle arts to warp the minds of those who stand in their way, usually favoring guile over outright belligerence.

But when push comes to shove, Enchanters are also equipped with spells that can cause psychic pain to their foes, along with a host of other unpleasant effects. Before you send in your application to the School of Enchantment, it helps to know what you’re in for (or up against). Here are 20 statistics on DnD 5e’s Enchantment spells:

  1. The School of Enchantment’s shortest spell is the ninth-level Power Word Kill (38 words) and longest spell is eight-level Antipathy/Sympathy (414 words). Power Word Kill is also the second-shortest ninth-level spell in 5e (after Invulnerability).

  2. enchantment spells by word count

  3. There are 42 Enchantment spells, the four lowest count of DnD 5e’s eight spell schools.

  4. Enchantment has the fourth-highest average word count (148) and median word count (125) — middle of the pack in terms of complexity.

  5. Enchantment is the only spell school where Wizards don’t have access to the greatest number of spells. Bards, with access to 33 Enchantment spells, have the most of any class.

    Artificers don’t mess with Enchantment magic at all, sporting 0 of the schools’ spells in their base class spell list.

  6. enchantment spells by class

  7. Bards also have the most Enchantment-heavy spell list — nearly a quarter (24.63%) of Bard spells fall into the school.

  8. enchantment spells by as a percentage of class spell list

  9. 81% of Enchantment spells are debuffs. Dealing damage, boosting ally’s capabilities, and coming in with utility are also part of the Enchanter’s toolkit. Healing, not so much.

  10. enchantment spells by spell effects

  11. 93% of Enchantment spells require a verbal component, and 67% require a material component. However, no Enchantment spells consume the material component.

  12. enchantment spells by components

  13. On top of that, 0 Enchantment spells have a price requirement on the material component. Evidently, Enchanters get as good of deals on the spells they cast as the creatures they charm with those spells.

  14. There are 21 concentration spells and 1 ritual spell (Animal Messenger) in the School of Enchantment.

  15. The Player’s Handbook started DnD 5e off with 34 Enchantment spells. Xanathar’s Guide to Everything added 6, and Tasha’s Cauldron included 2 more.

  16. enchantment spells by rulebook

  17. Enchanter heavily favor mid-ranged magics, with 86% of the school’s spells having a range between 30 and 90 feet.

  18. enchantment spells by range

  19. Enchantment has 10 area of effect spells.

  20. 20 Enchantment spells (47% of the school) can be upcast

  21. While Enchantment magic is mostly about gaining other advantages, 19% of the school’s spells do deal direct damage. For the most part, Enchantment deals psychic damage, but Hex breaks the mold with a bit of necrotic damage.

  22. enchantment spells by damage type

  23. If you’re trying to save yourself from being enchanted, it pays to invest in Wisdom — more than half (52%) of Enchantment spells require a Wisdom saving throw.

    Intelligence, Charisma, and Constitution saving throws are also in the mix, but Strength and Dexterity won’t help you at all with Enchantresses.

  24. enchantment spells by saving throws

  25. The School of Enchantment’s most damaging ability is Psychic Scream, with an average damage of 49 psychic damage on a failed save — per target hit. Seeing as it can affect up to 10 creatures in 90 feet, you’ll likely do somewhere between 122-490 total damage with this ninth-level spell.

    Also, failed saves result in a stun, and lethal damage blows up the target’s head — pretty badass mind magic if you ask us.

    Note: Power Word Kill instantly kills any target with 100 or fewer hit points, so it deals the highest single target damage of Enchantment spells
  26. Enchantment spells are overwhelmingly (90.5%) 1 action casting times. Hex, Compelled Duel, Antipathy/Sympathy, and Geas are the only spells in the school that break this mold.

  27. enchantment spells by casting time

  28. 71% of Enchantment spells occur instantaneously or last for 1 minute or 1 hour. 1 minute spell durations are the most common for Enchanters.

  29. enchantment spells by duration

  30. 45% of Enchantment spells are 1st- or 2nd-level. Beyond that, there’s no real pattern, with 5th-level, 8th-level, and 4th-level spells as the next most common.

  31. enchantment spells by level

  32. 17 Enchantment spells have been around since the first edition of Dungeons and Dragons. Note that this only includes exact name matches:

    Animal Friendship Geas
    Antipathy/Sympathy Hold Monster
    Bless Hold Person
    Charm Monster Mass Suggestion
    Charm Person Power Word Kill
    Command Power Word Stun
    Confusion Sleep
    Feeblemind Suggestion
    Friends

Methodology

All data is taken from the three main fifth edition rulebooks (Player’s Handbook, Xanathar’s Guide to Everything, and Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything).

Word counts do not include the spell name, level, school, casting time, range, components, or duration. Nor do they include the stat blocks of any summoned or conjured creatures. They also do not include the words “At Higher Levels” for spells that can be upcast. Word counts do, however, include all text included in charts, including numbers.

One statistic from above is somewhat subjective: spell types (damage, heal, buff, debuff, utility). I tried to take a common-sense approach to what category each spell falls into and limited each spell to two types. Hopefully, these spell classifications at least prove useful for relative comparisons between spell schools if nothing else.

As a final disclaimer, I did all of this by hand, so there are almost certainly some small errors in my work — I’m only human.

How to Use Enchantment Spells in DnD 5e

How to use Friends
How to use Mind Sliver
How to use Vicious Mockery
How to use Animal Friendship
How to use Bless
How to use Charm Person
How to use Command
How to use Dissonant Whispers
How to use Hex
How to use Sleep
How to use Crown of Madness
How to use Hold Person
How to use Suggestion