Arcane builds....

[Alaxi]

Greetings gamers!

I am trying to get some good ideas to toss around for some arcane builds. I am not too familiar with the concepts, so any explanations and design ideas would be amazing. Here are the specs I am given by the DM.


Books: Any 3.0-3.5 source. Personally, I don't want to use Tome of Battle, but other than that, I am game for anything.

Race: I prefer to play human, but I will play anything as long as the ECL isn't too massive.

Class: If spontaneous is best, I'll do it, but I like the access wizards get...

Ability Scores: 18, 17, 17, 16, 15, 11

Alignment: EVIL

House Rules: Basically as long as there is a sourcebook for the feat/item/spell, it is pretty much allowed. Wealth by level also, (200,000gp) for magic items, tools, etc. DM says as long as there is am itemized list of items (totally redundant, but I figured you might need a laugh... ), cost, and where the source it comes from, he is good with it.

Concept: This is a Good vs. Evil campaign, running along the basis of PvP. I want a build that is good in this aspect, but is not solely good versus a certain type of class...

Other: As flippin powerful as I can get is what I am looking for. Any help will be GREATLY appreciated.


I appreciate any help you can give in this matter.

[Cyclocone]

Alignment: EVIL
As flippin powerful as I can get

Wizard/Tainted Scholar (HoH).

Evil, overpowered and your DM will hate you.

[Eloel]

Should I start on Wizard/Incantatrix, or will someone do that before I do?
(also, level?)

[arkol]

Logic Ninja's Guide to being Batman would be a good place to start if you haven't read that already. I'm pretty sure someone will link you up in a few seconds...

[Eldariel]

Logic Ninja's Guide to Wizards: Being Batman - as requested. Solid bunch of guidelines, but he suggests against the cheesy broken spells. If you truly want to be as strong an arcanist as possible, you'll obviously want to make use of them.

Basic trick is obviously to pick up Tainted Scholar (and get REALLY Tainted - just max out the stat required there) & Incantatrix [Player's Guide to Faerun]. This gives you practically infinite spell slots and the ability to Persist all manners of spells on your person. You can also metamagic your spells to a great degree.


You need to tell the level though. And be clear on whether you want to just be ridiculously strong or do some stupid loops that make you infinitely strong.

[Doc Roc]

I like to season with a dash of war weaver. My build looks like this:

Wizard 3/War Weaver 2/Tainted scholar 1/War Weaver 3/Incantatrix 10/XXXXX 1
Because of Tainted Scholar, you can safely snag Arcane Disciple for things that you might want, like Miracle, the bad-ass brother of wish, or divine power. You'll need to early-enty war weaver but that's generally trivial even without flaws. You'll want to buy Iron Will using the complete scoundrel's magical location: Otyugh Hole.

Playing this is seriously not recommended. It's so much more powerful than a normal character that it's almost laughable. For a variant:

Cloistered Cleric 1/ Wizard 4/Dweomerkeeper 4/Incantatrix10/X 1

[Cyclocone]

You could squeeze in some Red Wizard or Halruaan Elder as well for Circle Magic cheese. I suppose Red Wizard might be more thematicly appropriate for an evil character.

There is also Dweomerkeeper. (PDF)
You could (subject to DM scrutiny) use Arcane Disciple (CDiv) and Southern Magician (RoF) to avoid having to take a level in cleric to enter.

[Keld Denar]

If you are gonna do that...why not just get a Candle of Invocation with that massive chunck of cash, gate in an Efreet, which for another candle, to be a Scaled One of Toril, and gate in a Sarruhk? Then you can just use Manipulate Form to grant yourself the spellcasting feature of a Black Ethergaunt and a Solar, along with every ability ever printed or not printed. That strikes me as just as illogical as even READING tainted scholar.

Its a whole lot less work, in any regards...

[Doc Roc]

Tainted scholar can be fixed. Wish and gate cannot.
Simply reduce max taint thresholds considerably, to say a quarter, or use the UA taint rules which are way more punishing, and tainted sorcerer which gives basically only suffering in exchange for a reasonable measure of power.

