a little help in a lvl20 wizard duel

[Boduse]

hi ther. i'm lookin to duel tonight against a druid. i can use cheesy stuff.

i have 100,000g to spend on magical items, i was just gonna pick up as much +int stuff as possible

i'm taking the conjuration varient to get dimensional jaunt and have a couple spell combos that should work out pretty well, do you guys have any suggestions?

also, i wanted to take the first turn with celerity and shapechange into a magically immune creature, is their any creatures that are good for this?

[valadil]

If you're going to use celerity to get the first turn, why not try time stop, and d4+1 rounds of win instead of shapechange? Hell, you could even shapechange in your first round and still have d4 rounds of win.

[Behold_the_Void]

Greater Maximize Metamagic Wand could make that 5 rounds of win.

[mostlyharmful]

What books do you have available, both for shapechange forms and spells. Once you've got +Int items, try and grab as many Meta rods as possible. Even to the point of volenteering to go do a level to cram more free meta into your build.

[FlyMolo]

He will have natural spell. Don't bother shapechanging him.

He will turn into something nasty and try and bite you. Think of a way to get him not to do this. And he can stay wildshaped all day. Remember this too.

Freedom of movement is a must. He will grab you.

I can't think of anything else.

[weenie]

The poor Druid doesn't stand a chance. Go Incantatrix and Archmage. Take Arcane thesis(Orb of fire), Empower Spell, Maximise Spell, Twin spell, Energy substitution, Energy admixture. If you can get Energy substitution(Sonic)(from Magic of Faerun I think) you can drop the archmage. Take some Easy metamagic feats if you can or anything else that lets you lower the cost of Maximise, Twin spell and Energy admixture enev further if possible. Worst case scenario hit him with a sonic Empowered, Maximised, Twined, Energy admixed Orb of fire and then with a sonic Empowered, Maximised, Twined, Quickened Orb of fire right after. It should be an insta-kill. No Save, no SR, no DR, and Energy resistance is also quite improbabe. Oh, but you have to hit him with a ranged touch attack. You know, the easiest kind.

[mostlyharmful]

The poor Druid doesn't stand a chance. Go Incantatrix and Archmage. Take Arcane thesis(Orb of fire), Empower Spell, Maximise Spell, Twin spell, Energy substitution, Energy admixture. If you can get Energy substitution(Sonic)(from Magic of Faerun I think) you can drop the archmage. Take some Easy metamagic feats if you can or anything else that lets you lower the cost of Maximise, Twin spell and Energy admixture enev further if possible. Worst case scenario hit him with a sonic Empowered, Maximised, Twined, Energy admixed Orb of fire and then with a sonic Empowered, Maximised, Twined, Quickened Orb of fire right after. It should be an insta-kill. No Save, no SR, no DR, and Energy resistance is also quite improbabe. Oh, but you have to hit him with a ranged touch attack. You know, the easiest kind.

Take Arcane thesis for this or Enervarate. It applies to EACH meta you stack on it so long as the total is no lower than the original slot of the spell. Then add Incantatrix or easy metamagic or +0 Metas for total ridiculousness.

[Boduse]

flat wizard lvl 20 :(

[Boduse]

plan so far is as follows

celerity,time stop, shapechange: metal golem (magical immunity), fly

then i'm gonna battle him with arcane thesised evervates (empowered, maximized, pushed by a quickened truestrike on each) i have 3 of those. his pet was gonna be dealt with by force cage.

i'm not sure the best way to keep him off of me, though i've got 2 silent dimension doors and took dimensional jaunt from phb2 conjuration alt class thingy.

i've got prismatic sphere, some greater dispell magics and magic missles for finishers. 1 solid fog ready for any "oh **** need time" situations

i'm taking craft contingent spell but don't know exactly what i should put as the triggers, nor what spells i should use against a druid in trigger situations


things i need are:
a way to keep him down for a few turns while i enervate him
contigent spell solutions
a way to deal with summons he may use

oh and i was thinking after he's lvl2 i would use a reached finger of death on him, does anyone remember what book reach spell is from?

[weenie]

Take Arcane thesis for this or Enervarate. It applies to EACH meta you stack on it so long as the total is no lower than the original slot of the spell. Then add Incantatrix or easy metamagic or +0 Metas for total ridiculousness.

I really can't see why would you go with Enervation instead of Orb of Fire. It allows for spell resistance and there are plenty other ways to simply be immune to it.

Regardless what many people think, blasting is a good way to kill stuff in high levels and Orb of Fire is one of the best spells for it.

[weenie]

flat wizard lvl 20 :(

Oh, I see. That creates a bit of an issue.

