Re-balancing wizard at-wills

[Destil]

I've been giving this some serious consideration since Winged Horde hit. Consider it a though experiment for now, the PHB wizard is easily the weakest bit of 4E class design (they're not bad, but controllers on a whole have weaker mechanical hooks than any other roll, thank you wizard). And while their dailies are amount the best and their encounters are often good, their at wills are all over the place. So what would we do with them if we wanted them to be all a bit more balanced against each other and other controller classes? I'm also going to create some new at-wills to try and round the class out a little. Yes, they have more at wills than several other classes combined, but they also are the only class with 4 substats, and only one is supported by their current selection.

Note that I consider F/R/W to be equal defenses and worth a -2 or -3 bonus to hit vs. AC, depending on the damage die.

Illusory Ambush
Thoughts
Fine as is. I personally think this is the best single target at will in the game for any controller class.

Phantom Bolt
Thoughts
This is a bit weaker than ambush on a whole, but still a serviceable at-will that I can't argue for changing.

Storm Pillar
Thoughts
Storm Pillar is unique and interesting. It has (stupid) rules issues that I won't address here, as they're issues with the system and not the power. Another fine power as written. It's the only dual-energy at-will, but since it doesn't roll to attack the energy type boosters generally can't be abused.

Nightmare Eruption
No change.
Thoughts
This is one of the best powers for minion clearing, even if you don't accept the Will is the worst defense argument (I don't). Psychic is the best energy type since it has a great feat and you can't add it with Admixture (i.e. you have to get it from the type line. This makes psychic an advantage vs. other power types at paragon and epic), and the only thing that makes this power balanced is the inability to trigger psychic lock on the secondary targets. Illusionists lack an at-will Charisma kicker power, and the secondary damage here is an appealing candidate, but for now I've changed overpowered winged horde instead.

Chilling Cloud
Thoughts
And here we have the best minion clearer. This one is most likely okay, cold is a good damage type but no dice really neuters a power.

Cloud of Daggers
Change the damage from the hit effect to Int modifier instead of Wis modifier.
Thoughts
A fine power I think many people underrate next to Storm Pillar. Since Thunderwave is fantastic I can't imagine any wizard not taking it if they have a Wis bonus, switching this to Int makes it slightly more powerful but also opens up the option of non-wisdom wizards taking it, which I think wouldn't be horridly unbalanced.

Magic Missile
You launch silvery bolts of force at your enemies.
At-Will ✦ Arcane, Force, Implement
Standard Action Ranged 10
Target: One or two creatures
21st level: One, two or three creatures.
Attack: Intelligence vs. Reflex
Hit: 1d4 + Intelligence modifier force damage, or 2d4 + Intelligence modifier force damage if you target a single creature.
21st level: 1d4 + Intelligence modifier force damage, or 2d4 + Intelligence modifier if targeting two creatures, or 4d4 + Intelligence modifier if targeting a single creature.

Special: This power counts as a ranged basic attack when targeting a single creature.
Thoughts
Magic Missile should be the premiere damage dealing at will in the game for a controller, to respect both the history of the spell in the game and the no-frills nature of the power. This version is much closer in design to the pre 4E version of the spell. However, it still doesn't outdo Hand of Radiance within Hand's niche. The reason the split version can't be a basic is a simple rules issue (I don't want to deal with odd corner cases of granting basic ranged attacks against a specific target letting you hit other targets).

Ray of Frost
Ranged 10 + Dexterity Bonus
Hit: 1d6 + Intelligence modifier cold damage, and the target is slowed until the end of your next turn. A slowed or immobilized target takes additional cold damage equal to your Dexterity modifier.
Thoughts
The big argument against this one the poor range (slow isn't that great for screwing someone over unless they're very far away). I think it fits in with the sort of power that a wand wizard would want, and with MM being down to range 10 this is your best long-range option now. Cold wizards excel at stacking on the slow/immobilize effects, so the added damage should be fairly reliable and also right in line with what a wand wizard wants to do. As rewritten this is a pretty potent power, maybe too much?

