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What is the most powerful spell?
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<blockquote data-quote="Yaarel" data-source="post: 7215952" data-attributes="member: 58172"><p>Comments on 9th level.</p><p></p><p><strong>Wish</strong> is the best spell. Its two options are ideal. Use safely to duplicate any lower level spell. Or. Use it creatively but invite the DMs evil eye.</p><p></p><p>(I view Wish as available to any caster class. The Wizard masters the essence of magic. The Bard sings the song of creation. The Cleric achieves unity with the miraculous energy of being. The Psion makes thought absolute reality. Etcetera. It could be the 10th-level of any caster class. As it is in the SRD, it is the incomparable 9th-level spell.)</p><p></p><p>Problematically, Wish heals more hit points than <strong>Mass Heal</strong> does, despite Mass Heal being a 9th-level spell that represents the pinnacle of healing spells. Namely ‘20 creatures regain *ALL* hit points’, versus ‘700 hit points divided’, respectively. At the very least, Mass Healing needs to improve to also heal and restore *ALL* in order to be an exemplary choice for a healer caster.</p><p></p><p><strong>True Resurrection</strong> must do more. This is a pinnacle spell. 9th level. Actualizing eternal life, the death of death. Firstly, the spell can create a new and perfect body. Yet its current arbitrary restrictions seem silly. It is a brand new or renewed body that should be in perfect health, the perfect physical health of a 20 year old. And be able to appear any age, whatever age the resurrectee desires. Moreover, as a perfect body, let this new body never again suffer the negative consequences of aging. A kind of perpetual immortality. A new body should make irrelevant what age the resurrectee was when dying. And irrelevant how long ago.</p><p></p><p>As the spell is now, despite True Resurrection being a 9th-level spell, the Wish spell is probably better at resurrecting. True Resurrection must do more to deserve status as a 9th-level spell, and offer significant benefits that move it beyond what <strong>Revivify</strong> already offers at 3rd level.</p><p></p><p>The incrementalism of the Resurrection spell group fails to keep up with the increasingly rare and increasingly powerful upper level spell slots. Perhaps Resurrection needs to become a single 3rd-level spell, with increasing benefits when casting it with higher level spell slots.</p><p></p><p><strong>Meteor Swarm</strong> is the pinnacle of damage spells. In comparison, its lethality makes <strong>Power Word Kill</strong> decisively unworthy of a 9th-level spell slot. Moreover, the mechanism of hit point cut-offs for all of the Power Word spells are problematic in terms of design concept and of ingame tactics. Possibly 1st-level <strong>Sleep</strong> is a kind of ‘Power Word Sleep’ with its own hit point cut off, but the mechanism differs in that excess hit points can spill over to affect other creatures instead, making it slightly more flexible, even if still problematic.</p><p></p><p><strong>Shapechange</strong> and <strong>True Polymorph</strong> are about equally Good. Shapechange is better but can only target self. True Polymorph can either buff an ally (including self) or contain a hostile. Both would be Excellent, except the concentration requirement hurts. A caster might typically use these to buff self in order to enter melee, where taking damage is likely to end the spell. They are almost Melee Suicide spells. But they seem flexible enough for a thoughtful use to benefit while attacking from a distance.</p><p></p><p><strong>Prismatic Wall</strong> is an effective wall that is usually indestructible. It deals excessive damage plus possible restraint and blindness to anything that tries to pass. Meanwhile allies are immune to it, and can fight from within it or within its blinding 20 foot thickness.</p><p></p><p>Using <strong>Time Stop</strong> to split up the hostiles with barriers, like walls or illusions, is Not Bad, but using it to buff self is less useful.</p><p></p><p><strong>Foresight</strong> with its advantage on weapon attacks is Excellent to synergize an Eldritch Knight, or alternatively a melee-competent ally. Still Not Bad for a non-melee Wizard.