Testament said:
Yeah, because 2d6 per caster level with bodily destruction at 0 is crap. And as Merric pointed out, if you have ranged SoD at 6th, where do you go for 7th, 8th and 9th?
It is. It's 2d6 per level if they
fail and 5d6 flat if they succeed. To give you a comparison 3.5 Harm does 50-75
minimum damage. At level 15 it does 150 damage. Even at level 20 as a wizard you will do an average 140 damage if they fail. If they save half the time you're doing on average (140 + 17.5)/2 = 78 damage, or basically the mimimum that harm does for a caster 5 levels lower than you. You basically require metamagic rods to make it worthwhile, and by that point it's debatable whether those rods are better spent elsewhere.
6th level:
disintegrate, medium range, ranged touch attack roll, save. Fixed by 7th level magic (resurrection). Affects almost everything.
flesh to stone, medium range, no attack roll, save. Fixed by 5th level magic (break enchantment. Living targets only.
7th level:
finger of death, close range, no attack roll, save. Fixed by 7th level magic. Living targets only.
9th level:
imprisonment, mellee touch attack, no save. Fixed by 9th level magic. Affects almost everything.
wail of the banshee, no attack roll, multiple targets in an area, save. Fixed by 7th level magic. Living targets only.
This is very simple irrefutable game mechanics. There are "better" spells than disintegrate beyond 6th level in 3rd edition.
It's 100% clear that 3.5 spells were re-designed with a lack of insight. I'll never forget when I asked the guy "did you fix the finger of death / destruction imbalance?" and the reply was "well they're both sorta bad". That was my first clue things were going to pot in 3.5.
With slower tiering, except against specific enemies, that Clerics SHOULD be good at smiting.
The searing light. Clerics should have the higher die for searing light I presume as well? Burn them celestials!
WTF? Where are you pulling d20/level from? I'm seeing 10 per level.
It's
effectively d20 per level. The average roll on a d20 is 10. The spell does effectively d20 per level. The only difference is metamagic, but for all other purposes it's
way off scale in terms of damage for divine casters.
Because everyone knows that Druids can't control the weather. No sireee.
They can. With twice the radius of any other caster to boot. Ice storm isn't weather.
Why should SR be involved when the magic has already done its work? I conjure the acid, then I propel it. Your immunity to magic plays no part because no magic is being used.
This is, again, a
very very bad way to design spells . I conjure the fireball bead, then make it explode, your immunity to magic plays no part because no magic is being used.
See the problem?