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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Hawken" data-source="post: 4523169" data-attributes="member: 23619">I don't mean to sound harsh, but go back to the drawing board on this one. An easy example of brokenness for your eldritch jolt is the following character:Drow Fighter 12/Ranger 5/Wizard 1/Frenzied Berserker 2 20th level character. Str 14 Dex 23 Con 12 Int 30 Wis 10 Cha 12He takes Greater Weapon Focus, Greater Weapon Specialization, Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Far Shot, Shot on the Run, Improved Precise Shot, Two Weapon Fighting, Improved Two Weapon Fighting, and Greater Two Weapon Fighting among other feats. As a Ranger, he gets Rapid Shot and has a damage bonus to a Favored Enemy at +4 and another at +2. As a Frenzied Berserker, he gets an extra attack per round and Supreme Cleave, so he can not only keep attacking as long as he kills, but he can take a 5' step each time a foe drops.With his Intelligence, this means he is doing 1d4+19 or 1d4+17 to Favored Enemies and 1d4+15 to all others. Since this is an attack, he can take a full attack atBAB: +28/+23/+18/+13 normally or +26/+26/+21/+16/+11 w/rapid shot+26/+26/+21/+21/+16/+16/+11 with two weapon fighting+24/+24/+24/+21/+21/+14/+14/+9 w/2 weap fighting & rapid shot+24/+24/+24/+24/+21/+21/+14/+14/+9 w/2 weap & rap shot & frenzyPrecise Shot feats prevents accidents and negates all but total cover/concealmentFar Shot increases the range increment from 10' to 15' and the max from 20' to 30'. Shot on the Run lets him move both before and after the attack, so he can move into range, fire, and then fall back to safety. That's a potential 9 attacks doing a total of 9d4+135 (at the least) or 9d4+171 to a Favored Enemy! Get a magic item with Haste on it and you've got 10 attacks! Go Epic and pick up Perfect Two Weapon Fighting for an 11th attack, more feats that deal much more damage and the Distant Shot feat that lets you make a ranged attack on any target in sight! At that point, you basically double your damage output and can now hit any target you have line of sight with!And that's damage that cannot be blocked, resisted, reduced, saved against or mitigated in any form or fashion. And that's just in 1 round of full attacks! Even at 20th level, not too many creatures can stand up to that kind of punishment for more than maybe 2-3 rounds.Yes, its an extreme example but it seems that it is necessary for you to see how wrong that power is. If you want to give arcane casters a magical attack, you need to limit it. Arcane casters have limits to their magic. Warriors don't have limits to the attacks they can do in a day, but they can't do a fraction of what a caster can do with their spells, they require a weapon (or a certain weapon), plus their attacks can be mitigated or negated. Some good guidelines would be:* Damage 1d6 + Int. Critical is 20/X2. Does not provoke AoO.* Only 1 bolt per round, as a standard action--NOT as an attack. * Since it is basically an Evocation effect, an energy type must be selected (fire, lightning, cold, acid). If Force (ala Magic Missile) or Sonic are selected as energy types, reduce the damage to 1d4 + Int. * Energy Resistance works against the energy types. Brooches of Shielding and Shield spells work against Force damage.* Ranged touch attack roll to hit the target. Since an attack roll is required, there is no saving throw.* Maximum range of 30', no range increments.* It is a magical effect, not a spell, so Spell Resistance would not negate the bolt completely. However, if the target has SR, they would get a Will save (DC = 10 + 1/2 caster level + Int mod) to take 1/2 damage.* Caster can shoot an Eldritch Bolt a number of times per day equal to 3 + Int modifier + 1/2 caster level. * Not considered an unarmed attack, so Fighter feats would not apply to this attack.* Can be used while grappling. If target is pinned, make a melee touch attack. If not pinned, make a regular melee attack.</blockquote>

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