The companion piece. If you want the rules walk-through, the coward wizard who invented this spell in 1996, and the 2014 versus 2024 breakdown, that’s all in the Expeditious Retreat explainer post. Go read that first, then come back, because this time the only question is how much mileage, in feet, you can squeeze out of one 1st level slot.
Expeditious Retreat is a spell the internet cannot agree on. Half of Reddit calls it a meh concentration tax and the other half calls it the best thing a level 1 warlock can do with a slot. So I went through the threads, the speed math arguments, the rules fights, and the memes, and sorted the pile into four buckets. Real uses that work as written. Cheeses that are clever and legal. Questionable stuff that depends on your table or your build. And the deviant stuff, which for this spell mostly means running away from your friends.
Everything here is pulled from real threads and I’m citing them as we go so you can check my work. Where a trick comes straight from the rules instead of a thread, I’ll say so. Fight me in the comments, but bring receipts.
REAL USES (rules-solid)
1. The first Dash is part of the cast, so the spell works the turn you throw it. People read “when you cast this spell” and wonder if they need to wait a round. No. “When you cast the spell, you can take the Dash action as part of the bonus action used for the casting. Every additional turn for the duration you can Dash as a bonus action.” So turn one is cantrip, cast, run 60. (u/iamthegraham, r/dndnext)
2. The real numbers are 60 with your action free, or 90 if you sprint, and it does not double anything. Someone asks if the spell triples or quadruples their speed, and the answer is always the same. “Dashing lets you move up to your speed. it does not double your speed.” Base 30, Dash for 30 more, bonus action Dash for 30 more, and in his words, “Total movement for that turn is 90.” Another thread did the same sum: “it turns your top speed from 60 ft/round to 90 ft/round, or an effective 1.5x increase to your top speed.” So speed 30 gives you 60 feet and a free action, or 90 feet and nothing else. Write it on your sheet. (u/Viruzzz, r/dndnext ; u/Tigeri102, r/dndnext, r/dndnext)
3. Disengage plus bonus action Dash is a 60-foot exit with zero opportunity attacks. This is the spell’s name, done properly. Bonus action Dash, action Disengage, walk 60 feet out of a melee and nobody swings. The r/3d6 crowd, which is not generous to this spell, still lands here: “It’s definitely not terrible, if you can spare some room on your spells, it does offer a pretty decent safety net for when you need to run from, or after, something. I’ve used it more than I would’ve expected.” Same thread, a player’s warlock “used it really well for avoiding stronger foes, he could disengage and run away from a Strong enemy that could teleport.” (u/Arthur_of_Astora and u/Julio_GS2, r/3d6)
4. The kiting warlock. Eldritch Blast, Repelling Blast, and this spell, which is the build the spell exists for. You push the melee guy back 10 feet per beam, then bonus action Dash 60 the other way. One poster put it flat: “It’s not terrible on Warlocks since you can use it with Repelling Blast and Lance of Lethargy to kite enemies.” In the meme thread a player went further, “Expeditious Retreat is underrated as fuck. Free dash as a bonus action and a first level slot? Sign me up. Absolute best way to play a spell sniper type character.” Run the numbers: you and the ogre start 30 apart, you move 60 and push him 10, he’s 70 away, he Dashes 60 and stops 10 feet short. Repeat until he’s dead. (u/DBWaffles, r/3d6 ; u/ObiJuanKenobi3, r/dndmemes, r/dndmemes)
5. Cast it before the fight, because ten minutes is forever. Hear the fight through the door, cast it, and walk in with the Dash already loaded so round one is all offense. The Eberron crowd lives like this. One wizard with a Mark of Passage spotted a banker packing the party’s lockbox onto a cart and went: “I cast expeditious retreat, which essentially gives me 70 feet of movement, and sleep on the horses.” The same thread has the cautionary half. A level 3 House Orien wizard “would get very excited as she was able to sprint and easily catch whoever was being chased. Until she realised that she was a level 3 wizard…. Who was 20-50 ft ahead of the party alone with whoever the party was chasing….” (u/madmarmalade and u/M00no4, r/Eberron)
CHEESES (clever, and legal)
6. The grapple tow truck. Dragging a grappled creature halves your speed, and the Dash action says the extra movement equals your speed after modifiers. So a 30-speed grappler towing a cultist moves 15, bonus action Dash adds 15, action Dash adds another 15, and the cultist is now 45 feet closer to the cliff than he was a turn ago. Nobody on Reddit wrote this one up in a thread I could find, so this is straight from the rules. (Rules as written: Dash, grappling.)
7. Mobile in 2014, Speedy in 2024, and suddenly difficult terrain stops existing. Both feats say that when you take the Dash action, difficult terrain doesn’t cost you extra movement on that turn. Expeditious Retreat means you’re taking the Dash action every single turn. Rubble, undergrowth, Plant Growth, all of it at full speed, plus the feat’s 10 feet on top of your base, so each Dash is worth 40. (Rules as written, Mobile and Speedy feat text.)
