SangoProduction
2023-07-21, 05:35 AM
I found this feat not long ago. And I desperately want this build to be good, so I'm kinda going to take it as far as I can, and see where I end up.
Luminous Flame (Dual Sphere)
Prerequisites: Light sphere, Nature sphere ((fire) package).
Benefit: Whenever you use the Create Fire or Affect Fire geomancing ability, you may also cause the fire to glow. You may maintain concentration of this (fire) geomancing ability and the bright light of the glow with a single action.
It seems... interesting. Create / Affect Fire is not a particularly potent ability, gaining an average of around 1 damage every level. Which... I mean, it's better than Recover Ore which is logarithmic (progressively slower damage gains), after starting half as good... Hardly high praise. There's also an issue that you can only increase fire's size by a maximum of 1 step per 5 CL... which is fine at level 1, when you can make a torch have 1d6 worth of fire damage... But carrying around an actual small campfire is somewhat impractical. You will need extradimensional pockets. And at a baseline, this fire can't actually move, making it a stationary area denial effect.
Also, Destruction sphere gains the same amount of damage, much, much more conveniently, and can be boosted to about 3.5 per level for a spell point, and comes with inherent bonus effects for having a blast type.
But, there's an argument that, since it's literally costed as a cantrip, that it can be more efficient... Again, even though its maximum damage is the same as cantrip Destruction sphere. But! What if you were able to turn these immobile area denial deals into immobile area denial that also had a larger area of disabling light? To be honest, I'm feeling light I have already talked myself out of this. Especially as Light can persist for a minute/lvl with a spell point, and can be easily carried around in a lantern, or otherwise on someone who has been protected from the light with the right lens, so the action economy boost isn't too incredible.
But given these constraints, let's see what I can do
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EDIT: OK, I actually do not know if the "minimum caster level" limits the size you can increase the fire in, or if it it only limits available targets for Affect Fire (and thus, could hypothetically increase the fire size above that which would be a valid target, if unenhanced). The above was written with the former in mind. But I am going to assume the latter from here on, because it makes Affect Fire look better.
Oh, and I thought of something. You could reduce the size of a normal fire, reducing its fuel consumption as appropriate, then drop concentration as a free action, having it return to normal size, then affect it, to increase its size. This gives you a much wider range of practical carrying fire options. Of course, with the latter interpretation of Affect Fire, non-magically accommodating Affect Fire's maximum damage remains impractical.
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By the way, the candidate choices are all explained in the section, if you're wondering "why did you pick that?"
Environmental Presence, gives us a [Mass] effect, letting us affect up to 1 additional fire per 2 caster levels. Affect fire explicitly state that two overlapping fires of the same size increase the effective size (for specifically the damage). Assuming we gain a way to move the fires about, then we can spend a spell point to gain 1d6 of damage for each of the following break points CL 2, 4, 8, 16, and 32. Not as good as Destruction letting us get 1d6 per 2 levels, but it is an option.
Create Nature: Without a spell point so that you can create a Diminutive, tiny (lvl 5), Small (lvl 10), or Medium (lvl 15) fire at the same time as Affecting it. Which enables up to tiny (1d6), medium (3d6, lvl 5), Huge (5d6, lvl 10), or Colossal (7d6, lvl 15).
I am actually reasonably impressed by this talent, because that does keep you right in line with cantrip Destruction sphere damage, while also having increasing area of effect, all without having to actually carry around a literal lit forge to power your ability. If you have the ability to carry around much larger nonmagical fires in an extradimensional space, assuming the ability to Affect and increase the size of fires to beyond your level limit, as long as it started within the limit, then you would still prefer that, but this is very convenient.
Elevated Nature: Gives the fire a 10ft / lvl reach into the air. That essentially negates all chance of jumping over it, even at low levels.
Hazardous Terrain: Increases the space occupied by the fire by 1 size category. Doesn't start helping until you can have fires of at least medium size.
Manipulate Nature: Grants Affected fires a perfect fly speed of 10 ft per level, and makes them not burn fuel while you concentrate on them at no cost. This is actually the MVP talent. This lets you indefinitely carry around a nonmagical fire that can engulf all but the largest of dragons, and not worry about fuel or any other logistical issues, outside of finding space for it to move without setting the world on fire.
Nature Lord: +5 effective levels for both Affect and Create fire, which means that you actually can use Create Nature to get a Colossal fire by level 10, for no spell points, while being only 3d6 less than the spell-point enabled destructive blast. Which conveniently enough, Environmental Presence makes up for by 10th level, for a spell point, and probably much greater AoE.
Temperature: Doesn't affect Affect Fire, but does give Trail Blaze, one of the best disables in Spheres (given its AoE and instantaneous duration), and a way to actually affect those in water, which normally isn't possible, even when changing damage types. Not to mention having any method to affect earth gliders is amazing.
Nature's Movement: Probably won't be in the final build, but it's really strange, as its one of the only glide abilities in the game that does not specify how the gliding happens, and there are no generalized rules for gliding. Using the best possible interpretation, where "60 feet per round" is the rate at which you fall downwards, and you use the Glide or Leshy Glide's rate of horizontal to vertical motion, you can get 300 feet of horizontal movement if you double moved straight upwards with 30 ft move speed.
