Making underrated powers better [Archive] - Wizards Community

Making underrated powers better [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Lycanthromancer
02-25-08, 08:42 PM There are a number of powers in the XPH that either are underwhelming or full of absolute fail.

So, let's come up with some powers that are less-than-optimal, and build combos that make them useful.

For instance:

Swarm of crystals + hustle
This combination allows you to move in, manifest the swarm for unavoidable damage, then move out. Most easily used by egoists (as they're the only class with both powers on their power list), but anyone with some time and XP, or the Expanded Knowledge feat can pull it off. Minimum manifester level for this combo: 5. Minimum power point cost: 8. Actions used: Full turn's worth.

Any others you can think of?
Jaid
02-26-08, 04:20 PM obviously your hustle combo there works with pretty much any short-range power at all, particularly those that expose the psion to danger.
MnemonicSV
02-27-08, 04:03 AM compression + psychoportation powers:

The compression power, although handy in it's own right at lower levels, can be a tremendous boon to a nomad.

Most psychoportation powers have a limit of "maximum load" for carried objects to be brought along. However, the rules for carrying capacity are quite odd that they do not scale uniformly with creature size/mass. A medium creature that uses compression to become a small creature will have it's carrying capacity reduced to 3/4 that of a medium creature (not including the STR reduction). However, the mass of all the equipment on his person is compressed to 1/8 it's normal weight, as he is.

For example: A human with STR 10 has a max load of 100 lb. Assuming he is lifting 200 lb (he's carrying it, but he can only stagger around at 5 ft) when he manifests compression to become small, the dynamic changes. Now he is a small creature with STR 8, whose max load is only 60 lbs. However, the 200 lbs he was carrying is compressed down to only 25 lbs. Because of this, he is now only carrying a medium load, and can then teleport easily with this load (even though at his normal size he could never hope to teleport with that much). In fact, in this example he could even have a comrade load up an extra 35 lbs of weight to teleport. In effect, this human can use compression to increase his teleport weight limit to 235% normal. Quite a difference when you're trying to figure out how to get all that dragon's hoard home with you. Certainly not bad for only 1 extra pp.

(You can also use this compression trick to "break" the weight limit on a number of other powers, such as time hop or animate object, so long as you are carrying the object when you target the power on it.)

-----

Compression + graft weapon:

Don't you hate it when you find a good one-handed magic weapon built for a small character, but you don't want that pesky -2 size difference penalty to weild it, or the reduced damage potential? Well, if you like to graft weapons then compression will help you out!

Just use compression to become a small character. Then pick up the small weapon, graft weapon it you your hand, and dismiss compression. The weapon (now a part of you) will scale up as you do, making it a medium character sized weapon... eliminating the -2 penalty, and increasing the damage potential. When graft weapon's duration ends the weapon will become small again, but what's that matter after 24 hours?

(This use is subject to interpretation. A DM could rule that once grafted the weapon is now subjected to the compression currently affecting you, so the weapon itself would be compressed the instant you graft it... granting no benefit. But what's the fun of that?)
darkcser
02-27-08, 04:45 PM [QUOTE=Lycanthromancer;15188616]
Swarm of crystals + hustle
This combination allows you to move in, manifest the swarm for unavoidable damage, then move out. Most easily used by egoists (as they're the only class with both powers on their power list), but anyone with some time and XP, or the Expanded Knowledge feat can pull it off. Minimum manifester level for this combo: 5. Minimum power point cost: 8. Actions used: Full turn's worth.
QUOTE]

I'm currently using a ML3 wand of Swarm of Crystals (with craft dorje and dorje mastery) for the free +4pp boost. A wand that does 7d4 no save to a 15' cone at lvl 9 isn't great but it's something to do when you're low on power. It would be nice to have the dual dorje wielder feat so you can do 14d4 at the cost of two wands and a total of 3 charges... but I wasted two feats to get Azure Talent and Inquisitor (Incarnate2/Psion3/Soul Manifester3/Thrallherd1).

