Fly 5e D&D Guide

A fly 5e guide usually only talks about one way to fly. Sometimes the spell Fly is used, and other times some races have the ability to fly on their own.

We’ll talk about everything in this Fly 5e Guide.

I first flew in the Dungeons and Dragons world when I was an Aasimar, who could fly by nature. Since then, I’ve used the Fly spell as a Sorcerer to fly, which is funny because Sorcerers are born with magic in them.

Fly 5e – At a Glance

The Player’s Handbook says this about the spell: “You touch a willing creature. For as long as the spell lasts, the target can fly 60 feet faster.

If the target is still in the air when the spell ends, it will fall unless it can stop falling.

If you use a spell slot of 4th level or higher to cast this spell, you can target one more creature for every slot level above 3rd.

Fly 5e Spell

• Origin – Player’s Handbook
• Level – 3rd-level Transmutation
• Casting Time – 1 action
• Range – Touch
• Components – V, S, M (a feather from any bird must be from the wing)
• Duration – Concentration, up to 10 minutes
• Class – Artificer, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard

When you cast Fly, you touch a creature that wants to fly, and for as long as the spell is active, it can fly at a speed of 60ft. If the spell ends while the target is still flying, it will land.

If you use a spell slot of 4th level or higher to cast the spell, you can choose an extra creature to target for every level above 3rd level. So if it’s level 5, you can choose three creatures to attack, and so on.

Other Flying Spells

In Dungeons & Dragons, there are many ways to fly. Some of them aren’t worth the time they take, and I think others are completely underrated.

Gaseous Form

• Origin – Basic Rules
• Level – 3rd-level Transmutation
• Casting Time – 1 action
• Range – Touch
• Components – V, S, M (gauze and smoke)
• Duration – 1 hour
• Class – Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard

Gaseous Form is a spell that lets you turn a creature into a misty cloud by touching it. When in this form, the speed of flight is 10ft. The target also gets buffs and can go through cracks.

Mage Hand

• Origin – Player’s Handbook
• Level – Conjuration Cantrip
• Casting Time – 1 action
• Range – 30 feet
• Components – V, S
• Duration – 1 minute
• Class – Bard, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard

This spell has been around for a long time, so most spellcasters have already used it. But not everyone thinks about how to use it to fly. Ten pounds is the most that a hand can hold, but there are ways to make yourself that small.

Bigby’s Hand

• Origin – Player’s Handbook
• Level – 5th-level Evocation
• Casting Time – 1 action
• Range – 120 feet
• Components – V, S, M (eggshell and snakeskin glove)
• Duration – Concentration, up to 1 minute
• Class – Sorcerer, Artificer, Wizard

Bigby’s Hand is a complicated spell that makes a giant hand that can do everything your hand can do, only bigger. Since it can move a creature, it only makes sense that it can also carry a creature.

Giant Insect

• Origin – Basic Rules
• Level – 4th-level Transmutation
• Casting Time – 1 action
• Range – 30 feet
• Components – V, S
• Duration – Concentration, up to 10 minutes
• Class – Druid

Wild Shape lets a Druid fly, but Giant Insect is another spell they can use. You can change bugs into big versions of themselves. If you do wasps, they could carry you and other people in your party.

Summon Celestial

• Origin – Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything
• Level – 5th-level Conjuration
• Casting Time – 1 action
• Range – 90 feet
• Components – V, S, M (golden reliquary worth at least 500gp)
• Duration – Concentration, up to 1 hour
• Class – Cleric, Paladin

With this spell, a Celestial Spirit can be called by a Pure class. This spirit is most likely an angel and can fly. You have to ask the DM if the celestial can carry you and fly with you.

Polymorph

• Origin – Player’s Handbook
• Level – 4th-level Transmutation
• Casting Time – 1 action
• Range – 60 feet
• Components – V, S, M (caterpillar cocoon)
• Duration – Concentration, up to 1 hour
• Class – Bard, Druid, Sorcerer, Wizard

If you change the target into a creature that can fly, that player can fly. This spell is pretty easy to understand, and the DM will know it well, so there shouldn’t be any trouble.

Telekinesis

• Origin – Player’s Handbook
• Level – 5th-level Transmutation
• Casting Time – 1 action
• Range – 60 feet
• Components – V, S
• Duration – Concentration, up to 10 minutes
• Class – Sorcerer, Wizard

With telekinesis, you can move things with your mind. You can move any creature because you can lift things that weigh up to 1000 pounds or are as big as a Huge creature. In a way, the thing is flying.

Wind Walk

• Origin – Basic Rules
• Level – 6th-level Transmutation
• Casting Time – 1 minute
• Range – 30 feet
• Components – V, S, M (fire and holy water)
• Duration – 8 hours
• Class – Druid

This spell can be used on yourself and up to ten other creatures. Use it to turn all of your targets into gaseous forms that can fly 300 feet per second. While in this form, the creatures can only move or change back.

