Good blasting/direct damage spells

[mabriss lethe]

At lower levels, I'm fond of Lightning Blade. Neither SR nor electricity resistance are particularly common early on. It's incredibly flexible, allowing you to add outside riders to it, has both a ranged and melee configuration, and can be used by anyone with the weapon proficiency.

Likewise, Fire shuriken is a lot of fun. You can cast the spell in downtime and just hang on to the shuriken until you need them, they're easily modified by cheap metamagic rods, also usable out of combat.

[ayvango]

I'm basing this on a line about instantaneous spells which let you make multiple attacks, which I think is from SpC. Might be in one of the other books though; I would have to check.

Even just the six attacks, though, would be useful.

Instantaneous is just a hint, see full spell description. It is hard to enclose complicated spell descriptions in rigid boundaries of spell header. Single spell could have multiple effects, it could have effects that produces other effects that may be traded for another effects and so on. Which effect should fill the the one field in the form? Common sense helps to read complicated spell description. I believe that Instantaneous duration belongs to damage effects that is produces by self-buff effect which works indefinitely long until discharged.

The most fearsome blasting spell is silent image due to its unrivalled flexibility. Also you could focus on the single spell and make metamagic significantly cheaper for it.

I pay extra attention to blasting that is not scaling with levels and has high enough damage output on starting level. It is a good choice for enchanting wands either charged or eternal. Light of Lunia/Mercuria/Venya line against undead, ray of stupidity (int damage) against animals, seeking ray as universal.

[Jormengand]

I believe that Instantaneous duration belongs to damage effects that is produces by self-buff effect which works indefinitely long until discharged.

No, that's "Permanent or until discharged", which appears on all spells which actually work that way.

A spell with multiple effects, incidentally, can have a duration like "Instantaneous or one round/level" or "See text", with it explaining properly what parts of the spell have what duration.

[noce]

No, that's "Permanent or until discharged", which appears on all spells which actually work that way.

A spell with multiple effects, incidentally, can have a duration like "Instantaneous or one round/level" or "See text", with it explaining properly what parts of the spell have what duration.

Chill touch cannot use the "Permanent or until discharged" duration.
Chill touch is a touch spell, and you can hold the charge (or charges) indefinitely, but:
- if you cast another spell, Chill touch dissipates
- touching anything or anyone while holding a charge, even unintentionally, discharges the spell

For these reasons, Chill touch is not permanent.
It instantly gives you the ability to make a number of touch attacks with a given effect.

Now, the text of the spell does not specify that you cannot do 20 touch attack rolls in a single round, but the rules describing how touch attacks work are clear in the SRD. You can do:
- a touch attack in the round you cast the spell
- a touch attack as a standard action
- a number of touch attacks limited by BAB as a full round action

What you say has no sense per RAW, let alone RAI.
I truly hope you do not play in actual games with such a grasp of the rules, otherwise I foresee a lot of books thrown at you by both DM and players.

[Jormengand]

Chill touch cannot use the "Permanent or until discharged" duration.
Chill touch is a touch spell, and you can hold the charge (or charges) indefinitely, but:
- if you cast another spell, Chill touch dissipates
- touching anything or anyone while holding a charge, even unintentionally, discharges the spell

So... it's permanent, until you discharge it using one of these methods, you mean? No, it's not; it's instantaneous. Let's have a look what that means:

"Instantaneous

The spell energy comes and goes the instant the spell is cast, though the consequences might be long-lasting."

I hope you don't mean to imply that the ability to make touch attacks doesn't have anything to do with the spell's energy.

It instantly gives you the ability to make a number of touch attacks with a given effect.

Now, the text of the spell does not specify that you cannot do 20 touch attack rolls in a single round, but the rules describing how touch attacks work are clear in the SRD. You can do:
- a touch attack in the round you cast the spell
- a touch attack as a standard action
- a number of touch attacks limited by BAB as a full round action

What you say has no sense per RAW, let alone RAI.
I truly hope you do not play in actual games with such a take of the rules, otherwise I foresee a lot of books thrown at you by both DM and players.

So meteor swarm doesn't work, either? Becuase nothing specifies that you can make multiple attacks when casting the spell?

