Underrated Illusion Spells in Dungeons and Dragons 5e

[@rhettbell1828]

One thing not mentioned about Fear, when the enemy runs away, he leaves his weapon behind for you to take or hide. (perhaps another illusion)

[@ThisCrits]

Very true! I completley forgot to mention that! Good call out!

[@TheRobversion1]

to piggyback on this, it's not limited to weapons either. spell focuses, macguffins, etc all dropped.

[@jeffreyblackwell1444]

Actually they drop what they are holding .. so spell components, wands, other thins a wizard may need to cast whatever spell he was a about to unleash

[@theus83]

Production quality is 10th tier my friend. I applaud you good sir.

[@ThisCrits]

Hahah thank you so much I'm glad you liked it!

[@ryanhale6339]

Jump! Jump is severely underrated. Everyone wants to Fly, but a triple distance jump will get you most places, especially at low levels before you can take Fly. My halfling swarmkeeper ranger used it all the time. It is especially useful in urban environments, leaping up to second-story windows or across rooftops to avoid town guards. It's great for caves and forests, too! And unlike Fly, Jump doesn't use your Concentration yet still lasts 1 minute. Cast it on your mount for Dukes of Hazard shenanigans!

[@ThisCrits]

100% This may or may not be in my upcoming Underrated Transmutation Spells video hahaha

[@spencermatuszak9740]

I love Illusion spells and this was very helpful and inspiring. Keep up the great work. Hope you make another Illusion video part 2. That'd be great!

[@ThisCrits]

Thanks so much, I'm glad you enjoyed! I am currently working on another underrated spells but its not specific to illusion, hopefully you will enjoy that!

[@jb123581]

Your mileage might vary, but Illusory Script is significantly more powerful than folks give it credit for, especially in the hands of an illusionist wizard. Because the spell allows the second message to be written in a different hand, you could effectively create forgeries at the cost of a ritual. With an illusionist wizard though, it’s full on psychic paper, as they can change the messages with an action to tailor it to the circumstances at hand.

[@ThisCrits]

I agree 100% I love Illusory script I simply didn't imclude it here because I only had 5 slots lol

[@WilliamWizer]

the fun thing about silence is that you can cast anything from out of the silence area but your target's spell list is extremely reduced. holding the target in place shouldn't be that hard with anything that limits movement. preferably something that causes damage if you try to move in/out/through.

[@TheRobversion1]

My top 5 underrated illusion spells: 1. silent image: great way to generate obscurement for you and your party in combat along with alot of utility uses out of combat. i still see so many people recommending darkness + devil sight over misty visions (silent image) so i consider this underrated for generating the same effect with less action economy/resource cost. 2. phantom steed: mounts are very useful for mobility especially if your DM isn't a stickler for the whole controlled mounts have separate turns from you (no mixed action economy) ruling from JC (which contradicts the RAW as it states mounts can move and act on the same turn you mount it which will typically be your turn). 3. phantasmal force: i see alot of people mentioning hold or suggestion for 2nd level single target control but this gets rarely mentioned when all 3 do the same thing with slight differences: a: hold person: targets wis, allows multiple saves, removes enemy from fight until they make their save or you/allies eliminate them with multiple crits b. suggestion: targets wis, removes enemy from fight, doesn't allow multiple saves but doesn't assist you in killing the target c. phantasmal force: targets int (best save to target), removes enemy from fight, doesn't allow multiple saves, deals 1d6 dmg per round (10d6 for the full duration) which means you don't have to hunt them down like suggestion post combat or waste action economy to kill the creature immediately like hold person. the 10d6 might be enough to kill the creature or might just need a little more from you and your allies post-combat. 4. major image: same as silent image but if you upcast it to 6th, it doesn't require concen and with a bigger area. so now you can gain concen free obscurement for you and your party. 5. magic mouth: this nifty 2nd level ritual renders most detection spells moot. need to detect magic? set the trigger for when magic is present that's not coming from your party members or yourself. need to detect invisible creatures? set it to speak when an invisible creature approaches within 30 feet. need to detect if someone is lying? set it to speak when a person you interrogates lies. need to detect traps? i'm sure you get the drill by now. since it lasts indefinitely and doesn't consume spell slots, you can have as many as you want.

