Hello,
I'm posting here because my last two games were nightmarish, with me getting stomped on at every single encounter.
I'm playing as a level 12 wizard, and I'm very happy about what my character can do as far as utility, damage, buffing and debuffing is concerned. However, i'm questioning my survivability and wondering what I am doing wrong.
In the earlier levels, I was quite safe through using mirror image, fly, displacement and all those lovely illusion spells that made me feel comfy. But now, we're at a level where almost every encounter has a mob with true seeing in it (and I guess it'll get worse the higher level we are).
Basically, a fight goes like this: I cast haste on the party, a mob charges me or, worse, teleports to me(cuz I'm a wizard, so I'm a squishy target) and go a%%+%*+ on my low-AC, low-HP ass. Or the boss is an archer and will hit me with a hail of arrows and drop me in a round.
With true seeing, none of my defense work. And when we're in a dungeon, overland flight isn't that much of an asset.
Did I overlook some spells ? What could I use to be more resilient - apart from StoneSkin, which is costly and can actually benefit the tank more than me ?
Thanks for your input.
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There are a number of wind spells to use against archers. Fickle winds being the best option.
As to being charged, that sounds like a party formation problem. Keep in the middle and keep some space between PCs and it makes charging tough.
The teleport thing doesn't sound so bad because you should only be eating one or two attacks per round. It is usually a standard action. So on your turn, eat the AoO and get out of mellee range. If it comes after you again, repeat. Basically, avoid taking a full attack action and you should fare better.
I would think about equipment options to remedy the low hp issue and maybe look at fireshield, cloak of dreams, or similar magic to make hitting you less attractive.
You could use one of the circular wall spells around you. They nowhere state a minimum size, only a max size. Best would be a blade barrier, which sadly is only a cleric spell but wall of fire might work, too if you have spells which you can use without seeing your enemies.
To clarify: The idea is to take some steps away from your friends and cast the wall so that it has just one 5ft square on the inside, where you are.
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Memorize a couple of Emergency Force Sphere's for those "oh $***!" moments. Beyond that what people have said is good advice.
Or Windy Escape for lower level 'oh $**#!' moments.
Blink might help against most....
Even with True Seeing the enemies can see you, but unless they have the ability to hit things that are ethereal your blink miss chance would still apply.
Cast Freedom of movement on yourself then drop black tentacles at your feet... they can teleport in to attack you if they dare. (btw, ectoplasmic spell is a great metamagic feat for black tentacles... the look on the ghost's face is priceless)
Earth glide can be useful to hit and run, popping out of the ground or wall, casting your spell, and when the enemies move to counter... you hide back inside the solid surfaces... make them get bored of chasing you.
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We are level 9 and I managed to get an AC of 28 last session, with a little help.
Mage Armour and Shield will get you +8 on your AC. Buy a armoured kilt or haramaki and then get a cleric or oracle to cast magic vestments on it. Since it is an enchantment bonus to AC is will stack with the AC bonus from Mage Armour.
What build do you have? What spells do you usually memorize?
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We are level 9 and I managed to get an AC of 28 last session, with a little help.
Mage Armour and Shield will get you +8 on your AC. Buy a armoured kilt or haramaki and then get a cleric or oracle to cast magic vestments on it. Since it is an enchantment bonus to AC is will stack with the AC bonus from Mage Armour.
Ummm... No. An enhancement bonus to armor increases the armor bonus to AC provided by that armor. It does not provide a separate and unrelated enhancement bonus.
There's a lot of good ways to defend yourself as a caster, especially at your level. Mage Armor + Shield, obviously. I also recommend Invisibility if you spend a lot of time on nondirect attacks, such as summoning monsters or buffing the party, or Greater Invis if you prefer more direct attacks. Flight in any form will keep you out of range of normal attack for many enemies. Consider an offensive defense, i.e., taking enemies out of commission or controlling the terrain with spells like Charm, Dominate, Black Tentacles, Pits, Slow, Obscuring Mist.... The list is endless. And at your level Contingency is a very real option. There's all sorts of good things you can do with that. If your enemy is teleporting up to you, set yourself to teleport away as soon as they do, and even a high-level Dimensional Dervish monk won't be able to attack you. And finally, Clone is coming up in a few levels. Keep it active always.
