What level do you think this spell should be

[CrazyCarppy]

This is for D&D 5e

My dm and i made this spell off the chassis of the faithful hound spell. We set it at level 4 with the idea that we would make tweaks if there were obvious balance issues after some playing.

Its an action to cast, last 4 hours. No concentration.
Those last two are probably the biggest concerns.

You conjure a phantom watchdog in an unoccupied space that you can see within range, it moves at a verbal command from you. An action may be taken to dismiss it. It has a movement of 30" per round, and must remain within 30' of the caster.

The hound is invisible to all creatures except you and can't be harmed. When a Small or larger creature comes within 30 feet of it without first speaking the password that you specify when you cast this spell, the hound starts barking loudly. The hound sees invisible creatures and can see into the Ethereal Plane. It ignores illusions.

During each of your turns, the hound attempts to bite one creature within 5 feet of it that is hostile to you. The hound's attack bonus is equal to your spellcasting ability modifier + your proficiency bonus. On a hit, it deals 3d8 piercing damage.

If the hound is affected by an aoe damaging effect it makes a save using the casters appropriate stats. If it passes it is unaffected. if it fails it dies, regardless of damage amount.

Thoughts?.

[Guy Lombard-O]

While you based it off the faithful hound spell, the effect is much more similar to a spell like Spiritual Weapon of Mordy's Sword: it's mobile, it travels with the caster and inflicts damage upon the target of caster's choice, but is also invisible and cannot be damaged by regular means. The only weakness you've added is the destruction by AoE saving throws.

So, it does damage similar to a 4th level Spiritual Weapon, it's non-concentration and has limited movement like one, but it has 1) better movement speed, 2) 4 hour duration instead of 1 minute duration, 3) is invisible itself, so arguably attacks at advantage, 4) can see and attack invisible creatures that the caster cannot see, and 5) doesn't even use up the caster's bonus action.

I won't bother comparing it to Mordy's Sword, since that's more of a DM spell, not a player's spell.

All around, it's vastly, vastly superior to faithful hound in application, simply be being a mobile attack spell instead of a static guard/ward spell (which even gives warning barks). It's also much better than an upcast Spiritual Weapon (which is in itself a very good spell). I'd put this at probably 7th level, perhaps with a 1 level downgrade to 6th due to the destructibility by AoEs (many monsters will be utterly unable to take advantage of this weakness). Or maybe no downgrade. It's pretty strong.

[MrStabby]

While you based it off the faithful hound spell, the effect is much more similar to a spell like Spiritual Weapon of Mordy's Sword: it's mobile, it travels with the caster and inflicts damage upon the target of caster's choice, but is also invisible and cannot be damaged by regular means. The only weakness you've added is the destruction by AoE saving throws.

So, it does damage similar to a 4th level Spiritual Weapon, it's non-concentration and has limited movement like one, but it has 1) better movement speed, 2) 4 hour duration instead of 1 minute duration, 3) is invisible itself, so arguably attacks at advantage, 4) can see and attack invisible creatures that the caster cannot see, and 5) doesn't even use up the caster's bonus action.

I won't bother comparing it to Mordy's Sword, since that's more of a DM spell, not a player's spell.

All around, it's vastly, vastly superior to faithful hound in application, simply be being a mobile attack spell instead of a static guard/ward spell (which even gives warning barks). It's also much better than an upcast Spiritual Weapon (which is in itself a very good spell). I'd put this at probably 7th level, perhaps with a 1 level downgrade to 6th due to the destructibility by AoEs (many monsters will be utterly unable to take advantage of this weakness). Or maybe no downgrade. It's pretty strong.

Yeah, agree. 6th or 7th seems about right.