domain wizard tank

[tricktroller]

So the idea for this character is that I want to maximise AC using spells. Specifically Mage Armor because of its absurd duration without losing more than 3 caster levels. Currently I have this progression in mind.

Gray Elf

5 Levels Domain Wizard (evocation)
5 levels paragnostic disciple taking the abilities mind over matter at 1,3,and 5 and divine understanding force at 2 and 4
2 Levels of Argent Savant
5 levels of Abjurant Champion

So currently I only have it done up to 17th level and nothing is crazy exploited, nothing from anything that isnt a complete or core book, and by level 12 you have +12 mage armor or +14 greater mage armor.

once he takes abjurant champion his shield bonus will be +7 ending at +11 when he hits max level of abjurant champion.

At this point he is CL 18 for force spells, cl 16 for everything else. spells as a 16th level wizard. adds +1 damage to all forces spells per die. If I used luminous armor or greater luminous armor (doubtful because my dm does not like BoED) the bonus would be +5/+8 from the spell +6 from PD and +5 from AC totaling +16/+19 for a total combined ac of 40 with shield at +11.

I've seen similar builds but not this one. Anyone think of any changes I can make? Cheesy or not its all fun to see.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

You can't take Mind Over Matter more than once. Paragnostic Apostle clearly states that only some of those abilities can be taken more than once, as indicated in their descriptions, and no such indication is given for Mind Over Matter. Divine Understanding can be taken multiple times, but it clearly states that you must pick a different domain each time you take it.

Greater Mage Armor is better than Mage Armor. Abjurant Champion doesn't give any bonuses at all to Mage Armor or the greater version.

[tricktroller]

Thanks for the point out on PD, misread the first bit. I understand that ma and gma dont get any bonus from AC. So how about this instead.

gray elf

1 monk - feat carmendine monk, improved ua, stunning fist
2 wizard (domain evocation)
3 wizard feat combat casting
4 wizard
5 wizard
6 wizard
7 wizard
8 paragnostic disciple - ability mind over matter
9 enlightened fist
10 enlightened fist
11 enlightened fist
12 argent savant
13 argent savant
14 abjurant champion
15 abjurant champion
16 abjurant champion
17 abjurant champion
18 abjurant champion
19 ?
20 ?

So first level you reduce your MAD by taking carmendine monk which changes all instances of WIS to INT for armor stunning fist etc. There might be a better way to do the progression, but currently if I fill the last two levels with just plain wizard you end up with +12 bab and 9th level spells. and a pretty sick ac.

at 20th level you have 20 base int from gray elf +5 for levels +6 item and hopefully a +5 tome somewhere along the way for a new 36 int (+13 mod) count as a 4th level monk (don't really care just want the int to ac) +11 from shield spell which can be cast as a swift extended spell for free. +6 from mage armor +8 from greater mage armor or +15 from greater luminous armor. for a total of.....

drumroll please....


40 with mage armor, 42 with greater mage armor, and a whopping 49 with greater luminous armor. That is if you have no dex and no other items boosting ac.

with 18 dex and a +5 natural armor, +5 ring of protection you get

54, 56, and 63 ac. Plus you can sling 9th level spells while not getting hit :D

What do you folks think now? Better ways of doing it? Easier ways of doing this combo?

Love to hear the feedback on here.

[tricktroller]

also all levels of enlightened fist could be swapped for force missile mage and get a swift shield from that as well and ability to do more with magic missiles.

[Hirax]

Step 1: 4 levels of incantatrix.
Step 2: Persisted polymorph and scintillating scales.

Pick a form with high natural armor bonus and using scintillating scales to turn it into a deflection bonus. At higher levels there are plenty of things to choose from with more than 20.

[tricktroller]

I don't want polymorph hijinx lol I want something that boosts its own armor/has high armor from an ability and has 9th level spells.

