Sorcerous Blade Channeling & Acid Orb

[latinoosvaldo]

I think it's so specific that you would need a large deal of causality to have this "combo" break your game. Choose one: does count or does not count as MBA and go with this. For me, it would not count, but because I think it's out of context for sorcerers. But I allow my players use it as MBA with Blade Channeler because it feels more inclusive regarding rulles adjucation.

 

[DracoSuave]

I think it's so specific that you would need a large deal of causality to have this "combo" break your game. Choose one: does count or does not count as MBA and go with this. For me, it would not count, but because I think it's out of context for sorcerers. But I allow my players use it as MBA with Blade Channeler because it feels more inclusive regarding rulles adjucation.

Do you count the Seeker's Melee at-will as a melee basic attack?

It's melee, and counts as a ranged basic attack, so I'm curious if the ruling is consistant.

 

[jbear]

And targets Fort. A defense that, on many many monsters, is actually higher then AC. Not exactly a good bread-n-butter choice (which is what an RBA is going to become if you have a Warlord).

A lot of people ditch Fort based powers on that basis. Yeah it's great to target will or ref because lots of monsters are brutes or soldiers... but there are still skirmishers, lurkers and controllers. And having the chance to hurl someone off a cliff is worth the risk of having to target higher defenses.

In my game my wife plays a Shaman/Ranger Hybrid who dishes out RBA like candy very often to her sister, playing a cosmic sorceress. With 20 CHA and Implement Expertise she has been nailing even the big brutes with the Shamans equivalent of OAs. She pushed ogres back into terrain that was seriously hindering them in combat and had a massive beneficial influence on the outcome.

As DracoSuave points out pretty clearly it's not legal to achieve what the OP proposes. But I personally would let my players get away with it if they combined it with what I consider a luckluster power like AcidOrb.

As far as being out of context for sorcerors to achieve this, I disagree. The cosmic sorceror for example has a feature that puts a constant aura that causes radiant damage to those enemies that begin their turn adjacent, or if they change phase gives them a +1 bonus to ac for every adjacent enemy. A drow sorceress can surround herself with darkness (with sustain minor) and wade into combat with the rest of them. Admitedly this is a daily power, but definitely not out of line with what a sorceror can or can't do. How one individually chooses to play a sorceror is another story.

 

[DracoSuave]

1) The question 'Acid Orb needs something to be viable' is flawed. Acid Orb is not a person. It doesn't have feelings or a sense of fairness. It's a few lines of text in a book. It's not even the fictional depiction of someone who has feelings.

Moreover: Ranged 20 is its reason to exist. It's a fine, if not exciting, power that will make its way into builds with certain parties. Combined with a eagle shaman or a skirmishing warlord, it's incredible damage dealing for theparty. It's not for all sorcerers in all parties, but really, no at-will should be 'for all characters.'

2) The question you SHOULD ask is: 'Am I comfortable with characters busting out 1d10+30 damage opportunity attacks?' especially when said massive damage doesn't cost the character their normal striker damage in any way, shape, or form. As much as you can pretend otherwise, every sorcerer at-will is 'small dice'+'massive damage bonus' and you cannot pretend it isn't when balancing decisions like this.

The statement 'Cosmic Sorcerers get an area of damage around them' doesn't even factor in an argument, it's like comparing grapes to planets; the scale isn't even on the same level.

 

[Flipguarder]

Draco I'd be curious what you think of heavy-blade opportunity rangers at whatever level and cheese amount a sorcerer can get +30 static damage.

Because I'd imagine it's not going to be much different.

 

[DracoSuave]

Draco I'd be curious what you think of heavy-blade opportunity rangers at whatever level and cheese amount a sorcerer can get +30 static damage.

Because I'd imagine it's not going to be much different.

Not really, no, I don't like those either.

But, then again, I tend to rule that 'making an at-will attack with that weapon' does not mean 'and any other weapon you happen to have in your other hand.'

Twin-Strike's the problem, and not the other at-wills.

 

[Flipguarder]

The point I was poorly trying to make is that I think you don't like the sorcerer in general, having as much static damage as they have. A better way to put it, is I can't imagine a warlord with a sorcerer would please you much either.

 

[DracoSuave]

The point I was poorly trying to make is that I think you don't like the sorcerer in general, having as much static damage as they have. A better way to put it, is I can't imagine a warlord with a sorcerer would please you much either.

Actually, far from it. The sorcerer is one of my favorite of the striker classes. I'm not against their rediculous static damage. It comes with balancing points, and one of those is the inability to make great attacks of opportunity.

Sorcerous Blade Channeling is a tool for avoiding attacks of opportunity, not for making attacks of opportunity that cause the defenders to wonder what their job is in life.


(for the record, it's the Ranger class I'm not fond of, Twin Strike specifically. When anyone's answer to 'How do I be a better _____' is 'be a half-elf at paragon level' I start shaking my head.)

 

[Iron Sky]

Draco I'd be curious what you think of heavy-blade opportunity rangers at whatever level and cheese amount a sorcerer can get +30 static damage.

Because I'd imagine it's not going to be much different.

We had a sorcerer come in for one session of our game when we were at level 18. My ranger had about +12/8 MH/OH with Twin Strike (+17 with MBAs). That was with amazing rolled stats(49 point-buy equivalent) and 18 levels of making him as OP as possible for Twin-Strike (and Stormwarden auto-damage).

The sorcerer, whipped up in 30-40 minutes with standard 22 point-buy, had +22 static damage to all his rolls(and he had several AoEs, so he got to apply that +22 alot).

 

[DracoSuave]

We had a sorcerer come in for one session of our game when we were at level 18. My ranger had about +12/8 MH/OH with Twin Strike (+17 with MBAs). That was with amazing rolled stats(49 point-buy equivalent) and 18 levels of making him as OP as possible for Twin-Strike (and Stormwarden auto-damage).

The sorcerer, whipped up in 30-40 minutes with standard 22 point-buy, had +22 static damage to all his rolls(and he had several AoEs, so he got to apply that +22 alot).

I'm noticing a lack of Hunter's Quarry being mentioned. That changes the math considerably, eh?