Fire Sight (Spirit): Yeah, being able to actually see through your fire is useful. Being able to also literally see anyone despite any and all concealment, if on fire, is also nice.
Resist Elements (Spirit): Fire Resist of 10 + CL more than covers the damage of your fires (in the less powerful interpretation).
So, with those two, we want to pick up the next two talents:
Grant Spirit: lets us affect others with our Spirits.
Deep Nature lets those spirits last for 10 minutes per level.
And optionally, we may want Ranged Geomancy, at least as we get higher level, and don't want to have our fires too close to the ground.
Obviously Luminous Flame, as mentioned.
Supernatural Flame, if we've got the talents to get at least an acid or electric blast type.
Steam Geomancing would be if we are so strapped for talents that we can't even get that.
And onto the Light sphere, as it's the important second part of the build. There does get to be a slight problem, in that if we take the more powerful interpretation for Affect Fire, a level 10 full caster with Nature Lord can affect a Gargantuan fire, and raise it to Colossal++, which is a 70-ft square, which has a much larger radius than even our bright light.
But using Create Nature, with Nature Lord, we do get a closer match with a 50 ft square, while our Bright Light radius is 55 ft by CL 10. So, we actually aren't getting all too much additional area denial. But we are effectively getting 500 square feet of destructive blast, including the bonus debuffs.
...In exchange for an awful lot of talents, and a lenient interpretation of the rules, granted.
Also, there's an argument that the light actually emits from the edges of the fire, which *would* increase the area of denial. But it would also leave the middle of the fire stuck only dealing damage, so I wouldn't actually push for that interpretation.
And it's actually worth noting that the light of the Affected fire is not magical, in and of itself. So without Light sphere, it could be concealed in darkness, hypothetically.
Style: Because I like Style's ability to turn boring lights into a light show. Give them a seizure as they burn to death.
Dim Light (lens): Lets you not blind your allies with the enormous lights and fire you have going on.
Obscure (lens): Once per round, (for a given creature with the lens), give an attack disadvantage against them.
Chameleon (lens): Gives +CL to stealth checks, and Hide in Plain Sight.
Blinding Light: For a spell point, every turn, everything in the radius must save or be blinded for that round. That's actually insane, and I wouldn't take it to anything but a high power group.
Disorienting Patterns: The area becomes difficult terrain for those without your lens. If you centered it on them, most humanoids would not be able to get out of the radius of your fire without the Run action. But as a bright light, it also forces a will save or fall prone. They can also just choose to be blind (for at least a round) to be immune... but at that point, they chose to be blind.
Not too much less powerful than Blinding Light, but definitely gives off a less threatening aura than "screw you, you're blind now." So it's more generally usable, without upsetting people with power gaming.
Fenestrate: Just a very useful utility effect that lets you see through objects.
Hypnotic Pattern: Also a useful utility effect of causing targets in the area to become fascinated.
Irradiance: Always inflicts sickened, even on a save, but as a bright light for a spell point, fort save or upgrade to nauseated for 1 round. Each round. Very safe, very reliable.
Searing Light: Give up the disabling effects to just about double the scaling speed of the Affect Fire damage. (In the less powerful interpretation. Probably substantially worse with the better interpretation for Affect Fire.) Probably won't be in the final build.
Defiant Radiance: +2 MSB/D to light sphere, or +4 vs darkness effects. Useful if you are consistently getting countered by darkness, and/or dispel magic.
Illuminated Vigilance: Rally an ally within 30 feet of a glow. That might be useful.
Photosynthesis: It's neat and fun.
Seraphic Glow: In addition to other effects, evil creatures in the glow make a will save or be shaken. Just great, really.
I am going to do to level 10 again, as always, so let's consider that.
Elementalist (Geomancer): Full caster with nature sphere, and gains +2 CL at level 3 with Fire, increasing to +4 at level 9. Loses a lot of talents and light CL going out to level 9, with little to show for it in the build
Druid (Avatar): Full caster, with a bonus Nature and Beastmastery talent at level 1, and Speak with Elements or Wildlife at level 2. Otherwise of relatively minor importance. Making a Large Primal Elemental at level 8 might be fun, given that it can use Grant Spirit and give Nature's Carapace, Weapon, and Wreath of Elements, and you can create elementals from any element you have lying around, letting you get some potentially valuable versions of those talents.
Plus just having another body on the field that doesn't take your action to control.
Incanter / Sphere Wizard: Full caster, with bonus talents. Incanter gets specializations or feats. Wizard gets 3 flex talents and sphere specialization by level 10.
Incanter (Fireweaver): Loses the bonus magic talents, and 3 specialization points (ie basically forced sphere specialization), but gains +1 CL and +2 talents for Nature sphere, and 1 flex talent. Also comes with a free familiar, and the ability to "freeze" magic (or in the fire-adapted case, "ignite" it), giving it a fire tag... Which can actually help, given that you give your allies Fire Resist 20. 30 resist with Empowered Spell metamagic. 30% concealment for a minute per level is also nice.
