Ray of Enfeeblement - nerf a combantant with a ranged touch
Glitterdust - low level area save-or-suck. Will save, bypasses Spell resistance, good vs. invisible foes
Magic Missile - always solid, always hit (except with shield)
Shield - +4 AC, plus bypass magic missile
Scorching Ray - the big mama of 2nd-level damaging spells (12d6... more than a Fireball on a single target ! And hope for a Crit !...)
Acid Arrow - Bypass SR
See Invisibility - good, no point taken
Mirror Image - how to take some solid blows without damage
Fly - what can I say ?
Fireball - a classic, good damage until mid-high levels
Dispel Magic - always good until Greater comes out
Dimension Door - take Silent Spell and nobody can hold or grapple you anymore
Confusion - or, how to make the tanks of the group their worst enemies
Black Tentacles - how to force the group not to move and take damage EVERY round. Linked with Confusion, can potentially wipe out a group
Enervation - or, how a Sorcerer can wipe out a single character in 3 rounds
Greater Invisibility - how to make a caster almost unstoppable (couple it with Fly for battle domination...)
Cloud Kill - or, how to kill casters with a single blow after they exit the area of the spell (Constitution on single digits...)
Mind Fog - how to allow even Charm spells in battle (+5 from battle condition vs -10 from Mind Fog spell), and dismember ANY party with Dominate and Hold spells
Hold Monster - almost anything can be stopped (coupled with Mind Fog and Cloud Kill = DEATH)
Greater Dispel Magic - see Dispel Magic, without limitations until you hit Epic levels
Disintegrate - no caster would renounce on this...
Mislead - better version of Greater Invisibiilty, gives a fancy decoy
True Seeing - best divination spell, IMHO
Finger of Death - even with the nerf, the big gun
Plane Shift - plane-hopping; also, nerfed version of Greater Teleport (you plane-hop to Heavens or Elysium - any location will do - , then plane-hop back to the Material Plane again, only 5-500 miles from your destination...)
Greater Teleport - no distance limit, no chance of failure
Horrid Wilting - what can I say ? Mass damage in a controlled way...
Irresistible Dance - risky to waltz in the middle of the fray (unless invisible), then the big tank is out of commission for a while (even with the nerf, 1 round is still 1 round...)
Wail of the Banshee - even with the nerf, the big gun en masse; plus, very fancy
Time Stop - no caster would renounce on this, too...
Meteor Swarm - hit a single target for 32d6 without saving throw + 24d6 to all his friends around him !!!
Gate - plane-hopping at will OR very big guy at your service
Well, this makes for an optimal Sorcerer-selection (only a couple of these spells would be left out), with some spells left out for personal fancy.
RPG Superstar 2008 Top 32, 2011 Top 16
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I'll add false life to the list. Simply no reason not to take the bonus hp.
Also, for mid levels, protection from arrows. When combined with fly makes your wizard very hard to hurt from most of the challenges you'll face.
Resilient Sphere - not only does it give a good chance to remove an enemy from the battle until you've beaten everything else and can fight it solo, but it's versitle enough to block a door or hallway, or use as a defensive force bubble to protect you from all harm (just be sure to have a dimension door or teleport handy to get out at your lesuire once you've fully buffed.) It can also be lots of fun to go invisible, put a silent image of yourself in the sphere, and then teleport out, and watch while your foes gather around the spehere waiting for it to go down - they tend to group themselves nicely for area of effect spells...
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Just a few of my trustworthys include:
- Magic Missile
- Mage Armor
- Alter Self
- Knock
- Spider Climb
- Scorching Ray
- Dispel Magic
- Haste
- Fly
- Remove Curse
- Invisibility (Greater)
- Teleport
- Wall of Force
- True Seeing
- Move Earth
- Contingency
- Limited Wish
- Delayed Blast Fireball
- Summon Monster (Any)
- Polar Ray
- Gate
No doubt I have more, but that means actually breaking out my character for his full spellbook stats!, but thats for another game!
Resilient Sphere
Dispell Magic
Summon Monster 5 & 6
Mage Armor
Prestidigitation
Ray of Enfeeblement
Telekinesis
Blink
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I am going with 3.5 Core because I can't look up the PathFinder Beta right now at work. I also tend to favor Clerics over other Casters. These do not include any Domain stuff, and are not dependent on alignment or deity. The "*" means a priority as soon as that level is opened up.
Lower Level Spells
Cure any
Protection From Evil*
Silence
Invisibility Purge*
Magic Vestment*
Greater Magic Weapon* (but almost never Magic Weapon)
Divine Power*
Death Ward*
Mid Level Spells
Summon Monster 4+
Mark of Justice
Plan Shift
Righteous Might*
Slay Living*
Wall of Stone
Harm***
Word of Recall*
Upper Level Spells
Antimagic Field*
Earthquake
Firestorm*
Energy Drain***
I generally find the buffs to be better for preventing the party from taking damage than waiting to just heal it when it does happen. Buffs like Divine Favor, Divine Power, and Righteous Might are just to important to go without, and can go a long, long way in preventing huge amounts of damage to the party as a whole. (You can let the Fighter try and hack away at the giant hoping it doesn't crit, or you can spend a few rounds and then just go grapple him yourself and then let everyone get their licks in).
