Wizard help

[TimeLordLaxx]

I've been looking around the forums here and a few other places for quite some time now, and have found some very helpful things when it comes to wizards and what spells to use and such, but i still feel like he isn't the greatest wizard in town.

My plan is going 5wizard/10bloodmagus/5archmage. I am currently level twelve, I don't need to hear "Blood magus is bad because the loss of spell levels or whatever because there was some homebrew that gave the gains more than the losses.

Shopping for him seems to be rather difficult. He has a +6 band of intellect pushing his intellect to around 31. A cloak of resistance +3, and a ring of protection and a few other items that are less useful.

My first question is What are some really good items for me to get in the near future
My second being what spells are very handy when fighting things that negate mind effecting spells.

I've been looking for a way to kill..i mean defeat a Psionic ally to say i did because he is narcissistic, but hold monster doesn't work on him, nor does Resilient sphere because he has teleport, and anything that has a save he can normally make even though it's normally a DC 35 or 36. Did i mention he was only level 11? Even without his colossal claws he can two shot me.

*runs up to me, full attack 68 damage and I'm prone because he grappled me* I preform a touch attack and he gets an attack of opportunity on me for some decent damage, I fey step away to the other side of the room and he charges again and can still full attack.

Now i know being a caster I'm squishy, but that's why i kind of want to kill him before he can make it to me, Not even solid fog can stop him because of his teleport.

Any suggestions are much appreciated, I'll even take critique on whether or not Archmage is a good thing to do for the last five levels. Thanks in advance!

[sonofzeal]

For defence...

You say you're getting a Ring of Protection. You want to think seriously about whether or not you want to play the AC game as a Wizard. If you do, you'll want to dedicate a few spells to that area, but can probably run around with an AC that makes Mr McSwordy jealous. On the other hand, as a Wizard you have plenty of access to other defences that are sometimes even better. Greater Mirror Image, for instance. Stoneskin. A source of miss chance. You can forgo AC entirely and still be seriously hard to kill. If you go for AC, Amulet of Natural Armor is excellent since it stacks with most spells, and Dusty Rose Ioun Stone is a positive steal.



For offensive items...

Metamagic Rods are awesome. Orange Ioun Stone is awesome if you can afford it. Pearls of Power are okay, but probably not worth it unless you've got a particular low level bread-and-butter spell you're built towards optimizing.



For spells....

Ranged Touch Attacks are your friend. Enervation and Ray of Stupidity are two "hard" debuffs; Ray of Clumsiness/Enfeeblement are "soft" debuffs, but still quite powerful. Shivering Touch is known as the dragon-killer for a reason. Metamagic'd lower level spells are also generally nastier than higher level spells; either of the first two with "Split Ray" will really ruin someone's day, and any of these except Enervation can be Maximized or Empowered. Fell Drain Magic Missile is also a fun one as a nigh-unresistable across-the-board debuff. My personal favorite is Forceful Explosive Great Thunderclap; it won't take anyone out of the fight for more than a round, but the shock-and-awe of having to roll six seperate saving throws off a single spell is intimidating, and gives you an excellent chance they'll flub at least one or two.




For general build advice...

Are you specialized? It's generally a good idea, since it gives you more higher-level spells to throw around. Archmage is decent, but I've never been that big a fan when there's a lot of really awesome Wizard PrCs out there with more power and more flavour. Initiate of the Sevenfold Veil is... cheesy under some interpretations, but even with a sceptical DM it's still very powerful and would help you here. And Master Specialist is always a good fallback - Wiz 3 / M.S. 2 / Blood Magus 5 / M.S. +5, or something along those lines.

[TimeLordLaxx]

My personal favorite is Forceful Explosive Great Thunderclap; it won't take anyone out of the fight for more than a round, but the shock-and-awe of having to roll six seperate saving throws off a single spell is intimidating, and gives you an excellent chance they'll flub at least one or two.




For general build advice...

Are you specialized?

I am a bit new when it comes to D&D in general, so these two things, i think i know answers to these questions, but I'm just making sure.
Forceful and Explosive are what? Metamagic feats or something along those lines? If not what book can i find an explanation or do you have a link?

And If I'm thinking correctly, I'm specialized in Necromancy.

Thanks for the help you have given in your post, I found a lot of it to be helpful.

[sonofzeal]

I am a bit new when it comes to D&D in general, so these two things, i think i know answers to these questions, but I'm just making sure.
Forceful and Explosive are what? Metamagic feats or something along those lines? If not what book can i find an explanation or do you have a link?

