An Evoker that gains the potent cantrip arcane tradition, am I the only player that sees this as a very useless ability? Unless you choose very specific cantrips at the beginning you don't gain the limited benefits of this arcane tradition. I would welcome other thoughts?
Well, one would expect an Evocation Wizard to be an expert in blasting things...so it isn't unreasonable to think that many of their cantrips would be damaging.
Frostbite...Toll the Dead...Lightning Lure...it's nice to know that when you aren't obliterating mobs, your ocassional cantrip can still do SOME damage to that one fool who managed to get away... : )
And you can snag an extra cantrip as you level up...or grab a Magic Initiate feat and gain TWO cantrips and free Level 1 spell to cast...
...or snag "Spell Sniper", and gain a free cantrip. Double your spell range, too.
That being said... "Sculpt Spells" and "Overchannel" are the true shining gems of an Evocation Wizard.
An Evoker that gains the potent cantrip arcane tradition, am I the only player that sees this as a very useless ability? Unless you choose very specific cantrips at the beginning you don't gain the limited benefits of this arcane tradition. I would welcome other thoughts?
I completely agree. The evoker is on the lower end of the power curve to begin with but why potent cantrip is so weak is beyond me. I think you could change it to read '+1d8 of the appropriate damage type for any evocation cantrip' and be ok. Hardly overpowering to add to an already weakish wizard school and it would keep the focus on evocation.
The way I see it, is that potent cantrip allows more variety of cantrips to be used than just spamming firebolt all day. At least with potent cantrip there would then be the option of blast the target with firebolt which could potential miss vs turning a save or suck cantrip into one that can deal lesser consistent damage.
The way I see it, is that potent cantrip allows more variety of cantrips to be used than just spamming firebolt all day. At least with potent cantrip there would then be the option of blast the target with firebolt which could potential miss vs turning a save or suck cantrip into one that can deal lesser consistent damage.
I understand the sentiment but shouldn't a evocation specialist be spamming evocation spells? I get wanting some variety in cantrip and spell choice but I would also expect that a player that takes the evocation school is wanting to spam the more common evocations. I mean the best spell to pare with potent cantrip as written is probably toll the dead which is necromantic.
Personally I think Evocation school is fine but I do think the class would flow better if their abilities were arranged differently. My personal opinion is that Potent Cantrip should come at level 2, Empowered Evocation should come at level 6, Sculpt Spells should come at level 10 and Overchannel is fine at 14. This I feel balances the class better and adjusts its power curve more accordingly.
I agree, Potent Cantrip is not impressive. The PHB has two saving throw Wizard cantrips, and they are Acid Splash and Poison Spray. So this is a whole class feature that's barely usable.
But Sculpt Spells, Empowered Evocation, and Overchannel are awesome.
Spitballing here but what if this feature also allowed any evocation cantrip to instead force a dex save instead of using an attack roll, which then has no effects other than damage?
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
An Evoker that gains the potent cantrip arcane tradition, am I the only player that sees this as a very useless ability? Unless you choose very specific cantrips at the beginning you don't gain the limited benefits of this arcane tradition. I would welcome other thoughts?
Well, one would expect an Evocation Wizard to be an expert in blasting things...so it isn't unreasonable to think that many of their cantrips would be damaging.
Frostbite...Toll the Dead...Lightning Lure...it's nice to know that when you aren't obliterating mobs, your ocassional cantrip can still do SOME damage to that one fool who managed to get away... : )
And you can snag an extra cantrip as you level up...or grab a Magic Initiate feat and gain TWO cantrips and free Level 1 spell to cast...
...or snag "Spell Sniper", and gain a free cantrip. Double your spell range, too.
That being said... "Sculpt Spells" and "Overchannel" are the true shining gems of an Evocation Wizard.
I completely agree. The evoker is on the lower end of the power curve to begin with but why potent cantrip is so weak is beyond me. I think you could change it to read '+1d8 of the appropriate damage type for any evocation cantrip' and be ok. Hardly overpowering to add to an already weakish wizard school and it would keep the focus on evocation.
Current Characters I am playing: Dr Konstantin van Wulf | Taegen Willowrun | Mad Magnar
Check out my homebrew: Items | Monsters | Spells | Subclasses | Feats
The way I see it, is that potent cantrip allows more variety of cantrips to be used than just spamming firebolt all day. At least with potent cantrip there would then be the option of blast the target with firebolt which could potential miss vs turning a save or suck cantrip into one that can deal lesser consistent damage.
My Homebrew | Background | Feats | Magic Items | Races | Spells | Subclass | Homebrewery
To see my more recent homebrew creations, please check out my content on Hombrewery.
I understand the sentiment but shouldn't a evocation specialist be spamming evocation spells? I get wanting some variety in cantrip and spell choice but I would also expect that a player that takes the evocation school is wanting to spam the more common evocations. I mean the best spell to pare with potent cantrip as written is probably toll the dead which is necromantic.
Current Characters I am playing: Dr Konstantin van Wulf | Taegen Willowrun | Mad Magnar
Check out my homebrew: Items | Monsters | Spells | Subclasses | Feats
Personally I think Evocation school is fine but I do think the class would flow better if their abilities were arranged differently. My personal opinion is that Potent Cantrip should come at level 2, Empowered Evocation should come at level 6, Sculpt Spells should come at level 10 and Overchannel is fine at 14. This I feel balances the class better and adjusts its power curve more accordingly.
I agree, Potent Cantrip is not impressive. The PHB has two saving throw Wizard cantrips, and they are Acid Splash and Poison Spray. So this is a whole class feature that's barely usable.
But Sculpt Spells, Empowered Evocation, and Overchannel are awesome.
Spitballing here but what if this feature also allowed any evocation cantrip to instead force a dex save instead of using an attack roll, which then has no effects other than damage?