Magic Vestment and Greater Magic Weapon have such long durations, that they really are worth it. Not only do you get to keep up with the AC and Damage, but you also get to spend your gold on other needed little things, or can boost up other characters a while so they can save up for something they really want.
Harm, to me is THE CLERIC spell of awesomeness. I wish it did not cap out the way it does, but I also see how the 3.0 version could be rediculous (literally going form 800,000,000,000 H.P. to 1-4 H.P. on a failed save). I would really like it if this spell was increased beyong 15th level, in some way, maybe 10 points for every two levels. I would also like the No death on a successful save removed.
Word of Recall is a really good way to save yourself if things go really bad. Unfortionatly for them, I do not look out for them before myself as part of being a Cleric. If it is starting to look like a TPK, or I'm the only one left, this spell can literally save you from a great many things. The planning and cost to get it set up are well worth it.
Wizard/Sorcerer
1st- color spray (powerful early, scales better than sleep), grease (no SR), identify (don't go adventuring without it), mage armor (a must-have, unless wearing regular armor), magic missile (guaranteed damage, except against shield or SR), ray of enfeeblement (makes enemies hit less/do less damage), true strike (+20 to next attack, enough said)
2nd- acid arrow (no SR, long range), glitterdust (no SR, reveals invisible foes), hideous laughter (good disabler), mirror image (good defense), scorching ray (good damage, can attack up to three targets), spectral hand (makes touch spells worth it), web (entangle multiple foes, block movement)
3rd- dispel magic (useful in too many situations to ignore), fly (superior mobility), haste (one of the best party buffs), lightning bolt (Fire Resistance is more common than Electricity Resistance), stinking cloud (disable multiple foes, forces saves every round), vampiric touch (do damage and gain temporary hit points)
4th- black tentacles (grapples all in an area, does damage, lasts multiple rounds, cannot be attacked, no SR), dimension door (bypass barriers), dimensional anchor (keeps foes from avoiding/escaping party by extradimensional means), enervation (negative levels), phantasmal killer (save or die, still does damage if save is made), shout (sonic damage + deafness), stoneskin (expensive, but still a great spell)
5th- cloudkill (nasty), cone of cold (cold damage), feeblemind (very nasty), telekinesis (useful in many situations), teleport (instantaneous long-range movement)
6th- acid fog (no save, no SR), antimagic field (last ditch way to shut down magic-using foes), chain lightning (a lot of potential damage), greater dispel magic (better dispelling), legend lore (research tool), true seeing (ignore illusions)
7th- forcecage (no save disabler), greater teleport (travel becomes trivial), limited wish (no-brainer), mage's sword (steady damage), prismatic ray (inflict a variety of effects), reverse gravity (very nasty against non-fliers), spell turning (reflect spells)
8th- clenched fist (defense and offense), greater shout (sonic damage), incendiary cloud (no SR), maze (take a foe out of the fight, literally), mind blank (protect against mind-affecting magic and scrying), telekinetic sphere (trap a foe and move them)
9th- foresight (never caught off-guard), meteor swarm (up to 24d6 damage), shapechange (take multiple shapes), time stop (extra actions), weird (area effect phantasmal killer), wish (the best spell)
How was Wail of the Banshee nerfed? It looks twice as good now I think. It's like a mass Harm.
Well, it was a mass Save or Die before (one creature per caster level!); basically, same area and target than now, but death instead of huge damage. It's still Fort negates, not Fort half.
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My characters tend to be druids so here's my list of spells
1st - Speak with Animals (you can disarm a random encounter in the jungle with it from time to time); Cloudburst (Spell compendium - puts out fires obscures vision)
2nd - Easy Trail (spell compendium - makes a trail in trackless areas);
3rd - Nature's Rampart (spell compendium: good for making camp at night); Dessicate (sandstorm: direct damage causes character to be dehydrated); Dehydrate (spell compendium: con damage)
4th - Repel Vermin (I like nature...hate mosquitoes)
5th - Can't remember off hand (or 7th - 9th level)
6th - Drown (spell compendium: save or die. killed a blue dragon in the desert with this one)
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How was Wail of the Banshee nerfed? It looks twice as good now I think. It's like a mass Harm.Well, it was a mass Save or Die before (one creature per caster level!); basically, same area and target than now, but death instead of huge damage. It's still Fort negates, not Fort half.
Ah, I didn't look at the Save. Otherwise, I would go with the Huge Damage, it slways seemed to sound a lot cooler that it really was because of how it used to cap out.