Cantrips: What's the deal? Did all the damage-dealing cantrips get taken away?
- Thread starter Tuzenbach
- Start date
EzekielRaiden
Follower of the Way
This...sort of depends on what you mean by "cantrips."
In 4e, at least (since I presume your reference to the Spellplague is meant to signify that edition), not all things that were called "Cantrips" in prior editions still exist as "cantrips". In particular, anything that dealt damage is not called "a cantrip," but many of the common utility-providing cantrips have survived into 4e. For cantrips that did do damage, you should instead look at the At-Will powers. At least one--Ray of Frost--went to the Wizard essentially unchanged, and another--Acid Splash--became the Sorcerer At-Will "Acid Orb" (I suspect; don't know for certain). All the non-combat cantrips, and some of the minimally-combative cantrips
This is, in general, in keeping with 4th edition's ethos: other than feats, in general utility resources and combat resources are fairly segregated. You can't give up your combat abilities (again, apart from feats) in order to get more utility--you just have utility, which expands both as you level (getting new utility powers) and if you choose to invest feats in it (the one resource that isn't completely segregated).
So if you want to be a Cantrip Master? Play a Wizard. They're the only class that can get "cantrips." Further, if your DM is willing, try to pick up the Wild Talent feat (from the Dark Sun Campaign Setting book)--the Wild Talent powers are very similar to cantrips, and (IIRC) you'll double your pool of "cantrip" powers, which will give you some pretty damn impressive utility.
From there, play as a Human so you get a third at-will, and you'll have something like 9 different "cantrips," three of which are at-will offensive spells (I recommend Ray of Frost, Thunderwave, and one other of your choice, possibly Beguiling Strands or Winged Horde). I don't know how to build Wizards, my interests have focused elsewhere, but I would be very surprised if there aren't feats that improve your cantrips substantially.
As an alternative, you could also consider the Psion class. Although it's not a Wizard, and thus might not tickle the right aesthetic senses, it is a Power Point based class, and thus in a certain sense it "only gets" At-Will spells (apart from utilities), which you can then spend Power Points on to improve. This coupled with the Wild Talent feat would probably give you enough "cantrip-like" (e.g. at-will) powers to make you feel like someone who has become the ultimate master of the "little spells" and can thus expand them up into "big" spells when you need them. The Human Wizard with Wild Talent will have more actual "cantrips" and about as many offensive cantrips as you could have in 3e, but the Psion might mechanically fit the "only at-wills" better.
In 4e, at least (since I presume your reference to the Spellplague is meant to signify that edition), not all things that were called "Cantrips" in prior editions still exist as "cantrips". In particular, anything that dealt damage is not called "a cantrip," but many of the common utility-providing cantrips have survived into 4e. For cantrips that did do damage, you should instead look at the At-Will powers. At least one--Ray of Frost--went to the Wizard essentially unchanged, and another--Acid Splash--became the Sorcerer At-Will "Acid Orb" (I suspect; don't know for certain). All the non-combat cantrips, and some of the minimally-combative cantrips
This is, in general, in keeping with 4th edition's ethos: other than feats, in general utility resources and combat resources are fairly segregated. You can't give up your combat abilities (again, apart from feats) in order to get more utility--you just have utility, which expands both as you level (getting new utility powers) and if you choose to invest feats in it (the one resource that isn't completely segregated).
So if you want to be a Cantrip Master? Play a Wizard. They're the only class that can get "cantrips." Further, if your DM is willing, try to pick up the Wild Talent feat (from the Dark Sun Campaign Setting book)--the Wild Talent powers are very similar to cantrips, and (IIRC) you'll double your pool of "cantrip" powers, which will give you some pretty damn impressive utility.
From there, play as a Human so you get a third at-will, and you'll have something like 9 different "cantrips," three of which are at-will offensive spells (I recommend Ray of Frost, Thunderwave, and one other of your choice, possibly Beguiling Strands or Winged Horde). I don't know how to build Wizards, my interests have focused elsewhere, but I would be very surprised if there aren't feats that improve your cantrips substantially.
As an alternative, you could also consider the Psion class. Although it's not a Wizard, and thus might not tickle the right aesthetic senses, it is a Power Point based class, and thus in a certain sense it "only gets" At-Will spells (apart from utilities), which you can then spend Power Points on to improve. This coupled with the Wild Talent feat would probably give you enough "cantrip-like" (e.g. at-will) powers to make you feel like someone who has become the ultimate master of the "little spells" and can thus expand them up into "big" spells when you need them. The Human Wizard with Wild Talent will have more actual "cantrips" and about as many offensive cantrips as you could have in 3e, but the Psion might mechanically fit the "only at-wills" better.
