So I'm making a blaster.

[Hazzardevil]

I'm making a blaster character, the build is irrelevant, I have that set up, what I need is spells.
My character has sorcerer spells known with 1 added per level and I may pick any evocation or conjuration spell that directly deals damage, so fireball and wall of fire work, but a summon spell doesn't.
I can also swap the elements of the spells as I cast them, so taking fireball and the lightning version is pointless. I start at level 15.

Here's what I know I should and shouldn't use.

Should:
Fireball and its various elemental counterparts.
Orbs of stuff

Shouldn't:
Polor Ray

My list is short.

[hushblade]

Are you familiar with The Mailman (http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75882/19868534/The_Mailman:_A_Direct_Damage_Sorcerer)?
The basics are to apply lots of metamagic and metamagic reducers to powerful spells. Orbs of X are a must.

[OracleofSilence]

While i suppose its required for any caster, action economy abuse is a must have for you. So grab some Celerity, Arcane Fusion and GAF, and Arcane Spellsurge

Next get basic rays, like Scorching/Seeking Ray, and maybe Enervation cause it makes your enemies weaker to your crap. Uh, i recall Vortex of Teeth was good?

Also, its not really blasting, but Defenestrating Sphere is really fun.

[Dusk Eclipse]

I remember an uncapped force damage abjuration spell... maw of chaos I think? Pretty lulz-worthy if you do some CL shenanigans such as master spellthieve and Ultimate Magus

[jaybird]

Wings of Flurry is uncapped d6/level Force that also Dazes (I think) in an area around you. Amazing spell. Arcane Thesis it up and go to town.

[Lonely Tylenol]

Firebrand is one of the coolest spells you can choose for this, since it's effectively 10d6 damage (+5d6 next round) to every enemy within 250 feet of you in any direction (at level 15) with no risk to your teammates, but in terms of raw power it won't compete with spells that have higher damage caps (such as Orb of X) unless you metamagic it out.

Scorching Ray and Combust are necessities if you're going with a metamagic-focused route. Their high damage potential (12d6 and 10d8, respectively) and their low starting spell level (each second) makes them ideal for metamagic abuse, or action economy abuse of any other kind, especially because they're both touch spells with no Reflex Half clause.

[Hazzardevil]

I'm not sure I made this clear but I can only use Nlastyer spells from Evocation or conjuration, so spells like celerity and arcane fusion are off the table.

Here's the class itself I'm using. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=208967)

I'll Paraphrase my spell list to make it clear what I can use.


He may choose his spells known from any spell list, arcane or divine, but the spells he chooses must be of the conjuration or evocation school, and must deal numerical hit point damage as a direct result of the spell being cast, even if the damage is not dealt until the target is touched or hit by a ray or orb. (acid arrow would be acceptable, but summon monster I would not) Additionally, the elementalist may not select spells that deal non-elemental damage, such as holy word. (For the sake of this class feature, the elements are defined as fire, cold, sonic, acid, force and electricity.)

[DoctorGlock]

Orb of Fire is your bread and butter blast, wings of flurry is in fact just that awesome, you may want to start with those

Arcane thesis whichever you intend to use most (probably orb)

Twin Spell
Repeat Spell

Grab practical/easy metamagic on whichever feat you will use more often

Grab reserves of strength to raise your CL and uncap your spell damage (23d6 fireball sounds nice when you have +3/die elemental boost)

Arcane Disciple for more spell choices is nice, also the various necrotic apprentice line of feats

You need some general utility, so grab a bloodline (dragon mag) for spells such as alter self, glitterdust, fly and whatnot

Spellfire wielder give you the ability to act as a rod of cancellation so it makes and ok dispel effect. The downside is that this ends up very feat starved

[tyckspoon]

Wings of Flurry is a valid spell for you, and it works excellently with that class's CL boosts and damage/die benefit. Flame Strike is the premier divine list blast, especially if you can pick it at the Druid's discounted spell level- good range, AoE but compact enough to be easily manageable, and of course the half-unresistable damage (which is admittedly a bit weird to use with the default 'the gods hate you and will give you no benefit' fluff written to the class.)

There's a couple of short-distance teleports that are arguably blasting spells, which are something you probably want to look into.. I want to say Lightning Leap and Fiery Discorporation? One turns you into a lightning bolt and damages whatever you travel through between your start and end points, the other takes you from one point to the other in two bursts of fire and damages whatever is standing next to your begin/end.

Edit: Polar Ray actually isn't a terrible spell for a straight up blaster of this sort, if you can't find any metamagic to raise dice caps or lower-level spells with decent caps. Damage-per-die bonuses like you get from the homebrew you're using want as many dice to apply to as they can get.. the main problem with it is probably the Close Range, as if you're near enough to something to Polar Ray it you can probably also whack it with a Wings of Flurry or a metamagic Orb or something instead.