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You could temporary dispel their true seeing. I think dispel magic can do that. Not sure tho.
Did you consider fly?
Ready action to cast defensive/offensive spell on first round or alterself to change shape.
Armor boosting can help, but it wont get you far.
There should be some spells that block True Seeing I think.
something realized in another thread... if they are casting (possibly (Sp) too) a teleport... you can ready an action for their cast... throw out magic missile and let them make the dc 30 concentration check? 10+ spell level + damage
At level 12 it is hard to explain why you would be running into "mobs" with true seeing. True seeing is a level 6 spell, meaning that it shouldn't be something your enemies could use more than a couple of times per day. Teleport is level 5, but even so that should be a reasonably scarce tactic at your level, certainly not something "mobs" should be doing.
If the GM is throwing monsters with at will spell like abilities to teleport and have true seeing, then there's likely a deeper issue going on here than this particular set of tactics. In that case it sounds like the GM is deliberately targeting you, either to take you down or to minimize your combat effectiveness. It might be that the GM feels your character is making his encounters too easy for the party.
I would have a talk with your GM to see if he feels your wizard has been making his encounters too much work or too easy.
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Contingency is your best friend. I usually set mine to Mirror Image or Greater Invisibility on the condition "when I'm about to get attacked", but if True Seeing is common in your campaign (which is slightly unusual at 12th level but not out of the question) you might have better success with a Magic Circle Against Evil or if you're really worried, Stoneskin. (You could mitigate the material component by wording the contingency to only come up when you really need it, instead of every combat.)
Oh, and I had my mage craft himself up some Gloves of Arrow Snaring, and they have saved my butt several times - especially while summoning.
Failing all else, Obscuring Mist does block true seeing.
Sounds like the GM is gunning for the caster.
in a Dungeon there should be a few Meat shields( Or Fighter barbarians etc) in front of you. I would make friends with the party's Rogue so if Mob teleports next to me to engage me in Melee, then the rogue would be free to bactstab to his heart content.. The best defense for arcane casters is friends with other characters.
Might also want to try summoning a Pet like an elemental. having an Air elemental toss the teleporting monster back where he came from will work too.
One of the easiest buffs to take if you want to be more survivable is "bear's endurance" which will give you 2 HP per character level until it wears off. For a level 9 caster that's 18 hit points.
A nice buff that stacks with mage armor and shield is cat's grace, which provides a +2 dex bonus to AC. Plus it helps if you are making ranged attacks of some sort.
Don't underestimate the value of cover too. I once had a wizard who hauled a tower shield with him. Glued to it was an immovable rod and he would set that up at the beginning of combat and then hide behind it to cast his spells.
Obscuring Mist. It's a level one spell that takes care of true seers and archers alike.
In my experience at level 12, every mob should not have True Seeing. It should be very very rare. You're defenses should still hold up in most circumstances.
Your GM probably thinks you're too powerful and wants to knock you out before you can ruin the encounter. Which reminds me, I'm nerfing Haste in my home game.
Whatever you do your GM will try to find a counter. And when you finally find something he can't counter, he's going to come onto these boards complaining about what to do about an OP PC. Circle of life...
Don't underestimate the value of cover too. I once had a wizard who hauled a tower shield with him. Glued to it was an immovable rod and he would set that up at the beginning of combat and then hide behind it to cast his spells.
In case I wanted to try something similar in an upcoming game... how would you feel about a glove of storing being able to handle transporting one of these?
I'm jumping in with the group of mobs with CR and Teleport or wa wa what? at your current level.
However, back in the day when literally every group was a Fighter, Wizard, cleric, thief.
almost always the cleric hung back with the wizard.
3/4 bab, decent AC and a weapon of thwack and his own spells..good body guard.
Thief usually flanks with the fighter or goes after the enemy spell caster if there is one. (not every encounter should contain mirroring of PC ability, although I know there are many GMS who do it this way)
Your party shouldn't be running off making you naked.
