The New 2024 Evocation Wizard (DnD Subclass Deep Dive)

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Capable of channeling arcane energy to create powerful elemental effects that can burn, freeze and electrocute their enemies, the Evocation Wizard has been around since the earliest editions of Dungeons & Dragons, originally starting out as one of the eight official Schools of Magic. Over the years, Evocation has also remained a popular form of spellcaster, including most recently appearing as one of the base subclasses for the 2014 DnD 5e Wizard.

Now, these eldritch elementalists are back and more explosive than ever thanks to the 2024 Player’s Handbook. In fact, they’ve seen a number of significant changes, including an update to their name itself, with Wizards of the Coast now referring to them simply as “The Evoker Wizard.” In addition, several core features have been overhauled, with the subclass now gaining access to more spell options, more powerful cantrips and a change to a key defensive ability.

So is the Evocation Wizard still a blast to play in DnD 5e? Below, we fire up all the details.

What’s changed in the new 2024 Evocation Wizard?

The table below features all the changes to the 2024 Evocation Wizard in DnD 5e. For ease of reference we’ve included the level and whether the feature has changed from the legacy Evocation Wizard that was featured in the 2014 Player’s Handbook. It’s important to note that both the old and the new version of the subclass still fall under the DnD 5e core rules.

Evocation Wizard Feature	Level	Changed from 2014?	Changes to the 2024 Evoker Wizard
Name Change	1	Yes	In the 2014 rules, the subclass was referred to as the “School of Evocation Wizard.” In the 2024 rules, they are now referred to simply as “Evoker Wizards.”
Subclass Access	3	Yes	One of the biggest changes in 2024 is that Wizards now access their subclass at Level 3 (in the 2014 rules you accessed Wizard subclasses at Level 2).
Evocation Savant	3	Yes	The 2024 version of this feature allows you to add two spells to your spellbook for free (although they must be level 2 or lower). In addition, whenever you gain access to new spell slots, you can add one Evocation spell to your spellbook for free. This is a significant change to the 2014 version of this feature which just meant that when you copied an Evocation spell into your spellbook the gold/time required was cut in half.
Potent Cantrip	3	Yes	The 2024 version of this feature means that if you miss an attack with a cantrip or if the target succeeds on a saving throw they still take half damage (but suffer no additional effects). This is a slight change to the 2014 version, which triggered only if a target succeeded on a saving throw against the cantrip (if you missed, it was not triggered). One additional major change is that this feature is now accessed at Level 3 (in the 2014 version it was accessed at Level 6).
Sculpt Spells	6	Yes	In the 2024 rules, your Evoker Wizard gains access to this feature at Level 6. In the 2014 version, however, you gained access at Level 2. The feature itself, however, has not changed and functions exactly the same.
Empowered Evocation	10	No	N/A
Overchannel	14	No	N/A

What are the Evoker Wizard features for 2024 DnD 5e?

Below are the full list of all the features using the new rules, as featured in the 2024 Player’s Handbook.

Level 3: Evocation Savant

Choose two Wizard spells from the Evocation school, each of which must be no higher than level 2, and add them to your spellbook for free. In addition, whenever you gain access to a new level of spell slots in this class, you can add one Wizard spell from the Evocation school to your spellbook for free. The chosen spell must be of a level for which you have spell slots.

Level 3: Potent Cantrip

Your damaging cantrips affect even creatures that avoid the brunt of the effect. When you cast a cantrip at a creature and you miss with the attack roll or the target succeeds on a saving throw against the cantrip, the target takes half the cantrip’s damage (if any) but suffers no additional effect from the cantrip.

Level 6: Sculpt Spells

You can create pockets of relative safety within the effects of your evocations. When you cast an Evocation spell that affects other creatures that you can see, you can choose a number of them equal to 1 plus the spell’s level. The chosen creatures automatically succeed on their saving throws against the spell, and they take no damage if they would normally take half damage on a successful save.

Level 10: Empowered Evocation

Whenever you cast a Wizard spell from the Evocation school, you can add your Intelligence modifier to one damage roll of that spell.

Level 14: Overchannel

You can increase the power of your spells. When you cast a Wizard spell with a spell slot of levels 1–5 that deals damage, you can deal maximum damage with that spell on the turn you cast it. The first time you do so, you suffer no adverse effect. If you use this feature again before you finish a Long Rest, you take 2d12 Necrotic damage for each level of the spell slot immediately after you cast it. This damage ignores Resistance and Immunity. Each time you use this feature again before finishing a Long Rest, the Necrotic damage per spell level increases by 1d12.

Is the New 2024 Evoker Wizard worth playing?

The Evocation School of Magic has been a key part of Dungeons & Dragons for decades, so it makes sense that they’d appear as one of the starting subclasses for the new 2024 Wizard. The changes, however, seem solid, with Wizards of the Coast nerfing the Sculpt Spells feature, while at the same time increasing the power and accessibility of the Potent Cantrip feature. The result feels like more of a balanced subclass that can still pack an arcane punch, without necessarily becoming too overpowered. In short, if you’re looking to play a classic Wizard who can hurl fireballs and lightning bolts with ease, then the Evoker is still an absolute blast to play with the new DnD 2024 rules.

You can find the complete rules for all the new subclasses in the 2024 Player’s Handbook, which is available now on D&D Beyond and Amazon.

Below is also a video from the official Dungeons & Dragons YouTube channel, with DnD lead designer Jeremy Crawford breaking out some of the key changes to the Evoker Wizard.

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