If the knight is blind, the echo can't manifest since sight is a requirement.
Jeremy Crawford's confirmed that the avatar is for scouting only, and both combat and object interaction are not permitted though you're right, the errata hasn't officially come out yet.
Fair point about manifesting, but what if the Echo is already there, and the Knight gets blinded by darkness or similar.
The point is still using the Avatar as a scout, it is not taking any actions, the Knight is the attacker.
Although this is probably very much an edge case scenario.
I don't really think the darkness is pertinent to your question because it sounds like you're asking if the Echo Avatar ability can be used to essentially bypass the blind condition on the knight by perceiving through the echo. It does state that you need to spend an action to perceive through the echo while using EA and that you can sustain it for up to 10 minutes. This means that each "round" you are using EA, you need to spend your action to see and hear. So, by RAW, you wouldn't be able to attack MUCH but you could conceivably take other actions. I want to stress though that this is objectively going against the RAI and the comment put out by the developer themselves who insist the ability was meant to only allow for mid-range scouting.
That being said, I do think this is a creative (if OP) use of the ability. I would really like to see Echo Avatar re-worked into something almost entirely different. The scouting is neat but not really a fighter thing... But the idea of the echo being a means of getting around a debilitating condition like blinded seems like the kind of utility that is perfect for the subclass, it's just not executed very well (or even intentionally, if we're being honest) with the ability as written. Sidenote, I would say that calling this "scouting" by the echo is just about the biggest stretch I've seen on this thread yet. ;)
If you still have questions regarding darkness and what/where senses are active while using EA, I suggest re-reading the ability because it's very clear when it comes to that, luckily.
Can we talk about this a bit? The FAQ seems to just be wrong, and I don’t see anyone really addressing it.
Under Movement #5 in the FAQ it says.
Q: Can an Echo move more than 30’ from the Knight without it disappearing?
A: Yes. However if the Echo moves more than 30’ from the Knight at any time, it will disappear at the end of Knight's round. The exception to this rule is the use of the Echo Avatar ability. When using this feature, you can move an Echo more than 30’ away.
That’s not what the ability says. It says…
“If your echo is ever more than 30 ft. from you at the end of your turn, it is destroyed.”
The Echo has to be more than 30 ft. from the Knight “at the end of your turn” not “at any time” as the FAQ says. Why else would that comma split “end of your turn” and “it is destroyed” ?
Can we talk about this a bit? The FAQ seems to just be wrong, and I don’t see anyone really addressing it.
Under Movement #5 in the FAQ it says.
Q: Can an Echo move more than 30’ from the Knight without it disappearing?
A: Yes. However if the Echo moves more than 30’ from the Knight at any time, it will disappear at the end of Knight's round. The exception to this rule is the use of the Echo Avatar ability. When using this feature, you can move an Echo more than 30’ away.
That’s not what the ability says. It says…
“If your echo is ever more than 30 ft. from you at the end of your turn, it is destroyed.”
The Echo has to be more than 30 ft. from the Knight “at the end of your turn” not “at any time” as the FAQ says. Why else would that comma split “end of your turn” and “it is destroyed” ?
I agree with this interpretation but wasn't this just brought up and a new consensus agreed on? Was the FAQ not updated? Usually Humble Giant pipes up when they make a change to it.
Can a level five echo knight who has already manifested their echo (on a previous turn), move their echo 20 feet, attack a creature once, and then use their bonus action to manifest a new echo 15 feet away in another direction (destroying the original echo), move that new echo 10 feet further, and attack a different creature? I believe, based on RAW, the answer should be yes.
Can a level five echo knight who has already manifested their echo (on a previous turn), move their echo 20 feet, attack a creature once, and then use their bonus action to manifest a new echo 15 feet away in another direction (destroying the original echo), move that new echo 10 feet further, and attack a different creature? I believe, based on RAW, the answer should be yes.
Assuming the use of action surge for the second attack, I don't see why he couldn't.
