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I'm looking at a possible illusionist wizard build, and am concerned that at higher levels True Seeing is really going to become a problem.

While I appreciate that Mind Blank will help with some of that (such as allowing the wizard to remain invisible via Greater Invisibility), it really hurts the flavourful offensive options available to an illusionist. For example, True Seeing will trump things like Phantasmal Killer (and by extension, Weird) and other similar spells (such as Phantasmal Asphyxiation). It also dramatically reduces the effectiveness of the Shadow spells.

So I was thinking: as a high level wizard illusionist, I'm smart and obviously know this True Seeing thing is a problem -- so what would I do to deal with it? Well why not research and create a spell to specifically counter it?

Hence the following spell idea:

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BLIND THE SIGHTED
School: abjuration; Level sorcerer/wizard 7
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Components: V, S, M (finely ground black onyx powder worth 250gp)
Range: personal
Target: you
Duration: 1 min./level (D)

You surround yourself with a sphere of power with a radius of 5 feet per caster level that negates the effect of see invisibility, true seeing, or any effect akin to either of those spells. These sight-enhancing divination effects continue to work outside the affected area, but anything within the area is not revealed (including darkness effects, invisibility, illusions and anything else that would otherwise be revealed). This spell has no effect on other senses, such as blindsense, blindsight, scent or tremorsense.

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Does this seem like a reasonably balanced spell? I designed it fairly quickly, but note that it is a level or two higher than True Seeing (which is cleric 5 and sorcerer/wizard 6), has a similar material component cost and duration to True Seeing, and the same sort of radius as Invisibility Purge. It is a level lower than Mind Blank, but has a much reduced duration and none of the anti-scrying effects the latter spell has.

My thinking is that it does not offer an illusionist a total defence against divination magic and requires getting a little closer than they might prefer to get off offensive spells, but at least it would invalidate True Seeing as a total counter to an illusionist's tricks. It would also open up Mirror Image as a valid defence again!

Interested in people's thoughts...

I have a 14th level Shaman with the Speaker for the Past archetype (which basically trades out the spirit animal and the versatility of wandering hex for several revelations from the Ancestor and Time oracle mysteries).

Looking ahead to 15th level, I was considering picking up the Planned Spontaneity feat.

One of the challenges in playing a prepared spellcaster like a Shaman is consistently preparing the 'right' spells for the day. While I currently handle that by leaving a few slots open and mostly picking spells that are generally useful (rather than only in niche situations), that comes with its own limitations and I miss out on using some fun stuff as a result.

Planned Spontaneity would help with that issue, as it would allow me to prepare for the days with some choices built into what he prepares. For example, in a 7th level slot he could prepare both Heal and Ice Body. While Heal is probably going to be generally useful, Ice Body could end up fantastic in the right situation, and having the flexibility to make that choice on the fly seems great.

Anyone have any thoughts on the feat? Anyone used it and able to tell me how it worked out?

I am playing a melee-oriented Shaman with the Battle spirit, and make a lot of use of the Enemies' Bane ability from that spirit.

Enemies' Bane (Su): As a swift action, the shaman imbues a single weapon she’s wielding with the bane weapon special ability, choosing the type of creature affected each time she does. The effect lasts for 1 minute. If the weapon already has the bane weapon special ability of the type chosen, the additional damage dealt by bane increases to 4d6. The shaman can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + her Charisma modifier.

It just occurred to me today that I could potentially use it twice -- once to give the weapon the Bane weapon special ability, and then again on a subsequent round, to increase the additional damage up to 4d6.

Does this seem legitimate? Requires two uses from a fairly limited pool of resources, but it might be useful in some situations.

I am currently playing through Rise of the Runelords with a Shaman with the Speaker for the Past archetype, and using the Battle spirit. He is the group's secondary front-line combatant using a reach weapon, and his spells are primarily focvused on self-buffs, utility and condition removal. He is currently 10th level, swiftly approaching 11th.

My specific question relates to the Spirit Talker feat, which I keep considering as another way of broadening the scope of what the character can do. The feat allows as follows:

"Once per day, you can spend 10 minutes communing with a shaman spirit of your choice. When you do, you gain the temporary use of one hex from its list of hexes. This hex is added to your list of available hexes for the next hour, after which you immediately lose all benefits of that hex."

I particularly like the idea of grabbing the Stone Stability hex from the Stone spirit, but worry it might be of limited utility against the increasingly large enemies we are fighting.

So I'm coming to the forums to see what people think of the feat post-nerf (it used to last 24 hours), and what other hexes people like to use it for.

(Please note my character has only INT 8, so Arcane Enlightenment is not an option even if the rules allowed it to work with Spirit Talker... which I find doubtful anyways given the language about losing the benefits after an hour.)

Hi all,

Hoping to avail of your collective wisdom on possible feat choices for my recently-turned-9th-level Shaman.

He is a Shoanti (Human) Shaman with the Speaker for the Past archetype, and using the Battle Spirit. For combat, he primarily focuses on using long term buff spells like Barkskin, False Life and Defending Bone, and mixing it up in melee using a reach weapon. He otherwise uses his spells for status condition removal and utility.

Due to some friendly houserules, he gets Power Attack for free, and also has proficiency with a Bardiche.

Between his melee abilities, spells, hexes and revelations, he has lots of options, and is quite a flexible character overall. I'm having a blast playing him.

For context, his current feat, hex and revelation choices up to 8th level are as follows, as well as his likely choices at 10th and 11th:

1: Combat Reflexes (Feat); Extra Traits (Fate's Favored and Resilient)
2: Fortune (Hex)
3: Weapon Focus: Bardiche (Feat)
4: Chant (Hex); Temporal Celerity (Revelation)
5: Extra Hex: Witch Hex: Flight (Feat)
6: Time Flicker (Revelation)
7: Extra Revelation: Time Hop (Feat)
8: Battle Master (Hex); Weapon Specialization: Bardiche (Feat -- from Hex)

9: ???
10: Secret: Quicken Spell (Hex)
11: Divine Interference (Feat)

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In terms of options for the 9th level feat, I've been considering:

- Lunge (good for extra reach, though doesn't work for AOOs, and I tend to do well enough with Enlarge Person, and the now-available Righteous Might)

- Improved Initiative (good static bonus, combining well with Temporal Celerity to keep me high on the turn tracker, but kind of boring overall)

- Spirit Talker (seems fun and versatile, but the errata nerf hurts bad, and I'm not sure what he'd use it on most days given the 10 min "casting time" and hour-only duration)

- Summon Guardian Spirit (attuned to SNA IV where I don't have any key everyday spell options; would look at a Silvanshee Agathion for the 1x/day luck bonus to saves, minor healing and good scouting, and pick up Ill Omen and Call Lightning as SLAs for further utility)

I'm sort of leaning towards Summon Guardian Spirit for story/flavour reasons, though our group currently includes one character with both a cohort and familiar, and I'm hesitant to add more pieces to the board, though I suppose it is only once per day for a few minutes (I pride myself on my quick turns!).

I'd love to hear feedback from the boards, though, including thoughts on the proposed options, as well as any other options I might have missed.

Thanks in advance!