Fire blaster spellcaster , could use input

[Soranar]

Trying to come up with a blaster character, so far all I have is a 1 level dip in sanctified one (of Kord) to transform all fire subtype spells into divine damage

This means I lose a caster level (though that can be compensated by being illumian or practiced spellcaster, plenty of options)

At first I thought I'd go Wu Jen (since it gets +2 caster level through elemental mastery) but the wu jen spell list lacks most of the nice fire spells so that doesn't seem like an optimal choice

Thus here I am

-I'm looking for ways to boost my caster level
-Save DC isn't that important since I'm mostly blasting
-I considered simply adapting a mailman build but I figured someone here might be able to think of something else than Incantatrix 10

[Story]

Firey Burst is +1 CL on all Fire spells.

A level in Paragnostic Apostle gives another +1 CL to all fire spells. (Pick Energy Supremacy (Fire))


Complete Champion has holy symbols that mostly give +1 CL to one descriptor, school, or domain. There aren't any for fire spells printed, but you could probably create one if you worship a fire themed god.

[Soranar]

Fiery burst + a paragnostic apostle dip is a start, though finding uncapped fire spells is more difficult than I thought.

But thanks for the idea.

[Slipperychicken]

Metamagic Rods of empower/maximize are your friend. Same goes for elemental spell (is that a thing in 3.5?).

Orange Ioun Stone gives +1 CL.

Searing Spell gets you past Fire restistance/immunity. Only a +1 metamagic, you should be able to score a Rod of it, or apply a metamagic reducer. Now you can damage even "emerald legion-style" regenerators with Fire and nonlethal Immunity (the look on their faces will be priceless).

[Soranar]

Alright, so here's what I have so far

Race: any, but probably illumian to make up for the lost caster (sanctified one) level without wasting a feat on practiced spellcaster
alignment: must be chaotic neutral
templates: none

Progression (so far)

1 Wizard searing spell (can be retrained once I reach sanctified one)
2 Wizard
3 Wizard Fiery Burst
4 Wizard
5 Wizard
6 Paragnostic Apostle (energy : fire)

13 open levels

1 reserved for sanctified one of kord (requires BAB +5 so it'll have to wait a little)

Alternate class features /substitution levels/traits

domain wizard (wizard fire domain, +1 when casting those spells)
spellgifted (trait found in UA)

Magic items

Orange ioun stone (cost 30k so it'll be a while before I can afford one)

[Slipperychicken]

Spontaneous Divination replaces 5th level bonus feat. Spontaneously cast Divination spells, saving you slots for Moar Dakka.

I think some alternate spell components in BoVD can potentially score more damage.

[Juntao112]

Sanctified One turns half your fire damage into divine damage, not all of it, IIRC.

[Soranar]

Sanctified One turns half your fire damage into divine damage, not all of it, IIRC.

No... it's all of it. I just reread it to be sure

[Story]

Speaking of components, there's one in Complete Champion that doubles the area of [Fire] spells for 175gp.

Most of the special components are far too pricey for everyday use IMO though.

[Soranar]

Alright, I found a few things to add


Race: must be human (due to feats prerequisites)
alignment: must be chaotic good (misread Kord's alignment)
templates: none

Progression (so far)

1 Wizard Bloodline of fire (Faerun/human only), searing spell (can be retrained once I reach sanctified one), bonus feat: elemental spellcasting (fire)
2 Wizard
3 Wizard Fiery Burst
4 Wizard
5 Wizard
6 Paragnostic Apostle (energy : fire)

13 open levels

1 reserved for sanctified one of kord (requires BAB +5 so it'll have to wait a little)

Feats:

Bloodline of fire (+2! caster level with fire spells)
elemental spellcasting (+1 caster level with fire spells)
Fiery burst (+1 caster level for fire spells, some other effect like a reserve feat)
Searing spells (a must until I reach sanctified one of Kord, might even keep it in the rare case I meet something immune to divine and fire damage)

Alternate class features /substitution levels/traits

domain wizard (wizard fire domain, +1 when casting those spells, adds cone of fire spell)
spellgifted (trait found in UA) evocation


Magic items

Ring of Mystic Fire (caster +1 , a bargain at 7.5 k, fire spell only)
Robe of Arcane Might (caster +1, cost 21k)
Ring of Arcane Might (caster +1, cost 20k, strangely worded)
Orange ioun stone (caster +1, cost 30k so it'll be a while before I can afford one)

At this point, my early levels are going to be brutal. I can even give a blaster wilder a run for it's money.

