Best Long Lasting Defensive Buff Spells


Advice


Topic title says it all. Let me know what spells you think are the best to buff yourself with at the start of the day! This can be from any book and 3.5 is allowed. Hours per level preferred, while durations of 24 hours is king!


What level are we talking?


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Once my clerics or wizards gain a few levels, I cast Endure Elements on myself at the start of every day.


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Any spell level.

Kydeem: Ah, I love that spell. So many people forget about environmental effects till its far too late...


Dot.


Longstrider, especially if you have the travel domain too for an additional +10 movement. Mobility in Pathfinder is one of the best 'armors' you can have.

Dark Archive

Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

Mage Armor and False Life. If you are going back to 3.5, the Heart spells from Complete Mage were good (Air, Earth, Fire, and Water).


3.5 greater Mage armor. +6 hr per level 3rd level spell. Regular Mage armor is almost as nice too.


Shield other is also a nice one if your GM, playstyle, and tactics support it, as it can seriously cut down on the effectiveness of enemy focus-fire tactics and improve the efficiency of your channel heals. In a lot of games though it is useless or worse than such due to the 3 factors above.


jerdog wrote:
Mage Armor and False Life. If you are going back to 3.5, the Heart spells from Complete Mage were good (Air, Earth, Fire, and Water).

+1 for the heart of spells.


It's not exactly a buff but my absolute favorite 3.5 spell is servant horde. 2d6 + CL unseen servants for an hr per cl. Yes please.


Protection from evil/good/chaos, etc. One of the best buffs in the game.

I use cat's grace as a defensive buff on my light armor characters, including wizards with mage armor. It's a +2 to dex AC bonuses. Bear's endurance might also qualify since I use it to temporarily add con bonuses to my character's hit points.

Barkskin is great because it stacks with most existing AC buffs.

I don't really even view "mage armor" as a "buff" since it's more or less required as base armor for most armor-less builds. And shield is so short-lived.

Probably the best "defensive buff" in the game is "contingency" though.

Grand Lodge RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32

How about heroism? Yeah, it's probably mostly used offensively, but it gives a +2 to saves that stacks with a cloak of resistance.


And we can't forget Good Hope. Not as long lasting, but works great for a combat.

Is Heroism 10s of minutes per level, or minute per level?

Grand Lodge RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32

Ten minutes per level.


Magic vestment

Dark Archive

Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

Heroes' Feast, particularly the 3.5 version.


Freedom of Movement.

Mind Blank (better in 3.5, but still).

Nondetection.


When I get home, I might post the rest. My mage archer had every one that I could scrounge up from 3.5 and Pathfinder. From the top of my head:

Greater resistance: 24 hr duration, spell compendium 3.5 I believe. +6 or +8 resistance to saves. Arcane spell, 5th or 6th level.
Create magical Tatoo: Magic of Farum(sp?) allows 24 hr tatoo of varying types, including +1 cl, +2 ability score, +2 moral to attack, +2 resistance, and +1 luck to attack. (2nd level)

Where it really is 24 hours for that shield, arrow mind, and whatever other personal spell: Perpetual spell feat, found in one of the 3.5 books, or maybe that farum book. With extend spell as a prereq and +6 level adjustment, any spell with range of personal lasts 24hrs.

Also like the heroism. Good luck!


There's some good ones from 2nd edition too.


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Let's see for my Loremaster I'd usually have the following (a 3.5 character), sticking to the PHB (outside of Elminster's Evasion) and going off 8+ yr old memories.

Permanency - Arcane Sight, See Invisibility, Darkvision
Telepathic Bond (permanent with one other individual)
Nondetection
Greater Magic Weapon
Detect Scrying
Mages Private Sanctum (available) +/- Secure Shelter
(or Mages Magnificent Mansion)
Prying Eyes (or Greater Prying Eyes)
Overland Flight
Contingency (linked to Teleport/command word to a 'safe' location upon being triggered), later Elminster's Evasion
Mind Blank
Moment of Prescience

Depending on circumstances:
Extended Protection from "Energy" (of whatever I expected to go up against)
Extended Stoneskin
False Vision and/or Screen
Seeming
Veil
Sequester
Instant Summons
Dimensional Lock
(Extended) Prismatic Sphere


It's not as useful as some listed here, but I always thought Draconic Reservoir was pretty good if you were playing a melee caster.


Rynjin wrote:
It's not as useful as some listed here, but I always thought Draconic Reservoir was pretty good if you were playing a melee caster.

Draconic Reservoir seems as though it'd only be useful against a small enemy category - namely, enemy spellcasters. Wouldn't most natural-energy -attack users (say, red dragons) be immune to the very energy you just absorbed?

I find communal resist energy more useful on a party basis.


Yeah, I agree. Just figured I'd throw out an off-color variant that could be situationally useful.

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