At the cost of 4 feats (twf being the 4th) you can boost a lot of powers to make them more effective. Two ML1 wands of energy ray can net you 10d6 damage for a mere cost of 45gp (3 charges).
Cravin
02-29-08, 03:30 AM Wall of ectoplasm + Quickened energy wall (or just wait till next turn, or have another psion cast it who has a held initiative)

you manifest a [size of creature]hemispherical wall of ectoplasm around the creature(s) then summon a wall of energy as a [size of creature] wall on the creature. Every turn they will take damage in this wall they can't get out of. My Lvl 9 wilder killed a BBEG from full HP+Temp HP after it (almost; meaning I was alive)TPK'd my party. My DM forbade Wilder after that.

I just waited, and readied an action for him to break the wall to manifest a copy of it.
InkBlot
02-29-08, 01:34 PM Wall of ectoplasm breaks line of sight and line of effect. Unless you have burrowing power, you can't put an energy wall inside the wall of ectoplasm.

Doing it the other way around (energy wall first, then wall of ectoplsam around it) would work fine. Although, if an energy wall is 20 feet high then the wall of ectoplasm wouldn't be tall enough to escape being damaged by it. If you did somehow make the wall of ectoplasm that tall, then there'd be room for the BBEG to move outside the energy wall's radius.

Come to think of it, the energy wall is a cylinder, but the wall of ectoplasm is a hemisphere. Those two shapes don't mesh very well. If the energy wall and the wall of ectoplasm had the same radius, then almost the entire energy wall would be blocked off by the wall of ectoplasm. I suppose you could create a flat energy wall in center of the dome, and just make the dome small enough that the BBEG can't not be standing inside the wall. However, this makes it easier to escape damage from the energy wall if he can get a little more room in the dome, or squeeze to one side.

Walls of ectoplasm have HP per 10-foot section. If the BBEG breaks through it, he only puts a 10-foot wide hole in the wall. The wall doesn't disappear. So with the remnants of the old wall there, you can't put a new wall in it's place. You'd have to put a new wall outside the old one. This would allow the BBEG to get outside the energy wall's damaging area, although it could take a while.

Then there's the issue of concentration. It takes a standard action to concentrate on the energy wall each round. If you ready an action to make a new wall of ectoplasm, then you can't concentrate on it, and it vanishes in 9 rounds (12 if you surged). If you did concentrate on it, then the BBEG's minions could easily disrupt you by hitting you (if he didn't have minions then shame on the DM).

Also, shame on your DM for not keeping tabs on your FIVE powers known.
CrimsonDeath
02-29-08, 02:00 PM Although, if an energy wall is 20 feet high then the wall of ectoplasm wouldn't be tall enough to escape being damaged by it.

But then, we don't know that it's actually that tall...

Does an Energy Wall have to be vertical? If not, you could make it horizontal, along the ground, facing up. Make it deal cold damage, and it'll have difficulty overcoming the Wall of Ectoplasm's Hardness (since cold deals 1/4 damage to objects).
InkBlot
02-29-08, 02:01 PM Yeah, that's why I said "if." I totally meant to follow it up with a footnote. Seriously.
MnemonicSV
03-01-08, 03:13 PM And don't forget, energy wall still suffers from all the other complications of wall of fire (http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/showthread.php?t=188877).

Moving on...

Control air on it's own (without a combo) is an extremely underated power, by virtue of the fact that the direction of the air need not be a compass direction. Any existing outdoors wind could also be directed (90 degrees) up or down as well.

In a sandy/dusty environment, aiming a powerful upward wind will create a potent visual obscurement. A powerful enough updraft could throw small creatures into the air, and could conceivably aid in jump checks or reduce falling damage.

A powerful downdraft can be enough to prone a large group of foes, without even blowing them away or giving them the option to "move with the wind" to escape the area (5 ft per round on a failed Fort save means it will take them some time to escape). A strong downdraft could also conceivably be used to "excavate" a large area covered in sand.

