Pathfinder CTP's Guide to Occultists [Archive] - Giant in the Playground Forums

Secret Wizard

2015-10-22, 06:03 PM

I don't get why you prop up Ranged Occultist over Melee Occultist. Ranged is much more MAD than melee - you need STR, DEX, CON and INT. Melee you need 12 DEX tops, picking up Heavy Armor Prof at level 1 (and don't tell me you'd be better off with a Battle Host, it's not worth giving up a whole Implement).

Ranged also needs a million feats - PBS, Precise Shot, Rapid Shot, Deadly Aim, Imp. Precise Shot, Multishot, Clustered Shots... that ties up all your feats until level 14 or something.

Melee need Heavy Armor Prof, Power Attack and... that's literally it. Furious Focus can help I guess, but I'd rather use a shield and put Bane in my weapon.

I'd make Humans blue because they can take Dual Talent for +2 STR/INT, which is amazing for melee Occultdudes.

Also, technically, if you take Artful Dodge, you don't need to be MAD to get TWF - the problem with TWF is that you take more rounds to apply Legacy Weapon to both weapons you wield.

I also find Deft Dodger and any boosts to Reflex to be a piece of garbage. So you fail a Reflex save... take damage. So you PASS a Reflex save... take damage anyway. Not worth it. Rather have less ACP, better Will saves to avoid emotion effects that may prevent me from casting, and so forth.

Talking of which, you NEED to mention: http://www.archivesofnethys.com/TraitDisplay.aspx?ItemName=Disillusioned
It boosts your saves against all effects that may prevent you from casting. It's pretty great.

I also find Evocation to be really nice. I like using it on my melee Occultist to get switch-hitting abilities, like a ranger, but using spells rather than bows. It's been very useful to me so far.

CockroachTeaParty

2015-10-22, 07:10 PM

Stuff

A lot of things are kind of subjective when it comes to color ratings. I rated melee occultist black (functional) largely in comparison to similar classes, namely the magus and the warpriest if you plan to go down that road.

The magus and warpriest are much more focused in that direction. The magus does explosive damage, while the warpriest has better action economy for self buffing, and BOTH of them provide more choice when it comes to spells prepared. An occultist's spell selection is either somewhat scattered (if taking lots of different schools), or drawn from a much more limited list (if you're focusing on just a handful of schools). It's symptomatic of them being spontaneous casters, compounded with their strange spells known progression.

The inquisitor gets bane weapons on top of their judgements, so they will be better at melee than an occultist. Indeed, most of these classes will be better at ranged combat as well. I gave ranged combat a green rating for the relative safety of staying off the front lines (requiring fewer defensive buffs), and the main advantage of full-attacking nearly every round.

I'd argue that ranged combat isn't much more MAD than melee, as you can afford a lower CON. Really, both combat styles are best suited to a support role for the occultist, allowing him to pull his weight in a fight outside of situations where his slew of focus powers and spells help solve problems.

The occultist is a generalist; note that I didn't give any of the broad builds a blue rating. You can certainly narrow the focus down, but there exist classes better suited to combat out of the box. Same thing with the evocation school; you can enjoy blasting, certainly, but a sorcerer will outpace an occultist in that regard. The occultist is great as a dabbler, still able to pull their weight in usefulness while sampling from all sorts of fun toys (healing, necromancy, utility, etc.).

Nice catch on the trait. I'll add that to my Psychic guide as well.

Secret Wizard

2015-10-22, 11:16 PM

The magus and warpriest are much more focused in that direction. The magus does explosive damage, while the warpriest has better action economy for self buffing, and BOTH of them provide more choice when it comes to spells prepared. An occultist's spell selection is either somewhat scattered (if taking lots of different schools), or drawn from a much more limited list (if you're focusing on just a handful of schools). It's symptomatic of them being spontaneous casters, compounded with their strange spells known progression.