[Wings of Peace]

Eidetic Wizard 1/Mantled (Magic) Erudite 1 (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psm/20070629a)/Mind Mage 10 (http://www.angelfire.com/pro/demon_1/prc_mind_mage.htm)/Cerebremancer 3

Human with 2 flaws will meet your prerequisite needs. Take 2 psi-spell feats, Precocious Apprentinc, and Sanctum spell for 3rd level spell qualification. Because of the Magic mantle these spells also qualiy as powers and thus meet your power requirement as well. From there take whatever metamagics you like and use Compensation to negate their costs. In this build you're essentially using Erudite as a glorified PP reserve.

If you're feeling extra cheesey be Azurin instead, take Body Fuel, take Strongheart Vest, and rock infinite power points for metamagic negation.

[NOhara24]

I remember an uncapped force damage abjuration spell... maw of chaos I think?

You sir, are thinking of the Piranha Death Trap.

1. Cast Celerity when it's close to being your turn.

2. Within that Celerity, cast Time Stop.

3. Cast as many Twinned, Maximized, Empowered, Repeated Vortex of Teeth Spells as you can. Use Assay SR and True Cast if need be.

4. Your turn hits, everything dies a horrible death. Did I mention there's no saving throw?

[Lonely Tylenol]

You sir, are thinking of the Piranha Death Trap.

1. Cast Celerity when it's close to being your turn.

2. Within that Celerity, cast Time Stop.

3. Cast as many Twinned, Maximized, Empowered, Repeated Vortex of Teeth Spells as you can. Use Assay SR and True Cast if need be.

4. Your turn hits, everything dies a horrible death. Did I mention there's no saving throw?

A fun trick.

Hazzardevil won't be doing it, though, since Celerity and Time Stop are off the table.

It doesn't make Vortex of Teeth any less fun... Oh, look! Acid Fog! :smallbiggrin:

[Hazzardevil]

You sir, are thinking of the Piranha Death Trap.

1. Cast Celerity when it's close to being your turn.

2. Within that Celerity, cast Time Stop.

3. Cast as many Twinned, Maximized, Empowered, Repeated Vortex of Teeth Spells as you can. Use Assay SR and True Cast if need be.

4. Your turn hits, everything dies a horrible death. Did I mention there's no saving throw?

This is sounding like the stuff that gives wizards a bad name.
And as I said before, I can't use anything that isn't blasting.

[Incanur]

This is sounding like the stuff that gives wizards a bad name.

It's also dubious by the RAW. Multiple iterations of the same non-instantaneous damage effect don't stack by my reading (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicOverview/castingSpells.htm#combiningMagicalEffects).

[dextercorvia]

Frost Breath, Sor/Wiz 2, SpC, Cone of damage and 1 round of daze on a failed save.

Kelgore's Firebolt, Sor/Wiz1. PHB2, RTA for CLd6 (max 5d6) at medium range. Better than most other DD options for that level from character level 2-6ish.

[DoctorGlock]

Freezing Ray, Sor/Wiz 2, 1d6/2 lvl (bleh), ref or be frozen solid... nice
Twin split for 4 rays as an 8th (lower because you are using reductions) meaning potential lockdown. Sadly it's also reflex so no reason not to just use wings of cover or spam orb of fire for fort or daze

Fell drain as a feat, stick on anything for pure awesome, fell frighten to make it even better, i like magic missile or chain missile for this, auto hit

Single target damage? Elemental Dart (dragonlance campaign setting) is hard to beat. Conjuration 2, 1 missile per 2 levels, max 5, 1d6+1/lvl (10) per missile. Fort half, but meh. With metamagic and reserves of strength, everything will die, everything.

[Warlawk]

It's also dubious by the RAW. Multiple iterations of the same non-instantaneous damage effect don't stack by my reading (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicOverview/castingSpells.htm#combiningMagicalEffects).


Stacking Effects

Spells that provide bonuses or penalties on attack rolls, damage rolls, saving throws, and other attributes usually do not stack with themselves. More generally, two bonuses of the same type don’t stack even if they come from different spells (or from effects other than spells; see Bonus Types, above).



The section is about effects, not damage spells. I've never seen any reference at all to not being able to stack up damage from the same spell. Granted, I think the combo in question is cheese, but it doesn't violate RAW in any way I'm familiar with.

[NOhara24]

It doesn't make Vortex of Teeth any less fun...

Agreed.

Even the best direct damage sorcerers have some other tricks up their sleeve, though. The OP is really limiting himself without some time control spells to back up the "save-or-take-damage" nature of blasting.