Hah, just kidding, they both do:

"WEAPONLIKE SPELLS
Any spell that requires an attack roll and deals damage functions as a weapon in certain respects... Some weaponlike spells can strike multiple times in the same round. For example, a 7th-level sorcerer/3rd-level rogue [who therefore only has a base attack bonus of +5, not +6/1] with Point Blank Shot makes a scorching ray attack at less than 30 feet (two rays, each requiring a ranged touch attack roll and dealing 4d6 points of fire damage)."
- Complete Arcane

"Several spells, such as scorching ray and meteor swarm, require the user to make multiple ranged touch attacks. Does the caster have to use the full attack action to use all the ranged touch attacks these spells allow? If so, how does this work? Does the caster have to hold the charge (like a touch spell) and then use the full attack action later? Also what attack bonus does the caster use? Can the caster use his full attack bonus for each ranged touch attack, or does the caster’s attack bonus decrease by 5 for each attack? What happens if the caster uses the Quicken Spell feat and casts the spell as a free action? What attack bonus does he use then? How many ranged touch attacks can he make? Do the caster’s other actions during the rest of the round affect his attack bonus when using the spell?

Both of the example spells have a casting time of 1 standard action and an instantaneous duration. The caster uses the cast a spell action (a standard action), and makes all the ranged touch attacks the spell allows as part of that standard action (not as part of the attack or full attack action); making these attacks is not an action at all."
-FAQ

"Chill Touch
Necromancy
Level: Sor/Wiz 1
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Touch
Targets: Creature or creatures touched (up to one/level)
Duration: Instantaneous"
-System reference document.

Neither RAW nor RAI, you say?

[ayvango]

You could pay attention to the other fields of the spell header. It says the range is touch. So you should obey normal rules for touch attacks (and holding charge). You may say that description trumps header, but the same is for the duration field.

[Anthrowhale]

Both of the example spells have a casting time of 1 standard action and an instantaneous duration. The caster uses the cast a spell action (a standard action), and makes all the ranged touch attacks the spell allows as part of that standard action (not as part of the attack or full attack action); making these attacks is not an action at all."

About the same text is in the Rules Compendium.

[logic_error]

You could pay attention to the other fields of the spell header. It says the range is touch. So you should obey normal rules for touch attacks (and holding charge). You may say that description trumps header, but the same is for the duration field.

Considering how touch spells interact with Reach Spell feat, I would think this is not the case. The range being touch or ranged touch is RAI at least not very different due to Reach spell.

[Jormengand]

You could pay attention to the other fields of the spell header. It says the range is touch. So you should obey normal rules for touch attacks (and holding charge). You may say that description trumps header, but the same is for the duration field.

I mean, you can hold the charge on Chill Touch if you want, but that's an optional thing.

About the same text is in the Rules Compendium.

RC! That's where it is! I kept misremembering it as SC, and I was like "Maybe it's in CA, that also has a lot of magicky things in it" and finding the bit about weaponlike spells. Here's what RC has to say about multiple attacks:

"Casting time takes precedence over normal rules for attacks, unless a spell’s description says otherwise. If a spell allows its caster to make multiple attacks and has a casting time of 1 standard action, all those attacks occur during that standard action. "

Does Chill Touch "Say otherwise"? Not in the slightest.

[Anthrowhale]

There are a couple trap spells that are really good.

Sacred item(Cleric/Paladin 4) does 10d4 "positive energy damage" to undead, evil outsiders, and evil shapechangers. It's permanent until discharged and never discharges on the caster. Cast offline with maximize/empower on arrows this makes ranged attacks situationally powerful. Cast on armor it provides a potent situational defense. Cast on a glove that you shake hands with it's a passive Doppelganger/Rakshasa detector. It does have will negates, so do the offline casting with Heighten spell as necessary.

Fang Trap(Cleric/Sorcerer/Wizard 4) does no save immobility with <uncapped>d4 damage fortitude negates. It's more limited in use (as glyph of warding), but is a potentially exceptional lair trap. If you are a loner then set it to always trigger and note that it never triggers for you. This also makes a mean present.

Both of these spells have no expensive material component so offline use is limited only by spell slots.

[danielxcutter]

There are a couple trap spells that are really good.

If it's a trap then it's not good... oh, that trap.

