Review by Sam West, Twitter: @CrierKobold
Misty Step is short, and reads pretty bad. You can spend a 2nd level spell slot and your bonus action to move 30 feet? You mean like a rogue can just always do with Cunning Action? Nobody uses Expeditious Retreat; how can Misty Step be that much better? It's only 30 feet after all!
Turns out moving through walls and in any direction takes what is otherwise underwhelming text and makes it exceptional. The raw flexibility Misty Step offers for its action cost can’t be understated; I’m not sure another spell exists as flexible as Misty Step. The only way I can think to explain how good the spell is is to provide examples, but even then that seems like cherry-picking. The truth of it is if you’ve got a creative mind and are working with a DM that likes three dimensional environments, being able to get from the ground to a window three stories up or back behind enemy lines with a blink of an eye is incredible. Positioning in 5th edition can be the difference between life and death. Misty Step gives you a tool to fix any positioning mistakes you might have made, or give you a positional advantage your enemies didn’t see coming.
Beyond just location, being able to Misty Step BEFORE you take an action means you have access to a massive pool of creative choices. Teleport behind the enemy to shut off their escape and spend your action barring the door from the outside. Appear at the top of the cliff and spend your action throwing down a rope to get your allies a way out immediately. Teleport into the mouth of one of the hydra's heads and stab it directly in the throat. Your DM will never see it coming.
Misty Step gets you past traps, over moats, and into houses. It excels in combat, in exploration, and in role playing and infiltration moments. Hop onto the chandelier to bring it down, or onto the back of the red dragon mid flight! Get yourself onto the back of the horse fleeing with the kidnapper before they can get too far away! Put yourself in the ideal seat on the wagon without needing to call shotgun!
If you want a character to have a little Nightcrawler in them, Misty Step delivers that fantasy. As the younger sibling to Dimension Door, it has a lot to live up to, but thrives in its own way. This is why I always will take Misty Step when I can, and why you should too.
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