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T&B: Is Energy Substitution (Sonic) unbalanced?
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<blockquote data-quote="Demogorge" data-source="post: 10390" data-attributes="member: 1036"><p>I thought Sonic damage was the way to go until we fought some trolls...</p><p></p><p>If we're talking Immunities, there are almost no monsters with an immunity to Sonic energy. But there are a few monsters (like trolls) which don't take normal damage from sonic energy. This is about as good as immunity in my book, but from a quick flip through the monstrous manual it's not evident.</p><p></p><p>As for Shout vs. Cone of Cacophony, Shout deafens which can be more useful than just doing damage. Defeaning a spellcaster isn't just good for casting spells, it moves his initiative down. Shout isn't a straight damage spell, there are plenty of other spells for that.</p><p></p><p>Also Sonic energy is uniquely fought by a bard's countersong. A bard with full ranks in perform and a simple +10 to Perform magic item (no moderate level bard should leave home without it) will have him and ALL his allies taking half-damage from your Cone of Cacophony (no damage with Evasion). Sure some dextrous Rogues can do that anyway, but a whole party of 7th level opponents with an effective Reflex save of 20? Only against Sonic damage spells.</p><p></p><p>So I would say ES(sonic) is not unbalanced. In fact it's a good feat to take because of the monsters that are not immune to it. But all things considered Sonic damage is not any more powerful than any other energy type, so a feat that converts your energy to that type is not going to be unbalancing.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Demogorge, post: 10390, member: 1036"] I thought Sonic damage was the way to go until we fought some trolls... If we're talking Immunities, there are almost no monsters with an immunity to Sonic energy. But there are a few monsters (like trolls) which don't take normal damage from sonic energy. This is about as good as immunity in my book, but from a quick flip through the monstrous manual it's not evident. As for Shout vs. Cone of Cacophony, Shout deafens which can be more useful than just doing damage. Defeaning a spellcaster isn't just good for casting spells, it moves his initiative down. Shout isn't a straight damage spell, there are plenty of other spells for that. Also Sonic energy is uniquely fought by a bard's countersong. A bard with full ranks in perform and a simple +10 to Perform magic item (no moderate level bard should leave home without it) will have him and ALL his allies taking half-damage from your Cone of Cacophony (no damage with Evasion). Sure some dextrous Rogues can do that anyway, but a whole party of 7th level opponents with an effective Reflex save of 20? Only against Sonic damage spells. So I would say ES(sonic) is not unbalanced. In fact it's a good feat to take because of the monsters that are not immune to it. But all things considered Sonic damage is not any more powerful than any other energy type, so a feat that converts your energy to that type is not going to be unbalancing. [/QUOTE]
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T&B: Is Energy Substitution (Sonic) unbalanced?
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