Make Horrid Wilting Not a Horrible Spell

[Fefnir_2011]

Out of idle curiosity, i decided to see if the Spellpower changes had made Horrid Wilting any better for my Pale Master. They did not.

This level 8 spell, the highest level damaging Necromancy/negative energy spell, does between 400-450 for me. Meanwhile, I'm getting critical aura ticks for around 200, and my Necrotic Ray is often in the 1-2k range. As an AoE, it is far outclassed both together and individually by Lesser Death Aura and Death Aura, level 2 & 4 spells. For nuking DPS, it's worse than a level 6 spell (that also has a shorter cooldown).

This spell could use a change. More damage, a secondary effect, shorter cooldown... these are just some of the ways this spell could be improved. Please give a necromancer a reason to slot their highest level damaging spell instead of, say, Greater Shout.

[Jay203]

http://ddowiki.com/page/Horrid_Wilting
last i checked, horrid wilting is a necromancy spell that does dehydration (or is it untyped?) damage, so your negative energy spell power won't affect it

[cru121]

perhaps it's not so bad anymore?
http://forums.ddo.com/showpost.php?p...13&postcount=3

[Jaid314]

main problem with it as far as i know is targeting...

[Fefnir_2011]

http://ddowiki.com/page/Horrid_Wilting
last i checked, horrid wilting is a necromancy spell that does dehydration (or is it untyped?) damage, so your negative energy spell power won't affect it

this is why I should just log off late at night instead of posting....

I'm guessing that means it's affected by the force line then, and not negative spellpower?

[cforce]

Force line, correct, and targeting issues seem to have been worked out. I use mine, generally without issues.

When properly enhanced, Horrid Wilting compares pretty favorably to the elemental 20d6 AoE options -- costs less, has no saving throw. Because of the low cost, I use mine un-meta'd more often than not, but I tend to do a lot of solo and short-man play, where I'm really focused on using my spell points efficiently. (I basically don't use pots -- maybe one quest in 50, and never more than one.) I also have Draconic Incarnation as my ED; it's a great, low cost follow up to Energy Burst for anyone with a bit of a hit point bar left.

[Syllph]

When properly enhanced, Horrid Wilting compares pretty favorably to the elemental 20d6 AoE options -- costs less, has no saving throw.

It's been a while since I slotting this spell due to targeting issues. Are you certain there is no save?

[cforce]

You know, I'm not sure, now that you mention it. I was going off of the description which contains no text about a save:

Horrid Wilting
Cooldown: 6 seconds
Spell Point Cost:
Target: Foe, Positional
Level:
8 (Sorcerer, Wizard)
Components: Material, Somatic, Verbal
School: Necromancy
Metamagic: Empower, Enlarge, Eschew Materials, Heighten, Maximize, Quicken
Spell Resistance: No
Deals 4 to 6 damage per caster level (up to a max of 80 to 120 at caster level 20) to living targets by evaporating moisture from their bodies. Deals 5 to 8 damage per caster level (max 100 to 160) to water type outsiders and plants.

However, the SRD does list Horrid Wilting with a save, and I see some older forum posts that claim it does have a fort save for Half.

Anyone know definitively? If not, perhaps I'll test it out some more tonight. As a Pale Master, I don't tend to be able to see too much useful information during combat due to the massive "number stream lag" having Death Aura, multiple guards, etc, etc -- so I probably never would have noticed if there was a "Save" in there tied to a horrid wilting cast...

[Jaid314]

if it really has no save, that makes it a *really* appealing option for water savants. it is listed as one of the spells that water savant improves...

[voodoogroves]

You know, I'm not sure, now that you mention it. I was going off of the description which contains no text about a save:



However, the SRD does list Horrid Wilting with a save, and I see some older forum posts that claim it does have a fort save for Half.

Anyone know definitively? If not, perhaps I'll test it out some more tonight. As a Pale Master, I don't tend to be able to see too much useful information during combat due to the massive "number stream lag" having Death Aura, multiple guards, etc, etc -- so I probably never would have noticed if there was a "Save" in there tied to a horrid wilting cast...

It is heightenable, and since DDO doesn't apply other effects beyond the save bits on heighten, I'd bet it has one.

[Syllph]

If it doesn't, this is definitely a spell I should re-slot.

[Abrazak]

The targeting issues were finally worked out ~ 2 updates ago. It isn't great against fast moving mobs but it works okay. Currently the targeting is set so that if you have a mob targeted the spell will go off where the mob was when you started casting. Often it will still catch the mob due to the area of effect, but not always.

As for damage, it is indeed enhanced by the force damage line. As a force spec'd archmage I see the spell hit for between 220 and 280, non-crit, non-meta'd. Maximized, empowered, crit against held/helpless enemies get into the 900-1200 range.

As far as saves, yes, there is a save, but it's a fort save. The advantage there is that because it isn't a reflex save it can't be evaded. When dealing with groups of archers in hard to reach places it's a nice spell to use because they won't be able to ignore all of the damage.

[Jaid314]

i imagine against certain enemy types it's also preferable because fort saves will be lower than reflex... like most rogue or ranger mob types.