Can You Multiattack with Booming Blade? A Comprehensive Guide
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The short answer is a definitive no. You cannot combine the Multiattack feature with the booming blade cantrip in Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition (5e). This limitation stems from the fundamental mechanics of how these features operate. Multiattack is explicitly tied to the Attack action, whereas casting booming blade requires the Cast a Spell action. This seemingly simple distinction has significant implications for combat effectiveness and strategic planning.
Understanding the Mechanics
To fully grasp why Multiattack doesn’t work with booming blade, it’s crucial to understand the rules governing both.
The Attack Action
The Attack action is a standard combat action that allows a character to make one or more weapon attacks. Features like the Fighter’s Extra Attack, the Barbarian’s Frenzy, or the Monk’s Martial Arts all enhance this action by granting additional attacks. These abilities explicitly state they trigger when you take the Attack action.
The Cast a Spell Action
The Cast a Spell action is used to cast spells, be they cantrips like booming blade or higher-level spells. Importantly, casting a spell is not the same as taking the Attack action. The rules clearly separate these actions.
Booming Blade: A Hybrid
Booming blade is a cantrip that creates a unique hybrid of a spell and a weapon attack. When you cast it, you make a melee weapon attack as part of the spell’s casting. While the attack is crucial to the spell’s effect, the action you take is Cast a Spell, not the Attack action.
Why They Don’t Mix
The rules are clear: Multiattack specifically enhances the Attack action. Since casting booming blade requires the Cast a Spell action, it does not interact with Multiattack or similar features that rely on the Attack action. You are not attacking as part of the Attack action. The attack is a component of the cast action.
Strategic Implications
This seemingly minor rule has significant implications for character builds and combat strategies. Characters who rely heavily on multiple weapon attacks, such as martial classes, cannot simply swap out their usual attacks with multiple castings of booming blade. This forces players to make strategic choices between sustained damage with multiple regular attacks and the potentially higher burst damage offered by the booming blade cantrip, which can deal more damage if the enemy moves from its position.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Here are 15 frequently asked questions about booming blade and related mechanics, providing even more insight into how this cantrip functions:
1. Can you use Extra Attack with Booming Blade?
No. Extra Attack explicitly requires you to take the Attack action, while booming blade uses the Cast a Spell action. These actions are mutually exclusive and cannot be combined.
2. Can you stack multiple instances of Booming Blade?
Absolutely not. The effects of booming blade do not stack. Even if you were to find a way to cast it multiple times in a single turn, the bonus damage will only apply once if the conditions are met. The extra damage effect is triggered only once.
3. Can you use Booming Blade with a Bladesinger’s Extra Attack Feature?
No. Although the Bladesinger’s Extra Attack allows replacing one attack with a cantrip, that replaces only a single attack from your Attack action. You can’t use the Attack action to cast booming blade twice, and the cantrip still uses the Cast a Spell action, not Attack action.
4. If you cast Booming Blade twice, would you deal the bonus damage twice?
No, the effect doesn’t stack. You would deal the initial melee weapon attack damage, however, the additional damage is only triggered when a creature moves. You would not get the additional damage twice.
5. Can you combine Shillelagh and Booming Blade?
Yes. Shillelagh is a bonus action spell that allows you to use your spell casting modifier for the weapon attack. Combining this cantrip with booming blade is perfectly permissible as long as you do not cast another bonus action spell the same turn.
6. Can you stack Booming Blade and Green-Flame Blade?
No. You can’t cast multiple cantrips on one attack (with some exceptions granted by other class features). You may be able to cast one of these cantrips with your action, and the other with a bonus action, if you have a feature like quickened spell, or action surge. These cantrips don’t stack with each other on one attack, however.
7. Can Booming Blade be Counterspelled?
Yes. As booming blade is a cantrip, it is subject to Counterspell. A successful Counterspell will prevent the casting of booming blade, including its melee attack.
8. Do Maneuvers work with Booming Blade?
Some do, and some don’t. Maneuvers that trigger off an attack can be applied when you cast booming blade. However, Maneuvers that require you to use the attack action, cannot be applied when you cast booming blade. Commander’s Strike is an example of a maneuver that does not work.
9. Can Booming Blade be Quicken Spelled?
Yes. Quicken Spell allows you to cast booming blade as a bonus action. You can also twin it with twinned spell metamagic on two separate targets.
10. Can you use Eldritch Smite with Booming Blade?
Yes. Eldritch Smite is a class feature for the Warlock class that can be used with an attack, and doesn’t rely on the Attack Action, as it can be applied to any attack. You may cast both the booming blade cantrip and Eldritch Smite during the same turn.
11. Does Booming Blade deal damage?
Yes. At 1st level, it does additional damage if the target moves, and at 5th level, it adds a damage dice to the initial attack. The damage increases at 5th, 11th, and 17th levels.
12. Does Booming Blade work with Spell Sniper?
Yes. Spell Sniper doubles the range of your spells. Since booming blade has a range of 5 feet, this increases to 10 feet with the Spell Sniper feat.
13. Is Extra Attack better than Booming Blade?
It depends on your build and situation. Extra Attack is better for sustained damage and those who benefit from hitting multiple times and those with flat damage modifiers, while booming blade offers a higher damage burst with the secondary effect, especially with advantage.
14. Does Booming Blade work with teleportation triggers?
No, teleportation doesn’t trigger the secondary damage of booming blade. The trigger requires the target to move using its own speed. Teleportation does not trigger the secondary damage.
15. Does Dueling fighting style work with Booming Blade?
Yes. As booming blade requires an attack with a melee weapon as part of the spell, Dueling applies if the other conditions are met- ie that the weapon is one-handed and that no other weapon is held in the other hand.
Conclusion
The interaction between Multiattack and booming blade is a common source of confusion. The key takeaway is that booming blade utilizes the Cast a Spell action and is therefore incompatible with features that require the Attack action, such as Multiattack. Understanding the difference between these actions is fundamental to effectively utilizing your character’s abilities in D&D 5e. This knowledge empowers players to make informed strategic choices, maximizing their combat prowess and enjoying a deeper understanding of the game’s mechanics.