spells for a suel arcanamach

[pyromanser244]

I'm working on a suel arcanamach and I'd like some advice on spell selection. so I've got wizard/sorcerer spells from abjuration, divination, illusion and transmutation to pick from. I'm probably not going to be able to play debuffer, or field control. self buff should be easy, but I'm not sure how much good utility or antimagic I can get.

I've read the God Wizard stuff but their break down of spells is in the context of a wizard who gets more spells out of the box then I will, a wider selection and a flat out better caster level. so I'm not sure how much of the advice there is even relevant to my situation or if their ignoring spells that would be good for me because it's irrelevant to the wizard. does the playground have any advice?

[Flickerdart]

What level are you right now? Because 1st level spells at level 7 are much different picks than 5th level spells at level 15 with free Extend.

[pyromanser244]

I'm currently at level 10 with 3 in suel arcanamach. all books are open to the best of my knowledge.

[pyromanser244]

well so far I've found only buff spells that might be worth it. I could use some help here guys. :smallfrown:

[dascarletm]

I was just building a Suel Archanamach just yesterday:

Assuming you get all the way with your casting progression you will have:
4 1st levels
4 2nd levels
3 3rd levels
3 4th levels
2 5th levels

(I'd suggest taking Abj Champion at level 4 then finish with a level of spellsword as per: http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75882/19870638/The_Suel_Arcanamach_Handbook)

What base class are you, and what is your build? What do you want to do more specifically.
Here are some ones I would pick in almost any build (I only have PHB atm, but I can go through my other books tonight)
1:Shield, Enlarge Person, Expeditious Retreat (perhaps swift version)
2: Mirror Image, Invisibility, Alter Self
3: Displacement, Haste
4: Dimensional Anchor (If mages.), Greater Invis, Polymorph

[Dusk Eclipse]

The Handbook (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=159617) has some spell discussion and a list of spells available for Arcanamachs.

[Patrarkis]

alter fortune- its an immediate action spell that lets you reroll 1st level
animilistc power- gives you +2 to str,dex,con for 1min a level
blinding color surge- is a good run away spell
dancing blade
energy vulnerability
field of reistance
stretch weapon
troll shape

thats just PHBII spells but they are decent no buff (cept the one) spells that would work well with a suel

[pyromanser244]

I was just building a Suel Archanamach just yesterday:

Assuming you get all the way with your casting progression you will have:
4 1st levels
4 2nd levels
3 3rd levels
3 4th levels
2 5th levels

(I'd suggest taking Abj Champion at level 4 then finish with a level of spellsword as per: http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75882/19870638/The_Suel_Arcanamach_Handbook)

What base class are you, and what is your build? What do you want to do more specifically.
Here are some ones I would pick in almost any build (I only have PHB atm, but I can go through my other books tonight)
1:Shield, Enlarge Person, Expeditious Retreat (perhaps swift version)
2: Mirror Image, Invisibility, Alter Self
3: Displacement, Haste
4: Dimensional Anchor (If mages.), Greater Invis, Polymorph

so far I think I'm ending up with battledancer 1/ rogue 2/ hexblade 4. the spell reflection and wandering curse ACFs are simply hilarious to me. this is still on the drawing board though so I may change that up to enter sooner but that's where I'm starting.

I think I want to play this as a hunter type character with enough mobility to reach the soft spots and drop them.

[dascarletm]

so far I think I'm ending up with battledancer 1/ rogue 2/ hexblade 4. the spell reflection and wandering curse ACFs are simply hilarious to me. this is still on the drawing board though so I may change that up to enter sooner but that's where I'm starting.

I think I want to play this as a hunter type character with enough mobility to reach the soft spots and drop them.

Sadly you don't get conjuration, the easy way to obtain battlefield mobility (all your teleport type spells).

[pyromanser244]

Sadly you don't get conjuration, the easy way to obtain battlefield mobility (all your teleport type spells).

it figures. :smallsigh:

[ShneekeyTheLost]

If paired with Abjurant Champion, then the humble Shield spell takes on a whole new dimension of awesomeness, since it ends up with a +9 to AC and cast as a swift action.

For that matter, check out how Abjurant Champion's capstone works with Suel Archanamach...

Suel Archanamach gets massive bonuses to effective CL for their spells because you don't get into it until later in your career (due to being a PrC) so not just any apprentice can Dispel you. However, Abjurant Champion states your base CL is your BAB. And SA and AbChamp are full BAB, and can be entered with Hexblade for completely full BAB. So at level 20, your CL is also 20. Then your CL for your SA spells is going to be even higher, because of the bonuses that stack on top.

Which means someone's going to have some serious problems trying to dispel your buffs.

So, just out of the SRD, here's some spells you might want:

1st:

Shield: Cast as swift action, +9 to AC with AbChamp. Since you're probably not wanting to bother with a shield, this is nothing but free AC.

Enlarge person: How to get 10' reach without racial shenanigans.

True Strike: For when you absolutely, positively HAVE to make that next attack.

2nd:

Mirror Image. Bite my 87.5% miss chance.

Resist Energy. AbChamp makes this a bit better with auto-quicken.

Rope Trick. Having a Save Point in your pocket is never a bad thing.

Alter Self. Do I -really- need to go into this?

3rd:

Dispel Magic. With a caster level to back it up. Also auto-quickened from AbChamp.

Clairaudience/Clairvoyance. Because sending a physical scout is for n00bz

Haste. Free bonus attack for the party

Slow. Nerf bat time.

Greater Magic Weapon. With the Caster Level to cap out bonuses sooner than a regular caster.

