I kept close track of what happened when an enemy Fire Bolt hit me in a recent battle.
- The initial hit, the d6 rolled 2 fire damage. All the remaining dice are d4's.
- The hit inflicted burning, another 4 damage.
- The surface underneath me rolled a 1, but we're already up to 1d6 and 2d4.
- Finally, my turn again.
- I lost the burning condition, but the surface beneath me was still on fire.
- Walking off the surface inflicted burning on me again and did another 2 damage.
- When the burning status rolled around again, another 3 damage, then the status expired.
- The damage total from the single Fire Bolt was 12, but the total dice rolled were 1d6 and 4d4. Total range of damage is 5-22.
Some people might argue that the last 2 d4's were avoidable, if you use jump, but even if you want to keep the surface, it should not tick not tick twice. It's a cantrip.
Yeah I looked at the log last time I played too. This is usually the damage roll you get against enemies who are going to move. Average damage being 13.5 on a hit (If the enemy moves) and 10 on a miss (If it ignites) and 5 on a miss (if it doesn't ignite). There is probably something I haven't considered, but so far firebolt seems much stronger than eldritch blast (with agonizing blast), since the average damage is 8.5 (with 16 cha) and 12 with hex applied (but then you are comparing a cantrip vs a cantrip combined with a spell slot). Eldritch blast will probably overtake firebolt at higher levels with more blasts though, but I am unsure of firebolt scaling.
It does seem like firebolt is over tuned.