Questions:

- Can you use feats from Magic of Faerun?
- Can you use feats from Dragon magazine?
- Can you use feats from Races of the Dragon?

[Boduse]

books i have: phb2, monster's manual, comp arcane, comp mage, bovd, spell compendium, complete scoundrel.


i can use stuff from any book but i dunno how i'm gonna find it for proof by tonight heh.

[Boduse]

in order to get the instagib orb of fire what feats would i need exactly?

[Emperor Tippy]

flat wizard lvl 20 :(

With or without access to splat books?

Round 1: Cast Celerity
Celerity Action: Cast a Maximized Timestop
TS 1: Cast Shapechange and turn into a Shadesteel Golem (MM3 page 71 iirc)
TS 2: Cast Superior Invisibility (Spell Compendium version)
TS 3: Move to within 5 feet of the Druid and cast Prismatic Sphere so that it is around both of you.
TS 4: Cast Dimensional Lock inside the Prismatic Sphere
TS 5: Cast Reverse Gravity inside the Prismatic Sphere, take a move action to exit the sphere
Round 2: Be dazed

In the event that the druid survives the above 40 times (Reverse Gravity doesn't project through the sphere so he goes up, hits it, comes back down, and it repeats for at least 20 rounds) or manages to dispel the Reverse Gravity then he is stuck in the sphere and you can fly in at your leisure to deal with him.

[weenie]

in order to get the instagib orb of fire what feats would i need exactly?

Well, you'd need Empower spell, Maximise spell, Twin Spell, Energy substitution and Energy admixture. The problem is, that you have no way to change it to the rarely resisted sonic variant without Archmage, and It'll cost a lot without Incantatrix.

Ways to reduce the cost of metamagic feats:

- Rod of Metamagic, Maximize lets you drop the cost of Maximisation for 54kGP
- Easy spell from Dragon magazine and Practical Metamagic frome Races of the Dragon do the same, but have more prerequisites.
- If you could get some other rod for Twining the spell for free, that would also help
- Sudden Maximise could be usefull, if you can't access the rod

So, let's see what you can do with what's given.

An Empowered, Maximised(suddely or via rod), Twinned Orb of Fire would do an average of 232.5 fire damage and would be an 8th level spell. You would be probably better of changing it to Orb of Acid, since things tend to have fire resistance. This would do a lot of damage to the Druid, but he's likely to have 300+ hp before he wildshapes. With Easy metamagic accessible you could instead cast an Empowered, Maximised(suddely or via rod), Twinned, Energy admixed(Eletricity) Orb of Acid, that would deal 232.5 acid and 232.5 Eletricity damage, and it would also take up an 8th level slot. This would have a good chance of finishing off the Druid instantly, so you should try and get access to Easy metamagic or it's evil twin, Practical metamagic if possible.

Edit:

Foolish me. This is what you shall do:

Take the following feats:
Quicken spell, Sudden maximise, Energy substitution(Eletricity), Energy admixture(Eletricity), Twin spell

Buy a rod of greater Empower.

When the fight begins cast Celerity. Cast a Quickened True strike. Drop an Empowered(via rod), suddenly Maximised, Twinned, Energy admixed(Eletricity) Orb of Acid on the poor fool. If he has resistance acid AND resistance eletricity 30, that will still be around 400 damage. He should have full hit points at all levels and a Con modifier of 12+ to survive this. The only case where he survives is if you roll a natural one on your ranget touch attack.

[Emperor Tippy]

in order to get the instagib orb of fire what feats would i need exactly?

Arcane Thesis: Orb of Fire
Easy Meta magic: Maximize
Invisible Spell
Energy Substitution: Cold
Energy Admixture: Cold
Easy Meta: Energy Admixture

That will take a 5th level spell slot and provides a 180 damage attack. You can't get the really cheap ones without Incantatrix though. And Easy Meta is from Dragon.

[Frosty]

You might want to ask your DM about Arcane Thesis. Some DMs don't allow the feat to work with +0 meta feats for balance reasons.

[mostlyharmful]

I really can't see why would you go with Enervation instead of Orb of Fire. It allows for spell resistance and there are plenty other ways to simply be immune to it.

Regardless what many people think, blasting is a good way to kill stuff in high levels and Orb of Fire is one of the best spells for it.

That's because you've never had the fun of running a level20 PC versus a level 1 nobody of suckdom. Also Enervaration works pretty well against anyone but a well prepared PC, Negative levels being suck on a stick.

