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Just got through with my first read through Pathfinder 13 and noticed that the way Seltyiel is built (Str 12 Dex 15 Con 13 Int 14 Wis 8 Cha 10) it implies that he will be a Wizard for his arcane class due to his high Intelligence but low Charisma. Further, in his item list there is a "mysterious spellbook" listed. I think it makes more sense to make him a Wizard due to his backstory, and he will get access to higher level spells sooner (which is an important thing for a 50/50 multiclass like he is going to be). So in any event, I only bring it up because I was fairly convinced he was going to be a Fighter/Sorcerer and feel like the Fighter/Wizard combo is the better choice. Oh, and the rest of the AP was freaking sick. I can't wait to watch this one unfold.
Creative Director
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Will Seltyiel be an even split between fighter/wizard? An evoker of roughly half caster level is going to get hosed when trying to overcome either SR OR Energy Resistance of equivalent-CR foes. (drow and their demon allies, assuming the AP sticks close to type.)
At first I was thinking of doing him as an even split, but I decided against it. He'll probably be going for a skew toward evoker, with a possibility of taking levels in eldritch knight. His spells will focus on damage ranged attacks and buffing spells for melee swordfighting. When he faces high SR or Energy Resistant foes, he'll likely switch to the melee scene.
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Creative Director
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Yup; Seltyiel is indeed going to end up being a fighter/wizard. A fighter/evoker, in fact, if I remember correctly. We were going to go with fighter/sorcerer up to the last minute, but in the end fighter/wizard just sounded better.Evoker huh? So two pyromaniacs in the Iconics.. interesting. :)
We'll likely be skewing his spell selection away from fire spells, actually, to avoid stepping on Seoni's pretty little toes too much.
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Yup; Seltyiel is indeed going to end up being a fighter/wizard. A fighter/evoker, in fact, if I remember correctly. We were going to go with fighter/sorcerer up to the last minute, but in the end fighter/wizard just sounded better.Evoker huh? So two pyromaniacs in the Iconics.. interesting. :)
Yeah it is. It also perhaps indicates a slight shift in the paradigm of how he will utilize his spells. Originally they were talking about him as a Fighter who enhanced his melee ability with arcane spells. Having him be an evoker probably means he will still use plenty of buffs, but that he will use that bonus spell per level to add on some blaster ability. At low levels that will mean stuff like Scorching Ray and Magic Missile. Keeping in mind that they keep the original design idea (half and half levels in melee and caster) Seltyiel will cap out at a Fighter 7/Evoker 7, meaning that his best blaster spells will be things like Fireball and the like.
To help the caster level thing, they could use the trait they had listed in the Companion that increased his caster level by 2 to a maximum of his hit dice, as well as Spell Penetration and Greater Spell Penetration. That would give him a respectable caster level of 13 against spell resistance at 14th level. They may also be able to use magic items to help with that. On the whole though, I expect SR to be a fairly minor concern for him as many of his spells will be buffing his melee ability anyway and thus not subject to spell resistance. Being an evoker just means that he can get an extra slot to have some "blaster" ability on top of his buffs. Dropping say Enchantment and Illusion (as they have minimal utility for a character focusing on buffs and offense) and gaining that extra blasting spell makes a lot of sense. Either way he will be a fun character to see play out. Lots of different directions they could go with him.
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Yikes.... Scooped by master Jacobs. I am really pumped to hear they may give him some levels in Eldritch Knight though. That increases his utility as a Fighter/Wizard by a HUGE margin. If you go slight skew towards Evoker you get something like Fighter 4/Evoker 6/ Eldritch Knight 4 at the end of his progression. That would mean a caster base level of 9 if they want to make sure he gets Weapon Specialization or they could take it further and go Fighter 2/ Evoker 8/Eldritch Knight 4 for a caster level of 11 and thus access to Tensor's Transformation. The possiblities just went through the roof if they are going to let him have Eldritch Knight as well as Fighter and Wizard levels. I can't wait to see this guy fully statted at 14th level in volume 18. You guys so rock!!!!!!
I am really pumped to hear they may give him some levels in Eldritch Knight though. That increases his utility as a Fighter/Wizard by a HUGE margin. If you go slight skew towards Evoker you get something like Fighter 4/Evoker 6/ Eldritch Knight 4 at the end of his progression. That would mean a caster base level of 9 if they want to make sure he gets Weapon Specialization or they could take it further and go Fighter 2/ Evoker 8/Eldritch Knight 4 for a caster level of 11 and thus access to Tensor's Transformation.
Fighter 2/Evoker 5/Eldritch Knight 7 would make more sense, IMO (BAB +11, CL 11). Weapon Specialization isn't worth losing 6th level spells! Evoker 6/Eldritch Knight 6 will have slightly better saves, but that's just a mechanical artifact of the 3.x level progression (i.e., rules instead of flavor).
Fighter 2/Evoker 5/Eldritch Knight 7 would make more sense, IMO (BAB +11, CL 11). Weapon Specialization isn't worth losing 6th level spells! Evoker 6/Eldritch Knight 6 will have slightly better saves, but that's just a mechanical artifact of the 3.x level progression (i.e., rules instead of flavor).
Um, +9 +3 +6 (F2E5EK7) or +7 +4 +7 (E6EK6)? There is one set of saving throws better? Different, ok, but better?
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I am really pumped to hear they may give him some levels in Eldritch Knight though. That increases his utility as a Fighter/Wizard by a HUGE margin. If you go slight skew towards Evoker you get something like Fighter 4/Evoker 6/ Eldritch Knight 4 at the end of his progression. That would mean a caster base level of 9 if they want to make sure he gets Weapon Specialization or they could take it further and go Fighter 2/ Evoker 8/Eldritch Knight 4 for a caster level of 11 and thus access to Tensor's Transformation.Fighter 2/Evoker 5/Eldritch Knight 7 would make more sense, IMO (BAB +11, CL 11). Weapon Specialization isn't worth losing 6th level spells! Evoker 6/Eldritch Knight 6 will have slightly better saves, but that's just a mechanical artifact of the 3.x level progression (i.e., rules instead of flavor).
I see what you are saying. My build was made on the premise that JJ said they might give him a "few" levels of Eldritch Knight. That implied to me he would primarily have levels as a Fighter/Evoker and that he might get anywhere from 2-4 levels of Eldritch Knight towards the end of his progression. I suspect we will find out, but I completely agree with you that 6th level spells is HUGE because of some of the just sick options there are at that level. The best gish spell in the SRD is at that level (Tensor's Transformation), and some of the best blaster spells are as well (Chain Lightning, Disintegrate, etc). So I imagine they will get him to caster level 11th, but how that happens is probably a bit open to interpretation til we see what they do with him. It's sure fun speculation though.
Fighter 2/Evoker 5/Eldritch Knight 7 would make more sense, IMO (BAB +11, CL 11). Weapon Specialization isn't worth losing 6th level spells! Evoker 6/Eldritch Knight 6 will have slightly better saves, but that's just a mechanical artifact of the 3.x level progression (i.e., rules instead of flavor).Um, +9 +3 +6 (F2E5EK7) or +7 +4 +7 (E6EK6)? There is one set of saving throws better? Different, ok, but better?
Fighter 2/Evoker 5/Eldritch Knight 7: Fort +3+1+5=+9, Ref +0+1+2=+3, Will +0+4+2=+6
(Fighter 2)/Evoker 6/Eldritch Knight 6: Fort +3+2+5=+10, Ref +0+2+2=+4, Will +0+5+2=+7
The mechanical artifact I'm talking about is the gain of +1 on all saves at 6th level in a class, while 5th and 7th level in a class provide no saving throw increases.
with a possibility of taking levels in eldritch knight.
Cool.
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Creative Director
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At the risk of sounding negative am i the only person that thinks he looks more like and would probably work better as a Fighter/sorceror than a fighter wizard?
You're absolutely not. I agree that he LOOKS more like a fighter/sorcerer, but the cool backstory Wes came up with fits a fighter/wizard better.
AND: When you get down to it, the whole point of the iconic multiclass slot (of which Seltyiel was created to fill) is to be just that: the ICONIC multiclass. The most popular combo in the game, going back to the start, is fighter/wizard (or fighter/magic user). So making him that had a lot of draw to it.
Also: "gish" is one of my pet peeves. It's a class of githyanki, not a generalized term, in my world.
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Also: "gish" is one of my pet peeves. It's a class of githyanki, not a generalized term, in my world.
Yikes again!! Duely noted and apologized for. You are absolutely right about that. I will refrain from using the term going forward. Also, regardless of how you stat him I am sure it will be cool. So consider me happy just to be along for the ride. Oh yeah, you guys rock!!!