Is Bolt underpowered in SWADE?

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  • Red the Second Hand
    Registered Member
    • Jan 2021
    • 14

    Is Bolt underpowered in SWADE?

    Other than a cheaper power point cost, I'm not sure I fully understand the benefit of taking Bolt over Blast or Burst.
    It does the same damage, has the same range, but can only hit one opponent at a time whereas the others can hit many.

    The biggest thing that confuses me is the removal of the "Additional Bolts" modifier from Deluxe. Was it really that overpowered, that they had to completely remove it and not just nerf it? Because that was the one thing that seemed to make Bolt distinct and equal in value to its sister powers, Blast and Burst.

    Am I missing something here?
  • ValhallaGH
    Registered Member
    • Aug 2017
    • 3186

    #2
    Originally posted by Red the Second Hand
    Other than a cheaper power point cost, I'm not sure I fully understand the benefit of taking Bolt over Blast or Burst.
    It does the same damage, has the same range, but can only hit one opponent at a time whereas the others can hit many.
    And both of those other powers need to spend +1 point for the Selective modifier to avoid harming allies. Not a concern for bolt, which only hits one target.

    Some key differences:
    • Bolt is Novice ranked, unlike the Season ranked blast power. Actually available to a starting Novice.
    • Bolt has a Range of 2xSmarts, or 8" to 24", compared to the Cone (9.5" long) Range of burst. Like any Smarts-based range, bolt can reach two or three times further using the Range power modifier. The difference between a rifle and a flame thrower.
    • A Power Point cost of 1 means that bolt can be used ten or fifteen times for a new Novice caster (twenty for Gifted with Power Points). That's twice as often as burst and thrice as often as blast. Your dismissal of that factor leads me to conclude that you haven't actually played an arcane character.
    While bolt isn't for everyone, it is a good power and even my players that start with burst find themselves picking up bolt later on.

    The biggest thing that confuses me is the removal of the "Additional Bolts" modifier from Deluxe.
    Presumably it got kind of nuts when combined with the new action economy.
    I suspect we'll se a version of 'multi-bolt' in the upcoming Pathfinder for Savage Worlds, but that is unsupported speculation.
    I hope you find the above post useful. And not insulting, because I was trying to be helpful, not insulting; being a pedantic jerk, that isn't always clear.

    Comment


    • Red the Second Hand
      Red the Second Hand commented
      Editing a comment
      Originally posted by ValhallaGH
      Your dismissal of that factor leads me to conclude that you haven't actually played an arcane character.
      Hah, you aren't entirely wrong! I'm only three or four sessions into my first campaign as an arcane character, and he mostly just has Shape Change.

      You've pretty much cleared everything up for me. I hadn't really considered how much more often Bolt can be used, or their ranks for that matter. Thanks!

    • ValhallaGH
      ValhallaGH commented
      Editing a comment
      Glad it helped! Have fun with your "be a cat" magic.

    • SeeleyOne
      SeeleyOne commented
      Editing a comment
      Bolt has remained a popular power between various arcane characters. Nobody has considered it to be under powered in my group.
  • RavenWeiss
    Registered Member
    • Aug 2017
    • 5

    #3
    Also, Blast and Burst are AoE powers. Meaning, you can easily hit something or someone, who you don't want to, with them. Fighting on a sail ship? Or train? Plane? Go figure.

    Comment

    • pkitty
      Registered Member
      • Aug 2017
      • 587

      #4
      Originally posted by ValhallaGH
      I suspect we'll se a version of 'multi-bolt' in the upcoming Pathfinder for Savage Worlds, but that is unsupported speculation.
      Worth noting that Savage Rifts added it back, but scaled down and hard to obtain. In SR it's a "Mega-Power modifier" which means that you need a special Edge just to use it. On top of that, it's more expensive and limited to RoF 2 -- all basically indicating that the designers realized RoF 3 was nuts if you could also cast it multiple times per turn!

      ONSLAUGHT (+2): The bolt attack is made at Rate of Fire 2 (ignores the Recoil penalty) and may be used for Suppressive Fire.

      So yeah, I also expect we'll see something similar in Savage Pathfinder, but the modifier does already exist if you really miss it.

      Comment


      • Deskepticon
        Deskepticon commented
        Editing a comment
        Even ignoring Rifts, a core rules soldier with Steady Hands can make three RoF3 attacks without Recoil (just the -4 MAP), assuming ammo holds out. I don't see how the bolt power is much different. Power Points are effectively a form of magical ammo; if you run low, you need to make your next shots count.

        If it were +2 PP per each +1 RoF (up to RoF3), then three bolts at RoF3 would consume 15 PP. That's hardly an option I think many players would be chomping to exploit, but it's still a nice option to have.

      • ValhallaGH
        ValhallaGH commented
        Editing a comment
        Deskepticon Rock and Roll! is the recoil Edge. Stead Hands is the unsteady platform Edge.

      • Deskepticon
        Deskepticon commented
        Editing a comment
        ValhallaGH You're right! I had a brain fart.

        Thank you!
    • Ogre Mage
      Registered Member
      • Dec 2017
      • 18

      #5
      My sorceress still uses it. Bolt is not as good as it was in SWDE, but I still find it to be a decent power.

      Comment

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