So many good level 4 sor/wiz spells, so few spell slots...

[GoodbyeSoberDay]

Hello again, Playground...

Short Version:

My little Focused Specialist Conjurer* is leveling a lot faster than I thought he would be, and will probably be level 7 in a couple of weeks. We all know that level 4 spells are awesome, but which are the most awesome? And given that three of my spell slots have to be from the Conjuration school, what would be the best spell layout?

Expounding (Longer Version):

According to Treantmonk, the heavy hitters from Conjuration at this level are Evard's Black Tentacles, Solid Fog, Orb of Fire, Wall of Sand and Dimension Door. My character (with MMSF: Conj) could also quicken a Benign Transposition. Right now I definitely plan to pick up EBT and Orb of Fire, because it rocks and to power my Fiery Burst respectively. That still leaves me with one Conj spell to prepare between Dim Door, Solid Fog, Wall of Sand and Quickened Benign Transposition. I'm thinking I already have Abrupt Jaunt for hopping around, and Wall of Sand seems like worse BC than Solid Fog, so will it be Solid Fog or Quickened Benign Transposition? Am I missing something?

And then there's that tantalizing last slot. In that slot I could put any of Celerity, Polymorph, Heart of Earth, Enervation, Fear, Greater Invisibility, Greater Mirror Image, or some great spell that slipped my mind and I'd be doing well. But which one is the best spell for the group? Normally that answer would be Polymorph by a mile, but my DM will probably (rightfully) nerf Polymorph by severely limiting the forms known or studied by my character. I was planning on just Polymorphing the Rogue into an N-headed hydra during big combats and watching her go to town but I doubt the DM will allow the Hydra form. What's the next best spell here? I'm leaning towards Heart of Earth; defense is at a premium since character death is *bad news* in this campaign, and I already have Water up for synergy.

Thanks for your help!

*

Spoiler

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The same as the one from this thread; thanks again Keld Denar and Petrocorus!

[jguy]

Heart of Earth. Those 14 extra Temp HP can really come in handy and let you last longer. When you are in a bad spot, Stone Skin without the material component is really good. Also, it keeps you from automatically failing any physical check against you in combat with that +8 vs trip, bullrush ect.

[GoodbyeSoberDay]

I was thinking about slotting enervation instead. The only other touch-AC debuffs that I commonly prepare are Ray of Clumsiness and Ray of Enfeeblement. My current (level 6) list of debuffs mostly relies on targeting a save; Web and Grease for reflex, Glitterdust and Slow for will, and Cloud of Bewilderment for fortitude. My no-save debuff list - unless you count battlefield control like Sleet Storm - is somewhat slim.

That said, pre-metamagic, Enervation only seems worthwhile against casters. Giving an average of -2.5 to everything to one target seems lackluster compared to the other options; it's definitely something to pick up at higher levels, but... I am torn.

[GoodbyeSoberDay]

No one has opinions on Solid Fog, Enervation, Polymorph, and the like?

[valadil]

No one has opinions on Solid Fog, Enervation, Polymorph, and the like?

They're all solid choices. What other spells do you have so far? If I were you I'd chart what spells you have vs what defenses they target and pick a spell that fills a unique slot. (I'm doing this from memory because d20srd is blocked at work, so bear with me if I don't have it quite right) ie, if you have Ray of Enfeeblement, which is a touch AC debuff with no save, there's less incentive to take Enervation which is also a touch AC debuff with no save. It's a better debuff, but will be useful in similar situations. If you don't spells that target no defenses, Solid Fog is a good choice. But if you were planning on taking other similar spells (the only ones that come to mind are derivations such as Freezing Fog (which I actually prefer as it's a level 5 version of SF with some decent upgrades)) then SF doesn't buy you as much. Basically you want as little redundancy in your spells as possible.

