Skyrim Tips and Tricks » Discussions


An Argument for 'Fire Storm'

Tags: #Tips and Tricks Showcases 
  • Member
    June 10, 2014

    A Discussion on 'Taper Mechanics' - Part II

    *All damage based on ADEPT difficulty without resists factored in*

    CLICK here to read Part I

    Contents:

    1. Introduction to the 'FireStorm' spell - What it is and how it works
    2. FireStorm Taper Calculations
    3. Modifying the damage of FireStorm100
    4. Necromage
    5. Putting it all together
    6. Conclusion

    Introduction to 'Fire Storm'

    The Master level destruction spell 'Fire Storm' is rather unique in how it works and this has been a source of confusion for many people since the game was released.  Little is understood about this spell and I've yet to find any source that explains this spell accurately so hopefully I can answer some questions today.  The concensus seems to be that the Master level destruction spells are not all that great (which is so far from the truth) and that FireStorm, in particular, is a weak spell.  My goal with this discussion is to show everyone how to make proper use of the game mechanics to push the damage of this spell well into the thousands without using any bugs or glitches.  If you just want to get to the interesting parts jump ahead to the 'Necromage' section.

    So what exactly is FireStorm?

    When you cast FireStorm you are actually casting three seperate spells at the same time (four if you include 'Intense Flames').  FireStorm breaks down into the following spells (based on their respective range):

    • 100 ft - 100 points of fire damage (plus taper damage)
    • 065 ft - 075 points of fire damage
    • 025 ft - 050 points of fire damage

    If your opponent is within 25ft of you when you cast FireStorm it will be hit by all three spells at the same time; if the target is 90ft away it will only be hit with the 100ft spell.  Of particular interest to us is going to be the 100ft spell as it contains the spells' taper damage, this will be the primary focus of this discussion. 

    For the remainder of this discussion I will be using the term 'FireStorm100' when referring to the 100ft spell.

    Fire Storm Taper Calculations

    From our previous discussion about Skyrim 'Taper Mechanics' we should be familiar with the taper equation that is used by FireStorm.  For a refresher the equation is as follows:

    The spell information for the FireStorm100 spell is:

    FIRESTORM (100ft): 100 BASE damage (AKA Spell Magnitude)

    • 0.3 - Taper Weight
    • 4.0 - Taper Duration (in seconds)
    • 2.0 - Taper Curve

    When we plug these values into the taper equation we get:

    From this we can see that FireStorm100 has an 'Afterburn' of 40 damage spread over a duration of 4 seconds. 

    FireStorm100 does 140 total damage: 100 BASE + 40 AFTERBURN

    Modifying the damage of FireStorm100

    Now that we know what the base damage of the spell is, let's look at how we can boost that damage.  The main sources of increasing the damage are the following:

    • Augmented Flames
    • Fortify Destruction potions
    • Ahzidal's Mask
    • Aspect of Terror (Unintended, I won't be discussing this in detail within this discussion)
    • Necromage (Against undead targets)

    Augmented Flames:

    Let's look at the equation for FireStorm100 that is being boosted by both ranks of 'Augmented Flames':

    From this we can see that an Augmented FireStorm100 has an 'Afterburn' of 60 damage spread over a duration of 4 seconds. 

    FireStorm100 now does 210 total damage: 150 BASE + 60 AFTERBURN

    Fortify Destruction Potion:

    For this example I'm going to use a basic +75% Fortify potion.  This potion can be made if you have 100 Alchemy skill and take all related perks then combine 'Glowing Mushroom' and 'Nightshade'.  We will assume both Augmented Flames perks have also been taken:

    From this we can see that an augmented FireStorm100 has an 'Afterburn' of 105 damage spread over a duration of 4 seconds.

    FireStorm100 now does 367.5 total damage: 262.5 BASE + 105 AFTERBURN

    Ahzidal's Mask:

    Ahzidal's mask gives us a straight 25% boost to fire damage when worn.  For this example we're going to be using the previous example boosted by the mask: (Some numbers rounded down for ease)

    From this we can see that the FireStorm100 spell being boosted by perks/potion/Ahzidal has an 'Afterburn' of 131.2 damage spread over a duration of 4 seconds.

    FireStorm100 now does ~459 total damage: 328 BASE + 131.2 AFTERBURN

    For anyone that is already familiar with Taper mechanics, so far all of this should be straight forward and you probably already know where this discussion is heading to.  So let's jump right into the utter goofiness that is Necromage and Taper!

    Necromage

    (Necromage only affects Undead targets)

    For this section you really must have already read my previous discussion on Taper Mechanics to understand what is going on.  This discussion will already be long enough so I'm not going to be re-explaining Necromage and how it breaks the game's engine when using Taper. 

    What makes FireStorm such a lethal spell against the undead is it's absurb 'Taper Duration' of 4 seconds.  The only other spell in Skyrim that comes close to this is the Resoration spell 'Bane of the Undead' (and thus also Dawnbreaker) which I will be covering in next week's discussion.  We already saw last week how absurb the taper damage for the Fireball spell can get and that spell has a base duration of only 2 seconds, FireStorm takes things to a whole new level of broken!  One thing to note, as a reminder, under Necromage the 'Taper Curve' value isn't exactly 0 however for the purposes of these discussions we can assume it.

    Let's take a look at the FireStorm100 BASE damage when we include the Necromage perk:

    The 100 damage spell (125 with Necromage) now has an 'Afterburn' damage value of 281.25 giving the spell a total of ~406 damage against all undead.

