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Baskineli
2007-04-16, 08:30 PM
I am thinking of specializing in conjuration, dropping enchantment and evocation. Is it a good or a bad idea?

DaMullet
2007-04-16, 08:32 PM
Specialization is never a good idea.

Ever. As a wise man once said on the Wizards forums, specializing to get bonus spells is like shooting yourself in the foot to get tetanus.

There are easier ways to do both, and neither course of action helps you very much.

Bears With Lasers
2007-04-16, 08:34 PM
Um, that is waaaay wrong. Bonus spell-slots includes bonus high-level spell slots; if you had two 5th level spells are get a third because of specialization, that's +50% to your highest-level firepower.

Conjuration specialization with Evocation and Enchantment lost is fine. Those are the two weakest schools, and conjuration is the strongest.

Divination specialization with just Evocation lost would be better if you've got Spell Compendium access.

Baskineli
2007-04-16, 08:37 PM
Excuse me for ignorance, but:
a. What is spell compendium?
b. I've looked at divination school spells, and it seems it only has 2-3 good spells at all levels. What spell compendium adds to it?

DaMullet
2007-04-16, 08:41 PM
Um, that is waaaay wrong. Bonus spell-slots includes bonus high-level spell slots; if you had two 5th level spells are get a third because of specialization, that's +50% to your highest-level firepower.

Conjuration specialization with Evocation and Enchantment lost is fine. Those are the two weakest schools, and conjuration is the strongest.

Divination specialization with just Evocation lost would be better if you've got Spell Compendium access.

I usually play Sorcerers, on account of the Specialization rules confuse the hell out of me. It's the result of my interpretation of the rules that I agree with the above quote. Also, I don't generally get that high level (able to cast level 5 spells) and as a result I tend to not hurt my brain thinking about it too much.

Just so you know why I said that.
--Mullet

kamikasei
2007-04-16, 08:43 PM
The Spell Compendium is a book that gathered/republished most or all of the spells from other books that had preceded it, like Complete Arcane. If you're playing with either of those books in addition to the core three, then it adds some useful spells to Divination. If not, Divination isn't so strong.

Have you read the How to be Batman (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18500) guide? It discusses specialization and how to cover lost options from one school with complementary spells from others. Might be worth a look.

marjan
2007-04-16, 08:43 PM
If you don't want to lose access to a school and just want extra spell slots per spell level there is Domain Wizard variant in Unearthed Arcana that gives you spell slot of each level but you have to fill it with specific spell.

Bears With Lasers
2007-04-16, 08:44 PM
The Spell Compendium is a splatbook that collects a whooooole big bunch of spells from other splatbooks, and adds some new ones. It has several more useful divinations, making the school useful at just about every level.

(For example, Unluck is a third-level divination spell. The target has to make a Will save or roll everything twice and take the worse of the two results. It's not Mind-Affecting.)

Dhavaer
2007-04-16, 08:45 PM
Excuse me for ignorance, but:
a. What is spell compendium?
b. I've looked at divination school spells, and it seems it only has 2-3 good spells at all levels. What spell compendium adds to it?

It's a sourcebook with nothing but spells and domains.
About 25 extra spells.

Bears With Lasers
2007-04-16, 08:45 PM
I usually play Sorcerers, on account of the Specialization rules confuse the hell out of me. It's the result of my interpretation of the rules that I agree with the above quote. Also, I don't generally get that high level (able to cast level 5 spells) and as a result I tend to not hurt my brain thinking about it too much.

Just so you know why I said that.
--Mullet

Um, what is so complicated about the specialization rules? They are simple. Can't cast spells from two schools, gain an extra spell slot of each level you can only cast spells of one particular school from. Voila.

As for low levels, those extra spell slots are even more valuable at low levels than at high ones.