I heartily disagree. Legacy Weapon gives you Bane for 1 min/mental focus point... which gives you more rounds of it than a 10 level Inquisitor with just 1 mental focus point. And there's a whole lot of abilities Legacy Weapon can give you access to.

Plus, unlike them all, you have easily scaling STR/CON/DEX etc., and access to a much better spell list than a Magus to buff yourself.

This is not so much a subjective thing as much as literal effectiveness.

Eox

2015-10-23, 12:53 AM

Pragmatic Activator (http://www.archivesofnethys.com/TraitDisplay.aspx?ItemName=Pragmatic%20Activator) is a huge boon for Occultists, it lets you completely dump CHA and still end up the best UMD-user around.

edit: Both (http://www.archivesofnethys.com/TraitDisplay.aspx?ItemName=Bruising%20Intellect) of (http://www.archivesofnethys.com/TraitDisplay.aspx?ItemName=Clever%20Wordplay) the Int replacement traits should probably be up there, as well as the old favourites Student of Philosophy (http://www.archivesofnethys.com/TraitDisplay.aspx?ItemName=Student%20of%20Philosop hy) and Tireless Logic (http://www.archivesofnethys.com/TraitDisplay.aspx?ItemName=Tireless%20Logic)

Novawurmson

2015-10-23, 02:13 AM

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the bonuses to Str/Dex/Con are all enhancement, meaning they can be replicated easily with gear.

The damage from a Magus' intensified shocking grasps are pretty difficult to write off, though - +10d6 damage plus an additional attack on a full attack that stacks with haste. I don't think the Occultist has a way to match that, though I'd love to be proven wrong.

Florian

2015-10-23, 03:29 AM

@Novawurmson:

Take a better Look Art how those boni scale. Yes, they are the usual types, but they scale "+1", meaning that the enhancement bonus can go up to +8...
For burst damage, see next answer.

@Secret Wizard:

You are totally right there. Legacy Weapon allows you to replicate all enhancements up to +4 value and is pretty unique and flexible in this regard.
For a Trans/Env Occultsit, Bane/Conductive is a verry effective and cheap way to have access to nice burst damage options. But see next part.

@CTP:

I would rate a Implement aus pretty much analogous to a clecric domain, seeing that you will roughly have the equivalent to a lvl1/lvl6-8 power and a handfull of spells.
As far as I can see, you will have to pump a lot of Mental Focus in 2, 3 at the most, Implements to roughly gain the Same effect as with domains.
So yes, you can and should take Extra Mental Focus more Thema once, even up to 5x, to power up your Implements and have availlable options.
That will pretty much impact feat hungry builds, like archery and changes the worth of the battle host archetype.

In addition, you should be a bit more thorough in regard to some of the Resonant and Focus Powers. For example, take a look at Evocation again: The bonus damage is dealt per creature, per hit. The more you can spread the love, the better the Resonant Power scales and the more mileage you geht out of it. Fully powered up, including the H-Orc FCB, ist could scale up to +30, either with Focus Powers or Evocation spells. So, umd a Staff of Minor Arcana, pump up your Magic Missile and go clearing those minions. Same Thinge would put Call Lightning in a way better Position than blasting with a Fireball.

Next up is a Refocusing Rod, which is invaluable when bound as an Evocation Implement.

With the archetypes, you should check out a certain difference between Battle Host and Tome Eater: The Tome Eater can aktually change bis Implement later on, the Battle Host can't.
So, for example, if you are playing an AP and find a nice artefact, like Suishen in Jade Regent, the BH can't bind it as an Implement, whereas the TE could well get his hands on a artefact book, like the one in RotRL, and bind it.

Secret Wizard

2015-10-23, 10:16 AM

Novawurmson

2015-10-23, 10:38 AM

Ah, Conductive+Energy Ray, I'm assuming?

I guess that works...the magus uses a lot less resources to get the same effect, though, and gets an extra attack while doing it, and gets it with faster scaling.