    The spell with both 'Augmented Flames' perks, a 75% fortify destruction potion and while wearing Ahzidal's mask will do the following Afterburn damage using Necromage:

    FireStorm100 is now doing 1332 damage (410 BASE + 922.5 Afterburn). So what happens when we use stronger modifiers to boost the damage? 

    If you were to use basic enchanting (level 100) to make 4 pieces of equipment that boost Alchemy by 25% each, or 100% total, we can make 'Fortify Destruction' potions that do +150% damage.  Using a 150% potion plus perks and Ahzidal we get the following when using Necromage against an undead target:

    FireStorm100 is now doing over 1900 damage against the undead (586 BASE + 1318.5 Afterburn).  Still think this spell is underpowered?  It gets better!

    Putting it all Together

    If you're observant you may recall I originally introduced this discussion by saying FireStorm is actually a collection of three spells cast at the same time.  So far we've only looked at the 'FireStorm100' spell but to get the full picture we must also include the other two spells.  Both spells have a BASE damage that is also affected by perks, items and potions, although neither has a taper value.  So let's take a look at them:

    FireStorm65:

    • 075.00 - BASE
    • 112.50 - BASE + Augmented Perks
    • 196.90 - BASE + Augmented Perks + 75% Potion

    With both Augmented perks and a +75% potion the 65ft spell is doing almost 200 damage.  This is in addition to what the 100ft spell does since if a target is within range of the 65ft spell, it's also within range of the 100ft spell. 

    FireStorm25:

    • 050.00 - BASE
    • 075.00 - BASE + Augmented Perks
    • 131.25 - BASE + Augmented Perks + 75% Potion

    With both Augmented perks and a +75% potion the 25ft spell is doing ~131 damage.  This is in addition to the both the 100ft spell and the 65ft spell.

    Necromage boosts the damage of both the 65ft and 25ft spell by a flat 25% but since neither has a Taper value this boost isn't as significant as it is with the 100ft spell.  So when we put it all togther what damage would the total FireStorm spell do against an undead target when we use all of the previously mentioned modifiers? (150% fortify potion, Augmented perks, Ahzidal and Necromage used)

    • 1904.5 - FireStorm100
    • 0439.5 - FireStorm65
    • 0293.0 - FireStorm25

    The total damage of all three FireStorm spells combined is ~2637.  This is the approximate damage we'd be doing against an undead target when using the modifiers mentioned (keep in mind it's not difficult to achieve even higher values).  If we include the 'Aspect of Terror' bug we can add almost 100 more damage but I've chosen to leave it out of this discussion because I want to focus on the damage that is possible without bugs and glitches.  Since we're already using the Necromage perk it should also be mentioned that Vampire players can make potions that pass the +200% mark as well as increasing the boost from Ahzidal's mask.  I've been able to achieve damage well over 3000 per cast, there's really no end to how silly this can get.

    Conclusion

    Most people I've spoken to, and most sources of information I've read, believe FireStorm does somewhere between 150 and 325 damage per cast (depending on which part of the spell they misunderstand, though all are wrong in their own way).  FireStorm is actually multiple spells that are cast at the same time and depending on the distance your target is from you, the damage can vary greatly.  While the spell is great against all enemies it really begins to shine against the undead when you include the Necromage perk.

    In my testing I've been able to push the total damage to over 4000 against undead targets and for the min/max'ers it is possible to do a fair bit more damage than that!  Probably the most important thing to realize about FireStorm is that it is not just one spell you are casting so when we include modifiers you're actually boosting the damage of multiple spells which gives you great bang for your buck!

    I may have to reword parts of this for clarity because I'm writing this up without much sleep but hopefully it makes sense.  I'm tired of people saying FireStorm is a weak spell and hopefully I can help Disseminate the facts.  If you still think this spell doesn't scale to late game then you aren't doing it correctly.

  • Member
    June 10, 2014
    2637... And can be increase to 4000? Or more? Goddamn, That's awesome, James!
  • Member
    June 10, 2014

    Why do you specify undead targets? I thought undead have no weakness to fire

  • Member
    June 10, 2014
    Necromage only takes affect in the taper equation when the spell is used against an undead target.
  • June 10, 2014
    Because he's using Necromage, which increases the damage and duration of the Afterburn (on undead enemies).
  • Member
    June 10, 2014

    Ah, OK, got it!  These numbers show how this spell should be used - single cast and collect the loot! 

  • Member
    June 10, 2014
    You haven't truly played Skyrim until you waltz into a vampire lair and drop a 4000 damage FireStorm...the killcam's for FireStorm are the best in the game! (Camera spins around you Matrix-style and then you slam your fist into the ground and everything explodes...it's jaw dropping)
  • Member
    June 10, 2014

    I've got that once... on a mudcrab  Not very inspiring lol 

  • Member
    June 10, 2014
    I almost always get a Fire Storm scroll in Bleak Falls. I usually sell it but just recently set it off on a group of Draugr. Total devastation and awesome kill cam indeed!
  • Member
    June 10, 2014
    I forgot to include a section on scrolls and the sun stone, thanks for reminding me.

    I'll include it tomorrow but for anyone interested they both work in a similar fashion to the spell (scroll does less damage and the sun stone is identical).

    As a side note I usually play Skyrim as an alchemist and with the merchant perk I always use potions to buy master level scrolls from the spell merchants at the college since they're guaranteed to stock them, great way to be able to do huge damage without putting any levels into magicka or perks into destruction. Carry a dozen forestorm and blizzard scrolls and you're set!