I'm playing D&D for more than one year, my illusion wizard is now level 8. Now my problem:
I don't have much ideas for funny/useful/helpful illusions in fights/roleplay. I think my character is perfect for battlefield control. Can you help me?
Information that might be useful:
Our DM plays 50/50 fights amd roleplay, my high elf wizard is chaotic good.
Well, as an illusionist, your Silent Image cantrip makes both image and sound, so it's great for making a lure to set up an ambush or to distract a big dumb monster down the hall so your party can sneak past safely.
I love Mirror Image as a defensive spell in combat, because it does not require concentration and basically let's you avoid three hits.
Shadow Blade is a bonus action to cast, so you can still use your action to attack with it on that first round, and it does really good damage for a 2nd level illusion. It does 2d8 psychic, plus it's simple, light, finesse, and you can even throw it and it'll reappear in your hand next round as a bonus action. So that's cool.
Greater Invisibility allows you to attack or do whatever else and still stay invisible. But it is a high level slot, which is basically like trading off a 9d6 Fireball. So if you've otherwise got good defenses, don't use it.
Phantasmal Killer is a G D Weapon! Provided that you're fighting a target that has a low wisdom, you do 4d10 per round for up to 10 rounds, as long as it keeps failing it's saves. That's a max potential of 400 points of damage! No other 4th level spell can do that!
Fear is a good old stand by for disrupting a crowd of enemies.
Those are standard combat applications.
Let's say you're doing a more role-playing oriented session:
Let's say you found or retrieved a magic item, and you're supposed to hand it over to someone, and you don't want to. Or let's say you have the item and guards are about to search you for it (to take it from you). Or let's say you get stopped by powerful bandits who demand a tribute of a magical weapon to allow you to pass/leave in peace. Nystul's Magic Aura. Boom! One action to cast, lasts 24 hours, no concentration required. You can create a false magic aura on an item, or hide its aura from divination. It's a great bait & switch!
Illusory Script allows you to communicate secret messages to others. Very useful in RP sessions. So often overlooked in combat games.
Illusion is an often underappreciated school of magic.
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Tayn of Darkwood. Lvl 10 human Life Cleric of Lathander. Retired.
Ikram Sahir ibn Malik al-Sayyid Ra'ad, Second Son of the House of Ra'ad, Defender of the Burning Sands. Lvl 9 Brass Dragonborn Sorcerer + Greater Fire Elemental Devil.
Viktor Gavriil. Lvl 20 White Dragonborn Grave Cleric, of Kurgan the God of Death.
Agreeing with Tayn about illusions being an often underestimated school of magic.
A few more ideas for battlefield control:
* Minor Illusion a cage around a (preferably low Intelligence) foe. Or Silent Image a cage on two or three that are clustered together. Even if they disbelieve it, you just got them to waste an action. And if they do believe it, you party's archers and casters can hit them without fear of being hit back while they are stuck in place. Better if you are not trying to kill your opponent.
* Major Image a Wall of Fire to give your party temporary cover and protect its squishier members. Since your party knows that it is an illusion, they can still fire spells and arrows outwards at your foes.
* If fighting intelligent undead or fiends, use Major Image to pretend that you have summoned a Deva. Bonus points if you have a friendly Cleric nearby to cast Thaumaturgy to add extra heft to the illusion. This can cause a panic amongst your enemies, giving your party some breathing room at the very least. They might also run away from you, of course, which could be a good thing depending on circumstances.
* If you are in a very rocky area, Major Image a Giant to fight on your side. Use an upcast Catapult spell to make it seem like your giant is hurling rocks. The injury caused by the rocks will be real, so your enemies have less incentive to disbelieve the illusion. If the monsters fear giants or are servants to giants, your battle could end right there.
Consider focusing illusions on mounts, the rider may not be bothered by it, but the mount will likely not see through it and may toss the rider. A row of spears or thorns would do the trick.
You could cover up traps or create illusions of traps on the field. An opponent will likely think twice after the first bear trap or caltrop drastically slowing progress, especially of combined with ways of creating difficult ground. You could also make it look like there are boulders or other obstructions to encourage your opponents to bunch up for a shatter or fireball.
Think of the confusion when a sickly old man walks up and cuts a for in half due to being a disguised warrior.
A commander stricken in terror by an illusion may cause others to flee as they lose faith in their command.
