How much ammo does an area burst weapon attack use?

Question

While I was perusing a CharOp guide for the Seeker class, I saw a suggestion of a Hybrid Seeker|Executioner build. While my first thought was to the use the Seeker at-will powers that count as basic attacks to get the Executioner's Attack Finesse bonus damage, the guide actually suggested a synergy between Executioner poisons and the Seeker power Tidal Spirit Shot.

Tidal Spirit Shot is a Weapon power that affects an Area Burst 1 within weapon range, targeting each enemy in the burst. Some Executioner poisons can be applied to a limited number of pieces of ammunition, either 5 or 1 depending on the poison.

Obviously a Ranged power that allows multiple targets and/or attacks would use one piece of ammunition per target, but it's less clear what happens with an Area Burst. Besides the obvious question of how many projectiles you're spending every time you use Tidal Spirit Shot, how many targets would an Executioner poison affect if used with an Area Burst Weapon power?

Answer 1

You still need one piece of ammo per target

The wording of the Load property seemed to be leaning towards this, but I eventually found something in the Rules Compendium that seems pretty definitive on the subject.

Ammunition

If a creature uses a projectile weapon to use an attack power against multiple targets, the creature needs one piece of ammunition for each target. Similarly, if the creature uses thrown weapons, it needs one for each target. The DM might choose to ignore this rule, allowing limitless ammunition.

^{Rules Compendium, pg 105}

This information doesn't seem attached to either the Ranged Powers or the Area Powers sections above it, indicating that it's just a general rule for any attacks made with a projectile weapon.

Since you're using 1 piece of ammunition per target, and Executioner poisons affect a limited number of pieces of ammunition, the same limitation on the number of targets applies here.