[3.5e] Wizard build help

[Kaeso]

I'm currently playing a conjuration focused wizard in a PbP game (banned schools: evocation and enchantment). He uses all of the Unearthed Arcana conjurer variants (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/specialistWizardVariants.htm#conjurerVariants) and I'm planning to go into malconvoker (complete scoundrel p. 49) as soon as possible, which should be level 5 ( his first level feats were spell focus (conjuration) and collegiate wizard). Fluff-wise my character isn't evil (CN actually), but he is very interested in the Abyss, demons etc.

I'm considering to take the feat 'fiery burst' at level 3 (so I can do something useful without burning spells), obtain familliar at level 6 and improved familliar at level 9, so I can obtain an imp or quasit as a familliar (which would be very flavourful, because an imp is a devil and a quasit a demon).

My party currently (at level 1) consists of a changeling rogue, catfolk swashbuckler, human cleric, human PHB2 variant druid and myself, to give you all an idea of the average power level (LA is ignored up to LA2, characters who pick an LA 0 class get a +2 bonus on a single stat and a free bonus feat, which was cloudy conjuration for my character).

I'd like to ask you guys for some advice on the following points:
1. Is taking an imp (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/devil.htm#imp) or quasit (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/demon.htm#quasit) familliar a smart thing to do? If so, which of the two would you consider to be better (even though the differences between the two are marginal)?
2. What feats would you recommend me to take, considering I'm focusing mostly on summoning? Awnsered by Godskook.
3. What would be better: to spend levels 4 and 5 on master specialist (complete mage p. 70) and to finish it after finishing malkonvoker, or to go straight wizard until level 5 so I can get the free wizard bonus feat? Awnsered by Draz74.

[Draz74]

3. What would be better: to spend levels 4 and 5 on master specialist (complete mage p. 70) and to finish it after finishing malkonvoker, or to go straight wizard until level 5 so I can get the free wizard bonus feat?

What bonus feat? :smalltongue: You said you were using the UA Specialist Variants, so all you get at Level 5 is a +2 DC to dispel your summons.

(In other words, if it wasn't clear, I vote Master Specialist.)

[Geigan]

Yeah I'll say malconvoker/master specialist asap. Bonus feat is nice but not as cool as the stuff you can get from those 2.

[Kaeso]

What bonus feat? :smalltongue: You said you were using the UA Specialist Variants, so all you get at Level 5 is a +2 DC to dispel your summons.

(In other words, if it wasn't clear, I vote Master Specialist.)

Ah, of course! I'll scrub that off the list in my opening post then :smallwink:

[Godskook]

Required reading for your plans:

http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75882/19872758/Mastering_the_Malconvoker

[Kaeso]

Required reading for your plans:

http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75882/19872758/Mastering_the_Malconvoker

Ah thanks, that's an intersting read and pretty much awnsers what feats I should take. If I'm correct, metamagic feats aren't considered to be all that important for a malconvoker. Now I only need one question awnsered: wether or not it's worth the trouble to get a quasit or imp as a familliar (since it costs two feats, and I already want to use one for the fiery burst reserve feat, and maybe another one for the handy summon elemental reserve feat).

[Geigan]

Ah thanks, that's an intersting read and pretty much awnsers what feats I should take. If I'm correct, metamagic feats aren't considered to be all that important for a malconvoker. Now I only need one question awnsered: wether or not it's worth the trouble to get a quasit or imp as a familliar (since it costs two feats, and I already want to use one for the fiery burst reserve feat, and maybe another one for the handy summon elemental reserve feat).

I'm personally not a fan of familiars but I've heard they can be pretty awesome But you're already summoning so many meatshields that I'd have to ask if it's worth all the trouble for another one. Unless you can get it to be a minor casting buddy, extra person to take care of minor buffs with wands and such is useful to take the action workload off you. All just IMO of course.

