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[GUIDE] Born to be Wild, a sorcerer guide.
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<blockquote data-quote="Cognomen's Cassowary" data-source="post: 7219126" data-attributes="member: 6801445"><p>I don't want to belabor the point, but any creature that passes the Str save only uses five feet of movement to gust of wind, if it is smart enough to step out perpendicular to the stream. A creature that passes the Dex save of web will expend ten to twenty feet getting out, no matter which way it goes.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Anything that misses your duplicate does not destroy your duplicate, which increases your functional AC on subsequent attacks. The Dex scaling is protection against low-level mooks throwing rocks to destroy your defenses, which in turn makes your defenses stronger against bigger threats.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>First, the protection is front loaded, so you don't necessarily have to be attacked several times. If an enemy has a 60% chance to hit or crit you, mirror image is worth 9 AC against the first attack. Second, you contradict this point yourself when you bring multiattack into it. The more common multiattack becomes as you go up in level, the more opportunities mirror image has to eat attacks. Third, you don't always have control over when and how many times you are attacked.</p><p></p><p>I mean, rephrase it thus: The first attack made against you in the next minute has a 75% chance of failing to target you and being wasted. The second has <em>at least</em> a 65% chance. The third has <em>at least</em> a 50% chance. Subsequent attacks may also have a chance to fail.</p><p></p><p>You are saying that <em>that</em> spell, from a 2nd-level slot and without using concentration, rates no better than black?</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Concentration, concentration, concentration, concentration/concentration. Also, Dex save and eventual Str check, Str save and doesn't affect ranged attacks, repeated Con saves and only affects two creatures out of a 2nd-level slot, limits your mobility and doesn't affect ranged attacks/ends if you attack or cast a spell. Also, disadvantage is a weaker effect than mirror image in most practical situations.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>It can be hard to kill the enemy before combat starts. You are always in a position to target yourself.</p><p></p><p>For a demonstration, suppose we were in a sorcerer duel and your strategy were to burn me down. I have prepared by casting mirror image on myself. The gates open, we step out, you win initiative and cast scorching ray. Each ray has a 60/5/35% chance to hit/crit/miss against both me and my duplicates, so any that make it to me deal an average of 5.05 damage.</p><p></p><p>The first ray will be diverted 75% of the time. 5.05 * 0.25 = 1.26 damage to me, on average. If the attack was directed at me, or if it was directed at an illusion and missed, I will still have three duplicates. 0.25 + 0.75 * 0.35 = 51% chance I still have three dupes. 0.51 * 0.75 + 0.49 * 0.65 = 70% chance the next ray is diverted.</p><p></p><p>5.05 * 0.3 = 1.52 average damage. [Fast forward through the math.] 64.5% chance the next ray is diverted.</p><p></p><p>5.05 * 0.355 = 1.79 average damage. Mirror image just reduced the average damage of scorching ray from 15.15 to 4.57, a reduction of almost 70%. At third level, I should have around 19 hp, so you have knocked off about a quarter of my health. 93.3% of the time, I will still have at least one image at this point. I am going to win this duel.</p><p></p><p>If you rely on shield in this situation, all else being equal, the average total from scorching ray will be 9.45 damage, half your health. That makes mirror image (in this situation) worth just a little over twice what shield is, which is fitting for a 2nd-level spell. Except that's with all the attacks coming in one round, which is optimal for shield, and mirror image will most likely still be having an effect in the next round.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Mirror image scales with the number of attacks that are leveled in your direction, up to the point where all of the images are extinguished. Multiattack becoming more common makes it more likely that you will be attacked multiple times without being able to get to safety between the attacks, which only increases the value of mirror image. Further, every alternative defensive/control spell you named above is concentration. Concentration spells suffer <em>much more</em> from multiattack if you are making saves properly.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Cognomen's Cassowary, post: 7219126, member: 6801445"] I don't want to belabor the point, but any creature that passes the Str save only uses five feet of movement to gust of wind, if it is smart enough to step out perpendicular to the stream. A creature that passes the Dex save of web will expend ten to twenty feet getting out, no matter which way it goes. Anything that misses your duplicate does not destroy your duplicate, which increases your functional AC on subsequent attacks. The Dex scaling is protection against low-level mooks throwing rocks to destroy your defenses, which in turn makes your defenses stronger against bigger threats. First, the protection is front loaded, so you don't necessarily have to be attacked several times. If an enemy has a 60% chance to hit or crit you, mirror image is worth 9 AC against the first attack. Second, you contradict this point yourself when you bring multiattack into it. The more common multiattack becomes as you go up in level, the more opportunities mirror image has to eat attacks. Third, you don't always have control over when and how many times you are attacked. I mean, rephrase it thus: The first attack made against you in the next minute has a 75% chance of failing to target you and being wasted. The second has [I]at least[/I] a 65% chance. The third has [I]at least[/I] a 50% chance. Subsequent attacks may also have a chance to fail. You are saying that [I]that[/I] spell, from a 2nd-level slot and without using concentration, rates no better than black? Concentration, concentration, concentration, concentration/concentration. Also, Dex save and eventual Str check, Str save and doesn't affect ranged attacks, repeated Con saves and only affects two creatures out of a 2nd-level slot, limits your mobility and doesn't affect ranged attacks/ends if you attack or cast a spell. Also, disadvantage is a weaker effect than mirror image in most practical situations. It can be hard to kill the enemy before combat starts. You are always in a position to target yourself. For a demonstration, suppose we were in a sorcerer duel and your strategy were to burn me down. I have prepared by casting mirror image on myself. The gates open, we step out, you win initiative and cast scorching ray. Each ray has a 60/5/35% chance to hit/crit/miss against both me and my duplicates, so any that make it to me deal an average of 5.05 damage. The first ray will be diverted 75% of the time. 5.05 * 0.25 = 1.26 damage to me, on average. If the attack was directed at me, or if it was directed at an illusion and missed, I will still have three duplicates. 0.25 + 0.75 * 0.35 = 51% chance I still have three dupes. 0.51 * 0.75 + 0.49 * 0.65 = 70% chance the next ray is diverted. 5.05 * 0.3 = 1.52 average damage. [Fast forward through the math.] 64.5% chance the next ray is diverted. 5.05 * 0.355 = 1.79 average damage. Mirror image just reduced the average damage of scorching ray from 15.15 to 4.57, a reduction of almost 70%. At third level, I should have around 19 hp, so you have knocked off about a quarter of my health. 93.3% of the time, I will still have at least one image at this point. I am going to win this duel. If you rely on shield in this situation, all else being equal, the average total from scorching ray will be 9.45 damage, half your health. That makes mirror image (in this situation) worth just a little over twice what shield is, which is fitting for a 2nd-level spell. Except that's with all the attacks coming in one round, which is optimal for shield, and mirror image will most likely still be having an effect in the next round. Mirror image scales with the number of attacks that are leveled in your direction, up to the point where all of the images are extinguished. Multiattack becoming more common makes it more likely that you will be attacked multiple times without being able to get to safety between the attacks, which only increases the value of mirror image. Further, every alternative defensive/control spell you named above is concentration. Concentration spells suffer [I]much more[/I] from multiattack if you are making saves properly. [/QUOTE]
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