Steel Wind Strike and bonuses to hit or damage

When you cast Steel Wind Strike the material component is a melee weapon worth at least 1sp, which you flourish as you "vanish to strike like the wind". You make a melee spell attack, though, and do 6d10 damage to each target you hit.

It's unclear whether you count as using that weapon to attack. For instance:

1. If you are using a +2 weapon, do you also add its +2 bonus to your attack rolls?

2. Do you also add your ability modifier and/or the weapon's enchantment +2 to the damage?

3. If it's a vicious weapon and you roll a critical hit, do you also add the weapons extra +7? If it's a flaming weapon, do you also add the d6 of fire damage?

4. If you have a spell like Spirit Shroud active, do you add the extra damage to each hit (at least to those targets within 10 ft as you cast SWS)?

5. If you have Greater Invisibility or Shadow of Moil active, do you also make those melee spell attacks with advantage?

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Originally Posted by Hiro Quester

When you cast Steel Wind Strike the material component is a melee weapon worth at least 1sp, which you flourish as you "vanish to strike like the wind". You make a melee spell attack, though, and do 6d10 damage to each target you hit.

It's unclear whether you count as using that weapon to attack. For instance:

1. If you are using a +2 weapon, do you also add its +2 bonus to your attack rolls?

2. Do you also add your ability modifier and/or the weapon's enchantment +2 to the damage?

3. If it's a vicious weapon and you roll a critical hit, do you also add the weapons extra +7? If it's a flaming weapon, do you also add the d6 of fire damage?

4. If you have a spell like Spirit Shroud active, do you add the extra damage to each hit (at least to those targets within 10 ft as you cast SWS)?

5. If you have Greater Invisibility or Shadow of Moil active, do you also make those melee spell attacks with advantage?

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For 1-3 it's a No in my eyes as the weapon itself isn't used to make the attacks.

4) it's an attack so yes

5) it's an attack so yes.

It probably should be more tied to the weapon used but it also shouldn't be a spell either so it's a wash.

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Originally Posted by Hiro Quester

When you cast Steel Wind Strike the material component is a melee weapon worth at least 1sp, which you flourish as you "vanish to strike like the wind". You make a melee spell attack, though, and do 6d10 damage to each target you hit.

It's unclear whether you count as using that weapon to attack. For instance:

1. If you are using a +2 weapon, do you also add its +2 bonus to your attack rolls?

2. Do you also add your ability modifier and/or the weapon's enchantment +2 to the damage?

3. If it's a vicious weapon and you roll a critical hit, do you also add the weapons extra +7? If it's a flaming weapon, do you also add the d6 of fire damage?

4. If you have a spell like Spirit Shroud active, do you add the extra damage to each hit (at least to those targets within 10 ft as you cast SWS)?

5. If you have Greater Invisibility or Shadow of Moil active, do you also make those melee spell attacks with advantage?

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1) No, because it's a spell attack, not a weapon attack. It would benefit from any bonuses to your spell attack though, such as if you had an Arcane Grimoire or a Staff of Power.
2) Also no, because it's a spell attack, not a weapon attack.
3) Irrelevant, the weapon doesn't actually matter outside of being a material component. So no.
4) You would, but only to anyone within 10ft of you when you cast SWS.
5) Yes, absent any other things like blindsight or whatnot.

Your DM may look to make adjustments to the above of course - for instance I'd let Spirit Shroud apply to all the SWS attacks, rather than just the ones who were within 10ft of you when you cast it.

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Steel Wind Strike | 5th-level conjuration
Casting Time: 1 action | Range: 30 feet
Components: S, M (a melee weapon worth at least 1 sp)
Duration: Instantaneous

You flourish the weapon used in the casting and then vanish to strike like the wind.
Choose up to five creatures you can see within range.
Make a melee spell attack against each target.
On a hit, a target takes 6d10 force damage.

You can then teleport to an unoccupied space you can see within 5 feet of one of the targets you hit or missed.

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The text of the spell under discussion.

For Amnestic: neat idea, as regards spirit shroud. Will discuss with our DM.

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I'd let Spirit Shroud apply to all the SWS attacks, rather than just the ones who were within 10ft of you when you cast it.

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It would be nice to have a variant of SWS that used weapon attacks (probably just melee, but maybe both) instead of spell attacks, which would make the spell a lot more useful for Rangers.

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Originally Posted by BaronCorvo

It would be nice to have a variant of SWS that used weapon attacks (probably just melee, but maybe both) instead of spell attacks, which would make the spell a lot more useful for Rangers.