Overall, I dislike it.
Wraith: Mid caster, but with possession, can basically ignore the need to move, enabling concentration on another set of fire, without chancing to burn themselves... I think. Despite all the words in Possession, I'm still not clear if the wraith can actually act at all, while passively possessing someone / some thing. Regardless, fire generally can't affect you while incorporeal. Path of the Anima gives you full Nature casting, and lets you take the form of an elemental, which also actively serves as a bunch of disposable hit points - and fire elementals are explicitly immune to fire, letting you stand in the middle of it all, as a pseudo tank.
Wraith (Matagot): Unless the mess that is the original Possession, the Familiar Possession is a lot clearer, and more concise. You explicitly get to freely move when your "master" moves, and otherwise act freely, while passively possessing. You lose wraith form though. And although you can still take Anima, you no longer in the body of the elemental, so doing that is much less meaningful.
Specialization grants +1 talent and +1 CL to the sphere.
Light: +1/2 level to perception, and swift action invisibility for (lvl) rounds.
Nature: Animal Companion, with a simple template.
Pyromancer: An explicitly stacking fire resistance equal to your level. So 30 Fire Resist. You still might take up to 18 damage if you stand in a Colossal+ fire, but that's less than 48.
Also at level 8, apply fire vulnerability as a friendly 30 ft aura. Up to 10 rounds a day.
Regular ol' Incanter with Pyromancer specialization, and Lay on Hands to help with the burns inflicted on allies. They are all pretty viable. I like the Fire Weaver and Avatar the least, as far as single classes go.
Taking 2 levels of Matagot gets us that Familiar Possession though, plus the form of a cat (or other reasonable tiny sized animal), while effectively only losing 1 CL of light sphere.
I was considering 3 levels of Elementalist for +2 CL, until I saw that level 8 Incanter gets Fire vulnerability aura. Sucks to suck, I guess. But even at 9 levels of Geomancer, it would only add +1d6 damage, with a 1 level incanter dip. In exchange for basically no light casting, and very few talents. Sucks to Suck.
General
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Anemic: Take +2 additional (stacking) bleed damage on taking slash / piercing damage. Not hard to deal with.
Center of Power: Let's just say you've got a handkerchief necklace that lights aflame when casting. Focus Casting, however, is much less obvious. So let's make this Focus Casting instead.
Consciousness Linked: Pretty free, as most of the buffs we care about are to protect our allies from ourselves.
Decrepit Aging: We generally don't use too many spell points, but even so it doesn't particularly hurt us to be aged. It's not good, but it doesn't hurt. Tiny size makes up for a *lot* of missing dexterity.
Draining Casting: Again, don't generally use too many spell points, and when we do, we don't need to again for quite a while. We can suffer 3 damage per set of [mass] buffs.
Madness Mantra: Being Antagonized literally doesn't do much of anything, when everything you do is measured in hundreds of square feet.
Material Casting: 10 silver per CL per cast, or 10 gold per CL per month. Will you actually cast 100 times in a month? Probably, if you aren't being boring about it. So go for the monthly option, and even if you lose a year's worth of gold, all at CL 10, that only costs you 1200 gold.
Painful Magic: Being sickened doesn't really hurt you. I mean, it's painful, but it doesn't impair your casting.
Prepared Caster: You are very mana efficient. You probably won't be limited by the spell points you assign to each sphere.
Substantial Magic: Turns your typically free fire into an additional target that they can take out, rather than you. This is pretty good, and makes you seem less powerful, since your stuff can be targeted. They can also target your buffs on allies though, which is much much more substantial. But it's not the obvious choice.
Spell Tokens: Again, you're mana efficient. So even being limited to 4 spell point per encounter, if you don't want to ever recharge it, is just fine, most of the time.
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Destruction-Specific
Soft Blaster: Never deal damage with destructive blast, but gain Damage Control + one other talent.
Aligned Combatant: Less or no damage with destructive blast, depending on alignment for another free talent. Should be incompatible, but isn't.
Destructive Touch: Must use Destructive blasts at melee range. Given that we don't care about the actual blasts, this is another free talent.
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Life-Specific
Medicinal: Hand out herbal remedies for those sick burns you inflicted on your allies
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Light-Specific
Touch of Light: Given that we don't cause glows as ranged attacks, and our lenses last for 10 hours, this doesn't hurt us.
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War-Specific
Solo Combatant: Cannot rally others (and really not going to rally at all).
Battle Manipulation: Cannot use totems.
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Warp-Specific
Bender: May not teleport. Gain (space) talent instead.
Limited Warp: Must touch fire to warp. Yeah, not an issue.
Class: Incanter (Pyromancer) 8 / Wraith (Matagot) 2
Race: Human
General Talents: 15
Nature Talents: 2
Talents from feats: 3
Nature CL: 11
Other CL: 9
Point Buy 20
Str 7, Dex 12, Con 12, Int 12, Wis 11, Cha 18 (+2 race +2 level +6 headband item) = Cha 28
Total Spell Points: 24
Light: 8
War: 8
Life 4
Nature 4
Destruction: 0
Warp: 0
Material Casting: 100 gold per month.
