Please rate Energy Substitution

[smetzger]

How do you figure that? Even sonic waves that are so high pitched you can't hear them still come from sound, which travels in waves, i.e. soundwaves.

SRD

SONIC ATTACKS
...Stopping one’s ears ahead of time allows opponents to avoid having to make saving throws against mind-affecting sonic attacks, but not other kinds of sonic attacks (such as those that inflict damage). Stopping one’s ears is a full-round action and requires wax or other soundproof material to stuff into the ears.

So, you still take damage from a Sonic attack even if you can't hear it.

Shout specifically says that Silence protects you from it, but the other Sonic spells make no such mention.

 

[Destil]

Ack! Silence vs. Sonic damage! Here we go again...


Anyway, I like the idea, don't care too much for some related aspects (Acid == Earth?!?! WTF? Cold == Water is a serious pet peeve of mine, but at least makes some sort of stupid sense...) and have no problem with the feat, having added the nessessery creatures with sonic resistance and immunity to my game.

 

[Merlion]

It's a too-good feat, IMO.

Sonic "fireballs" all the way, baby. Virtually nothing is immune/resistant to sonic damage. A spellcaster would have to be nuts not to take this feat if they have any elemental damage spells.

No he would not have to be nuts. he would just have to not want to take the feat for any of a thousand reasons.
As to the silence thing...yes you still take damage from sonic spells you cant HEAR because you've stopped your ears etc...but since magical silence excludes all sound I dont see how a sonic attack could function within its area.

 

[guido1999]

That only says that stopping one ears does not prevent sonic damage. The silence spell is a little more than stopping your ears. So, until you can show me where it says silence does not stop sonic damage, I'll still assume it does.

 

[Ridley's Cohort]

Celebrim,

I think we just see the same coin from opposite sides.

It is not obvious to me that ES Sonic is completely superior to other choices. It is a good plan for a wizard, but a sorceror could do well enough with, say, Fire base spells and spontaneously swap over to Cold as needed. Not great against demons/devils or other outsiders, but it gives you a decent chance to find an energy vulnerability in a creature resident to the Prime. At higher levels I would rarely bother with direct damage unless I thought I could hit a vulnerability.