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Message: <blockquote data-quote="gnfnrf" data-source="post: 3523355" data-attributes="member: 2373">In my quest to avoid being productive, I have run a bunch more data.I now have 49 encounters from EttDP, though just before the finale.  For various reasons I won't discuss to avoid spoilers, I don't think I can get good data from the finale itself.I also tweaked where the level jumps are; instead of doing it by eye, I actually calculated experience for a four character party by encounter.With no metamagic, the comparison stands at Fireball/Lightning Bolt - Preferred in 22 encountersEnergy Orb - Preferred in 20 encountersMixed - 3 encountersEven - 4 encountersEmpowering each spell at the first available lever (as a wizard)Fireball/Lightning Bolt - Preferred in 27 encountersEnergy Orb - Preferred in 15 encountersMixed - 4 encountersEven - 3 encountersJames, I'm afraid that your idea makes assumptions that don't fit well with the expected damage model I'm using.  I think you'd find that even with the orbs, it's very difficult to kill a foe outright, and little damage will be wasted on the first casting of the fight.  But, I don't have hard numbers to back that up.I'm interested in using what I've prepared to test other things.  Next, I might compare magic missile to the lesser orbs and see what comes up.--gnfnrf</blockquote>