Focus Casting: A cute little, fiery handkerchief must be worn.
Substantial Magic: Sphere effects have physical representations that can be destroyed.
Prepared Caster: Must sort spell points between sphere.
Consciousness Linked: Spell effects end on losing consciousness.
Boon: Easy Focus - Concentrate as a move action.
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Destruction-Specific
Soft Blaster: Never deal damage with destructive blast, but gain Damage Control + one other talent.
Aligned Combatant: Less or no damage with destructive blast, depending on alignment for another free talent. Should be incompatible, but isn't.
Destructive Touch: Must use Destructive blasts at melee range. Given that we don't care about the actual blasts, this is another free talent.
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Life-Specific
Medicinal: Hand out herbal remedies for those sick burns you inflicted on your allies
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Light-Specific
Touch of Light: Given that we don't cause glows as ranged attacks, and our lenses last for 10 hours, this doesn't hurt us.
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War-Specific
Solo Combatant: Cannot rally others (and really not going to rally at all).
Battle Manipulation: Cannot use totems.
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Warp-Specific
Bender: May not teleport. Gain (space) talent instead.
Limited Warp: Must touch fire to warp. Yeah, not an issue.
Base sphere: (nothing)
Cooperative Momentum: When an ally is affected by your spell, they can be come immune. For a singular momentum point. (Up to interpretation just *how* immune they are.)
Resilient Momentum: Reduce damage by (Charisma Mod, 9) per momentum point.
Damaging Momentum: Spends 2 momentum to deal 9 damage.
Base sphere: Doesn't matter.
1 blast type with damage type of: Electric, Cold, and Acid
Base sphere: (Nothing)
ED Storage x2: Stores a total of 225 pounds. Useful when you're a tiny, 7 str creature. (Could just grab the Ant Haul magic item or something, but I don't care about optimizing magic items. It's 1 talent.)
Base Sphere - Fire Package.
Create Nature: Use Create and Affect Fire at same time.
Elevated Nature: Fires reach an additional 110 feet in the air.
Hazardous Terrain: +1 fire size.
Nature Lord: +5 effective CL for fire size.
Manipulate Nature: Fire gains 110 ft perfect fly speed with enormous size. Limited by Range now.
Ranged Geomancing: Speaking of, now medium range (210 ft). You are briefly chasing down dragons.
Fire Sight: See through flames, and detect fires.
Resist Elements: 21 Fire Resist.
Grant Spirit: Enable giving others spirits.
Deep Nature: Spirits last 110 minutes.
Base Sphere
Disorienting Patterns: Area is difficult terrain, and will save or fall prone.
Fenestrate: Objects become translucent.
Hypnotic Pattern: Will save or fascinate.
Dim Light: Allies are immune to your light. (Not as spell point-efficient as a "each time you'd be affected" version of Cooperative Momentum, without a ridiculous amount of time spent fighting in each game day. But having to refresh the momentum more often would be annoying. Better to leave it as a back up if Dim Light is dispelled.)
Feats: 5 from levels, 1 from race.
Luminous Flame: Flames glow. Concentrate on Bright glow and Affect Fire at same time.
Extra Magical Talent x3: +3 talents
Supernatural Flame: Can apply any blast type's damage type to the flames. We have cold, acid, and electricity. (Note: You do not give resistance to those types! Allies may be miffed.)
Seraphic Glow: Evil doers in light are shaken. Not stirred.
End Result:
1) Affect Fire damage (start Gargantuan, increase to Colossal+): 8d6 damage.
2) Affect Fire + Create Fire damage (Start Medium increase to Gargantuan): 6d6 damage.
(Given an effective CL of 16 for size of the fire, 6d6 is also the damage cap, if you cannot raise the fire higher than the minimum level required.)
Which is still right around cantrip level damage. But what about the area we are doing that damage at....
Area Coverage for #1: 70-foot square = 4900 square feet, rising up to 110 feet in the air. Subtlety is not your forte.
Are Coverage for #2: 30-ft square = 900 square feet (still rising 110 feet in the air).
Oh yes, that's more like it. If we filled the area of #2 up with medium size enemies, then we would be doing 1,080d6 per round for 0 spell points. If we also filled the volume perfectly with medium size fliers, we'd be doing 23,760d6 per round. (Because of the law of large numbers, that gets to about 83,160 expected damage per round.)
Obviously not a realistic situation, but instead an upper bound limit.
And of course, we can't forget that with Disorienting Pattern, covering the majority of that area as well, it's all difficult terrain for those who are not immune to your light effects. And they keep tripping over themselves in the disorienting literal hellscape you have created.
Oh, but that's not all, because we concentrate as a move action. So we can build up that 6d6 fire, and concentrate on it. Then build up another one, and ... they'd do 7d6 where they overlapped... Ok, the main deal is that they... provide more area covered... when you're already covering 180 squares. OK, well... um. You get to restore momentum as a standard action while concentrating... Or maybe if you actually usefully took Destruction sphere you could do that while concentrating...
So... It used the vast super majority of the talents of a specialized incanter to accomplish... but it does its one thing kinda decently.
Luminous Flame (Dual Sphere)
Prerequisites: Light sphere, Nature sphere ((fire) package).
Benefit: Whenever you use the Create Fire or Affect Fire geomancing ability, you may also cause the fire to glow. You may maintain concentration of this (fire) geomancing ability and the bright light of the glow with a single action.
It seems... interesting. Create / Affect Fire is not a particularly potent ability, gaining an average of around 1 damage every level. Which... I mean, it's better than Recover Ore which is logarithmic (progressively slower damage gains), after starting half as good... Hardly high praise. There's also an issue that you can only increase fire's size by a maximum of 1 step per 5 CL... which is fine at level 1, when you can make a torch have 1d6 worth of fire damage... But carrying around an actual small campfire is somewhat impractical. You will need extradimensional pockets. And at a baseline, this fire can't actually move, making it a stationary area denial effect.
Also, Destruction sphere gains the same amount of damage, much, much more conveniently, and can be boosted to about 3.5 per level for a spell point, and comes with inherent bonus effects for having a blast type.
But, there's an argument that, since it's literally costed as a cantrip, that it can be more efficient... Again, even though its maximum damage is the same as cantrip Destruction sphere. But! What if you were able to turn these immobile area denial deals into immobile area denial that also had a larger area of disabling light? To be honest, I'm feeling light I have already talked myself out of this. Especially as Light can persist for a minute/lvl with a spell point, and can be easily carried around in a lantern, or otherwise on someone who has been protected from the light with the right lens, so the action economy boost isn't too incredible.
But given these constraints, let's see what I can do
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EDIT: OK, I actually do not know if the "minimum caster level" limits the size you can increase the fire in, or if it it only limits available targets for Affect Fire (and thus, could hypothetically increase the fire size above that which would be a valid target, if unenhanced). The above was written with the former in mind. But I am going to assume the latter from here on, because it makes Affect Fire look better.
Oh, and I thought of something. You could reduce the size of a normal fire, reducing its fuel consumption as appropriate, then drop concentration as a free action, having it return to normal size, then affect it, to increase its size. This gives you a much wider range of practical carrying fire options. Of course, with the latter interpretation of Affect Fire, non-magically accommodating Affect Fire's maximum damage remains impractical.
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By the way, the candidate choices are all explained in the section, if you're wondering "why did you pick that?"
Environmental Presence, gives us a [Mass] effect, letting us affect up to 1 additional fire per 2 caster levels. Affect fire explicitly state that two overlapping fires of the same size increase the effective size (for specifically the damage). Assuming we gain a way to move the fires about, then we can spend a spell point to gain 1d6 of damage for each of the following break points CL 2, 4, 8, 16, and 32. Not as good as Destruction letting us get 1d6 per 2 levels, but it is an option.
Create Nature: Without a spell point so that you can create a Diminutive, tiny (lvl 5), Small (lvl 10), or Medium (lvl 15) fire at the same time as Affecting it. Which enables up to tiny (1d6), medium (3d6, lvl 5), Huge (5d6, lvl 10), or Colossal (7d6, lvl 15).
I am actually reasonably impressed by this talent, because that does keep you right in line with cantrip Destruction sphere damage, while also having increasing area of effect, all without having to actually carry around a literal lit forge to power your ability. If you have the ability to carry around much larger nonmagical fires in an extradimensional space, assuming the ability to Affect and increase the size of fires to beyond your level limit, as long as it started within the limit, then you would still prefer that, but this is very convenient.
Elevated Nature: Gives the fire a 10ft / lvl reach into the air. That essentially negates all chance of jumping over it, even at low levels.
Hazardous Terrain: Increases the space occupied by the fire by 1 size category. Doesn't start helping until you can have fires of at least medium size.
Manipulate Nature: Grants Affected fires a perfect fly speed of 10 ft per level, and makes them not burn fuel while you concentrate on them at no cost. This is actually the MVP talent. This lets you indefinitely carry around a nonmagical fire that can engulf all but the largest of dragons, and not worry about fuel or any other logistical issues, outside of finding space for it to move without setting the world on fire.
Nature Lord: +5 effective levels for both Affect and Create fire, which means that you actually can use Create Nature to get a Colossal fire by level 10, for no spell points, while being only 3d6 less than the spell-point enabled destructive blast. Which conveniently enough, Environmental Presence makes up for by 10th level, for a spell point, and probably much greater AoE.
Temperature: Doesn't affect Affect Fire, but does give Trail Blaze, one of the best disables in Spheres (given its AoE and instantaneous duration), and a way to actually affect those in water, which normally isn't possible, even when changing damage types. Not to mention having any method to affect earth gliders is amazing.
Nature's Movement: Probably won't be in the final build, but it's really strange, as its one of the only glide abilities in the game that does not specify how the gliding happens, and there are no generalized rules for gliding. Using the best possible interpretation, where "60 feet per round" is the rate at which you fall downwards, and you use the Glide or Leshy Glide's rate of horizontal to vertical motion, you can get 300 feet of horizontal movement if you double moved straight upwards with 30 ft move speed.
