Pathfinder Gestalt Optimization Wizard/Oracle

[fhgwdads]

Hi, I'm going to be playing soon in a Gestalt Pathfinder game with a strong focus on Stealth. The game itself will be set in Eberron, with the PCs working as a covert team for one of the great houses. Characters will be 7th level (fast advancement rate), with a pre-generated set of ability scores (18, 16, 15, 14, 12, 10). Alignment restrictions are in effect with the standard Eberron allotments (ex: Neutral Evil Clerics of Aureon, though weird, are possible; Chaotic Good Monks are not). Sources are limited to all Pathfinder and Eberron books, as well as Heroes of Horror.

There are two other characters in the game at the moment:

Rogue/Assassin//Fighter
Monk//Ninja (with some PRCs mixed into there, most likely Shadowdancer)

At the moment, I'm planning on playing a Wizard // Oracle, with a lean towards Wizard 5 / Escalation Mage 2 // Oracle 7. The Wizard side will specialize in either Illusion or Divination, and the Oracle will probably be a Dual-Curse or Enlightened Oracle (no Mystery chosen yet, though heavily leaning towards Lore, Dark Tapestry, or Wind). As I'm pretty inexperienced with primary spellcasters, I could really use some suggestions on how to optimize this, from choice of (sub)specialization/mystery to feats/revelations to individual spells. Gear advice is also greatly appreciated; we start with 23.5k (no more than 5.4k on a single item).

I've done a fair amount of reading on the subject, so I have some ideas. However, I don't feel comfortable leaping at one thing or another without getting some outside opinions first. Feel free to share any and all you have regarding this, even if its something completely out of left field (Drop Oracle for Witch, etc).

[Joshinthemosh]

I typed up the two paragraphs below and realized I don't know if you see this guy only casting in the back or if with the d8 hit die and medim BAB will go into melee. WHat do you see yourself doing? Regardless my thoughts;

Why Wizard and not Sorcerer? Sorcerer gives you Cha as the casting stat for both and lets you worry less about Int(skill points nonwithstanding).
If you end up taking Sorcerer might I suggest human as a race? One of the possible favored class benefits
"Sorcerer: Add one spell known from the sorcerer spell list. This spell must be at least one level below the highest spell level the sorcerer can cast." Helps a whole ton with spells known. As for bloodlines go with what sounds most interesting.

On the Oracle side I think you've got the right ideas there. I'd go with Lore and then the Sidestep Revelation for Cha to AC but that's just me. :smallsmile:

[fhgwdads]

I typed up the two paragraphs below and realized I don't know if you see this guy only casting in the back or if with the d8 hit die and medim BAB will go into melee. WHat do you see yourself doing? Regardless my thoughts;

I mostly planned to stay in the back and cast. We've got two dedicated melee characters (the Fighter//Rogue and Monk//Ninja), and I figured that we were going to need a dedicated controller/(de)buffer more than anything else. It would have worked out this way no matter where I had gone (my other top two choices were and still are Cleric or Druid) for the Oracle side, unless I'd taken Witch on it. My original character plan actually included a melee half with a Bladebound Magus, but we have a DMPC with it and Sorcerer/Dragon Disciple on the other side (originally there before I joined so the other two needed some magical support. the dm likes to play too).


Why Wizard and not Sorcerer? Sorcerer gives you Cha as the casting stat for both and lets you worry less about Int(skill points nonwithstanding).

I've been going back and forth on this for a little while now. Sorcerer is definitely more optimal (SAD casting is beautiful), but because of the benefits of the Lore mystery and/or Enlightenment ACF (Mental Acuity), Int is something I'm less concerned about. Oh, and our DM is running a custom rule regarding ability increases where we get two points every four levels instead of one (split between two separate abilities).



If you end up taking Sorcerer might I suggest human as a race? One of the possible favored class benefits
"Sorcerer: Add one spell known from the sorcerer spell list. This spell must be at least one level below the highest spell level the sorcerer can cast." Helps a whole ton with spells known. As for bloodlines go with what sounds most interesting.

I was originally planning to run a Changeling or an Elf, but this isn't a bad idea. Looks as though I can get the same benefit for Oracle. What about Gnome? The extra Con certainly wouldn't hurt, as well as the benefit to Illusion spell DCs, but how does it compare to Human?

I'm a bit hesitant to play a Sorcerer in place of a Wizard. I like the flexibility I'll have with a Wizard in spell selections, and as our DMPC is a Sorcerer//Magus I'd prefer to avoid thematic clashes.


On the Oracle side I think you've got the right ideas there. I'd go with Lore and then the Sidestep Revelation for Cha to AC but that's just me. :smallsmile:

Yeah, you know that no matter how much I try to find a way around it, the Lore mystery just keeps coming back to me above all the others. I really, really like the Heaven and Dark Tapestry mysteries (Wind has lost some its allure after I saw how piss-poor the mystery spell list was), but I'm just not sure either compares in terms of sheer utility to Lore.