Freedom on movement, psionic might combo well if you are in the target area at the time, but to be honest, I really don't know if the power protects you from wind effects. Logically, yes. RAW... maybe not.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Lycanthromancer 02-25-08, 08:42 PM	There are a number of powers in the XPH that either are underwhelming or full of absolute fail. So, let's come up with some powers that are less-than-optimal, and build combos that make them useful. For instance: Swarm of crystals + hustle This combination allows you to move in, manifest the swarm for unavoidable damage, then move out. Most easily used by egoists (as they're the only class with both powers on their power list), but anyone with some time and XP, or the Expanded Knowledge feat can pull it off. Minimum manifester level for this combo: 5. Minimum power point cost: 8. Actions used: Full turn's worth. Any others you can think of?
Jaid 02-26-08, 04:20 PM	obviously your hustle combo there works with pretty much any short-range power at all, particularly those that expose the psion to danger.
MnemonicSV 02-27-08, 04:03 AM	compression + psychoportation powers: The compression power, although handy in it's own right at lower levels, can be a tremendous boon to a nomad. Most psychoportation powers have a limit of "maximum load" for carried objects to be brought along. However, the rules for carrying capacity are quite odd that they do not scale uniformly with creature size/mass. A medium creature that uses compression to become a small creature will have it's carrying capacity reduced to 3/4 that of a medium creature (not including the STR reduction). However, the mass of all the equipment on his person is compressed to 1/8 it's normal weight, as he is. For example: A human with STR 10 has a max load of 100 lb. Assuming he is lifting 200 lb (he's carrying it, but he can only stagger around at 5 ft) when he manifests compression to become small, the dynamic changes. Now he is a small creature with STR 8, whose max load is only 60 lbs. However, the 200 lbs he was carrying is compressed down to only 25 lbs. Because of this, he is now only carrying a medium load, and can then teleport easily with this load (even though at his normal size he could never hope to teleport with that much). In fact, in this example he could even have a comrade load up an extra 35 lbs of weight to teleport. In effect, this human can use compression to increase his teleport weight limit to 235% normal. Quite a difference when you're trying to figure out how to get all that dragon's hoard home with you. Certainly not bad for only 1 extra pp. (You can also use this compression trick to "break" the weight limit on a number of other powers, such as time hop or animate object, so long as you are carrying the object when you target the power on it.) ----- Compression + graft weapon: Don't you hate it when you find a good one-handed magic weapon built for a small character, but you don't want that pesky -2 size difference penalty to weild it, or the reduced damage potential? Well, if you like to graft weapons then compression will help you out! Just use compression to become a small character. Then pick up the small weapon, graft weapon it you your hand, and dismiss compression. The weapon (now a part of you) will scale up as you do, making it a medium character sized weapon... eliminating the -2 penalty, and increasing the damage potential. When graft weapon's duration ends the weapon will become small again, but what's that matter after 24 hours? (This use is subject to interpretation. A DM could rule that once grafted the weapon is now subjected to the compression currently affecting you, so the weapon itself would be compressed the instant you graft it... granting no benefit. But what's the fun of that?)
darkcser 02-27-08, 04:45 PM	[QUOTE=Lycanthromancer;15188616] Swarm of crystals + hustle This combination allows you to move in, manifest the swarm for unavoidable damage, then move out. Most easily used by egoists (as they're the only class with both powers on their power list), but anyone with some time and XP, or the Expanded Knowledge feat can pull it off. Minimum manifester level for this combo: 5. Minimum power point cost: 8. Actions used: Full turn's worth. QUOTE] I'm currently using a ML3 wand of Swarm of Crystals (with craft dorje and dorje mastery) for the free +4pp boost. A wand that does 7d4 no save to a 15' cone at lvl 9 isn't great but it's something to do when you're low on power. It would be nice to have the dual dorje wielder feat so you can do 14d4 at the cost of two wands and a total of 3 charges... but I wasted two feats to get Azure Talent and Inquisitor (Incarnate2/Psion3/Soul Manifester3/Thrallherd1). At the cost of 4 feats (twf being the 4th) you can boost a lot of powers to make them more effective. Two ML1 wands of energy ray can net you 10d6 damage for a mere cost of 45gp (3 charges).
Cravin 02-29-08, 03:30 AM	Wall of ectoplasm + Quickened energy wall (or just wait till next turn, or have another psion cast it who has a held initiative) you manifest a [size of creature]hemispherical wall of ectoplasm around the creature(s) then summon a wall of energy as a [size of creature] wall on the creature. Every turn they will take damage in this wall they can't get out of. My Lvl 9 wilder killed a BBEG from full HP+Temp HP after it (almost; meaning I was alive)TPK'd my party. My DM forbade Wilder after that. I just waited, and readied an action for him to break the wall to manifest a copy of it.
InkBlot 02-29-08, 01:34 PM	Wall of ectoplasm breaks line of sight and line of effect. Unless you have burrowing power, you can't put an energy wall inside the wall of ectoplasm. Doing it the other way around (energy wall first, then wall of ectoplsam around it) would work fine. Although, if an energy wall is 20 feet high then the wall of ectoplasm wouldn't be tall enough to escape being damaged by it. If you did somehow make the wall of ectoplasm that tall, then there'd be room for the BBEG to move outside the energy wall's radius. Come to think of it, the energy wall is a cylinder, but the wall of ectoplasm is a hemisphere. Those two shapes don't mesh very well. If the energy wall and the wall of ectoplasm had the same radius, then almost the entire energy wall would be blocked off by the wall of ectoplasm. I suppose you could create a flat energy wall in center of the dome, and just make the dome small enough that the BBEG can't not be standing inside the wall. However, this makes it easier to escape damage from the energy wall if he can get a little more room in the dome, or squeeze to one side. Walls of ectoplasm have HP per 10-foot section. If the BBEG breaks through it, he only puts a 10-foot wide hole in the wall. The wall doesn't disappear. So with the remnants of the old wall there, you can't put a new wall in it's place. You'd have to put a new wall outside the old one. This would allow the BBEG to get outside the energy wall's damaging area, although it could take a while. Then there's the issue of concentration. It takes a standard action to concentrate on the energy wall each round. If you ready an action to make a new wall of ectoplasm, then you can't concentrate on it, and it vanishes in 9 rounds (12 if you surged). If you did concentrate on it, then the BBEG's minions could easily disrupt you by hitting you (if he didn't have minions then shame on the DM). Also, shame on your DM for not keeping tabs on your FIVE powers known.
CrimsonDeath 02-29-08, 02:00 PM	Although, if an energy wall is 20 feet high then the wall of ectoplasm wouldn't be tall enough to escape being damaged by it. But then, we don't know that it's actually that tall... Does an Energy Wall have to be vertical? If not, you could make it horizontal, along the ground, facing up. Make it deal cold damage, and it'll have difficulty overcoming the Wall of Ectoplasm's Hardness (since cold deals 1/4 damage to objects).
InkBlot 02-29-08, 02:01 PM	Yeah, that's why I said "if." I totally meant to follow it up with a footnote. Seriously.
MnemonicSV 03-01-08, 03:13 PM	And don't forget, energy wall still suffers from all the other complications of wall of fire (http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/showthread.php?t=188877). Moving on... Control air on it's own (without a combo) is an extremely underated power, by virtue of the fact that the direction of the air need not be a compass direction. Any existing outdoors wind could also be directed (90 degrees) up or down as well. In a sandy/dusty environment, aiming a powerful upward wind will create a potent visual obscurement. A powerful enough updraft could throw small creatures into the air, and could conceivably aid in jump checks or reduce falling damage. A powerful downdraft can be enough to prone a large group of foes, without even blowing them away or giving them the option to "move with the wind" to escape the area (5 ft per round on a failed Fort save means it will take them some time to escape). A strong downdraft could also conceivably be used to "excavate" a large area covered in sand. Freedom on movement, psionic might combo well if you are in the target area at the time, but to be honest, I really don't know if the power protects you from wind effects. Logically, yes. RAW... maybe not.