Fire Sight (Spirit): Yeah, being able to actually see through your fire is useful. Being able to also literally see anyone despite any and all concealment, if on fire, is also nice.
Resist Elements (Spirit): Fire Resist of 10 + CL more than covers the damage of your fires (in the less powerful interpretation).
So, with those two, we want to pick up the next two talents:
Grant Spirit: lets us affect others with our Spirits.
Deep Nature lets those spirits last for 10 minutes per level.
And optionally, we may want Ranged Geomancy, at least as we get higher level, and don't want to have our fires too close to the ground.
Obviously Luminous Flame, as mentioned.
Supernatural Flame, if we've got the talents to get at least an acid or electric blast type.
Steam Geomancing would be if we are so strapped for talents that we can't even get that.
And onto the Light sphere, as it's the important second part of the build. There does get to be a slight problem, in that if we take the more powerful interpretation for Affect Fire, a level 10 full caster with Nature Lord can affect a Gargantuan fire, and raise it to Colossal++, which is a 70-ft square, which has a much larger radius than even our bright light.
But using Create Nature, with Nature Lord, we do get a closer match with a 50 ft square, while our Bright Light radius is 55 ft by CL 10. So, we actually aren't getting all too much additional area denial. But we are effectively getting 500 square feet of destructive blast, including the bonus debuffs.
...In exchange for an awful lot of talents, and a lenient interpretation of the rules, granted.
Also, there's an argument that the light actually emits from the edges of the fire, which *would* increase the area of denial. But it would also leave the middle of the fire stuck only dealing damage, so I wouldn't actually push for that interpretation.
And it's actually worth noting that the light of the Affected fire is not magical, in and of itself. So without Light sphere, it could be concealed in darkness, hypothetically.
Style: Because I like Style's ability to turn boring lights into a light show. Give them a seizure as they burn to death.
Dim Light (lens): Lets you not blind your allies with the enormous lights and fire you have going on.
Obscure (lens): Once per round, (for a given creature with the lens), give an attack disadvantage against them.
Chameleon (lens): Gives +CL to stealth checks, and Hide in Plain Sight.
Blinding Light: For a spell point, every turn, everything in the radius must save or be blinded for that round. That's actually insane, and I wouldn't take it to anything but a high power group.
Disorienting Patterns: The area becomes difficult terrain for those without your lens. If you centered it on them, most humanoids would not be able to get out of the radius of your fire without the Run action. But as a bright light, it also forces a will save or fall prone. They can also just choose to be blind (for at least a round) to be immune... but at that point, they chose to be blind.
Not too much less powerful than Blinding Light, but definitely gives off a less threatening aura than "screw you, you're blind now." So it's more generally usable, without upsetting people with power gaming.
Fenestrate: Just a very useful utility effect that lets you see through objects.
Hypnotic Pattern: Also a useful utility effect of causing targets in the area to become fascinated.
Irradiance: Always inflicts sickened, even on a save, but as a bright light for a spell point, fort save or upgrade to nauseated for 1 round. Each round. Very safe, very reliable.
Searing Light: Give up the disabling effects to just about double the scaling speed of the Affect Fire damage. (In the less powerful interpretation. Probably substantially worse with the better interpretation for Affect Fire.) Probably won't be in the final build.
Defiant Radiance: +2 MSB/D to light sphere, or +4 vs darkness effects. Useful if you are consistently getting countered by darkness, and/or dispel magic.
Illuminated Vigilance: Rally an ally within 30 feet of a glow. That might be useful.
Photosynthesis: It's neat and fun.
Seraphic Glow: In addition to other effects, evil creatures in the glow make a will save or be shaken. Just great, really.
I am going to do to level 10 again, as always, so let's consider that.
Elementalist (Geomancer): Full caster with nature sphere, and gains +2 CL at level 3 with Fire, increasing to +4 at level 9. Loses a lot of talents and light CL going out to level 9, with little to show for it in the build
Druid (Avatar): Full caster, with a bonus Nature and Beastmastery talent at level 1, and Speak with Elements or Wildlife at level 2. Otherwise of relatively minor importance. Making a Large Primal Elemental at level 8 might be fun, given that it can use Grant Spirit and give Nature's Carapace, Weapon, and Wreath of Elements, and you can create elementals from any element you have lying around, letting you get some potentially valuable versions of those talents.
Plus just having another body on the field that doesn't take your action to control.
Incanter / Sphere Wizard: Full caster, with bonus talents. Incanter gets specializations or feats. Wizard gets 3 flex talents and sphere specialization by level 10.
Incanter (Fireweaver): Loses the bonus magic talents, and 3 specialization points (ie basically forced sphere specialization), but gains +1 CL and +2 talents for Nature sphere, and 1 flex talent. Also comes with a free familiar, and the ability to "freeze" magic (or in the fire-adapted case, "ignite" it), giving it a fire tag... Which can actually help, given that you give your allies Fire Resist 20. 30 resist with Empowered Spell metamagic. 30% concealment for a minute per level is also nice.
Overall, I dislike it.
