Requesting help with a Debuff Wizard 3.5

[Cranthis]

So, I'm building a level 9 Wizard, and I want to be debuffing people. I know I need to be boosting my dcs, but what would you guys recommend for feats and Prestige classes? Should I specialize in Transmutation or not? Any help is appreciated.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Check out the God Wizard Handbook (http://community.wizards.com/forum/previous-editions-character-optimization/threads/1146876), particularly the sample builds and the sample prepared spell lists, though keep in mind that those spell lists are for a focused specialist conjurer build.

Get a note card, write on it each creature type (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/typesSubtypes.htm), which knowledge skill (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/skills/knowledge.htm) is used to identify it, which base saves are good/poor for racial HD of that type, what immunities all creatures of that type automatically get (mind-affecting, critical hits/stunning, Fort saves that don't affect objects, etc.), any special vulnerabilities creatures may have (dismissal), and anything else you think would be important. Put at least one rank in every one of those Knowledge skills, so you're automatically entitled to a knowledge check to recognize every creature you encounter. Remember that most D&D Wizards are exponentially smarter than any actual person who's ever existed, and would have definitely studied up on various types of living things and what their strengths and vulnerabilities are. Something that you would need to look at on this card is something that your character would easily be able to recall from memory. Have spells that target each different save (Wall of Smoke, Grease, Color Spray at 1st, Cloud of Bewilderment, Web, Glitterdust at 2nd, etc.) and use the one that most opponents will have a weak base save against. Note that nearly every one of those example spells is a Conjuration.

[Cranthis]

Check out the God Wizard Handbook (http://community.wizards.com/forum/previous-editions-character-optimization/threads/1146876), particularly the sample builds and the sample prepared spell lists, though keep in mind that those spell lists are for a focused specialist conjurer build.

Get a note card, write on it each creature type (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/typesSubtypes.htm), which knowledge skill (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/skills/knowledge.htm) is used to identify it, which base saves are good/poor for racial HD of that type, what immunities all creatures of that type automatically get (mind-affecting, critical hits/stunning, Fort saves that don't affect objects, etc.), any special vulnerabilities creatures may have (dismissal), and anything else you think would be important. Put at least one rank in every one of those Knowledge skills, so you're automatically entitled to a knowledge check to recognize every creature you encounter. Remember that most D&D Wizards are exponentially smarter than any actual person who's ever existed, and would have definitely studied up on various types of living things and what their strengths and vulnerabilities are. Something that you would need to look at on this card is something that your character would easily be able to recall from memory. Have spells that target each different save (Wall of Smoke, Grease, Color Spray at 1st, Cloud of Bewilderment, Web, Glitterdust at 2nd, etc.) and use the one that most opponents will have a weak base save against. Note that nearly every one of those example spells is a Conjuration.

That was extremely helpful, thanks.

[Owl Prowler]

Necromancer Necromancer Necromancer.

[Extra Anchovies]

My two bits' worth of advice: Battlefield control spells can often have similar effects to debuffs, and a lot of them allow neither saves nor spell resistance. A combination of enchantments (for the straight debuffs and such) and some area-effect conjurations (Evard's Black Tentacles is a pretty killer one, especially when put in the same area as a Web spell) could make for a nice set.

[Cranthis]

Necromancer Necromancer Necromancer.
I, uh, what?

My two bits' worth of advice: Battlefield control spells can often have similar effects to debuffs, and a lot of them allow neither saves nor spell resistance. A combination of enchantments (for the straight debuffs and such) and some area-effect conjurations (Evard's Black Tentacles is a pretty killer one, especially when put in the same area as a Web spell) could make for a nice set.
This is true, but I have a large party with me in this, so I need to be more about de-buffs that target enemies, either as ranged touch attacks, or just your good old save or sucks.

[Zanos]

I, uh, what?
Owl Prowler is using repetition for emphasis. In this case, the necromancy school is loaded with debuffs on top of debuffs stacked with some more debuffs.

I highly recommend the God Wizard handbook, however. It's fun to read on top of being informative!

[Zaq]

Owl Prowler is using repetition for emphasis.

And repetition for emphasis is a rhetorical device known as epizeuxis, which happens to be one of my very favorite words.

We're all learning today!

[Ageir]

Off the top of my head, the red wizard prestige class adds some Caster levels, which should make you better at dispelling.

[Cranthis]

Owl Prowler is using repetition for emphasis. In this case, the necromancy school is loaded with debuffs on top of debuffs stacked with some more debuffs.

I highly recommend the God Wizard handbook, however. It's fun to read on top of being informative!
I figured as much, but I wasnt sure if he meant the school or one of the classes.

Off the top of my head, the red wizard prestige class adds some Caster levels, which should make you better at dispelling.
Yeah, but that requires more casters as well.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

This is true, but I have a large party with me in this, so I need to be more about de-buffs that target enemies, either as ranged touch attacks, or just your good old save or sucks.

There are plenty of spells that selectively target opponents, such as Slow. However, you could should get Improved Initiative instead of Scribe Scroll, and probably get a Wand of Nerveskitter which is still an immediate action to activate per the Rules Compendium, for a +9 bonus to initiative. When you go first, you can drop an area-effect crowd control without much risk of hitting your allies!