An effective +1 bonus to attack and damage (i.e. +8 to Str as opposed to a +6 item) doesn't really swing the tide in the Occultist's favor.

I think you've definitely proven that it's possible to make a melee Occultist that deals decent damage. I guess the question becomes "When/why should you go occultist over magus?"

Secret Wizard

2015-10-23, 11:45 AM

Probably when you want someone who can tank hits from level 1 (a Magus AC is terrible early on unless they spend several spells to boost it up, in which case they lose the damage advantage), when you need someone who can deal a ton of damage while threatened (instant bane makes you more flexible with damage when a Magus is still scrambling to get his concentration higher), and when you need someone who can switch-hit better than the Magus...

Remember, the Magus has Shocking Grasp for days, but your Elemental Ray deals considerable damage from range and from up close with Bane.

Occultist is simply more frontloaded than a Magus.

Here's a sample dude:

Dude Occultist LV1
Half-Elf (Dual Minded, Fey Thoughts - Fly, Knowledge [Nature])

S18 (16+2RACE) D12 C16 (14+2ENH) I15 W10 CH7

Traits: Reactionary, Indomitable Faith

Feats: Heavy Armor Proficiency

Implements: Evocation, Transmutation

Total Mental Focus: 4 (3 to Trans)

Gear (assuming enough adventuring to deck out on mundane gear): Full Plate, Heavy Shield, Gandasa

HP: 11 AC: 22 Hit: +4 (2d4+4) Saves: FORT +5 REF +1 WILL +5

Spells: Lead Blades, Burning Hands

As you can see, this guy is more of a casting hulk. Ridiculous AC (no hands needed to cast psychic spells so no reason not to hide behind a Heavy Shield!), respectable melee damage (+1 from Legacy Weapon is the sole option at this level, but it's hardly unattractive), and AOE damage spell for utility.

Let's look at him at level 6:

Dude Occultist LV6
Half-Elf (Dual Minded, Fey Thoughts - Fly, Knowledge [Nature])

S18 (16+2RACE) D12 C18 (14+4ENH) I16 W10 CH7

Traits: Reactionary, Indomitable Faith

FCB: All to Mental Focus points

Feats: Heavy Armor Proficiency, Power Attack, Extra Mental Focus

Implements: Evocation, Transmutation, Evocation, Abjuration

Total Mental Focus: 14 (6 to Trans, 6 to Evo, 2 to Abjuration)

Gear (assuming no magic items): Full Plate, Falchion

HP: 54 AC: 24 (with Shield spell) Hit: +6 (2d4+12) Saves: FORT +10 REF +4 WILL +9

Spells: Lead Blades, Burning Hands, Floating Disk, Shield, Resist Energy, Flaming Sphere, Sound Burst, Effortless Armor

Assuming no magic items, he still looks intimidating. Big fat HP pool, AC still looks good (and you have enough Transmutation effects to back it up), a pretty mixed set of blasting spells while still being a big threat in melee. Remember that Legacy Weapon would give you +1 AND Bane at this point, for a total Hit of +9 for 2d4+15+2d6 damage, which lasts 1 minute... and if you add lead blades to that, it looks like 2d8+15+2d6.

You have 6 minutes worth of bane and 6 total energy rays to shoot around. You can Sound Burst casters that are too far, Burning Hands swarms that are too close, and so on.

I really had a ton of fun with this guy.

It's very hard to get Mental Focus scale as high as you want it to be, but the FCB helps.

Florian

2015-10-23, 12:06 PM

@Secret Wizards:

I went Elf, full FCB and the Kirin Style feat chain, augmented by Summon Ancestral Guardian to give the Servitor power more SLAs. You are right, ist is more akin to playing a switch-hitter Ranger than a Magus.

@Novasonwurmsen:

I think you've definitely proven that it's possible to make a melee Occultist that deals decent damage. I guess the question becomes "When/why should you go occultist over magus?"

Unlike the Magus, this class evolves with new Implements. So yes, a melee-based Occultist is possible and Quitte fun to play, but only an part of an evolviert concept.

CockroachTeaParty

2015-10-23, 12:39 PM

@Secret Wizard:

Based on your actual play experience, how much of a pain has the standard action activation time for the occultist's bane weapon been? If you can use it a round or two before a battle, you'll still have plenty of rounds to work with, but not every fight winds up like that.

I see it going like so:

Round 1

Melee occultist: standard action to use Legacy Weapon, move action to close with the enemy (or wait for the enemy to close)

Ranged occultist: standard action to use Legacy Weapon, move action to reposition

Round 2

Both: go to town.

Compare to the warpriest or magus, who are in the thick of it from round 1. It seems the occultist would be a bit slower to hit his stride.

I'll have to take another look at the evocation school; it just seems like you'll be blowing through a lot of mental focus going that route. Also, the range on energy ray is so short that going switch-hitter seems kind of pointless.

@Florian

I'll take a look at those items you mentioned; there's so many items out there that it's impossible to go over them all. Also, good catch with the Battle Host archetype.

edit: can't seem to find the refocusing rod. I'll check the Archive of Nethys...

edit 2: Oh, yeah... forgot to look through the PHYSICAL BOOK THAT I HAVE AT HOME... So yeah, expect some changes to the magic items section.

Secret Wizard

2015-10-23, 01:09 PM

Warpriest gets into the fray faster. No two ways about it.

Your edge on the Warpriest is better evocation and skills.

Magus still needs to prebuff intensely. Remember that the Magus can't move and cast either, so at best he's charging in.

Xuldarinar

2015-10-23, 01:15 PM

When should we expect the divine focused occultist archetype, the Reliquarianoo to be discussed?

CockroachTeaParty

2015-10-23, 01:42 PM

When should we expect the divine focused occultist archetype, the Reliquarianoo to be discussed?

I haven't got my mitts on Occult Origins, yet, but if you fine folks want to gab about it here...

Florian

2015-10-23, 05:33 PM

@CTP:

It's not really feasible to make a straight comparison to classes like the Magus or Warpriest, as you need to adapt your routine with each new Implement or Focus Power.
Take a look at them, most Focus Powers have a one minute duration, which lends to pre combat preparation.
As Mental Focus is a pretty rare ressource w/o a good way to regain it during an adventuring day, Focus Powers should be used in a supplemental role and not be the base of combat tactics.
You've used "Greed" in your guide so far, but if you go deeper into it, comparing how much Mental Focus has to be stored in an Implement at what Level, you'll see certain trends. For example, you called Transmutation "thirsty", which only used 3 points every 6 levels and can be fully activated with 12 points. That's practically dirt cheap, compared to the really thirsty ones.
Staying on top of the scaling Resonant Powers will pretty much define how many points you'll have availlable for your Focus Powers, which in turn will define your tactics.
At this point, reconsider your view on the Sha'ir a bit. That archetype ends up with 3 implements and 6 spells known lists, most of the time meaning that it can actually fully power up all availlable Reaonant or Focus Powers, because it is sheer impossible to gain more Mental Focus than that.

In most cases, get yourself a cheap an functional staff, a dazing spell rod and open combat with cheap items, augmented with your resonant powers, then switch weapons and charge into melee, possibly alongside your minions.

Get yourself the Summon Guardian Ancestor feat to change your servitor into a specific counselor Imp and send it scouting ahead. Don't be afraid to let it die, you can always resummon the same servitor, retaining its knowledge.
That's way better than using the necromantic minions, which you seem to like, who bring up the trouble that they actually need to be equipped to be effective on later levels or against most kinds of DR. Lugging around a golf bag full of magic weapons just to arm your bloody skellies is redicculous and time consuming.

Secret Wizard

2015-10-23, 06:08 PM

Best way to use undead minions: Get Outflank and that feat that allows you to share teamwork feats with your undead friends (Corpse Commander or something like that) and use them as flankbuds.