Can a level five echo knight who has already manifested their echo (on a previous turn), move their echo 20 feet, attack a creature once, and then use their bonus action to manifest a new echo 15 feet away in another direction (destroying the original echo), move that new echo 10 feet further, and attack a different creature? I believe, based on RAW, the answer should be yes.
Can a level five echo knight who has already manifested their echo (on a previous turn), move their echo 20 feet, attack a creature once, and then use their bonus action to manifest a new echo 15 feet away in another direction (destroying the original echo), move that new echo 10 feet further, and attack a different creature? I believe, based on RAW, the answer should be yes.
There is a very liberal reading of the rules which could be used to support this. But do not expect every DM to allow it. Because you're talking about moving two echos and breaking up the Attack by summoning another echo. A DM could easily say that, because the Attack was declared and used with the first echo, it's limited to that first echo.
Can a level five echo knight who has already manifested their echo (on a previous turn), move their echo 20 feet, attack a creature once, and then use their bonus action to manifest a new echo 15 feet away in another direction (destroying the original echo), move that new echo 10 feet further, and attack a different creature? I believe, based on RAW, the answer should be yes.
By rule of cool, I’d allow it at my table. But as Germ3x noted, by RAW I think it really comes down to if you can take a bonus action between two attacks.
Can we talk about this a bit? The FAQ seems to just be wrong, and I don’t see anyone really addressing it.
Under Movement #5 in the FAQ it says.
Q: Can an Echo move more than 30’ from the Knight without it disappearing?
A: Yes. However if the Echo moves more than 30’ from the Knight at any time, it will disappear at the end of Knight's round. The exception to this rule is the use of the Echo Avatar ability. When using this feature, you can move an Echo more than 30’ away.
That’s not what the ability says. It says…
“If your echo is ever more than 30 ft. from you at the end of your turn, it is destroyed.”
The Echo has to be more than 30 ft. from the Knight “at the end of your turn” not “at any time” as the FAQ says. Why else would that comma split “end of your turn” and “it is destroyed” ?
I agree with this interpretation but wasn't this just brought up and a new consensus agreed on? Was the FAQ not updated? Usually Humble Giant pipes up when they make a change to it.
Sorry for my slow reply and not updating the FAQ. I think the change makes sense. Can anyone write up an alternate answer (A:) for me, and I can post it.
Can we talk about this a bit? The FAQ seems to just be wrong, and I don’t see anyone really addressing it.
Under Movement #5 in the FAQ it says.
Q: Can an Echo move more than 30’ from the Knight without it disappearing?
A: Yes. However if the Echo moves more than 30’ from the Knight at any time, it will disappear at the end of Knight's round. The exception to this rule is the use of the Echo Avatar ability. When using this feature, you can move an Echo more than 30’ away.
That’s not what the ability says. It says…
“If your echo is ever more than 30 ft. from you at the end of your turn, it is destroyed.”
The Echo has to be more than 30 ft. from the Knight “at the end of your turn” not “at any time” as the FAQ says. Why else would that comma split “end of your turn” and “it is destroyed” ?
I agree with this interpretation but wasn't this just brought up and a new consensus agreed on? Was the FAQ not updated? Usually Humble Giant pipes up when they make a change to it.
Sorry for my slow reply and not updating the FAQ. I think the change makes sense. Can anyone write up an alternate answer (A:) for me, and I can post it.
No problem, you've done some tremendous legwork with this FAQ already, so for that, I think we're all pretty grateful.
Here's my attempt at some wording.
Q: Can an Echo move more than 30 ft. from the Knight without it disappearing?
A: Yes, provided that the Knight moves the Echo back to a location within 30 ft. of the Knight by the time the Knight finishes their turn. If the Echo is more than 30 ft. from the Knight at the conclusion of the Knight's turn, the Echo will disappear.
The exception to this rule is the use of the Echo Avatar ability. When using this feature, the Knight can move an Echo up to 1,000 ft. away at a rate of 30 ft. every 6 seconds over the course of the ability's 10 minute duration.
