Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="KarinsDad" data-source="post: 4405890" data-attributes="member: 2011">Assuming the Wizard wins initiative over the foes, that he gets 5 foes in an area, and he knows that Sleep is best used in this encounter:With a 60% chance to hit, it hits 3 foes out of 5 on average.Each of these save 55% of the time, so typically, the Wizard Slows 3 and makes 1 of these 3 unconcious (1.35 unconscious guys to be precise on average). That one comes out of unconsciousness typically within 2 more rounds.So, 2 guys are slowed for 1 round and 1 guy is slowed for 1 round and then unconscious for 2 rounds. That's 2 to 5 actions that the Wizard has stopped (note: Slowed foes can still Charge 4 squares or use ranged attacks, so Slow might not do much of anything except against the unconscious guy).If he uses an Orb, he increases the one foe's unconsciousness by some factor, but it isn't much until level 11 and Spell Focus (typically less than half of the encounters before that level).Compare this to surprising the foes. The PCs get 5 ranged attacks (if they have them) versus 0 from the foes.More or less, surprise is often better than Sleep without an Orb and probably close to equal to Sleep with an Orb (except unless the Orb user catches a Leader or Solo or something).I think Sleep is overrated. It allows the PCs to finish an encounter about a round early (effectively stopping enemy attacks for one round on average) and saves the resources accordingly. But, it gives up a daily to save one rounds worth of healing surges and dailies (i.e. the average number of these used in a round).Against a solo, Sleep is better due to the coup de grace factor, but then again, solos tend to have good Defenses and good save boosts.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="KarinsDad, post: 4405890, member: 2011"] Assuming the Wizard wins initiative over the foes, that he gets 5 foes in an area, and he knows that Sleep is best used in this encounter: With a 60% chance to hit, it hits 3 foes out of 5 on average. Each of these save 55% of the time, so typically, the Wizard Slows 3 and makes 1 of these 3 unconcious (1.35 unconscious guys to be precise on average). That one comes out of unconsciousness typically within 2 more rounds. So, 2 guys are slowed for 1 round and 1 guy is slowed for 1 round and then unconscious for 2 rounds. That's 2 to 5 actions that the Wizard has stopped (note: Slowed foes can still Charge 4 squares or use ranged attacks, so Slow might not do much of anything except against the unconscious guy). If he uses an Orb, he increases the one foe's unconsciousness by some factor, but it isn't much until level 11 and Spell Focus (typically less than half of the encounters before that level). Compare this to surprising the foes. The PCs get 5 ranged attacks (if they have them) versus 0 from the foes. More or less, surprise is often better than Sleep without an Orb and probably close to equal to Sleep with an Orb (except unless the Orb user catches a Leader or Solo or something). I think Sleep is overrated. It allows the PCs to finish an encounter about a round early (effectively stopping enemy attacks for one round on average) and saves the resources accordingly. But, it gives up a daily to save one rounds worth of healing surges and dailies (i.e. the average number of these used in a round). Against a solo, Sleep is better due to the coup de grace factor, but then again, solos tend to have good Defenses and good save boosts. [/QUOTE]

Verification