Florian

2015-10-23, 06:18 PM

Charnel Soldier? Not an option with necromanic minions, as far as I can see...

CockroachTeaParty

2015-10-23, 06:30 PM

@Florian:

The sha'ir still seems really risky to me. The resources you'd have to spend protecting your jin are resources any other occultist is spending on... anything else. Items tend to be a lot tougher, and less likely to be directly targeted, then a small menagerie of elementals weaker than a wizard's familiar. They have to remain within 30 ft.; maybe one is flying above you at all times, but the non-air jin are stuck nearby. You're one fireball away from disaster.

I'll consider adding a 'tactics' or 'builds' section to the guide, since there are so many different ways to approach things. The occultist is really open ended; I was just trying to point out what you can do with it to folks that might be confused or uncertain what to do / where to take it.

edit: I don't think an occultist can qualify for the Summon Guardian Spirit feat. You're not actually casting a summon monster spell when you use the servitor base power.

Florian

2015-10-23, 06:46 PM

Servitor is an SLA that mimics a specific spell, so it counts for prerequsites. You have narrow window to chose it (lvl 7 or 9 feat), but it's possible.

Secret Wizard

2015-10-23, 06:55 PM

Charnel Soldier? Not an option with necromanic minions, as far as I can see...

It ONLY works with necromantic minions! Also yeah thats the ticket.

Florian

2015-10-24, 01:49 AM

It ONLY works with necromantic minions! Also yeah thats the ticket.

Ah, sorry, I meant to be more specific and use the proper name "Necromantic Servant", not undead minions in general.
And that's where I'm quite incomvinced that it works with the Charnel Soldier feat until OcA sees a faq or errata. This Focus Power is worded like summoning, not calling or creation and you also don't fullfill the command prereqs.

@CTP:
Tale a look at the "hosteling" armour enhancement. That's practically a must for a Sha'ir.

Out pf curiosity, do you plan to cover VMC in your guide? There're some very interesting syngergies to be found there, more so than usual. For example, the bery useless conj Resonant Power works very well with VMC Summoner and the eidolon...

Slithery D

2016-12-11, 04:10 PM

If you ever update this one the Haunt Collector archetype (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/occult-adventures/occult-classes/occultist/archetypes/paizo-llc---occultist-archetypes/haunt-collector-occultist-archetype) is pretty choice.

This bit on Necromancy implements isn't completely accurate.
Implements: Fragile
None of your implements are wearable, and must be held in hand. This risks them being stolen, misplaced, or destroyed.

A robe can be a necromancy implement.

Thealtruistorc

2016-12-12, 10:37 AM

This is quite welcome, especially given that I will be playing an occultist in an upcoming game.

When will you be updating with the horror adventures archetypes? I'm planning on Talisman Master and would love to see some coverage of it.

Serafina

2016-12-12, 02:25 PM

Well, just looking at the Talisman Crafters (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/occult-adventures/occult-classes/occultist/archetypes/paizo-llc---occultist-archetypes/talisman-crafter-occultist-archetype) abilities, they're clearly Caster-centric Occultists with a focus on single-target spells and buffs.

Your Implements basically work the same - though arguably, being able to use any small object and change it daily is preferable to what you usually get.
However, you do not gain Shift Focus, so allocating your focus the right way will be more important, and running out on one talisman is more likely.

You'll lose two focus powers, at 5th and 17th level. The one at 5th will likely hurt, the latter one not so much.
What you get in exchange is basically an ability to set magical traps. It's really not practical in combat - a full-round action, costing 1 focus point and no real advantages. However, if your campaign features situations where sealing off a location until you next refresh your spells, it's useful. One obvious option would be to ward a room you want to rest in, but there's more options obviously.

You lose Magic Item Skill, Object Reading and Aura Sight too. The former is really strong, and the latter are pretty good options for out-of-combat situations.