Can we talk about this a bit? The FAQ seems to just be wrong, and I don’t see anyone really addressing it.
Under Movement #5 in the FAQ it says.
Q: Can an Echo move more than 30’ from the Knight without it disappearing?
A: Yes. However if the Echo moves more than 30’ from the Knight at any time, it will disappear at the end of Knight's round. The exception to this rule is the use of the Echo Avatar ability. When using this feature, you can move an Echo more than 30’ away.
That’s not what the ability says. It says…
“If your echo is ever more than 30 ft. from you at the end of your turn, it is destroyed.”
The Echo has to be more than 30 ft. from the Knight “at the end of your turn” not “at any time” as the FAQ says. Why else would that comma split “end of your turn” and “it is destroyed” ?
I agree with this interpretation but wasn't this just brought up and a new consensus agreed on? Was the FAQ not updated? Usually Humble Giant pipes up when they make a change to it.
Sorry for my slow reply and not updating the FAQ. I think the change makes sense. Can anyone write up an alternate answer (A:) for me, and I can post it.
No problem, you've done some tremendous legwork with this FAQ already, so for that, I think we're all pretty grateful.
Here's my attempt at some wording.
Q: Can an Echo move more than 30 ft. from the Knight without it disappearing?
A: Yes, provided that the Knight moves the Echo back to a location within 30 ft. of the Knight by the time the Knight finishes their turn. If the Echo is more 30 ft. from the Knight at the conclusion of the Knight's turn, the Echo will disappear.
The exception to this rule is the use of the Echo Avatar ability. When using this feature, the Knight can move an Echo up to 1,000 ft. away at a rate of 30 ft. every 6 seconds over the course of the ability's 10 minute duration.
Thanks. Though because the echo knight I spoke of is level five, they already have two attacks without action surge.
But as Jeremy said: "No general rule allows you to insert a bonus action between attacks in a single action."
According to another Crawford tweet:
"My tweet below was addressing bonus actions and reactions that have triggers. A bonus action that has no trigger—such as Cunning Action and the misty step spell—can take place whenever you want on your turn (PH, 189) (StackExchange Discussion, Tweet)
Not only do the rules seem to support this, but... this is a cool strategy I'm going to give a spin if it becomes available. I've already been in a situation where my echo knight has been grappled, but I sent her echo on a killing spree against her captors in her place.
There are some really cool strategies for sure. I am planning on taking the Crusher feat and multiclassing into Ancestral Guardian. With that I can apply Spirit Guardian to an enemy engaged with my melee ally, and then re-summon my echo to use Crusher and move an enemy engaged with my squishy ally 5 feet away from them. Assuming my squishy ally goes before the enemy, they can then move to safety without incurring an opportunity attack.
This is comprehensive & great! You helped clarify a few things I didn't even realize were issues, but it makes a lot of sense. I have a few nit-picks I'll share, & one specific question. Let's start there.
Q: Assuming the Knight has some levels as a Barbarian, can the Barbarian's Reckless Attack be applied to an attack through an Echo? If so, does the Echo, the Knight, or both have all incoming attacks made against them at advantage?
I'm assuming, just like Attacks 7., it can as the attacks are made by the Knight, from the Echo's space. But I'm not sure about the incoming attacks. We've been house-ruling that incoming attacks are made at advantage against both the Echo, & the Knight for balance purposes. Otherwise there's no reason an Echo couldn't make all attacks recklessly to preserve the Knight from taking those advantage attacks.
This also leads me to one of my nit-picks. In Defense 11., you state that an Echo can't benefit from a Rogue's Evasion, as it doesn't have reactions. Rogue's Uncanny Dodge takes a reaction (which wouldn't matter anyway. 1 point of damage pops this balloon), Evasion takes no action economy. It's just incidental whenever your Rogue makes a Dexterity saving throw. The Echo uses the Knight's saving throw bonus, but it's not actually the Knight making the saving throw. Therefore it shouldn't gain any additional benefits to that saving throw. I believe your answer is correct but I'm guessing you meant Uncanny Dodge in Defense 11., but please, tell me if I'm wrong.
