Why does the celestial sorcerer have an attack ability that cannot affect tanar'ri until 10th level and cannot affect baatezu at all. Heavenly fire deals fire damage, to which baatezu are immune, and against which tanar'ri have resistance 10 (a 10th-level sorcerer would deal 1 point of damage at 10th level only if she rolls maximum damage). It would make more sense if it dealt holy damage instead.
That's a pretty good point, actually.
I think the fiendish template grants fire resistance too.
Of course, it's good to keep in mind that when fighting tanar'ri, the sorcerer is probably casting spells. This is a luke-warm backup ability.
I agree, I thought the very same when I read it.
I think it should be Holy Fire like the one of the Destruction spell (which isn't truly fire).
Or, since a Sorcerer could have the Celestial template but yet not be Good himself, a whole other kind of energy, like a Magic Fire which would be just a magic burst with a flame appearance and no Holy at all.
Maybe it could be like flame strike: half fire, half holy.
I think of it as a simple know alignment spell, or a good reason not to use your healing ability on people you don't know well.
Remember that evil outsiders are 100% outsider, while a celestial sorcerer is something like 1% celestial.
Also bad is Arcane bloodlline's 3rd level ability.
"Metamagic Adept (Ex): At 3rd level, you can apply any one
metamagic feat you know to a spell you are about to cast
without increasing the casting time. You must still expend
a higher-level spell slot to cast this spell. You can use this
ability once per day at 3rd level and one additional time
per day for every four sorcerer levels you possess beyond
3rd, up to five times per day at 19th level. At 20th level, this
ability is replaced by arcane apotheosis."
This will be great at 4th level when she can finally cast 2nd level spells, but until then maybe the sorceror can juice up cantrips.
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Also bad is Arcane bloodlline's 3rd level ability.
"Metamagic Adept (Ex): At 3rd level, you can apply any one
metamagic feat you know to a spell you are about to cast
without increasing the casting time. You must still expend
a higher-level spell slot to cast this spell. You can use this
ability once per day at 3rd level and one additional time
per day for every four sorcerer levels you possess beyond
3rd, up to five times per day at 19th level. At 20th level, this
ability is replaced by arcane apotheosis."This will be great at 4th level when she can finally cast 2nd level spells, but until then maybe the sorceror can juice up cantrips.
Most players in my group think that metamagic feats are useless anyway. They were one thing I wasn't sad to see go during the change over from 3.5 to 4th edition.
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*gasps* Metamagic feats useless?! Why I've got half a mind to quicken something over a comment like that.
Metamagic feats are what spell casting so useful and powerful. Extending, silencing, persisting, sculpting, quickening and the things that make your low and mid level spell purr.
They're especially important for any sorcerer worth their salt who isn't trying to go foolishly into dragon disciple. The ability to spontaneously on the fly shift spells around as you need to is so amazingly useful.
Pick up one of the Energy Substitution Metamagic feats out of the Complete Arcane and suddenly you've just multiplied a lot of your popular spells usefulness. "Fireball ineffective? Well let's see how they like an acidball!" Also a thing to remember is you can apply more then one metamagic feat to a spell at the same time. I've managed to get a lot of millage out of a Sculpted, Empowered, Energy Substitution: Electricity, Born of Three Thunders Fireball. Quite the potent use of a 6th level spell.
Then add in the ability that the Arcane bloodline offers to apply those feats without extending the casting time? Sorcerers can finally quicken spell without taking a moderately high level feat, and that is quite excellent.
Then add in the ability that the Arcane bloodline offers to apply those feats without extending the casting time? Sorcerers can finally quicken spell without taking a moderately high level feat, and that is quite excellent.
In the beta any sorcerer with the feat can quicken spells. I don't get this whole "metamagic sucks" school of thought either but I generally don't argue with it. It would be nice if there were some changes to meta but as it's written it works decent. Now that sorcerers have quicken the biggest thing I would like to see is some workaround where wizards can spontaneously meta... the universalists power is a nice start (maybe a little too powerful in some ways) but it is one more think that makes the universalist just that much better than the specialists.
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Well the ability to spontaneously meta is one of the larger advantages the spontaneous spell casters get in favor over the wizard's versatility. Helps to keep them feeling different and apart when you play the game.
You also have to remember there are metamagic rods in existence as well, so there are methods of trading cash for the ability to do just that as a wizard. Actually a majority of them aren't even that expensive in the DMG.
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I don't get this whole "metamagic sucks" school of thought either but I generally don't argue with it. It would be nice if there were some changes to meta but as it's written it works decent.
In my group, the thinking comes from the fact that you have to choose in andvance what spell to apply it to so it's not very flexable, and the fact that you have to sacrifice a 2nd or 3rd level spell slot to metamagic a 1st level magic missile, for example. I have tried using the spontanious metemagic option in UA and that has softened their standpoint some, but they still aren't happy with it.
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I'm sorry but you game with wierd people if the reason they don't like something is because they have to think ahead. :(
You get things like extend spell for a nonspontaneous spell caster like a wizard, or divine metamagic for clerics. Extended Mage Armor, Extended False Life, Extended Greater Magic Weapon, Extended Magic Vestment, etc.
Also, if there were sorcerers then they could enjoy spontaneously applying those metamagic feats to their spells. Same with a favored soul, bard, warmage, or beguiler and many others. Heck, a cleric could spontaneously convert a 3rd level spell for an empowered cure light wounds.