So . . . Create Water's Nerfed

[AokiYakumo]

As of Patch 6, Water Supports just got a huge tax on their resources.

Prior to the patch, a character who could cast Create Water using spell slots got a variant of the spell at 3rd level, which could be cast at will without a slot. It's area was reduced (it had the same radius as a Call Lightning proc), but it didn't matter much when you were using it to setup combos with a frost or lightning build so they got the vulnerability bonus.

That's not there anymore. Now, if you wanted to combo into a frost/lightning mage, you have to burn a spell slot on a much bigger area - potentially causing collateral damage (which now triggers crime alerts when the water inevitably turns to ice or taser-water).

A Water Support is still good, but now you need to keep a stock of Arcane Elixirs (of each level) to not drain your spell slot pool, especially now that it competes with options like Bless, Spirit Guardians, Healing Word, Glyph of Warding, Lightning Bolt, etc.

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I'm not sure if this is an intended change or not, but just my thoughts on the matter. What about y'all?

[Hobocop]

I just throw water bottles, tbh.

[Doom_Cookies]

I always assumed the cantrip version of the spell was a bug.

[ghost.]

i noticed it was gone LOL but ngl the build's still meta af just slap the extra lv1 spell slot shield on shart and you're good to go

[Kal]

one sleet storm - battlefield is covered in water.

[Evangeline]

Originally posted by Hobocop:

I just throw water bottles, tbh.

based

[AokiYakumo]

Originally posted by ghost:

i noticed it was gone LOL but ngl the build's still meta af just slap the extra lv1 spell slot shield on shart and you're good to go

Fair. Only problem is that when I do a Water Support, they're usually also the healer (since the only water item in the game is Wavemother's Robes and that's on a slot not taken up by the Wapira Set), which means I usually stick a different shield on them than Shield of Devotion or Shield of the Undevout.

Good news is that Arcane Elixirs still have that juggling mechanic where you can imbibe one of two different kinds to regain slots in that manner (Which is why I make a ton of those when I can or buy them up when I can, juggling between the regular and greater versions keeps the slots healthy without needing Angelic Potions to recover).

[jonnin]

standing in water should suffice. The cantrip should not exist nor be necessary.

[AokiYakumo]

Originally posted by Kal:

one sleet storm - battlefield is covered in water.

Yep yep, but it won't Wet targets. That was the importance of Create Water, it triggers Wet which induces vulnerability to cold/lightning, making those spells especially potent.

[Evangeline]

Originally posted by AokiYakumo:

Yep yep, but it won't Wet targets. That was the importance of Create Water, it triggers Wet which induces vulnerability to cold/lightning, making those spells especially potent.

just use Charm and make them wet themselves

[The Yeen Queen]

Originally posted by jonnin:

standing in water should suffice. The cantrip should not exist nor be necessary.

Do you even have any ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ clue what people used the spell for?

[Evangeline]

making people wet :GachiChamp:

[AokiYakumo]

Originally posted by jonnin:

standing in water should suffice. The cantrip should not exist nor be necessary.

For hazards, definitely.

For Wet? No. You need water bottles or Create Water to generate Wet for doubling cold/lightning damage.

[jonnin]

Originally posted by Night Foxx:

Originally posted by jonnin:

standing in water should suffice. The cantrip should not exist nor be necessary.

Do you even have any ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ clue what people used the spell for?

yes, it doubles damage, a funky replacement for lightning which used to bounce off walls or have other behaviors in pre-5e, and it works with cold as well.

Why?
Throw a bottle, action (unless barb, then costs a rage and bonus action)
cast create water, action, or sleet storm, spell + action
etc.
producing water puddles to step in is about the same, adds in busting the big barrels & blood to ice to water sequence.

all I am suggesting is that standing in water already put down somehow should work. The world is not dipped in water, you still have to be proactive, but like setting up barrels and such, it lets you plan ahead. If the AI is aware of it and avoids stepping... its not OP. Even if you freeze a giant blood puddle, you have to wait a round for it to turn back to water. Making blood itself count would be OP, but I don't see how this idea is all that different.

[Pat Fenis]

Really isn't a problem. Lvl 1 arcane elixir is abundant, you get lvl 1 spell slot shield in act 2. At end game the wizard can just have his own water myrm so you don't even have to worry about an alternate character using anything. I run out of cones of cold long before create water slots.

[AokiYakumo]

Originally posted by Pat Fenis:

Really isn't a problem. Lvl 1 arcane elixir is abundant, you get lvl 1 spell slot shield in act 2. At end game the wizard can just have his own water myrm so you don't even have to worry about an alternate character using anything. I run out of cones of cold long before create water slots.

It did f*ck with my gameplay loop, tho. Having it as a cantrip cast not only reduced my weight requirements by not needing 3 20-stacks of water bottles (encumbrance is a factor I consider for things like this, and since I'm not a Giant Strength spammer I tend to be more mindful of who carries what), and it didn't break Sanctuary the way throwing bottles does (since they count as an attack with an improvised weapon).

Per para. 4 in the OP, it's still good. It just has less control (larger AoE), more resource dependence (Arcane Elixirs), and less overall efficiency (At this point it's better to use Ice Knife over Witch Bolt since you'll be doing AoE anyways what with the larger water pools) then it did with the cantrip cast available.

What I'd suggest, as an alternative, is a Shape Water cantrip that has a similar effect to the cantrip-cast of Create Water - seeing as we already have a good way to visualize that cantrip in game.