Does Booming Blade Still Work with Warcaster?

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The answer to the question Does booming blade still work with Warcaster? is yes, Booming Blade works fine with War Caster, as War Caster allows you to cast Booming Blade as an Opportunity Attack reaction because Booming Blade is a spell with a casting time of one action. Booming Blade asks for a melee weapon attack made as part of the ‘cast a spell’ action, which War Caster allows you to take as a reaction instead of an action, replacing the normal Opportunity Attack.

Frequently Asked Questions

Booming Blade and War Caster

1. Can you cast booming blade with Warcaster?: Yes, War Caster allows you to cast Booming Blade as an Opportunity Attack reaction because Booming Blade is a spell with a casting time of one action.
2. Can you cast fireball with Warcaster?: No, you would be unable to cast Fireball because it’s V, S, M and has no free hand to handle the material component, War Caster would be of no help.
3. Does booming blade work on Shadow blade?: It is the general consensus that it doesn’t work, probably why the Booming Blade and Green Flame Blade cantrips were changed so that the material component now requires a weapon worth at least 1 sp.

Opportunity Attack and Booming Blade

4. Does booming blade work with Opportunity attack?: Interpretation 1: because the Opportunity Attack is when the target is moving, Booming Blade’s secondary damage immediately triggers, unless the target can no longer move, such as due to Sentinel.
5. Can you use green flame blade and booming blade at the same time?: No, you can’t use both of them at the same time, as you make the attack as part of the spell casting, at most you’re going to get both off in one round.

War Caster Benefits and Limitations

6. What are the benefits of Warcaster?: It makes you a better spellcaster in Combat, improves your chances of keeping concentration, allows more flexibility with Somatic components, and allows you to deliver some serious spellcasting punishment when enemies trigger an Opportunity Attack from you.
7. How useful is Warcaster?: One of the biggest draws to picking up War Caster is the ability to perform Somatic components of spells while you have a sword and shield in hand.
8. Does Warcaster let you use a shield?: War Caster only allows you to perform (read: ignore) the Somatic component while your hands are full with weapons/shield, it does not let you ignore material component rules or use weapons as a spellcasting focus.

Booming Blade and Other Spells

9. Can you combine shillelagh and booming blade?: Yes, casting any combination of (only) Cantrips with Action/Bonus Action is perfectly permissible.
10. Can you use shillelagh and booming blade?: Shillelagh works well with a high elf (or half high elf), using Booming Blade or Green Flame Blade.
11. Does Sentinel and Warcaster stack?: Sentinel is not a great combo with War Caster, however, Polearm Master is great with War Caster, if you’re using sword & board style, use a Spear.

Booming Blade and Weapons

12. Does booming blade work on a whip?: The whip is a great choice for Bladesinger, no doubt the damage is only 1d4, but with its one-handed, finesse, and reach property (10 feet), it pairs beautifully with Booming Blade.
13. Can you Multiattack with booming blade?: No, you cannot combine attacks with Booming Blade, as these cantrips do not require you to take the Attack action, they require you to take the Cast a Spell action.
14. Can booming blade be twinned?: Yes, Booming Blade can be twinned, because a range of Self is not the same thing as a range of Self (5-foot radius), when a spell has a range of “Self“, it definitionally targets the caster themselves, and no one else.

Additional Information

15. Do you need war caster for booming blade?: Booming Blade asks for a melee weapon attack made as part of the ‘cast a spell’ action, which War Caster allows you to take as a reaction instead of an action, replacing the normal Opportunity Attack, but you can still cast Booming Blade without War Caster as part of your Action.