[@ThisCrits]

1. Based on your reasoning I understand why its on your list but I don't know if I agree with Silent image causing obscurment based on its description. 2. I was thinking about putting this spell on my list but honestly, I know so little about mounted combat I just never looked into it! 3. I don't understand how you are removing someone from a fight with Phantasmal force. The area it can affect is only 10ft and it doesnt ahev any condition attached to it forcing the creature to deal with the illusion. A Creature could literally ignore it and yes, while they would take 1d6 damage a round its not like they are paralyzed. I agree its definitley underrated compared to Hold person, but I am not following your logic here. 4. I have no clue how you consider this underrated! I feel like its one of the most popular illusions spells out there lol. And same comment as silent image I still dont understand how it causes obscurement. 5. This one 100% agree. I absolutley love this spell and the only reason I didn't include it in the list is because I last minute decided to add silence instead!

[@TheRobversion1]

@@ThisCrits 1. ah so silent image explaining time but i'd also recommend you check out Bilbron's wonderful vid on major image/silent image. so a couple of things to point out regarding this spell and major image: a. the illusions unless interacted with and broken are treated as real. meaning if i create an illusion of a fog cloud, everyone on the field thinks i casted fog cloud (if they see me utter a spell) or it's an actual rolling fog. which means, they don't think it's an illusion in the 1st place but just another magical conjuration or initiated by mother nature. b. unlike minor illusion, silent image/major image can be used to create atmospheric effects such as the aforementioned fog cloud, darkness, hail, tornadoes, firestorms, sand storms, smoke, heavy mist, etc. the difference between this and the actual darkness spell is i don't have to have devil sight to see through my own darkness as the caster of an illusion can ALWAYS see through their own illusions. c. so the next concern here is won't physical interactions like firing arrows or casting magic missile break the illusion or alert enemies to the fact that's an illusion? JC has stated that this only holds true if you create physical illusions like the ones we create for minor illusion. if it's an atmospheric effect like smoke, physical interaction DOESN'T break the illusion because objects, solid magical forces are meant to pass through much like do with real smoke. this is how they gain the benefits of obscurement. d. to piggyback on letter c for minor illusion, others are creative with they physical illusions they create. instead of a plain old steel crate for minor illusion, they create a steel crate with arrow slits/peep holes and thus be able to allow objects/solid magical forces to pass through those (and thus gain the benefits of obscurement). e. lastly, how does the party benefit if it's an atmospheric effect (entering it doesn't break the illusion)? this is where the player comes in and tells the party to investigate the illusion until they break it and now they can see through the illusion but the enemy will just be seeing smoke or whatever atmospheric effect you deemed appropriate to the environment. f. essentially, silent image and major image when played right are mobile greater invisibility bubbles. anyway i hope that clarifies it but feel free to ask questions. :) 2. mounted combat rules is a mess in 5e. tbh while i like having it i can understand DMs who don't want to touch it with a 10ft pole in their games. 3. so for phantasmal force, it removes a creature from the fight but in a creative way. it doesn't impose conditions like hold but you can make the enemy impose conditions on itself. there's a bunch of creative examples out there and here's one of my faves: a. the phantasm are magical tiny creatures like a swarm of magical bees intent on stinging the enemy's face (hence the 1d6 dmg per round). so the enemy, seeing a bunch of magical bees will close it's eyes to protect itself (self-imposed blindness) and will try to leave the area where the bees are by running away from combat while trying to swat away the bees. however, no matter how many times they try to swat the bees (they won't go away as they are rooted in the enemy's mind) or how far they run away, the phantasm follows them and continues stinging until the spell duration ends. there's even added verbiage here that the enemy will try to justify any illogical conclusions with the illusion (lowering it's chances of being investigated and broken to pretty much they treat it as real unless someone tells them it's an illusion). b. another version of the above is creating a phantasm of a basilisk or medusa (if their gaze is common in world lore) that the enemy thinks you summoned a medusa/basilisk and is now trying to fight it blindly (closing it's eyes and thus creating self-imposed blindness) and swinging at air endlessly (essentially taking them out of the fight). this is more prone however to having allies of the enemy tipping them off that it's an illusion. they justify the 1d6 dmg per round as from the medusa/basilisk's non-gaze attacks. hope that clears that up as well but feel free to ask questions again. 4. i think it's underrated as i don't see alot of people using it at it's best effect (mobile, pre-combat cast perma-obscurement for the party). by this level people would rather spend their 6th level slot on mass suggestion. 5. yeah magic mouth is so awesome for the creative player. its a toolbox in 1 spell. great for RP too!

