Blur: Your Camera’s Fine. That’s Just Me.

Usable By: Artificer, Sorcerer, Wizard

Spell Level: 2

School: Illusion

Casting Time: 1 action

Range: Self

Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute

Components: V

Your body becomes blurred, shifting and wavering to all who can see you. For the duration, any creature has disadvantage on attack rolls against you. An attacker is immune to this effect if it doesn’t rely on sight, as with blindsight, or can see through illusions, as with truesight.

Review by Sam West, Twitter:@CrierKobold

An illusionist cloaked in a sleek silken burgundy robe, form flowing and shifting in layered translucent forms, all displacing their exact spot: this is the fantasy of Blur. You’re becoming a displacer beast, your form becoming difficult to pin down and strike. I think it's a cool look, I do. But I think the spell more often than not is nearly uncastable.

Defensive concentration spells have to be very good at diminishing incoming damage to justify existing to me. Characters conceivably take Blur to get hit less, which can be a noble goal, but boy, it doesn’t do a whole lot to mitigate those incoming hits. At its core, for Blur to be at its best, you’re going to need to have a high AC already and look to get attacked multiple times a round with the expressed goal of taking no damage. How many full-casters are going for that exact build, and then how many full-casters also don’t have something better to be concentrating on than this?

If you’re taking this as something to use when things have gone south and your other party members are dropping like flies, it taking your action is a major detriment. You could, instead of spending a 2nd level slot, take the dodge action, which imposes disadvantage on all attack rolls (just like Blur) and gives you advantage on Dex saves. How often do you want to be taking the dodge action in D&D, specifically when it takes your entire action? (Hint: The answer is never!)

Being the dwarf abjurer, hammer in hand, blue geometric ward protecting you, I can understand the appeal of Blur. However, you just don’t need it. You already likely are committing to Mage Armor for AC and have Shield at the ready to stop hits from connecting; both of these spells deliver on what you’d want from Blur just in a cheaper, more consistent and efficient way. A lot of encounters you can’t be spending a full action taking a glorified Dodge action that goes away a lot of the time if something manages to hit you anyway, and with only a minute duration, this isn’t something you’re going to be able to cast out of combat all that often, if ever.

You have better spells to be concentrating on than Blur. Agnostic of class, you have better defensive options available than Blur. Don’t be bamboozled by its perceived potential; the reality is the majority of characters aren’t going to ever want to cast this trash. Those that do probably are trying to make a 25 AC Bladesinger literally never take damage, but again, I can’t imagine that build keeps Blur around for long.

5e Spells

Blur: Your Camera’s Fine. That’s Just Me.