[3.5] Factotum: good Arcane Dilettante spells

[kamikasei]

I'm building an epic-level factotum, either Factotum 20/Something Else 5 or Factotum/True Genius. In the first case, the arcane dilettante class feature gives me one seventh-level spell and seven sixth-or-lower as SLAs each usable 1/day, with a caster level of 20; in the second case, it's one ninth-level spell and eleven 8th-or-lower, CL 25. The spells may not have XP costs, and I can't prepare multiple copies of the same spell. I do believe they have to be sorcerer/wizard spells, not just any arcanist's, and I can't recall whether Int or Cha is the basis for the DCs, but the character is actually Cha-focused (gestalt with Binder), so most likely save-requiring spells should be avoided.

What would people recommend using those spell slots on? I was considering some basic buff and utility spells, bearing in mind that the character's a planeswalker: greater magic weapon, phantom steed, overland flight; plane shift and greater teleport can get him to any single point in the multiverse not warded once per day, and teleport too can get him out of there quickly. (I intend to pick up an obsidian steed so that once a week the character can plane shift at will for more intensive journeying.)

Are there good damage spells I should pick up? Other important buffs or defenses I'm missing? Can I legitimately pick up a reserve feat and if so what would you recommend? Remember that the character already has a whackload of abilities from his bound vestiges (most likely six at once depending how I spend my first epic feat).

[raitalin]

Some of my favorites, keeping the theme of uber-versatility of Factotums:

6th: Ruby Ray of Reversal SpC (blows holes in Forcecages, counters any sort of restraining device or arcane lock, springs traps, counters polymorph/flesh to stone and magic jar, and destroys webs/slime/grease in a 20 ft. radius)

7th: Elemental Body (SpC): Elemental traits (Yay, crit immunity!) and either flight/push + +3 natural armor/Fire immunity+burn/swim speed + dispel fire. Plus its hr/lvl duration!

Don't bother with damage spells (except possibly disintegrate) , as you won't get enough to be really effective. Any "save or lose" spells are good, since your Int will likely be as tricked out as a Wiz and your CL is maxed. Rays are great because of the Factotum ability to ignore SR, So Disintegrate, Stun Ray, Ray of Entropy (its a penalty so it works on things that are immune to ability damage) and Ray of Light are all good options.

Acid Fog and Freezing Fog are both nice as well and Wall of Gears can also assist with your battlefield shaping exploits.

Tenser's Transformation is a great use of your last IP of the encounter.

And don't forget wands for those great low-level-scaling-doesn't-matter-much spells like Restoration, Grease, Mirror Image, Fly, Greater Invisibility, Daylight, Ray of Enfeeblement (remember you can ignore SR!), Wall of Ice and Web.

[kamikasei]

6th: Ruby Ray of Reversal SpC (blows holes in Forcecages, counters any sort of restraining device or arcane lock, springs traps, counters polymorph/flesh to stone and magic jar, and destroys webs/slime/grease in a 20 ft. radius)

Not all at once, I assume... I'll check it out, sure sounds handy. The great thing about arcane dilettante is that any spell not of the highest level you can cast costs you exactly the same, so there's no need to worry about blowing a high-level slot.

7th: Elemental Body (SpC): Elemental traits (Yay, crit immunity!) and either flight/push + +3 natural armor/Fire immunity+burn/swim speed + dispel fire. Plus its hr/lvl duration!

Sounds good... character already has heavy fortification armor but this sounds like it could be a very handy "naked in a dungeon" spell.

Don't bother with damage spells (except possibly disintegrate)

On this topic, I should mention that the character is for a political/manipulation game. So, individual combat ability is much less important than something that stops gods and monsters from simply killing him with a thought.

Any "save or lose" speels are good, since your Int will likely be as tricked out as a Wiz and your CL is maxed.

As mentioned, the character is a gestalt with Binder and so it's Charisma, not Intelligence, that I'm tricking out. Good rolls and epic wealth mean the difference isn't that huge, though - 28 Int and 34 Cha, probably.

[raitalin]

Right, didn't see that bit about the gestalt with Binder but I edited my post recalling that the Factotum can ignore SR, so Rays are awesome.

And yeah, the RRoR only does one at a time, but I've used it in every session with my Epic Factotum (Fac20/Master Thrower5/Thief-acrobat5) and its saved someone's life.

[raitalin]

On this topic, I should mention that the character is for a political/manipulation game. So, individual combat ability is much less important than something that stops gods and monsters from simply killing him with a thought.

An item that grants Mind Blank one that grants Freedom of Movement and one that grants Death Ward along with armor with "Proof against Transmutation" (Magic of Faerun) deals with most of these problems.