[Hirax]

Well, the best AC boosting option is probably algid enhancement with caster level boosting, though that would require you to switch to human. Wiz5/incantatrix10/halruaan elder5 would work. Use circle magic to boost your caster level to 40, then use temporary CL boosters to cast consumptive field at the highest CL you can. While some of them are still active, cast algid enhancement and mantle of the icy soul. The kicker is algid enhancement also gives an enhancement bonus to attack rolls. If you could hit CL 72 when casting it, you'd get a +25 enhancement bonus to attack rolls and a +25 deflection bonus to AC. You'd need arcane disciple (luck) to get miracle to cast these, however, and you'd need a vest of the archmagi or pearls of power to cast miracle multiple times.

[tricktroller]

Holy cheese batman.... What about with a build that would be leveling from level 1 to probably about 12-15th level in the end?

[Venusaur]

If you can grab a monk's belt, then you get 5 levels more of bonus AC.

[Hirax]

Get wisdom to AC from a monk's belt and just leave out monk/enlightened fist altogether. You'll waste too many resources qualify for enlightened fist, and monk on its own isn't worth it. You might like the classic wizard6/swiftblade9/abjurant champ5 build, if you can get swftblade approved (Google swiftblade, it's on Wizard's website).

[Amoren]

I made a rather AC focused build for my mother once, a combination of sorcerer, paladin, and arcane duelist (alright, paladin wasn't needed, but with the awesome charisma synergy?). It got charisma to saves and AC, abjurant champion +5 AC to shield and greater luminous armor, and a few other things, I believed. She ended up with something like 40-50 AC with shield, G.L.A., and her other core buffs. Spellcasting wasn't the best being four caster levels behind, but she was practically untouchable by everything else.

[Andion Isurand]

For even more AC for you and your party members....

...you could use the non-gnome adapation of the Shadowcraft Mage PrC in tandem with the Earth Spell + Heighten Spell +Arcane Disciple (luck, zeal or hope) combo to cast "shadow miracles".

Then emulate the Simulacrum spell (at no gp or exp cost) using those "shadow miracles"... to eventually produce many duplicates of various powerful creatures as bodyguards.

Then you cast Embrace the Dark Chaos and Shun the Dark Chaos using those "shadow miracles"... (again at no exp cost) to give them each the following three feats: Combat Expertise, Improved Combat Expertise and Allied Defense.

Then all those body guards will share the AC bonus they gain from combat expertise with all adjacent allies... while also granting you and your allies soft cover and flanking partners.

[Wise Green Bean]

The AC is obviously well optimized, but that's not all there is to tanking. Reflex save and fortitude save are both on the weak side. Fortitude is generally more important. Picking up a little bit of Eldritch Knight somewhere would be good to get the necessary fortitude save plus. The qualifications aren't too bad. Maybe start as a tiefling to get martial weapons, which is especially nice because of the boost to DEX and INT. So that's another bump to reflex there and you keep the lovely intelligence boost. The only downside is the +1 LA, but you can get buy off without too much pain. Not sure where to get reflex save boosts, but a wizard is pretty likely to have good dexterity anyway. The fact is, no matter how high the AC, this tank still can't really afford to eat a fireball, especially with the HP being primarily d4s.

[tricktroller]

I wasn't really worried about reflex and fort saves because of the massive amount of buffs this character can cast on himself. Fireball is no biggie compared to fire resist 30 or outright immunity to it. This character is meant to buff Ac and then just walk through combats laughing and blasting people aside.

[Wise Green Bean]

True enough, but then there's other forms of of blasts, and fire immunity won't save you from all of them. Admittedly, there are buffs aplenty to handle those, but this build is just begging the DM to pull out some unusual energy type to slap you with, and boosting the base save is a good general defense. Not to mention how common fortitude saves are. You can use death ward to get around the save-or-dies, but there are a lot of save-or-lose spells out there that you make a tempting target for, being on the front lines AND a spellcaster. And beyond all that, this build needs HP anyway it can get it. Again, there are ways to buff it, but all it would take is leaping shock trooper to roll a 20 and this tank would go down in 1 hit.