Invisible 5e condition
How the invisible condition works in the 2014 rules (SRD 5.1) and the 2024 rules (SRD 5.2), what changed, and which spells and monsters cause it.
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Invisible in the 2014 rules (SRD 5.1)
- An invisible creature is impossible to see without the aid of magic or a special sense. For the purpose of hiding, the creature is heavily obscured. The creature's location can be detected by any noise it makes or any tracks it leaves.
- Attack rolls against the creature have disadvantage, and the creature's attack rolls have advantage.
Invisible in the 2024 rules (SRD 5.2)
While you have the Invisible condition, you experience the following effects.
Surprise. If you're Invisible when you roll Initiative, you have Advantage on the roll.
Concealed. You aren't affected by any effect that requires its target to be seen unless the effect's creator can somehow see you. Any equipment you are wearing or carrying is also concealed.
Attacks Affected. Attack rolls against you have Disadvantage, and your attack rolls have Advantage. If a creature can somehow see you, you don't gain this benefit against that creature.
What changed in 2024
- 2024 adds Advantage on Initiative and a Concealed effect: you aren’t affected by anything that requires its target to be seen unless its creator can see you, and your gear is concealed too.
- The attack benefits don’t apply against a creature that can somehow see you.
- The 2014 lines about counting as heavily obscured for hiding and giving away your location by noise or tracks aren’t in the 2024 condition text.
How Invisible works
An invisible creature can’t be seen without magic or a special sense. Attack rolls against it have disadvantage, and its own attack rolls have advantage. For hiding, it counts as heavily obscured, so it can always try to Hide, even in the open.
Invisible doesn’t mean undetectable. Enemies can still hear you, see your footprints and notice the door you opened, and unless you’ve taken the Hide action they usually know which space you’re in. They attack with disadvantage, but they don’t have to guess.
Turning invisible, and seeing the invisible
- Become invisible with Invisibility, which ends when you attack or cast a spell, or Greater Invisibility, which doesn’t. A Potion of Invisibility lasts an hour, and a Ring of Invisibility does it as an action whenever you like.
- Monsters that turn invisible include the imp and the quasit; the invisible stalker always is.
- See it with See Invisibility, True Seeing or blindsight. Against a creature that can see it, an invisible creature gets no advantage and imposes no disadvantage.
- Reveal it with Faerie Fire: an outlined creature can’t benefit from being invisible, and attacks against it have advantage.
What changed in 2024
The 2024 condition keeps the attack effects and adds two. If you’re invisible when you roll initiative, you have advantage on the roll. And you’re Concealed: effects that require their target to be seen don’t affect you unless their creator can somehow see you, and everything you wear or carry is concealed with you. It also says outright that a creature that can see you doesn’t suffer the attack penalties.
The 2024 Invisibility spell ends right after the target makes an attack roll, deals damage or casts a spell. And in 2024 a successful Hide action gives you the Invisible condition until you’re found or give yourself away.
Common questions
Do enemies know where an invisible creature is?
Usually, yes. Invisibility hides you from sight, not sound. Unless you take the Hide action and beat their Wisdom (Perception), they can still tell where you are and attack that space, with disadvantage. If they guess the wrong space, the attack misses.
Can you target an invisible creature with a spell?
Not with spells that need a target you can see, which is most single-target spells, like Hold Person and Magic Missile. An area spell like Fireball still catches it if you aim at the right place.
What happens if two invisible creatures fight?
Each has advantage for being unseen and disadvantage for not seeing its target. The two cancel, and both roll normally.
Does attacking end invisibility?
The condition doesn’t, but most sources do: Invisibility, the Potion of Invisibility and the Ring of Invisibility end when you attack or cast a spell. Greater Invisibility lasts through both.
Does being invisible give advantage on Stealth checks?
Not by the rules. It lets you try to hide anywhere, because you count as heavily obscured, but the Stealth check itself is rolled normally unless your DM decides otherwise.
How do you fight an invisible enemy?
Cast Faerie Fire or See Invisibility, use area spells, or ready an attack for when it gives its position away. Blindsight and truesight ignore invisibility entirely.
Invisible compared with similar conditions
| Condition | How it compares |
|---|---|
| Blinded | The same rule from the other side: a blinded creature can’t see anyone, so it attacks with disadvantage and is attacked with advantage. |
| Invisibility | 2nd level: invisible for up to an hour with concentration, until you attack or cast a spell. |
| Greater Invisibility | 4th level: a minute of invisibility that survives attacking and spellcasting. The combat version. |
| See Invisibility | 2nd level: see invisible creatures for an hour, which takes away all their advantages against you. |
| Faerie Fire | 1st level: outlines objects, and creatures that fail a Dexterity save, in a 20-foot cube; outlined creatures can’t benefit from being invisible. |
Spells and the invisible condition
From the SRD 5.1 spells: 4 spells can leave a creature invisible, and 1 spell can end or prevent it.
Spells that cause it
- Invisibility 2nd level
- Greater Invisibility 4th level
- Mislead 5th level
- Sequester 7th level
Spells that end or prevent it
- Faerie Fire 1st level
Monsters and the invisible condition
Monsters whose attacks or traits cause it (6)
No SRD monster is immune to it.