Maho-Tsukai
2011-01-25, 03:23 PM
Frank and K is known to boost the power level of sup-par melee classes by leaps and miles, but nobody has ever looked at the poor, old dread necro who due to his tier of 3 is not considered underpowerd and thus is considered to need no remidy. I however, feel the DN deserves more, and while frank and K boosts everybody's power levels, it dose a lot more for the DN then one first assumes. No, I am not speaking of the Tome of Necromancy PrCs or even the TON feats(Though they are lovely on a DN.) Rather, I am speaking of some lesser known feats, mainly Attune Domain and Attune Sphere. While both are fiend feats and flavorfully allowed to be selected only by fiendish creatures, for all intent and purposes Hellbread and LA+0 versions of planetouched should be allowed to qualify for most resonable DMs(I mean, if a hellbread or tiefling can qualify for a fiend class, why not a fiend feat as well?).
If you don't know what these feats do, they are basicly what Arcane Disciple SHOULD have been. attune Domain gives you all the spells of a cleric domain as spells known at the approprate levels, no casting once-per day, no need for a high wisdom score. 9 new spells go strait to your list. Likewise attune Sphere dose more or less the same thing but with a fiendish sphere as appose to a cleric domain. What dose this mean for the dread Necro? Well, with enough of these feats and the right domain/sphere choices I personally think the Dread Necro would become a solid tier 2.
With so many cleric domains to select from a Dread Necro could easily gain acsses to many of the off-list spells that make other tier 2s so powerful. However, unlike, say, a sorcerer, the Dread Necro will have more spells known and actual class features. With 4 of these feats a Dread Necro would be able to gain a number of spells known about equal to a standard sorcerer.(Why I say about equal is because the sorcerer gets more lower level spells known then the spells that 4 of these feats would add but taking 4 of those feats would add more higher level spells known then a standard sorc knows.). while a sorc could also take these feats to get more spells known, the DN already comes with a butload of spells known as well as actual class features. Now, add in the fact that domains and spheres offer the chance to grab some very powerful spells that are what makes a tier 2, AND the fact that a DN can spontainously cast with the right domains he can be quite versatile and be able to do a lot of the standard things a Wizard or Sorc could do(Not, however, EVERYTHING. he would not be a wizard but with the right domains and/or spheres could function a lot like a traditional one.) AND still be the best necromancer in the game(INCLUDING having Desecrate on their list and animate dead as a level 3.) Oh, and you can also pick up Magic Circle(and perhaps even dimensional anchor if there is a domain or sphere out there with it) which means your Planar Binding spells are not not totally useless.
So, with those feats, what can a DN do? Melee? We all know how well charnel touch and tomb tainted soul go togther. We all know how abusive fear and imperous command can be on a DN. We, thus, all know that a DN is a viable gish on it's own. Add a domain that adds, say, divine power to it's spells known and a DN can play clericzilla since he gets rebuke and thus can use DMM Persist. Battlefield control? There's domains and spheres that can give a DN a limited number of battlefield control spells. Sure, the Wizard may have a wider range of battlefield control but in the end having lots of different ways to control the battlefield is only slightly better then being able to spam a small selection of battlefield control spells so with the right domains/spheres this DN build could feesably be a passable battlefield controller. Necromancy? Seirously...a DN could do this BETTER then a wizard without frank and K, frank and K just made him even better at it with the ability to get Desecrate and level 3 animate dead and praticly any other necromancy spell he wants. Heck, he gets advance learning too so simply put if there is a Necromancy spell he wants on his list, he can get it, no matter what level it is.
Healing? Yeah, he may not be great at it, but there ARE healing based domains. So while it's not an optimal choice if you REALLY want some healing then you can take a domain for it. Party Buffer? With an apporprate domain he can do decently on this though just like battlefield control in which the wizard can do it slightly better, the cleric(and bard) can still do it better then him. Skill Monkey? This one is a no sadly, no matter what domain/sphere spells he gets a DN can't do this unless he's gestalted with a high skill class. Party face? A DN is already charisma based which is a good start. Add in spheres/domains with good "face" type spells and the DM can be an awesome party face. Heck one of the spheres(I forget which) even can give you glibness, which was before one of the main reasons bards where awesome party faces...not to mention the same sphere also gives you mind rape if you like the idea makeing somebody your mind slave for life.