Wraith: Mid caster, but with possession, can basically ignore the need to move, enabling concentration on another set of fire, without chancing to burn themselves... I think. Despite all the words in Possession, I'm still not clear if the wraith can actually act at all, while passively possessing someone / some thing. Regardless, fire generally can't affect you while incorporeal. Path of the Anima gives you full Nature casting, and lets you take the form of an elemental, which also actively serves as a bunch of disposable hit points - and fire elementals are explicitly immune to fire, letting you stand in the middle of it all, as a pseudo tank.
Wraith (Matagot): Unless the mess that is the original Possession, the Familiar Possession is a lot clearer, and more concise. You explicitly get to freely move when your "master" moves, and otherwise act freely, while passively possessing. You lose wraith form though. And although you can still take Anima, you no longer in the body of the elemental, so doing that is much less meaningful.
Specialization grants +1 talent and +1 CL to the sphere.
Light: +1/2 level to perception, and swift action invisibility for (lvl) rounds.
Nature: Animal Companion, with a simple template.
Pyromancer: An explicitly stacking fire resistance equal to your level. So 30 Fire Resist. You still might take up to 18 damage if you stand in a Colossal+ fire, but that's less than 48.
Also at level 8, apply fire vulnerability as a friendly 30 ft aura. Up to 10 rounds a day.
Regular ol' Incanter with Pyromancer specialization, and Lay on Hands to help with the burns inflicted on allies. They are all pretty viable. I like the Fire Weaver and Avatar the least, as far as single classes go.
Taking 2 levels of Matagot gets us that Familiar Possession though, plus the form of a cat (or other reasonable tiny sized animal), while effectively only losing 1 CL of light sphere.
I was considering 3 levels of Elementalist for +2 CL, until I saw that level 8 Incanter gets Fire vulnerability aura. Sucks to suck, I guess. But even at 9 levels of Geomancer, it would only add +1d6 damage, with a 1 level incanter dip. In exchange for basically no light casting, and very few talents. Sucks to Suck.
General
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Anemic: Take +2 additional (stacking) bleed damage on taking slash / piercing damage. Not hard to deal with.
Center of Power: Let's just say you've got a handkerchief necklace that lights aflame when casting. Focus Casting, however, is much less obvious. So let's make this Focus Casting instead.
Consciousness Linked: Pretty free, as most of the buffs we care about are to protect our allies from ourselves.
Decrepit Aging: We generally don't use too many spell points, but even so it doesn't particularly hurt us to be aged. It's not good, but it doesn't hurt. Tiny size makes up for a *lot* of missing dexterity.
Draining Casting: Again, don't generally use too many spell points, and when we do, we don't need to again for quite a while. We can suffer 3 damage per set of [mass] buffs.
Madness Mantra: Being Antagonized literally doesn't do much of anything, when everything you do is measured in hundreds of square feet.
Material Casting: 10 silver per CL per cast, or 10 gold per CL per month. Will you actually cast 100 times in a month? Probably, if you aren't being boring about it. So go for the monthly option, and even if you lose a year's worth of gold, all at CL 10, that only costs you 1200 gold.
Painful Magic: Being sickened doesn't really hurt you. I mean, it's painful, but it doesn't impair your casting.
Prepared Caster: You are very mana efficient. You probably won't be limited by the spell points you assign to each sphere.
Substantial Magic: Turns your typically free fire into an additional target that they can take out, rather than you. This is pretty good, and makes you seem less powerful, since your stuff can be targeted. They can also target your buffs on allies though, which is much much more substantial. But it's not the obvious choice.
Spell Tokens: Again, you're mana efficient. So even being limited to 4 spell point per encounter, if you don't want to ever recharge it, is just fine, most of the time.
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Destruction-Specific
Soft Blaster: Never deal damage with destructive blast, but gain Damage Control + one other talent.
Aligned Combatant: Less or no damage with destructive blast, depending on alignment for another free talent. Should be incompatible, but isn't.
Destructive Touch: Must use Destructive blasts at melee range. Given that we don't care about the actual blasts, this is another free talent.
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Life-Specific
Medicinal: Hand out herbal remedies for those sick burns you inflicted on your allies
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Light-Specific
Touch of Light: Given that we don't cause glows as ranged attacks, and our lenses last for 10 hours, this doesn't hurt us.
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War-Specific
Solo Combatant: Cannot rally others (and really not going to rally at all).
Battle Manipulation: Cannot use totems.
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Warp-Specific
Bender: May not teleport. Gain (space) talent instead.
Limited Warp: Must touch fire to warp. Yeah, not an issue.
Class: Incanter (Pyromancer) 8 / Wraith (Matagot) 2
Race: Human
General Talents: 15
Nature Talents: 2
Talents from feats: 3
Nature CL: 11
Other CL: 9
Point Buy 20
Str 7, Dex 12, Con 12, Int 12, Wis 11, Cha 18 (+2 race +2 level +6 headband item) = Cha 28
Total Spell Points: 24
Light: 8
War: 8
Life 4
Nature 4
Destruction: 0
Warp: 0
Material Casting: 100 gold per month.
