Yes, Witch Bolt has caught me out before, I think due to range and also maybe because there wasn’t a clear path. Totally agree the game should make clear whether the Witch Bolt can be activated and ideally not let us waste our action if not.
Regarding the spell more generally (popping in spoiler tags as off topic) …
[spoiler]
I’ve also found it underwhelming, but as part of my 5e self-education and after watching the Vox Machina animated series, I’ve been dipping into a few old Critical Role vids, and yesterday happened to watch an episode where a guest warlock character managed to do a serious amount of damage to a white dragon with Witch Bolt. Okay, she was level 10 or 11 I think so the spell was upcast by a fair few levels, but it helped me see how the spell might eventually come into its own given that with the expenditure of one spell slot, if you can hit once and keep concentration you can keep doing guaranteed substantial damage each turn, and it definitely felt as though it would outperform a cantrip that would do less damage and might miss each time.
I’m not saying the spell can’t be improved or that there aren’t always better choices, but I do now think it’s not necessarily quite such an unreasonable spell to have in your book to try if you’re running low on spell slots and if it fits the RP concept for a character.
EDIT: I’ve just seen the later post from Wormerine saying that the extra damage only applies to the initial round and yes, looking at the 5e spell description that’s completely right. They obviously either home brewed or missed that in the Critical Role vid I watched. Okay, it’s a terrible spell
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