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Saph
2007-08-19, 10:10 AM
I've got a Wizard/Loremaster in a long-running Forgotten Realms campaign who's 9th-level, going on 10th. I'm just getting to the levels where there are a bunch of nice Ray and Orb spells. I'm thinking of getting a bunch of them, with maybe the Split Ray feat as well, but the problem is my attack bonus.

At the moment my ranged touch attacks have an attack bonus of +6 (+4 BAB, +2 Dex, including gloves of dexterity). I can boost this up to +8 with Heroism, but at the moment that's it. When firing into melee, that's only a total bonus of +4, which doesn't hit very reliably. So I'm looking for some ways to boost it.

I can't spare any feats for a while, so PBS/Precise Shot isn't an option. What I'd really like is a magic item that gives a bonus to Ray attack rolls, but I'm not sure if one exists. Any ideas?

- Saph

Iku Rex
2007-08-19, 10:17 AM
Cat's grace (lv2) is an obvious one. Heroism (lv3) gets you a +2 morale bonus on attacks, saves and skill checks. Haste (lv3) grants +1 on attacks.

Heroics (lv2, SpellComp) lets you give yourself fighter feats like Weapon Focus: Ray, Point Blank Shot and Precise Shot. Seeking Ray (lv2, PHBII) deals 4d6 damage and grants a +4 bonus on future ray attacks if you hit. Create magic tattoo (lv2, SpellComp) can provide a +1 luck bonus and/or +2 competence bonus on attacks (depending on level), but you need skill ranks and a 100 gp spell component. Ray of clumsiness (lv2 lv1, SpellComp) lowers your opponents Dex, which means a lower touch AC. On higher levels polymorph (lv4) could give you higher Dex and smaller size.

Another trick is to use a spell like blink or greater invisibility to remove your opponents Dex bonus to AC.

Saph
2007-08-19, 10:24 AM
Heroics (lv2, SpellComp) lets you give yourself fighter feats like Weapon Focus: Ray, Point Blank Shot and Precise Shot. Seeking Ray (lv2, PHBII) deals 4d6 damage and grants a +4 bonus on future ray attacks if you hit. Create magic tattoo (lv2, SpellComp) can provide a +1 luck bonus and/or +2 competence bonus on attacks (depending on level), but you need skill ranks and a 100 gp spell component. Ray of clumsiness (lv2, SpellComp) lowers your opponents Dex, which means a lower touch AC. On higher levels polymorph (lv4) could give you higher Dex and smaller size.

Another trick is to use a spell like blink or greater invisibility to remove your opponents Dex bonus to AC.

Ray of Clumsiness is level 1, actually. I've been using it up to now.

The Seeking Ray trick and something like Blink/Invisibility are both very good. I think I'll go for those.

- Saph

Anxe
2007-08-19, 11:51 AM
True Strike? That's what my players use. You could also ask your DM if you could get a magic item that works like a magic weapon for ray spells.

Saph
2007-08-19, 11:58 AM
True Strike? That's what my players use.

Takes an action, one round time limit, and only works on one ray. I was looking for ways to consistently boost up multiple ray attacks.

The custom item idea's always possible, but I've no idea what the price would be and DMs tend to be leery of completely custom magic items (for good reason).

- Saph

Anxe
2007-08-19, 12:09 PM
Well hypothetically the custom item would be a luck bonus, because those can apply to anything. The price would be just like that of a magic weapon only filling a magic slot. Maybe with it costing 2500 per bonus squared instead of 2000.

Sir Jason
2007-08-19, 04:41 PM
Greater Invisibilty, so that your attacks are against flat-footed touch AC. That almost always ends up being 10, or just above. With that, a +8 is considerably consistent in hitting.

MrNexx
2007-08-19, 04:45 PM
Greater Invisibilty, so that your attacks are against flat-footed touch AC. That almost always ends up being 10, or just above. With that, a +8 is considerably consistent in hitting.

10 modified by size... large is not a benefit.

Sucrose
2007-08-19, 09:48 PM
As an added bonus, invisible characters get +2 to their attack rolls against opponents affected by said invisibility (DMG, p. 301). Just posting to add that, and thus emphasize Greater Invisibility's utility for your situation.