Master Blaster!

[Sheogoroth]

Who rule barter town?
My DM is prepping a campaign in which we, the party, all play wizards- but we are restricted to only spells of one school apiece.

So far we have Abjuration, Illusion, and Enchantment.
Not much of a damage output there, so naturally I chose Evocation to compliment my handy brethren.

My build thus far is based of beefing up fire based spells with effective spell levels through feats such as Bloodline of Fire (http://dndtools.eu/feats/players-guide-to-faerun--22/bloodline-of-fire--237/) and Cali****e Elementalist (http://dndtools.eu/feats/races-of-faerun--23/cali****e-elementalist-fire--287/).
(There are honestly a ton of them) As well as energy substitution, grabbing an intensified Metamagic Rod to maintain viability.


I'm told there are to be a good deal of wizards in this campaign, as well as anti-mages, and warned us that this campaign is going to be extremely difficult and that most of us will probably die. So I want to make a guy who can dish pain on a spectrum.

Question time: Should I take Wild Mage (http://dndtools.eu/classes/wild-mage/) with Practiced Spell-caster (http://dndtools.eu/feats/complete-arcane--55/practiced-spellcaster--2231/)(DM approved) or Master Specialist (http://dndtools.eu/classes/master-specialist/)?

Any other recommendations for more pain than I have here optimized are more than appreciated! :smallbiggrin:

[Rubik]

Try conjurer with ACFs, instead. Conjurers blast as well as (or better than) evokers, and they get lots of utility as well. Summon meat-shields for the party, conjure walls to contain enemies and clouds to obscure line of sight (and sometimes, line of effect), and you can extend your defense to ludicrous levels through the abrupt jaunt ACF.

[Sheogoroth]

Well, my issue with that is that since we are going to be fighting enemy wizards, they will be able to mass disable my summons- plus the key to fighting wizards is to kill them before they do anything crazy, which is what I'm going for.

Supposing I were to make an evoker, what would be the best course of action?

[Fouredged Sword]

I would suggest you build a wizard version of the mail man. Focus on doing enough damage to kill anything in one hit, and have enough bonuses to your attack roll that you always do.

[Urpriest]

What level range are we talking? At higher levels, Conjurers get better blasty spells and metamagic-stacking is the way to go, while at lower levels CL boosts rule the roost and Evocation is better off.

[Sheogoroth]

Starting level 4.

[herrhauptmann]

Can you take Collegiate Wizard? It essentially doubles your spells known, even if you never learn a spell from another wizard.

Rubik already said it but:
Evocation is the classic blasting school. It worked great in early editions when spells did just as much damage, but everyone had fewer hitpoints. Conjuration gained a lot of damaging spells in 3.5 that are actually more powerful than Evocations. Partly because a lot of them don't allow SR, have no save, or function in AMFs.

[jaybird]

Stack initiative high. Improved Initiative is great if you can fit it in.

At level 4, you want to jack CL high, as you're nowhere near cap. Fiery Spell (Sandstorm, +1 damage/dice on [Fire], +1 spell level) is a fantastic metamagic to throw on there as well, due to its low adjustment and synergy with extra damage dice. Arcane Thesis will help you with both of these, giving +2 CL on the designated spell as well as -1 adjustment on EVERY metamagic you apply to said spell.

Once you can support a +2 metamagic, pick up Searing Spell immediately (Sandstorm, ignore Fire Resist, half damage to Fire Immune, +2 spell level), for reasons I shouldn't need to spell out.

[tyckspoon]

Once you can support a +2 metamagic, pick up Searing Spell immediately (Sandstorm, ignore Fire Resist, half damage to Fire Immune, +2 spell level), for reasons I shouldn't need to spell out.

It's actually only +1. If you have a particular spell you plan to rely on, Arcane Thesis does wonders. Otherwise, look into Practical or Easy Metamagic for Searing Spell and apply it to every blast you ever throw.

Edit: Whoop, both Practical and Easy can't reduce below +1. You need Arcane Thesis to zero it out, but that only works for 1 spell (Scorching Ray is a good choice for the low-mid levels.) Metamagic School Focus also works, allowing you to remove 1 level worth of metamagic adjustment from a spell of a specified school 3 times per day.

[Dusk Eclipse]

Incantatrix is usually the go to for metamagic shenanigans, though you would need to drop another school (necromancy is ok to loose in some cases)

[jaybird]

It's actually only +1. If you have a particular spell you plan to rely on, Arcane Thesis does wonders. Otherwise, look into Practical or Easy Metamagic for Searing Spell and apply it to every blast you ever throw.

Edit: Whoop, both Practical and Easy can't reduce below +1. You need Arcane Thesis to zero it out, but that only works for 1 spell (Scorching Ray is a good choice for the low-mid levels.) Metamagic School Focus also works, allowing you to remove 1 level worth of metamagic adjustment from a spell of a specified school 3 times per day.

Oops. I keep thinking it's useful enough to be a +2 :smallbiggrin:

The combination of either Practical and Easy with Arcane Thesis is excellent for Empower, as that brings spell adjustment to 0. If you have the feats to take both Practical AND Easy AND Arcane Thesis, get Maximize...though at that point, you may be better served with Practical/Easy+AT+Empower on a second spell (Scorching Ray and Fireball being the simplest precision/AoE combo).

Something like this to start:
1: Bloodline of Fire
1H: Fiery Burst
3: Fiery Spell/Searing Spell (you won't be using this until Arcane Thesis comes online)
-GAME START-
5W: Searing Spell/Fiery Spell (the other one)
6: Arcane Thesis: Scorching Ray/Fireball (NOW you're cooking with fire!)
9: You have a choice here. Either take Arcane Thesis for Fireball/Scorching Ray for versatility, or jump right into Empower/Practical Empower on your Thesis'd spell to crank up your chosen spell's damage. I would prefer the first, but that's up to player preference and game style.

Note that Cali****e Elementalist isn't taken until later, likely with Wiz10 or your 12th level feat, and even then, I would only recommend taking it if you must have the flavour. A +1d6 feat just is not worth it compared to what else you can do. Between Empower Spell and Practical Metamagic 2, for example, you add 5d6 at no adjustment to your thesis'd spell and +1 adjustment to all others. In addition, Searing Spell removes the need for Elemental Substitution whatsoever, as even with half damage against Fire Immune, your blasting will still bring a LOT of hurt. Remember, 3rd level spells only need Lesser rods, and with the Practical/AT combination, Fiery Searing Empower is a net +0! Lesser Quicken only costs you 35k, in case you ever need to double up on the burning down. Fiery Burst is there to provide longevity for those situations where 4 shots of 6d6+6 or a 15d6+15 AoE is overkill. Also note that you only actually are consuming your 2nd and 3rd level spells in this build - leaving you free to prepare DDoor, Black Tentacles, Overland Flight, and the like.