Help for epic-level Arcane Hierophant/Mystic Theurge

[danielxcutter]

Hi.

This is another thread for getting advice for a character in the OotS-style webcomic, XPeditious Retreat, I'm trying to make.

So here's the character idea: Wizard 3/Druid 3/Arcane Hierophant 10/Mystic Theurge 8(ignoring actual advancement order). Yes, this is a 24th-level character with double 9ths. And yes, one of his feats will be Epic Spellcasting.

To be honest, thanks to the great handbooks for both Wizards and Druids, spell selection isn't going to be a real problem. Instead, I'm looking for help with this specific character's concept. Obviously, the main role for this guy is primary arcane/divine caster in his party(the legendary ECL 24 one I mentioned in the last thread I did for the Mo9 build), but I'm trying to be a little more specific.


Here's what I've been considering.

#Primary buffer

Well, duh. Considering that this guy's going to have a metric buttloads of spell slots from two different lists, I'd say that he'd be able to do this quite well.

#Summoning

From the arcane side we have Summon Monster. From the divine side we have Summon Nature's Ally. That's not counting spells like Planar Binding, Planar Ally, Summon Elemental Monolith, and Gate... Yeah, this sounds pretty good, but feedback is welcome.

#Wildshape

No. While I think that Arcane Hierophant should grant Wildshape with enough EDL(effective Druid levels), I don't think it's that fitting for this character... Or really that powerful, since at the end it's no less than 11 levels behind a straight Druid. It could be replicated with Shapechange or Polymorph, but I don't think it's going to be worth it.

#"Beastmaster"

This one the other hand, is much more appealing to me. The familiar companion gained from AH is nothing to sneeze at. Sure, Wild Bond and Theurgic Bond are going to be feat taxes, but this is both class features combined in one creature. Feedback is still welcome, though.

#Damage dealer

Well, probably secondary damage dealer. I think there was an epic feat that allowed you to cast two Quickened spells with one swift action, and spell slots is something this guy has plenty of, so...


All feedback is welcome.

[Troacctid]

You should really be thinking more about the character's role in the story. He has access to every spell he could ever want, so he can basically do whatever the plot needs him to do. You just need to figure out what that is. What are his goals? What's his motivation? What are his flaws? Why would he come into conflict with other characters?

[danielxcutter]

You should really be thinking more about the character's role in the story. He has access to every spell he could ever want, so he can basically do whatever the plot needs him to do. You just need to figure out what that is. What are his goals? What's his motivation? What are his flaws? Why would he come into conflict with other characters?

Oh believe me, I think I have that covered fairly well. What I meant was "what do you guys think of when you hear the words 'Arcane Hierophant'". Of course, "pretty much everything he f*ckin' needs/wants to" is kinda right at that level, but he has to have a prefered strategy, right?

Plus, he won't be able to do "everything the plot needs him to", as I'm going give him reasons not to start combat with, say, a Time Stop and five Delayed Blast Fireballs. If this guy had free rein, there wouldn't be a plot at all, period.

[RedMage125]

Better progression would be Wiz3/Drd3/Arcane Heirophant10/Mystic Theurge4...then, after level 20, take your remaining 4 levels as Epic advancement of Arcane Heirophant. At 22, you get another Channel Animal use, and at 24 you get another Channel Plant. But the real benefit is another 4 effective druid levels for Wild Shape, and animal companion advancement, and familiar advancement.

Any 10-level Prestige Class can have Epic advancement, but you must also be above character level 20. Mystic Theurge has no class features to speak of at all, so taking Epic levels of Arcane Heirophant is superior. Now your wild shape/animal companion is only 7 levels behind a straight druid, instead of 11. Natural Bond (Complete Adventurer) gets you an additional +3 effective druid levels for your animal companion advancement, narrowing that gap further.

A Wizard 3/Druid 3/Arcane Heirophant 14/Mystic Theurge 4 has the same spellcasting progression as your original build, but has wild shape and animal companion of a 17th level druid (companion is 20th if you take the Natural Bond feat).

Continued advancement in Arcane Heirophant can eventually get you the animal companion of a 21st level druid (which is extra 2HD, bonus to nat. armor and STR/DEX scores over level 18 on the table). AND once the companion is equivalent of a 21st level Wizard's familiar, it gains Familiar Spell as a bonus feat (DMG page 209), which is an epic feat that gives your companion familiar the ability to cast one 8th level or lower spell as a SLA.

You'll need the errata for the DMG to get your animal companion benefits, because the actual book's entry about epic druids refers to the 3.0 ability of a druid to have multiple animals, instead of one that gets improvements.

[danielxcutter]

Better progression would be Wiz3/Drd3/Arcane Heirophant10/Mystic Theurge4...then, after level 20, take your remaining 4 levels as Epic advancement of Arcane Heirophant. At 22, you get another Channel Animal use, and at 24 you get another Channel Plant. But the real benefit is another 4 effective druid levels for Wild Shape, and animal companion advancement, and familiar advancement.

Any 10-level Prestige Class can have Epic advancement, but you must also be above character level 20. Mystic Theurge has no class features to speak of at all, so taking Epic levels of Arcane Heirophant is superior. Now your wild shape/animal companion is only 7 levels behind a straight druid, instead of 11. Natural Bond (Complete Adventurer) gets you an additional +3 effective druid levels for your animal companion advancement, narrowing that gap further.

A Wizard 3/Druid 3/Arcane Heirophant 14/Mystic Theurge 4 has the same spellcasting progression as your original build, but has wild shape and animal companion of a 17th level druid (companion is 20th if you take the Natural Bond feat).

Continued advancement in Arcane Heirophant can eventually get you the animal companion of a 21st level druid (which is extra 2HD, bonus to nat. armor and STR/DEX scores over level 18 on the table). AND once the companion is equivalent of a 21st level Wizard's familiar, it gains Familiar Spell as a bonus feat (DMG page 209), which is an epic feat that gives your companion familiar the ability to cast one 8th level or lower spell as a SLA.

You'll need the errata for the DMG to get your animal companion benefits, because the actual book's entry about epic druids refers to the 3.0 ability of a druid to have multiple animals, instead of one that gets improvements.

Ah, thank you. What about the concept - is summoning sufficiently cool enough? What about power?

[Mr Adventurer]

Difficult to see how the normal Summon X spells are of any use at all in an Epic environment...

[danielxcutter]

Difficult to see how the normal Summon X spells are of any use at all in an Epic environment...

Against level-appropriate encounters, probably not. Against a horde of mooks, though...