Level 1 : I cast burning hands at it's maximum right off the bat
Level 3 : Scorching ray as a caster level 9 (3 base+ 2 bloodline+1 elemental+1 domain +1 trait, +1fiery burst)
Level 5 : Scorching ray as a caster level 11 (for 3 rays), Fireball maxed out

[Story]

Oh one other thing: If you're specializing as an Evoker, you can trade your familiar in for an additional +1 CL on fire spells with UA's Energy Affinity ACF.

[Kuulvheysoon]

Toss in a few levels of Elemental Savant (CAr) combined with Practiced Spellcaster?

[Juntao112]

Elemental savant loses too many caster levels. Honestly, your best bets for prestige classes are:
Incantatrix
Red Wizard
Archmage
War Mage
Mage of the Arcane Order

[jaybird]

The alternate route to CL jacking is metamagic mitigation. If there's one or two specific blast spells you want to be throwing all the time, have you considered Arcane Thesis?

[Soranar]

I considered the evoker specialist option with energy affinity but it doesn't combine with domain wizard (and since domain wizard's only requirement is not specializing vs losing my familiar , domain wizard won out)

I've been considering arcane thesis but the problem becomes a good spell to find.

right now, without any magic items, I get castler level +6 at level 3

why means:

by level 1, burning hands is already capped (damage wise)
by level 5, scorching ray and fireball are capped
by level 9, cone of fire (see fire domain wizard spell) is also capped
by level 14, every fire spell I've found so far is capped (as just about everything stops at 20d6)

although the damage cap doesn't affect the range or the duration of spells (those usually have no cap) so I'm concentrating on finding a spell worth the trouble before I try to specialize through arcane thesis

so far scorching ray is a good contender (12d6 damage with a level 2 spell is hard to beat) though the range could be better

[Curmudgeon]

Sanctified One turns half your fire damage into divine damage, not all of it, IIRC.
Actually, that Sanctified One ability for Kord, as written, does nothing.
Holy Fire (Su): Whenever you cast a spell with the fire subtype, you can choose to change all the fire damage it deals into raw divine damage that is treated as good-aligned for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction. This choice must be made at the time of casting.
There's no such thing as a spell with the fire subtype; that's a designation for creatures, not spells. One might guess that they meant the [Fire] descriptor, but that's not what the book nor the errata say.

[Blueiji]

Orange Ioun Stone gives +1 CL.

Plus it's an un-typed bonus, so you can stack them.

It's definitely not the cheapest method, but it doesn't require dips and applies to all spells.

[Story]

Except that bonuses from the same source or essentially the same source don't stack, even if untyped.

I think the hardest part will be finding an uncapped spell, especially since Arcane Thesis gives you another +2CL. Maybe you could just remove some of your +1CL feats, like Elemental Spellcasting, to free them up for metamagic, and metamagic reducers.

A CL15 Searing Empowered Greater Fireburst at level 9 should be good enough.

Anyway, if Sanctified One doesn't work out, Paragnostic Apostle lets you convert half your damage to holy when fighting creatures of opposite alignment. Though Searing Spell is probably the best option as it works even against regeneration cheese.

[Demons_eye]

Fiery Burst seems redundant if you are planning to turn all your fire damage into divine.

Blarg. read fiery burst as Searing Spell.

Reserves of Strength is argued to break the level cap of spells, Dragonlance Campaign Setting, pg 86. At the very least it gives you an extra 3 caster levels past the cap. You becomes exhausted after though iirc.

[Soranar]

Fiery Burst seems redundant if you are planning to turn all your fire damage into divine.

Blarg. read fiery burst as Searing Spell.

Reserves of Strength is argued to break the level cap of spells, Dragonlance Campaign Setting, pg 86. At the very least it gives you an extra 3 caster levels past the cap. You becomes exhausted after though iirc.

Yeah I read that too, honestly the feat is just poorly worded, as written you could argue that not increasing your caster level with the feat lets you cast spells uncapped at no cost.

If you use the feat as intended, being stunned for several rounds (or 5d6 damage if you're immune to stunning) seems like a steep price. I think I'll have to go the metamagic reducers road and +6 caster level seems enough to get the job done in most situations.

[Story]

It's great for out of combat use, it's just useless in combat.