[3.5] What are the best uses for the Archmage's high arcana ability?

[KillianHawkeye]

Hey everyone,

I need to level up my wizard and I've just finished up Abjurant Champion. Last level, I made sure I had all the prerequisites in order to enter Archmage. For the coolness factor, mostly.

Anyway, what are some good choices for the high arcana ability? Off hand, I'm leaning towards arcane reach, a spell-like ability, or the one that boosts your caster level. But I'm open to all opinions on the matter. What's good? What's not?

Relevant detail is that we're nearing the end of the campaign and I might only get one or possibly two levels into Archmage. So the arcane fire which needs a 9th-level spell slot is basically off the menu.

Thanks. :smallsmile:

[Zanos]

Roughly in order of best to worst, in my opinion of course.
Spell Power: Always on boost to caster level. This is rarely not good.
Mastery of Shaping: Lets you drop area of effect disables or damage spells right on top of your melee guys without hurting them. The bonus to shapeable spells is nice, but the first effect is what makes it very good.
Arcane Reach: 30 range is not fantastic, but it's a lot better than touch range. Might be worth taking twice to get to 60, which is respectable. The issue here is that by the time you can qualify for archmage, you have a lot of options that are not touch spells, and even some options to deliver touch spells without being in melee yourself, such as spectral hand, a familiar, or a reach metamagic rod.
Spell Like Ability: There's two ways to use this, one is to just effectively get more high level spells, and the other is to get something you want to be able to cast without VSM components so you can use it in disables. Sacking a 5th and a 9th slot for two timestops a day is decent, as is sacking slots for component-less dimension door or teleport. But abilities that add bonus castings in a frankly strange way I don't value super highly, and you should have other options of escape when it comes to being stuck in silence or grappled(contingency, heart of water, etc.). That said, not a bad pick if you know what you want out of it.
Mastery of Elements: Swapping elements around on the fly is pretty nice. Arguably it can use any "element" as long as the spell has the right descriptor, but even under a sane reading Sonic is an available damage type. This is an expensive ability as an 8th level spell slot, but it's pretty good to throw around sonic fireballs if you like to deal damage that will only very rarely be resisted. This is only down here because direct damage spells usually aren't great, but this certainly makes them a lot better.

I don't think the other two abilities are worth considering, but I will talk about why.

Mastery of Counterspelling: Counterspelling is usually a waste of an action. Even if you wanted to counter enemy casters, you could ready an action to hit them with magic missile to force an impossible concentration check. There are dedicated counterspelling builds that don't need to spend an action to counterspell, but even then this is of little value; spell turning doesn't actually work on most spells.
Arcane Fire: I think most people can just read this and realize why it is bad. For those unaware, you permanently remove a 9th level slot to get the ability to expend a spell slot to make a ranged touch attack that deals up to (5+Spell Level) d6 untyped damage. To rephrase, you get the ability to expend spell slots to fire something that's basically worse than an eldritch blast. Even if this was free, dealing 14d6 damage with a ranged touch attack is not a good use of a standard action when this is available.

[Akal Saris]

What does your wizard typically do? Usually 'Mastery of Shaping' is the highest priority, since it gives a really unique and flexible ability. I also really like 'Mastery of Elements' because you can fine-tune your few damage spells to opponents' vulnerabilities.

The others depend a bit more on whether you have any touch spells that you would want to use, or if you counterspell often.

[RNightstalker]

I'd go with what fits the flavor of your character. I'm not a fan of the Archmage PrC as it's feat heavy to get into and it's ONLY class feature requires you to sacrifice spell slots.

[KillianHawkeye]

Some good responses, especially Zanos!

I wanted to get a few more generic answers first, but now I'll say that I play an Abjurer and a lot of my energy is spent buffing and protecting the whole party. I'm also the party tank with the highest AC and the most hit points (weird, I know).

But I will say I was really undervaluing the mastery of shaping ability. I don't do many AoE attacks, but I forgot it would work with debuffs like grease and glitterdust, too. I suppose it would also work with antimagic field, in order to use it more offensively rather than defensively?

[RNightstalker]

I would also talk to your DM about how a Ring of Wizardry would come into play...the standard ruling from what I'm familiar with is that the penalty slots are subtracted before the ring would take effect...with higher level rings being epic items, slots can get tight quick, especially if you take all 5 levels of Archmage.

[KillianHawkeye]

I would also talk to your DM about how a Ring of Wizardry would come into play...the standard ruling from what I'm familiar with is that the penalty slots are subtracted before the ring would take effect...with higher level rings being epic items, slots can get tight quick, especially if you take all 5 levels of Archmage.

Not an issue since I don't have one and don't plan on getting one.

[Zanos]

I would also talk to your DM about how a Ring of Wizardry would come into play...the standard ruling from what I'm familiar with is that the penalty slots are subtracted before the ring would take effect...with higher level rings being epic items, slots can get tight quick, especially if you take all 5 levels of Archmage.
Usually the loss of slots isn't a huge deal at the level you can take Archmage, since you have at least 7 levels worth of (real) spells to draw from.


