I'm playing a character as the dragon born currently and started working through the Dragonborn DLC. When my character finished one of the Black Book quests and got the option for a more powerful Unrelenting Force, I figured it was worth a shot.

However, I haven't really noticed a difference. Got all three words but haven't turned any baddies into ash, much less blow them off a height. I had high hopes for some of those lurkers who come shambling down the narrow ramps in Apocrypha, but no - they stagger, then keep coming.

Am I missing something obvious or is it really this underwhelming?

Thanks!

It's random chance when disintegrates someone.

It's random and the enemies have to be either low on health, or their overall health pool has to be lower than Unrelenting Force's maximum output -at least, according to what I've observed in my game.