Wizard level 6 feat

[Rumo]

Hi,

having reached level 6 with my Wizard (Master Specialist aiming for Archmage when grown up, so far Improved Initiative and Spell Focus Conjuration learned), I've been wondering what feat to choose. This guide (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?104002-3-5e-The-Logic-Ninja-s-Guide-to-Wizards-Being-Batman) was supposed to help me, but actually it confused me even further. If I live to see level 9, the plan is to choose the reserve feat Summon Elemental then, which makes this choice a rather serious one - there won't be a new one for the next 6 levels.

The two ideas that I have in mind are not really recommended in the guide:
- Augment Summoning is supposed to be bad because summoning is for Druids/Clerics. Summon Nature's Ally Level 3 can summon Dire Wolves. Summon Undead III can summon Ogre Zombies. Well, they are slower and cannot trip, but they have reach. And our group consists of only 3 characters, which makes summoning another big meatshield so much more useful. On the other hand there is the question whether I'll still be happy about this choice a few levels later.
- Eschew Materials seems to be what people recommend when they can't think of anything else. Not having to worry about materials is nice but not really necessary. A way to utilize it would be to learn Icelance - no need to be in snowy environment anymore. Icelance can be a good spell, combination of direct damage and stun chance, but is it good enough to base one's feat choice on it?

Maybe there is a good lower level reserve feat that I've missed? Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Edit: Link added

[A_S]

Archmage is pretty feat-intensive; if nothing is jumping out to you, you could always grab another prerequisite.

Extend Spell is pretty good around level 6; it turns hour/level buffs (like Mage Armor) from "most of the day" to "all day" and is required for the optimization staple Persistent Spell later.

Augment Summoning isn't bad, but the Summon Monster critters are mostly useful for specific abilities like SLA's, rather than as beatsticks, so the bonuses from the feat aren't the greatest for a wizard summoner.

If you want a reserve feat for attacking, I like both Acidic Splatter and Invisible Needle, both available at level 6 (and both from Complete Mage).

Eschew Materials kinda depends on your DM's style. Has keeping track of material components so far been a pain? Or are they usually handwaved?

Also, which guide are you referring to in your OP?

[Rumo]

Sorry, I forgot the link, added it now.

Well, the point of Master Specialist is to cover all of the Archmage feat requirements. What's SLAs? In my job it stands for "Service Level Agreements", but I'm sure you don't mean to negotiate anything like that before sending your minions to die. The idea behind Augment Summoning is rather to strenghten creatures from Summon Undead III and possibly IV later. As I said, the Ogre Zombie seems to me quite decent in his combat stats, at least for our current level.

Material Components usually aren't a problem, but there is always the possibility of being captured or taking an involuntary bath. And as I said, Icelance would be castable anywhere.

[Bullet06320]

Hi,

having reached level 6 with my Wizard (Master Specialist aiming for Archmage when grown up, so far Improved Initiative and Spell Focus Conjuration learned), I've been wondering what feat to choose.

im assuming your a conjuration specialist based on your spell focus choice
http://community.wizards.com/forum/previous-editions-character-optimization/threads/1131901
http://community.wizards.com/forum/previous-editions-character-optimization/threads/1123481
here's a couple guides that may help

augment summoning is a must have for your specialty
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/specialistWizardVariants.htm#conjurerVariants
rapid summoning ACF is also really important especially if familars are not your thing
and enhanced summoning trades scribe scroll for augment summoning(you can always burn a feat for scribe scroll later, or for augment summoning anyways)
if you don't have them, ask your Dm if you can retrain using the retraining rules in PHB2

as far as prereqs for archmage, you have 2 of them already, all you need is spell focus in a 2nd school, spell focus in abjuration is decent choice for conjurors as it increases the dc for the will save for magic circle if your going the planar binding route

SLA stands for spell like ability, many summoned creatures have good SLA's, there is a guide sumwhere to all the summoning creatures SLA's floating around cant find it at the moment tho

[Rumo]

Strange, I thought I had all prereqs covered. Of course the two of you are right, one Spell Focus is missing. I was thinking I'd pick Transmutation, but your advice regarding Planar Binding makes sense.

Kicking my familiar is not an option, I very much need my Hummy the Hummingbird for the big initiative bonus he gives me. When our (soon to be) Frenzied Berserker goes berserk, it's rather relevant to go first.