</p><p></p><p>The description of <strong>Astral Projection</strong> needs to summarize its main purpose, preferably as its first sentence. The point of the spell is bilocation. In this sense, it is in the same spell group as <strong>Simulacrum</strong> and <strong>Clone</strong>. Simulacrum creates a duplicate as an ally. Clone creates a duplicate as a backup body in case ones current body is killed: a kind of prepaid Revivify. Astral Projection creates duplicates as avatars, thru which you and your party can do all your adventuring remotely, while your actual bodies remain safe and sound at home. If your avatar gets killed, all of the treasure that your avatar accumulated actually comes back with you to your body at home! The spell could be Excellent, except <strong>Dispel Magic</strong> or similar can end the avatar, the weird vulnerability of a ‘silver cord’ will eventually happen (‘because it’ is a challenge that ‘is there’), so resurrection plans are necessary, and it is inconvenient to need to figure out how to get to where you want to go from the Astral Plane. Nevertheless, it is a kind of immortality, seems to be worth 9th-level, and is Not Bad.</p><p></p><p><strong>Gate</strong> compares to 7th-level <strong>Plane Shift</strong>, but where Plane Shift arrives in a ‘general’ location (such as somewhere in a desired city or in a known Teleportation Circle), Gate seems to arrive in a ‘precise’ location and is apparently more accurate without error. Nevertheless, in order to be precise, the caster must already know exactly where to be, meaning the location must be moreorless ‘familiar’ to the caster. Thus the benefit of precision happens less often.</p><p></p><p>Additionally, Gate compares to 6th-level <strong>Planar Ally</strong> to access a powerful extra-planar creature in order to strike a bargain. Gate can only do this if the caster has learned the ‘true name’ of the creature. The difference is, Planar Ally wont attack the summoner, whereas Gate might attack the summoner. In this sense, Planar Ally is better than Gate. On the other hand, Gate can kidnap a true-named hostile for the purpose of attacking for combat.</p><p></p><p>As such, using Gate to summon seems roughly equal to Planar Ally at level 6, while using Gate to travel seems slightly better than Plane Shift at level 7. All in all, mainly because of its usefulness in traveling anywhere, Gate probably ranks as a level 8 spell.</p><p></p><p><strong>Imprisonment</strong> has appealing folklore flavor but unsatisfying potency. It begs some fix, maybe a redesign.</p><p></p><p><strong>Storm of Vengeance</strong> appalls. It merely does what a 4th-level spell would do, but its situationality is so extreme it is virtually unusable. The prolonged, protracted, and inflexible sequence of mostly negligible amounts of damage make the spell substandard. Moreover, the vast area harms allies. On the other hand, the damage to any intended targets is delayed, and easily avoided by seeking shelter. The contrast between cataclysmic flavor and low level mechanics, comes across as embarrassingly humorous.</p><p></p><p><strong>Weird</strong> about as helpful as 3rd-level Cause Fear.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Yaarel, post: 7215952, member: 58172"] Comments on 9th level. [B]Wish[/B] is the best spell. Its two options are ideal. Use safely to duplicate any lower level spell. Or. Use it creatively but invite the DMs evil eye. (I view Wish as available to any caster class. The Wizard masters the essence of magic. The Bard sings the song of creation. The Cleric achieves unity with the miraculous energy of being. The Psion makes thought absolute reality. Etcetera. It could be the 10th-level of any caster class. As it is in the SRD, it is the incomparable 9th-level spell.) Problematically, Wish heals more hit points than [B]Mass Heal[/B] does, despite Mass Heal being a 9th-level spell that represents the pinnacle of healing spells. Namely ‘20 creatures regain *ALL* hit points’, versus ‘700 hit points divided’, respectively. At the very least, Mass Healing needs to improve to also heal and restore *ALL* in order to be an exemplary choice for a healer caster. [B]True Resurrection[/B] must do more. This is a pinnacle spell. 9th level. Actualizing eternal life, the death of death. Firstly, the spell can create a new and perfect body. Yet its current arbitrary restrictions seem silly. It is a brand new or renewed body that should be in perfect health, the perfect physical health of a 20 year old. And be able to appear any age, whatever age the resurrectee desires. Moreover, as a perfect body, let this new body never again suffer the negative consequences of aging. A kind of perpetual immortality. A new body should make irrelevant what age the resurrectee was when dying. And irrelevant how long ago. As the spell is now, despite True Resurrection being a 9th-level spell, the Wish spell is probably better at resurrecting. True Resurrection must do more to deserve status as a 9th-level spell, and offer significant benefits that move it beyond what [B]Revivify[/B] already offers at 3rd level. The incrementalism of the Resurrection spell group fails to keep up with the increasingly rare and increasingly powerful upper level spell slots. Perhaps Resurrection needs to become a single 