Web Spell

[vmsbass]

I have read much about how effective this spell is, but my experiences have not shown it. I do use it in doorways and similar places, and I know about the targeting techniques, but it just seems like it really doesn't hold anything for very long. Being that the mobs get a reflex save, then regular strength checks, which kinds of mobs can I expect to encounter that have low reflex saves and low strength? I am also pretty sure that once a mob has made its save, it no longer needs to make one when passing through the web again. I tried this technique in a doorway, and I did not see any 'save' indicator above the mobs head. I only ask these questions because of the disparity between my experiences with the spell and the overall positive opinion it receives.

Btw, most of my experiments with it were in Splinterskull against Hobgoblins with a level 4 Wizard with a 22 Int.

[Shade]

which kinds of mobs can I expect to encounter that have low reflex saves and low strength?

Well that's the thing, your targets don't need both to be low. A low stat on one or the other works out fine.

If they have a high reflex, but low strength.. Run them thru a few times until they roll low, then they will be stuck for ages. Web has a great duration that fully scales and works with extend, so extend and heigten those webs and they will be awesome. It lasts a full 60 seconds at lvl20, and i've seen mobs , even epic mobs stuck for the full duration of that.

Alternatively if they have a high str, but low reflex.. They will break out quick, but you can re-run them thru and get them webbed again quite quickly. They only get a 2 second immunity after they break out, so take advantage.

Your test subjects (Hobgoblins) aren't the most suceptible to web..
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/Hobgoblin.htm

As you can see they have a decent reflex save (middle stat for them)
And quite a strong strength score, especially the melee types.

So web isn't ideal on them. A more appropriate spell would be hold person, as that targets ther main weakness - Will save.

Tho tangleroot tends to feature rather large encounters, so a AOE type spell is often more effective.. So a web can still be a good choice there against large encounters, especially any encounter with an ogre - ogre's have extremely poor reflex saves (tho high str will let them break quickly). Personally I prefer shocking grasp and fireball there hehe.

Examples of ideal web targets (mostly thinking endgame as I haven't played the low lvls in quite some time):
Mephits - Any except fire. Mephits have a moderate reflex save, and an incredibly low strength, even epic ones, so once webbed, they will stay webbed for probably the entire duration.
Kobolds - Kobolds have strong will saves and epic ones often have spell resistance, making any other type of CC rather ineffective. They also have quite low str, so they wont break out.
Most Devils/Demons - Like kobolds, they have high will and fort saves, and spell resistance.. Web bypasses all of those stats. Tho they also have moderate strength scoes, so you need to keep your DC maxxed or they will break out.
Any Caster humanoid - Caster humanoids in DDO tend to have massive will saves, but low fort/reflex/strength, making web super effective.
Earth Elementals - Earth elementals have very low reflex scores making for easy webbing, tho extremely high strength scores will let them break out quickly.

Things strong against web:
Hobgoblins (as established above)
Giants (moderate reflex, massive strength and many fire types are immune) However some of the Threnal hill giants are an exception, they seem to have extremely low strength score, so once webbed, they wont be breaking out anytime soon)
Spiders (mostly immune or extrmely high reflex)
Any fire moster (immune)
Any incorporeal monster (immune)