Wall of Force... best 5th lvl spell !

[hammymchamham]

Its a very useful spell. I haven't personally been able to use many 5th level spells (my last wizard was lvl 9 when the campaign ended).. but in the current campaign I am in the wizard used it in a couple battles

The results:

Battle 1: One dead PC due to force wall because the wiz put it in the only exit of the room behind (who we thought) was the campaigns bad guy. The DM wanted the bad guy to run away... well the fall of force stoped that, and fought back. The Wiz dispelled it...but the BG didnt know it and kept fighting killing a PC but the rest of the party was victorious.

Battle 2: 2 walls of force saved the party from a TPK from 3 nasty undead.

So WoF can be a great spell if used right.

 

[Rashak Mani]

hehe... Wall of Force can be used in what I call "ejection seat mode" ... surround group with Wall of Force when battle is going nastily. Think escape hatch... dont use with ethereals.

Or battle preparation. Group is ambushed and totally unprepared. Wall of force to get a small "preparation time" around the group. Cast lots of cure spells and protection spells and when the group is ready dispel Wall....

 

[Wizardry]

Well, it's nice to see a few other people agree with me. I'd leave Wall Of Force as a defensive spell at level five, and maybe make a new eighth level spell to use the Sphere Of Force if players still wanted it.

 

[Benben]

Something not yet mentioned...

From the SRD:

The wall of force must be continuous and unbroken when formed. If its surface is broken by any object or creature, the spell fails.

This makes the spell very difficult to use in combat, unless the players are fighting just one guy in a flat, open area the spell will fail--no save necessary. This also eliminates the "I leave a 1" gap." variant as that would break the continous surface.

 

[Dark Dragon]

Re: Something not yet mentioned...

This makes the spell very difficult to use in combat, unless the players are fighting just one guy in a flat, open area the spell will fail--no save necessary. This also eliminates the "I leave a 1" gap." variant as that would break the continous surface.

Right. But sometimes you have a flat open area when fighting opponents in a great hall or open plain. The gap problem in detail: The caster does not leave a gap within the wall, but casts a hemisphere that "hovers" an inch or so above ground and traps an enemy. And I'm quite sure that the spell doesn't specify this possibility and allows / not allows it.

 

[Celtavian]

Re

Casting a Wall of Force an inch or so off the ground is still a break. It is not continuous. In my opinion, a wall of force does not levitate. It alot like the other wall spells except it is constructed of pure force.

 

[mkletch]

As a DM, I've found that I have to be really careful with this spell, because it can quickly lead to TPKs.

I would restrict the hemispherical version to be centered on the caster. There are spherical wall of force spells already in the game: Resilient Sphere and Telekinetic Sphere. And both allow saves. Nuff said for me.

-Fletch!

 

[mkletch]

Re: Re

Casting a Wall of Force an inch or so off the ground is still a break. It is not continuous. In my opinion, a wall of force does not levitate. It alot like the other wall spells except it is constructed of pure force.

Measurement in 3E is done in 5' increments. Unless your caster is laying on the ground, pointing his finger through this gap, his line of effect (from hand or eye level) would be broken by a hemispherical WoF just an inch off the ground. If it was opaque, it would be granting total cover. THAT is the standard for line of effect, not some munchkiny kludge.

-Fletch!

 

[Thirsty]

I wouldnt allow small gaps as well... but a hasted mage can cast Firewall and then surround with a Wall of Force and cook those guys up anyway... or the Acid Fog nasty thing.

For those of you who wish the super cheese version. Cast cloudkill instead. It hangs around inside the WOF for the same duration. That becomes a lot of d10s.

Oh and if you have a cleric nearby cast silence at the targets feat as a readied action on the casting of cloudkill. Just to make sure like