Disguise self could be used to make it seem like your party is greater in number or that an ally is in one place instead of another. Local evil Baron wants the attention of a local and you need to creat time for their escape, pretend to be them while they flee. Pretend to be a local criminal Lord and commit a public crime so they are arrested for their actual crimes is another option.
Make a large hole - cover it with Silent Image. Use Minor Illusion (it's not concentration) to make a 5 ft hole right in front of the real hole. Enemy will see hole, try to jump across to the other side where they see land: and go through that illusory land into the real hole. Works best if on a narrower path.
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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.
Let's see...changing the clones from your "Mirror Image" spell to makes it seem like your being escorted by armed guards, either as a prisoner or person of high regard. Good for roleplaying.
Minor Illusion some grievous wounds on yourself...great way to bluff that you're injured.
Minor Illusion a continuously-changing illusion that makes it appear like you're not moving...when you're actually slipping some poison into a targets mug or drink.
Conceal your somatic / verbal gestures through a continuously shifting illusion that hides your hands and mouth...this is particularly cruel to even the most perceptive enemies, and requires Detect Magic to reveal.
Conjure a replica of a very important object that the villain wants...and chuck it off a cliff. Or set it "ablaze".
Was in an arena fighting four elementals that had multiple attacks. Changed the terrain to a hall of mirrors to impose disadvantage to everyone (playing chaotic good). Made team mate invisible, then got rid of the mirrors. Dropped bombs and misty stepped away just nuking one of them. Major image of a sarcophagus then illusory reality to make it real and trap one for 10 rounds. Mirror images, blur and mage armour+shield make you impossible to hit. Send one to the nightmare realm with phantasm killer. Mislead is incredible for shenanigans. Definitely the best character I’ve played fun wise and insane control and utility.
We built a pile of explosives, mixed in several dozen iron spikes and covered it over with a blanket. Our dragonborn then called out to it and offered a tribute. As the the dragonborn pulled off the blanket, our bard cast minor illusion over the pile to create the image of a pile of gold and jewels. The dragon fell for it and as it scooped the pile into it's mouth, we threw a bottle of alchemist's fire into it. Our DM ruled it would bypass the AC as it was inside it's mouth. Killed it outright.
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I'm playing D&D for more than one year, my illusion wizard is now level 8. Now my problem:
I don't have much ideas for funny/useful/helpful illusions in fights/roleplay. I think my character is perfect for battlefield control. Can you help me?
Information that might be useful:
Our DM plays 50/50 fights amd roleplay, my high elf wizard is chaotic good.
Well, as an illusionist, your Silent Image cantrip makes both image and sound, so it's great for making a lure to set up an ambush or to distract a big dumb monster down the hall so your party can sneak past safely.
I love Mirror Image as a defensive spell in combat, because it does not require concentration and basically let's you avoid three hits.
Shadow Blade is a bonus action to cast, so you can still use your action to attack with it on that first round, and it does really good damage for a 2nd level illusion. It does 2d8 psychic, plus it's simple, light, finesse, and you can even throw it and it'll reappear in your hand next round as a bonus action. So that's cool.
Greater Invisibility allows you to attack or do whatever else and still stay invisible. But it is a high level slot, which is basically like trading off a 9d6 Fireball. So if you've otherwise got good defenses, don't use it.
Phantasmal Killer is a G D Weapon! Provided that you're fighting a target that has a low wisdom, you do 4d10 per round for up to 10 rounds, as long as it keeps failing it's saves. That's a max potential of 400 points of damage! No other 4th level spell can do that!
Fear is a good old stand by for disrupting a crowd of enemies.
Those are standard combat applications.
Let's say you're doing a more role-playing oriented session:
Let's say you found or retrieved a magic item, and you're supposed to hand it over to someone, and you don't want to. Or let's say you have the item and guards are about to search you for it (to take it from you). Or let's say you get stopped by powerful bandits who demand a tribute of a magical weapon to allow you to pass/leave in peace. Nystul's Magic Aura. Boom! One action to cast, lasts 24 hours, no concentration required. You can create a false magic aura on an item, or hide its aura from divination. It's a great bait & switch!
Illusory Script allows you to communicate secret messages to others. Very useful in RP sessions. So often overlooked in combat games.
Illusion is an often underappreciated school of magic.
Tayn of Darkwood. Lvl 10 human Life Cleric of Lathander. Retired.
Ikram Sahir ibn Malik al-Sayyid Ra'ad, Second Son of the House of Ra'ad, Defender of the Burning Sands. Lvl 9 Brass Dragonborn Sorcerer + Greater Fire Elemental Devil.
