There's also the huge issue of "party strength" over and above "character strength".
Sure... a character that has only a single 6th, 7th, 8th, & 9th level spell seems like they are lacking in power (although truth be told, with an 8 hour break in the day, a character really gets TWO 6th, 7th, 8th, & 9th level spells per day)... but when you add in potentially 1 to 3
other characters in the party with a 6th, 7th, 8th, & 9th level spell, the power the GROUP throws out is still absolutely huge.
You yourself might get pissed because the enemy saved against your 9th level spell you threw at him... but that enemy still has to deal with the other one to three 9th level spells coming his way. And then tomorrow, the next enemy might save against someone else's 9th level spell and it's *yours* that breaks through and absolutely destroys and ends the fight. In the micro... four (or possibly eight) 6th through 9th level spells doesn't seem like a lot. But still... that's PER DAY. That's still almost 1,460 to 2,920 spells of that kind of power you could cast per year.
Can't speak for anyone else... but if I had the power to instantaneously kill someone within 60 feet of me with but the utterance of a single word each day every day... I dunno if "lacking in power" is really the description I'd choose.