Focus Casting: A cute little, fiery handkerchief must be worn.
Substantial Magic: Sphere effects have physical representations that can be destroyed.
Prepared Caster: Must sort spell points between sphere.
Consciousness Linked: Spell effects end on losing consciousness.
Boon: Easy Focus - Concentrate as a move action.
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Destruction-Specific
Soft Blaster: Never deal damage with destructive blast, but gain Damage Control + one other talent.
Aligned Combatant: Less or no damage with destructive blast, depending on alignment for another free talent. Should be incompatible, but isn't.
Destructive Touch: Must use Destructive blasts at melee range. Given that we don't care about the actual blasts, this is another free talent.
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Life-Specific
Medicinal: Hand out herbal remedies for those sick burns you inflicted on your allies
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Light-Specific
Touch of Light: Given that we don't cause glows as ranged attacks, and our lenses last for 10 hours, this doesn't hurt us.
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War-Specific
Solo Combatant: Cannot rally others (and really not going to rally at all).
Battle Manipulation: Cannot use totems.
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Warp-Specific
Bender: May not teleport. Gain (space) talent instead.
Limited Warp: Must touch fire to warp. Yeah, not an issue.
Base sphere: (nothing)
Cooperative Momentum: When an ally is affected by your spell, they can be come immune. For a singular momentum point. (Up to interpretation just *how* immune they are.)
Resilient Momentum: Reduce damage by (Charisma Mod, 9) per momentum point.
Damaging Momentum: Spends 2 momentum to deal 9 damage.
Base sphere: Doesn't matter.
1 blast type with damage type of: Electric, Cold, and Acid
Base sphere: (Nothing)
ED Storage x2: Stores a total of 225 pounds. Useful when you're a tiny, 7 str creature. (Could just grab the Ant Haul magic item or something, but I don't care about optimizing magic items. It's 1 talent.)
Base Sphere - Fire Package.
Create Nature: Use Create and Affect Fire at same time.
Elevated Nature: Fires reach an additional 110 feet in the air.
Hazardous Terrain: +1 fire size.
Nature Lord: +5 effective CL for fire size.
Manipulate Nature: Fire gains 110 ft perfect fly speed with enormous size. Limited by Range now.
Ranged Geomancing: Speaking of, now medium range (210 ft). You are briefly chasing down dragons.
Fire Sight: See through flames, and detect fires.
Resist Elements: 21 Fire Resist.
Grant Spirit: Enable giving others spirits.
Deep Nature: Spirits last 110 minutes.
Base Sphere
Disorienting Patterns: Area is difficult terrain, and will save or fall prone.
Fenestrate: Objects become translucent.
Hypnotic Pattern: Will save or fascinate.
Dim Light: Allies are immune to your light. (Not as spell point-efficient as a "each time you'd be affected" version of Cooperative Momentum, without a ridiculous amount of time spent fighting in each game day. But having to refresh the momentum more often would be annoying. Better to leave it as a back up if Dim Light is dispelled.)
Feats: 5 from levels, 1 from race.
Luminous Flame: Flames glow. Concentrate on Bright glow and Affect Fire at same time.
Extra Magical Talent x3: +3 talents
Supernatural Flame: Can apply any blast type's damage type to the flames. We have cold, acid, and electricity. (Note: You do not give resistance to those types! Allies may be miffed.)
Seraphic Glow: Evil doers in light are shaken. Not stirred.
End Result:
1) Affect Fire damage (start Gargantuan, increase to Colossal+): 8d6 damage.
2) Affect Fire + Create Fire damage (Start Medium increase to Gargantuan): 6d6 damage.
(Given an effective CL of 16 for size of the fire, 6d6 is also the damage cap, if you cannot raise the fire higher than the minimum level required.)
Which is still right around cantrip level damage. But what about the area we are doing that damage at....
Area Coverage for #1: 70-foot square = 4900 square feet, rising up to 110 feet in the air. Subtlety is not your forte.
Are Coverage for #2: 30-ft square = 900 square feet (still rising 110 feet in the air).
Oh yes, that's more like it. If we filled the area of #2 up with medium size enemies, then we would be doing 1,080d6 per round for 0 spell points. If we also filled the volume perfectly with medium size fliers, we'd be doing 23,760d6 per round. (Because of the law of large numbers, that gets to about 83,160 expected damage per round.)
Obviously not a realistic situation, but instead an upper bound limit.
And of course, we can't forget that with Disorienting Pattern, covering the majority of that area as well, it's all difficult terrain for those who are not immune to your light effects. And they keep tripping over themselves in the disorienting literal hellscape you have created.
Oh, but that's not all, because we concentrate as a move action. So we can build up that 6d6 fire, and concentrate on it. Then build up another one, and ... they'd do 7d6 where they overlapped... Ok, the main deal is that they... provide more area covered... when you're already covering 180 squares. OK, well... um. You get to restore momentum as a standard action while concentrating... Or maybe if you actually usefully took Destruction sphere you could do that while concentrating...
So... It used the vast super majority of the talents of a specialized incanter to accomplish... but it does its one thing kinda decently.