Comparison of current soulsplice to Xykon

[Belial_the_Leveler]

V is wizard 15 with 22ish intelligence. We have a sorceror archmage 27ish level with charisma 30ish (17 base, 6 levels, 5 inherent, 2 age). We have a conjurer I assume of 24th level with intelligence 26ish as he's the weakest in the splice.

So, probably the following spell slots by level:

V: 4/6+1/6+1/5+1/5+1/5+1/4+1/2+1/1+1, (lvl 0-8) caster level 15, DC 14+spell level
C: 4/6+1/6+1/6+1/6+1/5+1/5+1/5+1/5+1/4+1/1+1, 2 Epic. (lvl 0-10) caster level 24, DC 18+spell level.
A: 6/9/9/9/8/8/8/8/6/6/2/2, 3 Epic (lvl 0-11) caster level 27, DC 20+spell level

However, the splice has V's stats which are about:
54 HP, +6 fort, +5 reflex, +10 will saves, pitifully low AC (11)

V also has limited treasure.


Xykon is a 26th level sorceror lich with 30ish charisma and the following slots:

6/9/9/9/9/8/8/8/8/7/2/2/2 +2 epic (lvl 0-12) caster level 26, DC 20+spell level

However, Xykon has loads of immunities, DR and resistances and his base stats are:
175 HP, +9 fort, +9 reflex, +16 will, AC 16

He also has a crapload of treasure according to his LA


So, the power difference is not nearly as wide as some people may think.

[Kish]

V is wizard 15 with 22ish intelligence. We have a sorceror archmage 27ish level with charisma 30ish (17 base, 6 levels, 5 inherent, 2 age). We have a conjurer I assume of 24th level with intelligence 26ish as he's the weakest in the splice.

So, probably the following spell slots by level:

V: 4/6+1/6+1/5+1/5+1/5+1/4+1/2+1/1+1, (lvl 0-8) caster level 15, DC 14+spell level
C: 4/6+1/6+1/6+1/6+1/5+1/5+1/5+1/5+1/4+1/1+1, 2 Epic. (lvl 0-10) caster level 24, DC 18+spell level.
A: 6/9/9/9/8/8/8/8/6/6/2/2, 3 Epic (lvl 0-11) caster level 27, DC 20+spell level

However, the splice has V's stats which are about:
54 HP, +6 fort, +5 reflex, +10 will saves, pitifully low AC (11)

V also has limited treasure.


Xykon is a 26th level sorceror lich with 30ish charisma and the following slots:

6/9/9/9/9/8/8/8/8/7/2/2/2 +2 epic (lvl 0-12) caster level 26, DC 20+spell level

However, Xykon has loads of immunities, DR and resistances and his base stats are:
175 HP, +9 fort, +9 reflex, +16 will, AC 16

He also has a crapload of treasure according to his LA


So, the power difference is not nearly as wide as some people may think.

You're making a lot of claims we don't know. We don't know Ganonron is the weakest in the splice. We know Xykon has twelfth-level spells now, but we don't know that he has 13th-level ones, or that he doesn't have 20th-level ones--in other words, we don't know that he's level 26. We don't know that Jephton was level 27ish. We don't know how the splice affected Vaarsuvius' base stats.

Now, after the two Energy Drains (one Maximized), the battle is epic-level lich vs. two mid-level wizards and one mid-level sorcerer. The power differential is enough to make the battle completely one-sided; Vaarsuvius will be lucky to get away in the unlikely event that they're smart enough to flee right now.

[Ancalagon]

Please count in magic items, Xykon probably does not go below +5 (he might even have a +6 ring of charisma) on stats and accordingly for spell resistance or other things.

Vaarsuvius might have +3 or +4 items.

Also, the soulsplice-people are not as powerful anymore, one even left "epic" after one 2d4 energy drain - and that was before the maximised energy drain, so one of the splices is now only... level 12. And since this assumes he "barely" went sub-epic (level 20) with the first drain, this is even a maximum!

Yes, one of the two splices now has a lower level than Vaarsuvius! If the second splice was not level 30 to begin with, it's also sub-epic now!

[King of Nowhere]

If we assume the energy drain was divided among the two souls, V has still a decent combat potential. I don't understand why Xykon don't use meteor swarm, it would probably end the fight on one round.

We can expect Xykon to have at least 1 million gp of items. V is lower than 200000, so that makes a big difference.

And I always said that the splice wasn't that powerful

[Aharon]

Well, I concede that.

But please bear in mind that this only works because Rich ruled Enervation would effect the splices despite them

1) not being targeted by the ray (He targets V, not either of the splices).
2) it working on both splices (normally, the spell has one target).
2) it working on souls, which one would think do not count as living creatures.

I wouldn't have expected this, and V probably didn't either.

[Kish]

Suppose Energy Drain had hit Vaarsuvius and not the splices.

The first one would have given Vaarsuvius 2-8 negative levels. Maybe Jephton or Ganonron would have had an epic spell to cast which would have worked better than Empowered Sunburst, but if not, the Maximized Energy Drain would have given Vaarsuvius 8 more negative levels--outright killing them if Xykon rolled high on the first Energy Drain, and bringing them close to death otherwise.