Several HB extended spell lists for shadow sorcerers include shadow of moil. What are the practical benefits of this spell for a shadow sorcerer? For 2 sorcery points, a shadow sorcerer can cast darkness on him or herself that they can see through. In general, they will have advantage when attacking enemies, and enemies will have disadvantage when attacking them. The benefits of shadow of moil seem to be largely redundant. For the cost of a 4th level spell slot (equivalent to 6 sorcery points), shadow of moil provides the benefit of not being seen by creatures with devil's sight or truesight, resistance to radiant damage, and a bit of damage on being hit. The benefits do not seem to counterbalance the resource cost relative to darkness. Am I missing anything?
No, you're not missing anything. People just want to add "anything shadow!!!11!!" to the lists, without regard of whether it actually synergises well with the class/subclass features.
For anyone who lacks Devils Sight or Eyes of the Dark Shadow of Moil is a great spell. But, for those who do have these features, it is overshadowed (#sorrynotsorry) by them and the added benefit of a little retaliatory damage and radiant resistance are no longer enough to justify the 4th level slot instead of the 2nd level slot or 2 sorcery points for Darkness.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Click ✨ HERE ✨ For My Youtube Videos featuring Guides, Tips & Tricks for using D&D Beyond. Need help with Homebrew? Check out ✨ thisFAQ/Guide thread ✨ by IamSposta.
It's also more party friendly than using darkness because you don't hide others, its not dispelled by spells likes [Tooltip Not Found] and may be easier to move as some dms may say moving the bead of darkness requires a free hand. Shadow of moil is generally a better spell than darkness and is in line with spells of 4th level spells like fire shield and greater invisibility and if shadows sorcerers didn't have yes of darkness or it was a higher level ability then shadow of moil has amazing synergy with the shadow sorcerer because the darkness it creates allows shadow step more freely and protecting from radiant damage covers the vulnerability of the Umbral form ability. Eyes of the dark is just cheaper and if shadow of moil got a similar discount for example down to say 3 or 4 points it would probably be the clear better choice when you take into account lost damage from allies who may be negatively effected by darkness.
I agree with you and CyberM1nd.In fact, "Shadow of Moil" is only present because it is a spell that descriptively fits into the magic of shadow sorcery (with the addition of not being a sorcerer's spell and being from the xanathar guide book).There is also the problem that 4th level spells are few and even fewer those who perfectly fit into the theme of this subclass, which, in my opinion, explains why many spell lists add Shadow of Moil.
However, this spell competes with Darkness for concentration and has an excessively similar function to it, not providing any truly compensatory advantage that justifies the expenditure of 6 sorcery points or a fourth-level spell slot.There are a series of other spells that also work with the "shadow" theme without sounding redundant to the sorcerer and consistent with the theme and abilities that the sorcerer of shadow magic has.Below is my proposed list of additional shadow sorcerer spells:
Level 1- Bane; Disguise Self
Level 3- Darkness*; Pass without Trace
Level 5- Summon Shadowspawn; Vampiric Touch
Level 7- Arcane Eye; Death Ward
Level 9- Creation; Enervation
*You can cast the Darkness spell by spending a number of sorcery points equal to its corresponding level and can downgrade for a 1st level spell.However if you do, the shadowed area will decrease its radius by 5ft.Additionally, if you cast the darkness spell using a spell slot of 3rd level or higher, the area of the shadow increase by 5 feet for each spell level higher than 2nd.
Why these Spells? Level 1 spells are the most difficult to choose but Bane is a saving throw nerfer as the Hound of III Omen effect and Disguise Self is about hiding (shadow changes the colors, for example) and this is already the first level spell of Ranger counterpart, the Gloomstalker. Death Ward is a improved "Strenght of the Grave" feature. And Summon Shadowspawn I couldn't resist and made an exception for obvious reasons.I even hope they add this spell to D&D ONE.The others are not so obvious, but in the description of all of them there is shadow or darkness as part of the description of the spell: Arcane Eye generates an eye with darkvision;Pass Without Trace ("A veil of shadows and silence radiates from you..."); Vampiric Touch ("The touch of your shadow-wreathed hand..."); Creation ("You pull wisps of shadow material from the Shadowfell to create..."); Enervation ("A tendril of inky darkness reaches out from you").
