Options for countering Dispel?

[Corey]

I'm rolling a couple of Incantrixes, so counterspelling or otherwise immunizing myself against the Dispel line seems desirable.

What are the options?

Reactive Counterspell seems to basically take three feats, which is a lot.

A Ring of Counterspells would seem to take care of Greater Dispel but not Chain Dispel, and of course it uses a ring slot.

Any other options?

[Thurbane]

A friendly Cleric and Greater Spell Immunity? (Or UMD and scrolls of same).

[Dr Bwaa]

Really high caster level
Spell Enhancer
Ring of Enduring Arcana

[The Glyphstone]

Spell Immunity won't work, because Dispel Magic/Greater Dispel Magic are SR: No.

Your best bet is just an absurd caster level. Get a Ring of Enduring Arcana (CMage or CArcane), for +4 caster level vs. dispel attempts. A Ring of Arcane Might is a flat +1 CL, as is an Ioun Stone. Levels in Archmage for Spell Power, etc.

Assuming you do all your buffing in a 10min-span w/ Persist spam, at, say, level 20:

CL20 base. +1 from Ring of Arcane Might, +1 from Ioun Stone. +1 from Archmage. +4 from a UMD'd Bead of Karma. +4 effective from a Ring of Enduring Arcana.

That's a caster level for each spell of 27, with +4 vs. dispels. Greater Dispel Magic caps out at 1d20+20, so the maximum anyone can roll is a 40. With CL27 and the RoEA, it's impossible for you to get dispelled*, since they'd need to get a 42 minimum. All you need to worry about now is Disjunction.

If you can't get your hands on a Bead, substitute in a couple more levels of Archmage.

*Barring the opponent having a Spellcaster's Bane cast on them already, or the Elven Spell Lore feat, as each are flat bonuses to the total roll, not the die roll.

[Fishy]

For cheese, there's that Faerun magic item, Spellblade, I think, that stores one spell and counters it any time someone casts it at you. Buy a Spellblade of Dispel Magic, and a Spellblade of Greater Dispel Magic, and... there's still ways of getting dispelled, but you're looking pretty good.

[Thurbane]

Spell Immunity won't work, because Dispel Magic/Greater Dispel Magic are SR: No.

Yeah, I realized that about 10 seconds after I posted, then got interrupted by a phonecall.

[Corey]

Looks like Ring of Spell Battle from Complete Arcane gives one free counterspell per day. Much more potent than Ring of Counterspells. And of course if you're an Incantrix you Spellcraft maxed out anyway. I'll be at +39 or so unbuffed on my Level 20 gestalt Bard/Sorcerer, which is an autosuccess identifying spellcasting around me, which is a good thing anyway.

The problem is that he has several other rings he wants to wear ... I may have to forgo the low-cost Ring of Sirine's Grace the DM allowed, and just make that one of many spells to Persist. The Ring of Enduring Arcana (CM) just makes the problem worse.

I really don't want to give up the Ring of Evasion. I guess it's time to talk to the DM about changing body slots ...

Duelward -- from SpC -- lets you do one Immediate Action counterspell, and it too is Persistable. Hmm. I'm running up a lot of things to Persist:

Sirine's Grace
Ruin Delver's Fortune x 3
Duelward
Greater Arcane Sight
Glibness
Detect Thoughts
Tongues
Freedom of Movement

That's 10 right there, without speed buffs or "Don't hit me" illusions, and my limit is 9.

The Strand of Prayer Beads idea is a great one. Thanks. Costs 29K GP if I did the math right. 10 minutes once/day, which means it works for the Persisted stuff but not then also in a fight.

Ring of Enduring Arcana has to be worn for 24 hours straight before it does anything, which regrettably means one can't just slip it on and off to cast a few spells.

[Corey]

By the way, I think the CL limit for Chain Dispel is 25.

[magic9mushroom]

I'm rolling a couple of Incantrixes, so counterspelling or otherwise immunizing myself against the Dispel line seems desirable.

What are the options?

Get counterspelling hax, use it.

Reactive Counterspell seems to basically take three feats, which is a lot.

Reactive Counterspell also is crap. Just pick up Battlemagic Perception and Duelward. Divine Defiance (in combination with Battlemagic Perception, it allows you to counterspell SLAs [!!!]) is useful but requires a dip in a divine casting class.

A Ring of Counterspells would seem to take care of Greater Dispel but not Chain Dispel, and of course it uses a ring slot.

Ring of Greater Counterspells, however, is awesome.

[Dr Bwaa]

BmP is considerably better than Duelward, iirc.

Also, Ring of Enduring Arcana is only 6k. That means it only costs 9k to add it to another ring. Cheap cheap cheap.

