Elemental resistances... How long until I'm in trouble?

[samcifer]

So at what level do resistances begin to become an issue for elemental damage spellcasters? (Fire primarily and radiant are the main types my character uses)

[Varlon]

Fire, maybe after a few levels depending on the enemies you face. Radiant, never. You're good to go.

[MeeposFire]

Also you can use a feat to make resistance not an issue for fire (what is it called element attunement or something like that). That means you really only need to worry about fire immunity which while not unheard of is not so common that you have to worry too much about it so long as you have something else to use in case of that situation (if you have some radiant attacks you should be almost always covered except in the most rare of situations).

[Theodoxus]

There's always Elemental Adept, if you're overly concerned with resistances... it's really good for fire, given the propensity of fire based spells...

[samcifer]

There's always Elemental Adept, if you're overly concerned with resistances... it's really good for fire, given the propensity of fire based spells...

Exactly. Right now I'm at sorc 1 / warlock 1. I plan on taking a 2nd level of warlock before going back to sorc and at character lv. 6, I'll get my first chance at a feat or stat increase. with 18 charisma (16 +2 for tiefling), I figure maxing out charisma can wait for now and want to know if lv. 6 is when I should go for elemental adept for fire at that time, or if it can wait until lv. 10.

[Theodoxus]

There are low CR critters with resistance to fire... So it'll be campaign specific if your DM throws them at you or not. Level 10 is typically where they'll start to show up with more regularity. I suppose the good news is, you'll know by level 6 whether you'll need the feat then or can boost your overall damage output with a 20 Cha at 6 and boost your fire damage at 10 with EA...

[Asmotherion]

Exactly. Right now I'm at sorc 1 / warlock 1. I plan on taking a 2nd level of warlock before going back to sorc and at character lv. 6, I'll get my first chance at a feat or stat increase. with 18 charisma (16 +2 for tiefling), I figure maxing out charisma can wait for now and want to know if lv. 6 is when I should go for elemental adept for fire at that time, or if it can wait until lv. 10.

With Eldritch Blast Dealing Force Damage and Hex to cap some Necrotic Damage on top of that you never need to worry about running out of elemental options. You just need Agonising Blast to add your Cha mod to all your Eldritch Blasts and then Quicken them :P At least, if we talk optimisation-wise.

If you want to build a fire-themed elemental master for other reasons, it's up to you, but I'd prioritise Cha 20 or some other feat (War Caster/Spell Sniper/Crossbow Expert (in order to not have disadvantage with Eldritch Blast on targets within 5 feet) etc) if I were you, given you're playing a Warlock/Sorcerer... Always speaking purelly on an optimisation basis, since I figured that this is what you were looking for?

[Varlon]

Yeah, I'm curious if there's any way to make it worth it to take EAdept when you already have the dream team of force, necrotic, and radiant damage by level 2. Spell Sniper(Thorn Whip) sounds like a fun way to round it out...

[samcifer]

With Eldritch Blast Dealing Force Damage and Hex to cap some Necrotic Damage on top of that you never need to worry about running out of elemental options. You just need Agonising Blast to add your Cha mod to all your Eldritch Blasts and then Quicken them :P At least, if we talk optimisation-wise.

If you want to build a fire-themed elemental master for other reasons, it's up to you, but I'd prioritise Cha 20 or some other feat (War Caster/Spell Sniper/Crossbow Expert (in order to not have disadvantage with Eldritch Blast on targets within 5 feet) etc) if I were you, given you're playing a Warlock/Sorcerer... Always speaking purelly on an optimisation basis, since I figured that this is what you were looking for?

Pretty much. I'm playing a favored soul sorc (using the most recent UA version of the subclass), so I went hexblade warlock at my second level to get medium armor and shields for added defense (jumped from 12 AC to 18/19, depending on which armor I use) and to use Hex and Agonizing Blast on EB to compensate for the damage loss from not going Draconic Bloodline or Phoenix. Since range is a factor in this campaign (enemies on a beached ship vs. us on land one time, then the time our loudmouthed fighter bragged to some gnomes who were hero-worshiping us that we murdered some men on the road after falsely assuming they were bandits, the gnomes freaked out and ran and the second one got out of my farthest range so our ranger had to snipe him instesd) I'll take eldritch spear for the extra range so I can be useful at great distances.