[@stephendavidson4605]

I maybe mistaken, but (if you trust a con save to fail) you can cast Silence ON the caster as well. That does have the draw back of they could then bum rush your caster(s) and limit their casting ability, but any melee character is just denied the satisfying *thwack* of their opportunity attacks hitting while the caster does their bum rush.

[@ThisCrits]

I'm not following the con save but I definitley understand melee characters being denied their satisfying thwack sounds hahaha

[@stephendavidson4605]

@@ThisCrits Going off of memory, so I might be wrong. When you cast Silence on a creature, the creature is allowed a Con save. So, you can take the risk of the caster making the Con save but then Silence is on them (cannot move out of Silence and Dispel Magic requires verbal components). Or you cast Silence on a spot directly below/above/next to the caster; then there's no save but the caster can move out of the area of effect.

[@ThisCrits]

​@@stephendavidson4605 Ohhh ok that makes more sense! Yea Silence doesn't require a save so theres no risk of them making the save which makes it super for your melee classes to keep them in there as long as possible!

[@jescapnut2003]

One cannot simply unsee the dancing.

[@ThisCrits]

I...Never thought of the repercussions....I am sorry....

[@FlutesLoot]

Gotta get me a green screen. You and Dungeon Dad make me want to use one :P and I love illusion spells. Dream and Project Image are some of my favorites that I believe are underrated.

[@jb123581]

Dream is incredible, and one of the best long distance murder spells when paired with Scrying. Scry in the evening and find a night when your chosen target is feeling battered and bruised then begin the nightly Dream sequence. Since you’re denying them the benefit of the long rest, you’re also denying them the hit point and spell slot recovery in addition to tacking on those exhaustion levels.

[@FlutesLoot]

@@jb123581 it's brutal and versatile!

[@ThisCrits]

Messing around with it to come up with new ideas for videos is so much fun hahaha I cannot recommend it enough! And I absolutley LOVE the dream spell but I feel like that spell needs an entire video dedicated to it because it can be difficult for players to use lol.

[@FlutesLoot]

@@ThisCrits I have such a video all about Dream ;)

[@TheRobversion1]

dream is a fun spell but imo requires a specific type of campaign or table. in a table with many players, i've observed that it bores the other people out as basically sets the dm and the caster aside while the others are uninvolved. it's not a collaborative spell. so people start bringing out their phones or having side conversations especially when the caster is quite elaborate with the dream sequence. and of course in a dungeon crawl or in a campaign with less social challenges/downtime, it's hard to squeeze this in. project image though i like as it encourages creative and collaborative play. only issue i have with it it's a 7th level slot and that's where the big guns are like forcecage and simulacrum. it would've been so much better if this was 6th.

[@glarak9819]

Silence gives me bad memories of my party surprising and taking down a top tier spell caster of a cult they weren't supposed to fight yet

[@ThisCrits]

I am sure many DMs can relate haha

[@TheRobversion1]

The dancing was so awesome! This is my fave illusion school. Here's my input on each: 1. i doubt mirror image is underrated since it's so popular. personally, though once i have access to it i'm a bigger fan of blink than mirror image for a defensive buff as i'm more wary of spells than attacks. a good thing to note for mirror image is that at a certain AC breakpoint, your mirror images will be useless (if they don't roll high enough they still would've missed you and now just removes one of your images) so mirror image is good really on just 2 types: low ac or high ac but that ac has max dex. 2. fear is another spell i doubt is underrated but i was surprised to learn here it was from the illusion school. i always thought it was necromancy. fair points on the immunities as well. 3. Ah we get to our 1st real underrated spell. it's a bit clunky to work with but the fact that this illusion can't be broken and reacts the way you want it to react (such as when hit by an attack or a spell) means it makes an ideal tank if you can somehow get enemies to focus fire on it. the fact that it's a pre-combat cast makes it better action economy wise so basically only thing you need is the right party (where your party members aren't as targetable so enemies attack your illusion) and ways for you to affect the field without attacking or casting a spell (certain subclass abilities, using items, etc). 4. mental prison i find meh because it's concen and as you said charm immunity is much more common by the time you get this compared to fear. plus with 1 6th level spell use, it's competing with gems like contingency, mass suggestion, etc. 5. i love silence for the reasons you mentioned. i love this in particular with gish type divine sorcs + hexblade 1 dip. Sorcs can subtle spell so they can ignore the effects of silence. combine with sentinel and the caster can't leave your silence bubble while you can attack and cast spells on it (until your sorc points run out). I'll share my own top 5 underrated illusion spells in a separate comment.