So, yeah, with just 4 of the right domains/spheres a DN can gain great raw power and do some things that he could never do otherwise(Though there may be others that can do it a bit better.) Thus, with the right domain/spheres a DN can have the raw power of a tier 2-tier 1 and can have some versitility but not as much as a wizard and other tier 1s and thus I personally think that Frank and K make the Dread Necro a solid tier 2 with these feats. However, I want your opinions. with these feats and the right sphere/domain choices dose a DN become a Tier 2? Or is he still just a more versatile tier 3? Or perhaps I am undersetimating the power of these feats and he's a low tier 1 or something in between tiers 1 and 2?(1.5?) Share your opinions on this here..
If you don't know what these feats do, they are basicly what Arcane Disciple SHOULD have been. attune Domain gives you all the spells of a cleric domain as spells known at the approprate levels, no casting once-per day, no need for a high wisdom score. 9 new spells go strait to your list. Likewise attune Sphere dose more or less the same thing but with a fiendish sphere as appose to a cleric domain. What dose this mean for the dread Necro? Well, with enough of these feats and the right domain/sphere choices I personally think the Dread Necro would become a solid tier 2.
With so many cleric domains to select from a Dread Necro could easily gain acsses to many of the off-list spells that make other tier 2s so powerful. However, unlike, say, a sorcerer, the Dread Necro will have more spells known and actual class features. With 4 of these feats a Dread Necro would be able to gain a number of spells known about equal to a standard sorcerer.(Why I say about equal is because the sorcerer gets more lower level spells known then the spells that 4 of these feats would add but taking 4 of those feats would add more higher level spells known then a standard sorc knows.). while a sorc could also take these feats to get more spells known, the DN already comes with a butload of spells known as well as actual class features. Now, add in the fact that domains and spheres offer the chance to grab some very powerful spells that are what makes a tier 2, AND the fact that a DN can spontainously cast with the right domains he can be quite versatile and be able to do a lot of the standard things a Wizard or Sorc could do(Not, however, EVERYTHING. he would not be a wizard but with the right domains and/or spheres could function a lot like a traditional one.) AND still be the best necromancer in the game(INCLUDING having Desecrate on their list and animate dead as a level 3.) Oh, and you can also pick up Magic Circle(and perhaps even dimensional anchor if there is a domain or sphere out there with it) which means your Planar Binding spells are not not totally useless.
So, with those feats, what can a DN do? Melee? We all know how well charnel touch and tomb tainted soul go togther. We all know how abusive fear and imperous command can be on a DN. We, thus, all know that a DN is a viable gish on it's own. Add a domain that adds, say, divine power to it's spells known and a DN can play clericzilla since he gets rebuke and thus can use DMM Persist. Battlefield control? There's domains and spheres that can give a DN a limited number of battlefield control spells. Sure, the Wizard may have a wider range of battlefield control but in the end having lots of different ways to control the battlefield is only slightly better then being able to spam a small selection of battlefield control spells so with the right domains/spheres this DN build could feesably be a passable battlefield controller. Necromancy? Seirously...a DN could do this BETTER then a wizard without frank and K, frank and K just made him even better at it with the ability to get Desecrate and level 3 animate dead and praticly any other necromancy spell he wants. Heck, he gets advance learning too so simply put if there is a Necromancy spell he wants on his list, he can get it, no matter what level it is.
Healing? Yeah, he may not be great at it, but there ARE healing based domains. So while it's not an optimal choice if you REALLY want some healing then you can take a domain for it. Party Buffer? With an apporprate domain he can do decently on this though just like battlefield control in which the wizard can do it slightly better, the cleric(and bard) can still do it better then him. Skill Monkey? This one is a no sadly, no matter what domain/sphere spells he gets a DN can't do this unless he's gestalted with a high skill class. Party face? A DN is already charisma based which is a good start. Add in spheres/domains with good "face" type spells and the DM can be an awesome party face. Heck one of the spheres(I forget which) even can give you glibness, which was before one of the main reasons bards where awesome party faces...not to mention the same sphere also gives you mind rape if you like the idea makeing somebody your mind slave for life.
So, yeah, with just 4 of the right domains/spheres a DN can gain great raw power and do some things that he could never do otherwise(Though there may be others that can do it a bit better.) Thus, with the right domain/spheres a DN can have the raw power of a tier 2-tier 1 and can have some versitility but not as much as a wizard and other tier 1s and thus I personally think that Frank and K make the Dread Necro a solid tier 2 with these feats. However, I want your opinions. with these feats and the right sphere/domain choices dose a DN become a Tier 2? Or is he still just a more versatile tier 3? Or perhaps I am undersetimating the power of these feats and he's a low tier 1 or something in between tiers 1 and 2?(1.5?) Share your opinions on this here..