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Message: <blockquote data-quote="keterys" data-source="post: 5148738" data-attributes="member: 43019">And the damage dealers they have hit more often. -2 to defenses is a big deal. For example, let's consider an 8th level party for a moment. Let's say it's a party of five with a Str paladin (1d10+11 Holy Strike), Invoker (1d8+8 Sun Strike), Sorcerer (1d10+14 Chaos Bolt), and Rogue (1d4+2d8+11 Sly Flourish).Cleric Sacred Flame damage: 1d6 + 8 (avg 11.5)So, if they've got a 50% chance to hit (cause it makes the math easy), the entire rest of the party's avg damage is (16.5+12.5+19.5+22.5 = 71), and Astral Seal boosts their chance to hit by 20% (50% hit to 60% hit), as if the cleric had done an attack that dealt 14.2 damage.So, Astral Seal just did more damage than Sacred Flame, in that instance.It also has +2 attack over Sacred Flame, so is more likely to hit. And if you do it multiple rounds in a row, you end up needing 4 less on the die to hit (-2 def plus +2 attack) which makes it a lot easier to maintain.If you've got people using encounter powers or action points, or anything else that is going to deal more than their at-will damage, then it's even more compellingly in Astral Seal's favor.And that's all while ignoring the amount of healing it gives, which is a very big deal. The 8th level kalashtar pacifist cleric I grouped with yesterday in a party similar to that one healed _15_ with his Astral Seal. My invoker had 50 hp, so yeah, that's pretty serious.I'd be less worried about Astral Seal at epic, but it's bad enough at heroic that it's worth talking about.Anyhow, just wanted to point out that trying to come to its defense because it doesn't do damage is, perhaps, not really considering that the healing is just one part of what the power actually does, and that in a lot of parties it does _more_ damage than other options. In fact, its damage potential grows with level much like its healing potential decreases.</blockquote>

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