Also, I'm not a fan of the wording of the question, "Can an Echo use class features of the Knight?" If you buy the premise of my question above, or yours in Attacks 7., it can benefit from some class or subclass features; Divine Smite, Reckless Attack, Monk's Diamond Soul. Arguably even Paladin's Aura of Protection. It doesn't affect objects, but if you are a Paladin of sufficient level, or a Knight within range of a Paladin of sufficient level, it does boost your saving throw bonus, & the Echo uses your saving throw bonus, whatever it happens to be. The Echo just can't benefit from features that specify an action that the Echo isn't capable of taking, like Uncanny Dodge, Cast a Spell, or Second Wind.
Movement 5. This is a grammatical argument, & I'm not sure if anything's been officially clarified or not. The text reads "If your echo is ever more than 30 feet from you at the end of your turn, it is destroyed." Not 'If your echo is ever more than 30 feet from you, at the end of your turn it is destroyed.' The placement of that comma tells me that the Echo is destroyed if it is more than 30 feet away at the end of your turn, not that it's destroyed at the end of your turn if it's ever more than 30 feet away from you. Thus, an Echo could be 45 feet away at one point during your turn, but so long as you end your turn within 30 feet of one another, the Echo is maintained. Now that I've read a few comments, I can see this has been asked & answered.
This one pertains to a couple of your questions, & I'm not sure what the answer is. Attacks 13. -Echo can't attack a target if the Knight can't see it. Ok, I'm with you, Knight has to have line of sight. Defense 4. -Echos are immune to conditions, have no senses, but rely on the senses of the Knight. So if the Knight's blinded, or can't see the target, neither can the Echo. Totally agree. These seem to disagree with Attacks 14. If the creature is obscured or covered from the Knight, but not the Echo, it's the Knight's attack that originates from the Echo's space. So the target gains to benefit from being obscured or covered. Makes sense. But the Echo uses the Knight's senses. Which are obscured... So which is it? I don't think anything you've written is wrong. It's just not clear, & seems to contradict. It's a problem with RAW, not your explanations.
Actions 1. & Misc Questions 2. also seem to contradict a little. If it can't open a door or pick up a rock, how can it set off a trap? In Actions 1. you state it can't take general actions (which includes the Use an Object action), but in Misc Questions 2. you seem to imply that it might be able to. I suppose if it incidentally sets off a trap, that's one thing, but I don't know that you could command it to intentionally set them off, if it can't interact with an object.
There are also lots of RAW vs. RAI issues scattered throughout here, as you've pointed out. I don't think this is in any way your fault, but the published material is not totally flushed out, & sometimes poorly worded. Which is why we need this FAQ in the first place. It's a substantial object, but has no mass (without mass, it can't weigh anything, ala Movement15, Levitate, or Telekinesis.)? It's a substantial object, but also just a translucent image? Some of these circles just can't be squared... Guess that's what DMs are for.
These are meant to be constructive & helpful, I hope they come across that way! & please let me know if you disagree with anything & why. Thing's that you helped me with: I knew that an Echo could not GRANT flanking, but did not realize it couldn't be GIVEN a flanking bonus from another creature. Also didn't realize it couldn't BE flanked. That's well put, & definitely helpful. Also wasn't aware they couldn't be targeted by Opportunity Attacks, amazing insight! Didn't know they were immune to poison & psychic damage either! I was definitely happy to learn so much about one of my favorite sublcasses, considering I like to think I have a pretty good understanding of the rules. Thanks!
Can a level five echo knight who has already manifested their echo (on a previous turn), move their echo 20 feet, attack a creature once, and then use their bonus action to manifest a new echo 15 feet away in another direction (destroying the original echo), move that new echo 10 feet further, and attack a different creature? I believe, based on RAW, the answer should be yes.