Scorching Burst
Hit: 1d6 + Int modifier fire damage and you push the target 1 square away from the origin square of the burst.
Thoughts
This should be the go-to area at-will for a wizard. However it compares poorly to most other good area powers. Adding a weak push element makes it an interesting option, but will often go against what the wizard wants to do with the power. I'd be interested in this version, but would anyone else? Should it just be 1d8?

Thunderwave
Thoughts
An iconic 4E power and I don't think it needs any changes.

Winged Horde Wizard Attack 1
A horde of flesh-devouring sprites appear in your foes’ minds. They shriek in fear and swat at this menace, leaving them unable to react to your allies’ maneuvers.
At-Will ✦ Arcane, Implement, Psychic, Illusion
Standard Action Area burst 1 within 10
Target: Each creature in burst
Attack: Intelligence vs. Will
Hit: 1d4 + intelligence modifier psychic damage, and the target takes a penalty to take opportunity attacks equal to your Charisma modifier until the end of your next turn
Level 21: 1d4 + implement psychic damage.
Thoughts
This one is pretty overpowered in my book as written. Psychic is a big power boost, allies only is a big power boost, entirely shutting down opportunity attacks is good and it should really be an illusion from the flavor text. So I added the keyword, then nerfed it to hell and got my Cha kicker to boot.

Shocking Grasp Arcane, Implement, Lightning
Standard Action ✦ Melee Touch
Target: One Creature
Attack: Intelligence vs. Reflex
Hit: 1d10 + Intelligence modifier lightning damage. If the target ends their turn adjacent to you they take lightning damage equal to Constitution modifier + your implement bonus.
Level 21: 2d10+ Intelligence modifier lighting damage.
Thoughts
My new one. Both types of staff wizards should like this: The ones who like to be in melee get extra damage out of the possibility, the ones who just want to be safe have a nice deterrent to get monsters away from them. How's the power level look?

 

[Stalker0]

A few thoughts:

1) Scorching burst is fine as is. Its a great minion killer, and solid overall damage dealer. Every wizard I have seen (4 so far) has taken it and never complained.

2) Ray of Frost:I really like your idea here. Gives dex an at will, and makes the power more solid overall.

One other idea for this power: On a crit, it immobilizes the target.

3) Magic Missile: While you've added damage, damage is not what magic missile is about. It wasn't in 3e either, if I wanted damage I would use burning hands or some other area effect. Magic Missile was about the autohit.

You might consider just giving magic missile +2 to attack rolls, for the old school "autohit" feel. I also don't think it needs to lose its range.

 

[Turtlejay]

I agree with Stalker0 on the autohit. Sure, at higher levels you could throw out a bunch of missiles, but the main benefit was that you could ignore making an iffy ranged touch attack. Maybe nerf the range, to keep your ray of frost as prime there, but add a +2 to hit.

Shocking Grasp needs to come back. That was a great spell for multiclassed and gestalt characters who had a higher BAB and could hit reliably. I see your version as another good one for paragon multiclassed and hybrid wizards, it gives them a good flavorful option that could fit the arcane warrior type. The only thing I'm iffy on is the die roll for the secondary effect. Adding die rolls like this can slow things down, especially since it will not be on the player's turn. Make it simple, with just like Int mod damage, or some variant on that.

Jay

 

[Destil]

The weird thing about magic missiles is that while you could split the missiles between targets before, there was really only one very rare reason to do so (popping mirror images). In 4E with minions, however, it's a really handy feature to have. +2 to hit isn't a bad idea if you want it to be accurate...

Scorching Burst needs some minor power up, because if nothing else it really cramps the design space for any other wizard power. I'm liking the push 1 more the more I think about it, it gives wizards without a Wis bonus a push option at-will.