The real draw is of course the Spell-Talismans you can create.
Shared Talismans allow your group-members to buff or heal themselves. This is great for action economy, as well as bypassing the usual obstacle of in-combat healing (that being that you have to touch the target). The focus cost is pretty reasonable too IMO for such a benefit.
Spellbound Talismans have no focus-cost, fortunately. Being able to deliver touch-spells at range is pretty great - but sadly, your choice there is somewhat limited. As in, really really limited:
- Shocking Grasp, which isn't all that much damage.
- Inflict Wounds line, which isn't that much damage either. Until you get to Harm that is, which is pretty strong as a ranged touch-attack.
- Disfiguring Touch, which is only a moderate debuff in combat
- Healing Thief, which only really works against creatures with supernatural regeneration/fast healing, or those who use healing-magic.
- Sands of Time, which imposes age-related penalties, which aren't that great for a third-level spell either.
- Poison is actually a strong spell which can outright kill a lot of enemies, albeit over several rounds.
And...that seems to be the extent of touch-spells on the Occultist-list.
You can still cast spells normally, of course, and eventually take advantage of Mass Charm Person to get that +2 DC effect. But overall, this class feature is really hampered by the lackluster Occultist spell list.

Just on account of your main feature barely doing anything, I'd not rate the Occultist as all that great. Shared Talismans are great for buffs, but that's actually about the strongest feature of the class and probably not worth what you otherwise lose.

Thealtruistorc

2016-12-12, 05:26 PM

And...that seems to be the extent of touch-spells on the Occultist-list.
You can still cast spells normally, of course, and eventually take advantage of Mass Charm Person to get that +2 DC effect. But overall, this class feature is really hampered by the lackluster Occultist spell list.

Harm and Heal could work as offensive spells as well, and the +2 DC effect can be useful for mass debuffs in a pinch if you are fighting a particularly powerful monster and absolutely need to take it out of action.

The primary draw for the Talisman Crafter in my opinion is its ability to spread around personal effects to your party with shared talisman. Being able to hand off a dimension door, antimagic field, or talismanic implement (which may work with this ability depending on how it's read) to an ally could be a great utility technique at higher levels.

Serafina

2016-12-12, 06:56 PM

Note the following text:

At 2nd level, a talisman crafter can inscribe spellbound talismans in addition to her master talismans, infusing small tokens she crafts with psychic spells she knows that normally affect one or more target creatures (but not spells that target the caster, spells that affect an area, spells that create effects, or other such spells).
So all the spells you just mentioned don't work with Talismans, because they either target yourself (the caster), or affect an area.

So really all that remains as good spells for Talismans are
- single-target, short-duration buffs/heals (to be activated by your allies on themselves)
- melee touch attacks (to be thrown at enemies as ranged touch attacks instead)
- multi-target spells that you only use on a single target to get a higher DC

And there's not terribly much there for the Occultist. Granted, there is some nice stuff - giving the melee fighter Enlarge Person, for example - but it's just worth pointing out that for most spells, it doesn't actually do anything.

Thealtruistorc

2016-12-12, 07:11 PM

And there's not terribly much there for the Occultist. Granted, there is some nice stuff - giving the melee fighter Enlarge Person, for example - but it's just worth pointing out that for most spells, it doesn't actually do anything.

Well Hooey. At least I can pull some Samsaran mystic past life shenanigans with Sorcerer, Magus, Medium, and Psychic (all of which can cast psychic spells).

CockroachTeaParty

2016-12-12, 07:14 PM

I'm aware I'm mega-behind on archetypes on all of my occult guides. They just keep sprouting up like weeds!

Horror Adventures is a more substantial book, though, and deserves some scrutiny. I believe my roomie has a PDF, I just need to find some time to get a look-see (or peepsy-poops, if you will).

Slithery D

2016-12-12, 08:42 PM

Ultimate Intrigue added a bunch of divination and illusion spells to the spell list, too.

