level 6 metamagic feat?

[Whiplord]

What would be a good metamagic feat to take for my 5 Wiz/1 Incantatrix?

Main ones I'm looking at are Persistent, Quicken, Chain, Split Ray and Empower but I'm open to other suggestions. I already have Extend.

[kjones]

One biggie that I didn't see listed: How 'bout Shape Spell? Not useful for everyone, but...

[Gavin Sage]

Not familiar with Incantrix as a class so maybe they cheese it somehow, but with Quicken and Persistent being 5 and 6 levels higher I and you only level 6 I'd say wait on those since the use on them is rather limited.

[Whiplord]

Yeah, I realize that. I was more speaking feats I'm looking at taking at one point or another.

[Quietus]

Might help to get an idea of your casting style. If you're more of a area-direct-damage dealer, then I'd probably look at Empower for the time being, since it'd be the most usable of those options. If you have a tendency to use a lot of ray spells, or plan to be doing so, the Split Ray is probably better - you can get some really nasty effects from that, I shudder to think of split Disintegrates and the like.

If you're more of an enchanter/charmer, you might want to consider Extend Spell instead, for extra duration. However, given the ones you're looking at, you look more like you're built for damage/buffs, but that's just a guess.

[Whiplord]

Well, I already have extend, sooo... As for casting style... I dunno, I don't really use direct damage too much, mostly save-or-lose/die type stuff when I can, as well as some buffs thrown in.

And by all means, suggest other metamagic feats you think would be decent ideas. I'm not really that dead set.

[kpenguin]

Heighten Spell is good for boosting DCs.

[Roland St. Jude]

For the Incantatrix, assuming you can get the items you need to really boost your Spellcraft, Persistent is golden. Quicken is always good because speed is good and few things beat more actions in a given round. I also like Chain for buffs and debuffs more than damage spells, and Maximize, because it's nice to take the dice out of the equation when it really counts.

I would skip Sculpt Spell, you can get similar effects from Extraordinary Spell Aim or Mastery of Shaping (Archmage1). On that note, make sure you use your regular (non-metamagic) feat slots to get whatever pre-reqs for whatever you want to do after Incantatrix (assuming you'll be playing that long).

I always like to get Craft Wondrous Item and Craft Contingent Spell, too. But neither is a metamagic feat.

[Whiplord]

I was actually planning on going IotSV, just so I could say I did.

[Roland St. Jude]

Heh. Nice. That being the case, and the fact that you like save-or-die spells, kpenguin's got a good point about Heighten Spell. And you'll need Spell Focus and Greater SF for IOTSV, anyway, so those'll help with your DCs. Frankly, with that combo, do you need any more strategery?

[Quietus]

In that case, I'd say either Split Ray or Chain Spell. You'd only be able to Chain 0-level spells or split 1st-level rays, however... but a split Ray of Enfeeblement would really suck to get hit with.

I'd say pick up Split Ray for now.

[Whiplord]

Except that the spell focus is on Abjuration, which is just silly. But heighten seems like a decent idea, so I suppose I'll go with that one.

[Jack Mann]

Incantatrix and persistent are about as powerful as you get. The cleric wants to get his buffs on? Give him a hand. Add it to your own spells when you like. Yeah, for pure power, persistent is king.

Quicken, though, is one you'll want even if you don't want to go cheesy. Remember, the most valuable currency in the game are actions. Quicken means you're getting two spells off in one round.

The others are nice, but quicken is the must-have, with persistent the one you take to "win" D&D. To be honest, when I played an incantatrix, I avoided it because it would make the game too easy.

[Whiplord]

I keep hearing that, yet somehow I fail to really put it all together in mind. The build I'm doing is Wiz 5/Inc 4/IotSV 7Inc 4. What exactly can I do with persistent?

I'm fairly new to DnD, so bear with me

[Roland St. Jude]

Persistent Spell lets you take spells that were intended (balance-wise) to last for a short duration and make them last, effectively, all the time. The limitation is you have to memorize them in a slot +6 levels higher than the initial spell. Incantatrix (Metamagic Effect) removes that limitation and substitutes a Spellcraft check. So if you can get your hands on Spellcraft boosting items, which are much easier to come by than high level spell slots, you can persist spells like crazy* just by making the Spellcraft check**. Not just your spells, either, spell effects already in place can be Persisted.

*By which I mean 3+Int mod times/day.
** Which, admittedly, can get into the 50s and beyond DC-wise.

Taking Craft Wondrous Item is a good idea for this build so that you can make your own +X Spellcraft items.

Unlike Jack, I have not found using persistent spell and incantatrix to cause the game to be too easy or gamebreaking in the sense that it ruined anyone's fun. But as always, ymmv.

[JackMage666]

Where is the Incanatrix and Persist Spell, anyway?

[Roland St. Jude]

Incantatrix is in Player's Guide to Faerûn. Persistent Spell is in there too, as well as in Complete Arcane (and probably other places).

[Behold_the_Void]

If you're paranoid, having some spells with Silent and Still prepared isn't a bad thing. Being able to prepare a Silent, Still Dispel Magic and possibly a Silent, Still Dimensional Door can be helpful in many situations.