Quick Q: defending against shadow blast?

[MaxWilson]

Just thought I'd mention that I've given this spell (Shadow Blast) another look after this thread, and I'm actually still not really impressed with it. It's nice that it only requires D2 to cast, but I'd much rather have Sauromancers spamming Cloud of Death than Shadow Blast, because 1.) Cloud of Death has a larger AoE, 2.) Cloud of Death costs 10 fatigue and no gems, and 3.) Cloud of Death lingers for 2 rounds. Sure it only does half as much damage (9 vs. 20) and no paralyzation, but in practice Shadow Blast just doesn't seem worth the extra micromanagement headache.

I'm playing as LA Agartha at the moment if that makes a difference, primary opponents EA Ermor and MA Ulm.

-Max

Edit: correction. For a D4 caster, Cloud of Death and Shadow Blast will have exactly the same AoE. However, Cloud of Death gets 2 extra squares per level and Shadow Blast only gets 1, so for my D9 master lich CoD is a clearly superior choice that costs no gems.