Tasha’s Otherworldy Guise

• Origin – Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything
• Level – 6th-level Transmutation
• Casting Time – 1 bonus action
• Range – Self
• Components – V, S, M (something engraved with an Outer Planes symbol, worth at least 500 gp)
• Duration – Concentration, up to 1 minute
• Class – Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard

This unique spell can change the person who uses it. It can protect you from damage and give you special attacks, and it can also give you spectral wings. When the mage is in this form, he or she can fly at a speed of 40 feet.

Investiture of Wind

• Origin – Elemental Evil Player’s Companion
• Level – 6th-level Transmutation
• Casting Time – 1 action
• Range – Self
• Components – V, S
• Duration – Concentration, up to 10 minutes
• Class – Druid, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard

One of the things this spell does is give you the ability to fly at a speed of 60 feet per second. Other skills include a better ability to avoid ranged attacks and an attack that looks like a tornado.

Magic Items that Give Fly

Standard classes and races that don’t know how to cast spells can only fly with the help of magic items. The DM can make a lot of different things, but these are the most common ways to fly.

Winged Boots

Winged Boots are just simple shoes that let you fly as fast as you can walk. They go on for four hours straight, either all at once or in parts. Every 12 hours that the boots are not being used, they get back 2 hours of flight time.

Broom of Flying

The Broom of Flying can be ridden or used like a broom. It works the same way as any other flying broom in a story. The broom can fly 50 feet per second and can carry up to 400 pounds.

Boots of Levitation

With the Boots of Levitation, you can use the Levitate spell on yourself whenever you want. You can float for up to ten minutes with the Levitate spell, which is pretty much the same as flying.

Cloak of the Bat

I really like this cloak because it helps me do better on Stealth checks. But when the user grips the edges of the cloak, they can fly at a speed of 40 feet and change into a bat. This is my dream magic item, no lie.

Figurine of Wondrous Power

The Figurine can turn into a real version of itself. All of the animals that can fly are strong enough to carry you. The DM can change how these figures look, but the rulebook gives four options for how they can fly.

Wings of Flying

Yes, this is yet another flying cloak. You only need to say a Command word to grow bat or bird wings for an hour. You can fly at a speed of 60 feet with this item, and you can use it again in 1d12 hours.

Potion of Gaseous Form

If you drink this potion, you can turn into a gas for an hour without using any Concentration. With a bonus action on your turn, you can end the effect.

Carpet of Flying

You can use an action with the Command word to make this magic carpet fly. It comes in four sizes, and each size can carry a different amount of weight and move at a different speed. The carpet moves slower and is stronger the bigger it is.

Wand of Polymorph

The Polymorph spell is stored in the Wand of Polymorph, and you can use it with an action. At least some of the charges will be brought back at dawn. Roll a d20 if you use the last charge. If you get a 1, the wand is broken.

Potion of Flying

The Potion of Flying is the most straightforward magic item that lets you fly. This potion lets you fly at the same speed as you walk for an hour. That’s the end of it.

Races/Classes That Can Fly in 5e

There are other ways to fly besides magic. After all, some races have wings and some classes can grow wings naturally.

Aracokra

In D&D, the Aracokra are a race that looks like birds. They can fly 50 feet per second, which is twice as fast as they can walk. Only light armour lets them fly. The Aracokra doesn’t have many limits when it comes to how it flies.

Winged Tiefling

The only difference between the Winged Tiefling and a normal Tiefling is that the Winged Tiefling has wings. The Winged Tiefling has bat-like wings that let them fly at 30 feet per second as long as they don’t have on a lot of armour.

Protector Aasimar

I love the Aasimar, and my favourite type is the Protector Aasimar. This subrace has the ability to grow wings from its back, but they only stay there for a minute. You can also do more radiant damage when you have this subrace.

Air Genasi

The Genasi are elemental people from a different plane. The Air Genasi is a subrace that gives the levitate spell without any materials. It can be used once every long rest when you use Constitution.

Fairy

In The Wild Beyond the Witchlight, the Fairy is a race. The fey race can fly at the same speed as they can walk. If they aren’t wearing light armour, they can’t use the flying speed.

Owlin

This race from Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos can fly at the same speed as it walks. Like the Fairy, it can’t fly when it’s wearing medium or heavy armour, even though the Owlin is bigger.

Simic Hybrid

A Simic Hybrid is a race from Ravnica that has many different traits. One of these traits is being able to change into other animals, at least in part. You can glide like a manta ray, which isn’t quite the same as flying, but it’s close.

Druid Wild Shape

Druid The Druid’s main skill is Wild Shape. They can change into a bat, eagle, hawk, owl, raven, or vulture, among other things. All of these things are able to fly. There are times when stronger flyers are available.

Rules of Flying in 5e

The rules for flying are pretty easy to understand. Combat works the same way it does when you’re on foot. But there are a few rules that can help you understand how flying works in and out of battle.

Range

When you’re in 5e range, it’s the same as being on the ground. The difference is that some of it is in 3D. The vertical range is also taken into account, not just the horizontal range.

Movement

The way you move is also the same when you walk or fly. Use your flying speed instead of your walking speed, and be sure to take into account how far you flew up and down.

DM Rulings

Even the Basic Rules of D&D can be overruled by what the DM says. That’s just how things are. But the Basic Rules are where the rest of the rules come from. If something isn’t said, the DM gets to decide.

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