Polymorphing Wizard - is it viable?

[Fedorchik1536]

Hi!
I was tinkering with various wizard builds when polymorph subschool suddenly got my attention. After short search I realized that I don't think I can do something good with it.

So, is there a way to make polymorph wizard viable? I am talking specifically about spells like Beast Shape, Elemental Body and so on.

[Typelouder]

Eldritch knight then into Hell Knight signifier. Play level one as a fighter, then level up as a wizard. It's nothing fancy.

For a polymorher I like the alchemist a lot more. Better hit die, bab, saves, and class abilities to compliment (vivisectionist and mutagen).

Transmuter really needs a change to the school powers: changing from enhancement bonus to insight or some other different bonus type.

[Kalindlara]

I'm a fan of polymorphing (particularly into form of the dragon), then casting transformation. ^_^

[GM Arkwright]

Here's what you need.

[BretI]

Brown Fur Arcanist, especially with the feats out of Advanced Class Origins, can make excellent use of those. They eventually (9th level) get the ability to use the spells on others.

Otherwise, mix with another class to boost the class abilities. Easiest of those is Rogue 2 / Transmuter or Brown Fur the rest of the way. Focus on Int and then Dex and use your spells to help the skills. With a Reduce Person and Cat's Grace you can give your DEX a nice short term boost when needed.

[Fedorchik1536]

Thanks for your advices!
So it kinda works, but works in not-standard way xD

[Ravingdork]

Fedorchik1536 wrote:

Polymorphing Wizard - is it viable?

You tell me.

[Eric Hinkle]

BretI wrote:

Brown Fur Arcanist, especially with the feats out of Advanced Class Origins, can make excellent use of those. They eventually (9th level) get the ability to use the spells on others.

Just asking, what feats would you recommend for the Brown Fur Arcanist?

[Rory]

Fedorchik1536 wrote:

So, is there a way to make polymorph wizard viable? I am talking specifically about spells like Beast Shape, Elemental Body and so on.

Identify the weaknesses and how to overcome them.

BAB will be lower than others. BAB is made up for by increasing strength faster than normal (via polymorph size bonuses). Also, leverage NOT relying on iterative attacks by using a natural attack routine. The Heroism spell is a good boost as well.

Defenses are weak being in the front line. Defenses are made up for by using long duration spells to boost yourself (Mage Armor, False Life, Ablative Barrier, Stoneskin, etc.) You can add spot defenses (Shield, Mirror Image, Displacement, etc.), but those cost precious rounds to put up in combat and best saved for combats where you have more prep time or suspect imminent danger.

Damage Reduction is a multi-attacker bane. This is the real weakness you'll face. You can boost damage per attack, but only so far. You can actually have a cheaper enhancement cost to your natural attacks as a wizard with arcane bond than a character with a weapon (you don't have to pay for masterwork on an Amulet of Mighty Fists). This will eventually bypass damage reduction. However, at times when damage reduction is really stepping on your fun, remember... you can cast spells in those situations too!

[Ravingdork]

If you can get the Shapeshifting Mastery mythic archmage path ability (Mythic Origins), then becoming an insanely powerful martial monster is really only a matter of increasing your caster level as much as you can.

[BretI]

Eric Hinkle wrote:

BretI wrote:

Brown Fur Arcanist, especially with the feats out of Advanced Class Origins, can make excellent use of those. They eventually (9th level) get the ability to use the spells on others.

Just asking, what feats would you recommend for the Brown Fur Arcanist?

Expanded Preparation

Extra Reservoir if you have a low Charisma, with Charisma 14 or better you can start looking at using Consume Spells and possibly getting Consume Magic Item to fill your reservoir.

Extra Exploit: Lepidstadt Shifter
Extra Exploit: Altered Shifting

Both of the above are from Advanced Class Origins. The first is basically Wild Shape for the Arcanist. The second allows you to shift between different valid forms of the current polymorph spell.

Extend Spell tends to be very useful for Transmuters in general. If you are doing it via feat, you would want to take extra exploit in order to take MetaMagic Knowledge to get them. Doing so qualifies you for the Greater MetaMagic Knowledge at 10th level.

Otherwise it is just like any other Wizard or Sorcerer.

One difference in terms of equipment is you might want to do Headband of Int combined with either a Magenta Prism or Pink and Green Sphere. The advantage of the Magenta Prism is if you do go for the headband that gives both Int and Charisma, you can just change the setting on the prism to a different attribute.

[Apraham Lincoln]

I prefer to cast the polymorph spells on my familiar so i can sit back and still sling spells. Familiar certainly has the intelligence to use the abilites granted. Wont have many hit points (i think its HPs are fixed relative to yours and not its own CON modifier but buffs to your own con should buffs your familiars) and will be expensive if it dies but chances are if your familiar dies, you would have died in the same situation.

[kyrt-ryder]

Start with at least 14 Strength [16 is better if you don't need to be the party's primary arcanist] and obtain strength belts as levels rise.

Proceed to polymorph and stomp face.

[Dragonchess Player]

If going the wizard/eldritch knight route, don't forget to pick up the Multimorph arcane discovery.

Skald 1/wizard (Transmutation/Shapechange school) 5/dragon disciple (increase wizard spellcasting) 4/eldritch knight 10 would probably work best: skald for martial weapon proficiency and the ability to cast arcane spells without preparation (plus Raging Song/Inspired Rage for a +2 morale bonus on Str and Con), wizard for access to all of the polymorph spells (Transmutation/Shapechange for the +1 (+2 at 5th level) enhancement bonus to a physical ability score of your choice and Battleshaping), dragon disciple for the +3 natural armor and +4 inherent Str increase, and eldritch knight for the BAB. Starts a bit slow on the melee capability, but ends up with +15 BAB and spell progression as a 17th-level wizard (9th-level spells) at 20th character level; plus some extra cantrips and the ability to use wands of cure light wounds without Use Magic Device.

[kyrt-ryder]

Thankfully Dragon Disciple's Ability Increases are not Inherent Bonuses, or they wouldn't stack with Wishes/Tomes.

They're simple increases to the chosen stat.

[UnArcaneElection]

Apraham Lincoln wrote:

I prefer to cast the polymorph spells on my familiar so i can sit back and still sling spells. {. . .}

Would be nice if polymorphing spellcasters other than Druids could use Natural Spell . . . .

[kyrt-ryder]

UnArcaneElection wrote:

Apraham Lincoln wrote:

I prefer to cast the polymorph spells on my familiar so i can sit back and still sling spells. {. . .}

Would be nice if polymorphing spellcasters other than Druids could use Natural Spell . . . .

I figure if the caster's embarrassing the martial at his job it's pretty fair the caster can't also cast at the same time.

[Gwen Smith]

In our Emerald Spire group, our main frontliner is a transmutation specialist wizard with an earthbreaker as his arcane bod. He uses monstrous physique to turn into various creatures with strength, natural armor, and abilities (flight, swim, darkvision, etc.).

He uses all of his spell slots for buff spells, like idealized bear's endurance (+6 Con), false life, stone skin, heart of the metal, echolocation, etc. Using feats, alchemical reagents, and extend rods, he can increase the length of transmutation spells (which covers most buff spells) to cover the length of most dungeon-crawling days.

He's been an effective front-liner, so effective that at 7th level, one of the other party members asked him why he wasn't taking his iterative attack. (Response? "Dude, I'm a wizard--my BAB is 3!")