I'd say that you could even move BOTH Echoes 30 feet, as it doesn't require any action economy. You could essentially start your turn with an Echo 30 feet away, command it to move to 60 feet away & attack, then manifest a new echo 15 feet in another direction, command it to move to 45 feet away and attack. Effectively making your melee range105 feet... Oof. Take that Tabaxi Monks.
Thanks. Though because the echo knight I spoke of is level five, they already have two attacks without action surge.
But as Jeremy said: "No general rule allows you to insert a bonus action between attacks in a single action."
According to another Crawford tweet:
"My tweet below was addressing bonus actions and reactions that have triggers. A bonus action that has no trigger—such as Cunning Action and the misty step spell—can take place whenever you want on your turn (PH, 189) (StackExchange Discussion, Tweet)
Not only do the rules seem to support this, but... this is a cool strategy I'm going to give a spin if it becomes available. I've already been in a situation where my echo knight has been grappled, but I sent her echo on a killing spree against her captors in her place.
Heck, in that case, why not just teleport out of the grapple, then create a new Echo? Either way, it works.
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If the knight is blind, the echo can't manifest since sight is a requirement.
Jeremy Crawford's confirmed that the avatar is for scouting only, and both combat and object interaction are not permitted though you're right, the errata hasn't officially come out yet.
Fair point about manifesting, but what if the Echo is already there, and the Knight gets blinded by darkness or similar.
The point is still using the Avatar as a scout, it is not taking any actions, the Knight is the attacker.
Although this is probably very much an edge case scenario.
I don't really think the darkness is pertinent to your question because it sounds like you're asking if the Echo Avatar ability can be used to essentially bypass the blind condition on the knight by perceiving through the echo. It does state that you need to spend an action to perceive through the echo while using EA and that you can sustain it for up to 10 minutes. This means that each "round" you are using EA, you need to spend your action to see and hear. So, by RAW, you wouldn't be able to attack MUCH but you could conceivably take other actions. I want to stress though that this is objectively going against the RAI and the comment put out by the developer themselves who insist the ability was meant to only allow for mid-range scouting.
That being said, I do think this is a creative (if OP) use of the ability. I would really like to see Echo Avatar re-worked into something almost entirely different. The scouting is neat but not really a fighter thing... But the idea of the echo being a means of getting around a debilitating condition like blinded seems like the kind of utility that is perfect for the subclass, it's just not executed very well (or even intentionally, if we're being honest) with the ability as written. Sidenote, I would say that calling this "scouting" by the echo is just about the biggest stretch I've seen on this thread yet. ;)
If you still have questions regarding darkness and what/where senses are active while using EA, I suggest re-reading the ability because it's very clear when it comes to that, luckily.
Can we talk about this a bit? The FAQ seems to just be wrong, and I don’t see anyone really addressing it.
Under Movement #5 in the FAQ it says.
Q: Can an Echo move more than 30’ from the Knight without it disappearing?
A: Yes. However if the Echo moves more than 30’ from the Knight at any time, it will disappear at the end of Knight's round. The exception to this rule is the use of the Echo Avatar ability. When using this feature, you can move an Echo more than 30’ away.
That’s not what the ability says. It says…
“If your echo is ever more than 30 ft. from you at the end of your turn, it is destroyed.”
The Echo has to be more than 30 ft. from the Knight “at the end of your turn” not “at any time” as the FAQ says. Why else would that comma split “end of your turn” and “it is destroyed” ?
I agree with this interpretation but wasn't this just brought up and a new consensus agreed on? Was the FAQ not updated? Usually Humble Giant pipes up when they make a change to it.
Can a level five echo knight who has already manifested their echo (on a previous turn), move their echo 20 feet, attack a creature once, and then use their bonus action to manifest a new echo 15 feet away in another direction (destroying the original echo), move that new echo 10 feet further, and attack a different creature? I believe, based on RAW, the answer should be yes.