8. 2024 Charger is a Dash feat now, and this spell is a Dash factory. The 2024 Charger’s Improved Dash reads “When you take the Dash action, your Speed increases by 10 feet for that action.” So speed 30, bonus action Dash is worth 40, action Dash is worth 40, and you’re at 110 feet for the turn. In 2014 the combo flatly didn’t work, and a thread caught it the moment an Eldritch Knight asked. “The attack from Charger costs a bonus action. You do not have a bonus action to spend because you just used it to dash,” plus the 2014 text says “When you use your action to Dash.” The 2024 feat dropped that clause, and now it stacks. (u/noknam and u/Ironforged, r/DnD ; 2024 Charger text in the Player’s Handbook.)
9. Fly speed Dash, now in writing. The 2024 Dash action says if you have a special speed, a fly speed or a swim speed, you can use that speed when you Dash. So a 2024 sorcerer with Fly up and Expeditious Retreat up is flying 60 and bonus action Dashing another 60 every turn, 120 feet of flight with their action free. In 2014 that was the common ruling rather than printed text. (Rules as written, 2024 Dash action.)
10. Feline Agility, Haste, and three Dashes a turn. Dash adds your speed, so anything that doubles your speed doubles every Dash. A Tabaxi pops Feline Agility to go from 30 to 60, then bonus action Dash 60, then action Dash 60, and that’s 180 feet in a turn. A commenter flagged exactly this: “there are several effects (Feline Agility, Haste, etc) that actually double your speed, which also applies with any Dash actions you can take.” Haste also hands you an extra action that can Dash, so “With the Haste spell I think you could squeeze out 3 dashes per round. Action Dash, Bonus Action Dash, then Hasted Action Dash.” Haste is a 3rd level concentration spell of its own, so somebody else has to hold it for you. (u/Frozen-Chaos, r/dndnext ; u/Zarek145, r/dndnext, r/dndnext)
11. The chase scene special. The Dungeon Master’s Guide chase rules let you Dash freely 3 plus your Constitution modifier times before every extra Dash costs a DC 10 Constitution check against exhaustion. Expeditious Retreat lets you bank two Dashes a round, double the distance, and burn through your free Dashes twice as fast. As one poster put it, “Having expeditious retreat lets you make more of those Dash actions multiple times a round of a chase scene, though getting you closer to making those con checks sooner.” Good for a short chase, less so in a marathon. (u/FluffyEggs89, r/dndnext ; u/Aarakocra, r/dndnext, r/dndnext)
QUESTIONABLE (check your build and your table)
12. Is it worth concentration at all, or is Longstrider just better? Longstrider is the same level, no concentration, a full hour, and it goes on anyone. Expeditious Retreat gives way more movement but eats your one concentration slot for the whole fight. The r/3d6 verdict is blunt: “Concentration is the big ouch on it for later. Breaking your concentration to cast this spell is usually a no go.” And when a rogue asked about stacking it with Cunning Action, the reply was “Expeditious retreat cast on a rogue is a waste. A better move is Longstrider same level to cast and its just a flat increase to your speed.” My read: if your build has a concentration spell it loves, take Longstrider. If your build is “never get hit,” take this. (u/mrdeadsniper, r/3d6 ; r/dndnext, r/dndnext)
13. On a warlock it has a shelf life, and the shelf is level 3. Warlock slots are always your highest level and this spell never scales, so the moment you hit 2nd level slots you’re overpaying. “For a warlock I would pretty rarely want to use it since you have to upcast it. So if you’re level 1-2 and a melee character maybe. But after that I’d get rid of it since it’s not worth a 2nd level spell slot let alone anything higher.” Take it at 1, love it at 2, swap it at 3 or 4. The warlock spell-swap rule exists for exactly this. (u/Raddatatta, r/3d6)
14. Rogues and monks, you already own this. One bonus action per turn, and you’re already spending it on Cunning Action or Step of the Wind. “At best you can use 2 dash actions in a round. One with your action and the second with your bonus action.” The funniest version came from a player building the ultimate speed monster, “Stack a 20 level monk with the mobile feat, boots of speed, expeditious retreat, haste and a tabaxi’s feline agility and watch the world burn Edit: I just realized that a monk wouldn’t need expeditious retreat. D’oh!” (u/FlyingSpacefrog, r/dndnext ; u/smitchell8910, r/dndnext, r/dndnext)