Several HB extended spell lists for shadow sorcerers include shadow of moil. What are the practical benefits of this spell for a shadow sorcerer? For 2 sorcery points, a shadow sorcerer can cast darkness on him or herself that they can see through. In general, they will have advantage when attacking enemies, and enemies will have disadvantage when attacking them. The benefits of shadow of moil seem to be largely redundant. For the cost of a 4th level spell slot (equivalent to 6 sorcery points), shadow of moil provides the benefit of not being seen by creatures with devil's sight or truesight, resistance to radiant damage, and a bit of damage on being hit. The benefits do not seem to counterbalance the resource cost relative to darkness. Am I missing anything?
No, you're not missing anything. People just want to add "anything shadow!!!11!!" to the lists, without regard of whether it actually synergises well with the class/subclass features.
For anyone who lacks Devils Sight or Eyes of the Dark Shadow of Moil is a great spell. But, for those who do have these features, it is overshadowed (#sorrynotsorry) by them and the added benefit of a little retaliatory damage and radiant resistance are no longer enough to justify the 4th level slot instead of the 2nd level slot or 2 sorcery points for Darkness.
Click ✨ HERE ✨ For My Youtube Videos featuring Guides, Tips & Tricks for using D&D Beyond.
Need help with Homebrew? Check out ✨ this FAQ/Guide thread ✨ by IamSposta.
It's also more party friendly than using darkness because you don't hide others, its not dispelled by spells likes [Tooltip Not Found] and may be easier to move as some dms may say moving the bead of darkness requires a free hand. Shadow of moil is generally a better spell than darkness and is in line with spells of 4th level spells like fire shield and greater invisibility and if shadows sorcerers didn't have yes of darkness or it was a higher level ability then shadow of moil has amazing synergy with the shadow sorcerer because the darkness it creates allows shadow step more freely and protecting from radiant damage covers the vulnerability of the Umbral form ability. Eyes of the dark is just cheaper and if shadow of moil got a similar discount for example down to say 3 or 4 points it would probably be the clear better choice when you take into account lost damage from allies who may be negatively effected by darkness.
I agree with you and CyberM1nd. In fact, "Shadow of Moil" is only present because it is a spell that descriptively fits into the magic of shadow sorcery (with the addition of not being a sorcerer's spell and being from the xanathar guide book). There is also the problem that 4th level spells are few and even fewer those who perfectly fit into the theme of this subclass, which, in my opinion, explains why many spell lists add Shadow of Moil.
However, this spell competes with Darkness for concentration and has an excessively similar function to it, not providing any truly compensatory advantage that justifies the expenditure of 6 sorcery points or a fourth-level spell slot. There are a series of other spells that also work with the "shadow" theme without sounding redundant to the sorcerer and consistent with the theme and abilities that the sorcerer of shadow magic has. Below is my proposed list of additional shadow sorcerer spells:
Level 1- Bane; Disguise Self
Level 3- Darkness*; Pass without Trace
Level 5- Summon Shadowspawn; Vampiric Touch
Level 7- Arcane Eye; Death Ward
Level 9- Creation; Enervation
*You can cast the Darkness spell by spending a number of sorcery points equal to its corresponding level and can downgrade for a 1st level spell. However if you do, the shadowed area will decrease its radius by 5ft. Additionally, if you cast the darkness spell using a spell slot of 3rd level or higher, the area of the shadow increase by 5 feet for each spell level higher than 2nd.
Why these Spells? Level 1 spells are the most difficult to choose but Bane is a saving throw nerfer as the Hound of III Omen effect and Disguise Self is about hiding (shadow changes the colors, for example) and this is already the first level spell of Ranger counterpart, the Gloomstalker. Death Ward is a improved "Strenght of the Grave" feature. And Summon Shadowspawn I couldn't resist and made an exception for obvious reasons. I even hope they add this spell to D&D ONE. The others are not so obvious, but in the description of all of them there is shadow or darkness as part of the description of the spell: Arcane Eye generates an eye with darkvision; Pass Without Trace ("A veil of shadows and silence radiates from you..."); Vampiric Touch ("The touch of your shadow-wreathed hand..."); Creation ("You pull wisps of shadow material from the Shadowfell to create..."); Enervation ("A tendril of inky darkness reaches out from you").