Sacred item(Cleric/Paladin 4) does 10d4 "positive energy damage" to undead, evil outsiders, and evil shapechangers. It's permanent until discharged and never discharges on the caster. Cast offline with maximize/empower on arrows this makes ranged attacks situationally powerful. Cast on armor it provides a potent situational defense. Cast on a glove that you shake hands with it's a passive Doppelganger/Rakshasa detector. It does have will negates, so do the offline casting with Heighten spell as necessary.

I should probably note this for if I want to make a Zen Archery Cleric. Stick this on a holy evil outsider/undead bane arrow for maximum ouchiness.

[quote[Fang Trap(Cleric/Sorcerer/Wizard 4) does no save immobility with <uncapped>d4 damage fortitude negates. It's more limited in use (as glyph of warding), but is a potentially exceptional lair trap. If you are a loner then set it to always trigger and note that it never triggers for you. This also makes a mean present.

Both of these spells have no expensive material component so offline use is limited only by spell slots.[/QUOTE]

Neat!

[Eldariel]

In such a vein, Explosive Runes of course warrants a mention. Particularly stacked on a bomb and triggered all at once. Also Shrink Item to lob e.g. massive boulders or any objects at people.

Flame Arrow and various arrow enhancements such as Arrow Split and Arrow of Bone can do brutal stuff with metamagic.

[danielxcutter]

In such a vein, Explosive Runes of course warrants a mention. Particularly stacked on a bomb and triggered all at once.

I prepared Explosive Runes on this stone. Several times.

Also Shrink Item to lob e.g. massive boulders or any objects at people.

I think that this happened in Kaveman's campaign log once. It had something to do with a Bag of Holding...

Flame Arrow and various arrow enhancements such as Arrow Split and Arrow of Bone can do brutal stuff with metamagic.

What do those do? I mean, the first is self-explainatory, but I haven't heard about the other two. And honestly, I haven't heard about Flame Arrow either.

[logic_error]

Does the spell explosive runes really work like that? Can you really stack it? I think if it is used this way only one spell will go off on read. Unless you use secret page cleverly and disguise all the writing as one line.

[danielxcutter]

Does the spell explosive runes really work like that? Can you really stack it? I think if it is used this way only one spell will go off on read. Unless you use secret page cleverly and disguise all the writing as one line.

Dunno honestly, but that would be hilarious wouldn't it?

Maybe you could put it on each page of a book?

[Eldariel]

Does the spell explosive runes really work like that? Can you really stack it? I think if it is used this way only one spell will go off on read. Unless you use secret page cleverly and disguise all the writing as one line.

Generally the triggering method is a failed area dispel attempt. Dispel is cast by proxy (since you always succeed on dispelling your own spells) such as familiar, summon, ally, simulacrum or bound creature at minimum caster level. It fails for most/all Runes and they all go boom simultaneously.


Arrowsplit is from Champs of Ruin and splits one arrow into many. You can meta.agic it to split into more and to affect more arrows. Arrow of Bone is from Spell Compendium and makes a single arrow force SOD. Chain it, fire a volley and well...

[danielxcutter]

Generally the triggering method is a failed area dispel attempt. Dispel is cast by proxy (since you always succeed on dispelling your own spells) such as familiar, summon, ally, simulacrum or bound creature at minimum caster level. It fails for most/all Runes and they all go boom simultaneously.

Or just cast it on a bunch of things and make someone fail all the dispel checks if the DM doesn't allow them to stack I guess.

Arrowsplit is from Champs of Ruin and splits one arrow into many. You can meta.agic it to split into more and to affect more arrows. Arrow of Bone is from Spell Compendium and makes a single arrow force SOD. Chain it, fire a volley and well...

[Eldariel]

Or just cast it on a bunch of things and make someone fail all the dispel checks if the DM doesn't allow them to stack I guess.

Easer to deliver a single document to the target via throwing, a carrier or whatever. But yes, that works.

[danielxcutter]

Easer to deliver a single document to the target via throwing, a carrier or whatever. But yes, that works.

Hmm, does destroying the object(s) work? That could be abusable...

Also great handbook you have in your sig

[logic_error]

Hmm, does destroying the object(s) work? That could be abusable...

Also great handbook you have in your sig

I doubt it. I also don't think the dispel idea would work, once again only triggering the *first* dispel check. What I *think* you can get away with is, using secret page. Just scramble all the runes into ONE sentence, like, "I prepared MANY runes today and they are all in this sentence". Reading just that would be equal to reading all due to how secret page works. BOOOOM.