[Rumo]

Oh, one more question that I came up with reading the guide. Arcane Reach is supposed to be first pick when taking an Archmage level. But why? On allies my familiar can do the job just as good - no wait, better, because he flies much further than 30 feet. When targeting enemies on this might not be without dangers, but come on, a tiny bird with high DEX and Mage Armor and False Life should usually not be too afraid of attacks. How realistic is it anyway that the usual enemy identifies a hummingbird familiar in the middle of a battle?

[sleepyphoenixx]

How realistic is it anyway that the usual enemy identifies a hummingbird familiar in the middle of a battle?

Considering that normal animals will flee from the site of a battle as soon as things get loud i'd say a bird darting around and throwing out touch spells is rather obvious.
Familiars are also tiny in most cases, meaning they need to enter the space of the enemy they're trying to touch and thus provoke an AoO, in addition to the attack they provoke when they're leaving the enemies melee range.

Since the familiar only has half of your already rather pathetic hit points all it takes is one lucky hit. At best, when your familiar has very high AC, that is a 1 in 20 chance to lose 100-200xp per level and your familiar for 1 year, every time he delivers a touch spell to an enemy (because 20=autohit) against any serious threat.
And it doesn't even take effort on the enemies part. Just an attack of opportunity that no one has provoked before in that round.

That's before they start deliberately targeting it. Losing a familiar is a big deal for a wizard. If you're unlucky it can mean you lose a level in the middle of combat, so targeting it even makes sense from the enemies point of view, considering it will likely go down with a single hit. And that's before it makes itself a target by delivering your touch spells.

Unless you banned necromancy you can just use Spectral Hand though. I'd definitely take Mastery of Shaping first, probably Mastery of Elements or Counterspelling second and use my other three High Arcana for SLAs. Arcane Reach just doesn't strike me as all that important. If you find yourself constantly casting melee touch spells, maybe, but otherwise i'd rather get something that's more useful or at least useful more often.

[Rumo]

Good points. :smalleek: But I wonder, what aggressive touch spells are there on the higher levels, that I want to use regularly? (Schools Evocation and Enchantment banned.)

[Rumo]

Considering that normal animals will flee from the site of a battle as soon as things get loud i'd say
Unless you banned necromancy you can just use Spectral Hand though. I'd definitely take Mastery of Shaping first, probably Mastery of Elements or Counterspelling second and use my other three High Arcana for SLAs. Arcane Reach just doesn't strike me as all that important. If you find yourself constantly casting melee touch spells, maybe, but otherwise i'd rather get something that's more useful or at least useful more often.

Spectral Hand is interesting.

Yes, Mastery of Shaping looks best to me, too. The guide advises against counterspelling, something I've been pondering a bit. How useful is it without investing further feats like Improved Counterspell?

[sleepyphoenixx]

Shivering Touch, Bestow (Greater) Curse, Choking Sands, Combust, Imprisonment, Maddening Scream, Mummify, Irresistible Dance and Touch of Idiocy come to mind.
A lot of melee touch spells are either stronger than their ranged counterparts (Bestow Curse is a prime example) or don't allow a save (Touch of Idiocy, Maddening Scream, Irresistible Dance), so it makes sense to want to cast them at range over your normal spells if you can.

Usually you want to stay out of charge range though so 30ft isn't enough and taking Arcane Reach more than once is a pretty hefty cost imo. I'd rather cast Spectral Hand or use Ocular Spell.

Edit: Counterspelling isn't that hard. Improved Counterspell is a trap unless you go epic and need it to qualify for Epic Counterspell, and even then it costs a lot. Every wizard can counterspell as a free action just by casting Battlemagic Perception (HoB). You can spend resources to increase your dispel checks (see this guide (http://community.wizards.com/forum/previous-editions-character-optimization/threads/1239466)) but even without it you have a 50% chance to counterspell a caster of equal level with a dispel, or 100% if you have the proper spell prepared.

Considering that one spell can make or break a fight, counterspelling even one move from an enemy spellcaster is worthwhile, especially for the cost of a simple 3rd level slot (which you will have more than enough of at higher levels). And that's without Mastery of Counterspelling.

