Tweaking the Witchlight reservoir

[curious-puzzle]

So I like the vibe of the witchlight reservoir (weapon augment crystal from the Magic Item Compendium, pg 66), but by the time you have a +3 weapon to slap it on, it seems kind of underwhelming. I'm debating some changes to make it more appealing

1)drop it to act as a lesser crystal rather than a greater (so it can function on a +1 weapon instead of a +3)

2)I'm not sure on keeping the "5 uses before it needs to be recharged". Would it be too much to change it to "the type of bonus damage stays until you charge it with another element" (sunlight, moonlight, blood, or wine)? I'm thinking it's not too bad since it takes a swift action to activate the extra damage, and only applies to the next attack. OR if I keep the 5 charges limit, should it be a swift action and the bonus damage applies for the whole round?

Any thoughts/opinions are appreciated, thanks!

[Fizban]

One or the other. Making it unlimited use is a serious upgrade and should not be allowed until characters are guaranteed to have enough attacks that the swift action+only affecting one attack is actually a downside, and I'd say it still warrants a price increase. Also makes it into something that's not a reservoir, and plainly more powerful than the energy crystals, which are already the best there are. Making it a lesser crystal allows it to be used at low levels where a 5 use limit doesn't seem so bad and is probably the correct choice.

See also the Energy Surge property, and the original versions in DMG2. The MiC version is a +1 bonus and gives you limited charges of +3d6, effectively three hits worth of a normal +1 property, which is about the highest number of attacks you can expect to reliably hit (except you only need to hit once). The original DMG2 versions were only 2,000, but also only dealt +2d6, and still had the limited charge. Also consider that unlike almost every other swift buff, you activate surges after you've already hit with no chance of missing or accidental overkill (and witchlights still at least give you until the end of turn to hit). And the witchlight goes up to 4d6 against undead/lycanthropes, at least one of which is usually pretty common and easy to anticipate.

[curious-puzzle]

I was leaning towards the first option, thanks Fizban!

[Fizban]

In my surge comparisons I forgot that the MiC surge requires the base energy property because of the "synergy" mechanics (not a wise decision). So you can't get MiC surge until you have a +3 equivalent weapon, which is the same amount you're supposed to need for the witchlight. I figure that's not so coincidental. I still support allowing them earlier since in my experience fights that do go to weapons last for a good few rounds, making charged surges a good limiting factor to allow cheaper effects (DMG2 surge is a bit low but not ridiculously so). Just some extended commentary, have fun witching!

[curious-puzzle]

But which witch to witch with?

...sorry, couldn't help myself.