Bigger problem:
Chromatic Orb is an attack roll spell... this menas it is a Precision spell.
However,
Other than thunder, you CANNOT use it as a precision spell, to ping a hostile enemy that your allies are in melee with - because it creates a splash puddle that will electrocute/burn/melt/prone your friends as well. They've functionally undermined the entire niche purpose of the spell.
I'm just wondering how they can't see this after several years of BG3 development behind them. Someone over there is incredibly hard headed with getting more surfaces in by any means necessary and can't see it's doing more harm than good.
And then, for the surface inclined, there's the obvious solution of allowing us to target the ground instead of a creature to create a surface. That would allow the spells to remain as they are in 5e but create a cool extra functionality. E.g. Chromatic Orb: Fire: deal 3d8 fire damage to target,
OR create a fire surface that does 1d4+1d4 AoE, and also won't ever miss which can be very useful at times. If the surface AoE version would hit 3 creatures that would be 6d4 damage which would also be slightly more than 3d8 so quite viable.
