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Message: <blockquote data-quote="KarinsDad" data-source="post: 3251726" data-attributes="member: 2011">True. But, we are discussing creating Nova characters.Complaining that Nova characters have to take certain ability scores in order to become effective Nova characters is like complaining that a Barbarian has to take high Strength and high Constitution to become an effective Barbarian.And btw, it is good that you are discussing as opposed to other people making claims and then not even attempting to back them up with anything.But, one does not need to spend money, a feat, or make Con your best stat to consistently make DC 20 Concentration rolls. It helps, but it can be done 100% of the time by 14th level with a mere 14 CON.At lower levels, it can be done as you suggest, but Psychic Reformation can also be used a higher levels to remove any feat used to boost Concentration.You can take no damage with Overchannel by using Vigor.Two feats and one power, not three feats.Nobody made such a claim. You and I are on sync as to caster levels and manifester levels and damage caps.I agree that they have tradeoffs. I do not agree that they are "conveniently ignored".This is not much of an example. Your math is off.1) A Widened Greater Fireburst hits everything (including your allies) within 20 feet, not 40 feet.2) There is no way to do 100 points per round with a Maximized Greater Fireburst. 100 is not divisible by 8. The caster would have to be level 12.5 (not 12, not 13) to do this. At level 15, your Wizard would do 360 points of damage in 3 rounds.3) It would also take 6 feats to do this (shy of metamagic rods). 3 Sudden Maximizes and 3 Sudden Widens (or Maximize or Widen). Unless of course your 15th level caster wants to be casting 8th level normally metamagicked spells. In this case, he could get away with 4 feats (2 8th level spells and 4 5th level spells), but he would need a 17 starting Int and a +6 Headband of Intellect to get a second 8th level spell.What can the Psion do with 4 to 6 feats to accomplish the burst you just gave as an example at 15th level?Round 1: Swift Action Temporal Acceleration, Schism, 13 dice Empowered Energy Burst for 88 damage.Round 2: 40 hit point level 8 Vigor from Schism, DC 20 Concentration roll Move Action to get back focus (100% chance of success), 16 dice Empowered Overchanneled Energy Burst for 108 damage. 17 points of damage came off the 40 Vigor.Round 3: 9 dice Energy Burst for 61 damage from Schism, DC 20 Concentration roll Move Action to get back focus, 16 dice Empowered Overchanneled Energy Burst for 108 damage. 17 points of damage came off the 23 Vigor.The Wizard did 360 points of damage in a 20 foot radius. The Psion did 365 points of damage in a 40 foot radius.The Wizard had to prep his metamagic spells unless he used 6 feats. The Psion used 3 feats if he is a Telepath: Empower Power, Overchannel, and Psionic Meditation. He used a 4th feat Expanded Knowledge: Schism if he is not a Telepath.The Wizard is SOL if his opponents are immune to fire or potentially does less damage if his opponents are merely strongly resistant to fire (unless the Wizard has other feats). The Psion can change his Energy Burst to other energy types without other feats.The Wizard is out of Sudden feats. The Psion used 99 out of his 255 PP (same 26 Int as the Wizard). He can continue to do similar Novas for a while. The Wizard too can do some Quicken spells some Empowered spells and still Nova a little bit, but his Sudden Maximizes are finished for the day. Course, these other Wizard metamagic spells require more feats and that he prep the appropriate spell ahead of time.If the Wizard is using metamagic rods, his opponents can easily Sunder them or Disarm them or temporarily Dispel them. There should be cons as well as pros. Using items to Nova should not be risk free.There are trade offs for the Nova Wizard as well such as limited times per day or prepping (possibly useless) metamagic and spells ahead of time. People tend to "conveniently ignore" these as well in discussions.No doubt about it. If one goes out of the core books, the ability of Wizards to Nova has been significantly boosted. And, the Wizard has a lot of resources left over. But, going out of the core books also allows a Psion to Nova better as well (e.g. taking a single level in Anarchic Inititate vastly boosts his Nova ability).But, Nova is about doing the most damage in the shortest amount of time to the largest number of opponents. Wizards can do this for a few rounds, but it starts getting more difficult beyond 3 total rounds.And, this is a 15th level example. At lower levels, it is MUCH easier for the Psion to get away with this. D6+1 Energy powers (pre-Empower) do more damage than D6 energy spells.</blockquote>

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