Hey, this board has been great for me to find alot of advice on builds etc.
I've been playing a Bard with the Magician set from the APG. I'm going to become a Arcane Trickster and since I can pick up other spells from a Arcane Spell List I was curious on what would be the best spell to use with Surprise Spell.
Scorching Ray is a common choice. Elemental touch isn't bad. Chill Touch is fine.
What level are you playing at, and what level will you be taking Magician 6? Your first use of the expanded repetoire is at Magician 2, which means you'll only be able to grab a 1st level spell from another list.
Since you are probably taking 3 levels in Rogue to get into Arcane Trickster, it means that you'll only even get one more chance to take expanded repetoire, and that will be when you take your 6th level in Bard. So when you take that will depend on what level spells you can cast, which determines what spell you can take off another list.
With Magician 2 I would take either Frostbite or Frigid Touch (both from Ultimate Magic). Paired with either the feat Reach Spell, or Metamagic Wands of Lesser Reach Spell (which should be pretty cheap), these become some pretty nifty spells that you can shoot. A no save Stagger effect (along with 4d6+sneak attack if you can get it) on Frigid Touch is nice. The cool thing with Frostbite is that it lasts one "touch" per caster level, which means you can cast this as a reach spell, and then shoot lasers of cold for the next few rounds, even getting multiple attacks per round later on and with haste as well. It also includes a minor no-save debuff if you hit.
I suggest these two as your pick at Magician 2 simply because they will be useful throughout your whole career, as you don't get Surprise Spells till wayyyyyy down the line.
Edit: Forget that stuff about Frigid Touch at Magician 2...it's a second level spell. My bad. Chill Touch or Frostbite would be my pick at that level for their "multiple lasers" potential with Reach Spell.
Thanks for the Advice, by the time I get Magician 2 I'll have gotten the book to take a look at those spells and so our DM will let me use them.
I'm currently Rogue2/Bard5 I took Shocking Grasp as my Magician 1(So I could use it with my Weasel Familiar).
I'll be taking next lvl in Rogue then start all lvls into Arcane Trickster so when I get Magician 2 I'll have a higher spell casting lvl.
Shocking Grasp can also be quite nice as a reach spell, especially with the addition of Intensify Spell.
Shocking Grasp can also be quite nice as a reach spell, especially with the addition of Intensify Spell.
Oooo I really like that feat. I'm going to have to get this book and see what else it has added.
I can't tell from your statements so I'll just point it out in case it's unknown to anyone: while Surprise Spells can add Sneak Attack damage to any damaging spells, it's widely accepted that any spell with a d20 attack roll can be treated as a Sneak Attack simply by possessing Rogue (or Assassin or whatnot) levels. As such, any of the mentioned Touch or Ray spells are great early on, while late-game at Arcane Trickster 10, bursts, lines, cones and the like all can deal Sneak damage.
This gets me thinking that the Bard's sonic spells could actually be pretty powerful.
Additionally (to what Rockhopper said) intensify spell can be a good metamagic feat for a bard.
Dragon's breath is a very nice spell if you want to jump back to bard for that sixth level after you are capable of casting 4th level spells.