Slithery D

2017-02-23, 05:29 PM

Psychic Anthology just came out and includes new panoply implement options. There are four fixed sets of implements of specific types and schools, each with 2-3 implements. Once you've chosen each implement/school you can choose a "panoply" with your next implement choice. This gives you a unique resonant and base focus power when "holding" all implements that are part of the panoply, as well as giving you the option to choose from three new focus powers associated with the panoply in the future. The resonant power is calculated based on the investment in all your implements that are part of the panoply, so your investment counts double for resonant powers, you get credit for both the base implement resonant power and the panoply one at the same time.

You also get more spells which at each level can come from the school of any one implement that is part of the panoply, so it's more flexible than and strictly superior to the usual method of taking a school twice. Never again should you do this unless you really need more spells of one particular school and that school doesn't mesh with others that are part of a panoply.

Some of the panoplies are really good.

The "trappings of the warrior" just requires a shield (abjuration) and weapon (transmutation) so you can pick the panoply option at level 2 with your third implement choice. The resonant power increases your BAB (up to your occultist level) and the base focus power lets you buy a combat feat you qualify for 1 minute at the cost of 3 points of focus and a move action. The three optional focus powers let you counterstrike someone who hits you as an immediate action, redirect a spell or attack targeting an adjacent ally to yourself, or auto heal up to 0 HP if something would knock you below.

The "mage's paraphernalia" require crystal ball (divination), robe (necromancy), and wand (evocation) so you can't complete it until level 6, but there are lots of good spell casting abilities. The base focus power lets you prepare a spell from a spell book that is divination/necro/evocation, which is amazing for downtime or utility effects and an (expensive) method for combat flexibility. The alternate focus powers let you buy a new metamagic known for the day (only 3 points), add free metamagic you know to a spell without increasing spell level or casting time (costs the usual metamagic spell increase), or boost the CL of a spell by 2 (later 3 or 4).

The social/intrigue (illusion/enchantment) and holy cleric (conjuration/abjuration) panoplies aren't as great, but they still provide bonuses if you wanted to double up on one of these implement schools anyway.

There is also a panoply focused archetype. You trade shift focus for bonus focus points (1/4 level) invested in your panoply implements. Outside contact and circles are traded for an ability to use your CL when using various magic items (very good for the mage's panoply and wands weak otherwise), a CL boost on your second spell if you cast two in a row from panoply schools, and a remote summon (disarm/steal) on items of the same types as your panoply. The 16th level ability lets you use two focus powers with the same action at the cost of an extra 2 points of focus, good action economy for buffing/attacking in combat.

Slithery D

2017-02-23, 06:28 PM

The Silksworm archetype in Heroes of the High Court is very, very nice if you want to be spellcasting and/or intrigue focused and forego melee. You're the best 6th caster there is, I think, plus your focus powers are all still there (and more abundant).

You lose armor and martial weapons. You also change your casting from psychic to arcane. Instead of implements you carry/hold, you wear clothing or jewelry of 10 gp value (or a magic item) in a specified magic item slot associated with a specific school. Your mental focus adds your Cha bonus in addition to your Int bonus, so go for the double headband. You start with four implements/schools and get up to 9 at 18th level, so that's extra flexibility and spells known early. You also get extra spells per day of every level you can cast at character levels 8, 12, and 16, so you can cast more often than any other 6th level caster. At 8th level you get a +1 bluff/diplomacy bonus for every magical item filling an implement slot, so up to +8 when you've got everything selected and you're decked out. At 12th level you can hide your spell casting by a simple Bluff vs. Sense Motive check, no modifiers, no feat necessary. At 16th level you get a +2 DC for any school that you're wearing a magical item in its slot, which is probably nearly all of them at that point. At 20th level you get to apply Implement Mastery to two implements/schools, not just one, and get the bonus 4 points of focus for both implements.

I really, really love this archetype.