[samcifer]

So to clarify, I don't really need to worry about fire resistant enemies until lv. 10?

[Findulidas]

So to clarify, I don't really need to worry about fire resistant enemies until lv. 10?

Depends on campaign/DM. On average probably at 10? I havent ever relied on one type so I cant say Ive thought about it. Poison immunity is very common though.

[Strangways]

The downside to taking Elemental Adept is that it costs you a valuable feat to handle a situation that arises only occasionally.
It also does nothing to help against fire immune targets.

I'd rather just learn the Elemental Bane spell and use the feat for something else but, of course, you may not have that option depending on your class.

[hymer]

So to clarify, I don't really need to worry about fire resistant enemies until lv. 10?

There's no real cut-off point. Smoke mephits are CR 1/4, and immune to fire. So if your DM picks them, you could have trouble right from the beginning of your career. Once you start encountering outsiders on a regular basis (which, again, can be just about any time depending on the campaign and the DM) is when you'll really start feeling it. Demons are generally resistant to fire, while devils are generally immune, e.g.

[Asmotherion]

Pretty much. I'm playing a favored soul sorc (using the most recent UA version of the subclass), so I went hexblade warlock at my second level to get medium armor and shields for added defense (jumped from 12 AC to 18/19, depending on which armor I use) and to use Hex and Agonizing Blast on EB to compensate for the damage loss from not going Draconic Bloodline or Phoenix. Since range is a factor in this campaign (enemies on a beached ship vs. us on land one time, then the time our loudmouthed fighter bragged to some gnomes who were hero-worshiping us that we murdered some men on the road after falsely assuming they were bandits, the gnomes freaked out and ran and the second one got out of my farthest range so our ranger had to snipe him instesd) I'll take eldritch spear for the extra range so I can be useful at great distances.


So to clarify, I don't really need to worry about fire resistant enemies until lv. 10?

Well, you don't need to worry about Fire Resistant Enemies at all, as long as you have Eldritch Blast/Hex and your Radiant Damage Source avalable. Eldritch Blast is your "Main Damage" source, unless you want to role play otherwise. So, I don't really get why you have to worry about fire resistant opponents?

If it's about fireball, depends on the campain... The rule of thumb is, if the DM wants it to work as a mook killer, it will, if not, it won't :P Generally, if your DM uses 1-3 HD mooks, it will kill them, in a short cinematic, in order to process the battle faster (that's how I do it at least). On the other hand, with your class combination, you can deal very good single-target damage either Ranged with two quickened Eldritch Blasts (and Hex) or Melee with your Pact of the Blade, and latter dipping Paladin 2 to add Divine Smite to that Damage. Just a though.

[samcifer]

Well, you don't need to worry about Fire Resistant Enemies at all, as long as you have Eldritch Blast/Hex and your Radiant Damage Source avalable. Eldritch Blast is your "Main Damage" source, unless you want to role play otherwise. So, I don't really get why you have to worry about fire resistant opponents?

If it's about fireball, depends on the campain... The rule of thumb is, if the DM wants it to work as a mook killer, it will, if not, it won't :P Generally, if your DM uses 1-3 HD mooks, it will kill them, in a short cinematic, in order to process the battle faster (that's how I do it at least). On the other hand, with your class combination, you can deal very good single-target damage either Ranged with two quickened Eldritch Blasts (and Hex) or Melee with your Pact of the Blade, and latter dipping Paladin 2 to add Divine Smite to that Damage. Just a though.

Well my concern is I'm not very experienced in this game. I played 4e about a dozen times and 5e three times so far and everything I'm learning about 5e seems to say that damage-focused spellcasters are far less effective than archers, which are incredibly boring to play. I took a spellcaster class for more variety in attacking to reduce the staleness of combat.

[MeeposFire]

Well my concern is I'm not very experienced in this game. I played 4e about a dozen times and 5e three times so far and everything I'm learning about 5e seems to say that damage-focused spellcasters are far less effective than archers, which are incredibly boring to play. I took a spellcaster class for more variety in attacking to reduce the staleness of combat.