I'm more worried about complexity issues with Ray of Frost at this point than anything. Immobilize on a crit would be cool, but it wouldn't really reward you unless you spammed it all fight, it also would be a reasonable cold-related feat, I think (not that cold don't have good feat support already). EDIT: I changed the extra damage to be part of the hit instead of the effect, which is a lot less likely to be overpowered.

I switched how shocking grasp worked to make it less of a pain in the ass, while still letting it scale (it was still simpler than Riposte Strike, though). Not a bad idea.

 

[Nifft]

Wizards currently have too many at-will powers. Why is this so? It's because the first batch sucked (except Thunderwave). So, let's do some pruning as we do some improving.

Here's my idea of a re-write:

Thunderwave: It doesn't suck. Keep as written.

Cloud of Daggers: Too much Wisdom emphasis (if we leave Thunderwave alone), so the auto-damage is equal to your Dex or Wis bonus, whichever is higher. You're welcome, Wand Guy.

Magic Missile: Has too much feat support, so eliminate some of those (like Reaper's Touch). Also remove the Dragon power that allows you to cast this as a Minor action. Then we can allow it to target multiple critters. I'll appropriate an Avenger mechanic to emulate the old-school autohit feel.
At-Will • Arcane, Force, Implement
Standard • Ranged 20
Target: One or two critters
21st level: One, two or three critters
Attack: Intelligence vs. Reflex
Hit: 1d4 + Intelligence modifier force damage, or 2d4 + Intelligence modifier force damage if you target a single critter.
21st level: 2d4 + Intelligence modifier force damage, or 4d4 + Intelligence modifier if targeting a single critter.
Special: If targeting a single critter, you may roll your attack twice and use the higher value. At 21st level, you may roll thrice instead.

Chilling Cloud: Needs a total re-write. Flat-damage powers suck. I'm going to make it a low-damage area attack -- which both makes it weaker than the corresponding Fire area power and makes it slightly more party-friendly -- and give it an enemy-only rider effect. Also, I'm going to feed it the diseased carcass of Ray of Frost, which sucked too much to bother re-writing.
At-Will • Arcane, Force, Implement, Zone
Standard • Area burst 1 within 10
Target: All critters in burst
Attack: Intelligence vs. Fortitude
Hit: 1d6 cold damage
Effect: The burst creates a zone of frost that lasts until the end of your next turn. Any enemy who starts its turn in or enters the zone is Slowed until the end of its turn.

Scorching Burst: Needs a rider effect. I'm going to feed it the carcass of Winged Horde. Consider renaming this one "Scorching Flare" to highlight the Illusion debuff aspect.
At-Will • Arcane, Force, Illusion, Implement
Standard • Area burst 1 within 10
Target: All critters in burst
Attack: Intelligence vs. Will
Hit: 1d6 + Int fire damage
Effect: All enemies in the burst suffer a penalty to Opportunity Actions equal to your Cha bonus or your Dex bonus, whichever is higher.

- - -

That's the five "core" powers re-written. I like some of the new ones, though, so here's my take on them.

Illusory Ambush: A good power as written. Having only one Psychic at-will is fine, and making it single-target is fine too.

Storm Pillar: This is an example of a decent idea for a power which was exploitable as written, and then got nerfed wrong. It needs a re-write which nerfs it differently. IMHO, it ought to be able to punish an interloper even if that interloper is pushed or slid by someone else -- teamwork is good -- and there's a great mechanic for limiting that teamwork, called Opportunity Actions.
At-Will • Arcane, Conjuration, Implement, Lightning
Standard • Ranged 10
Effect: You conjure a pillar of crackling energy in an unoccupied square within range. The pillar occupies 1 square and lasts until the end of your next turn. The pillar can flank with your allies, and can make the following opportunity attack.
- Opportunity Attack: Melee 1; targets one creature; Intelligence vs. Reflex; 1d8 + Intelligence modifier lightning damage.