There are also useful metamagic feats for debuffing, particularly Fell Drain and Fell Frighten in LM, also Born of the Three Thunders in CA (take Quick Recovery in LoM and you only lose a move action to it). A Fell Frighten Magic Missile or similar which targets multiple opponents can be extremely useful. For things that target a single opponent, just get Tanglefoot Bags early on, and probably Craft: Alchemy to get them at 1/3 the cost.

Get an Elvencraft (Composite) Longbow from Races of the Wild, which functions as both a quarterstaff and a bow. You'll need to get Masterwork three times for it, as a quarterstaff is a double weapon, but you should also be able to put three wand chambers from Dungeonscape in it. As long as you're holding that, you'll be considered holding all three of the wands it contains as well, so for example you should be able to use the Wand of Nerveskitter at the start of every encounter without worrying about changing what you're holding. Wear a (+1) Mithral Buckler and you'll get an extra +1 AC for 1,015 gp (or +2 for 2,015 gp) for no drawback at all. It's a free action to switch an item between hands, so you can put your bow/staff in the hand that you have the shield on to cast a spell when needed.

Other useful wands to include in that are Benign Transposition, and one of my favorites is Command Undead. If you get Use Magic Device, you could put a Wand of Wings of Cover in that, which is incredibly useful for protecting yourself. Eternal Wands in MIC can be used by anyone capable of casting arcane spells, regardless of whether or not the spell it contains is on your class spell list or from a prohibited school. It's always a standard action to activate, so it wouldn't be any use to put Wings of Cover on one, but something like Knock is useful to have available 2/day, and Glibness is another one you should consider once you can afford it.

Consider taking Ancestral Relic at 3rd level, and make it your Elvencraft bow. You can upgrade it as three separate magical weapons if you want, but you can also make it any type of magical staff in addition to that. You can make it a custom Runestaff (MIC p224) and pick exactly what spells it contains, and you can convert prepared spells into each of those up to their daily limit. Every time you meditate to upgrade or modify it you can completely change all of its magical properties, including switching what spells it contains. If you switch out a spell for another one of equal level/price, then the price increase is zero and the number of days you meditate is also zero. As long as you're in the area of a Consecrate effect, you can switch what spells it contains whenever you want. Get Incense of Consecration in BoED, which can be extinguished to preserve its remaining duration. Put a dose of Unguent of Timelessness (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#unguentofTimelessness) on it so it will burn 365 times longer (2,190 hours total). That's a duration of over 91 days, so you could actually keep that burning for an entire adventure! You could also put he Unguent of Timelessness on your bow/staff, upgrade each of the three weapon portions to +1 Defending, and put Greater Magic Weapon on each of them and the unguent makes that last 365 times longer as well (15.2 days per caster level). The AC bonus from Defending weapons stacks with all other bonuses, which would include other Defending bonuses.

[AvatarVecna]

I have recently come to the conclusion that primary spellcasters are the only classes so easy to optimize, that you barely need to try to be competent. Building a spellcaster focused on a particular kind of spell limits you in such a way that the build can be rather interesting and stylized rather than optimized to the hilt. Of course, if you're playing in games where everyone is optimizing at near-Tippy levels, this is all pointless to mention. Things to keep in mind:

1. There's no "I" in "TEAM".
As a specialized debuffer, you only make enemies easier to deal with, instead of taking them out yourself. Your job is to minimize their threat to the party and guarantee the party's threat to them. Leave the killing to your friends: your job is to knock out defensive abilities and weaken everything else. Reduce their strengths and reveal their weaknesses: it will give the rest of your team the opportunity they need to take out the trash.

2. Knowledge is power.
To be able to tear down strengths, and reinforce weaknesses, you need to know who has which. Pre-battle Knowledge (Whatever) checks are helpful here. And since you'll have ranks in Knowledge skills, you may as well take Knowledge Devotion. Now, whenever you make knowledge checks pre-battle, they come with a result-dependent bonus to attack and damage! The damage bonus is almost entirely negligible, but the bonus to attacks when a lot of your favored spell type need touch attacks is great any day of the week. I suggest taking Arcana, Local, Nature, the Planes, and maybe Religion as knowledge skills, with Dungeoneering a very distant 6th.

By 9th level (assuming standard wizard operating procedures), you can have a 22 Int (+6 mod), easily 12 ranks in all 4 important knowledge skills, the Collector of Stories skill trick (+5 to such knowledge checks), and aid another via familiar, for an easy-to-reach total bonus of +25. As the bonuses max out when you hit a total of 36 as your result, your odds of the +5 max bonus is about 50/50, with the lower half of the d20 being +3 and +4 instead.

3. Variety is the spice of life.
Whether generalist or specialist, there's certain schools you'll end up avoiding, due to ineffective spells. Enchantment spells can have powerful effects, but good luck running into anything that's not either immune or close. Necromancy looks good, but contains many Fort save death effects: the kind of foe who relies on their Fortitude to save them is the kind that the other party members should be able to beat into submission without help; the kind of foe who can resist/ignore death effects probably has more easily exploited weaknesses that make trying to find a hole in their immunity almost completely pointless.

Bottom line: try to grab spells from as many sources as possible. Different schools, different source books, etc. Make sure to give yourself plenty of options.