Need an ECL 22nd level character by Friday! HELP!

[Brock Samson]

I just got invited this weekend to join some friends in their epic campaign. It sounds like pretty much anything goes as far as what I want to build, provided it's in a 3rd/3.5 book. No psionics though. It sounds like the rest of the group is not extremely optimized, but is pretty decently optimized. The party so far consists of a bard+some prestige classes, a wizard/warmage/incantatrix, I think a (rather sucky) monk, a cleric+some prestige classes, and maybe one other member.

Problem: I'm not sure what I want to play.
Problem: I don't actually own any books, but my DM owns EVERY book. But I won't see him again until Friday. I can probably get ahold of a couple books in the meantime, but no guarantees.

Also, what will my starting WBL be?

So what I need is first to figure out WHO I want to play, then an actual build for my character.

My thoughts so far:
Straight Druid (definitely isn't bad)
Divine caster/Arcane caster into some prestige class(es) that enhance both spellcasting levels. At 22nd level I'd have 9th level divine, and 9th level arcane spells, which will just be awesome!
Or making liberal use of any feats/prestige classes that reduce metamagic costs. The warmage/wizard/incantatrix in our party will probably be a pretty good damage dealer already, and yes blasting isn't always the best offense, but with cheap metamagic you're doing a damn good job.

I've never played higher than 14 level, fyi. So suggestions on items would also be very helpful. And ways to get immunities to common failures.

1. Isn't there an armor (in Book of Exalted Deeds?) that is basically a continual Death Ward?
2. Any items that give Mind Blank?
3. Ring of Freedom of Movement seems obvious.
4. Isn't there also something like the Starmantle Cloak that gives you immunity to nonmagical weapons? How well would this work if, say, you threw up an anti-magic field, but managed to exclude yourself from being affected by it? Would this technically give you immunity to every weapon?

Yes, there's a lot to respond to here, so let's start with what I should play. I'm really leaning toward divine/arcane caster into a dual-caster progression prestige class. Help me please!

[Brock Samson]

Oh, and any races/templates are open as well. I've even considered the potential cheese of being an anthropomorphic bat. Basically, I'd like to be extremely optimized, then back it down to remain on par with the group at whatever optimization level they're actually at, occasionally truly shining when the need arises.

[Brock Samson]

Another questin: Provided I can cast wish, would anyone recommend using wishes to give myself insight bonuses to my abilities, rather than spending the money on Tomes?

And what possible combinations of divine/arcane casting both use the same primary stat, to make my character more SAD?

[Talic]

Wishes cost hideous XP. Lemme show you something else.

Gnome

Wizard 5 / Shadowcraft Mage 5 / IotSV 7 / Archmage 5

Level 22.

Through Silent Image (Level 1 spell), you can do amazing things.

For example:

Take Heighten Spell, Earth Magic, Arcane Thesis (Silent Image), Still Spell, and Arcane Disciple.

Arcane disciple adds certain spells to your wizard list. The level 9 spell it adds, if you pick the right domain, is Miracle, the 9th level Evocation spell of Inherent Bonusings.

Arcane Thesis Makes your Metamagic take 1 slot lower than normal. Your spells are automatically silent, so now you can still them too. This means that nobody can Spellcraft your Silent Image, and it Comes from a level 1 slot.

But also apply it to a Heighten Spell. Heighten Silent image to a 9th level slot, and it occupies an 8th level slot.

Now take Earth Magic, which raises the spell level 1 more. Now you're casting a level 10 silent image, out of a level 8 slot.

But why is this important?

Because Shadowcraft Mage lets you make figments mostly real (80%, actually). It lets you use a figment to copy any Conjuration (summoning), Conjuration (Creation), or Evocation spell on your spell list, as long as that spell is at least one level lower than the spell you're casting...

The 10th level spell you're casting...
Miracle's a 9th level spell on your class list.

And it's not being powered by deity. It's being recreated by shadow. So none of that pesky divine oversight.

Oh, and you can still go epic spellcasting, as well. Load half your slots with heightened silent images, and go to town. Summon monster 9? Easy stuff. How many spells can you get with a summon monster 9? Why, as many as you can find on the lists of the creatures you can summon.

IotSV is just there because it's one of the beefier defense classes in the game.

[Talic]

For Div/Arc dualcasting...

Wizard 3/Archivist 3/Mystic Theurge 10/Dread Necromancer 4/MT 11-12

There are early entry tricks, but they're hotly debated. The above will get you 9th level spells on both sides by level 21, which gets you Epic spellcasting for arcane AND divine.

Best of all, it's all Int.

[Brock Samson]

That seems pretty awesome, but possibly too awesome.

Can you tell me what books each class is from? And just a little more on IotSFV, it's been a long long time since I've looked at it.

And a little more on what Archmage lets you do?

[peacenlove]

Hallo!
I would lean towards druid just because the progression for epic mystic theurge totally sucks at epic level (you do not continue to gain 2 caster levels (arcane/divine) but only one).

If you really want mystic theurge couple it with arcane hierofant from races of the wild so you have 9th level spells and can buff your animal companion to take some fron line roles. Plus you deal some nice control spells. Unlike straight druid, it is very feat intensive.

I have played at 21st level but as a shadowcaster but i should tell you that control spells start to decline at epic levels (cause of the varying immunities, every monster should have at least 3 ). If you still plan to control your enemies there are 3-4 status effects that are rare to find resistance to. these are Daze, Petrification-Form altering magic, Slow, Dimensional Anchor.

Templates arent usually worth it unless they are outright broken (i am looking at you phrenic and feral!). Good defensive ones were shadow (from Lords of Madness) and dark (from tome of magic, you get it from an item).
BoED has the soulfire armor (+4 enchantment bonus) that is a death ward (sorta).

For mind blank there is a ring costing 120.000 gp that gives mind blank

Also it is imperative that you get magic items protecting you from disintegration/petrification. There are many monsters and high level spells out there that disintegrate you at will. There is an armor enchantment (proof against transmutation i think) that lessens the effects of these spells.

About the starmantle cloack, no it wouldn't work because antimagic field supresses magic. the moment a projectile has left the antimagic field it becomes magical. Also AMF is pretty small and unwieldy plus many creatures at this level do not fit in it.

I hope i gave some help, but surely many optimizers out there should have better information

[Bulwer]

You could also play something simpler: Dread Necromancer or Beguiler 20 are very potent builds with full spellcasting, and DN comes with that lovely 20th level capstone of becoming a lich.

[Talic]

That seems pretty awesome, but possibly too awesome.

Can you tell me what books each class is from? And just a little more on IotSFV, it's been a long long time since I've looked at it.

And a little more on what Archmage lets you do?

Shadowcraft mage is from Races of Stone

IotSV is Complete Arcane. A 7th level one can bring up veils, 2 at a time, that mimic the layers of prismatic walls, as an immediate action.

So if someone casts a Quickened Summon monster 9 to beat your buddy, or throws a 5000 pound rock at the fighter? In response, you can bring up the veils, and any creature must make saves versus dying, going to random planes, petrifying, going insane... the usual...

It'll also destroy that inbound rock, pretty much automatically...

Or stop the epic breath weapon...

etc.

It's basically Fullcast wizard + the ability to tell someone NO, 4 times a day.

[Talic]

You could also play something simpler: Dread Necromancer or Beguiler 20 are very potent builds with full spellcasting, and DN comes with that lovely 20th level capstone of becoming a lich.

Becoming a lich isn't as good as you'd think. That phylactery doesn't have plot armor...

And you give up a lot to get those nice bonuses.

[Brock Samson]

Forgot to mention, I cannot be evil.

I like the "Wizard 3/Archivist 3/Mystic Theurge 10/Dread Necromancer 4/MT 11-12" possible route, as it's all INT, but not sure about Dread Necromancer, sounds evil to me. And it'd be great to get some metamagic cost reductions somewhere, possibly spamming various persists, and getting immunities to the more common things.

What will my WBL be at 22nd?

[Bulwer]

Dread Necro is any non-good, I think.

[Talic]

Dread Necromancers can be Lawful Neutral, Neutral, and Chaotic Neutral, in addition to the Evil alignments. They just can't be GOOD.

Think Anti-hero, like spawn. They use bad forces for good reasons. And get to have the bonus of being edgy.

[Brock Samson]

Just not sure my DM would really want that around. What are their class features anywho?

[Talic]

I may be thinking true necro, not dread necro. Yeah, I think so.

True necro is basically another theurgish class.

[Brock Samson]

Where could I find that? And what, besides theurging, does it do?

