Building a Focused Specialist Evoker

[dextercorvia]

Can we start out with perhaps the worst of the Wizard chassis', and still build Batman?

What Schools would you ban?

What feats would you choose?

What would your spell selection look like?

Would you PrC?

[HunterOfJello]

As detailed in one of the wizard handbooks, Evocation isn't actually all that bad. Many of the evocation spells come with status effects. The wizard/sorcerer spells in the Spell Compendium are something like 1/4th evocation spells too. I might be slightly exaggerating, but there are tons of evocation spells added in compared to the paltry number of enchantment and divination spells.

[dextercorvia]

As detailed in one of the wizard handbooks, Evocation isn't actually all that bad. Many of the evocation spells come with status effects. The wizard/sorcerer spells in the Spell Compendium are something like 1/4th evocation spells too. I might be slightly exaggerating, but there are tons of evocation spells added in compared to the paltry number of enchantment and divination spells.

Are you suggesting that I have to work harder to make a Wizard bad?

I have seen the list of good evocation spells. I have to say that my favorite non-core evocations are lower level. I've really been hung up on Frost Breath lately.

[ericgrau]

Battlefield control evoker? Well they happen to have the best spells in the PHB for that. Okay, wall of force, wall of ice, resilient sphere, forcecage. Wall of ice is more for versatility. I might even get both walls with ice reserved for utility or for when you only want a small damaging delay as you expect your allies to be done with other foes within 1 round. Or for the hemisphere when you don't have enough existing walls to isolate a foe. Or to make bridges and ramps. Etc. See? Weak but versatile. The ring option on wall of limbs (Spc) can be used to trap foes too.

Area damage is nice for crowd control, especially when combo'd with conjurations like web or evard's black tentacles to trap them first. They go well with metamagic like empower and PrCs like archmage to exclude allies and change energy types. Besides that there's contingency of course, the higher level bigby's hands plus slapping, resilient sphere is perhaps the best SoL (low immunities, reflex most common low save), flaming sphere is a good d.o.t. transition spell for levels 3-6. Spell compendium also has howling chain to create an instant spiked chain tripper with an effective strength of 40 (eep), submerge ship (I haz submarine) seems situationally cool, field of icy razors is good selective multi-target damage + slow debuff, reality maelstrom as a good area SoD.

As for what to ban, probably enchantment and abjuration. Unless you pull the aoe-damage + protection from energy tricks, but something tells me you're not focusing on aoe damage. You could maybe ban necromancy in place of abjuration. You lose false life and ray of enfeeblement which are real gems, among other single target debuffs like enervation. But nothing too essential for the theme. Likewise illusion has greater invisibility and some other good defensive spells, but you can manage without it if you really need another school. Ya banning 3 of those could be painful, but doable.

Not sure about feats. Not much relies on saves so I might not get spell focus right away. Your options are kinda open AFAIK.

[Godskook]

Let's see, there's two main routes I can think of offhand for how to build an Evoker, but Incantrix wouldn't survive 4 banned schools without being able to ban Evocation, I don't think, which leaves an Archmage build.

Something like:

Wizard 3/Beguiler 1/Ultimate Magus 10/Master Specialist 3/Archmage 3

You get:

8 'free' metamagics each day from UM, spontaneous elemental switchery, an ending caster level of 23 without practiced caster(wizard).

Should work out well.

[ericgrau]

It would be easier if incantrix didn't have to focus abjuration. That leaves enchantment, necromancy, illusion and transmutation. Painful, but it could be done. And you can still protect your allies from your booms, I suppose. Hmm, if evocation+transmutation took over enough control (transmutation has slow and reverse gravity) maybe you could ban conjuration instead of transmutation. Then you'd still have haste and morning buffs. Not that I'd necessarily advocate incantrix metamagic reduction in every group.

[faceroll]

Metamagic'd Ice Storm is pretty good, as there's no save. It can be extended, too, for minor battlefield control.

Fireburst (and the greater version) can do CRAZY damage.

Chain Missiles are also pretty good.

You could make a wizard that banned every school but evocation, and still be pretty ok, thanks to arcane thesis and incantatrix. Over 1 million damage is pretty awesome, and you still have a handful of neat tricks, like forcecage, gust of wind, wind wall, wall of force/ice/limbs, prismatic death spells, and great thunderclap.

A lot of SpC evocations have carrier effects, like dazed or slowed, so you can effect some battlefield control, albeit as slightly higher levels.

Novel movement modes will be difficult, but you can always get those from race/items, and with the range on a fireball, you really don't need to be close, anyway.

You'll really miss Assay Spell Resistance, though. I guess you can't ban divination, so we'll keep that one. :smallwink: