Topic: What attack spell to pick?

[munchy]

I was wondering which attack spell your spell users max as their prime attack option except elemental attack spells!

There are a lot of interesting options out there: Sleep, Jolts, Inflict Injury, Inflict Pain, Wounding, (Harm - which basically is Inflict Pain and Wounding in one spell), etc.

Which one would you max and why?

[Defendi]

We use slumber mist a LOT.

[Dr_Sage]

Most honest answer: all depends on the personality/style of the caster and campaign.

Elaborating more:

If you are a "good guy" type of person you could go with soft and extremely effective spells like Sleep, paralize or Force bands.

Pros: Extremely effective, and hard to resist. One shot - one opponent out of combat spells. And can also be used to effectively prevent combat.

Contras: Lots of prisioners after combat situations. In some campaigns that can be anoying or way too cruel tio execute everyone everytime. Some opponents could be immune or at least resistant to then (never saw a skelleton taking a nap  ).

For a more scary build the damagin attack spells or paifull ones can do the trick.
Pro: More consistent with most combat situations and campaigns. Most DMs wound not have any trouble with these spells.
Contra: less effective tacticaly.

Jolts deserves mentioning too.
Pro: Stuns and uncosncuiusness effectively disable opponents and is consistent with most climatic battles.
Contras: same as sleep-like spells, you will need to finish helpless opponents most of the time, but at least they are not pacefully sleeping.

I can think of many possibilities but they are realy campaign dependant. Can you tell us more about the character and/or campaign?

PS: about elemental spells: they do seem inferior on the first glance and they indeed are if your DM uses just straightforward combat situations, but remmember that elemental spalls can be used in the same way warrior uses their weapons: to destroy objects, to cut ropes, to bring down doors etc.

[munchy]

Actually I always thought that elemental attack spells were WAY superior to the other attack spells. Seem to have more effect with less risk.

[Duskwalker]

Concerning attack spells:
I'm the offensive kind of guy when it comes to combat, so...
Jolts is my first spell of choice. Easy to use, quick and nicely scaleable. The unconsciousness option is tactically priceless.
Next would definitely be Confusion. Although you have to concentrate, this spell has group/life saving potential.
Another good option is Fire Nerves which can be pretty unnerving to PCs as well.

As for Calm, Charm, Distractions, Fear and Sleep, I prefer those in a non-combat sitution, when you have to be sneaky or if you want to interact with the person afterwards. They are what I like to call utility-attack spells.

I do not like elemental attack spells in HARP, especially bolts. In my experience it is far more effective to scale an attack spell such as Shock (higher costs) than an elemental bolt. Dealing with the penalties when using the RR column is easier and produces relatively high RRs. The scaling penalties and the applied DB of the opponent often reduce the roll to below zero. Also, many opponents have rather high defensive bonusses but only average resistances. For me and my players, those spells are a secondary choice. "Ball" spells, however, have the tactical advantage of multiple targets.

[munchy]

BTW, do you allow the high result options for the attack spells. Well, of course, the RR requirement is higher but do also allow a double duration if the result is accordingly?

Please also keep answering the original question.

[Dr_Sage]

Another good option is Fire Nerves which can be pretty unnerving to PCs as well.

The last important NPCs that my group engaged (Bargle, the Infame) used an area version of Fire Nerves. Visually it was like the Force Beans that Palpatine from StarWars use.
I fell sooooo tempted to shout "feel my pooowerrrr". As a matter of fact I think i did.
But the lucky bastards almost all resisted the effect.

In my experience it is far more effective to scale an attack spell such as Shock (higher costs) than an elemental bolt. Dealing with the penalties when using the RR column is easier and produces relatively high RRs. The scaling penalties and the applied DB of the opponent often reduce the roll to below zero.

Zero? Are you shure? What level they are? And as elemental attacks can be expensive but effective if you buy Talents like Potency.

[Hawkwind]

The two primary spell casters in my groups are a Thaumaturge and a Cleric. The Thaumaturge obviously has taken a lot of options in item creation, but the primary attack spells he uses are Force Bands and Scattershot. The Cleric finds Holy Ball to be quite devastating (as do a lot of my bad guys  )

Hawk