I don't have enough experience to say anything else, besides that Firebolt is a cantrip with no resource limit, comparing it to Magic Missiles which is a level 1 spell at minimum isn't really a good idea, and suggesting to buff firebolt by that much is crazy. Also, it's going to get upgraded to 2d10 at level 5 anyway, as all offensive cantrips gain a bonus damage die at that level (and most martial classes get double attack then too). Unless Larian decides to make changes in regards to how level 5/6 progression works.
Also Cure Wounds being stronger but restricted to touch range is the tradeoff for Healing Word being a bonus action and a ranged spell. One is meant to heal a party member that isn't down yet, the other is primarily meant to quickly pick up a party member that's downed before they die.
The issue is most battles do not last long enough to validate it being used over a resource costing spell (level 1+). So the validity of "it has no costs" is not accurate. Additionally, you still have the option to scroll on top of this, which means by default you will never cast the spell, because you can simply stack higher damaging scrolls.
it definitely needs a buff in the early game, at least to 1d12, but a damage over time effect will make it "competitive" option to the alternatives. The only other real reason you'd have to cast it is some sort of resistance based advantage, which would potentially require a lot of development resources (time/effort) to make what you can make with a simple damage buff more viable, and that is not practical on a business level unless there is other larger things at play.
This almost reads like a parody.
I'm not under the delusion that D&D is a perfect entity where nothing should ever be tweaked but every single one of these suggestion either ignores/misunderstands why a certain spell/skill exists or why it is how it is.
No, I just have a "throw some of the rules out of the rule-book" approach to this, because some of the dnd rules are not "mandatory" and should be renamed from "rules" to "suggestions".
The moment he design team realizes this and commit to it, the moment the classes in this game become far more enjoyable, and the game far more popular.This ultimately is a design choice for the game and we are not in general removing dnd rules, just altering some small things about it, and largely enhancing the classes "fun factor" for what? a "rule" that says you cant cast summon companion in combat? lets be serious about this.
With respect, I completely disagree with this approach, its game development not life and we don't have to use rules we don't want to. When its your game, you make the rules.
