Astral Fire

[helium3]

All the "+1 damage with X energy type" feats are pretty lame... they could have EASILY just made one feat that lets you choose the energy type(s). I mean, they don't stack, and the requirements are ridiculous, so the only real function of having so many is to say, "Hey, look at all the feats we've got in our PHB!"<

Okay. So here's my pet theory.

What's the name of the cold/acid damage boosting feat? Why, it just happens to be "burning blizzard." What's a vaguely synonymistic (I love coining new words) way of saying "burning blizzard?" Why, that would be "Emerald Frost," if you assume that acid is always green in color and that acid burns.

Anyhow, my pet theory is simply that the dual score pre-req damage boosting feats used to be a part of a design that was proposed, incorporated and later dropped for one reason or another. Maybe the feats were the first part of a cool feat tree or required for a specific paragon path. When the concept (whatever it was) got dropped, someone realized that more feats were needed, so the damage boost feats were left in (as they're mechanically not terribly potent and therefore not "broken") but the flavor was filed off. The problem is that the feats originally tied into some larger design concept that justified the differentiation and the lameness of the individual feats. Without the larger design, they just seem like filler.

I haven't gone back to look at the original article yet, but I know I have seen very, very little "Golden Wyvern" stuff. As I recall, the article on the matter way back last fall portrayed all of that as being a big part of how wizards do their thing. This was the same article, mind you, that said that orbs, staves, wands and TOMES would be important wizard implements.

 

[Diirk]

Weapon Focus vs the spell damage feat comparisons make me angry. Given that its impossible to focus completely on 1 energy type as a warlock, trying to equal what weapon focus does for melees would take me about 3 feat slots and 13s in almost every stat.

Meanwhile weapon focus doesn't have any prereqs at all...

I've come to the conclusion that astral radiance etc are fairly useless for a warlock, which leaves me asking.... where are the spell boosting feats ?

 

[Nifft]

I've come to the conclusion that astral radiance etc are fairly useless for a warlock, which leaves me asking.... where are the spell boosting feats ?

They're in the Paragon tier.

Spell Focus is the best, but the others are nice, too.

Oh, and Warlocks don't get nice spell things, but they don't need them. Warlocks get Improved Pact Awesomeness (Heroic tier, 3 different feats), and Twofold Curse (Paragon tier).

Cheers, -- N

 

[MindWanderer]

Okay. So here's my pet theory.

What's the name of the cold/acid damage boosting feat? Why, it just happens to be "burning blizzard." What's a vaguely synonymistic (I love coining new words) way of saying "burning blizzard?" Why, that would be "Emerald Frost," if you assume that acid is always green in color and that acid burns.

You're definitely on to something.

Emerald Frost adepts use wands to help channel powers of cold and deadly acidic magic

And we also have:

Servants of the Hidden Flame wield fierce powers of fire and radiance through their staves

Astral Fire, plainly.

Stormwalker theurges channel spells of lightning and force

The mages of the Iron Sigil, on the other hand, employ orbs to guard themselves with potent defenses when invoking spells of thunder or force

Nothing for Force damage, but we have Raging Storm.

I don't know how the logic flowed here, but I do believe you're right, and we're seeing a distant step of the same evolutionary process.

 

[Diirk]

They're in the Paragon tier.

Spell Focus is the best, but the others are nice, too.

Oh, and Warlocks don't get nice spell things, but they don't need them. Warlocks get Improved Pact Awesomeness (Heroic tier, 3 different feats), and Twofold Curse (Paragon tier).

Cheers, -- N

Uhh... thats like saying rangers shouldn't get any feats to boost melee or archery because they get lethal hunter and precise hunter...

 

[Aldarc]

They're in the Paragon tier.

Spell Focus is the best, but the others are nice, too.

Oh, and Warlocks don't get nice spell things, but they don't need them. Warlocks get Improved Pact Awesomeness (Heroic tier, 3 different feats), and Twofold Curse (Paragon tier).

Cheers, -- N

You mean the one that's only for wizards and MC wizards?

 

[Nifft]

You mean the one that's only for wizards and MC wizards?

Read the bit after the part you bolded.

Cheers, -- N

 

[Blacksmithking]

Okay. So here's my pet theory.

What's the name of the cold/acid damage boosting feat? Why, it just happens to be "burning blizzard." What's a vaguely synonymistic (I love coining new words) way of saying "burning blizzard?" Why, that would be "Emerald Frost," if you assume that acid is always green in color and that acid burns.

We might see traditions (such as emerald frost) appear in an arcane splat. I think we're just seeing the tip of the iceberg in the PHB. In many ways the PHB looks like a teaser for future books, in that it has just the bare minimum of material to play through 30 levels.

 

[ObsidianCrane]

Astral Fire is a power my Dragonborn Warlock quite likes.

@Will Eldritch Blast + Hellish Rebuke (Infernal Pact)
/Enc Witchfire, Dragonbreath (Fire/Con)
/Day Dread Star
2nd level Wizard MC - Scorching Ray (Another Fire Encounter power) and Ethereal Stride

After that you pretty much pick as you like, as you already have 1x at will, 3x Encounter and a Daily that are Fire based attacks.

 

[NMcCoy]

The mages of the Iron Sigil, on the other hand, employ orbs to guard themselves with potent defenses when invoking spells of thunder or force

Solid Sound, clearly. The implements have obviously taken a different path at this point, but other than that all the mechanical trappings of these things are showing up as feats.