And If I'm thinking correctly, I'm specialized in Necromancy.

Thanks for the help you have given in your post, I found a lot of it to be helpful.
Explosive: +2 metamagic. Reflex save vs being ejected to the perimeter, ending up prone and potentially taking damage. CArcane.

Forceful: +1 metamagic. Fort save vs Prone and Stunned for 1 round. Dragon Magazine #358.

Great Thunderclap: 3rd lvl Evocation spell. Will vs Stunned, Fort vs Deafened, Ref vs Prone.


It probably won't actually help you that much in this specific situation, but it's still my all-time favorite Wizard spell. Batman Wizards are prepared for every contingency and target everything's weakness with pinpoint precision, but there's something to be said for the "Scorched Earth" approach too. Chuck enough dice at something and eventually they'll fail...

[Max Zoren]

Against the psionic ally the ranged touch debuffs sonofzeal suggested are all good, the other one I'd recomend is Dimensional Anchor (Abjuration Level 4) if you can get though any spell resistance he has this will stop him teleporting for a while.

Follow the Dimensional Anchor with a Summon Monster spell summoning the largest creature you can to give yourself a meat shield. Then debuff him into helplessness. Strength is a good stat to hit, if you bring it down enough your summoned creatues should be able to out grapple him.

[Randomguy]

Do you know what his build is? Can you hit him with touch attacks consistently?

Dimension Hop (phb2) is a nice spell for getting out of grapples. It's basically a weaker version of dimension door, but it's only second level, and a DC 22 concentration check shouldn't be too hard to make.

Heart of Water (from complete mage) is another good spell for getting out of grapples. You can sacrifice the normal effect for freedom of movement. The normal effect lasts all day, so it casting it once basically gives you a free panic button to get out of grapples. The freedom of movement only lasts 1 round/level though.

Elemental Body (Air) is a good spell that you should cast every morning. (when you can cast it) It gives you a load of immunities and a fly speed at Perfect Maneuverability, and it lasts all day (almost). You should be flying all the time. Although, this might mess with your Blood Magus powers a bit, since this spell removes your blood, I think. Ask your DM. If it means you can't use too many of your class features you might be better off with Overland Flight.

Anticipate Teleportation and Greater Anticipate Teleportation are also great spells. It basically stops him from teleporting almost as well as dimensional Anchor does, since he can't teleport to a spot within 60 feet of you without giving you an advantage. It's especially nice if you cast something like solid fog to make him want to teleport. Oh, and that's a good spell even without anticipate teleportation, since it at least stops him from charging.

Make sure to pile on the defensive spells. Stuff like Greater Blink, Greater Mirror Image, Greater Mage Armour, Shield, Invisibility/greater invisibility, so on.

Get some summoned monsters or some undead in between the two of you. Summoning Allips with Summon Undead could also help.

Remember that you can use reselient sphere defensively, not just offensively. Cover yourself with it so that he can't get you, and then start summoning things to attack him. Or cast spells through a ring gate that your Familiar/Homunculus is carrying around.

If he has spell resistance, cast Assay Spell resistance (swift action level 4 spell, lasts 1 round/level, gives +10 to caster level checks) and you should be able to overcome it easily.

[Slipperychicken]

Get a Shadow Cloak (Drow of the Underdark, 5500gp). 3/day Immediate action 10ft teleport. If he doesn't have reach, you can pretty much dodge 3 Full Attacks. It's like Abrupt Jaunt: The Item.

If you can fly, do that. Same story for the buffs Randomguy suggested.

If you took Mastery of Shaping (practically the reason to take Archmage), you can make an AMF which excludes your own square, making your life a lot easier. He can rush in at you, but then all his buffs go down, and if you were flying, he falls down. Remember that AMFs are invisible, and you can cast through, but not into them. Also, his items won't work in an AMF. Maybe you can hover ~20ft above him with an AMF so he's caught in the radius, then cast Wall of Stone in a square around him so he can't get out of it.

Phantom Steed can help you stay out of his reach.


If you need this guy dead, and don't care much for a straight-up fight, have some kind of assassin (buffed with Silence and Greater Invisibility so he can't be detected) CDG him while he's sleeping. You can stand outside his tent with a readied move action and AMF up in case the Psion wakes up (Psion wakes up-> you catch him in AMF, assassin smacks the now-unbuffed-and-bloodied Psion while you pommel the Psion with Orbs).

[Mithril Leaf]

Acquire poison immunity. If he's built right, he will likely have some sort of minor or major creation and poison at the ready.