Fly. Immunity to melee.

4th:

Dimensional Anchor. No, you are stopping at Go, but all you are collecting is my sword in your face.

Scrying. Because you can't say Scry n Die without the Scry.

Greater Invisibility. Not for you, for your Rogue buddy, so he can sneak attack unfettered.

Greater Mirror Image (not Core, but nice).

Shadow Conjuration. Grease + Glitterdust + Stinking Cloud all in one spell, as long as they can't make their Will saves.

Polymorph. Yes, you get Polymorph. And your CL will be higher than 15 before you get it. Welcome to the deep end of the optimization pool.

[Keld Denar]

There is, AFAIK, only one Teleportation spell that isn't Conjouration. Lightning Leap in...Complete Mage? It transforms you into a Lightning Bolt, you fly in direction chosen by you, and you rematerialize. Everyone between where you were and where you end up gets shocked. Amazing? Not really, but its about all you get short of UMDing a wand.

I REALLY like Whirling Blade and Bladeweave on a Suel Arcanamach. Both are 2nd level spells and really give a lot to a higher level character who is just acquiring low level spells. Whirling Blade in particular is nice because it scales automatically with how awesome of a combatant you are, rather than how high your CL is. You can Power Attack with it, deliver Spell Storing effects, and activate any other melee ability you have. It's a pretty nice spell.

[Dusk Eclipse]

Minor Correction, Suel Arcanamach has 3/4 Bab, not full BAB, so you do lag a little in CL even with Abjurant Champion's capstone. Still not much about 19/20 is still pretty good and there are TONs of CL boosters, for example a level or two of paladin (cha to saves) makes you count as a Divine spellcaster which means you can activate a Bead of Karma without UMD.

[Piggy Knowles]

There is, AFAIK, only one Teleportation spell that isn't Conjouration. Lightning Leap in...Complete Mage? It transforms you into a Lightning Bolt, you fly in direction chosen by you, and you rematerialize. Everyone between where you were and where you end up gets shocked. Amazing? Not really, but its about all you get short of UMDing a wand.

I REALLY like Whirling Blade and Bladeweave on a Suel Arcanamach. Both are 2nd level spells and really give a lot to a higher level character who is just acquiring low level spells. Whirling Blade in particular is nice because it scales automatically with how awesome of a combatant you are, rather than how high your CL is. You can Power Attack with it, deliver Spell Storing effects, and activate any other melee ability you have. It's a pretty nice spell.

I love Lightning Leap, and would almost certainly take it as a Suel. Is it amazing? No, but it's a handy piece of tactical repositioning that functions as a blast too. And, most importantly, it's friggin' cool. Sometimes, cool factor can and should trump mechanical superiority.

[dascarletm]

I did not know of that spell... worth a check. Did you confirm Complete Mage?

[Piggy Knowles]

I did not know of that spell... worth a check. Did you confirm Complete Mage?

Yes, CMage. Basically, you transform yourself into a line of lightning between 10 and 60 feet long. You deal 1d6 per CL damage to everyone in the line, and instantly appear at its end. Mechanically it's DimDoor + Lightning Bolt as a 5th level spell, but with a very cool flavor. Also, it doesn't end your turn like DimDoor, and it has a higher damage cap and a little more flexibility than Lightning Bolt (although shorter overall range).

[Karnith]

There is, AFAIK, only one Teleportation spell that isn't Conjouration. Lightning Leap in...Complete Mage?
There is also Knight's Move, a Cleric/Paladin spell in Spell Compendium, though it doesn't really help a Suel Arcanamach.

[A_S]

If you're going to high levels, I really recommend Swiftblade (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/prc/20070327). It's an amazing gish class, and its only major disadvantage (lost caster levels) hurts less on a chassis with only 10 levels worth of casting, like Suel Arcanamach. Stop at level 9, though, because even though the capstone is awesome, it needs a 6th level spell slot to work :( . Still, an extra standard action every round is a perfectly good capstone on its own.

[pyromanser244]

There is, AFAIK, only one Teleportation spell that isn't Conjouration. Lightning Leap in...Complete Mage? It transforms you into a Lightning Bolt, you fly in direction chosen by you, and you rematerialize. Everyone between where you were and where you end up gets shocked. Amazing? Not really, but its about all you get short of UMDing a wand.

I REALLY like Whirling Blade and Bladeweave on a Suel Arcanamach. Both are 2nd level spells and really give a lot to a higher level character who is just acquiring low level spells. Whirling Blade in particular is nice because it scales automatically with how awesome of a combatant you are, rather than how high your CL is. You can Power Attack with it, deliver Spell Storing effects, and activate any other melee ability you have. It's a pretty nice spell.

I really like these. bladeweave and lightning leap are cool stuff but there's something about whirling blade. I can't read that spell without remembering that one cursed axe, from that one dungeon, that exploded every time it hit something. :smallamused:

[Keld Denar]

Exploding Axes work well with Whirling Blade! If you throw the weapon at someone, there is a good chance that you will be outside of the blast radius when it does explode!

I like Whirling Blade on a Cha based caster (like Suel Arcanamach) in combo with the Sudden Stunning enchant from the DMGII. The DC and uses/day are Cha dependent, so you are rewarded for having a higher Cha. With Hexblade tec on top of that, you have some definite Cha synergy.

Too bad that a Medium Rod of Quicken is pretty expensive, because Quickened Lightning Leap is an interesting pounce with a twist. If you had 4 levels of Pally under your Suel chassis and you were Illumian, you could use NaenHoon to quicken 2 spells per day, but that seems like a waste of the ability.