This sounds like the avengers rushing off in a dozen different directions to clobber stuff while the blob gets teleported in by spiral to sit on the scarlet witch.
Talk tactics with your group, if they still leave you naked, option a) take leadership feat and get a body guard. b) 5 foot step and cast Dimension door, go to a safe place and wait for the party to win the day so you can wander in and claim your 1/4 of the treasure....
Don't underestimate the value of cover too. I once had a wizard who hauled a tower shield with him. Glued to it was an immovable rod and he would set that up at the beginning of combat and then hide behind it to cast his spells.In case I wanted to try something similar in an upcoming game... how would you feel about a glove of storing being able to handle transporting one of these?
Well, a tower shield is listed as 45 pounds. I suppose if you could figure out how to get one that weighed 15 pounds this could work. The immovable rod itself weighs five pounds, leaving 15 for an item carried in one hand to fit within the glove.
I'd have no problem with a standard steel shield and immovable rod in a glove of storing.
You can always cast Nondetection on yourself:
http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/spells/nondetection.html#_nondetection
That should ward you and give you a chance to not have trueseeing, see through your protective illusions at least, since trueseeing is in fact a divination.
Or you could buy scrolls of mind blank, and be protected for sure, with a small chance for a mishap when activating them.
http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/spells/mindBlank.html#_mind-blank
Well, a tower shield is listed as 45 pounds. I suppose if you could figure out how to get one that weighed 15 pounds this could work
If your GM supports real-world source material for non-magical items, you're in luck. Most historical tower shields did weigh around 20 pounds. I spent a few hours doing research on the subject a while ago. Historical reconstructions of tower shields were generally around 15-20 pound. I found a few unsubstantiated claims for 30+ pound shields, but the only convincing-looking article that used those numbers indicated that these were training shields or showpieces that were never intended for real combat.
In any case, there are other ways to get cover. Ask your GM about the room. Is there any furnature? How about pillars, alcoves, or other architectural designs? Is there a doorway you can hide behind? If it's a natural cave, are there any large boulders or areas of difficult terrain that you could use to your advantage? The GM can often skim over this kind of stuff if no one asks about it, but once you ask him once or twice he'll eventually feel silly if the combat is always taking place in featureless rooms.
Something that is sometimes missed, always have a weapon out... a staff (esp. a magical one) is expected of a wizard sort after all... so that you threaten and the Rogue can flank and sneak attack your aggressor. If you have no Rogue type int he party, it's time for the leadership feat.
Also getting your imitative bonus as high as possible, so you can get off the first shot and not be flat footed (thus you threaten for the Rogue). Consider a belt of Dex! It increased your AC, improves your ranged (and ranged touch) to hit bonus, AND improves your initiative.
Other useful items: Bracers or Armor, Amulet of natural armor, ring of protection, Wand of Shield, rod of metamagic extend (even the lesser rod).
Do You realize at level twelve you could cast an extended Mage Armor spell that will last 24 hours?
Mist/fog spells are some what less effective in pathfinder... They still block sight - but easier to p1ass through. And many wizard spell do need LOS - so don't remove yourself from the fight...
If you invest heavy in AC boosting magical items you can get a decent AC - it won't stop the first attack, but perhaps the next few - keeping you alive a round or two more...
Cast a wall spell - split the enemy into two. Then move. Foes on the other side can't see were you moved to - so can't teleport directly to you.
Your party have ½ foes to deal with (for a round at least)...
One of the easiest buffs to take if you want to be more survivable is "bear's endurance" which will give you 2 HP per character level until it wears off. For a level 9 caster that's 18 hit points.
A nice buff that stacks with mage armor and shield is cat's grace, which provides a +2 dex bonus to AC. Plus it helps if you are making ranged attacks of some sort.
Don't underestimate the value of cover too. I once had a wizard who hauled a tower shield with him. Glued to it was an immovable rod and he would set that up at the beginning of combat and then hide behind it to cast his spells.
What you are talking about is a pavise.They where used by Crossbowmen during the Medieval times . I can see a caster carrying around a Pavise shield
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pavise