Cl and MCL question

[moo_cow]

So I have been doing some math recently on the damage output of spells for my sorc and it just occured to me that my secondary element only has a MCL of 18. (20 cl + 1 enhancement - 3 air savant capstone) Well so I went and did some testing and I am a little bit confused on the results of the damage output. i was testing two spells, Otilukes Freezing Sphere and Polar Ray. My Caster Level for cold spells is 25 (20 + 5 draconic + 3 enhancements - 3 air savant capstone) while my Max CL is sitting at 18. Since spell damage no longer increases when the MCL is reached, these spells should be doing the same damage, they are both capped at MCL 18 so they should both be doing 18d3 + 54. (instead of Otilukes being 20d3 + 60 and Polar Ray being 25d3 + 75). My testing though shows that polar ray is critting on average for about 200-600 more then Otilukes is. It is also apparent that the -3 MCl and -3 cl from air savant capstone is applying because when I take it off there is a clear difference in damage.

Am I missing something obvious here or is something not working properly.

So even though my MCL is 18 is it giving me the level 20 cl since that is when the spell actually has its normal MCL cap? And is polar ray giving me cl 25 even though the mcl after being modified is 18? I could probably figure this out with more testing but I would like to know if anyone knows.

[Silverleafeon]

I need more info.

You have Air Savant captone?
You are pure Sorcerer?
You are in Draconic ED?

Do you have any points in another Savant?

Are you wielding a weapon or armor that increases you evocation spell's caster levels?


The max caster level of Polar Ray is 25.
The max caster level of Otiluke's Sphere is 20.


Assuming you are an Air Savant ~ your earth/acid spells are reduced but not your cold spells, nor your fire spells.
Assuming you are a pure Sorcerer ~ your caster level would be at 20 to begin with.
Assuming you are in Draconic ~ your caster level would increase to 25.
Assuming you took Dragon Spell Knowledge (cold) ~ your cold caster level would increase to 28.
Assuming you wield a Twilight ~ your cold evocation caster level would increase to 30.

However, http://ddowiki.com/page/Polar_Ray http://ddowiki.com/page/Otiluke%27s_Freezing_Sphere

So:
The max caster level of Polar Ray is 25 +3 from Dragon Spell Knowledge
The max caster level of Otiluke's Sphere is 20+3 from Dragon Spell Knowledge
Understand?
Its a bit complex.


But if your dragon element is electric then:

The max caster level of Polar Ray is 25 +2 Secondary Spell Speciality
The max caster level of Otiluke's Sphere is 20 +2 Secondary Spell Speciality


But if you did not take secondary then:
The max caster level of Polar Ray is 25.
The max caster level of Otiluke's Sphere is 20.


But if you swapped to Shiradai then:
Your caster level drops to 20 + other increments.

The caster level of Polar Ray is 20 + ? + ?
The max caster level of Otiluke's Sphere is 20.

[cru121]

OP is a capstoned air savant in elemental form. with three cores from cold savant, in draconic

cold CL: 25 (20 + 5 draconic + 3 enhancements - 3 air elemental)
cold max CL modifiers: -2 (+1 third ice savant core, -3 air elemental)

Otiluke normally has max CL 20, for you it's 18.
Polar Ray normally has max CL 25, for you it's 23.

Thus, Polar ray should do around 23/18 = 27.8% more damage.

it just occured to me that my secondary element only has a MCL of 18. (20 cl + 1 enhancement - 3 air savant capstone)

No. Why don't you include Draconic here? Also, there's no such thing as MCL of an element. Spells have various MCL, elements don't

[Silverleafeon]

I did miss this:

While in Air Elemental form, you also gain an additional +20 Electric and Sonic Spell Power, +2% Electric and Sonic Spell Critical Chance, and a +1 bonus to caster level and max caster level for Air, electrical, and sonic spells, but your water, earth, and fire spells have a -3 penalty to caster level and max caster level. You also gain a +10 racial bonus to electrical resistance, +20 Physical Resistance Rating, +3% dodge chance, and a -10 penalty to acid resistance. While in Elemental Form, your spells also cost an additional 10% Spell Points to cast.


It does drop your cold caster level by 3 and your max caster level by 3, but depending on what else happens makes a difference.
For instance, Draconic ED secondary school grants +2 caster level and max caster level.
Pretty much negating the effect.
As mentioned core 6 in ice eliminates the rest.


One could juggle the numbers various ways.

But figure caster level for you toon.
Then apply max caster level to the spell your toon is casting.
Compare the two and apply the lesser.

[moo_cow]

OP is a capstoned air savant in elemental form. with three cores from cold savant, in draconic

cold CL: 25 (20 + 5 draconic + 3 enhancements - 3 air elemental)
cold max CL modifiers: -2 (+1 third ice savant core, -3 air elemental)

Otiluke normally has max CL 20, for you it's 18.
Polar Ray normally has max CL 25, for you it's 23.

Thus, Polar ray should do around 23/18 = 27.8% more damage.


No. Why don't you include Draconic here? Also, there's no such thing as MCL of an element. Spells have various MCL, elements don't

So it was one of those completely obvious things lol. For some reason when I was comparing I was thinking polar ray was a 20 mcl. Thanks for pointing it out for me.