I think that there's a happy medium to be had here. I rather like the surface interaction because of the utility and flexibility they provide; one of my most triumphant feelings I got in this game was in the crypt when I realized I could use ray of frost to put out fires. But I think that surface effects do need to be toned down because it causes a lot of chaos in combat. Like acid damage-I don't think there should be an acid surface effect both because it apparently doesn't exist in D&D from what I've heard and logically it doesn't make sense that there should be a negative effect from standing in a puddle of acid. I think if an acid attack hits you it should do that reduced armour thing and if it doesn't either nothing happens or it becomes a surface you can ignite or freeze, just for that extra cool dynamic problem solving.
