D&D 5E Have you seen Nathair's mischief in play? How good was it?

[ECMO3]

Initially I did not think much of this spell as it is unpredictable and when I am using a spell slot and my concentration I want to know the effect I am shooting for. Also the effects are not as good as other spells of this level, in particular hold person and arguably web.

However as I look at it more, it has a couple things really going for it:
1. It is an AOE spell

2. It keeps on giving and there is no "make your save and the spell ends". So you can blind a few enemies one turn and the enemies that make their save need to save again next turn to avoid incapacitation. They can't actually "break free" of the spell unless they get out of its effect and far enough away I can't move it back over them.

I've never actually seen it in play but it is a perfect spell thematically for my 4th level Fey Wanderer Bard/1st level Rogue. She is a master Fey Trickster type character, Glasya Tiefling raised in the Feywild (Feylost). So thematically this fits perfectly.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

You should go with it, it not like the mission will fail if you choose something slightly less than absolutely optimal.

 

[James Gasik]

I've used it, and the main problem is, you don't control what it does, and you can't move it very far, so keeping enemies from being able to get away from it's effect can be an issue. But an AoE blind or incapacitate is nothing to sneeze at, so it'll likely serve you well until you get better spells, and then become obsolete.

Web will probably remain useful for longer, but it's certainly less flavorful.

 

[J-H]

I saw it used once (someone showed up with a pre-made character including the spell and a few others from books I don't allow). It was very meh. I think the main use was the charm function, which they used via yelling through a door to get the troll to stop blocking them.