Help with a build

[deathbyhokie]

I've been working on a build for a little bit for a game i'll be playing in soon. We've got three guys playing, and as the other two decided to play front-line types (Swordsage and Knight), i figured i ought to make sure I had the casting and healing covered. To that end, this is the build i intend to use:

Wiz 3/Dru 3/Mystic Theurge 2/Arcane Hierophant 10/Mystic Theurge 2
(We're starting at ECL 12, but i figured i'd plan ahead).

I'm thinking for race I'll go with Illumian, since the 4 classes result in 5 sigils with a +5 bonus each, removing the need for Practiced Spellcaster (since one of them gives +5 to Caster Level).

The major questions I have are these:
1) This build seems too simple to have not seen it around before. Is there something fundamental I'm missing here? It looks like I should have level 9 arcane and divine spells at level 20 here.
2) What feats should I take? I was thinking perhaps the on that allows Sponteanous Healing, as not having to prepare healing spells (or summoning spells) would be nice. But for the other slots, I'm not for sure. Any suggestions?

[cupkeyk]

Precocious apprentice cheese

drop two levels of one of your base classes.

sublime ur-theurge ftw

[JiveTurkey]

He cannot drop anything from his base class if he wants Mystic Theurge since he must be able to cast 2nd level divine and arcane spells

Edit: Never mind, I actually bothered to read your post. That's some mighty fine Gouda.

[Swooper]

Precocious apprentice cheese

Precocious Apprentice DOES NOT WORK THAT WAY!

[marjan]

Precocious Apprentice DOES NOT WORK THAT WAY!

Some say.

assasas

[CASTLEMIKE]

Some say.

assasas

I have to agree. MT is a core PRC. If it couldn't work with MT or a similar PRC it should have stated that in the feat.

[SadisticFishing]

The Illumian bonus never goes higher than +2. Crystal Keep is wrong. :P

[Wordmiser]

Go Human.
Take the three Druid levels first (should go without saying, I suppose).

Grab Earth Sense and Heighten Spell at first level. Take Earth Spell at third level. Take one level of Wizard (With the Unearthed Arcana Conjurer variant which drops Scribe Scroll in favor of Augment Summoning).

Replace the other two Wizard levels with Mystic Theurge.

[ocato]

sublime ur-theurge ftw

I've heard some talk of this, but it is rarely described in full. Please elaborate.

[tyckspoon]

I've heard some talk of this, but it is rarely described in full. Please elaborate.

Bard- base class, arcane caster
Sublime Chord- bardic casting PrC, expands Bard casting to a full nine spell level progression
Ur Priest- PrC, packs a full nine-level divine casting progression into ten levels
Mystic Theurge- advances Bard/Sublime Chord and Ur-Priest casting, yielding effective 20th level casting in both divine and arcane spells.

[deathbyhokie]

The Illumian bonus never goes higher than +2. Crystal Keep is wrong. :P

Actually I didn't get it from Crystal Keep. The wording of one of the Illumian feats (Enhanced Power Signals) says that normally your bonus is equal to the number of Sigils you have.

And i'd rather avoid the Precious Apprentice Cheese. Neither of the other guys will be optimizing much, so i'd rather not be that much more powerful.

[Keld Denar]

By workin in druid and AH in there, you avoid the issue that MTs normally have....WTF am I supposed to take when I run out of MT?

For a purely offensive caster, MT is a bad choice. So long as you know this, and are ok with it, MTs make a really really good support class. There are a lot of good buffs and debuffs between druid and wizard. Check out a couple of threads over here and on gleemax.com for advice on good wizard and druid buffs/debuffs. Starting at ECL12 also overcomes one of the crutches at lower levels, because building into MT is slow and painful. ECL12 gives you 4th level spells on both sides, which gives you Solid Fog on the wizard side and deathward and FoM on your druid side. You also just start getting wildshape, because AH advances that too. Should be a fun character to play.

BTW, does Illumian Sigils go past HD? Because if they do, you might want to grab Practiced Spellcaster anyway to further boost your CL. The extra CL will give you longer durations on your spells, which is great and gets multiplied by 2 with Extend Spell (a good choice).

[deathbyhokie]

For a purely offensive caster, MT is a bad choice. So long as you know this, and are ok with it, MTs make a really really good support class.

I realized that rather quickly. I was looking to stick to the Batman style of wizard, while using the druid for summoning and healing (and general fun buffs). Plus, the combined Familiar Companion is pretty cool too.

BTW, does Illumian Sigils go past HD? Because if they do, you might want to grab Practiced Spellcaster anyway to further boost your CL. The extra CL will give you longer durations on your spells, which is great and gets multiplied by 2 with Extend Spell (a good choice).

I'm not for sure. I had interpreted the Sigil's total boost to be equal to the number of Sigils you have. You start off with one, and get an additional one everytime you gain two levels in a class (so 5 for this build). If I read it right, that means this guy is at CL +5 (but his CL still can't go higher than his level), negating the need for Practiced Spellcaster.

[JimmyDPawn]

I'm thinking for race I'll go with Illumian, since the 4 classes result in 5 sigils with a +5 bonus each, removing the need for Practiced Spellcaster (since one of them gives +5 to Caster Level).

Okay, why do extra classes result in more sigils? I don't recall reading that anywhere. As I recall, you just get two. And another single +1 boost with that feat.

[deathbyhokie]

Okay, why do extra classes result in more sigils? I don't recall reading that anywhere. As I recall, you just get two. And another single +1 boost with that feat.

It comes from the "On attaining 2nd level in any class part". On my first read-through, i thought you were limited to two, but the wording in the Enhanced Power Sigils feat leads me to believe that you can have more than 2.

[Dark Tira]

It comes from the "On attaining 2nd level in any class part". On my first read-through, i thought you were limited to two, but the wording in the Enhanced Power Sigils feat leads me to believe that you can have more than 2.

I don't see how enhanced power sigils would imply that. The fact that it's worded that you gain a second sigil and not an additional sigil would seem to make the 2 limit the most reasonable interpretation.

[Airenus]

U can always take some lvls as wizrd then the same ammount as cleric and make a true necromancer.(libris mortis).

[Wordmiser]

U can always take some lvls as wizrd then the same ammount as cleric and make a true necromancer.(libris mortis).

Or you could give your Cleric 3 levels in Commoner and still wind up with better Necromancy abilities. True Necromancer is absolute rubbish.

[Thamir]

The Illumian bonus never goes higher than +2. Crystal Keep is wrong. :P

Crystalkeep...wrong?!?!?!?!?!? WHY MUST YOU SPEAK SUCH BLASPHEMY! NOW MY LIFE HAS NO MEANING!