concentration spells

[lalala]

I simply don't use them. They are insta interrupted, even if you have high saves.

[アンジェル]

Originally posted by lalala:

concentration spells
I simply don't use them. They are insta interrupted, even if you have high saves.

Not true.

[lalala]

It is true, if you can have a concentration spell longer than the cast round you're lucky, if you have it another round after still, you're very lucky.

[Cellar_Cat]

I don't find them too bad, but in my party they're mostly coming from squishy classes who are relegated to being Far Away from Hostile Things.

[Dork_Stalker_310]

That's why you gotta hide your casters somewhere, so that they will be out of enemy's reach.

[id795078477]

Originally posted by lalala:

It is true, if you can have a concentration spell longer than the cast round you're lucky, if you have it another round after still, you're very lucky.

It is a sad truth.. you need a whole feat for concentration spells to even work somewhat properly. And what's hilarious is that your martial classes are better at doing concentration spells than your magic classes, because martials will generally have higher CON. Magic system is a silly joke in this game. But you wait till "experts" flock in and explain how it is balanced and how awesome it really is.

[jack_of_tears]

Concentration spells break if you cast another concentration spell or if you Rage.
They can also fall if you take damage but I've rarely had that happen. They can also break if you get knocked down in combat.

[Maraxus]

The worst is when you cast haste, then forget haste is a concentration spell and cast another concentration spell... rip your action economy. xD

[kbiz]

Fighters should have a Concentration spell going at all times. Spellcasters should have their favorites too.

Protip: don't have your Sorcerer cast another Concentration spell after already having cast Twinned Haste.

[Pan Darius Cassandra]

Originally posted by lalala:

It is true, if you can have a concentration spell longer than the cast round you're lucky, if you have it another round after still, you're very lucky.

Increase your Constitution, play a class (like Sorcerer) that has proficiency in Constitution saves, take the Warcaster or Resilient feat, and/or use gear that gives you a bonus to Constitution saves or concentration checks.

Oh, cast Bless.

[Chaosolous]

That's unfortunate you have bad luck on saving throws.

[psychotron666]

The enemy AI is extremely stupid with them as well. I'm on tactician and enemies will cast one concentration like silence on me, and then in the same turn cast shield of faith and lose the silence.. lol wut

[lalala]

Originally posted by Chaosolous:

That's unfortunate you have bad luck on saving throws.

Simple math actually. max(10, damage / 2), even if you give your caster 14 con, you have 40% chance be interrupted each hit. If you have 14 con as a caster. Otherwise at 10 its 50%. And with damage increase it gets worse.

If you also consider, that they typically also have to hit first place, which is also a chance, the concentration spells become the most unreliable waste of spell slots.

[AokiYakumo]

Originally posted by lalala:

I simply don't use them. They are insta interrupted, even if you have high saves.

A few tips for maintaining Concentration:

1) Crowd Control spells are the best concentration spells for this particular factor. You don't need to make CON saves if the things fighting you are drunk off their ass because of a Hypnotic Pattern or Hideous Laughter.

2) Having a high AC and/or decent to high CON increases your odds of making the save or decreases the odds of having to make it to begin with. CON 14 gives +2, and the save is calc'ed at 10 or half the total damage (whichever is higher), so +2 to DC 10 is a 65% chance of success, which is actually the benchmark for 5e. If you find it hard to maintain Concentration, get your CON up. If buffing CON isn't a feasible option for you, get your AC up. It's possible to hit AC 21 even with no armor, and that's usually good enough to block most hits.

3) Resilient: CON and War Caster are useful pickups if you can afford them. Usually you can only get one or the other (unless you're a Sorcerer with CON save prof. but then it's always War Caster). One adds your prof. to CON saves if you don't already (that +2 becomes +4 to +6, making a 65% shoot to potentially 85%, a very good boon), while the other gives advantage on saves to maintain concentration (Takes 65% to 88%, or 85% to 98%).

4) Consider spells or items that amp your saving throw bonus. Paladins give an Aura that adds their CHA to all saves made within it for friendles, so a 16 CHA PLD adds +3. This applies to their own saves as well, so maintaining a Moonbeam, Haste, or (if you're a PLD/WLK multiclass) Hunger of Hadar becomes much simpler. Bless also adds that d4 to saves, which is +2.5 on average, and there's a staff you can get that doubles this bonus. There's even a shield early in Act I that gives +1 to saving throws, and other useful gear that amps your saves (Helldusk Helm, Cloak of Protection, etc.)

5) Your caster maintaining concentration (if it isn't Spirit Guardians) will do better if placed far away from the adds. Consider having a lockdown build for keeping foes away from your caster. That way you can cast uninhibited or with great mitigation to danger. Some spells have persistent effects that help with this (Sleet Storm and Hunger of Hadar are awesome for this very purpose, set it & forget & watch enemies suffer from the top row seating), while others persist long after you get out of range (Bless, Haste, Shield of Faith, etc.), so setting it then getting the hell out of dodge can sometimes be just as good as remaining in the fight.

6) Things can't make you maintain concentration if they're dead. Kill them dead. Call Lightning with a water support is LUDICROUS damage, and usually has enough firepower to take smaller mooks off the field outright. Spirit Guardians obliterates any mob weak to Radiant.

7) If attack rolls are of particular concern, have someone on the Reverb/Orb build and debuff their attacks to the dirt. Shadowheart maintaining Spirit Guardians on the Reverb/Orb build imposes upwards of a -6 penalty to attack rolls and periodically saps turns with prone from Reverb, making her a good off-tank with the right setup.

8) Be prepared to embrace bad luck. ♥♥♥♥ happens. Your +14 CON save with War Caster may sometimes roll double 1s, or you get blasted by a Magic Missile spam that makes you roll 7 saves at once. It won't happen often, but you should be prepared to work around it if it does.

9) At the end of the day, it is still at its core a game. If nothing helps you with maintaining concentration, then that mechanic will probably make the game a bit of a thorn for you, which means it's always valid to get and take a break.

[Kafik]

Originally posted by lalala:

It is true, if you can have a concentration spell longer than the cast round you're lucky, if you have it another round after still, you're very lucky.

Learn to not get hit.

[Chaosolous]

Originally posted by lalala:

Originally posted by Chaosolous:

That's unfortunate you have bad luck on saving throws.

Simple math actually. max(10, damage / 2), even if you give your caster 14 con, you have 40% chance be interrupted each hit. If you have 14 con as a caster. Otherwise at 10 its 50%. And with damage increase it gets worse.

If you also consider, that they typically also have to hit first place, which is also a chance, the concentration spells become the most unreliable waste of spell slots.

Yes, math that explains the parameters of you luck.

Yours is bad. That sucks, I imagine.

I don't get my spells interrupted all that often so my luck must be better.