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It should only be a ranger spell, and IMO it ought to be an Eldritch Knight spell (but at 4th level for the EK...or scale down the damage slightly and make it a level 4 spell for EK and Ranger only).

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Originally Posted by KorvinStarmast

It should only be a ranger spell, and IMO it ought to be an Eldritch Knight spell (but at 4th level for the EK...or scale down the damage slightly and make it a level 4 spell for EK and Ranger only).

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As long as Bards get magical secrets there's no such thing as an "X only spell"

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Originally Posted by KorvinStarmast

It should only be a ranger spell, and IMO it ought to be an Eldritch Knight spell (but at 4th level for the EK...or scale down the damage slightly and make it a level 4 spell for EK and Ranger only).

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I would go the other way personally giving EK and AT access to 5 or 6th level spells.

1/3 caster just sorta feels bad,

That an it would give more clearance to downshift bard, that way magical secrets looting wouldn't be as much of a problem.

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Originally Posted by Rukelnikov

As long as Bards get magical secrets there's no such thing as an "X only spell"

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No. My issue is that wizards, all wizards, get it. I consider that a major foul.

Bards can get anyone's spells with magical secrets so that is a non argument. (And FWIW, for a swords or valor bard to have this spell kinda makes sense)

Bladesingers deserve it.
Other Wizards? ...eh...

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Originally Posted by Schwann145

Bladesingers deserve it.
Other Wizards? ...eh...

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Then they have to give up extra attack. (Or maybe it becomes a 1 per long rest class feature).

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Originally Posted by KorvinStarmast

Then they have to give up extra attack. (Or maybe it becomes a 1 per long rest class feature).

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Every other gish who gets it has extra attack. :smallconfused:

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Originally Posted by Schwann145

Every other gish who gets it has extra attack. :smallconfused:

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Eh, they do technically have the best Extra Attack since they can make an attack and cast a cantrip. But yeah, every gish does have extra attack

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Originally Posted by Rukelnikov

As long as Bards get magical secrets there's no such thing as an "X only spell"

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That's precisely why I'm asking the question, is to figure out whether it might be worth knowing (along with spirit guardians) as a magical secret for my Swords Bard/Bladelock.

I'm seriously invested in extra sources of damage ( eldritch smite, Armor of Agathys, Greater Invisibility + Elven Acuracy) So trying to figure whether using my action for SWS is efficient, compared to making two regular attacks, with other sources of damage piled on.

Pesky limitations on eldritch smite being usable only when you hit with your pact weapon, for example, make SWS seem limited. Trying to see how to get extra damage on top.

And I just finished playing Assassin's Creed, so imagining fluffing Steel Wind Strike as me zapping around the battlefield, making a big attack against many targets before ending up next to one.

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Originally Posted by Hiro Quester

That's precisely why I'm asking the question, is to figure out whether it might be worth knowing (along with spirit guardians) as a magical secret for my Swords Bard/Bladelock.

I'm seriously invested in extra sources of damage ( eldritch smite, Armor of Agathys, Greater Invisibility + Elven Acuracy) So trying to figure whether using my action for SWS is efficient, compared to making two regular attacks, with other sources of damage piled on.

Pesky limitations on eldritch smite being usable only when you hit with your pact weapon, for example, make SWS seem limited. Trying to see how to get extra damage on top.

And I just finished playing Assassin's Creed, so imagining fluffing Steel Wind Strike as me zapping around the battlefield, making a big attack against many targets before ending up next to one.

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I think it's a pretty cool spell, but RAW I don't think you get to smite with it, I would probably allow it for the simple reason that I'd rather have a player using SWS instead of defaulting to Synaptic Static.

If you want to up the damage of SWS I think Spirit Shroud works, I'm on the phone but I think the wording of SWS implied you are teleporting to each enemy you hit, thus at the moment of hitting them you are within 10 feet.

If you like the imagery and your only concern is it's power level, I'd say it's almost never a good option against a single enemy, rarely against 2 or 3, but anything above that it's pretty good. If you expect to be fighting at least 3 enemies regularly, go for it.

Yeah, I think that quickly bamfing around the battlefield to each target is meant to be the fluff for how it works, and the one you end up next to is just the last one.

And bladesingers don't deserve to get it, because bladesingers don't deserve to exist at all. There's no reason for a full wizard, the casteriest of the full casters, to also get the signature ability of martial characters.