Misty Step is a 2nd-level conjuration spell for Sorcerers, Warlocks, and Wizards. As a bonus action, you teleport up to 30 feet to an unoccupied space you can see. It has only a verbal component, needs no concentration, and does not provoke opportunity attacks. It is the standard way for a caster to get out of melee or out of a grapple without spending an action.
Misty Step moves you 30 feet, instantly, for a bonus action, and you still have your action afterward. Three details make it better than walking. Teleporting never provokes opportunity attacks. It ignores your speed, so it works while you are grappled, restrained, or prone. And it only needs you to speak, so your hands can be full or tied.
The limits: you can only go to a space you can see, you can't bring anyone with you, and as a bonus-action spell it restricts what else you can cast that turn.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Level | 2 |
| School | Conjuration |
| Casting Time | 1 bonus action |
| Range | Self |
| Components | V |
| Material | None |
| Duration | Instantaneous |
| Concentration | No |
| Ritual | No |
| Save/Attack | None |
| Classes | Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard |
In the 2014 SRD, Circle of the Land druids who choose coast also get Misty Step as a circle spell at druid level 3.
| Metric | Assessment |
|---|---|
| Slot Efficiency | High when it saves your action or breaks a grapple. Low if you could have walked. |
| Action Economy | Bonus action. Your action is still free for a cantrip, Dodge, Dash, or an item. |
| Opportunity Cost | A 2nd-level slot that could have been Invisibility, Web, or Mirror Image. |
When worth the slot: You are grappled, surrounded, or need to reach a ledge you can't climb to this turn. When not: You could Disengage and walk the same distance and don't need your action.
No higher-level effect in either edition.
Why it works: Misty Step is your emergency exit. If the boss can grab you, don't spend your bonus action on something minor first.
This avoids the mistake of: Getting grappled with no way out except an ability check.
Why it works: Escaping a grapple normally costs your action and a Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check. Misty Step is a bonus action with no roll. In 2014, a grapple ends when an effect removes you from the grappler's reach. In 2024, it ends when the distance between you exceeds the grapple's range. Against a normal 5- or 10-foot grab, 30 feet is always enough; against a long-reach grab, check the numbers first (see the roper example below).
This avoids the mistake of: Burning your action on a 35% check, then getting crushed anyway.
Why it works: The 30 feet can go up or across: a ledge, a balcony, the far side of a chasm. A melee monster that has to climb or path around loses turns catching up.
This avoids the mistake of: Teleporting 30 feet across open floor to a spot the enemy can just walk to.
Why it works: From the new space you can see new targets, and you are already out of the Spike Growth or Web area (a teleport ignores difficult terrain). Then pick your action.
This avoids the mistake of: Casting a cantrip from a bad position and then teleporting away when it's too late to aim it.
Why it's bad: In 2014, after a bonus-action spell the only other spell you can cast that turn is a cantrip with a casting time of 1 action. In 2024, you can expend only one spell slot per turn.
Do this instead: Pair it with a cantrip like Fire Bolt, or with Dash or Dodge.
Why it's bad: Players skip it when grappled or restrained because their speed is 0. Teleportation isn't movement, and the only component is verbal.
Do this instead: Cast it.
Why it's bad: Darkness, fog, and closed doors block your choices.
Do this instead: Check what you can actually see before the fight goes badly. Darkvision covers nonmagical darkness within its range; it can't see through the Darkness spell.
Why it's bad: The spell teleports you, and only you. The 2024 rules glossary says this outright: a creature you are touching doesn't teleport with you unless the effect says so.
Do this instead: Use Dimension Door at 4th level if you need to bring someone.
These apply when the party faces a caster with Misty Step. The 2014 mage has it prepared, and the 2024 mage can cast it as a bonus action.
The spell text is unchanged in substance: level 2 conjuration for Sorcerers, Warlocks, and Wizards, bonus action, verbal only, teleport up to 30 feet to an unoccupied space you can see.
The rules around it changed in three ways. First, the 2014 bonus-action spell rule is gone. The 2024 rule is that you can expend only one spell slot per turn. Misty Step plus a cantrip still works. Misty Step plus another spell that uses a slot doesn't. A spell cast without a slot, such as a species spell's free use, is allowed. Second, the grapple rules now end a grapple when the distance between you and the grappler exceeds the grapple's range. Teleporting barely inside that range doesn't free you. Third, the rules glossary now defines teleportation: it never provokes opportunity attacks, your equipment comes with you, a creature you touch doesn't, and if the destination is occupied you appear in the nearest unoccupied space of your choice.
Access changed. In the 2024 SRD, Circle of the Land druids get it from the temperate land list (the 2014 SRD put it on the coast list), and high elves learn it at character level 5, always have it prepared, and can cast it once per long rest without a slot.
No. Teleportation never provokes opportunity attacks in either the 2014 or 2024 rules.
Yes. A grapple sets your speed to 0, but teleportation doesn't use your speed. In 2014 the grapple ends if the teleport takes you out of the grappler's reach. In 2024 it ends if the distance to the grappler exceeds the grapple's range. Ordinary grabs can't follow a 30-foot jump; long-reach grabs like a roper's may still hold you.
Only a cantrip in most cases. In 2014, after a bonus-action spell, your action can cast only a cantrip with a 1-action casting time. In 2024 you can spend only one spell slot per turn, so the second spell must be a cantrip or a spell cast without a slot.
No. The spell teleports only you. The 2024 rules glossary states that a creature you are touching doesn't come along unless the teleport effect says it does. Dimension Door is the low-level option for bringing one passenger.
You need to see the destination space. A solid wall blocks your view, so you can't pick a space behind it. A window or bars let you see through, and the spell text doesn't add a clear-path requirement, so allowing it is a DM ruling, not rules text.
Restrained, yes: no somatic or material component, and it doesn't use your speed. Silenced, no: you can't provide the verbal component inside a Silence area or while gagged.
Yes. It is a bonus-action escape with no roll, works through grapples, and leaves your action free. The cost is the bonus action and the limit on casting other leveled spells that turn.
The spell text is essentially the same. What changed is the surrounding rules: the one-spell-slot-per-turn rule replaces the 2014 bonus-action spell rule, grapples end when the distance exceeds the grapple's range, and high elves gain it as a species spell.
Citations: SRD 5.1 (2014 rules), SRD 5.2.1 (2024 rules)
Includes material from the System Reference Document 5.1 and 5.2.1 by Wizards of the Coast LLC, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
This page includes material from the System Reference Document 5.1 and 5.2.1 by Wizards of the Coast LLC, available under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Loreify is not affiliated with Wizards of the Coast.
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