Warding Wind seems to get overlooked sometimes because all of its individual components are situational, but I've found that they add up pretty well, especially when playing a frontliner.The main use of the spell is probably going to be a combination of points 1, 6, and 7. But everything here should be kept in mind.
1) General Properties
First, it's a 2nd level spell on the Evocation spell list and doesn't use your casting stat, which makes it particularly attractive for Eldritch Knights. This is fortuitous, because a lot of the features of Warding Wind shine best when you're at the front of the party.Second, it has a generous 10 minute duration, which (combined with the fact that it's mobile) means you can potentially go through several encounters on a single casting in a dungeoneering scenario. Kinda like Spirit Guardians in that respect. This slot efficiency is one of its star features, IMHO; not a whole lot of 10 minute+ mobile Concentration spells at this level.
2) Strong Wind: a general rule:
Warding Wind creates an area of "strong wind," which is actually a game term defined in the DMG and referenced by numerous specific features. In addition to things the spell mentions (or improves upon), a strong wind does the following:Not a big deal, but something to remember.
Originally Posted by DMG
A flying creature in a strong wind must land at the end of its turn or fall. A strong wind in a desert can create a sandstorm that imposes disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight.
3)Deafening, not just a footnote
At first this might seem like a disadvantage, but I've found it to be surprisingly handy.
- It deafens you and other creatures in its area.
Deafening yourself can give you and your allies immunity from a variety of effects, like a Cloaker's Moan, a Demilich's Howl, a Chasme's Drone, a Vrock's Screech, a Gibbering Mouther's Gibbering, a Harpy's Luring Song, a Mummy Lord's Blasphemous Word, all of an Androsphinx's Roar abilities, a Grung Elite Warrior's Mesmerizing Chirr, a Shadow Mastiff's Terrifying Howl, a Vargouille's Stunning Shriek, (TAKES A BREATH) a Yeth Hound's Baleful Baying, A Bard's Taunt (The NPC Bards in Volo's Guide to Monsters), A Kraken Priest's "Voice of the Kraken," an Allip's Howling Babble, a Narzugon's Terrifying Command, the Suggestion spell, the Mass Suggestion spell, the Dissonant Whispers spell, the Entrhall spell, the Divine Word spell, the Vicious Mockery cantrip, or a Lore Bard's cutting words.
Deafening an enemy can grant further boons. Many "commander" type foes can't use their team buffs if their allies can't hear them (for example, Bards can't use Bardic Inspiration or Countercharm, Gnolls can't be incited, Hobgoblin Captains, Hobgoblin Warlords, and Knights can't use leadership, Orc War Chiefs can't use Battle Cry, Blade of Ilneval can't use Ilneval's Command, Warlords can't use Command Ally or Frighten Foe, a Drow House Captain can't use Battle Command, a Duergar Warlord can't use Call to Attack a Yangoloth can't use Battlefield Cunning, Flesh Golems can't be calmed by their creator, and perhaps most hilarious of all, a Beastmaster Ranger's beast will just sit there and do nothing but Dodge like the stupid robot it is).
Also fun is what it does to your stealth options. Usually being unseen doesn't actually hide your position (you need to actually use Stealth to become Hidden), but being unseen and unheard is another matter. Enemies who are deaf and blind are a lot more crippled than ones that are just blind. And even things like a high level Rogue's Blindsense won't work if they're deafened.
While certain enemies can use this against you, the fact that you can drop Concentration at will means that the worst case scenario is just that you drop the spell.
Oh, and for you Eldritch Knights with War Caster / Booming Blade, you'll be happy to know that Thunder damage isn't affected by deafness in any way.
Yes, it's all still situational, but like I said the point is that the bullet points add up.
4) Putting out the lights... and the sound
This one occasionally comes in handy when fighting creatures that don't have Darkvision, when you do. The guards' torches get snuffed out and they're blind and deaf and slowed by difficult terrain. Basically, you can put foes reliant on fire to see in a real bind.
- It extinguishes unprotected flames in its area that are torch-sized or smaller.
Mind, lots of things have Darkvision, or could just get magical light sources or protected flames. Just one more situational goodie on the pile.
5) Fogs, Vapors, Gasses, and vision
Inhaled poisons, cloudkill, incendiary cloud, fetid cloud, ink cloud, freezing fog, death burst, and the like simply don't affect you.
- It hedges out vapor, gas, and fog that can be dispersed by strong wind.
Moreover, it's handy to have a character who can clear most line of sight impediments by simply walking into them, especially if they're a frontliner (like an Eldritch Knight). Fog Cloud and the like goes poof, while magical Darkness is already covered by having an item with a cheap, permanent, upcast Continual Flame on it (a handy trick for another underappreciated spell; as a general rule any magical light created with a spell slot of level 3 or higher illuminates magical Darkness).
6) Difficult Terrain
This is great for tanking and kiting. Basically the 10 feet around you take 20 feet to traverse (50 if they just wanna pass through the whole sphere, since the radius extends from the edges of your square for a total diameter of 25 feet), which can be just enough to keep an enemy from closing to melee with either you or allies. This is good stuff whether your goal is to be sticky or slippery. Positioning is king.
- The area is difficult terrain for creatures other than you.
This also combines great with point 7, protecting you or your party from both melee and ranged attacks (and fogs, and things that are protected against by deafness).
7) A Mobile Wind Wall
Last but certainly not least (in fact, the total opposite) is that Warding Wind imposes Disadvantage on ranged attacks passing through its area. Not only do you get to impose Disadvantage on all ranged weapon attacks against yourself, but also everyone behind you, making this great at defending your party.
- The attack rolls of ranged weapon attacks have disadvantage if the attacks pass in or out of the wind
This is basically a mobile Wind Wall (a third level spell) that lasts 10x as long and can help against boulders and such, rather than only small projectiles. Sure, Wind Wall will make the small projectiles miss automatically instead of "just" having Disadvantage, but I think that's more than made up for by the mobility, duration, and application to a wider variety of projectiles (not to mention all of the other things that Warding Wind does).
This also synergizes effectively with the rest of the kit. For example, if an enemy has a ranged weapon and a nasty melee attack, you can protect your party from both by slowing them with difficult terrain and blocking their ranged attacks.
Another aspect is that your team (given the right composition) can fire through the Warding Wind unhindered, since it's only ranged weapon attacks that get Disadvantage. If you're firing out Repelling Eldritch Blasts, it goes right through... and makes it even harder for the enemy to close to a useful position.
What do you think? Any fun, creative, or effective uses I haven't mentioned? Or do you think the spell's horrible and that something else should always be used instead? Lemme know
An Eldritch Knight using Warding Wind
Originally Posted by DMG
