Here's what I did.
Removed concentration.
Made the duration 8 hours.
It can be grabbed and wielded as a melee weapon by the caster at will, in which case extra attacks can be made with it (valor bard).
When not 'attacking' the sword becomes invisible and incorporeal.
Damage, attack, speed, everything else is the same.
Functionally it's like having an extra cantrip attack each round. The super long duration and the fact that it can't be 'damaged' like Bigby's Hand makes it a worthwhile investment of a 7th level spell slot.
I made this ruling because of Mindblank. A player sacrifices their precious 8th level spell slot to gain the long-term benefits of Mindblank during the adventure. A floating 'attack dog' force sword that increases your passive damage output every round feels like a worthy investment of its own.
Removed concentration.
Made the duration 8 hours.
It can be grabbed and wielded as a melee weapon by the caster at will, in which case extra attacks can be made with it (valor bard).
When not 'attacking' the sword becomes invisible and incorporeal.
Damage, attack, speed, everything else is the same.
Functionally it's like having an extra cantrip attack each round. The super long duration and the fact that it can't be 'damaged' like Bigby's Hand makes it a worthwhile investment of a 7th level spell slot.
I made this ruling because of Mindblank. A player sacrifices their precious 8th level spell slot to gain the long-term benefits of Mindblank during the adventure. A floating 'attack dog' force sword that increases your passive damage output every round feels like a worthy investment of its own.