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if I use Escalation on lightning strike and hit twice do I get to do dex damage to two targets or just one?

Escalation reads:
Trigger: You use a sorcerer at-will attack power.
Effect: You can make one additional creature a target of the triggering attack. If the attack’s range is melee or ranged, the additional target must be within 5 squares of you. If the attack’s range is area or close, the additional target must be adjacent to the burst or blast.

lightning strike reads:
Hit: 1d8 + Charisma modifier lightning damage. An enemy of your choice other than the target and within 10 squares of the target takes lightning damage equal to your Dexterity modifier.

Two targets. Each target will be dealt the hit line seperatly.

Indeed - lightning strike hits only once, and has only one target.  The secondary damage does not hit.

I read those powers as interacting to allow up to two targets to take the secondary damage.  The character gets to select two targets for the power.  For each target hit he applies the effects of the hit, in this case the initial damage and the damage to the secondary target.

Dec 8, 2012 -- 2:26AM, thespaceinvader wrote:

Indeed - lightning strike hits only once, and has only one target.  The secondary damage does not hit.

But the whole point of escalation is that you target one extra creature.

Exactly. Escalation effectively modify Lightning Strike as follow:

Lightning Strike
Lightning strikes your foe and then ricochets to another enemy.
At-Will        Arcane, Implement, Lightning
Standard Action      Ranged 10
Target: One or two* creature
Attack: Charisma vs. Reflex
Hit: 1d8 + Charisma modifier lightning damage. An enemy of your choice other than the target and within 10 squares of the target takes lightning damage equal to your Dexterity modifier.
  Level 21: 2d8 + Charisma modifier lightning damage.
  Storm Magic: You can apply your Storm Power bonus either to the damage roll against the target or to the damage taken by the enemy within 10 squares of the target.

*If within 5 squares 

of course if you have the esscalation power you won't have the storm magic class feature unless there is some cool cross over feat I don't know about.

FWIW, Escalated Lightning Strike would deal potentially 4 different batches of damage to as few as two targets - the hit line would be repeated for the additional target, in its entirety.  I think I misunderstood the question.

So, if you had 2 enemies (1 and 2) in range and within 5 of each other, you would be able to use escalated lightning strike to attack 1, hit and damage 1, autodamage 2, than attack 2, hit and damage 2, autodamage 1.

That works fine.  You could also autodamage 3 and 4 if you wished instead of focusing fire, but that would be silly.

Of course if you have the dex to make the secondary damage meaningful, then you are probably sacrificing cha or con...

Dec 8, 2012 -- 2:59PM, Jay_Ibero_911 wrote:

Of course if you have the dex to make the secondary damage meaningful, then you are probably sacrificing cha or con...

the only reason I would consider taking the power is because of minons, one standard action to do good damage to two creature and kill two minions is not bad. and you can do this many times. the character I am thinking about is level 11, so I can do it three times, four at 13.

Honestly if you are looking for minion popping there is probably a better power to use than lightning strike.  Just pick up one of the bursts/blasts and go from there.  Sorc has way to many good area of effect powers to use lightning strike on minion killing.

Dec 10, 2012 -- 2:14PM, Matyr wrote:

Honestly if you are looking for minion popping there is probably a better power to use than lightning strike.  Just pick up one of the bursts/blasts and go from there.  Sorc has way to many good area of effect powers to use lightning strike on minion killing.

the char is an elementalist so I will have an area burst 1 already.

the point of lighting strike is if they are speard out to far for an area burst, and so I can do striker damage to whichever two targets I want and still kill minons, rather then having to do damage to a less then ideal target because they are next to minons.

Dec 10, 2012 -- 4:52PM, captpike wrote:

Dec 10, 2012 -- 2:14PM, Matyr wrote:

Honestly if you are looking for minion popping there is probably a better power to use than lightning strike.  Just pick up one of the bursts/blasts and go from there.  Sorc has way to many good area of effect powers to use lightning strike on minion killing.

the char is an elementalist so I will have an area burst 1 already.

the point of lighting strike is if they are speard out to far for an area burst, and so I can do striker damage to whichever two targets I want and still kill minons, rather then having to do damage to a less then ideal target because they are next to minons.

So you are a human and picking up this power as a bonus power?  Typically picking a bonus at-will isn't worth it.  And even if you do get a bonus at-will I'd take Burning Spray over Lightning Strike any day.

Dec 10, 2012 -- 5:47PM, Matyr wrote:

Dec 10, 2012 -- 4:52PM, captpike wrote:

Dec 10, 2012 -- 2:14PM, Matyr wrote:

Honestly if you are looking for minion popping there is probably a better power to use than lightning strike.  Just pick up one of the bursts/blasts and go from there.  Sorc has way to many good area of effect powers to use lightning strike on minion killing.

the char is an elementalist so I will have an area burst 1 already.

the point of lighting strike is if they are speard out to far for an area burst, and so I can do striker damage to whichever two targets I want and still kill minons, rather then having to do damage to a less then ideal target because they are next to minons.

So you are a human and picking up this power as a bonus power?  Typically picking a bonus at-will isn't worth it.  And even if you do get a bonus at-will I'd take Burning Spray over Lightning Strike any day.

elementalists get a third at-will for free at 9, I already have a ranged basic and a area burst slow, don't really want a melee basic, or a close attack

Dec 10, 2012 -- 5:47PM, Matyr wrote:

So you are a human and picking up this power as a bonus power? 

No, elementalists get random sorcerer at-wills as they level.  They're generally superfluous.

Dec 11, 2012 -- 6:40AM, Mand12 wrote:

No, elementalists get random sorcerer at-wills as they level.  They're generally superfluous.

They are, but there are some niche places where they can be useful.  Ensorcelled Blade gives an MBA if you regularly end up in the middle of things somehow, and Blazing Starfall gives a dual damage area effect (hello Essence Mage!) and one of them is Radiant, so it does nasty things to many undead.