Is Scorching Ray Too Good?

[AuraSeer]

The short range has been a big handicap for the wizard IMC. If he's close enough to fire a scorching ray, that puts him well within charge range. And at the levels where this spell is worth casting, he's still so fragile that any threat of physical combat is Very Bad News.

An enemy who's already preoccupied in melee won't likely charge the caster, but firing the ray into melee means -4 to hit and a chance of frying another PC, which wouldn't exactly be a useful outcome.

 

[Thanee]

Good point. I'm finally seeing a reason to set a time limit on those polls, so the results don't slide around indefinitely afterwards.

Though, more votes equal higher accuracy.

Bye
Thanee

 

[rrealm]

I have always been on the recieving end of SR and I don't find it to be overbalancing. Powerful yes, but not worthy of bumping it to third level. Since the caster has to contend with concealment and cover, they don't hit often. Many times they have allies that are in front of them engaging me and they don't want to risk wounding them. For those that have a clear line of sight from them to me, I usually have a clear path to charge them.

 

[Astalanya]

Lots of responses! Wow, thank you. I've seen acid arrow put to good use, but it seems scorching ray just keeps on smacking over and over again. Though I see the points here. Thank you!

 

[Elder-Basilisk]

I think scorching ray is often overrated. It is a very good spell... but not until 7th level when you get a 2nd ray. At levels 3-6, it's pretty marginal. The touch attack is still difficult unless you're specialized in touch attacks (point blank and precise shot, etc--otherwise your typical 3rd level wizard with 14 dex is shooting at -1 (BAB +1, Dex +2, -4 shooting into melee) at AC 11 or 12 touch--15 or 16 if there's cover). And the damage is not so much better than other options (Flaming Sphere or acid arrow) as to be conclusive. The big advantage of scorching ray is the way it scales and thus retains its usefulness at high levels (though, my experience playing at 12th-14th level and using quickened scorching rays is that it only works about half the time; the other half my target has energy resistance or spell resistance--both of which shut it down pretty effectively).

 

[Ridley's Cohort]

The modest range means the typical wizard will not get many clean shots. Shooting into melee and/or over the shoulders of his ally will cause a lot of misses.

I am playing an 11th level wizard in a converted G2. The damage potential against Frost Giants looks very impressive for a 2nd level spell, but it is not a stand out compared to my other options in our very short & violent combats.

 

[Rel]

DM: "OK, initiative count 16-that's Bart. What do you do?"
Me: "Well, first I'll roll damage for the acid arrow still going from last round ... five points."
DM: "Got it. So ..."
Me: "Wait, then there's the one from the round before ... four more points."
DM: "Um ..."
Me: "And the one from the first round of combat ... six points."
DM: "Wait, isn't that one expired?"
Me: "No, that one was extended-it still has another round left. OK, so for this round ... What the heck. I cast acid arrow!"
DM: ")*#@$&"
Another player: "Isn't that thing dead yet?"
Me: "Yes, it is. It just hasn't stopped moving yet."

*Evil Grin*

Christian, when the ENWorlders at the upcoming North Carolina Game Day start to hate on me, I'm gonna' say, "Don't hate me. Hate Christian. He's the evil genius that came up with the Acid Arrow/Extend gambit."

 

[Christian]

Wish I could take credit, but I got the idea from someone else here, a long time back. I can confirm that it works in practice, though. Especially when the DM thinks that a troll with a bunch of fighter levels will be a tough opponent for your party, and your sorcerer has a whole bunch of unused second & third-level spell slots.

 

[dcollins]

Though, more votes equal higher accuracy.

Actually, I would presume otherwise. You want a sample a particular point in time, not months or a year later when people are responding to a different supplement environment (new classes, spells, feats, monsters), or making new accounts and forgetting they voted before, etc.

 

[Felix]

This thread has convinced my 10th level wizard to pick up Acid Arrow at the next chance, and to leave Scorching Ray alone. And with my Rod of Extend Spell... Heh heh heh.