[FMArthur]

2 levels of Master Specialist isn't actually worth anything. Since the UA specialist variant that replaces a Conjurer's bonus feats also sucks, you're better off staying in Wizard and taking the bonus feat. If you're only taking Spell Focus for Master Specialist, choosing not to has actually given you two more feats to work with. In fact, Master Specialist is a grossly overrated class if you're not going for the capstone. There are some ridiculously awesome Wizard feats out there, such as Uncanny Forethought (Exemplars of Evil, requires Spell Mastery) and efficient metamagic like Sculpt Spell (Complete Arcane, +1) and Invisible Spell (Cityscape, +0!!!). Even Improved Initiative (from a normal feat slot freed up by using the wizard bonus feat for other things) is a more substantial benefit than Master Specialist 1-9. Seriously.

If you're looking for other stuff to take after you finish Malconvoker, Paragnostic Apostle (Complete Champion) costs you only skill ranks and can grant you stuff like Fast Healing 5 on summons (better than Minor Spell Esoterica), improved armor bonuses from spells that grant it, and various +1s to attack rolls, save DCs or caster level. It's worth a dip for one or two of those benefits.

If you intend to take the Invisible Spell feat, which makes any spell invisible at no cost whatsoever, a Fatespinner dip from Complete Arcane costs only skills and can get you Sleight of Hand in-class to use with the 'conceal spellcasting' usage of Sleight of Hand found in Races of Stone (or the Conceal Spellcasting skill trick in CS that does the exact same thing). The benefit of spells that can't be seen and whose caster is not known is pretty obvious, and ridiculously useful for the cost (which was one feat and some skill ranks). It's reasonable to houserule that Invisible Spell summons act as if they had invisibility cast on them, ending on attack, but real rules of it is that they are just plain invisible.

[*.*.*.*]

I'd personally take the LA

Phrenic for more casty and some stellar defenses, or take lolth-touched and Draconic for some boosts to Con

[Elric VIII]

Doesn't one of the UA variants say something like: "A conjurer using this variant permanently gives up the ability to obtain a familiar."

Doesn't this prevent you from obtaining one even via feats?

[Kaeso]

2 levels of Master Specialist isn't actually worth anything. Since the UA specialist variant that replaces a Conjurer's bonus feats also sucks, you're better off staying in Wizard and taking the bonus feat. If you're only taking Spell Focus for Master Specialist, choosing not to has actually given you two more feats to work with.

Why does that variant suck? It trades away the useless scribe scroll for Augment summoning, a prequisite for Malconvoker. And I've actually taken spell focus (conjuration) to make my summons last longer. Is the feat worth the trouble in that context?


Doesn't one of the UA variants say something like: "A conjurer using this variant permanently gives up the ability to obtain a familiar."

Doesn't this prevent you from obtaining one even via feats?

It does? I thought it only implied giving up the class ability permanently. If somebody knows any FAQ or Eratta about this, it'd be appreciated. If not I'll have to discuss this with my DM.

[FMArthur]

Why does that variant suck? It trades away the useless scribe scroll for Augment summoning, a prequisite for Malconvoker. And I've actually taken spell focus (conjuration) to make my summons last longer. Is the feat worth the trouble in that context?

Yes, sorry I've mixed up variants. For some reason I was thinking the feat one was separate from the scribe scroll replacement variant, and the benefits were that you could sacrifice spell slots to summon a level lower - that's the next variant down, though, and gives up specialist bonus spells.

[Kaeso]

Yes, sorry I've mixed up variants. For some reason I was thinking the feat one was separate from the scribe scroll replacement variant, and the benefits were that you could sacrifice spell slots to summon a level lower - that's the next variant down, though, and gives up specialist bonus spells.

Yeah, I have that variant too. I know it would be considered sub-par, but I want my character to always have a trick up his sleeve. Trading in a spell for a summon spell could always come in handy.

[FMArthur]

On the other hand, you can just take Uncanny Forethought to spontaneously cast your Int mod in spells per day, which is far more flexible without any sacrifice.

[Elric VIII]

Nexus Method from Dragon 313 (I think) allows you to convert non-conjuration spells into SM spontaneously.

Also, Malconvoker requires both Spell Focus and Augment Summoning. Sadly, the variant that lets you get Augment Summoning without Spell Focus doesn't lower the amount of feats you need to take.

