need help with optimizing

[Bagger]

hey guys.

I am going to play a arcane spell caster there is at his "cap" at 6th level.

and I would like to give some damage.

The good news is we start with more gold. cant remember how much more but it should not be a problem to get some of the better items..

so my question/ challange.

make the best arcane spellcaster (for damage/boom!) at level 6. :D


the idea is to give the most damage on 3-4 rounds

[BillyBobJoe]

You could try a Mailman style Sorcerer for lots of direct damage.

[Amnestic]

Offering sources you have available tends to be a good idea when asking for advice; any houserules would be good too.

[SleepyShadow]

Here's a link (http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75882/19868534/The_Mailman:_A_Direct_Damage_Sorcerer) to get you started. It's an entire handbook dedicated to blasting.

That said, blasting is a fairly sub-optimal choice of combat tactics. Well built melee/archery characters can usually deal more damage than a blaster caster. Arcane casters usually focus on battlefield control.

Still, if you are going to be blasting, Sorcerers and Warlocks are definitely the way to go, with wand-toting Artificers ranking right up there as well.

[Keld Denar]

If you are capped at ECL6 (like, you are playing in an E6 campaign), being Dragonblooded Sorcerer and picking up Practical Metamagic (Fell Draining) is a pretty optimal path to blasterdom. That means you can add Fell Draining to any 0th-2nd level spell you can cast for an increase of only +1 spell level. That automatically adds 5 damage per foe to any spell you cast that deals damage due to the negative level gained. Negative levels also mean that foes suffer a -1 penalty on attack rolls, skill checks, and saves, and any casters you fight lose one of their highest level spell slots. If you are playing E6, and you can get a decent number of extra feats, Residual Magic gets you a lot more boom per spell level buck.

Dragonblooded is in Races of the Dragon/Dragon Magic depending.
Practical Metamagic is in Races of the Dragon
Fell Draining is in Libris Mortis
Residual Magic is in Complete Mage.

Just some ideas.

[Bagger]

no houserules.
anything 3.5 is allowed - besides fel drain and fel animate :(

had thought of that.

my guess would be go.

mageblood spellscale - sorc.


but it was mostly what spells and what feats

[myancey]

I'd suggest rocking out your initiative as well. There is an armor enhancement that does it, as well as a +1 weapon enhancement (throw it on a staff or something). A wand of Nerveskitter is pretty cheap and using the wand is still only a swift action. Since you're capped at 6, you probably won't be needing your swift actions for Quicken Spell anyway.

I've gotten a +20 something modifier to initiative with a level 10 wizard once. Being a blaster is great when you've a good initiative.

[Keld Denar]

In E6, you can do some fun stuff with Scorching Ray. Again, Practical Metamagic + Empower Spell + Firey Burst gives you a CL7 Scorching Ray (2 rays) that each deal 6d6 damage with a ranged touch. Thats 12d6 damage per round from a 3rd level slot at the cost of a full round action. Again, pick up Residual Magic and you can alternate between full round 3rd level slots and standard action 2nd level slots to basically double the number of times/day you can use the trick. Heck, get a Wand of Scorching Ray (CL3) for 4500g, and with Residual Magic you can alternate between 3rd level Empowered Scorching Rays and uses of the wand to get CL7 Empowered Scorching Rays out of the wand.

Since its E6, you might also consider picking up Energy Sub: Cold. Most things aren't resistant/immune to both types, and the ones that are immune to one are often vulnerable to the other. This also works with Residual Magic and the wand. If you hit a foe with the [Fire] subtype with a CL7 Empowered Cold Sub Scorching Ray, you'll deal 16d6 damage per round (4d6 x1.5 x1.5 is x2 with D&D math, x2 for 2 rays at CL7).

If you REALLY want to get silly, and you have all that cash lying around, get a MM Wand Grip (Split Ray) from Complete Mage. Your first shot will deal 12d6 normal (see above), and 3/day your wand followup shots will be 18d6 total damage with the extra ray granted by Split Ray. If you REALLY want to break the bank, get a MM Wand Grip (Twin Spell), which'll be really expensive (you said you had the cash), and you'll alternate between 12d6 hard cast Empowered Scorching Rays and 24d6 wand cast Twinned Empowered Scorching Rays. Thats 36d6 total for 2 rounds work, 1 3rd level spell slot, one wand charge (90g), and major magic item.

Thats about as much damage as I can think of. I believe with the proper traits and feats you can get to CL11 at level 6, which gives you the 3rd ray base, but thats a LOT of resources which you might not have.