PS: So I heer u think teh skai r fallinz?

[Kurald Galain]

Beguiler 1 / Focused specialist conjurer 3 / Master specialist 1 / Ultimate Magus 10 / Archmage 5.

It doesn't get more arcane than that...

[Alaxi]

In my slow, befuddled mind, I forgot to give the allowed level I am building. I apologize to all here.


The DM has called for 15th level characters. Thanks again all.

[oxinabox]

If you want a thurge build (not saying you do)the cheasiest i can come up with (in terms of lvl requiremnts)is:
Warlock 1/wizard 1/Edritch theurge x.
Cheese you way in on the Wizard side with Practiced (or is it aprentice?) SpellCaster.
and on the Warlock side with Crucible of Eldritch might (MIC)
won't work if you dm doesn't allow magic items to quallifie you for a PrC.
But if he lets creatures with Persistant-enlarged enter some of tjhe large PRC (many do) he should allow this.
You only need the crucible till you take 1 lvl of the PrC then you'll qullify.
Cos Eldritch blast increases with any Arcane Spell Casting PrC even if no other warlock abilities do.

[Logalmier]

Arcane Thesis is pretty cheesy, as it can make the metamagic cost for a spell less then zero. Take advantage of this, and ultimate arcane power will be yours.

[HCL]

Illumian (races of destiny) can be a cool race. Power sigil Krau will let you dip any class that would ordinarily not advance your sorcerer/wizard casting, but you will advance anyway because of the sigil

[Fax Celestis]

The Noctumancer does pretty amazing in PvP against other casters, especially if you take the Black Magic path.

Shadowcaster 3/Wizard 1/Noctumancer 10/Mystic Theurge 1

14th level shadowcasting, 12th level wizardry, and the ability to counterspell as an immediate action and recharge your own spell slots with their energy.

[Voice of Reason]

Arcane Thesis is pretty cheesy, as it can make the metamagic cost for a spell less then zero. Take advantage of this, and ultimate arcane power will be yours.

Actually, you would be wrong. Wizards of the Coast errata'd Arcane Thesis in the PHBII errata so that it adds the line: "A spell cannot be reduced to below its original level with the use of this feat."

Errata Page

However, you can still use to make metamagic costs equal zero, and with the right combination of feats and class abilities, you can start shooting off empowered, maximized, chained, twinned, quickened, repeating, magic missiles with Arcane Fusion, or Greater Arcane fusion is you're willing to use the Kobold Sorcerer rituals (arcane fusion will get you 4 uses of an empowered, maximized, chained, twinned, "quickened," repeating magic missile per round, which starts becoming 8 times a round on round two onward, due to the repeating quality. Greater Arcane Fusion combined with a Rapid Arcane Fusion allows you to pull 6 per round, 12 per round at round two and beyond). Keep in mind that since these missiles have been twinned, you're actually looking a 8/16 or 12/24 "casts" of magic missile per round, all of which are empowered and maximized, and can hit up to 15 secondary targets for half damage, and all of which hit automatically. With 5 missiles per cast, at even 8 casts per round (first round of regular arcane fusion) with 5 missiles per cast and 7 damage per missile (assuming no other item or feat bonuses) that'd be 8 (casts) x 5 (missiles per cast) x 7 damage per missile=280 damage to primary target and 140 damage to up to 15 secondary targets (ref 1/2 for them). And I know without a shadow of a doubt that that's not even half as good as it can get.

EDIT: Throw on fell drain metamagic, and automatically give your opponent a number of negative level equal to the number of "casts." Even at your lowest setting, that's 8 negative levels to up to 16 different targets, plus your damage.

[Chrizzt]

@Fax Celestis
How can you become Noctumancer with just one Level of Wizard? Noctumancer requires casting of 2nd Level Arcane Spells. Precocious Apprentice?