[@ThisCrits]

Thanks hahaha 1. I honestly believe that the vast majority of casters utilzing Mirror image wouldnt have a high AC anyways which is kind of why I put Mirror image on this list. I actually hate blink because it takes away the potential for a caster's reaction. And considering the power of counterspell, I think its way more risk than its worth. 2. Agreed. The only reason I put it here was because of the immunities lol. 3. I don't know why but I absolutley love the idea of this spell. Being able to pull it off as you mentioned can =be pretty damn tricky but considering just how many potential use case sthere are for it I think its definitley worth it. I definitley agree that it is better as a Pre-combat spell lol 4. Makes sense! It is underrated for a reason and that reason can definitley include what spells it is competiing with lol. 5. Silence is an amazing spell but lets be honest, if you aren't planning on fighting a caster or aren't planning on stealth it is simply taking up a spell slot. Cool beans!

[@TheRobversion1]

@@ThisCrits Hey Lee. Can we have the dancing mirror image as an opener in either the intro or outro of your vids? 1. fair enough on mirror image. i rarely experience this though as typically as a caster i typically 1 dip somewhere like fighter or artificer to gain prof on con saves and thus gain armor and shield profs. so most of the time my casters have high ac and can boost higher with shield. it's very rare that i play a caster that's stuck on light/no armor like a bard (which i typically beeline for 10th as i want to get magical secrets asap). fair point on blink as well. i typically just use this anyway with contingency for the hardest fight of the day. i don't think it's good action economy use to cast defensive spells like mirror image or blink unless i can't target the enemy yet (such as the DM allowing a pre-cast before combat starts). i'd rather use control spells to mitigate enemy offense than buff myself so that the party benefits as well. 5. agreed on this. it's quite common for our table to have caster enemies though as the DM knows if he just sends melee brutes, we can easily steamroll that encounter. caster fights are the most challenging imo.

[@ThisCrits]

@@TheRobversion1 hmm...I don't hate the idea hahahha 1. Understandable. Based on the things we talk about its no surprise the kinds of builds you enjoy hahah. I agree having a higher AC would definitley make Mirror image much less valuable lol. I think thats how a lot people like to play honestly. Most of the time it doesn't "feel good" or fun to cast defensive spells like that, especially when you could be hindering your opponent. But I also think that the people who think like that are players who are super experienced with the game, action economy, and spellcasting overall. Some people enjoy "power gaming" other just enjoy gaming. I like "power gaming" in MMOs, but when im playing D&D dude I will find a god dang way to make true strike work hahahaha. I get a lot of enjoyment out of using underrated spells because it makes me think of unique solutions and introduces new players to new things. 5. Nah, just send a horde of intellect devourers and that party is as good as dead! lol

[@TheRobversion1]

@@ThisCrits I think the tape/marker moustache and the dancing mirror image of you should be staples of the intro! :D I enjoy making underrated spells great as well (hence usually my "passionate" comments about silent/major image, scorching ray, etc). Ah intellect devourers. i hate them. yes as a dm i use them and our DM has used them to devastating effect as well. those things are unbalanced. haha.

[@ThisCrits]

@@TheRobversion1 Hahaha If we keep adding things to the intro it'll be 10 minutes long!

[@bora7494]

Mirror Image is good when you have a low AC as it otherwise kills your images for hits that wouldn't hit you.

[@ThisCrits]

Fair point, but my logic is "how many dice are being rolled before a creature gets to hit me?". Mirror image increases that number and is effectivly a longer lasting disadvantage in my eyes.

[@ZorgyBabyVR]

that dancing... my god XD

[@ThisCrits]

I know i'm pretty good!

[@jeffreyblackwell1444]

I didn't hear you mention programmed illusion, but you were targeting " underrated illusory spells. This spell is too good. Making free to use illusory spells as after you cast this spell your condition can proc it again after 10 minutes... until dispelled.