What Level Would This Spell Be?

[Koningkrush]

Shooting Star
3rd Level Transmutation
Casting Time: 1 minute
Range: Self
Components: V, S, M (Fire and a bird's feather)
Duration: 8 hours
You channel energy within and grant yourself a flying speed of 300 ft. You can only take dash actions in this state. When traveling you appear to be a streaking ball of flame akin to a comet. If you should still be in the air when this spell wears off, you fall the remaining distance. You can choose to crash into something or someone to deal 5d10 fire damage to both yourself and the target.
Spell effect ends if you choose to crash.

Which is a modified version of

Wind Walk
6th Level Transmutation
Casting Time: 1 minute
Range: 30 ft
Components: V S M (Fire and holy water)
Duration: 8 hours
Classes: Druid
You and up to ten willing creatures you can see within range assume a gaseous form for the duration, appearing as wisps of cloud. While in this cloud form, a creature has a flying speed of 300 feet and has resistance to damage from nonmagical weapons. The only actions a creature can take in this form are the Dash action or to revert to its normal form. Reverting takes 1 minute, during which time a creature is incapacitated and can't move. Until the spell ends, a creature can revert to cloud form, which also requires the 1-minute transformation.
If a creature is in cloud form and flying when the effect ends, the creature descends 60 feet per round for 1 minute until it lands, which it does safely. If it can't land after 1 minute, the creature falls the remaining distance.


I had a player present this to me because no real long-term travel spells exist other than Wind Walk. His reasoning for 3rd level is that it's from 11 targets to Self Only and that you lose resistance to nonmagical weapons in addition to being super obvious rather than invisible.
I myself am on the fence between 3rd and 4th level for the slot.

[Madfellow]

I'd say at least 4th level.

[Armored Walrus]

That's a lot of moving parts to balance. 11 targets vs 1, this one does damage, Wind walk doesn't. But if you use it to damage, it damages you, too. Can't move in and out of that state with shooting star, you can with wind walk. "Invisible" doesn't apply since clouds of mist aren't "Invisible" either. At best, they are "subtle" and balls of fire are "obvious."

I'd probably talk to the player about removing some of the rider effects, and just make it a nerfed version of Wind walk. Going from 11 targets to 1 gives us something useful to measure, because now you can look at Fly, and think about how upcasting allows you to add targets. It still doesn't allow you to compare apples to apples, since Fly has combat utility and this arguably doesn't, but it should help you come to a conclusion.

Edit: another touchpoint for comparison. It does 5d10 damage if you choose to use it for that. 3rd level Fireball does 6d8. I think it just does too many things to get a good feel for where it fits.

[Emay Ecks]

I would say 5th level.

One thing you have to consider is the intention of the spell. With Shooting Star you can move incredible distances in a day's travel. Any spell that give players the ability to travel great distances in relatively short times are 5th level or higher. Look at the other spells with similar effects: Teleportation Circle (5th), Transport Via Plants (6th), Wind Walk (6th), Teleport (7th). And these spells affect groups, because D&D is a team game and usually you want to travel as a team. Players aren't expected to ignore travel until they reach a level where 5th level spells are accessible.

Lets compare your spell to Tree Stride (5th Level).
Both can only target self.
Tree Stride lasts 1 minute, Shooting Star lasts 8 hours.
Tree Stride lets you move 520 feet per turn (assuming two perfectly placed trees), Shooting Star lets you fly 600 feet regardless of terrain.
Tree Stride requires concentration and can be interrupted, Shooting Star does not require concentration and will only end at caster's discretion.
Tree Stride can't deal damage, Shooting Star can (although I don't think people would use the ability for that).
You can potentially try to hide (by using your action to hide every turn) with Tree Stride, you are very obvious with Shooting Star.

I'd argue your spell is already better than Tree Stride, and giving it a lower spell level to boot would just be plain overpowered.