Advantage of not doing physical damage?

[cmbarona]

Ginnel,

You can choose to shift between physical and lightning damage on all attacks as a free action. The crit is always Xd6 lightning, but you can otherwise turn the lightning off for lightning resistant creatures.

To the OP,

I don't have the PHB with me, so I can't quote this, but I believe using an enchanted weapon adds its elemental property to the keywords of any attacks and powers that use it as a weapon. Others have assumed this rule implicitly in their posts, so I thought I would bring up the rule more explicitly.

Many feats and such address elemental properties. So, for example, as a Dragonborn Warlord with fire breath and a flaming longsword, I get Astral Fire at Heroic tier and Irresistable Flame at epic tier. The feats would not only apply extra damage and lower the fire resist of enemies with my breath attack, but also enemies that I strike with the flaming longsword, say with my Viper's Strike.

 

[fba827]

If the previews from Adventurer's Vault are any indication (exact details not yet known unknown), there will be consumable component magic items that will play off the fact that it is lightning damage (such as "if you use this while dealing lightning damage, then X extra happens -like extra damage or some lightning arc type effect or other thematically inspired benefit- and consume the component item")

 

[Asmor]

Vulnerabilities immediately spring to mind...

As a general rule of thumb, having two options is strictly better than not having two options.

 

[DracoSuave]

Also if an attack is physical and lightning wouldn't it overcome the reduction anyway because the attacks made up of lightning as well?

Resist weapon damage will affect damage from an activated lightning sword because it's still a weapon, and no number of damage-based types change that fact.

 

[DracoSuave]

There is zero advantage to doing lightning only damage as opposed to physical and lightning damage.

However, not all attacks performed with a weapon are untyped damage. Holy Strike for Paladins comes to mind, Swordmage's everything is another example. Lots of melee attackers get attacks with damage types.

So, let's say you use a Swordmage's Greenflame Blade against an enemy, and that enemy has Resist Fire 10. That'd suck for your attack, but the Property allows you to change that to lightning damage thereby evading the Resistance nicely.

The damage, by the way, is called 'untyped' damage, not physical. Eldritch Blast has the same type of damage, as do certain other powers.

 

[Walknot]

As DM, you could easily include some opportunity in-game, but outside of combat. Say a complex electricity-based apparatus that needs defeated in a skill challenge, and that lightning axe comes in handy after all.

 

[DracoSuave]

Also, weapons or impliments without a property or power stating otherwise don't do any type of damage, untyped, fire, lightning, or otherwise, because accessories don't deal damage, Powers do.

Powers determine damage types unless something applies that states otherwise. You can have a sword that's as flamey as you want but unless something explicitly changes the damage, if the power does untyped damage, the power does -untyped- damage.

 

[Xris Robin]

Is there a radiant weapon property? That'd be very useful in certain circumstances.

I've heard the Adventurer's Vault has a couple of Radiant weapons.

 

[cmbarona]

Also, weapons or impliments without a property or power stating otherwise don't do any type of damage, untyped, fire, lightning, or otherwise, because accessories don't deal damage, Powers do.

Powers determine damage types unless something applies that states otherwise. You can have a sword that's as flamey as you want but unless something explicitly changes the damage, if the power does untyped damage, the power does -untyped- damage.

Ah! I found it! PHB 226:

"When you use a magic item as part of a racial power or a class power, the keywords of the item's power and the other power all apply. For instance, if a paladin uses a flaming sword to attack with a power that deals radiant damage, the power deals both fire damage and radiant damage."

 

[Hypersmurf]

Ah! I found it! PHB 226:

Right - that's what he means by "unless something explicitly changes the damage"

-Hyp.