How would you build a counter spell-based character

[Toliudar]

I'm looking at creating a character for a 3.5 campaign that will start somewhere between level 8 and 10. I'm aiming for a concept focused on support and counter spelling (maybe some other nonlethal debuffs for enemy casters), perhaps combining with an exalted focus on finding peaceful solutions to conflicts. I understand the challenges this may pose group dynamics and the overall story arc, and am dealing with these OOC.

I'm looking for build advice. How would you make a quite-good counter speller that isn't completely on those rounds when no one is casting a spell at them? Assume all races/classes/3.X sources are on the table (but not Pathfinder, unfortunately).

Thanks in advance!

[Piggy Knowles]

One of the best options for a counterspeller is a cleric with the Divine Defiance feat from Fiendish Codex II (note that despite the source it is very much NOT an evil or fiend-related feat). This feat lets you spend a turn or rebuke attempt as an immediate action to counter a spell without first having readied an action.

If you don't like this as an option, another good one is the battlemagic perception spell from Heroes of Battle. It gives you some significant bonuses to countering and lets you counter as a free action. Coolest of all, it gives you the supernatural ability to sense and spell or SLA used within 100' of you. It's a third level spell on both the cleric and sorc/wiz lists. The only downside is its duration. At 10 minutes/level it's not quite long enough to stay active all day long while in the ECL 8-10 range, meaning you'll need to prepare multiple copies if you want to keep it up as much as possible. Considering that it also competes for a spell slot with dispel magic, your best tool for countering, it can be a bit problematic. Still, it's a great effect.

Some sort of cloistered cleric/church inquisitor (Complete Divine) with Divine Defiance would probably be what I built for that level range. Church inquisitor gives you the Inquisition domain for a +4 bonus on dispel checks, which is quite handy. Church inquisitor also gives you detect evil at will as an SLA, which in turn qualifies you for Arcane Mastery, which allows you to take 10 on caster level checks.

[Doctor Despair]

On the subject of Divine Defiance, Tenebrous gives you a rebuke every five rounds, so Anima Mage is good for a dispelling class :)


Seeker of the Song gives you something sort of like a counter to spellcasters that can hear you perform (the Hymn of Spelldeath; they make a concentration vs your perform or else lose the spell). It is mind-affecting though.

There are other, worse versions of the Hymn of Spelldeath available in other classes, like the Virtuoso

[Toliudar]

Thanks, both of you. I had assumed a spontaneous caster would be needed, to be able to cast dispel magic as needed, but maybe I could use spontaneous domain with a cleric. And Anima Mage is never a bad idea. Good suggestions!

[Troacctid]

Alternatively, noctumancer gets bonuses to counter spells and has access to the warp spell mystery.

[Biggus]

There's also Spellcaster's Bane (Complete Mage p.117), which can be persisted.

[gorfnab]

Thankfully someone saved a lot of Counterspelling stuff in this compilation: Dispelling & Counterspelling Compilation (Omen_of_Peace) (https://www.enworld.org/threads/dispelling-counterspelling-compilation-omen_of_peace.471328/)

[Crake]

If you can convince your DM to let you make a warlock/anima mage adaptation, warlocks have at-will dispels, divine defiance plus tenebrous gives 1/5round turning, with a nightstick to give you an extra 4 per day that you can use at will, you can pick up the inquisition domain power with planar touchstone, you can get a dispelling cord, plus arcane mastery for take 10, and elven spell lore for another +2 to dispel checks.

With all that combined, you can practically have on demand, guaranteed counterspelling against enemies with CL up to your level +5-7 (depending on if you're using a dispel cord charge or not).

[the_tick_rules]

the improved counterspell feat from base game is a good start. you wont have access to it at the level you suggested but long term combining that with the high arcana counterspell from being an archmage can go a long way.

[Darg]

Reactive Counterspell is what you want to get. You can even get it at level 3 as a human. Spend your immediate action for free to counter instead of a readied action. An Eldritch disciple with voracious dispelling, inquisition domain, and some essentia with soultouched spellcasting can get a pretty high caster level to counterspell.

[Toliudar]

These are really helpful, folks (goes away scribbling). Thanks!

[Troacctid]

If you have UMD, it's worth noting that you can also just get warp spell in a staff, even if you're not a shadowcaster, and that'll give you quite a lot of immediate-action counterspells. Mysteries can be in spell trigger items too!

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

You could go (Cloistered) Cleric 1/ Paladin X with Divine Defiance, the Inquisition domain, and trade Paladin turn undead for Divine Counterspell in CM. Spend a Cleric turn undead use to activate Divine Defiance, then use Divine Counterspell. With Kn: Arcana 5+ ranks and the Inquisition domain, you're rolling a dispel check at character level +2, and you don't even need to make a Spellcraft check.

You could go Illumian (Krau/anything) Beguiler 1/ Wizard 4/ Ultimate Magus, using flaws to take Able Learner, Practiced Spellcaster: Beguiler, and any metamagic feat by 5th level. You'll be able to apply all ten levels of UM to your Wizard spellcasting, and end up with Beguiler 8 casting at level 15. With Celerity (PH2) and being able to cast Silence from the Beguiler spell list you can interrupt any spell with a verbal component, automatically causing it to fail as long as you center it on a point in space.

You could go with a Sorcerer build and have access to spells like Wings of Cover. That can use Improved Counterspell + Heighten Spell + Rapid Metamagic or similar to counterspell with a spell slot of the same level as the opponent's spell, as long as you know a 0- or 1st-level spell from every school of magic. Add in Earth Spell in RoS and sandals made from stone slabs if needed to use a spell slot one level lower than their spell. This one's looking like a Sorcerer-based Shadowcraft Mage build with Improved Counterspell added, so you may as well go that route in this case.