EDIT: Also, the Reserve Feat thing is one of the great mysteries of the Factotum. Last I checked the general consensus was "No", but its entirely up to your DM.

[Jalor]

Hey, this is for that one FR game where you're tearing down the Wall of the Faithless, isn't it? I was making a Factotum too, except mine is gestalt with Archivist.

Anyway, there are a couple good damage spells, although they're better at low levels. Shivering Touch is 3d6 Dex damage on a melee touch attack, no save. Ray of Stupidity is 1d4+1 Int damage, no save. You have a class feature that lets you add your Int mod to damage. 3d6+9 Dexterity damage is pretty nice. Since you also ignore SR.

Ruby Ray is great too. Your 9th level slot is Disjunction. No exceptions.

[kamikasei]

Hey, this is for that one FR game where you're tearing down the Wall of the Faithless, isn't it? I was making a Factotum too, except mine is gestalt with Archivist.

Yup. I think a few people may be going for Factotum, actually - it's a natural fit for Gestalt, after all.

Ruby Ray is great too. Your 9th level slot is Disjunction. No exceptions.

Good advice.

Raitalin: high-level Binders get Mind Blank so long as they have a vestige bound, and I'm pretty sure I'm already getting a freedom effect from somewhere... I'll look in to death ward and the armor you mention, though.

How important is poison/disease immunity, and what's the best way to get it?

[Jalor]

How important is poison/disease immunity, and what's the best way to get it?

Depends on the DM, effortless for you with your 19th level class feature or any number of magical items.

[raitalin]

Shivering touch is also almost universally banned as being broken and adding your Int to ability damage from a spell is questionable by RAI, so check with the DM before you try it.

Poison immunity is almost a given by Epic levels so often that poison is rarely utilized, but it is pretty much the only may to survive the Poison DCs in the ELH. Use the MIC "adding common abilities" to make your Periapt of Proof Against Poison also give you +6 Con (or +6 Wis, or whatever).

Diseases are pretty irrelevant. You can use the "Emulate class feature" Factotum ability to become immune to disease the next day, so no worries for you.

[Jalor]

Shivering touch is also almost universally banned as being broken and adding your Int to ability damage from a spell is questionable by RAI, so check with the DM before you try it.

People always say Shivering Touch/Incantatrix/whatever is "usually banned" and yet they keep ending up in games. Also, there's nothing questionable about it. It works by RAW, and in theory a DM could rule anything.

Poison immunity is almost a given by Epic levels so often that poison is rarely utilized, but it is pretty much the only may to survive the Poison DCs in the ELH. Use the MIC "adding common abilities" to make your Periapt of Proof Against Poison also give you +6 Con (or +6 Wis, or whatever).

No, you make it also an Amulet of Second Chances and a Hand of Glory. Your Belt of Magnificence/Battle gives +6 to all ability scores.

Diseases are pretty irrelevant. You can use the "Emulate class feature" Factotum ability to become immune to disease the next day, so no worries for you.

Activate it every night before going to sleep in your CL 8 Eternal Wand of Rope Trick.

[kamikasei]

People always say Shivering Touch/Incantatrix/whatever is "usually banned" and yet they keep ending up in games. Also, there's nothing questionable about it. It works by RAW, and in theory a DM could rule anything.

Yes, but this DM has repeatedly cautioned against cheese...

No, you make it also an Amulet of Second Chances and a Hand of Glory. Your Belt of Magnificence/Battle gives +6 to all ability scores.

I'd forgotten the belt of magnificence existed... hmmm... however, the rules referred to wouldn't let you add something like a hand of glory to a periapt of proof against poison. They're in the MIC and intended to add "standard" enhancements like boosted stats, armor, saves etc. to items in stat-enhancer slots. Adding the abilities of one "non-standard" wondrous item to another would incur the DMG double-cost charge.

I'll probably go for a periapt of proof against poison, +6 wisdom, +6 constitution, unless the DM rules that too cheesy, in which case he surely won't approve of a belt of magnificence.

[raitalin]

No, you make it also an Amulet of Second Chances and a Hand of Glory. Your Belt of Magnificence/Battle gives +6 to all ability scores.

Yeah, you can only add the common item abilities to a unique item, not stack them all into one. Belt of magnificence isn't that great with the MIC rules, since you can throw +6 (ability) on 6 different slots for 120k.

Activate it every night before going to sleep in your CL 8 Eternal Wand of Rope Trick.

You have to pick 3 class abilities that you're able to emulate each day, disease immunity should generally not be one of them. I usually go with Sneak Attack, Favored Enemy and Skirmish but YMMV.

[kamikasei]

Yeah, you can only add the common item abilities to a unique item, not stack them all into one. Belt of magnificence isn't that great with the MIC rules, since you can throw +6 (ability) on 6 different slots for 120k.

How's that now? +6 to a stat = 36k gold, time six is 216k gold which makes it an epic item and increases the price tenfold to more than the starting wealth for 25th level - right? (If it's a single item, of course. As separate items they simply total the 216k and are well within budget.)

[Jalor]

You have to pick 3 class abilities that you're able to emulate each day, disease immunity should generally be one of them. I usually go with Sneak Attack, Favored Enemy and Skirmish but YMMV.

A Druid's animal companion is listed as extraordinary. Picture it; you're about to fight the BBEG, and then you get a clever idea and a gigantic bear jumps out of nowhere and mauls the BBEG.

[Draz74]

Adding the abilities of one "non-standard" wondrous item to another would incur the DMG double-cost charge.

One-and-a-half cost charges, actually. Which really isn't all that harsh, especially when only one of an item's many abilities is actually expensive.

Besides Disintegrate, the other damage spell you may find worthwhile is Maw of Chaos. Takes your Level 9 slot, though.

A few of my favorite Arcane Dilettante spells are: (from Core or SpC unless stated otherwise)

- Ruby Ray of Reversal, indeed (L6)
- Arrow of Bone (L7)
- Brilliant Aura (L7)
- Starmantle (L6, from BoED)
- Nightstalker's Transformation (L6)
- to get rid of the former's annoying material component cost: Quick Potion (L2)
- Mass Resist Energy (L4)
- Spell Turning (L7)
- HEROICS (L2, best spell ever)

[Emy]

Your 9th level slot is Disjunction. No exceptions.

Why would you want to destroy loot?

But yeah, Elemental Body is great. You can keep it up all the time, and it gives you a fly speed with perfect maneuverability.

[raitalin]

How's that now? +6 to a stat = 36k gold, time six is 216k gold which makes it an epic item and increases the price tenfold to more than the starting wealth for 25th level - right? (If it's a single item, of course. As separate items they simply total the 216k and are well within budget.)

+6 to a stat is only 20k when you're adding it on to an existing magic item. MIC pg234. What you're talking about is a single item with +6 to all, which is the Belt of Magnificence.

And the Animal Companion ability only grants the ability to get an animal companion, it doesn't create one from thin air. Getting one requires a 24 hour process, and the ability only lasts for 1 minute.

[Jalor]

Why would you want to destroy loot?

When it's a magical trap?

[Eldariel]

+6 to a stat is only 20k when you're adding it on to an existing magic item. MIC pg234. What you're talking about is a single item with +6 to all, which is the Belt of Magnificence.

And the Animal Companion ability only grants the ability to get an animal companion, it doesn't create one from thin air. Getting one requires a 24 hour process, and the ability only lasts for 1 minute.

36k. It's a 20k increase from +4, which is 16k, or 12k increase from +2 which is 4k. The formula is Bonus^2*1000.

[raitalin]

36k. It's a 20k increase from +4, which is 16k, or 12k increase from +2 which is 4k. The formula is Bonus^2*1000.

Ah, right. I was misreading the table. Strange way to format the table.

[Eldariel]

Ah, right. I was misreading the table. Strange way to format the table.

It's because of the "synergy"-directions in the beginning of the book. Basically, it's used to denote abilities that form a chain for upgrading purposes.

[Fax Celestis]

I'm a fan of "please save my butt" spells like ruin delver's fortune and improvisation (both SpC), myself. In fact, the improvisation spell is like being a factotum-lite in and of itself. Chasing perfection (PHB-II) can be worth it if you're not pumping all your stats already with enhancement bonuses: a +6 enhancement to all your stats is really really nice, but generally by the time you can get it, it's not overwriting your items very much.

[CockroachTeaParty]

I had never heard of this Belt of Magnificence before. Who knew it was in the Miniature's Handbook, of all places? Finally, a high level psion could now have a psicrown, and still have a +6 enhancement to this INT! Huzzah!

[Draz74]

I'm a fan of "please save my butt" spells like ruin delver's fortune and improvisation (both SpC), myself. In fact, the improvisation spell is like being a factotum-lite in and of itself.

Sadly, although it's thematically perfect, it's a Bard-only spell, and thus unavailable to Factotums unless they houserule it (or PrC Chameleon).

[Fax Celestis]

Sadly, although it's thematically perfect, it's a Bard-only spell, and thus unavailable to Factotums unless they houserule it (or PrC Chameleon).

...khaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan.

[Eldariel]

I had never heard of this Belt of Magnificence before. Who knew it was in the Miniature's Handbook, of all places? Finally, a high level psion could now have a psicrown, and still have a +6 enhancement to this INT! Huzzah!

Magic Item Compendium makes this problem obsolete anyways, but yeah, BoM is slightly cheaper if you use all 6 stats.