I’m about to play a gnome illusion wizard and I’m researching (high INT!) creative uses for illusions.
A classic is an illusory wall to hide behind as enemies run past or cannot aim to you. Or make the pit seem to be somewhere else so they fall in as they charge you. Or fake allies for distraction.
We’re playing Pathfinder 2e as 1st level characters. So technically that means the wizard has Figment (Ghost Sound), Illusory Object, and Prestidigitation at his disposal.
There are probably some cool illusion stories in this community?
PF2e? Heighten it to Level 2 and cast Illusory Wall of Fire. It generates heat, sound, and light just like a real wall of fire! It just deals 0 damage. Your allies can move through it without giving up the game if their acting is good, and if you give a path through (no matter how lousy,) enemies are more inclined to go where you want them instead disbelieving by risking a pass through. Illusory Aqueous Orb is pretty for more localized area denial.
At lvl 1, Illusory wall of stone is a little less impressive but can be funny if you time it right. Delay until just before an archer or wizard’s turn and box them off to force them to spend actions either moving or disbelieving.
Other fake persistent spells can potentially work out, though i think the real tech starts once you’re lv 3 and get access to heightened illusory object & Illusory creature.
edit: Since the Remaster, Figment (ghost sound) gained the Subtle trait, meaning you can actually use it to lure things into ambushes without giving away that some gnome is shouting MINIMOSI TRAVISI and glowing around the corner. You can also use it to send coded messages to your entire party; Rats squeaking means danger, bats flapping wings means its clear to move up, etc.