15. Expeditious Retreat versus Misty Step is an escape versus a reposition. Misty Step is cleaner, it’s a bonus action, no concentration, ignores walls and grapples. But it’s 30 feet, once, and then the slot is gone. A Great Old One warlock weighing the two wrote it well: “I agree that misty step is the coolest option, but it’s only 30′. It seems better suited to tactical use / positioning, not escape… Ex. Retreat seems like it can actually get your ass out of danger…” The other camp says “Misty Step alone is sufficient, simply for escaping grabs and crossing gaps.” Both true. Misty Step breaks a grapple; this spell breaks a pursuit. (u/Ben_SRQ, r/dndnext ; u/Shacky_Rustleford, r/3d6, r/3d6)
16. The bonus action spell rule bites this spell a lot. In 2014, casting a bonus action spell locks you out of every other spell that turn except a cantrip with a casting time of one action. So no Hellish Rebuke when the opportunity attack connects as you flee: “Same round, yes. Same turn, no. For example, if someone hits you with a reaction attack on the same turn you cast Expeditious Retreat, you can’t Hellish Rebuke them.” And a sorcerer’s dream of Expeditious Retreat, Jump, and Feather Fall in one turn got shot down with the page number attached: “If you cast Expeditious retreat, you can’t cast Jump.” In 2024 the rule became “one spell slot per turn,” which lands in the same place. (u/moonshadowkati, r/dndnext ; u/GernotTheClonkeror, r/DnD, r/DnD)
17. Booming Blade hit-and-run on an Eldritch Knight sounds great and plays worse. Cast this, run up, Booming Blade, run 60 feet away, and the target either eats thunder damage or stays put. The thread talked the fighter out of it: “if you just make one attack before running away at high speeds, the enemies will probably have an easier time getting to the wizard,” and walking away after the hit “would trigger an opportunity attack from your target.” (u/CrazyCoolCelt and u/ElderWizard99, r/dndnext)
DEVIANT, FUNNY, AND CURSED
18. The 26,000-upvote meme is a wizard out of spell slots, sprinting. The most popular thing ever posted about this spell is a gif titled “Call That An Expeditious Retreat,” a caster who has blown every slot and is now running for his life. The comments: “Hit-and-run/hide strat?” “Tactical cowardice.” And, “You run out of magic missiles for the day and then you’re just some chump with a ~~stupid~~ really cool hat.” Given that the 1996 version of this spell was invented in-fiction by a wizard famous for his lack of courage, the meme is on brand. (u/DungeonsWithFriends, u/MyNameIsNitrox, u/DandDaccount, u/MotorHum, r/dndmemes)
19. Leaving the party to die is a valid use, apparently. There’s a greentext from a level 2 warlock whose party attacked a kobold nest without resting. “Everyone but me and the druid is dropped in the second round… I cast Expeditious Retreat and hightail it out of there… I saw my chances and I didn’t like them.” The top replies were “And that’s why I love warlocks” and “Expeditious Retreat is the #1 spell for Chaotic Aligned characters everywhere.” I report, you judge. (u/Tonnot98 and u/GingerTron2000, r/DnDGreentext)
20. Give it to the villain and watch your players lose their minds. The Princess Bride clip of Inigo Montoya’s enemy turning and bolting got titled “Expeditious Retreat Time!” and one commenter made the DM point: “nothing infuriates a party more than a BBEG or his lieutenant who runs. When a party runs away it’s called “regrouping” or “Taking Cover” when the BBEG runs from an ambush, he’s cowardly and annoying and it’s hilarious.” A lieutenant with this spell, a 30-speed body, and a Disengage action is 60 feet away every turn and your melee players will chase him into whatever you put next. (u/Ehkrickor, r/dndmemes)
21. You still cannot outrun a horse. Somebody wanted to be Sonic, “Lets say I wanted to outrun a horse,” and asked whether the spell gets them to 120 feet a round. It does not. “A riding horse has a base 60, and it dashing increases it to 120. So you Double Dashing through Expeditious Retreat = 90 ft per round. A riding horse normal Dashing = 120 ft per round.” You top out at 90. The horse does 120 without a spell. (u/josephine1991 and u/Leuku, r/dndnext)
22. The permanent Haste, Kinetic Jaunt, Expeditious Retreat speed god. Someone wanted to build a JoJo villain who is all about speed, stacked all three permanently, and asked how hard that would be to fight. Reddit shrugged. “Dispel magic would shut them down real fast.” “If he’s in melee, I’d grapple him to stop with all this BS.” Every movement cheese in this video dies to a grapple or a 3rd level slot. (u/Kiev_man and u/AccordingJellyfish99, r/dndnext)
So that’s the pile. Cast it early, use the free action, kite with it on a young warlock, tow people with it on a grappler, and know where your concentration is better spent before you prep it. What’s your best Expeditious Retreat story, and be honest, did it end with you safely out of range while the fighter explained things to a troll? And the eternal one, Expeditious Retreat or Longstrider, pick one forever. Let me know in the comments below, and until next time, roll high and stay ridiculous.
