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A warlock has two targets cursed and then is able to damage them both with an AoE spell. Do both the targets take Curse damage or do only one of them take Curse damage?
The other distinction is the triggering of pact abilities upon death of cursed targets. This feature you can gain multiple times per round; gained each time something cursed dies.
If you hit a cursed enemy with an attack, you deal extra damage. You decide whether to apply the extra damage after making the damage roll. You can deal this extra damage once per round, so if you have dealt Warlock’s Curse damage since the start of your turn, you cannot deal it again until the start of your next turn
I personally find it unclear whether the bolded text is referring to curse as a whole or to the specific target being hit. Being able to curse multiple targets leads me to believe it's per target hit, but I can't be sure.
Ignore the Rules Compendium; it's poorly maintained.
Look at the official errata update docs, instead:
Quote:
Originally Posted by PHB Update
Warlock’s Curse [Revision/Addition]
Player’s Handbook, page 131
Replace the third sentence of the first paragraph with the following: “If you hit a cursed enemy with an attack, you deal extra damage.”
Add the following clause to the end of the last sentence of the first paragraph: “so if you have dealt Warlock’s Curse damage since the start of your turn, you cannot deal it again until the start of your next turn.”
Cheers, -- N
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Slightly related, if you were to use an AP to cast hellish rebuke twice on the same target, would they then take twice the damage when you got hurt (presumably yes, although it might not stack).
A warlock has two targets cursed and then is able to damage them both with an AoE spell. Do both the targets take Curse damage or do only one of them take Curse damage?
In 4E you roll 4E damage once, and apply to all targets of the same attack. So I think that since both targets are curse, roll your curse damage too and apply to both. You're still doing curse damage 1/round--your curse damage is applying to a single attack.
Though I can see it the other way too, with the more restrictive interpretation that curse damage applies to one target once per round.
--Know the difference:-- Lose is a verb. Rhymes with booze and news. Means "to be unsuccessful in retaining possession of." You lose your turn when stunned. After you take an extended rest, you lose any unspent action points.
Loose is usually an adjective. Rhymes with deuce and caboose. Means "not fastened"--"Loose" is the opposite of "tight." You can use "loose" as a verb, but in that case it means "to set loose; release." You loosen a lightbulb. You loose an arrow at a target.
Slightly related, if you were to use an AP to cast hellish rebuke twice on the same target, would they then take twice the damage when you got hurt (presumably yes, although it might not stack).
Normally, "ongoing" damage doesn't stack. So if you took 5 ongoing fire damage and another 5 ongoing fire damage you would only take 5 ongoing fire damage. Only the highest damage of the same type is applied.
I would think this would mean you would only be able to deal the extra damage to the target once.
Zaruthustran: I don't agree, doing damage once is doing damage once, no matter how many attacks there are. I think Nifft's post and the update to this power make it pretty clear. edit (I should clarify) - If you were to do damage from the curse to two targets on one attack then you are dealing curse damage twice on your turn. I don't believe that this is the intention of the power, and is reinforced by the errata. The Ranger does not get to apply their hunter's quarry damage to two different targets in a round (for example, by using twin strike or some other dual strike power on two adjacent foes).
Last edited by Azurecrusader; 7th August 2008 at 01:56 AM..
I figured this would be a good place to ask this, as it pertains to the Ranger's Quarry ability, which is similar to the Warlock's Curse. The Ranger paragon path Battlefield Archer is able to designate multiple enemies as their quarry at a time (4, in my case). Since a ranger can normally only have 1 enemy quarried, the Hunter's Quarry class ability on page 104 doesn't mention if you get extra damage on each target or not.
Taken from PH page 104:
Hunter's Quarry
Once per round, you deal extra damage to your quarry. If you can make multiple attacks in a round, you decide which attack to apply the extra damage to after all the attacks are rolled.
The first part of sentence #1 leads me to believe you can only hit oneof your quarries with the extra damage, but by stating "your quarry" at the end, I can see it going the other way too. The second sentence makes me lean more towards just one target taking damage. Should I rule it as most-likely-RAI, and do it once? Or what might-possibly-be-RAW and do it against "my quarry" (four different targets)?
Normally, "ongoing" damage doesn't stack. So if you took 5 ongoing fire damage and another 5 ongoing fire damage you would only take 5 ongoing fire damage. Only the highest damage of the same type is applied.
I would think this would mean you would only be able to deal the extra damage to the target once.
Hellish rebuke doesn't deal ongoing damage. Not the same thing.
Quote:
Zaruthustran: I don't agree, doing damage once is doing damage once, no matter how many attacks there are. I think Nifft's post and the update to this power make it pretty clear. edit (I should clarify) - If you were to do damage from the curse to two targets on one attack then you are dealing curse damage twice on your turn. I don't believe that this is the intention of the power, and is reinforced by the errata. The Ranger does not get to apply their hunter's quarry damage to two different targets in a round (for example, by using twin strike or some other dual strike power on two adjacent foes).
Twin strike is two separate damage sources. An AoE is a single source of damage applied to multiple targets. Not the same thing.
Last edited by Felon; 9th August 2008 at 06:13 AM..
You get the damage once per round. There PHB update even called this out specifically for each striker class.
I don't think the scenario the OP's pointing out is that hard to understand. You make the AoE attack and then add the curse to it, and apply it to any cursed enemy that gets hit. Thus, extra damage applied once to one damage roll made that round.
The first part of sentence #1 leads me to believe you can only hit oneof your quarries with the extra damage
Well, a ranger can only ever have one quarry at a time.
Quote:
Originally Posted by The D&D Compendium
The hunter’s quarry effect remains active until the end of the encounter, until the quarry is defeated, or until you designate a different target as your quarry.
You can designate one enemy as your quarry at a time.
Well, a ranger can only ever have one quarry at a time.
You didn't fully read my post. I'm referring to one of the Ranger's paragon paths, Battlefield Archer. They have the following Paragon path feature, page 113 of the PH:
Battlefield Experience (11th level): You can designate more than one creature as your quarry at a time, up to a number equal to your Wisdom modifier. In addition, any attack made against a quarry receives a +1 bonus to attack rolls.
The "at a time" phrase is notable, because it infers you can mark multiple people as your quarry with a single minor action.
If you hit a cursed enemy with an attack, you deal extra damage ... You can deal this extra damage once per round
That seems clear to me: curse damage on at most one target, once per round. It says "a cursed enemy", meaning the bonus applies to that enemy, not the attack.
I admit it is vague enough you could argue the other way, but compared to Hunter's Quarry and Sneak Attack, that is likely the intended effect.
The "at a time" phrase is notable, because it infers you can mark multiple people as your quarry with a single minor action.
Right. But the restriction on applying damage once per round still holds.
Multi-Quarry is still useful, because it means you don't have to re-apply it as you kill targets, and it means you can Quarry a big (more dangerous) foe hiding behind a minion or two.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul Strack
I admit it is vague enough you could argue the other way, but compared to Hunter's Quarry and Sneak Attack, that is likely the intended effect.
Given the errata update, I think we all now agree Curse damage happens at most once per round to exactly one target. It seems WotC agreed it was ambiguous enough to clarify.
The things that were tipping me toward allowing multi-curse damage for a Warlock were:
1/ Warlocks deal less damage per target than Rogue or Ranger.
2/ Wraithblade (new dagger property from Dragon): add Sneak Attack damage on every crit, even if you've already used it this round / encounter.
3/ Warlocks don't have a feat to increase Curse damage.
Cheers, -- N
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