Phantasmal Force and is it worth having at high levels.

[Degwerks]

Does anyone really get any serious use out of Phantasmal Force at higher levels of play? I'm going through a spell list for a Bard/Warlock and I'm not seeing Phantasmal Force making it on the list for me. Unless of course someone has some really good uses that could change my mind.

[BiPolar]

Does anyone really get any serious use out of Phantasmal Force at higher levels of play? I'm going through a spell list for a Bard/Warlock and I'm not seeing Phantasmal Force making it on the list for me. Unless of course someone has some really good uses that could change my mind.

How does your dm adjudicate illusions? If they're open and you're clever, then I think it's worth it. It's sort of like a hunters mark/hex but without having to hit them again if done well and your dm gives illusions weight.

[SharkForce]

well, let's see, your other options for intelligence targeting crowd control effects are....

hmmmm.... maze (good luck with that), symbol (it's only 1000 gp per use and only takes a minute to set up, how wonderful!), feeblemind (which does very little to prevent enemies from killing you, but i suppose it's useful against some casters), and... uhhh... actually, i think that's it. unless you count using wish to duplicate one of those spells (probably symbol, when you make it a single action and remove the gp cost it's actually quite good).

is it always useful? of course not. limiting it to single target really hinders its value. but there is something to be said for the fact that it targets intelligence, which is a relatively low score for many monsters. i don't know if it is *more* useful than your other options, but it is useful.

a few other things to consider:

1) find out how your DM rules phantasmal force. in particular, this is the scenario you should ask about: you place an illusion of a scorching-hot chain with shackles on a target (burns for 1d6 damage per round) binding them to the ground. the creature fails their save and tries to run away. do they:

a) move away unimpeded and assume they just broke the chain.
b) stop themselves from moving and think the chain stopped them from moving, and can't leave the area, and potentially spends actions trying to escape the chain as if it were a real chain.
c) get the restrained status and start taking damage, potentially spending actions trying to escape as in b.
d) b or c, but they somehow know to make investigation checks instead of strength, dexterity, or other checks because the creature automagically assumes it's an illusion somehow in spite of the fact that it has no way of knowing it's not a custom spell.
e) something else entirely.

2) the type of enemies you're likely to face. creatures that have truesight will ignore the effect entirely. depending on the DM's ruling, it may or may not be able to fool creatures with blindsight (it's creating all the other senses, why couldn't it fool a blindsight sense? depending on if the DM rules it's working on the creature's mind rather than their sight, there is a small chance it will actually work even on creatures with truesight, but i wouldn't count on it). another important question is how often do you face individual monsters as compared to large groups.

3) how does your DM rule on you creating an illusion of a creature: is it limited to the original area? can it walk around? can it launch attacks outside of the original area (only at the target, of course). do you get to use the creature's attacks, with the caveat that it will never deal more than 1d6 damage per round?

so, a fair amount of this spell depends on your DM. i can't really give a general recommendation as a result. it can be amazing, it can be terrible, it can be in between, and it all depends on how your DM thinks the spell is supposed to work.

[Degwerks]

Yeah I doubt I can come up with those kinds of scenarios. My imagination isn't that creative. Guess that's why my imaginary girlfriend left me, for my best friend I might add. Apparently he has a "bigger" imagination... oh well, she was never really there for me anyway...

Yeah its hard to determine how my DM would rule on the phantasms.

[Specter]

Considering the target believes in the illusion unless it uses an action to try and see through it, you can make an illusion of a much more powerful foe than yourself (like a Death Knight, for instance) and the foe SHOULD target it, wasting its attacks repeatedly. When I say 'should' it's because a DM might rule otherwise, but if it's a completely believable illusion then it's possible.

Also, tactical advantages: create an archer near the character and he could rush to take him out, even giving foes opportunity attacks.

[Dalebert]

http://www.sageadvice.eu/2016/06/21/can-the-caster-see-phantasmal-force/

He failed to answer whether it can move but the spell doesn't say it can. I had this for a while and opted out of it. The 1d6 damage per round is pretty sad for something you have to concentrate on. It's better as a crowd control spell but I've found I prefer other things when I really need to CC something.