Any experience with Destructive Salutation?

[kerbarian]

Destructive Salutation (Blood Mage level 20 daily, PHB p.170) looks like it's arguably the strongest single power in the game. Area burst 3, targets enemies, and it stuns (save ends) on a hit and stuns until end of next turn on a miss. Plus some damage and ongoing damage.

Does anyone have experience with it in actual games? Is a guaranteed large-area stun as powerful as it looks on paper?

I also can't help but notice that just one level later, any Blood Mage could become an Archmage and cast it twice a day, or 3x/day at 26. There are probably other ways to gain even more castings of it, though I can't think of any offhand.

 

[Thundershield]

Is indeed a very good power. Not gonna make a call if it is too good, seeing how there's tons of other powers that seem crazy good.

Only "but" I have is that you could pick the Archspell epic destiny instead and get it as an Encounter power instead of Daily and several other boni.

 

[kerbarian]

Only "but" I have is that you could pick the Archspell epic destiny instead and get it as an Encounter power instead of Daily and several other boni.

I don't really get the Archspell destiny, since Archmage gives the same thing at 30 (choose a daily to cast as an encounter), and Archmage gives more castings of your daily before 30. So you can cast your best daily more often as an Archmage than if you supposedly focus your entire epic destiny on that one spell as an Archspell.

 

[Victim]

Destructive Salutation is really good, but it's not a wizard power so it can't be used with Spell Focus or Orb.

 

[Regicide]

Destructive Salutation is really good, but it's not a wizard power so it can't be used with Spell Focus or Orb.

The verbiage in the book implies that paragon powers are powers of the class. I don't think it's stated one way or the other. This was brought up before because of a particular paragon path's features and powers having text that made it seem like the paragon powers were also considered powers of the base class, and I don't recall if there was any sort of official answer or not.

 

[DracoSuave]

The official answers that paragon class (and epic destiny) Implement powers can be used with any implement you're allowed to use for any of your powers from your class, or from feats (such as Multiclass Feats)

22. What implements can I use with powers granted by my paragon path or epic destiny?

If a paragon path power or epic destiny power has the Implement keyword, you can use any implement that you are allowed to use from your class, as well as any implement you are allowed to use from another feature (such as a multiclass feat).

 

[Kordeth]

The official answers that paragon class (and epic destiny) Implement powers can be used with any implement you're allowed to use for any of your powers from your class, or from feats (such as Multiclass Feats)

To be pedantic, though, that's just for using implements, which the PHB already states. The wizard class feature Arcane Implement Mastery, on the other hand, just says "wizard power," with no mention of wizard paragon paths or epic destinies. That's the key difference.