Use case for Blade Ward?

Otterscrubber · Jul 19, 2018

I'm trying to figure out when this spell would ever be useful. The only times I can think of are if you are trying to run away from a fight or trying to run into a melee fight against ranged opponents and need to reduce damage taken while you close. But even in those cases most of the time the action would be better spent moving more to either get away or get close.

With a 1 action casting time, it removes my ability to do damage that round, while only reducing the incoming damage (of weapon attacks only) by 50%. This seems like a net win for the other guy(s). 100% reduction in my dps, only 50% reduction to incoming dps, with limitations on that even. With most monster hit points exceeding that of a PC, this makes it even more of a bad idea as dragging out a fight typically works in the monsters favor.

Yet I seem to see threads on here that talk of using blade ward on the regular, and I'm trying to figure out how/why that would ever be a good idea. Educate me please.

Perhaps to help win a slapping contest? Or ferret-legging? Remember ferret-legging?

iserith · Jul 19, 2018

My infernal tome-pact warlock, Bog Rumble, casts this spell every round.

He's got Sentinel and Warcaster feats, the shillelagh cantrip as a result of his pact, and green-flame blade (err, bludgeon, I guess). Before combat he casts armor of Agathys. Then when combat kicks off, he casts shillelagh and blade ward, then moves next to the nastiest creature in his field of view and waits. Hopefully with another melee-based PC along with him.

At this point, the DM has some decisions to make. He or she can attack Bog and take cold damage from armor of Agathys which I will probably soak because I'm talking half damage thanks to blade ward and have a bunch of temp hp. Or the DM can attack my buddy at which point I get to react with an opportunity attack - green-flame blade thanks to Sentinel and Warcaster - which hopefully does damage to the attacker and some other monster nearby. If the DM gets frustrated and has the monster flumph off, well, I got something for that, too - opportunity attack from Sentinel that stops the monster in its tracks.

It is a very fun build to play.

The Crimson Binome · Jul 19, 2018

The basic goal of combat is for your side to defeat all of the enemies, while taking as little damage as possible along the way.

Sometimes, the enemies will try to focus fire on you, particularly if you're a wizard and you're concentrating on a powerful spell effect. In that case, granting yourself resistance will only cut the damage output of your side by about 25% (since your teammates can still attack), but it will reduce the incoming damage to your side by 50%. That's one situation where you might benefit from this spell.

The real question is why you would cast this spell instead of just taking the Dodge action, which would also reduce incoming damage by about 50%. Maybe if your AC was very low, and you didn't have enough spell slots for Shield? A level 7 Eldritch Knight can also cast Blade Ward while making a single attack, which is the closest thing in this edition to fighting defensively.

ad_hoc · Jul 20, 2018

Otterscrubber said:
I'm trying to figure out when this spell would ever be useful. The only times I can think of are if you are trying to run away from a fight or trying to run into a melee fight against ranged opponents and need to reduce damage taken while you close. But even in those cases most of the time the action would be better spent moving more to either get away or get close.

With a 1 action casting time, it removes my ability to do damage that round, while only reducing the incoming damage (of weapon attacks only) by 50%. This seems like a net win for the other guy(s). 100% reduction in my dps, only 50% reduction to incoming dps, with limitations on that even. With most monster hit points exceeding that of a PC, this makes it even more of a bad idea as dragging out a fight typically works in the monsters favor.

Yet I seem to see threads on here that talk of using blade ward on the regular, and I'm trying to figure out how/why that would ever be a good idea. Educate me please.

Perhaps to help win a slapping contest? Or ferret-legging? Remember ferret-legging?

1. It's a team game. It doesn't matter how much damage 1 PC does, it is the total that counts.
2. In many cases it is better than Dodge (which itself is underrated). This is because Dodge has more cases of both avoiding injury but also being pummeled. Blade Ward will more often result in taking a modest amount of damage but not enough to take the character to 0 which is the goal.
2a. There will be cases where the enemy creatures will be focused on the character. They might be mindless, overly savage/bloodthirsty, or not properly recognizing a shift to defense - but in any case the PC is going to be taking attacks, they should defend themselves. Usually it is with Dodge, but Blade Ward is often better.
3. It has synergy with other effects and abilities. For example, if the character is able to set it up such that they will be the one likely attacked (see 2a) then Blade Ward + Armour of Agathys is quite effective.

Unwise · Jul 20, 2018

So far casting Blade Ward is for use when walking down a corridor you are pretty damn sure is trapped, but you can't see it or disarm it. Same with opening chests or doors. So yeah, it sucks. I gave it to my PCs for free (a friendly magic kensai taught them) just to see if it would ever get used. Pretty much traps and falls are it.

dco · Jul 20, 2018

I've used it with a warlock and armor of agathys, it was nice.
It can also be interesting with an eldritch knight, at lvl 7 you can cast it and attack, you also have action surges.
A sorcerer can use metamagic, defend with that spell and attack with a cantrip.

Good against enemies that hit easily, for example using advantage thanks to help, pack tactics, etc.

ad_hoc · Jul 20, 2018

Unwise said:
So far casting Blade Ward is for use when walking down a corridor you are pretty damn sure is trapped, but you can't see it or disarm it. Same with opening chests or doors. So yeah, it sucks. I gave it to my PCs for free (a friendly magic kensai taught them) just to see if it would ever get used. Pretty much traps and falls are it.

The damage must be from weapon attacks. So no use against falls and a lot of the damage from traps. It will halve the 1d4 from a poison needle, but it is the poison that is the danger.

Seramus · Jul 20, 2018

Has some mild use on anyone with Armor of Agathys, Flame Shield, or similar spells. Whenever being hit is actually advantageous.

Unwise · Jul 20, 2018

@AD_hoc is right, I forget what is a houserule sometimes.

I just remembered that I also houseruled that Blade Ward makes it almost impossible to lose concentration. That gave it a use at least. If you have a spell up that you really can't afford to drop, you spend the turn doing Blade Ward. It is mostly of use in situations where PCs are doing an in-combat ritual, that happens a lot more than you would expect in our games. We use 4e style skill challenges in combat, e.g. Get 6 successes on religion/arcana/nature/athletics to close the demonic portal, all while being beaten on by demons.

Xetheral · Jul 20, 2018

iserith said:
My infernal tome-pact warlock, Bog Rumble, casts this spell every round.

He's got Sentinel and Warcaster feats, the shillelagh cantrip as a result of his pact, and green-flame blade (err, bludgeon, I guess). Before combat he casts armor of Agathys. Then when combat kicks off, he casts shillelagh and blade ward, then moves next to the nastiest creature in his field of view and waits. Hopefully with another melee-based PC along with him.

At this point, the DM has some decisions to make. He or she can attack Bog and take cold damage from armor of Agathys which I will probably soak because I'm talking half damage thanks to blade ward and have a bunch of temp hp. Or the DM can attack my buddy at which point I get to react with an opportunity attack - green-flame blade thanks to Sentinel and Warcaster - which hopefully does damage to the attacker and some other monster nearby. If the DM gets frustrated and has the monster flumph off, well, I got something for that, too - opportunity attack from Sentinel that stops the monster in its tracks.

It is a very fun build to play.

I thought that element of Sentinel didn't work with Warcaster? Warcaster requires an opportunity attack, but Sentinel doesn't grant one when an enemy attacks someone other than you. (Sentinel grants an attack and requires a reaction, but the attack isn't an opportunity attack.)