... and a brand-new one, because Necromancy is cool (and to replace the idea of Shocking Grasp, since we already have Storm Pillar on the table):

Ghoul Touch
At-Will •Arcane, Fear, Implement, Necrotic
Standard • Melee touch
Target: One critter
Attack: Int vs. Will
Hit: 1d10 + Int necrotic damage, and all enemies adjacent to you suffer a -2 penalty to attack rolls until the end of your next turn.
Increase damage to 2d10 + Int at 21st level.

- - -

That gives us 8 strong powers, with very little keyword overlap. (Chilling Cloud may be too strong... hmm.)

Cheers, -- N

 

[Stalker0]

Chilling Cloud: Needs a total re-write. Flat-damage powers suck. I'm going to make it a low-damage area attack -- which both makes it weaker than the corresponding Fire area power and makes it slightly more party-friendly -- and give it an enemy-only rider effect. Also, I'm going to feed it the diseased carcass of Ray of Frost, which sucked too much to bother re-writing.
At-Will • Arcane, Force, Implement, Zone
Standard • Area burst 1 within 10
Target: All critters in burst
Attack: Intelligence vs. Fortitude
Hit: 1d6 cold damage
Effect: The burst creates a zone of frost that lasts until the end of your next turn. Any enemy who starts its turn in or enters the zone is Slowed until the end of its turn.

I would drop the to hit and damage entirely. Just make it an effect. The autoslow is already solid, and without damage you can't use enlarge spell on it...which greatly increases its power. That way there's no major overlap with scorching burst.

 

[Nifft]

I would drop the to hit and damage entirely. Just make it an effect. The autoslow is already solid, and without damage you can't use enlarge spell on it...which greatly increases its power. That way there's no major overlap with scorching burst.

Hmm. Even without damage, you can Admixture Thunder to any Burst or Blast, and increase the area that way. (That's my favorite at-will cheese.)

Perhaps going the opposite direction, and giving the Wizard a secondary Opportunity attack on every critter who starts in or enters the Zone? Then it's weaker than a flat-out YOU ARE SLOW effect, but allows "smart targeting".

What do you think of that?

Cheers, -- N

 

[Stalker0]

Hmm. Even without damage, you can Admixture Thunder to any Burst or Blast, and increase the area that way. (That's my favorite at-will cheese.)

Perhaps going the opposite direction, and giving the Wizard a secondary Opportunity attack on every critter who starts in or enters the Zone? Then it's weaker than a flat-out YOU ARE SLOW effect, but allows "smart targeting".

What do you think of that?

Cheers, -- N

An interesting idea. However, I suggest you fork to a new thread. I don't want to continue to give feedback on another person's houserules when the OP would like feedback on his.

 

[Nifft]

An interesting idea. However, I suggest you fork to a new thread. I don't want to continue to give feedback on another person's houserules when the OP would like feedback on his.

D'oh! (Actually, I'm pretty okay with Wizard powers. They get amazing Daily spells which IMHO make up for their lackluster at-wills, in contrast to the Invoker, who has great at-wills but lackluster Daily powers. So I don't feel a great need to houserule them at all -- these buffs are not really useful for any game I'd play. So I'll just drop it.)

@ Destil: my primary suggestion is to distill the power list to about eight. Loot several that suck to create a few that don't suck. Reduce the number of Psychic powers -- seriously, they don't need four Psychic powers. They're not Psions.

Cheers, -- N

 

[Destil]

Oh, I don't mind other re-writes here. There are indeed far too many illusion/psychic powers out there, and I wasn't planning on using these in game anyway (it's more a thought experiment).

When I first read the 4E PHB and looked over the powers I thought at-wills were going to be fairly rare and well focused and defined, but like a lot of things they're getting to the point with too much overlap and too many similar concepts. Dropping the list to a core of 6 with 2-3 auxiliary ones would be good.

Actually, looking over the list and thinking about earlier editions, it's surprising there's nothing good for a transmutation wizard, since that was such a huge bloated school (and it's criminal that Stone to Mud isn't a cool paragon tier daily). Abjuration is entirely gone (well, it was a buffing school). It's really all evocation and illusion, not even a good conjuration...