But I will say I was really undervaluing the mastery of shaping ability. I don't do many AoE attacks, but I forgot it would work with debuffs like grease and glitterdust, too. I suppose it would also work with antimagic field, in order to use it more offensively rather than defensively?
You can, and that's especially effective if you are a gish. You can shape yourself out of the antimagic field. It won't protect you from casters outside it but you can walk up to an enemy caster, strip off all his funny protections automatically, and hit him with all of your own buffs up.

[Biggus]

You can shape yourself out of the antimagic field. It won't protect you from casters outside it

Why doesn't it protect you from casters outside it?

[Zanos]

Why doesn't it protect you from casters outside it?
Because your own square is not subject to the antimagic field. You can still have spells cast on you.

[KillianHawkeye]

Yeah, I wouldn't exactly call myself a gish, but I am a caster who can melee when he has to. Also, I crafted myself a sword to kill constructs with. :smallsmile:

I would totally be interested in keeping my own magic up while turning off other peoples'. :smallamused:

[Biggus]

Because your own square is not subject to the antimagic field. You can still have spells cast on you.

How can the magic pass through the AM field to affect you?

[hamishspence]

How can the magic pass through the AM field to affect you?

AM fields don't block magic - they suppress magic, and only within the field itself.

Have a small field, fire a long ray from outside it, and the ray will fly at the field, appear to vanish at the edge of the field, and appear to reappear on the far side of the field.

[ayvango]

All options are interesting, so you need to compare advantages between the class options, other prestige classes and feats.

There are prestige classes like the Ruathar which gives extra feat while sacrificing nothing. Then spend 500 XP to DCFS feat into something of more use for the character build. Loose feat is a typical lower estimate for single level dip into a class. If you could get more advantage from class features then single feat, then you should consider including this option in your build.

The rule above is especially actual for wizards. They are the most deprived adventurers species. The lowest BAB, the lowest HP, poor saves. Any spellcaster prestige class would improve build capabilities over the wizard base class. Note, you could not say the same about clerics and druids.

Let get back to the Archmage topic keeping alternatives in mind.

Arcane Fire: definitely no. Reserve feats are better.
Converting spell to insignificant damage. If you need damage - just prepare it. 2nd level spell Scorching Ray commit 12d6 damage. Arcane Fire would commit 7d6 for the best. If you want to deliver damage - use spells and metamagic specifically designed for damage. If you need more versatility of spontaneous casting then you could just buy runestaff. If you would like to deal minor damage consistently then reserve feats (Acidic Splatter or Fiery Burst) is your choice. Damaging at will SU abilities to your service.

Arcane Reach: there are very few spells you would like to apply this benefit to which.
Typical touch spell is a buff and you would cast buffs before combat when relative positioning is irrelevant. The most popular in-combat buff is the Haste spell which work in close range. For other rare cases a wizard could just send his familiar to deliver touch buff.
Small category of offensive touch spells is grouped surprisingly in the area of low spell levels. I was rather confused when tried to pick up high level touch spells for my martial sorcerer build based on the Daggerspell Mage prestige class. It's natural that excessive risk of close combat should be compensated by enhanced spell effects. As a rule of thumb aggressive melee touch spell of Nth level should have effect on par with a ranged spell of level N+1. That worked for the low levels and I expected that would hold on higher levels. But there are no aggressive touch spells on 4+ levels. Duskblade could channel spells through his weapons but he have no spells to channel on 4+ level. Pathetic creature.
And if all touch spells of interest are limited to 1st-3rd levels then the class feature that boost such spells is not welcomed in higher levels when the Archmage prestige class become available. Moreover the Spectral Hand spell transform all touch spells of 4th level or lower to medium range spells. And if some effect could be achieved without spending feats or class feature basing upon mere spell then you should choose spell and spend very limited class feature for something better.

Mastery of Counterspelling: could bring unusable caster option to something semi-usable. Has a cheap magic item alternative.
There are two generic flaws in counterspelling: mage should spend his action and spend his spell eventually for uncertain outcome. The enemy could opt not to cast spells and you would lose your action. The enemy could cast garbage spell and the mage would spend his precious spell to counter it.
PC and NPC combat roles differs significantly. PC is a heroic protagonist that topples hordes of dummies. PC need 10 fights to level up. If all that fights would be fair then the character has very little chances to survive. Encounters supposed to be not a death struggle but puzzle solving. Players should fit a key to a lock, adjust dynamically their strategy in the most efficient way to deal with rather static challenges. And do it in a consistent way, challenge after challenge. From that perspective a PC caster slot are two to three time more valuable than an NPC slot of the same level. Since a player is supposed to use his slots much more efficiently then environmental menaces in humanoid form.
High Arcana of the Archmage class makes counterspelling worthwhile to consider. Not only you trades spell slots with an opponent but you could turn his spell back on him. Two times more profit. In the right time against the right target the archmage could get more advantage over using his spells directly. You need only reduce counterspelling cost and increase success chance. The first goal attained through the Battlemagic Perception spell which alleviates action cost: once your cast spell in prepartion for battle you need pay no further price for activating counter-spell. Reliable counterspell require using the Improved Counterspell feat. Which works the best for sorcerer accompanied with the heighten spell metamagic. So a sorcerer could always spontaneously choose appropriate spell to turn enemy spell on him.
Note, you could purchase ring of spell-battle for 12k gold coins. And it would provide the same benefit once per day without spending any feats or class features.