PS. Glibness lol

EDIT: If you're already abusing Ruin Delver's Fortune, what do you need a ring of evasion for? Doesn't RDF give it to you?

[magic9mushroom]

BmP is considerably better than Duelward, iirc.

Also, Ring of Enduring Arcana is only 6k. That means it only costs 9k to add it to another ring. Cheap cheap cheap.

PS. Glibness lol

BmP is considerably better than Duelward, but the latter gives you another buffer.

[Runestar]

To guard against area-dispels, you can consider casting all your buffs at 1 caster lv lower than your max, then casting a sacrificial cantrip at your highest caster lv so it will be targeted by dispel magic. Of course, it might make you slightly more vulnerable to a targeted dispel...

Message works well, since it lasts 10 minutes/lv.

[Corey]

BmP is considerably better than Duelward, iirc.

Also, Ring of Enduring Arcana is only 6k. That means it only costs 9k to add it to another ring. Cheap cheap cheap.

PS. Glibness lol

EDIT: If you're already abusing Ruin Delver's Fortune, what do you need a ring of evasion for? Doesn't RDF give it to you?

Good points.

I've been misreading Page 233 of the MIC for a long time, coming to the conclusion that combining items is into one is more expensive than it really is. Thanks!

[Eldariel]

By the way, I think the CL limit for Chain Dispel is 25.

Reaving Dispel caps out at +20 too by the SC version, unfortunately. It's really stupid, but that's how it is. So...mostly Disjunction you should worry about at that point.

[Aharon]

It's in an Adventure-book, and it's expensive, so it might not be your best bet:

Mystic Shield, from Anauroch: The Empire of Shades, is an 8th level spell that prevents all spells of 6th level or lower from affecting you, except if you cast them yourself. Its' material component costs 400 gp and its' duration is only 1 round per level, though.

The same book also has Dweomer Vortex, which automatically counters any 3rd level or lower spell or spell-like ability that is targeted at you.

[Lycanthromancer]

I've got an easy, multipurpose, and incredibly CHEAP way to do this, and it's actually one of the better reasons to get a familiar.

Get yourself a raven, pump up your Spellcraft. Now use my tinfoil hat trick (shrink item on a wooden or metal cone or dome, and wear it as a hat), and any time you think you might be in for trouble just have your familiar ready an action to speak the command word each round any time you'd be affected by any sort of negative effect that you don't feel like using abrupt jaunt to get out of (including dispel magic, charging barbarians, and Mialee's amorous advances).

Costs you virtually nothing, and even protects you from antimagic fields!

[Corey]

Interesting.

Do you have a version of the tinfoil hat that works while flying, or does it depend on being on the ground?

[Jack_Simth]

Interesting.

Do you have a version of the tinfoil hat that works while flying, or does it depend on being on the ground?

Umm... tin plates on the soles of your boots?

[Lycanthromancer]

Umm... tin plates on the soles of your boots?

Yeah, this.

Put the hat over your head, and make the sole of one shoe a shrunken piece of boiled leather (or something) that's slightly larger than the diameter of the hat. Now you're surrounded from all sides.

[Corey]

It's in an Adventure-book, and it's expensive, so it might not be your best bet:

Mystic Shield, from Anauroch: The Empire of Shades, is an 8th level spell that prevents all spells of 6th level or lower from affecting you, except if you cast them yourself. Its' material component costs 400 gp and its' duration is only 1 round per level, though.

The same book also has Dweomer Vortex, which automatically counters any 3rd level or lower spell or spell-like ability that is targeted at you.

Incantrix takes care of the duration part. Interesting.

But yeah, the material part is expensive.

[Corey]

Yeah, this.

Put the hat over your head, and make the sole of one shoe a shrunken piece of boiled leather (or something) that's slightly larger than the diameter of the hat. Now you're surrounded from all sides.

But if it's hard enough to stave off physical attacks, it's probably pretty heavy.

My other concern, of course, is with a defense whose fundamental premise is "Oops, time to recuse myself from this battle."

[Lycanthromancer]

But if it's hard enough to stave off physical attacks, it's probably pretty heavy.

You wanted something that could protect you, and that'll do it. That's why I suggest boiled leather; it's not quite as heavy as wood or most metals (possibly barring mithral), so it should be fine. However, if you want to try a wide mad made of woven reeds or something, you'll finally find a good use for that Craft (Basketweaving) skill you've been putting points into.

My other concern, of course, is with a defense whose fundamental premise is "Oops, time to recuse myself from this battle."

That's what dimension door and abrupt jaunt are for. That, and a permanency will let you reshrink the hat/shoe after you're done with it.