In your opinion, is it intentional that Life Boost is the only non-instant Hex that comes without the need to sustain it?
I don't think it's overpowered or anything but I wanted to know what the general consensus is before I learn it only to be hit hard by some errata later.
I do believe it is intentional. Compare it to the Bard's Hymn of Healing, which is sustained for the same duration. Hymn of Healing is virtually identical in actual healing to Life Boost, but it also grants the target (you or an ally in this case) Temporary HP equal to the Fast Healing gained each turn.
Hymn of Healing also has a higher up front action cost, but is strictly Verbal components so does not trigger AoO/other reactions triggered by manipulate actions. Life Boost is only a single action but does trigger such reactions.
With those differences in mind, I can see why one would be sustained while the other is not.
Pathfinder Rulebook Subscriber
I'd also compare to Lay on Hands -
Life Boost offers range and a slight increase in overall efficiency, at the cost of healing more slowly (but lacking the other potential benefits of LoH).
As written, thats a reasonable exchange that makes both have comparable value.
If you made Life Boost sustained, it suddenly becomes TERRIBLE by comparison.
Blave wrote: In your opinion, is it intentional that Life Boost is the only non-instant Hex that comes without the need to sustain it? Thank effing god. It was sustained in the playtest which made it useless.
Life Boost had a duration of "sustained up to 1 minute" in the APG Playtest; so someone made the decision, at some point, to change the duration to 4 rounds without sustaining. Possibly because this allows you to cast it on yourself and continue to received the Fast Healing if you are knocked unconscious.
The target is also not immune after casting, so you can keep casting it out of combat every ten minutes if you aren't in a hurry.
I'd like to see more hexes as useful as Life Boost, because there aren't many hexes right now and many of them are lackluster.
Most of the hexes are fine, primarily because they're 1 action. I think only one of the cantrip hexes is actually bad (Wilding Word), the rest are all valid because of the ability to use them and another spell in the same turn.
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Gizmo the Enemy of Mankind wrote: Life Boost had a duration of "sustained up to 1 minute" in the APG Playtest; so someone made the decision, at some point, to change the duration to 4 rounds without sustaining. Possibly because this allows you to cast it on yourself and continue to received the Fast Healing if you are knocked unconscious.
The target is also not immune after casting, so you can keep casting it out of combat every ten minutes if you aren't in a hurry.
I'd like to see more hexes as useful as Life Boost, because there aren't many hexes right now and many of them are lackluster.
Huh, I didn't even realize it was in the Playtest. Only read the playtest classes once when they were released. Never had an opportunity to play one, so no reason to look at them much longer.
It was quite significantly buffed, compared to the playtest. One action instead of two, double amount of healing per round with only slight decrease in total healing done, removal of Sustain AND of the 24h immunity.
That does make it much better and probably one of te best hexes, if not the best. And if you can count on one thing to always be useful, it's free unlimited healing.
So yeah, I think I'll pick it up. Thanks, everyone!
Dubious Scholar wrote: Most of the hexes are fine, primarily because they're 1 action. I think only one of the cantrip hexes is actually bad (Wilding Word), the rest are all valid because of the ability to use them and another spell in the same turn. I know it isn't great overall, but I actually really like Wilding Word. It's really thematic and sickened is incredibly powerful. Also I would imagine that for at least most animals and fungi that Will is a low save for them. Maybe a lot of plants too, but there's more intelligent plants.
Alyran wrote: Dubious Scholar wrote: Most of the hexes are fine, primarily because they're 1 action. I think only one of the cantrip hexes is actually bad (Wilding Word), the rest are all valid because of the ability to use them and another spell in the same turn. I know it isn't great overall, but I actually really like Wilding Word. It's really thematic and sickened is incredibly powerful. Also I would imagine that for at least most animals and fungi that Will is a low save for them. Maybe a lot of plants too, but there's more intelligent plants. The problem is just that it's narrow, and there's a lot of enemies it's not applicable against at all. The list of enemies you can't use the other primal option on (cold damage) is much smaller.
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Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Again, I would have much fewer problems with all these hexes if you could get more than one. Wilding word would make a great secondary hex for the right character flavor.
Alyran wrote: Dubious Scholar wrote: Most of the hexes are fine, primarily because they're 1 action. I think only one of the cantrip hexes is actually bad (Wilding Word), the rest are all valid because of the ability to use them and another spell in the same turn. I know it isn't great overall, but I actually really like Wilding Word. It's really thematic and sickened is incredibly powerful. Also I would imagine that for at least most animals and fungi that Will is a low save for them. Maybe a lot of plants too, but there's more intelligent plants. Hey, this just helped me realize that wilding word does not have the Mental trait. That's interesting because will-save spells without the mental trait are fairly rare. Paizo must have excluded the mental trait because most plants are mindless.
Mental effects don't typically work because of Swarm Mind, but since this doesn't have the Mental trait, it should work on swarms with the Animal trait unless I'm missing something.
Unfortunately, there is still the problem that wilding word only kicks in when the affected creature attacks YOU, the caster. Since most witches will be hiding in the back, this makes the hex that much more niche. As WatersLethe says, it would be better as part of an arsenal of two or tree cantrip hexes (or if it were just less circumstantial).
Blave wrote: Gizmo the Enemy of Mankind wrote: Life Boost had a duration of "sustained up to 1 minute" in the APG Playtest; so someone made the decision, at some point, to change the duration to 4 rounds without sustaining. Possibly because this allows you to cast it on yourself and continue to received the Fast Healing if you are knocked unconscious.
The target is also not immune after casting, so you can keep casting it out of combat every ten minutes if you aren't in a hurry.
I'd like to see more hexes as useful as Life Boost, because there aren't many hexes right now and many of them are lackluster.
Huh, I didn't even realize it was in the Playtest. Only read the playtest classes once when they were released. Never had an opportunity to play one, so no reason to look at them much longer.
It was quite significantly buffed, compared to the playtest. One action instead of two, double amount of healing per round with only slight decrease in total healing done, removal of Sustain AND of the 24h immunity.
That does make it much better and probably one of te best hexes, if not the best. And if you can count on one thing to always be useful, it's free unlimited healing.
So yeah, I think I'll pick it up. Thanks, everyone! Yeah, it's an excellent hex now, I hope we see more like it. I'm picking it for my witch too. Have fun!
It's interesting seeing what changes they made compared to the APG Playtest. Personal blizzard looked like a fun 1st-level focus hex (that needed a saving throw added) that appears to have been split into the the new 3rd-level focus hex of the same name (which I like), and the clinging ice hex cantrip. I'd prefer that the 'sustained' and the 'immune after' aspects of clinging ice were removed. There are very few instances that I would ever sacrifice one of my actions each round in order to slow down just ONE creature by 5 feet.
Gizmo the Enemy of Mankind wrote: Blave wrote: Gizmo the Enemy of Mankind wrote: Life Boost had a duration of "sustained up to 1 minute" in the APG Playtest; so someone made the decision, at some point, to change the duration to 4 rounds without sustaining. Possibly because this allows you to cast it on yourself and continue to received the Fast Healing if you are knocked unconscious.
The target is also not immune after casting, so you can keep casting it out of combat every ten minutes if you aren't in a hurry.
I'd like to see more hexes as useful as Life Boost, because there aren't many hexes right now and many of them are lackluster.
Huh, I didn't even realize it was in the Playtest. Only read the playtest classes once when they were released. Never had an opportunity to play one, so no reason to look at them much longer.
It was quite significantly buffed, compared to the playtest. One action instead of two, double amount of healing per round with only slight decrease in total healing done, removal of Sustain AND of the 24h immunity.
That does make it much better and probably one of te best hexes, if not the best. And if you can count on one thing to always be useful, it's free unlimited healing.
So yeah, I think I'll pick it up. Thanks, everyone! Yeah, it's an excellent hex now, I hope we see more like it. I'm picking it for my witch too. Have fun!
It's interesting seeing what changes they made compared to the APG Playtest. Personal blizzard looked like a fun 1st-level focus hex (that needed a saving throw added) that appears to have been split into the the new 3rd-level focus hex of the same name (which I like), and the clinging ice hex cantrip. I'd prefer that the 'sustained' and the 'immune after' aspects of clinging ice were removed. There are very few instances that I would ever sacrifice one of my actions each round in order to slow down just ONE creature by 5 feet. No, I don't think anyone's sustaining Clinging Frost in most cases, it's just getting used as an extra attack cantrip to smack things more. Maybe on crit fail sustain, depending. But...
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