Mastery of Elements: Should take unless the character has no elemental spells in his repertoire.
The class feature cover five metamagic feats single-handily and do their work better. Spontaneous casters avoid paying their normal penalty for metamagic casting. Prepared casters could switch energy type spontaneously. It's a good way to deal with unexpected energy immune foes. Just switch immune element type for vulnerable one. Sorcerer could save precious spell's known slots mastering single spell and converting it to other elements.
Alternative is avoid using elemental spells at all and prefer spells with pure damage like the Wings of Flurry or the Blast of Sand or the Doom Scarabs spells. Another alternative is to focus on single element e.g. Fire and choosing appropriate metamagic e.g. the Searing Spell feat. It will raise the spell level by 1, so Mastery of Elements class feature is clearly a better choice.

Mastery of Shaping: Should take unless character has no area of effect spells in his repertoire.
The class feature supersedes the Extraordinary Spell Aim feat competing the same task with greater effect and lesser cost. The feat increases cast time from normal to full-round at least and require spellcraft check to proceed. Mastery of Shaping have no extra requirements. The feat allows to exclude single target from area of effect while the mastery support exclusion of as many targets as the caster wishes.
Wizard's primary job is battlefield control and ability to perform it discriminately is invaluable. The staple example is the Antimagic Field spell. Devoid your foes of magic and preserve magic access for your allies.

Spell Power: +1 caster level is always good but never best.
Caster level improve all spells insignificantly. It allows caster to beat spell limit faster. But it would not allow to get above the limit. Archmage always deals 10d6 damage with fireball irrespective of his caster level improvements. Spells that have no upper limit are very rare. Wings of Flurry is one of famous examples but I recall no other spell that benefits of high caster level.
If you would like to go above the spell limit then the Reserves of Strength feat is the only choice. I personally delight in chaining PAO into a Pit Fiend which become an eligible option with the help of the Reserves of Strength feat.
Magic item alternative ring of Arcane Might provides the same bonus with 20k gp price. You could also increase caster level temporary with the Death Knell 2nd level spell, the Mystic Surge and the Spell Enhancer 4th level spells.

Spell-Like Ability: weird method to obtain extra slot. Use feat instead. Never took either of options.
The class feature has two aspects. The first aspect is about converting a spell to SLA. It may be seen as straightforward improvement since SLA require no verbal and somatic components (the Still Spell and Silent Spell feats for free), but it has its own inconveniences. Metamagic feats specifically targets spells and not SLA as well metamagic spells. Simple example: the Invoke Magic spell used to fuel the Teleport spell affected by the Sanctum spell metamagic. The Invoke Magic limited for 4th level spells and the Sanctum metamagic drops one level on the Teleprot making it 4th level spell. So wizard could teleport out of a dead magic zone. There are many other tricks specifically designed for spells and SLA are out game there. What SLA good for is casting being grappled. But there are cheap alternatives to do the same. The Heart of Water spell (3rd level slot, 1 hour / level duration) provide freedom of movement effect. The Whispercast spell (2nd level slot, swift action activation, no somatic component) make next spell you cast activate purely mentally.
The second aspect is about sacrificing single slot to gain two spell usage of it. But the spell is fixed. The Extra Slot feat is clearly better on that aspect, since it keeps versatility. And neither the High Arcana SLA class feature nor the Extra Slot feat are really welcomed in any build. Spell slot value is much lesser then a feat value let alone class feature value.
It is worth noting that the SLA High Arcana used in a cheese Body Outside Body build. Get the spell one way or another. Convert wish spell to an SLA. Body Outside Body creates your clones that could use Wish SLA without making you pay for it with your own XP.

Also you could consider some other mage prestige classes. That are just generic improvement over base wizard without highly specialized cheese like Shadowcraft Mage specialized on making illusions very real.
The Age of Mortals book from the Dragonlance setting presents the War Mage prestige class that is a good 5th level choice for direct confrontation. Grants metamagic feats, increases spell damage, and adds Cha bonus to armor class.
One level dip in Paragnostic Apostle will improve character spells that grants armor bonus by 2. Other class features are also of interest for generic wizard.
The Arcane Duelist class from the web supplement (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/re/20030224a) also grants dodge bonus to AC equal to Cha bonus. And it make delivering touch spells with a weapon more robust. 3lvl dip are enough.

BTW how you circumvented Abjurant Champion excessive focus on the Abjuration school? The Mage Armor spell and its greater counterpart belongs to the Conjuration school.

[KillianHawkeye]

BTW how you circumvented Abjurant Champion excessive focus on the Abjuration school? The Mage Armor spell and its greater counterpart belongs to the Conjuration school.

Using luminous armor spells instead. :smallsmile:

Interesting note about the Paragnostic Apostle. I may have to consider that in the future, but I'm already starting to feel too multi-classed. :smallamused: