Why would your wizard ever bother getting Meteor Swarm?

[WhatGravitas]

Or it says something about the people houseruling it. It does a bunch of damage, has an enormous area of effect, and is compatible with a LOT of cool fire spell feats.

So does Astral Storm. And it triggers the Cold, Lightning, and Thunder feats as well. And it auto-selects the most powerful damage type against each target. And since Resounding Thunder (Paragon Tier) has no prerequisites, it's almost given that Astral Storm's area is bigger than the Meteor Swarm.

EDIT: Well, that's mainly the reason for houseruling - because it stacks up so badly against a leader's power.

Cheers, LT.

 

[Minigiant]

It still does bonus damage to those vulnerable to fire.
More damage than their other dailies too.
It still has a use.
Push foes into a group and storm them.

You're a wizard. Unlike the other class, you don't have wait 'til your targets bunch up own their own. You can actually force them to be in the blast area.

 

[Destil]

I just wish there was something extra. It's not a bad power, and Astral Storm is the only 29 daily a cleric will have. The wizard gets options...

I'd lean toward the following, just to fit the flavor of the old spell:

Meteor Swarm
Daily + Arcane, Implement, Fire
Area Burst 3 within 20 squares (four bursts)
Target: All creatures in each burst
Attack: Intelligence vs. Reflex
Hit: 2d6 + Intelligence modifier fire damage (each).
Effect: Creatures in more than one burst take damage from each. Fire resistance is only effective against the power as a whole: a creature with fire resistance 10 dealt 12 damage from the first takes 2 damage from that burst and full damage from all remaining bursts.
Miss: Half damage.

 

[James McMurray]

The extra 10 or 17 average damage is almost meaningless at 29th level compared to status effects and battlefield control. The only reason to pick Meteor Swarm is if you've got Extended Spellbook. The only reason to actually memorize it is if you're facing something that's weak against fire. And even then it's probably not worth it unless the vulnerability is huge.

 

[grubba2000]

irresistible flame+couple of gloves of piercing and youll only have to worry about balor,ancient red and the efreets

 

[James McMurray]

irresistible flame+couple of gloves of piercing and youll only have to worry about balor,ancient red and the efreets

But you'll still only be doing an extra 10 or 17 damage to something that's liable to have over 500hp. When the alternative is Immobilization, Slowing, Stunning, and Dazing for at least one round, maybe more, is there really a comparison?

IMO Meteor Swarm needs to do either more base damage, or ongoing damage in order to compete.

 

[balard]

I like the sustain option and the forced movement option(like pushed from the center of the burst). Dazing and knocking prone are good too.

But what about making the the whole area of the burst difficult terrain AND covered with fire? Any one starting the turn there take automatic fire damage.

I really wanna see it calling 4 meteors, anyone hit is prone, the area of the burst is difficult terrain and if you start your turn there you take 15 of fire damage. NOW that is the amount of destruction a Armageddon like daily must cause.

 

[FadedC]

I don’t think I would ever take meteor swarm either. With that being said, it’s far from the only questionable power in the game and there are plenty of other good options at the same level. As a result, it’s extremely low on my list of things to worry about. I didn’t feel the need to buff every bad spell in 3e, and I will not feel that need in 4e either. If people don’t like it, they won’t take it. If there were no good options at all, that would be another matter.

 

[DracoSuave]

Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but Astral Fire and the tiefling +1 damage fear and fire feat don't stack. (to damage anyways, you still get the to hit)

Both use feat bonuses, and as same-named bonuses, they do not stack.

And yes, the book is -explicit- in its example regarding feat bonuses.