Elemental Savant and Energy Admixture

[Laniius]

Can I do it? If I'm an Electricity Elemental Savant, could I add Acid damage to my spells with Energy Admixture? Thanks.

[The Random NPC]

Energy Admixture doesn't seem to affect the Energy tag, so it seems you can.

[ahenobarbi]

Ask your DM :smallamused:
Also... I did play Elemental Savant once... he was completely useless so I'd advice you to use something else.

[tyckspoon]

Energy Admixture doesn't seem to affect the Energy tag, so it seems you can.

It does- you add the Admixtured energy type to the default energy type of the spell. The example given in the feat is an Acid-admixture Fireball, which is specifically said to change to an [Acid],[Fire] spell.

Which means the answer to your question is no, Laniius. Your first problem is that the Energy Admixture feat just lets you add in the same element you already have selected for Substitution- so if you have Energy Substitution (Electricity), you also have Energy Admixture (Electricity); you don't have any other option unless you're willing to burn extra feats on selecting Energy Sub and Energy Admix multiple times for the other element types.

The second problem is that the Elemental Savant locks you into Electricity regardless- any energy damage you do gets changed to electric damage. The presence or absence of an Energy descriptor on the spell doesn't really matter to that, although for consistency any spell that does energy damage should have the appropriate descriptor as well.

[Laniius]

Ask your DM :smallamused:
Also... I did play Elemental Savant once... he was completely useless so I'd advice you to use something else.

How was he useless? If you're up against something immune to your chosen element, use non-elemental spells, or conjure something, or whatever. I'll grant you not as useful as someone who isn't locked into one element, but I love the fluff.

[ahenobarbi]

How was he useless? If you're up against something immune to your chosen element, use non-elemental spells, or conjure something, or whatever. I'll grant you not as useful as someone who isn't locked into one element, but I love the fluff.

Bad spell selection. Basically I managed to prepare spells to which creatures we encountered were immune (mind-affecting against undead, blasting against element-immune etc.).

[Mystify]

You should be able to admixture with the element you already selected.

[Psyren]

How was he useless? If you're up against something immune to your chosen element, use non-elemental spells, or conjure something, or whatever. I'll grant you not as useful as someone who isn't locked into one element, but I love the fluff.

I think he meant "useless for a wizard/sorcerer" which compared to most other classes isn't very useless at all.

[ahenobarbi]

I think he meant "useless for a wizard/sorcerer" which compared to most other classes isn't very useless at all.

No I meant useless. Really. It was mostly my fault (horrible spell selection) but choosing Elemental Savant with nerfing blasting and caster level loss moved character from "not to good" to "useless".

So OP if you did play casters in d&d successfully try PrC for fluff. But if you didn't be aware you increase your chances of failure significantly.

[Mystify]

The Fire Elemantal Savant was pretty useful in the campaign I was in.

[Psyren]

No I meant useless. Really. It was mostly my fault (horrible spell selection) but choosing Elemental Savant with nerfing blasting and caster level loss moved character from "not to good" to "useless".

This is faulty reasoning though: spell selection is not an inherent part of Elemental Savant, so any mistakes you made there are unrelated to the PrC, and it shouldn't even be mentioned.

[ericgrau]

The Fire Elemantal Savant was pretty useful in the campaign I was in.
I was also in a campaign with an effective fire element savant. He started with energy admixture and later used archmage for energy substitution and shaping.

[Laniius]

Thanks for the input. This is my first wizard build, it's an epic campaign. I've played a couple clerics before, and I love them, but the wizard has the best spell list. I'm 5 wizard/5 geometer/10 elemental savant; I will have all the spells in my spellbook from the sources we are allowed.

[Marlamin]

I know the thread is old but for anyone who still has interest in making an elemental savant work might I suggest choosing fire and taking the fiery spell feat in the sandstorm book? It allows you to ignore fire resistance and those immune to fire still take half damage at the cost of one spell slot. Worth it if you take elemental admixture as well. I turned a warmage into an elemental savant so basically all my spells have elemental damage; eclectic learning listed in the PH2 (IIRC) can be taken in place of advanced learning and allows a warmage to take any spell a wizard/sorcerer can cast at a level equal to (or possibly one lower than) the highest level you can cast at the time. This can be useful for grabbing that break enchantment spell or flight spell you've been wishing you could grab but were previously restricted to with warmage.