To use 4e terminology many archer type characters play a more striker type role in 5e. Sorcerer may have been a striker in 4e but it really is not in 5e. It can pump out some damage but it is more like a controller in that the damage is more often for groups and you can also inflict status effects. You can get some nice variety using a sorc but to do so you would want to pick some spells that do that which probably means you will need to cut down your elemental damage spells. You should have a few that do different jobs but there a number of spells that are really effective and fun but are not your fire spells.

[Kane0]

Start worrying after the 3rd time you have to fight a resistant enemy.

Better yet, have two to three damage types available all the time anyway. Eldritch blast is a very good fallback option against everything except Helmed Horrors.

[SharkForce]

yeah, it mostly depends on the type of enemy you're going to face.

poison and fire are generally considered the most resisted types of damage (though poison is actually far more likely to have problems with immunity than resistance), but a large portion of the fire resistant or immune enemies are grouped together in devils and demons. remove those groups, and iirc it's a bit more common, but not nearly as common as the raw numbers may suggest, so...

basically, the question isn't something that can be answered in terms of levels. it is mostly answered in terms of types of opponents. if your campaign focuses on fire elementals, or a red dragon and its servants in a volcano lair, or some sort of fiends, expect to have problems. otherwise, expect to come across troublesome opponents occasionaly, but it isn't strictly level-based.

(it can arguably be level-based in that your DM is probably less likely to put you up against devils or demons or red dragons as your primary enemy before a certain level, but it's still based on enemy type, not level).

[samcifer]

yeah, it mostly depends on the type of enemy you're going to face.

poison and fire are generally considered the most resisted types of damage (though poison is actually far more likely to have problems with immunity than resistance), but a large portion of the fire resistant or immune enemies are grouped together in devils and demons. remove those groups, and iirc it's a bit more common, but not nearly as common as the raw numbers may suggest, so...

basically, the question isn't something that can be answered in terms of levels. it is mostly answered in terms of types of opponents. if your campaign focuses on fire elementals, or a red dragon and its servants in a volcano lair, or some sort of fiends, expect to have problems. otherwise, expect to come across troublesome opponents occasionaly, but it isn't strictly level-based.

(it can arguably be level-based in that your DM is probably less likely to put you up against devils or demons or red dragons as your primary enemy before a certain level, but it's still based on enemy type, not level).

No idea as of yet. We're playing a homebrewed campaign. The backstory is that we live in a post-apocalyptic society that relies on scavenging resources from the wastelands, but the usual looting places are all used up, so now we have no choice but to begin to explore the most dangerous, unexplored region to hunt for resources for the citadel and surrounding city we live in. We jsut finished the first chapter where we needed to be tested to prove we're worthy and skilled enough to go on raids in the new area. We had a small combat arena trial, had to pair off to get through an obstacle coarse, Beat a giant crab monster, went to rescue some missing kids from kidnappers, then have a final trial battle to finish the chapter. Other than the crab, everyone we faces were humanoids so far.

[SharkForce]

well, if that keeps up, you may never need to worry about fire resistance.

(at some point, you may get the bright idea to explore underwater where i expect most people couldn't get at either though, at which point you may need to find a different damage type either way :P )

[Kane0]

And if anyone mentions that a settlement needs your help walk away and never look back.

[Asmotherion]

Well my concern is I'm not very experienced in this game. I played 4e about a dozen times and 5e three times so far and everything I'm learning about 5e seems to say that damage-focused spellcasters are far less effective than archers, which are incredibly boring to play. I took a spellcaster class for more variety in attacking to reduce the staleness of combat.

I see... In that case, I asure you, your multiclass practically gives you a better use of Eldritch Blast than if you had been a pure Warlock. :P Most People wanting to play Eldritch Blasting Warlocks go Sorcerer 1 Warlock 2 (or 3 for Pact Choice) and then Sorcerer for Quickening EB. The Melee Prowess and Spellcasting ability for versality obviously make you even better, so, all you need to worry about is getting your Cha to 20 IMO (Your Key ability for Spellcasting and Melee) and then think about Feats.