Blazing Starfall

[Mengu]

The Sorcerer's schtick seems to be hitting multiple targets with pseudo striker-like damage, so it's supposed to be a hybrid striker/controller. I get that out of PHB2 (Burning Spray, Chaos Bolt, etc). But looking at this power which adds a potentially damaging control effect to an at-will power, I can't help but think wizards with scorching burst are going to go home crying, looking at the damage this thing can do.

But wait, there is more, it creates a zone even if you miss everything in it, so your 3x3 damaging control effect is still in play, essentially pinning any minions to the zone, and still doing damage to non-minions that get out of the zone.

To add insult to injury, radiant is a superior damage type, compared to fire from scorchig burst because of all the vulnerable undead.

I know a few wizards who wouldn't mind having this kind of control as an encounter power. All this time, I thought scorching burst was one of the better at-will's for simultaneously clearing out minions and doing a bit of damage to non-minions. Did they miss the mark that far when they designed scorching burst?

Or in Arcane Power are we going to see wizard at-wills that are more even effective than Blazing Starfall, essentially making scorching burst obsolete?

 

[UngeheuerLich]

The should have put an updated scorching burst in the PHB 2 just for good measure...

 

[DracoSuave]

While I'm reluctant to comment on what Blazing Starfall does, exactly, comparing Sorcerers to Wizards is like comparing Barbarians to Fighters.

Howling Strike is a 1[W]+1d6+Strength attack at heroic, fighters only get 1[W]+Strength, usually.
Heck, compare Dual Strike with Twin Strike off of rangers.

Striker at-will powers, even considering damage adds from features, tend to more damage than other classes' powers, or have the same damage but a better feature to it. That's by design. Scorching Burst isn't really comparable to striker powers, but it's more appropriate to compare them to controller powers.

Granted, giving sorcerers an Area attack would be breaking the unwritten 'rules' a bit, until now, only controllers had Area at-wills. But Sorcerers ARE AoE specialists, so it's not unusual.

 

[Iron Sky]

Where is this power at?

 

[Mengu]

comparing Sorcerers to Wizards is like comparing Barbarians to Fighters.

I'm not really comparing classes, I'm comparing powers. But you are sort of right. It is much like comparing Brash Strike to Devastating Strike. At heroic levels, it's debatable who will win the damage race between the Barbarian and the Battlerager.

In the case of Scorching Burst vs Blazing Starfall, let's take a look at what the PHB says about controllers:

Controller (Wizard)
Controllers deal with large numbers of enemies at the same time. They favor offense over defense, using powers that deal damage to multiple foes at once, as well as subtler powers that weaken, confuse, or delay their foes.​

Now let's look at the striker role:

Striker (Ranger, Rogue, Warlock)
Strikers specialize in dealing high amounts of damage to a single target at a time. They have the most concentrated offense of any character in the game. Strikers rely on superior mobility, trickery, or magic to move around tough foes and single out the enemy they want to attack.​

My problem is, Blazing Starfall is not only encroaching on controller's design space, it's invading and taking over. You're doing high amounts of damage, to multiple targets, and possibly delaying some of them if they don't feel like taking some fire damage.

Where is this power at?

Arcane Power preview: Arcane Power Excerpts: Cosmic Magic

 

[Wepwawet]

At least the damage is in d4's.
I think it's the first power I see that uses d4's

 

[NMcCoy]

I fully expect to see some "fighting style" feats in Arcane Power, which will hopefully buff the controller angle of Wizard powers considerably. It does feel to me that this power steps pretty heavily on the Wizard's toes - remember, we're supposed to be able to get the feel of a character's role purely from class features and at-will powers, and this is a much more controllery power than Scorching Burst in pretty much every way: Scorching Burst's worth is that it's a rare at-will Area attack, but Blazing Starfall matches it, has a better damage type, and controls enemy behavior in a way that Scorching Burst doesn't.

I forsee this being a very popular Dilletante power, too.

 

[Saeviomagy]

At least the damage is in d4's.
I think it's the first power I see that uses d4's

The problem is that it's d4 + cha + str or d4 + cha + dex for any of the types of sorceror.

d4 is only 1 point of damage behind d6. d4 + dex/str is likely to be a couple of points ahead of it.

Then add a potent controller effect to it, and it's significantly better (for a controller role) than scorching burst, and in a general sense (ie - ignoring specific "I want to push people" scenarios) thunderwave, both signature controller powers.

 

[mlund]

Yes, this definitely breaks the original design documentation we were given on Strikers vs. Controllers. It is also outright better in every way than Scorching Burst. Of course, Scorching Burst is also a terrible power that needs to be replaced, but that's besides the point.

Range 10, Burst 1 w/ 1d6+IntMod vs. Range 10, Burst 1 w/1d4+ChaMod+StrMod and an additional StrMod damage to anyone leaving the area until your next EOT?

That comparison isn't anywhere close to right.

Frankly, laying down that much Area Damage at Range is probably out of bounds entirely for the Sorcerer. Burning Spray was bad enough, but at least if was Close Blast 3.

This power should only target a single square like Cloud of Daggers does - not a burst that ends up 3 square x 3 square.

- Marty Lund

 

[Byronic]

Of course, Scorching Burst is also a terrible power that needs to be replaced, but that's besides the point.

Hmm, here's something for the history buffs. But wasn't Scorching Burst well likes when 4th edition first came out?