[Rumo]

Shivering Touch, Bestow (Greater) Curse, Choking Sands, Combust, Imprisonment, Maddening Scream, Mummify, Irresistible Dance and Touch of Idiocy come to mind.
A lot of melee touch spells are either stronger than their ranged counterparts (Bestow Curse is a prime example) or don't allow a save (Touch of Idiocy, Maddening Scream, Irresistible Dance), so it makes sense to want to cast them at range over your normal spells if you can.

Usually you want to stay out of charge range though so 30ft isn't enough and taking Arcane Reach more than once is a pretty hefty cost imo. I'd rather cast Spectral Hand or use Ocular Spell.

Most of them are enchantments, plus one evocation, and for the rest I'll follow your advice regarding Spectral Hand.


Edit: Counterspelling isn't that hard. Improved Counterspell is a trap unless you go epic and need it to qualify for Epic Counterspell, and even then it costs a lot. Every wizard can counterspell as a free action just by casting Battlemagic Perception (HoB). You can spend resources to increase your dispel checks (see this guide (http://community.wizards.com/forum/previous-editions-character-optimization/threads/1239466)) but even without it you have a 50% chance to counterspell a caster of equal level with a dispel, or 100% if you have the proper spell prepared.

Considering that one spell can make or break a fight, counterspelling even one move from an enemy spellcaster is worthwhile, especially for the cost of a simple 3rd level slot (which you will have more than enough of at higher levels). And that's without Mastery of Counterspelling.

Yes, but in my view this 50% chance is not really satisfactory. If I counterspell, I pass on casting a strong spell of my own, right? Now without Mastery of Counterspelling, even if I had a 100% chance of success, the enemy and me would only neutralize each other. Countering the opponent's spell with a chance of 50% also includes neutralizing myself with a chance of 100%.
Yes, countering a spell can be vital for the success of a combat. But there's this asymmetry: While the enemy army doesn't really mind having its key spell countered and as a consequence itself vanquished, they are just numbers on the DM's sheet and it's only a matter of time when he'll send the next one, our adventuring party cannot really be satisfied with the possibility that at a crucial moment the spellcaster is turned off. (Especially when it's a party of 3.)

[sleepyphoenixx]

Battlemagic Perception is a buff. You can buff before battle and discharge it to counterspell as a free action, and still cast your normal spells with your other actions.

[Rumo]

Battlemagic Perception is a buff. You can buff before battle and discharge it to counterspell as a free action, and still cast your normal spells with your other actions.

Ui. That's nice. Really nice.

I see, why learn Improved Counterspell, when Battlemagic Perception gives you exactly one free action Counterspell, and if it fails once, you can retry as long as you have Dispel Magics left?

[sleepyphoenixx]

Because it costs you pretty close to nothing. Improved Counterspell not only costs you a feat, it also costs you a spell of one level higher than your enemy loses.
You pay more than your enemy - this approach is doomed from the start.

Counterspelling with (Greater) Dispel Magic can be made fairly reliable with a relatively minor investment. Also, most things that improve your dispel check also increase your chance to dispel an enemies buffs. Everyone at higher levels has buffs and/or magic items that can be dispelled so you benefit more from that than from things that only help with counterspelling.

If you want to be really awesome at counterspelling you'll have to invest resources into it. You're going to be absolute murder on any enemy spellcaster but not quite as awesome against mundane enemies.
Not that the basic spellcaster options aren't enough to deal with most mundanes even without feats, but playing a dedicated counterspeller isn't everyones cup of tea.

If that isn't enough for you and you'll never counterspell anyway don't bother taking Mastery of Counterspelling, obviously.

[Bakkan]

For your level 6 feat, I highly recommend Craft Wondrous Item. It is by far the most versatile of the Craft feats, Wizards get a lot of mileage out of it because of their large number of spells known, and it helps both you and the party. Worst-case scenario, you are only able to make things from the books and you and your party get a 50% discount on most of your basic gear. If your DM allows you to add common effects to existing magic items (as per the Magic Item Compendium) or combine unique effects of existing magic items (as per the DMG, with a gp cost increase for combining items) it's fantastic, as it lets you customize all your gear and not have to decide between, say, two different pairs of boots you want. If your DM will work with you to create brand-new custom items, that's just gravy.