Assuming the use of action surge for the second attack, I don't see why he couldn't.
Thanks. Though because the echo knight I spoke of is level five, they already have two attacks without action surge.
Yes, i would agree
There is a very liberal reading of the rules which could be used to support this. But do not expect every DM to allow it. Because you're talking about moving two echos and breaking up the Attack by summoning another echo. A DM could easily say that, because the Attack was declared and used with the first echo, it's limited to that first echo.
You mean using the "Extra attack"? It seems debatable if that or "Unleash incarnation" qualifies.
"you can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn."
PHB 190 says
"If you take an action that includes more than one weapon attack, you can break up your movement even further by moving between those Attacks."
So just moving yourself or the image shouldn't be a problem.
But as Jeremy said: "No general rule allows you to insert a bonus action between attacks in a single action."
On the other hand, there seems to be some different thoughts about exactly how this works, so I can't give a definitive answer.
By rule of cool, I’d allow it at my table. But as Germ3x noted, by RAW I think it really comes down to if you can take a bonus action between two attacks.
Sorry for my slow reply and not updating the FAQ. I think the change makes sense. Can anyone write up an alternate answer (A:) for me, and I can post it.
No problem, you've done some tremendous legwork with this FAQ already, so for that, I think we're all pretty grateful.
Here's my attempt at some wording.
Q: Can an Echo move more than 30 ft. from the Knight without it disappearing?
A: Yes, provided that the Knight moves the Echo back to a location within 30 ft. of the Knight by the time the Knight finishes their turn. If the Echo is more than 30 ft. from the Knight at the conclusion of the Knight's turn, the Echo will disappear.
The exception to this rule is the use of the Echo Avatar ability. When using this feature, the Knight can move an Echo up to 1,000 ft. away at a rate of 30 ft. every 6 seconds over the course of the ability's 10 minute duration.
This sounds pretty clear to me.
According to another Crawford tweet:
Not only do the rules seem to support this, but... this is a cool strategy I'm going to give a spin if it becomes available. I've already been in a situation where my echo knight has been grappled, but I sent her echo on a killing spree against her captors in her place.
There are some really cool strategies for sure. I am planning on taking the Crusher feat and multiclassing into Ancestral Guardian. With that I can apply Spirit Guardian to an enemy engaged with my melee ally, and then re-summon my echo to use Crusher and move an enemy engaged with my squishy ally 5 feet away from them. Assuming my squishy ally goes before the enemy, they can then move to safety without incurring an opportunity attack.
This is comprehensive & great! You helped clarify a few things I didn't even realize were issues, but it makes a lot of sense. I have a few nit-picks I'll share, & one specific question. Let's start there.
Q: Assuming the Knight has some levels as a Barbarian, can the Barbarian's Reckless Attack be applied to an attack through an Echo? If so, does the Echo, the Knight, or both have all incoming attacks made against them at advantage?
I'm assuming, just like Attacks 7., it can as the attacks are made by the Knight, from the Echo's space. But I'm not sure about the incoming attacks. We've been house-ruling that incoming attacks are made at advantage against both the Echo, & the Knight for balance purposes. Otherwise there's no reason an Echo couldn't make all attacks recklessly to preserve the Knight from taking those advantage attacks.
This also leads me to one of my nit-picks. In Defense 11., you state that an Echo can't benefit from a Rogue's Evasion, as it doesn't have reactions. Rogue's Uncanny Dodge takes a reaction (which wouldn't matter anyway. 1 point of damage pops this balloon), Evasion takes no action economy. It's just incidental whenever your Rogue makes a Dexterity saving throw. The Echo uses the Knight's saving throw bonus, but it's not actually the Knight making the saving throw. Therefore it shouldn't gain any additional benefits to that saving throw. I believe your answer is correct but I'm guessing you meant Uncanny Dodge in Defense 11., but please, tell me if I'm wrong.
