I am thinking about playing an illusionist. Never done it before. I enjoy wizards, but always thought the illusionist was a weak subclass to play. I have been rethinking that mindset lately. To the best of everyone's recollections, what are some challenges I may face? Are there any creatures immune to illusion ( I have been looking but nothing in my cursory search has popped up)? Anything in specific I should hash out with DM before committing to this subclass? Any other advice would be welcomed.
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"Believe in yourself, even if nobody else does." ~ Sasquatch
There are no actual creatures immune to illusion, though some "illusion spells" count as Charm. Lots of creatures are resistant or immune to Charm, which can screw with your spells. In addition lots of creatures get Blindsight later on which can defeat some illusions - Invisibility, Blur, etc.
Finally, the Wizard (Illusionist) subclass is sub-par, in my opinion. Crappy 1st level ability, sub-par 6th level abilites, and only average or so 10th and 14th level ability is worthwhile. If you care more about power than role playing, consider becoming a Scribe or War mage that loves Illusions instead of taking the Illusion subclass
The main weakness of the illusion school of magic is that everyone just assumes certain types of creatures aren't affected by them by default. Perhaps in earlier editions it was true. But if you stick to the rules -- which can be annoying because most of the illusion spells have subtle differences in the way they operate on a basic level -- you'll be fine.
The other weakness is that many illusion spells can be revealed to their targets if touched, and there's technically nothing in the rules stopping any target from running headfirst through an illusory wall with their movement, in order to still have an action with which to attack. There's only, you know, believability. Like, why would anyone do that?
At the end of the day, it's still a Wizard. And Wizards are great. But I don't even think it's weak by Wizard subclass standards. Its features just aren't necessarily combat features.
Illusion is great, is just DM dependent. The lv 2 features alone on the hands of a creative player and an open DM is great.
With that in mind, all the features might be good, but will involve a lot rulings not naturally covered by RAW, just because of the nature of illusion magic.
The creatures immune to illusions, generally come at a lv that the illusion magic can be very weird and interesting, especially considering the higher lv abilities of the sub-class.
My only advice is: talk to your DM about how comfortable he feels having to do on the spot rulings and creative play. Some are down, some are not. This doesn't mean one is good and the other is bad, is just a matter of play style.
Hello all.
I am thinking about playing an illusionist. Never done it before. I enjoy wizards, but always thought the illusionist was a weak subclass to play. I have been rethinking that mindset lately. To the best of everyone's recollections, what are some challenges I may face? Are there any creatures immune to illusion ( I have been looking but nothing in my cursory search has popped up)? Anything in specific I should hash out with DM before committing to this subclass? Any other advice would be welcomed.
"Believe in yourself, even if nobody else does." ~ Sasquatch
There are no actual creatures immune to illusion, though some "illusion spells" count as Charm. Lots of creatures are resistant or immune to Charm, which can screw with your spells. In addition lots of creatures get Blindsight later on which can defeat some illusions - Invisibility, Blur, etc.
Finally, the Wizard (Illusionist) subclass is sub-par, in my opinion. Crappy 1st level ability, sub-par 6th level abilites, and only average or so 10th and 14th level ability is worthwhile. If you care more about power than role playing, consider becoming a Scribe or War mage that loves Illusions instead of taking the Illusion subclass
The main weakness of the illusion school of magic is that everyone just assumes certain types of creatures aren't affected by them by default. Perhaps in earlier editions it was true. But if you stick to the rules -- which can be annoying because most of the illusion spells have subtle differences in the way they operate on a basic level -- you'll be fine.
The other weakness is that many illusion spells can be revealed to their targets if touched, and there's technically nothing in the rules stopping any target from running headfirst through an illusory wall with their movement, in order to still have an action with which to attack. There's only, you know, believability. Like, why would anyone do that?
At the end of the day, it's still a Wizard. And Wizards are great. But I don't even think it's weak by Wizard subclass standards. Its features just aren't necessarily combat features.
Illusion is great, is just DM dependent. The lv 2 features alone on the hands of a creative player and an open DM is great.
With that in mind, all the features might be good, but will involve a lot rulings not naturally covered by RAW, just because of the nature of illusion magic.
The creatures immune to illusions, generally come at a lv that the illusion magic can be very weird and interesting, especially considering the higher lv abilities of the sub-class.
My only advice is: talk to your DM about how comfortable he feels having to do on the spot rulings and creative play. Some are down, some are not. This doesn't mean one is good and the other is bad, is just a matter of play style.