[GoodbyeSoberDay]

I'm already pretty well spread out. Here's a sample spell list, with [spells] being ones most likely to change depending on advice:

1st: Mage Armor, Grease, Benign Transposition, Silent Image, Ray of Enfeeblement, Enlarge Person, Nerveskitter, Ray of Clumsiness
2nd: Sculpted Glitterdust, Web, Sculpted Grease, Alter Self, Invisibility, [False Life]
3rd: Melf's Unicorn Arrow, Sleet Storm, Sculpted Cloud of Bewilderment, Haste, Heart of Water
4th: Sculpted Evard's Black Tentacles, [Sculpted Solid Fog], Orb of Fire, [Polymorph]

Note Glitterdust, EBT and Solid Fog are sculpted using Metamagic School Focus. Sculpted Solid Fog could become Quickened Benign Transposition or Dim Door. Polymorph could become Enervation, or Celerity, or Heart of Earth, et cetera.

(In case you're wondering, our group has endurance issues, hence Fiery Burst.)

[Akal Saris]

Personally, I'd take Heart of Earth over Solid Fog, since Solid Fog can also be a PITA for your allies as well, and HoE will last through your "endurance" days.

I'm also a big fan of Greater Mirror Image though, since it regenerates images and is already an immediate action. But it depends on whether you are frequently targeted or not.

[Keld Denar]

Yea, and I'm thoroughly unimpressed by 5th level spells. Solution? Memorize 4th level spells in 5th level slots. Or better yet, memorize SCULPTED 4th level spells in 5th level slots! YAY!

Other than that, you are 112% correct. 4th level spells rock. Its the hardest part of making a Sorcerer for me, because there are just so many good ones and you can't know them all...

Reality-wise, you probably don't need both EBT and Solid Fog. When things start to reliably break out of EBT, swap it out for SF. EBT is better when it works, but SF works all of the time, and with proper positioning, can buy you ~2 rounds of actions for your 1. Also, if everything starts flying a lot, use SF (since EBT requires a surface). ESPECIALLY when things start flying a lot, use SF, because if you do it right vs things with low manevuerability classes, you can induce a stall. 20d6 damage isn't half bad for a 4th level no-save no-SR spell!

[gbprime]

Yea, and I'm thoroughly unimpressed by 5th level spells.

It's a smaller selection, to be sure, but there's quite a bit of awesome in 5th level spells.

Mass Fire Shield. Arc of Lightning. Swift Etherealness. Telekinesis.

[Boci]

It's a smaller selection, to be sure, but there's quite a bit of awesome in 5th level spells.

Mass Fire Shield. Arc of Lightning. Swift Etherealness. Telekinesis.

Draconic polymorph?

[GoodbyeSoberDay]

What level 5 spells to take is a problem I hope I'll have soon.

Anyway, I was thinking Solid Fog would be the BC of choice when EBT doesn't work (which happens at this level, mostly against huge things). Also, though I could just prep EBT twice, I'm going to need high level BC in more than one encounter per day.

[Lev]

My personal favorite is: Dancing Chains from BoVD.
Let's just say the spell is very "open to interpretation".

People seem to like Evard's Black Tentacles for caster lockdowns though-- though I fail to see what it can do that several chains making grapple attempts or spiked chain attacks can't do.

[GoodbyeSoberDay]

The grapple modifier seems to be a lot smaller, it's 3.0 material, my str 7 wizard would have to carry chains around everywhere, and it's transmutation, meaning it doesn't really compete with EBT for a spell slot in my (Focused Specialist) case. Still, it's good to know wizards can emulate one of the cheesier lower denizens with a fourth level spell.

[Lev]

The grapple modifier seems to be a lot smaller, it's 3.0 material, my str 7 wizard would have to carry chains around everywhere, and it's transmutation, meaning it doesn't really compete with EBT for a spell slot in my (Focused Specialist) case. Still, it's good to know wizards can emulate one of the cheesier lower denizens with a fourth level spell.

Psh, carry the chains? Theres no length or material requirement for them, they can be 3 links and be called a chain-- they then grow +15' to whatever the original length was so bigger IS better but you only need a handy haversack to carry 7-20 sections of chain.
It uses ranged attack bonus, which is dex not strength, and if you're that worried about it then just transform into something with much higher attack-- you can still control the chains and climb them without check and the chains can also move at your base climb speed while you're on em.