Minor suggestion about air elementals

[Korvek]

After having noticed that there isn't really anything preventing an air elemental from knocking you down for about 10 minutes straight, I was wondering if it would be difficult at all to place maybe a 15 second cooldown on the knockdown effect, similar to the cooldown for trip, so that characters that can't kill them from afar via FoD, PK, Destruction, or the like will at least have a shot at killing them in a timely manner. That or perhaps the DC could be slightly lowered.

Just a minor suggestion.

[Lifespawn]

i'd like to be immune to it for 15 seconds after getting up from being knocked down thats all just 15 seconds of immune please please

[CrimsonEagle]

But.....but.....but......

But then I wouldnt be able to charm em and watch em perpetualy trip all the spiders and scorpions in the Vale!!!!!

LOL.

Yeah...something really should be done with these things. They just are not right, whether I am on my melee and cant stand up, or I'm on my caster and nothing else can stand up.

[Invalid_86]

...or just allow us to attack and cast spells while prone, like we are supposed to be able to. You aren't helpless when you are knocked down.

[Tunes_Steele]

...or just allow us to attack and cast spells while prone, like we are supposed to be able to. You aren't helpless when you are knocked down.

If you were knocked down and rendered helpless, wouldn't that mean you should be subject to auto crit? Helpless=Auto crit?

But I agree with you on a cooldown timer. It's not like it was a spell cast upon you.

[DNDJESS]

I think you're forgetting the mechanics of being knocked down or tripped - you can't attack until you make a balance check. And I think that makes sense - you get knocked down and can't attack until you maintain your balance. Although the game shows it as virtually instantaneous, there has to be a duration of time between getting knocked down and actually hitting the ground, where you are unable to attack.

But I think the biggest worry about making a change like this would be the impact it would have on players who use Trip. They already clobbered the Trip ability and Whirlwind with a big ol' nerf bludgeoning; it really doesn't need to be made any less useful.

As for the elementals, yeah, they're really a pain. 15 seconds seems a bit long to me though. If they can only attempt a knockdown once every 15 seconds, that would probably be only 1, maybe 2 attempts before it was dead. I would much rather see the DC lowered, and make it 5 seconds or so between attempts.

[Redcoil]

Agreed; even if you make all your saves, they hit you every split second so you'll roll a one eventually. ...in my case, every third roll.

While on the same note: giants with clubs. The skeletons that knockback, for example. No str check, they can miss...but you still get tossed around like a ragdoll.

[Invalid_86]

If you were knocked down and rendered helpless, wouldn't that mean you should be subject to auto crit? Helpless=Auto crit?

But I agree with you on a cooldown timer. It's not like it was a spell cast upon you.

Being knocked down doesn't render you helpless in DnD.

[Tunes_Steele]

Being knocked down doesn't render you helpless in DnD.

I was agreeing with your point.

[Nevthial]

I've not really had much problems with them. Just have to have a balance in the high 20's plus. ( It gets old being the only one in my static group that can stand up against them however. )The DC is a bit high in my opinion. Needs to be closer to the PnP version of an air elemental. In addition, a PnP Air Elemental can't stay in whirlwind form indefinitely.............................So why can ours?????????

They ARE fun to use on my enemies anyway.

[Deaths_ward]

This would be a whole different conversation if one of the higher level summon monster spells (7 maybe 8) could summon an Air Elemental wouldn't it.


On a different note. I don't think that it fiar in the least bit that an air elemental that has been paralyzed by a paralyzing weapon can still be a whirlwind, kind of goes along with the sentiment that an air elemental can't maintain it's whirlwind form while helpless, or for the permanent duration DDO's seems to have. Guess it's just another one of those things they did to compensate for having A.I. that operates like a squirrel on ridaline.

[Invalid_86]

I was agreeing with your point.

Well I am agreeing with you agreeing with me!

I've not really had much problems with them. Just have to have a balance in the high 20's plus. ( It gets old being the only one in my static group that can stand up against them however. )The DC is a bit high in my opinion. Needs to be closer to the PnP version of an air elemental. In addition, a PnP Air Elemental can't stay in whirlwind form indefinitely.............................So why can ours?????????

They ARE fun to use on my enemies anyway.

Then again in PnP you can just take a move action and automatically get up. Assuming you don't just attack while prone.

[MrCow]

On a different note. I don't think that it fiar in the least bit that an air elemental that has been paralyzed by a paralyzing weapon can still be a whirlwind, kind of goes along with the sentiment that an air elemental can't maintain it's whirlwind form while helpless

An air elemental subject to the effect of a paralyzing weapon is not paralyzed or helpless, it is dazed. While I might not completely agree on the interpretation that a dazed air elemental would remain in a whirlwind form there is nothing stating that any conditions stop an air elemental from being in a whirlwind form.

[honkuimushi]

Still, I was doing some desert looting today and one guy hit the elementals near Whirling Ozam with a paralyzer, but even while paralyzed, if we got near it it would toss us on our butts. That's just not right.

One of the problems is that we don't get an immediate balace check. Add to that that you often have to make 3 or 4 Str or Dex checks when they get near you, then then can trip you again while you're still on the ground restarting the timer for your balance check, it gets old fast.

[JFeenstra]

the best part is even if you make your save you still get thrown around just not tripped for as long