I was wondering what happens with the melee powers in cases when one's melee weapon deals non-physical damage.
For example, if one is wielding a lighting weapon would one get the benefits of the "Rune of the Storm" which kicks in when one hits enemies with "a lightning power".
Common sense says yes but I am not sure how to read the rules on the subject.
Thanks for your help
Some things to remember.
1)
If the trigger on a bonus or effect is 'When one uses a lightning power...' then the type of damage that power does is NOT relevant. The ONLY thing that matters is if the word 'Lightning' appears on the list of keywords, or if the word 'Varies' appeared and you chose an option of lightning for a damage type.
A ____ power or effect means, literally, a power or effect with the _____ keyword.
An example of how this is important is with a power that, say, attacked with a thunder damage attack, then a lightning damage attack. That power would have the Thunder and Lightning keywords. Therefore, if you had a feat that gave you a bonus to damage rolls with Lightning powers, that feat would apply to both the thunder damage and the lightning damage. The power is a Lightning power.
2)
When you use a power on an item in conjunction with any power, that power gains all the keywords of that item.
So, a crusader's weapon has a property that changes half its damage to radiant damage. This does NOT give the Radiant keyword to powers, because it is NOT an item power.
A Lightning Weapon, on the other hand, has an at-will power that changes damage to lightning. When that is active, its keyword gets inherited by all powers you use it with. Therefore, all powers gain the Lightning keyword.
3)
There's no such thing as physical damage. The term is 'untyped.' Eldritch Blast does untyped damage, just the same as a fighter's Cleave does.