Also, I'm not a fan of the wording of the question, "Can an Echo use class features of the Knight?" If you buy the premise of my question above, or yours in Attacks 7., it can benefit from some class or subclass features; Divine Smite, Reckless Attack, Monk's Diamond Soul. Arguably even Paladin's Aura of Protection. It doesn't affect objects, but if you are a Paladin of sufficient level, or a Knight within range of a Paladin of sufficient level, it does boost your saving throw bonus, & the Echo uses your saving throw bonus, whatever it happens to be. The Echo just can't benefit from features that specify an action that the Echo isn't capable of taking, like Uncanny Dodge, Cast a Spell, or Second Wind.
Movement 5. This is a grammatical argument, & I'm not sure if anything's been officially clarified or not. The text reads "If your echo is ever more than 30 feet from you at the end of your turn, it is destroyed." Not 'If your echo is ever more than 30 feet from you, at the end of your turn it is destroyed.' The placement of that comma tells me that the Echo is destroyed if it is more than 30 feet away at the end of your turn, not that it's destroyed at the end of your turn if it's ever more than 30 feet away from you. Thus, an Echo could be 45 feet away at one point during your turn, but so long as you end your turn within 30 feet of one another, the Echo is maintained. Now that I've read a few comments, I can see this has been asked & answered.
This one pertains to a couple of your questions, & I'm not sure what the answer is. Attacks 13. -Echo can't attack a target if the Knight can't see it. Ok, I'm with you, Knight has to have line of sight. Defense 4. -Echos are immune to conditions, have no senses, but rely on the senses of the Knight. So if the Knight's blinded, or can't see the target, neither can the Echo. Totally agree. These seem to disagree with Attacks 14. If the creature is obscured or covered from the Knight, but not the Echo, it's the Knight's attack that originates from the Echo's space. So the target gains to benefit from being obscured or covered. Makes sense. But the Echo uses the Knight's senses. Which are obscured... So which is it? I don't think anything you've written is wrong. It's just not clear, & seems to contradict. It's a problem with RAW, not your explanations.
Actions 1. & Misc Questions 2. also seem to contradict a little. If it can't open a door or pick up a rock, how can it set off a trap? In Actions 1. you state it can't take general actions (which includes the Use an Object action), but in Misc Questions 2. you seem to imply that it might be able to. I suppose if it incidentally sets off a trap, that's one thing, but I don't know that you could command it to intentionally set them off, if it can't interact with an object.
There are also lots of RAW vs. RAI issues scattered throughout here, as you've pointed out. I don't think this is in any way your fault, but the published material is not totally flushed out, & sometimes poorly worded. Which is why we need this FAQ in the first place. It's a substantial object, but has no mass (without mass, it can't weigh anything, ala Movement 15, Levitate, or Telekinesis.)? It's a substantial object, but also just a translucent image? Some of these circles just can't be squared... Guess that's what DMs are for.
These are meant to be constructive & helpful, I hope they come across that way! & please let me know if you disagree with anything & why. Thing's that you helped me with: I knew that an Echo could not GRANT flanking, but did not realize it couldn't be GIVEN a flanking bonus from another creature. Also didn't realize it couldn't BE flanked. That's well put, & definitely helpful. Also wasn't aware they couldn't be targeted by Opportunity Attacks, amazing insight! Didn't know they were immune to poison & psychic damage either! I was definitely happy to learn so much about one of my favorite sublcasses, considering I like to think I have a pretty good understanding of the rules. Thanks!
I'd say that you could even move BOTH Echoes 30 feet, as it doesn't require any action economy. You could essentially start your turn with an Echo 30 feet away, command it to move to 60 feet away & attack, then manifest a new echo 15 feet in another direction, command it to move to 45 feet away and attack. Effectively making your melee range105 feet... Oof. Take that Tabaxi Monks.
Heck, in that case, why not just teleport out of the grapple, then create a new Echo? Either way, it works.