The section is about effects, not damage spells. I've never seen any reference at all to not being able to stack up damage from the same spell. Granted, I think the combo in question is cheese, but it doesn't violate RAW in any way I'm familiar with.

Thank you for that. Last I checked, damage always stacks, even if it's of the same type.

[Randomguy]

You need as much variety as you can. There's no point in getting a dozen spells that hurt someone, but that's basically what you're limited to, so you'll need spells that target different saving throws (try and get one for each save) or spells that do things as well as deal damage, like orb of fire. Get a few damage over time spells, too.

Pick up freezing fog. The damage is pitiful, but it's also solid fog and grease at the same time, meaning you can now do some battlefield control. It's possibly one of the best spells you can get.

If you can, pick up doom scarabs. They're scarabs, but OF DOOM!. It gets you temporary hp if you beat the targets SR and deals dammage even if you don't. Another strong point is it targets will instead of reflex. You might not be able to gain access to it though, since you can't get necromancy spells.

A one level dip in sandshaper gets you a greatly enhanced spell list, but then you miss out on your capstone.

Electric vengeance and it's greater versions are decent because of the immediate action casting time.

See if you can get firestride exhalation (dragon magic). It deals damage, but it's also a teleportation spell, and that's the real benefit.

Get wreath of flames (dragon magic) a spell that deals damage to adjacent creatures, and similar spells, just for the variety. It's also useful since you can't fly away from danger like most casters.

If you have extra room for spells known and don't know what to get, get haze of smoldering stone (dragon magic). The spell isn't great, but you get some fire resistance just for knowing it.

[jaybird]

If Pathfinder is permitted, might I suggest 3 amazing feats for blasters from it? Spell Perfection allows you to apply a metamagic for free to a particular spell and doubles "all numerical modifiers from feats", but you have to be level 15 to take it. Intensify Spell ups your damage cap by 5d6. Persistent Spell makes targets save twice take the worst. Spell Perfection means all your CL bonuses are doubled as well, which for a non-capped CLd6 damage spell like Wings of Flurry...well :smallwink:

[dextercorvia]

The section is about effects, not damage spells. I've never seen any reference at all to not being able to stack up damage from the same spell. Granted, I think the combo in question is cheese, but it doesn't violate RAW in any way I'm familiar with.


Same Effect More than Once in Different Strengths

In cases when two or more identical spells are operating in the same area or on the same target, but at different strengths, only the best one applies.

You would roll the damage for each instance of the spell, and only apply the highest roll.


Freezing Fog, Sor/Wiz6, and Acid Fog, Sor/Wiz7 will get you some BFC.

[Crasical]

If Pathfinder is permitted, might I suggest 3 amazing feats for blasters from it? Spell Perfection allows you to apply a metamagic for free to a particular spell and doubles "all numerical modifiers from feats", but you have to be level 15 to take it. Intensify Spell ups your damage cap by 5d6. Persistent Spell makes targets save twice take the worst. Spell Perfection means all your CL bonuses are doubled as well, which for a non-capped CLd6 damage spell like Wings of Flurry...well :smallwink:

Speaking of which, how does one blast in Pathfinder-only games? All the tricks and the metamagic'd orb of sodomy line requires the Spell Compendium.

[AmberVael]

I remember an uncapped force damage abjuration spell... maw of chaos I think? Pretty lulz-worthy if you do some CL shenanigans such as master spellthieve and Ultimate Magus


You sir, are thinking of the Piranha Death Trap.

1. Cast Celerity when it's close to being your turn.

2. Within that Celerity, cast Time Stop.

3. Cast as many Twinned, Maximized, Empowered, Repeated Vortex of Teeth Spells as you can. Use Assay SR and True Cast if need be.

4. Your turn hits, everything dies a horrible death. Did I mention there's no saving throw?

While the Piranha Death Trap is amusing and similar, he was in fact thinking of Maw of Chaos, which is in fact a real spell, a 9th level abjuration spell from the spell compendium that deals uncapped force damage for 1 round per level in a large area and may daze anyone caught within it.

It's pretty much the PDT in a can.

[TurtleKing]

Well I'll Sorc/Wiz 2 Kelgore's Grave Mist from PHB2 along with the others like Freezing Fog. It deals a d6 cold damage per round for CL/round as well fatigue. The SR only applies to the fatigue so as lomg don't have cold resistance dealing damage.

[Hazzardevil]

My character sheet is here (http://www.thetangledweb.net/forums/profiler/view_char.php?cid=55522)
You can find the sources on all my spells aside from wings of flurry here (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/lists/spells), wings of flurry is in races of the dragon, not sure why that wasn't in the list.
Any good spells I missed? I have spells known equal to a sorcerer with +1 per level. So 7 spells for every level apart from 7 which I have 5 for.