Is the Arcane Archer’s feature “Banishing Arrow” redundant for a Curse of Strahd character

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My understanding is that, per the "Alterations the Magic" section in Curse of Strahd: –

spells cast for the purpose of leaving Barovia simply fail, as do effects that banish a creature to another plane of existence.

Given that the Arcane Archer's Banishing Arrow feature states that it

banish[es] your target to a harmless location in the Feywild.

Am I right in understanding that it simply has no effect while the character is in Barovia (and therefore might be a bad pick for a potential player to choose)?

Best Answer

You are right

The Feywild is another plane of existence (see the DMG p. 49). The arrow causes an effect that would banish a creature to another plane of existence. Hence it would not work, and would be a bad choice for a player to pick for their character in a campaign playing in Barovia.

The full text of the restriction states:

No spell-not even wish-allows one to escape from Strahd's domain. Astral projection, teleport, plane shift, and similar spells cast for the purpose of leaving Barovia simply fail, as do effects that banish a creature to another plane of existence. These restrictions apply to magic items and artifacts that have properties that transport or banish creatures to other planes.

The effect is extremely powerful. There should be no exceptions if not even wish can create any.