[weenie]

That's because you've never had the fun of running a level20 PC versus a level 1 nobody of suckdom. Also Enervaration works pretty well against anyone but a well prepared PC, Negative levels being suck on a stick.

Well, he will be a divine caster, so I could see him resisting it. But on the other hand toying with people is always fun, so I can see your point

One more fix for my build. Take Elven spell lore. Sonic energy is back in the game

[Xyk]

Cast wish! "I wish the druid died". it's that simple.

[monty]

Cast wish! "I wish the druid died". it's that simple.

That's not a listed effect, and seems rather powerful. So I'll pervert it. He dies, and then immediately returns as some sort of horrible undead creature that proceeds to beat the crap out of you with its zombie druid powers.

[Behold_the_Void]

That's not a listed effect, and seems rather powerful. So I'll pervert it. He dies, and then immediately returns as some sort of horrible undead creature that proceeds to beat the crap out of you with its zombie druid powers.

Of course it is. It would duplicate the spell "Finger of Death."

[monty]

Of course it is. It would duplicate the spell "Finger of Death."

So he gets a save then? Why not just cast Finger of Death and save yourself the XP?

[Talic]

Level 20 duel against Druid?

Step 1: Quicken > Maximize. If you're going metamagic rods, remember that well.

Step 2: Stay out of melee. Celerity > Time Stop > Ghostform > Invisibility, Superior (8th level spell) > Move 30 feet.

Another option for your time stop spells is:
Cloudkill > Forcecage > Ghostform > Move 30 feet.

In your following rounds, focus on spells that require ranged touch to hit. Go for lesser defended sources of damage, such as sonic, force, and dessication.

[Chronicled]

flat wizard lvl 20 :(

Heh, I'm guessing the Druid's player was the one insisting on no PrCs, right?

I agree with the direct damage crowd. Follow Tippy's advice, and you're sure to win.

[Talic]

Doesn't matter. Druids are pretty light on translocation magic.

Cloudkill followed by a forcecage (non-barred version), should be match.

If druid is immune to cloudkill for some reason, you have to get a bit more creative. Barred version, and Spell Compendium's Orb of Force, through the bars. After that, if you can metamagic it to be Twin spell, and apply a regular rod of metamagic (Maximize)... Well, 240 Force damage.

Follow with same spell, but quickened instead of twin spell, for another 120 force damage.

Total damage: 360. That'll drop most 20's. If not, he's still forcecaged, and has to shift to a smaller form to get out.

[weenie]

Doesn't matter. Druids are pretty light on translocation magic.

Cloudkill followed by a forcecage (non-barred version), should be match.

If druid is immune to cloudkill for some reason, you have to get a bit more creative. Barred version, and Spell Compendium's Orb of Force, through the bars. After that, if you can metamagic it to be Twin spell, and apply a regular rod of metamagic (Maximize)... Well, 240 Force damage.

Follow with same spell, but quickened instead of twin spell, for another 120 force damage.

Total damage: 360. That'll drop most 20's. If not, he's still forcecaged, and has to shift to a smaller form to get out.

Nah, Orb of Force caps out at 10d6. That's 120 if maximised & twinned. And you can't use energy admixture on it. I'd stick with Orb of Fire.

[Talic]

Nah, Orb of Force caps out at 10d6. That's 120 if maximised & twinned. And you can't use energy admixture on it. I'd stick with Orb of Fire.

Fire is the easiest element to protect against. While Tippy's solution is elegant, with cold, it's not unheard of to be immune to one and resistant to the other.

Preferred damage types generally go in the following order:
Sonic/Force/Dessication (how many resistances to these are there? Really?)
Acid (bypasses most regeneration)
Cold (of the remaining elements, this is the least protected against)
Electricity (Lightning Bolt, one of D&D's iconic spells, ensured that electricity resistance/immunity is prevalent.)
Fire (See electricity, times 5, because of Fireball. Fire's the most common damage, and the most commonly protected against damage)

Tippy's solution is elegant. This is because of the simplest Druid defense, turning into a fire elemental. Tippy's method punishes the druid by switching over to attack the vulnerability to cold. There are other methods of defense, however, the most common will result in a worse outcome for the druid.

[mostlyharmful]

If druid is immune to cloudkill for some reason, you have to get a bit more creative.

All druids above level 9 are immune to Cloudkill.

[weenie]

Fire is the easiest element to protect against. While Tippy's solution is elegant, with cold, it's not unheard of to be immune to one and resistant to the other.

I completely agree, but fire can be easily changed to sonic(Elven spell lore, Archmage, an energy substitution variant) and in this case it deals more damage.

Boduse: Let us know hot the fight went!