Spirit Shroud or Summon Fey

[carrdrivesyou]

I'm about to become fighter 2, warlock 5. Blade pact. Will be mainly melee focused. Which spell should I take? I'm running around in full plate with sword and board. I think Summon Fey does slightly more safe but at the risk of being destroyed.
Thoughts?

[MightyK]

With two Attacks Spirit Shroud's damage is 9 * hit chance.

Summon Fey does 13 damage * hit chance.

Both to hit should be the same (although fuming provides advantage, that's big), so Summon fey does more damage, lasts an hour and provides another body on the battlefield.

It does take an action to cast, so for shorter fights, Spirit Shroud could come out ahead.

But if you have a chance to do more than one combat the next hour... summon that fey.

[follacchioso]

Summon Fey is also less likely to drop for concentration, because you will be attacked less often since there is another body in the battlefield. And the mirthful ability may allow you to charm some of the enemies, so they may not attack you directly.

That being said, Spirit Shroud is also a great spell, it provides you more damage type options, and has another rider effect. If you like being in melee, you will have fun with it.

[Contrast]

Both to hit should be the same

I'm not sure thats a safe assumption. Even if we assume Hexblade, its more likely OP has a magic weapon than an item to boost their spell attack.


Regardless - they're both fine choices, take whichever appeals most thematically. I think Spirit Shroud if you want to stick to attacking being your schitck, Summon Fey if you're interested in a more mystical vibe/you think you/the DM would have fun with some roleplay from the fey.

[carrdrivesyou]

I have a +1 longsword, but only 14 Cha. So my spell attack leaves a bit to be desired. We have a battle smith artificer in the group, so we have a tank pet already. And I have eldritch mind. I almost never fail con saves. Does that change anyone's opinion?

[Mitchellnotes]

How important are the additional features of spirit shroud? With a 3rd level slot, spirit shroud is doing an additionsl d8 while hex is doing d6, but lasts longer. If you already have hex, summon fey may be a better choice simply because it provides versatility. While it can contribute in combat, having an expendable teleporting minion can be very helpful out of combat as well. Summon undead provides something similar (incorporeal ghost). The summons also get a lot better when you get 4th level slots, but spirit shroud gets a strong boost with 5th level slots. May be good to hold off on spirit shroud until a bit later just to give yourself a few more options.

[Gale]

Generally speaking, I rate Summon Fey more highly than Spirit Shroud. Spirit Shroud scales pretty poorly. You won't see any increase in its effectiveness until you're a 9th level Warlock, and by then you'll likely have better spells to cast. Meanwhile, Summon Fey scales with every spell level, and remains a competitive option even at 9th level.

Summon Fey typically does more damage too, even with a mediocre charisma modifier. Assuming you have a 16 STR and a +1 Longsword, then Spirit Shroud will net you about 5.85 extra damage if you make two attacks per round against a target with 16 AC.

Summon Fey will do about 6.85 damage if your charisma is a 14. It can also:

Last for an entire hour as opposed to one minute.
Take attacks that otherwise would have been directed at party members.
Scout ahead to check for enemies, traps, etc.
Teleport 30 feet every round. This can further enhance its scouting abilities too. It can teleport past a window to unlock a door for you, or simply up into a tree to scout from high ground.
If you're using flanking rules then it can flank for you. Or it can at least help the rogue setup their sneak attack.

Additionally, every time it teleports it can either gain advantage on an attack roll, attempt to charm an opponent, or fill a square with magical darkness. Those are some major benefits. Gaining advantage on an attack roll will increase it's damage per round even more to 10.43. Charming an opponent has less obvious uses if you're a melee warlock, but it works wonders outside of combat. It's basically infinite Charm Person, except it only lasts a minute and doesn't make them think they're your friend. But they also don't know they've been charmed afterwards. You can easily have your fey buddy teleport to your side and subtly attempt to charm the shopkeeper, guard, or whomever you want. Personally though, the 5-foot cube of darkness is my favorite. If you can see in the dark due to Blind Fighting or Eldritch Sight then this can give you free advantage on all your attack rolls, and disadvantage on all attacks made against you. It's a miniature version of the darkness spell that won't blind your friends.

The only real benefits that Spirit Shroud has it that it can't die before the duration is up, enemies you hit with your attacks can't regain hp until the start of your next turn, and creatures within 10 feet of your have their speed reduced by 10 feet. But these benefits are all fairly minor and will likely be inconsequential in most fights. If you're really worried about the Fey Spirit dying in combat then you can always move in, attack, then use Fey Step to teleport away to (relative) safety. Even if it does die, you can still rest assured knowing it took damage that otherwise would have been directed at you or another party member. So no matter what you're still getting good value from the spell.

So yeah, overall I think Summon Fey is far better just for the sheer versatility alone. You get access to some really good options and lose out on almost nothing.

[Nidgit]

Spirit Shroud can benefit from Action Surge though. And it's better for holding aggro since enemies hit have their speed reduced.

Summon Fey scales better though, unless you're frequently making weapon attacks as a bonus action.

[Contrast]

...fill a square with magical darkness. ... Personally though, the 5-foot cube of darkness is my favorite. If you can see in the dark due to Blind Fighting or Eldritch Sight then this can give you free advantage on all your attack rolls, and disadvantage on all attacks made against you. It's a miniature version of the darkness spell that won't blind your friends.

Just to note that magical darkness =/= the Darkness spell. RAW someone with darkvision can see right through the magical darkness created by the fey - the Darkness spell has a specific exemption preventing Darkvision seeing through it which is separate from being magical and there is no clarification in the Darkvision rules that say it doesn't penetrate magical darkness.

Something to clarify with your DM on how they're going to run it however as Gales interpretation is a common one.

Also to temper those people highlighting it lasts an hour. My experience with Summon Fey is that they'll rarely last more than one fight because their AC and HP aren't up to the challenge so I'd see the benefit more as 'can precast without worrying too much if I'm confident we'll get in a fight shortly' than 'can expect to last multiple fights'.

[Witty Username]

I don't like spirit shroud unless you are making more than two attacks a round. Also Summon Fey has some other effects than damage and can draw agro giving it some fun uses.