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ReluctantDragon
2007-10-28, 02:28 PM
So, I'm interested in creating a Blaster caster, never played one, and I am interested in people's opinion on what makes the best blaster?

Consider any book available to build from, interested in class structure, race, feat and spell considerations.

Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance,
RD

Douglas
2007-10-28, 03:11 PM
Lots and lots of metamagic, combined with the Arcane Thesis feat (PHB2) taken for a good base blasting spell with room for metamagic augmentation. The Incantatrix PrC from Player's Guide to Faerun will help this out even more with its four bonus metamagic feats and Improved Metamagic capstone.

Doresain
2007-10-28, 03:13 PM
warlock for infinite blastings...just a thought

Enzario
2007-10-28, 03:27 PM
You want something halfway decent at blasting? Play a psion (kineticist). Or you could just be a warlock...

ReluctantDragon
2007-10-28, 03:54 PM
Yeah, not really wanting to try Warlock...a bit to blah for my tastes. Definitely wanting to go Arcane or Psionics, any recommendations in that direction?

Saph
2007-10-28, 04:04 PM
The easiest and simplest way is to be a Psion Kineticist, and take Energy Missile at level 3, Energy Cone at level 5, and Energy Ball at level 7. Adjust energy types on the fly according to whim. You're now a respectable blaster, with no work whatsoever.

- Saph

Drascin
2007-10-28, 04:17 PM
Yep, Saph is quite correct. Psions make very good blasters, due to their ability to adjust the power and the element of their blasts at will. Kineticist will give you every kind of blasting area you need, and you have the generalist list to back you up for emergencies. Overchannel is your friend, and empower power seems pretty worth it (haven't crunched the numbers, but I'm sure someone has and will post them).

Also, if you can get a hold of Untapped Potential, give a look at the Energist. It is very awesome (of course, a class that can engulf its enemies in balls of plasma is always awesome) and gives your energy blasts an extra punch.

ReluctantDragon
2007-10-28, 05:05 PM
Appreciate the input so far, guys.

The premise here is two brothers, both blaster casters. The Blaster Brothers may be a bit too cheesy, but we'll see.

I think one will definitely be a psionicist based on recommendations so far, what about the other? Mayhaps an arcane blaster to offset the Psion?

What do others think?

Guy_Whozevl
2007-10-28, 05:40 PM
Warmages might fit your bill. They have tons of blasting spells, among them the awesome Orb series. If you take the PHB2 varient, Eclectic Learning, you can also serve as a semi-utility character with stuff like Invisibility, Mirror Image, Teleport, etc.
All you have to do once you've settled on a class is to call yourself Master Blaster.:smallbiggrin:

ChaosDefender24
2007-10-28, 06:31 PM
For pure blasters I'd say warmage because they are THE blaster class. Arcane thesis works really nice on many evocation spells, my character currently has Arcane Thesis on Chain Missile and he always puts Fell Weaken on it, so basically whenever I use it in a fight all the enemies take -4 penalty to strength barring immunity

leperkhaun
2007-10-28, 06:59 PM
One of the best blasting spells is polar ray, 6th level spell i think.

1d6/level capped at 25d6. allows SR however its a touch attack so no save.

CASTLEMIKE
2007-10-28, 07:31 PM
I favor the Psion with 5+ levels.

In a leveling up campaign from first level a Warmage - 1 with Precocious Apprentice to fuel 2D6 blasting with the Reserve Feat Fiery Burst could be interesting for a lot of low level 2D6 blasting fueled by Scorching Ray. Need to be human or use Flaws.

Go psion for the rest of the levels. I'm partial to the Slayer (Tracking and +4 BAB prereq) and a dip into the AI PRC for Chaotic Surge.

At some point after leveling you could change your feat selection and even your level in Warmage as per retraining options in PHBII.

If you have MoF the Spellfire Wielder feat is pretty good for blasting. This is particularly true at low levels as your PC can excede normal damage limitations for a single major one shot supernatural spellfire energy attack with as many die as your constitution if fully charged up which will normally drain you of spell fire energy levels. You could make a few lesser spellfire attacks since spell levels are based on constitution score.

Chronos
2007-10-28, 08:34 PM
One of the best blasting spells is polar ray, 6th level spell i think.Eighth level (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/polarRay.htm), actually, and using an eighth level spell to do damage (no matter how much) to a single target is rather unimpressive. Sharing space on the 8th-level list is Horrid Wilting (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/horridWilting.htm), which does 1d6 per level to as many targets as you choose (and can bypass anyone you don't want to target) in a 60-foot diameter. And right around the corner at 9th level is Meteor Swarm (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/meteorSwarm.htm), which can do 32d6 with no save to a target, if you make the attack rolls, plus 40-foot-radius explosions that'll catch your target even if you miss, plus you can aim the meteors at different targets if you want. Plus, both Meteor Swarm and Horrid Wilting have long range, compared to Polar Ray's short.

Overlard
2007-10-28, 08:47 PM
One of the best blasting spells is polar ray, 6th level spell i think.

1d6/level capped at 25d6. allows SR however its a touch attack so no save.
I've never really understood the power of polar ray. Its main strength is that there's no save - but it's single target only. There are just much, much better things to do to a single target. If you want to blast a single target, then the orb spells are a much more efficient way of dealing damage.

Saph
2007-10-28, 09:01 PM
I've never really understood the power of polar ray. Its main strength is that there's no save - but it's single target only. There are just much, much better things to do to a single target. If you want to blast a single target, then the orb spells are a much more efficient way of dealing damage.

I never really understood that spell either. It should be level 5 or 6, not level 8, especially when you consider that the 4th-level Orb of X spells (from the Spell Compendium) do 1d6 damage/level with no save, no spell resistance, and a secondary effect each.

- Saph

Douglas
2007-10-28, 11:52 PM
Sorcerer or Warmage (I'd go sorcerer, Warmage Edge isn't that great compared to the sor/wiz spell list), Incantatrix, Arcane Thesis, and all the metamagic you can get.

Lord Iames Osari
2007-10-28, 11:58 PM
Listen to douglas. His blaster builds are crazy. I speak from experience.

leperkhaun
2007-10-29, 01:17 AM
hmmmm, opps, i was thinking about warmage, its a 6th level spell for them :smallfrown:

Anyway, i agree that blasters dont do as good as non blaster types.

At higher levels you need a bunch of direct damage spells to kill something, might as well toss a couple save or die/suck/loss spells instead so if they fail, they are taken out.

Douglas
2007-10-29, 01:15 PM
Listen to douglas. His blaster builds are crazy. I speak from experience.
Much of the craziness you experienced came from that character's 25th level, which is hardly something most characters will get the opportunity to worry about. Still, the basic idea can be put to quite effective use at lower levels, just not quite so over-the-top as the ~1500 damage per spell I was putting out.

Temp
2007-10-29, 01:20 PM
Split Ray's nice if you're feelin' Blaster-ish and with that errata, Arcane Thesis is a no-brainer. It might need Rapid Metamagic too so that'd be pretty feat intensive unless you're going Ultimate Magus or something.

By the way, Ultimate Magus is a good-un for blaster-types, just be sure to use Practiced Spellcaster before entrance.