Wind Wall: ‘Tis an Ill Wind

Usable By: Druid, Ranger

Spell Level: 3

School: Evocation

Casting Time: 1 action

Range: 120 feet

Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute

Components: V, S, M (a tiny fan and a feather of exotic origin)

A wall of strong wind rises from the ground at a point you choose within range. You can make the wall up to 50 feet long, 15 feet high, and 1 foot thick. You can shape the wall in any way you choose so long as it makes one continuous path along the ground. The wall lasts for the duration.

When the wall appears, each creature within its area must make a Strength saving throw. A creature takes 3d8 bludgeoning damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.

The strong wind keeps fog, smoke, and other gases at bay. Small or smaller flying creatures or objects can’t pass through the wall. Loose, lightweight materials brought into the wall fly upward. Arrows, bolts, and other ordinary projectiles launched at targets behind the wall are deflected upward and automatically miss. (Boulders hurled by giants or siege engines, and similar projectiles, are unaffected.) Creatures in gaseous form can’t pass through it.

Review by Sam West, Twitter: @CrierKobold

Niche spells have a home in 5e as great tools to grab from your back pocket that make the whole group go “Woah! That’s PERFECT!” Wind Wall is exactly that; I think this spell hits a solid balance of utility and power that make it great in a niche set of situations, but those situations still occur often enough you’ll whip this fairly often.

At minimum, Wind Wall is a large area 3d8 bludgeoning damage spell that prevents ranged attacks from passing through. For a 3rd level slot, you could be casting Fireball, dealing twice the damage in a sizeable area, so baseline, you don’t want to be casting this just for the damage. Dissipating fog, smoke, and gasses rarely will come up, but sometimes you need to block a billowing poisonous gas cloud in the sewers. Projectile mitigation will happen more frequently, but despite how common they are in the hands of the players, fewer monsters than you’d expect lean on bows and other projectile weapons to fight with. There are a good chunk of small flying creatures, and while every encounter won’t include them, having a way to keep them all off of you with a wind sphere is pretty sweet.

Each one of these encounters alone is rare, but any one happening becomes something you’ll be seeing every few sessions. Yeeting mephits to the sky when they attempt to divebomb you or creating a wall of safety from the goblin archer ambush can reshape the encounters around Wind Wall.

This is all before we get into the janky nonsense you can attempt with it. Consider what may happen if you lined up as many knives as you could find and threw them all up simultaneously at something above you. Want to make it very cloudy very fast? Grab a bunch of soot, throw it where the wind wall is going, and launch it outward everywhere around you! You can try to launch your halfling friends up a few floors with it, create a wind tunnel with some awkward angels and a bit of effort, and so much more.

Truthfully, Wind Wall isn’t a standout or exciting spell to me, but it's something I’d definitely consider on characters that already have a solid suite of spells they can use frequently. If I’m looking for a wacky tool that can be great at hosing specific baddies we may stumble into, I’d consider it. If you’re looking for something that won’t ever break the game, but can provide some surprising utility in a pinch, consider spending a few sessions with Wind Wall.

5e Spells

Wind Wall: ‘Tis an Ill Wind