[Baron Corm]

If you like immunities so much try a warforged Barbarian (pounce variant) 1/Fighter 2/X 2/Warforged Juggernaut 5/Frenzied Berserker 10/Legendary Dreadnought 2

The warforged juggernaut levels will give you immunity to most things out there, other than hit point damage. The frenzied berserker levels give you huge damage-dealing capabilities, as well as immunity to death from hit point damage as long as you're in a frenzy (if something can bring down your huge hit points). At level 22, you shouldn't have a problem making the Will save to stop killing your friends. Not to mention that you can use the Unmovable legendary dreadnought ability to automatically pass the save, if necessary.

[Dread necromancer is a class which casts solely necromancy spells and turns into a lich. True necromancer is a theurge class. Warforged juggernaut is from the Eberron Campaign Setting or Races of Eberron, I don't remember. Frenzied berserker is from Complete Warrior, and it improves Power Attack and Cleave. Legendary dreadnought is in the SRD. It is illegal to reproduce the exact class features of non-SRD books.]

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Shadow Miracles don't work, unless you have a double-standard.

Spoiler

Show

Your Shadow Evocations/Conjurations and Shadow Illusions copy spells from the general Sorcerer/Wizard spell list, which allows you to copy Evocations despite often having that as a prohibited school. Arcane Disciple adds Miracle to your character's spell list, but your shadow spells don't copy spells from your character's spell list they copy spells from your general class spell list. If you want your shadow spells to copy spells from your character's spell list, taking evocation as a prohibited school will make it so you can't copy any evocations at all other than what you gain from Arcane Disciple. You don't even have the option of doing that, since your shadow spells emulate spells from the sorcerer/wizard spell list, i.e. the general unmodified class spell list, not spells from your sorcerer/wizard spell list, which is what Miracle is added to.

Get Item Familiar, the 10% XP bonus alone is worth spending the feat on. Plus you get to upgrade it as though you had all the necessary item creation feats, which means you pay half price for anything you put on it.

If you're going to make an Arcane/Divine hybrid, go Druid 3/ Wizard 3/ Mystic Theurge 4/ Arcane Heirophant 10+, in Races of the Wild. At level 20 that gets 17th level spellcasting in both classes, 13th level Wild Shape, 13th level Animal Companion benefits, and can cast Wizard spells in nonmetal armor without risking arcane spell failure. At level 22 you'll be able to Wild Shape into Huge forms up to 15 HD, so that means you can go around in Dire Tortoise form from Sandstorm and always get a surprise round every fight. Get Natural Spell for sure, probably Practiced Spellcaster twice, and I'd get Natural Bond and a Dire Eagle companion from Races of Stone. Be good aligned, and its Int score will be high enough that it too can be good aligned. Your animal companion should take Sacred Vow and Vow of Poverty from BoED to get obscene bonuses without even needing any magic items.

[Talic]

Cite text showing that Banned schools aren't on your class spell list. I know they can't be learned or cast, and you can't use items with that trigger, but not sure about the "not on your list".

Second, for Miracle, you treat it as a Sorceror/Wizard spell. It's added to the Sorceror/Wizard list for you.

[Brock Samson]

"If you're going to make an Arcane/Divine hybrid, go Druid 3/ Wizard 3/ Mystic Theurge 4/ Arcane Heirophant 10+, in Races of the Wild. At level 20 that gets 17th level spellcasting in both classes, 13th level Wild Shape, 13th level Animal Companion benefits, and can cast Wizard spells in nonmetal armor without risking arcane spell failure. At level 22 you'll be able to Wild Shape into Huge forms up to 15 HD, so that means you can go around in Dire Tortoise form from Sandstorm and always get a surprise round every fight. Get Natural Spell for sure, probably Practiced Spellcaster twice, and I'd get Natural Bond and a Dire Eagle companion from Races of Stone. Be good aligned, and its Int score will be high enough that it too can be good aligned. Your animal companion should take Sacred Vow and Vow of Poverty from BoED to get obscene bonuses without even needing any magic items."

I kind of like this, but does anyone think it would be too MaD? Would I just want to possibly just have a 19 or 20 in Wisdom, then up my INT as high as possible, relying on the former for buffing, and that latter gets to be a higher stat and used for more offense?

Does anyone else want to speak on the Archivist/Wizard defense?

[Talic]

You can start with a 14 wis, 18 int, and a decent Con.

5 Stat boosts into int.

+6 int item, +6 wis item.
+5 int tome, +4 Wis tome.

Final stats? 24 Wis (good number of bonus spells for buffing and such), and Int 34 (For the high DC for offensive spells).

EDIT: With the items I listed above, you can have a 10 starting wisdom, and end with a Wis 20.

[Brock Samson]

I thought that an ability boosting item (headband of intellect) didn't increase your number of spells per day? Am I wrong here?

[Talic]

Doesn't increase skill points, I know that. AFAIK, it does for spells, though slots are lost if the bonus is.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Druid/Wizard isn't very MAD since the only stats you need are Con, Int, and Wis, everything else can be 3's and you'll still be amazing. Wizard/Archivist isn't bad if you have only one high stat, but if you're using point buy you can get a few high stats and dump everything else. Never take more than ten levels of Mystic Theurge, its epic progression is worse than you'd get by taking more Wizard and Archivist levels. If you're going to use that build, continue advancing True Necromancer instead of Mystic Theurge in the epic levels.

Another option would be to go Illumian (Krau) Beguiler 1/ Wizard 1/ Master Specialist 3/ Ultimate Magus 10, then continue advancing Master Specialist and maybe get one level in Mindbender or a few in Archmage or Incantatrix. With Practiced Spellcaster: Beguiler you'll be able to add 10/10 UM spellcasting to Wizard, so at level 20 you'll have 19th level Wizard spellcasting and 8th level Beguiler spellcasting. You could instead go Gnome, still with Practiced Spellcaster: Beguiler but you'd get 9/10 UM toward Wizard, and get Shadowcraft Mage 5.

You could make a 'The Word' build, go something like Cloistered Cleric 6/ Divine Oracle 4/ Contemplative 8/ Heirophant 4, with Practiced Spellcaster. Remember that you can add your own bonuses and penalties in the most beneficial order, so add Practiced Spellcaster first to have a caster level of 22, then add the +4 for Heirophant 4, with another +1 for an Ioun Stone for a caster level of 27. Get Divine Metamagic: Heighten Spell with Earth Spell (RoS) and take Improved Heighten Spell at 21, along with a lot of Night Sticks. Get as many Knowledge skills as you can, and make a check to identify each opponent every encounter to find out how many hit dice they have. Just asking "What's the DC?" about a monster will tell you, since the DC for any creature is 10 + HD. Then use Divine Metamagic: Heighten with Earth Spell to boost your caster level to whatever the DC was (10 higher than their HD) when you cast Holy Word, and they'll die without a saving throw. You could even do this with an Archivist if you take Sacred Exorcist for Turn Undead. It's a bit cheesy, but it's a guaranteed victory for even the most difficult encounters.

Try going Cleric 5/ Divine Oracle 4/ Dweomerkeeper 10/ Contemplative 1, then more Dweomerkeeper in the epic levels. Use the feat Magical Training (PGtF) to qualify for it, and visit the Frog God's Fane detailed in Complete Scoundrel to get Skill Focus for Divine Oracle without spending a feat. You can use your Supernatural Spell ability to cast spells like Miracle and True Resurrection without any XP or costly material components.

@Talic: You're right, I guess I was thinking of another effect that actually removed the school from your class list, possibly something from 3.0 even. Regardless, Shadow Evocation/Illusion creates an "illusory version of a sorcerer or wizard evocation spell" which still does not account for a given character's spell list. Being on your class spell list does not make it a sorcerer or wizard spell, otherwise you wouldn't even need Arcane Disciple as long as someone somewhere took that feat to add Miracle to that spell list. You can't copy a sorcerer or wizard evocation spell from that guy's spell list, rather than the one from the book; just the same, you can't copy any evocation from your own spell list if it's not normally a sorcerer or wizard spell. Changing whether or not you have access to it does not change what classes in general have access to it, which is the list that Shadow Evocation draws from. As I said before, it copies spells from the general sorcerer/wizard spell list, not spells from your sorcerer/wizard spell list.

[Talic]

You could make a 'The Word' build, go something like Cloistered Cleric 6/ Divine Oracle 4/ Contemplative 8/ Heirophant 4, with Practiced Spellcaster. Remember that you can add your own bonuses and penalties in the most beneficial order, so add Practiced Spellcaster first to have a caster level of 22, then add the +4 for Heirophant 4, with another +1 for an Ioun Stone for a caster level of 27. Get Divine Metamagic: Heighten Spell with Earth Spell (RoS) and take Improved Heighten Spell at 21, along with a lot of Night Sticks. Get as many Knowledge skills as you can, and make a check to identify each opponent every encounter to find out how many hit dice they have. Just asking "What's the DC?" about a monster will tell you, since the DC for any creature is 10 + HD. Then use Divine Metamagic: Heighten with Earth Spell to boost your caster level to whatever the DC was (10 higher than their HD) when you cast Holy Word, and they'll die without a saving throw. You could even do this with an Archivist if you take Sacred Exorcist for Turn Undead. It's a bit cheesy, but it's a guaranteed victory for even the most difficult encounters.

Earth magic does not work that way. It increases Spell level, not caster level.

@Talic: You're right, I guess I was thinking of another effect that actually removed the school from your class list, possibly something from 3.0 even. Regardless, Shadow Evocation/Illusion creates an "illusory version of a sorcerer or wizard evocation spell" which still does not account for a given character's spell list. Being on your class spell list does not make it a sorcerer or wizard spell, otherwise you wouldn't even need Arcane Disciple as long as someone somewhere took that feat to add Miracle to that spell list. You can't copy a sorcerer or wizard evocation spell from that guy's spell list, rather than the one from the book; just the same, you can't copy any evocation from your own spell list if it's not normally a sorcerer or wizard spell. Changing whether or not you have access to it does not change what classes in general have access to it, which is the list that Shadow Evocation draws from. As I said before, it copies spells from the general sorcerer/wizard spell list, not spells from your sorcerer/wizard spell list.

The Ability specifically says you add it to your class spell list. If you're a Dread necro? They're on your dread necro list.

If you're a Sorceror/wizard? Then they're on your sorceror wizard list. It explicitly says that they are added to your spell list. That means, incidentally, that they are on your spell list. If you are a sorceror or wizard, that means that they are on your sorceror/wizard spell list. If a spell is on your sorceror/wizard spell list, it qualifies for the ability. Miracle is on your sorceror/wizard spell list. Thus, Miracle qualifies for the ability, for arcane disciples venerating trickery and luck.

This argument has been brought up before in CharOp. It does not hold weight by RAW.

[Brock Samson]

Ok Biffoniacus_Furiou, give me one build, I want: 9th level arcane and divine spellcasting. And either turning for divine metamagic persisting, or wildshape. Can you give me your recommended build, and the sourcebooks they're in, what I'll be getting, then I can work on items/equipment/spells/other feats.

[Brock Samson]

Oh, and having a Wisdom that's not that high, how am I going to prevent myself from taking any ability damage/drain that might prevent my divine spellcasting? Would persisting Death Ward work best? Would the afforementioned Soulfire Armor work? Would I want to persist Death Ward and Mind Blank, or are the risks of them being dispelled too great, and possibly use the ring that offers Mind Blank?

[Brock Samson]

Or if he's fallen asleep, anyone else with a good break-down following those guidelines, hop on in!

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

As long as you are standing on stone or
unworked earth (including normal soil), you can use
the Heighten Spell feat to added effect. If you cast a spell
using a spell slot one level higher than the spell’s actual
level, the spell is treated as a spell of two levels higher and
your effective caster level is increased by one. If you use
a spell slot two levels higher, the spell is treated as three
levels higher and your effective caster level is increased by
two, and so on.

It does indeed increase your caster level by however much you Heightened the spell by. That's why Earth Spell is so good for a Shadowcraft Mage build, at level 12 you'll be using a 6th level spell slot to cast a 7th level Evocation or Conjuration at caster level 18 and DC 25 + Int mod.


Are you using point buy, or rolling your stats, or what? I'd say go Druid 3/ Wizard 3/ Mystic Theurge 4/ Arcane Heirophant 10+. Use Wizard for offense and Druid for buffs and Wild Shape.
You'll want the Spell Compendium for your spells, check the Batman Guide for good choices, also you'll want the spells Iceberg from Frostburn, Invoke Magic from Lords of Madness, and Celerity from PH2. The feat Quick Recovery from Lords of Madness is good to have for when you cast Celerity. Either specialize in Conjuration and get Abrupt Jaunt from PH2, or go with Snow Elf in Frostburn and take the Elf Wizard 1 racial substitution level from Races of the Wild. Both Iceberg and Invoke Magic are Evocations, so if you specialize you'll want to ban Enchantment and Necromancy.

Arcane Heirophant is in Races of the Wild, Dire Tortoise is in Sandstorm, Natural Bond is in Complete Adventurer, Wilding Clasp is in Magic Item Compendium, Item Familiar is in Unearthed Arcana or the online SRD I linked to earlier, Sacred Vow and Vow of Poverty for your animal companion are in the Book of Exalted Deeds, Dire Eagle is in Races of Stone.

At Arcane Heirophant 13 you'll get Elemental Wild Shape, and you'll want to get the feat Improved Elemental Wild Shape from the epic section of the Characters chapter in the DMG. At the end of each day, Wild Shape into an Immoth from MM2 and store all of your remaining spells as Ice Runes. They remain indefinitely regardless of your form and they're a free action to activate. With just a few days of down time you'll have enough Ice Runes to last you quite a few adventures.

[ChrisDemilich]

Wizard 13/Archmage 5 Lich
ECL 22

Strength 9
Dexterity 26 (15 + 5 enhancement bonus from wish + 6 gloves of dexterity)
Contstitution None. Undead.
Intelligence 33 (22 + 5 enhancement bonus from wish + 6 Headband of intellect)
Wisdom 15
Charisma 10

Hit Points: 18 D12 (115 Hit Points)

Speed: 30 feet.
Initiative: +8 dex
Base Attack Bonus: 9/4
Grapple Modifier: 8 (9 base att - 1 str)
Saving throws: Fort 11(6 base + 5 from cloak of resistance +5), Ref 19(6 base + 5 from Cloak of resist + 8 Dex), Will 17(10 Base + 5 Cloak + 2 Wis)

AC: 29(1 armor bonus, 8 dex, 5 natural armor, 5 deflection)

Skills: Choose your own. You have 143 Skill points, including adjustment from INT increase as you level.

Feats: again, choose your own, but I recommend Maximize spell, Craft Magic Arms/armor, Craft Construct, Quicken Spell, and Spell focus(necromancy).

Spells per day: level 0- 4 spells. Level 1- 4 spells, plus 3 bonus. Level 2- 4 spells plus 3 bonus. Level 4- 4 spells plus 2 bonus. Level 5- 2 spells plus 2 bonus. Level 6- 3 spells plus 2 bonus. Level 7- 1 spell plus 2 bonus. Level 8- 1 spell plus 1 bonus. Level 9- 2 spells plus 1 bonus.

Note: Several of the spell levels have less spells then they should. This is for the archmage high arcana. It is worth it.

Race/Class features: Summon familiar. Arcane reach(all touch spells have 30 foot range)-High Arcana, Mastery of Elements(Any elemental spell can be cast with a different element)-High Arcana, Mastery of Shaping(All area spells can be shaped to include holes, which are not affected)-High Arcana, Spell Like Ability 2/day-Horrid Wilting-High arcana, Spell like Ability 2/day-Quickened Fireball-High Arcana. From Lich: +4 turn resistance, Damage reduction 15/Bludgeon and magic, Immunities(Cold, Electricity, Polymorphing, Mind affecting attacks), Undead traits, Fear Aura-60 foot radius. DC 22 Will save, Paralyzing Touch - DC 22 Fort save, Touch attack 1/round. 1d8+5. DC 22 will to half damage, +5 Natural armor.

Items: Headband of intellect +6, Gloves of dexterity +6, Bracers of armor +1, Boots of Teleportation(For speedy retreats), Cloak of resistance+5, Ring of Protection +5.


Now for the fun stuff. You may notice that you are left with lots of extra gold over the starting gold for a level 22 character. You may also notice that technically, you are only a level 18 character, with an extra +4 to the ECL. If your DM agrees to allow you to start with the base experience of a level 22 character, but say that instead of gaining levels, you spent it on magic items, then... Golems. To be precise, a shield guardian, an iron golem, and 2 flesh golems(making sure to take the right skills to craft them).

Also, one use of genesis to hide your phylactery on a demiplane. Make the demiplane an extreme cold environment, with hurricane force winds, poisonous atmosphere, no oxygen(Maybe a chlorine atmosphere), and in the middle, a 100 foot radius steel sphere, with a permanent phase door leading into it. Inside the long winding corridor, set some traps, or mindless undead. Or a few permanent symbols of death work too.

If your DM does not agree, then spend the rest of your gold on a robe of the archmage, and maybe a good staff or two. And a rod of greater metamagic works too.

One thing to change. When you reach level 18, you get another feat. But because your ECL is 21 at the time, you can choose an epic level feat. Take Improved Spell capacity, giving yourself 2 tenth level caster slots. One from the feat, and one from high stats. Now, you have 2 slots that can fit a quickened, maximized fireball. Which you can cast as ice, sonic, electric, acid, or fire. Which is complete ownage.