How do folks understand how this spell works? If taken literally a 20th level Cleric or Druid can deal 20d6 fire damage to a 400'x400' square area, and can break that area down into 10 foot squares, therefore selectively dealing 20d6 damage to 40 separate 10 foot squares that they can pick and choose where to place. Such a spell would devastate entire armies, a feat that arcane spellcasters (that I can see) seem to be incapable of, which in and of itself makes little sense to me. Is this spell truly the end-all be-all of damaging AoE spells as it seems or am I looking at it wrong? I mean the range of the spell at level 20 is only 300 feet. A 6400 square AoE? The spell wasn't imho worded very well in 3.5 and it doesn't seem to have changed.
How do folks understand how this spell works? If taken literally a 20th level Cleric or Druid can deal 20d6 fire damage to a 400'x400' square area, and can break that area down into 10 foot squares, therefore selectively dealing 20d6 damage to 40 separate 10 foot squares that they can pick and choose where to place. Such a spell would devastate entire armies, a feat that arcane spellcasters (that I can see) seem to be incapable of, which in and of itself makes little sense to me. Is this spell truly the end-all be-all of damaging AoE spells as it seems or am I looking at it wrong? I mean the range of the spell at level 20 is only 300 feet. A 6400 square AoE? The spell wasn't imho worded very well in 3.5 and it doesn't seem to have changed.
You are correct about the damage, but not about the area of the spell.
A 20th level caster would not affect a 400'x400' area.
A 20th level caster would affect 40 x 10'x10' areas. The difference is considerabel. It could be an 80'x50',20'x 200'area, or any other similar combination. TYou can make odd shapes as well but the affected areas must alwais be in direct contact.
Still a powerful spell though, since it can be shapped in a number of ways.
I hope it was clear enough.
Also, if you are concerned about Arcane vs. Divine AOE, check out the square footage on Meteor Swarm. Even if you stack all four meteors on the same area (give all four the same origin point), a level 17 Wizard covers the same square footage with MS as does a level 20 Cleric with FS.
True, MS is not shapeable, but if army decimation is your goal you can always spread the meteors out and cover four times the area! Against rank and file soldiers, 6D6 damage is probably plenty. (And if you are content to merely match the square footage at level 20, you are doing a very nice 24D6/save half to most creatures in the area, with the unlucky bastard in the center taking a lot more)
This is not to say that the shapeable nature of FS does not bring a big advantage, but Arcanists do quite well with their own big boom spell.
You are correct about the damage, but not about the area of the spell.
Yeah I realized that after I went to bed. Math like that isn't my strongest point, heh.
A 20th level caster would not affect a 400'x400' area.
A 20th level caster would affect 40 x 10'x10' areas. The difference is considerabel. It could be an 80'x50',20'x 200'area, or any other similar combination. TYou can make odd shapes as well but the affected areas must alwais be in direct contact.
Still a powerful spell though, since it can be shapped in a number of ways.
I hope it was clear enough.
Are you certain you have to have the squares connected? One of my players insists on placing them wherever he wants to like 30 Flame Strikes in one spell. He says "well it doesn't say you can't and it implies that you can".
Also, if you are concerned about Arcane vs. Divine AOE, check out the square footage on Meteor Swarm. Even if you stack all four meteors on the same area (give all four the same origin point), a level 17 Wizard covers the same square footage with MS as does a level 20 Cleric with FS.
True, MS is not shapeable, but if army decimation is your goal you can always spread the meteors out and cover four times the area! Against rank and file soldiers, 6D6 damage is probably plenty. (And if you are content to merely match the square footage at level 20, you are doing a very nice 24D6/save half to most creatures in the area, with the unlucky bastard in the center taking a lot more)
This is not to say that the shapeable nature of FS does not bring a big advantage, but Arcanists do quite well with their own big boom spell.
I just never really thought Divine magic should be able to be that destructive... my personal opinion. (I thought divine magic was all about the healing and party buffs) Yeah I hadn't thought about Meteor Swarm, but still, a Druid gets FS at what, 13th level? At that point, DB Fireball doesn't even seem to compare. Longer range, sure... but the area is a lot less, isn't it?
Thanks for the responses, guys. This spell has proven to be a real problem in my games due to wonky interpretations.
A 20th level caster would not affect a 400'x400' area.
A 20th level caster would affect 40 x 10'x10' areas. The difference is considerabel. It could be an 80'x50',20'x 200'area, or any other similar combination. TYou can make odd shapes as well but the affected areas must alwais be in direct contact.
Still a powerful spell though, since it can be shapped in a number of ways.
I hope it was clear enough.Are you certain you have to have the squares connected? One of my players insists on placing them wherever he wants to like 30 Flame Strikes in one spell. He says "well it doesn't say you can't and it implies that you can".
The game normaly names exceptions rather than the norm. No mention about dividing the area is mentioned and the area is mentioned in singular.