Would a Kinetic Blast (physical) suffer a guaranteed miss, a 30% miss rate, or be unaffected by a Wind Wall?
What about energy blasts?
They should take the 30% miss chance if it is a projectile attack. For both physical and energy ranged attacks.
Which attacks count as projectile attacks -- anything that is described as hurling material that isn't in a continuous stream, or just single-object attacks like Telekinetic Blast?
Arrows and bolts are deflected upward and miss, while any other normal ranged weapon passing through the wall has a 30% miss chance.
I don't think blasts (both physical and energy) are normal ranged weapons so they are not subject to the miss chance.
If they do count as normal ranged weapons then both would be subject i'd imagine.
The base blast and any infusions that don't change that, basically those that require an attack roll and aren't melee. Kinetic blade/whip/etc makes it a melee attack. AoE stuff like wall, deadly earth, etc don't attack and are just summoned into existence at that point. For something like Fan the Flames, treat it the same way Burning Hands would be treated.
I was asking specifically about base blasts. Basically, I'm thinking of using something like this, but there's an Aerokineticist (Air, Cold, Blizzard) in the party, so the GM suggested I post it here.
(A giant-thrown boulder, a siege engine projectile, and other massive ranged weapons are not affected.)
Even the weakest kinetic blast involves a sizable mass of elemental matter or energy, so kinetic blasts always deal full damage to swarms of any size (though only area blasts deal extra damage to swarms).
Even if the Kinetic Blast is considered a normal ranged attack, it's still would most likely punch through the wind wall since it seems like it would be considered a massive ranged attack.
It feels like conceptually, a wall of wind, no matter how fierce, should not be able to deflect things like bolts of lightning, boulders, thousand pound marble statues, or a lot of other things that the kineticist is liable to throw at anybody.
I agree with the "massive ranged weapons" argument Vikjunk posed; if it can damage a swarm, it probably should not be deflected by wind wall.
Which makes the aetherkineticist's blast an interesting point of ambiguity.
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Which makes the aetherkineticist's blast an interesting point of ambiguity.
Not really, in a telekinetic blast the weapon itself isn't damaging anything, it's the strands of aether that you have it surrounded with that are. Those strands are more massive than whatever weapon you are using as a focal point for those aetheric threads.
Taking another angle on the original question: What things (other than Total Cover) for sure block Kineticist blasts? Then work backwards and see what things fail against progressively more types of Kineticist blasts.
A giant-thrown boulder, a siege engine projectile, and other massive ranged weapons are not affected.
The object must weigh no more than 5 pounds per kineticist level you possess.
Cannon balls (a siege engine projectile) could weigh as little as 4lbs. Even if the object used is literally an arrow, the fact that the aetheric strands are strong enough to move 5lbs (and completely encase the object thrown), which is more than heavy enough to break through Wind Wall, I'd say that no matter what's used would ignore the ability completely.
Alderic: That's a good point, and I think the answer is sometimes. If the object thrown would be stopped by Wind Wall under normal circumstances (going back to the arrow, firing an arrow through a Wind Wall would neutralize the attack), then loosening the aetheric strands would have the same result. If, however, you used a weapon or other object with comparable density to at least a 4lb cannon ball, Wind Wall would have no effect if you loosened the aetheric strands.
Alderic: That's a good point, and I think the answer is sometimes. If the object thrown would be stopped by Wind Wall under normal circumstances (going back to the arrow, firing an arrow through a Wind Wall would neutralize the attack), then loosening the aetheric strands would have the same result. If, however, you used a weapon or other object with comparable density to at least a 4lb cannon ball, Wind Wall would have no effect if you loosened the aetheric strands.
I agree. Though, I'd probably raise the weight a notch for comfort, so any projectile over 5 pounds would get through.
Which makes the aetherkineticist's blast an interesting point of ambiguity.
It's always that infernal aetherkineticist!
Which makes the aetherkineticist's blast an interesting point of ambiguity.It's always that infernal aetherkineticist!
Lol. Too true. That element is always full of odd questions. Like what happens to the object when you use it as a kinetic blade? Or how big does an object need to be to qualify as an object?