[Kaeso]

On the other hand, you can just take Uncanny Forethought to spontaneously cast your Int mod in spells per day, which is far more flexible without any sacrifice.

That sounds like a clever plan, but I don't know how useful it is. In the long run it's strictly better, but that means you have to take both spell mastery (the prequisite) and uncanny forethought at a late level (when the strongest and most versatile spells become available) while spontaneous summoning keeps its consistent power from level 1 till 20, while only trading away 1 spellslot per level, something that can be compensated with high int, right?

[Geigan]

2 levels of Master Specialist isn't actually worth anything. Since the UA specialist variant that replaces a Conjurer's bonus feats also sucks, you're better off staying in Wizard and taking the bonus feat. If you're only taking Spell Focus for Master Specialist, choosing not to has actually given you two more feats to work with. In fact, Master Specialist is a grossly overrated class if you're not going for the capstone. There are some ridiculously awesome Wizard feats out there, such as Uncanny Forethought (Exemplars of Evil, requires Spell Mastery) and efficient metamagic like Sculpt Spell (Complete Arcane, +1) and Invisible Spell (Cityscape, +0!!!). Even Improved Initiative (from a normal feat slot freed up by using the wizard bonus feat for other things) is a more substantial benefit than Master Specialist 1-9. Seriously.

If you're looking for other stuff to take after you finish Malconvoker, Paragnostic Apostle (Complete Champion) costs you only skill ranks and can grant you stuff like Fast Healing 5 on summons (better than Minor Spell Esoterica), improved armor bonuses from spells that grant it, and various +1s to attack rolls, save DCs or caster level. It's worth a dip for one or two of those benefits.

If you intend to take the Invisible Spell feat, which makes any spell invisible at no cost whatsoever, a Fatespinner dip from Complete Arcane costs only skills and can get you Sleight of Hand in-class to use with the 'conceal spellcasting' usage of Sleight of Hand found in Races of Stone (or the Conceal Spellcasting skill trick in CS that does the exact same thing). The benefit of spells that can't be seen and whose caster is not known is pretty obvious, and ridiculously useful for the cost (which was one feat and some skill ranks). It's reasonable to houserule that Invisible Spell summons act as if they had invisibility cast on them, ending on attack, but real rules of it is that they are just plain invisible.

I'd have to agree about only 2 levels being fairly useless for a master specialist but rapid summoning is great for a dedicated summoner(nix, I see you got mixed up nvm, or maybe I'm mixed up). I believe master specialist as a whole's worth has to do with what kind of specialist you are and what you're getting out of it. The first 3 levels are wonderful if he's going for archmage since it covers 2 of the prereqs no problem. Other than that I'll concede that the minor and moderate school esoterica for a conjurer are a bit weak.

[Godskook]

2 levels of Master Specialist isn't actually worth anything. Since the UA specialist variant that replaces a Conjurer's bonus feats also sucks, you're better off staying in Wizard and taking the bonus feat. If you're only taking Spell Focus for Master Specialist, choosing not to has actually given you two more feats to work with. In fact, Master Specialist is a grossly overrated class if you're not going for the capstone. There are some ridiculously awesome Wizard feats out there, such as Uncanny Forethought (Exemplars of Evil, requires Spell Mastery) and efficient metamagic like Sculpt Spell (Complete Arcane, +1) and Invisible Spell (Cityscape, +0!!!). Even Improved Initiative (from a normal feat slot freed up by using the wizard bonus feat for other things) is a more substantial benefit than Master Specialist 1-9. Seriously

1.Master Conjurer 9 grants +2 CL, +5 against dispel attempts, +CL HP to summons, and 2 feats that summoner builds tend to take cause of my next point. All that is *NOT* inferior to Improved Initiative, especially if things like Celerity are on the table.

2.The primary reason to enter Master Specialist is to get greater spell focus and skill focus(spellcraft) in order to enter Archmage sooner. As a summoner, Archmage is pretty much the bomb, giving you essentially free castings of your primary spell. And Master specialist offers 2 feats in 3 levels for it.