Shadow of Moil: Armor of Agathys 2.0
Usable By: Warlock
Spell Level: 4
School: Necromancy
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Self
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute
Components: V, S, M (an undead eyeball encased in a gem worth at least 150 gp)
Flame-like shadows wreathe your body until the spell ends, causing you to become heavily obscured to others. The shadows turn dim light within 10 feet of you into darkness, and bright light in the same area to dim light.
Until the spell ends, you have resistance to radiant damage. In addition, whenever a creature within 10 feet of you hits you with an attack, the shadows lash out at that creature, dealing it 2d8 necrotic damage.
Review by Sam West, Twitter: @CrierKobold
I heard a lot of hype around Shadow of Moil, and to be honest, I don’t really get it. This by all accounts is Wizards of the Coast’s second attempt at a “thorns” style of play pattern for warlocks, and I don’t really see it being even remotely better than the prior attempt. I’m going to just come out with the hot take: I think Shadow of Moil is BAD.
Armor of Agathys on warlocks at least scales with pact magic; you get a bonus 5 temp HP per slot, giving you 20 with a 4th level slot. You then deal back 20 damage for each hit that is within that 20 HP barrier; realistically you’re looking at 20, 40, or even 60 damage from melee weapons. Shadow of Moil has no temporary HP, and is lashing out for an average of 9 damage per hit. If Shadow of Moil damage goes at an Armor of Agathys wielder, the 2d8 damage dealer is getting 24 damage out of the deal. The Armor of Agathys caster is getting SIXTY.
And let me be clear: I’m not advocating for Armor of Agathys. The spell costs a lot, often will act just as temporary HP, and doesn’t offer any proactive choices. It’ll only ever affect things that have affected you. Shadow of Moil has all of these problems, but with no guarantee you’ll get more than one 2d8 slap back for a measly 9 damage back. The bonus “dark darkness” isn’t all that incredible of a feature, even when you tack on Devil’s Sight or other darkness perks.
The last remaining benefit Shadow of Moil offers is the heavily obscured bonus. You’re effectively blinding creatures that attack you; that’s basically just imposing disadvantage on their attack rolls. Defensively that’s fine, but nothing superb you’re willing to throw your concentration at. Defensive spells like this are hard to use: what if you aren’t the focus of attacks? If you ARE the focus for attacks, how long is Shadow of Moil realistically going to last? It being a defensive concentration spell puts it in this awkward scenario where in order to get the most out of it you have to risk it immediately going away. That doesn’t play well; it ends up feeling clunky.
I really wouldn’t recommend Shadow of Moil to anyone. I think reflecting 2d8 damage on being hit that requires your concentration just isn’t worth one of your precious few 4th level slots. It not scaling also makes it something you’d only want to use at 7th and 8th level, and then immediately drop it for better 5th level options. Listen, I’m here for dark, broody, edgy goodness now and then. This just isn’t delivering the fantasy in a cohesive way.
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