May the force be with you

[Osma77]

I just did some basic testing today, only about 15 min worth since i messed up (reincarnated to get feat changes, and got spell focus enchantment rather then evocation. facepalm)

So i set up my enhancements the same way on my sorc that i did on the main game, namely fire and force speced. Fire because i am still low enough level that firewall is important, but force because I am a magic missile addict. Yes there may be more effective spells in the game, but being able to toss off a force/chain missile while running is great for me since it is fire and forget (i did not start playing this game because i like first person shooters; my accuracy sucks). When i found out that disintegrate is now also speced into force, and that ray spells are now double distance and tracking, i thought even better (i had been doing a lot of orchard runs and dis-ing the golems was a pain, so i figured that a tracking, long range, higher damage dis. is a win-win all around).

At first, i was thinking that removing the repair from the force would simply make it a bit cheeper, since i dont have to spend as many ap as well, which is gravy since it lets me spend more on force and fire. All good.

Once i actually started trying out the spells however, my only thought was "fire savant who?" The capability of doing damage has gone up substantially in my opinion.
First there is the cost: the damage for all 4 spells (MM, FM, CM, DIS) have all been dropped, making them cheaper to cast (signifigant since most are single target spells).
Second, as stated, dis is now double distance (MUCH longer range) and tracking; i shot one at a kobold in searing hights and on my monitor it looked like i missed him by about 1/2 an inch (in real space, like 5 foot in game) and it still hit.
Third, with the additional points available, i was able to put more points into adding to my critical chance and critical damage. As such, instead of doing around 450-480 on a dis., i now do around 540, or about 10 damage per point of mana, give or take. Force missiles still do around 40-50 damage with each missile, but i critical around 2x as often (2 missiles per 2-3 casts rather then 1 missile per 2-3 casts) and it does 140 damage rather then 80 (aprox 100 damage extra per 2-3 casts). Chain missile still does its normal 15-25 damage for the secondary hits, and does a crit of 115 on primary rather then around 60-80. And even with the extra points put into it, i still had some left over (7 for fire, 7 for force = 14. versus 1,2, 3 and 4 for fire/ice, and an additional 1, 2, 3, and 4 for force/repair = 20)

These are certinly not game-breaking numbers, but this most certinly makes the force lines much more attractive then they ever were before (even if they do take higher levels to use. need level 2 to get first force enhance, only level 1 for fire).

Note: didn't test horrid wilting due to low level and time restraints.

[CaptGrim]

Note: didn't test horrid wilting due to low level and time restraints.

I have and while it looks great on paper, it is lacking in practice.

I really wanted to love it but...

The targeting and cast time are poor, and the lack on items to enhance the damage really hurt this spells chances at having slot in my spellbook. Sure you can use a ToD belt 1 minute clicky, or the eardweller but that is it.

It really won't be a bad spell if you are planning on specing for force regardless, but I wouldn't spec for force because of it.

[TheDearLeader]

I have and while it looks great on paper, it is lacking in practice.

I really wanted to love it but...

The targeting and cast time are poor, and the lack on items to enhance the damage really hurt this spells chances at having slot in my spellbook. Sure you can use a ToD belt 1 minute clicky, or the eardweller but that is it.

It really won't be a bad spell if you are planning on specing for force regardless, but I wouldn't spec for force because of it.

Agreed.

[Kilarthia]

Agreed, and the subtly existing fortitude save for half is not helping this spell's chances either.

[Infant]

Stumbled upon this thread...

Cyclonic Blast (lvl 5 spell) is, per release notes, now affected by the force line. Anyone tested it?

Infant