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View Full Version : [3.5] High lvl item suggestions vs demons



UMDPenguin
2009-01-12, 12:21 PM
Hello all.

The campaign i am in just entered an arc where we will be dealing with lots and lots of demons. We are all lvl 17 and his arc will take us to lvl 20. We just completed a dungeon and have gold to spend. i am a wizard, IotSFV, also with a strong focus in enchantment. I was just curious if you all had any good item suggestions if nearly everything we'll be facing from here on out is high lvl demons. we will we be encountering and facing some of the demon lords of the abyss... their avatar's at least.

I'm mainly asking for the "extra" item type stuff... i have the basics of +6 con, int, dex, +5 mith buckler, defending staff, veil of allure. currently have ammy of wisdom +4, so open to suggestions on that, something different or up to +6. have ring of counterspells for greater dispel, not sure what to do with the other slot (using cloak of deflection+5). And of course just cool, other use items, or additional effect i could stack on my stat items

also if you have any suggestions for my fighter/occult slayer friend thatd be awesome too. thanks

MIC is allowed.

Keld Denar
2009-01-12, 12:53 PM
A Ring of Arcane Mastery in Complete Mage, IIRC, allows you to take 10 on CL check to overcome SR. That would help, since a lot of demons have SR. 27 from taking 10 at level 17 will get you around the 25 most demons get from Unholy Aura (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/unholyAura.htm). Hezrou only have SR 19, and Nalfeshnies only have SR 22, and Mariliths are 25. The only thing you wouldn't autohit is a Balor, which you could fight, but for him you'd only have to get a +1 CL bump. Craft Magic Tatoo, Archmage's Spell Power High Arcana, an Orange IWIN Stone, and a Ring of Arcane Might would all work.

Other than that, a 3rd Eye in Magic Item Compendium that'll get you out of a stun. That could be key if you get Blasphemy locked or PW: Stunned early in a fight.

Anklets of Translocation are a really cheap get out of jail card if you do get into trouble and get grappled by a Balor Whip or Marilith Tail...although you should probably have FoM from either a Ring, or a +1 Mithril Buckler of Freedom (~37,000g). Lesser and Medium Metamagic Rods are also good. Extend, Chain, and Split Ray are all great for buffing and debuffing. Empower is also pretty good, if you put it on something brutal, like a Ray of Enfeeblement, which, even as a 1st level spell, is still very effective vs Balors. A roll of 6 on an Empowered RoE is 16 str penalty, dropping a Balor's 35 str down to 19. That's pretty nasty and keeps him from doing what Balor's love to do, mixing it up in melee and whackin off people's heads. Against lesser Fiends, its even more brutal.

For your OS friend. A special weapon would be best. A Cold Iron +1 Sacred Holy Bane: Evil Outsiders with a Greater Fiend Slaying Crystal would run you 62,000g, bypass almost all DR you'd expect to find on a Demon, and deal an extra 7d6 per hit. Thats pretty good bang/buck if you ask me. Make it Wounding (only Retriever Demons are immune to ability damage due to Construct Traits) for some extra non-damage damage. Wounding on top of that would cost you another 48,000 gold though. Same stuff for him though, the 3rd Eye to counter stun, some kind of short teleport, and Freedom of Movement from something.

Has your friend decided on a build yet? I have an Occult Slayer/Exotic Weapons Master build that would be great for killin fiends. You can find it here (http://forums.gleemax.com/showpost.php?p=15422232&postcount=1).

UMDPenguin
2009-01-12, 01:34 PM
I actually have the feat that lets you take 10 on caster lvl checks, so thats covered. (i'm built for debuffing... i greater dispel, take 10, and everything is gone) an iwin stone or ring of arcane might is something i will probably buy, our GM decided he wont let them stack. FoM ring is also a very good idea... having trouble hitting the 150 cap on PW:stun (132 max hp). and i'm already wearing those anklets =)

my friend definitely has the weapon covered already. large size greatsword, mageslayer, holy, cold, vicious, adamantine... he rolls so many dice on each swing its crazy. he also has a ghost touch cold iron greatsword as a backup.
his build is set in stone, orc with crazy str, leap attack -> momentum swing for 2 rounds of 3x PA. will definitely have him look into that crystal though. he has tons of hp, but AC sucks as animated shields are outlawed. any easy ways for avoidance or mass hp?

thanks again

Keld Denar
2009-01-12, 03:53 PM
FoM does not protect you from stun. Errr, at least, I've never seen it do so. FoM is one of those really badly worded spells. Check with your DM before you just assume that FoM will protect you from stun. Mind Blank, actually, will protect you from PW: Stun though, as its a Mind Affecting one. Sadly, it won't protect you from Blasphemy.

For your friends greatsword, Frost is worthless. Any demon worth actually swinging at at level 17 has cold resistance 10. Sacred would be better, since its holy damage and not subject to resistance. Plus, I'd recommend Cold Iron on the primary weapon, simply because while most mid level demons have DR/Good OR Cold Iron, the 2 on the top have DR/Good AND Cold Iron.

For your friends avoidance, since his build is set in stone, there isn't a whole lot he can do. They typical Displacement/Blinking stuff only 1/2 works, since again, any demon worth swinging at will have Trueseeing up...always. That totally counters Displacement, and knocks Blinking down to 20%, which also applies to him, unless he has Mageslayer > Blind Fighting > Pierce Magical Conceilment. Dodge > Mobility > Elusive Target would protect him from PA, which would be good, but again, probably set in stone. Dodge > Expertese > Karmic Strike would give him a counter attack that would hurt a lot, but again...has a build already. Hmmmm, can't think of too much else to help him if he drops his AC due to Rage and/or Shocktrooper. Just hope he kills whatever in 1 round, and that it doesn't have any friends in full attack range to counter attack him.

Oh, again, I dunno what your friends build is, but if he has Mettle from 1 level of Pious Templar or 3 of Hexblade, he is actually immune to Blasphemy, if he can make the DC29 Will save (including the -4 penalty). I assume you guys will be traveling to the Abyss, which makes you outsiders. All of the Word spells have a 2ndary effect of banishing you home if you are outsiders not on your native plane. If your friend makes the save against being banished, then he'll completely shrug off the effects of the Blasphemy. You'll still get stunned though, if you get Blasphemy'd by a Balor (20th CL), but nothing will happen if you get hit by a Marilith or lower (16th CL or less). Theys why I recommended the 3rd Eye that counters a stun, or that you take the feat Swift Recovery from Lords of Madness.

UMDPenguin
2009-01-12, 05:05 PM
i do keep mindblank up, though thanks to the number of buffs our party uses, and the fact i can debuff anything with a glance... there is a bit of escalation, with dispell magic coming from every direction on both sides.

on the sword, the frost was actually from a crystal, so swapping to fiend slayer is easy. i'll have him check out sacred. cold iron is a good idea, though i dunno if we have the gold to make a second weapon as powerful as what he has, so he may just eat the DR. he does like 50 damage a swing anyway. there isnt something like silver sheen for cold iron is there?

and yeah, thats what i was afraid of for his defense. his armor is maxed, he has max nat arm and deflection, but doesnt have many defense feats, all damage stuff. has enough hp to survive a full attack so far (over 200), but i know thats about to stop being the case. we'll just have to keep up our mass damage strategy to kill it before it kills us.

kme
2009-01-12, 06:36 PM
If you can use psionics, the powers concealing amorpha and greater c. a. will grant concealment that cannot be foiled with true seeing. If you can somehow get to cast them that is :).