Viktor Gavriil. Lvl 20 White Dragonborn Grave Cleric, of Kurgan the God of Death.
Anzio Faro. Lvl 5 Prot. Aasimar Light Cleric.
Agreeing with Tayn about illusions being an often underestimated school of magic.
A few more ideas for battlefield control:
* Minor Illusion a cage around a (preferably low Intelligence) foe. Or Silent Image a cage on two or three that are clustered together. Even if they disbelieve it, you just got them to waste an action. And if they do believe it, you party's archers and casters can hit them without fear of being hit back while they are stuck in place. Better if you are not trying to kill your opponent.
* Major Image a Wall of Fire to give your party temporary cover and protect its squishier members. Since your party knows that it is an illusion, they can still fire spells and arrows outwards at your foes.
* If fighting intelligent undead or fiends, use Major Image to pretend that you have summoned a Deva. Bonus points if you have a friendly Cleric nearby to cast Thaumaturgy to add extra heft to the illusion. This can cause a panic amongst your enemies, giving your party some breathing room at the very least. They might also run away from you, of course, which could be a good thing depending on circumstances.
* If you are in a very rocky area, Major Image a Giant to fight on your side. Use an upcast Catapult spell to make it seem like your giant is hurling rocks. The injury caused by the rocks will be real, so your enemies have less incentive to disbelieve the illusion. If the monsters fear giants or are servants to giants, your battle could end right there.
You could definitely control a battlefield with the ideas people said above.
Consider focusing illusions on mounts, the rider may not be bothered by it, but the mount will likely not see through it and may toss the rider. A row of spears or thorns would do the trick.
You could cover up traps or create illusions of traps on the field. An opponent will likely think twice after the first bear trap or caltrop drastically slowing progress, especially of combined with ways of creating difficult ground. You could also make it look like there are boulders or other obstructions to encourage your opponents to bunch up for a shatter or fireball.
Think of the confusion when a sickly old man walks up and cuts a for in half due to being a disguised warrior.
A commander stricken in terror by an illusion may cause others to flee as they lose faith in their command.
Disguise self could be used to make it seem like your party is greater in number or that an ally is in one place instead of another. Local evil Baron wants the attention of a local and you need to creat time for their escape, pretend to be them while they flee. Pretend to be a local criminal Lord and commit a public crime so they are arrested for their actual crimes is another option.
Make a large hole - cover it with Silent Image. Use Minor Illusion (it's not concentration) to make a 5 ft hole right in front of the real hole. Enemy will see hole, try to jump across to the other side where they see land: and go through that illusory land into the real hole. Works best if on a narrower path.
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.
Some great illusory tactics here!
Let's see...changing the clones from your "Mirror Image" spell to makes it seem like your being escorted by armed guards, either as a prisoner or person of high regard. Good for roleplaying.
Minor Illusion some grievous wounds on yourself...great way to bluff that you're injured.
Minor Illusion a continuously-changing illusion that makes it appear like you're not moving...when you're actually slipping some poison into a targets mug or drink.
Conceal your somatic / verbal gestures through a continuously shifting illusion that hides your hands and mouth...this is particularly cruel to even the most perceptive enemies, and requires Detect Magic to reveal.
Conjure a replica of a very important object that the villain wants...and chuck it off a cliff. Or set it "ablaze".
Was in an arena fighting four elementals that had multiple attacks. Changed the terrain to a hall of mirrors to impose disadvantage to everyone (playing chaotic good). Made team mate invisible, then got rid of the mirrors. Dropped bombs and misty stepped away just nuking one of them. Major image of a sarcophagus then illusory reality to make it real and trap one for 10 rounds. Mirror images, blur and mage armour+shield make you impossible to hit. Send one to the nightmare realm with phantasm killer. Mislead is incredible for shenanigans. Definitely the best character I’ve played fun wise and insane control and utility.
https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/class-forums/wizard/53348-illusionist-milestones-peach
My party killed a dragon with minor illusion.
We built a pile of explosives, mixed in several dozen iron spikes and covered it over with a blanket. Our dragonborn then called out to it and offered a tribute. As the the dragonborn pulled off the blanket, our bard cast minor illusion over the pile to create the image of a pile of gold and jewels. The dragon fell for it and as it scooped the pile into it's mouth, we threw a bottle of alchemist's fire into it. Our DM ruled it would bypass the AC as it was inside it's mouth. Killed it outright.