3rd-level spell, with increasing benefits when casting it with higher level spell slots. [B]Meteor Swarm[/B] is the pinnacle of damage spells. In comparison, its lethality makes [B]Power Word Kill[/B] decisively unworthy of a 9th-level spell slot. Moreover, the mechanism of hit point cut-offs for all of the Power Word spells are problematic in terms of design concept and of ingame tactics. Possibly 1st-level [B]Sleep[/B] is a kind of ‘Power Word Sleep’ with its own hit point cut off, but the mechanism differs in that excess hit points can spill over to affect other creatures instead, making it slightly more flexible, even if still problematic. [B]Shapechange[/B] and [B]True Polymorph[/B] are about equally Good. Shapechange is better but can only target self. True Polymorph can either buff an ally (including self) or contain a hostile. Both would be Excellent, except the concentration requirement hurts. A caster might typically use these to buff self in order to enter melee, where taking damage is likely to end the spell. They are almost Melee Suicide spells. But they seem flexible enough for a thoughtful use to benefit while attacking from a distance. [B]Prismatic Wall[/B] is an effective wall that is usually indestructible. It deals excessive damage plus possible restraint and blindness to anything that tries to pass. Meanwhile allies are immune to it, and can fight from within it or within its blinding 20 foot thickness. Using [B]Time Stop[/B] to split up the hostiles with barriers, like walls or illusions, is Not Bad, but using it to buff self is less useful. [B]Foresight[/B] with its advantage on weapon attacks is Excellent to synergize an Eldritch Knight, or alternatively a melee-competent ally. Still Not Bad for a non-melee Wizard. The description of [B]Astral Projection[/B] needs to summarize its main purpose, preferably as its first sentence. The point of the spell is bilocation. In this sense, it is in the same spell group as [B]Simulacrum[/B] and [B]Clone[/B]. Simulacrum creates a duplicate as an ally. Clone creates a duplicate as a backup body in case ones current body is killed: a kind of prepaid Revivify. Astral Projection creates duplicates as avatars, thru which you and your party can do all your adventuring remotely, while your actual bodies remain safe and sound at home. If your avatar gets killed, all of the treasure that your avatar accumulated actually comes back with you to your body at home! The spell could be Excellent, except [B]Dispel Magic[/B] or similar can end the avatar, the weird vulnerability of a ‘silver cord’ will eventually happen (‘because it’ is a challenge that ‘is there’), so resurrection plans are necessary, and it is inconvenient to need to figure out how to get to where you want to go from the Astral Plane. Nevertheless, it is a kind of immortality, seems to be worth 9th-level, and is Not Bad. [B]Gate[/B] compares to 7th-level [B]Plane Shift[/B], but where Plane Shift arrives in a ‘general’ location (such as somewhere in a desired city or in a known Teleportation Circle), Gate seems to arrive in a ‘precise’ location and is apparently more accurate without error. Nevertheless, in order to be precise, the caster must already know exactly where to be, meaning the location must be moreorless ‘familiar’ to the caster. Thus the benefit of precision happens less often. Additionally, Gate compares to 6th-level [B]Planar Ally[/B] to access a powerful extra-planar creature in order to strike a bargain. Gate can only do this if the caster has learned the ‘true name’ of the creature. The difference is, Planar Ally wont attack the summoner, whereas Gate might attack the summoner. In this sense, Planar Ally is better than Gate. On the other hand, Gate can kidnap a true-named hostile for the purpose of attacking for combat. As such, using Gate to summon seems roughly equal to Planar Ally at level 6, while using Gate to travel seems slightly better than Plane Shift at level 7. All in all, mainly because of its usefulness in traveling anywhere, Gate probably ranks as a level 8 spell. [B]Imprisonment[/B] has appealing folklore flavor but unsatisfying potency. It begs some fix, maybe a redesign. [B]Storm of Vengeance[/B] appalls. It merely does what a 4th-level spell would do, but its situationality is so extreme it is virtually unusable. The prolonged, protracted, and inflexible sequence of mostly negligible amounts of damage make the spell substandard. Moreover, the vast area harms allies. On the other hand, the damage to any intended targets is delayed, and easily avoided by seeking shelter. The contrast between cataclysmic flavor and low level mechanics, comes across as embarrassingly humorous. [B]Weird[/B] about as helpful as 3rd-level Cause Fear. [/QUOTE]
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