Can someone help me dig a little deeper on how to make a decent "Ray Specialist" Do I use more Necromancy type Rays ( how are they good ) compared to Evocation type Rays. List of feats/spells would be great... LET THE RAY BATTLE BEGIN!!!
I too am curious.
*bump*
Reach spell. Turns any touch spell into a ray. ;-) Enjoy. ;-)
One thought is to make it a wiz X/fighter 1/eldritch knight X. While you'll lose a few spells per day and half a spell level, you'll get a major boost to attack bonus and some bonus feats.
Note that you NEED the feat (precise shot?) that removes the -4 penalty for shooting into melee. Touch attack or not, that's gonna make you cry in the long run.
Theres not that many ray spells, reach feat aside. Take them all and specialise in your favorite.
I suspect that scorching ray will be your best friend. It's realitvely low level and it scales pretty well. Ray spells are somewhat limited. Also may want to invest in somethign to change the energy type. Fire resist is easy to come by.
Don't really know how well Enervate has been treated by the PF transition from 3.5, but before it was very useful (especially against spellcasters).
Ray of enfeeblement exists, but isn't much useful anymore except against low-fort melee combatants that rely on strength... which aren't too many. A rogue maybe.
Reach shocking grasp is decent for a 2nd level spell if you need some variation in damage type.
Check out the APG and UM, gotta have something useful.
Eldritch Knight can certainly help, in that you get the extra BAB and the access to fighter feats that can affect rays.
But the big problem is that there are so few good sorcerer ray spells.
From Core, you have the following sorcerer ray spells:
Dimensional Anchor
Disintegrate
Disrupt Undead
Energy Drain
Enervation
Polar Ray
Ray of Enfeeblement
Ray of Exhaustion
Ray of Frost
Scorching Ray
From the APG there's nothing; from Ultimate Magic, there's:
Ray of Sickening
Now, enervation and scorching ray are pretty good. For wizards their big brothers energy drain and polar ray are generally inferior to metamagicing-up the lower-level ones, but since you're playing a sorcerer, you can get some use out of them. Ray of exhaustion is potentially useful debuff; if they save, they still get fatigued, and if they're already fatigued, they'll get exhausted no matter what. Ray of enfeeblement's value is entirely dependent on how much good reducing the target's Str is; it can be okay or meh, depending.
Disintegrate runs into the problem that your opponents will likely have decent Fort saves, and a successful save reduces it to 5d6. Dimensional anchor is a way to make sure people don't teleport away, but otherwise isn't all that useful. Ray of sickening is not something you'll get much use out of; it's a marginal-value single-target debuff that is negated on a save. The others are cantrips.
The trouble with Reach Spell is that it does not seem to officially turn a touch spell into a ray. Sure, now it's a ranged touch attack, but it doesn't say "ray". Maybe there's been a ruling otherwise, but there's nothing in the FAQ. There's overlap between ranged touch and ray builds, but feats like Weapon Focus, Weapon Specialization, and Improved Critical care. And, of course, as a sorcerer the use of metamagic is generally a pain in the butt.
One of my greatest disappointments with Ultimate Magic was it didn't give the ray caster a good set of ray spells.
The trouble with Reach Spell is that it does not seem to officially turn a touch spell into a ray. Sure, now it's a ranged touch attack, but it doesn't say "ray". Maybe there's been a ruling otherwise, but there's nothing in the FAQ. There's overlap between ranged touch and ray builds, but feats like Weapon Focus, Weapon Specialization, and Improved Critical care. And, of course, as a sorcerer the use of metamagic is generally a pain in the butt.
I think you're splitting hairs. How else would one have a ranged touch attack without a ray? The ghost hand floaty thing now withstanding, since it's effectively an object.
The trouble with Reach Spell is that it does not seem to officially turn a touch spell into a ray. Sure, now it's a ranged touch attack, but it doesn't say "ray". Maybe there's been a ruling otherwise, but there's nothing in the FAQ. There's overlap between ranged touch and ray builds, but feats like Weapon Focus, Weapon Specialization, and Improved Critical care. And, of course, as a sorcerer the use of metamagic is generally a pain in the butt.I think you're splitting hairs. How else would one have a ranged touch attack without a ray? The ghost hand floaty thing now withstanding, since it's effectively an object.
I can't speak for PF because I simply haven't paid much attention, but in 3.5 there were three kinds of attack spells: touch, missile, and ray. Why this was I'm not sure, but there was a distinction between missile (standard Ranged Touch) and ray.
Additionally, and I may be mistaken, but ray spells have the specific wording of "effect: ray" or something to that effect. Reach Spell doesn't confer that to the spells it modifies.
However! If you can dip back into 3.5 or use it as inspiration for homebrewed goodness, the books Complete Arcane and Complete Scoundrel have some excellent ray material. CA had some info on weapon-like spells as well as some feats, and CS has a ray specialist prestige class. I'm not saying it's solid material, but it's a great jumping point if you're looking to build your own class/feats.
I think you're splitting hairs. How else would one have a ranged touch attack without a ray?
Ultimate Combat's fiery shuriken is the first example of a ranged touch attack spell that isn't a ray that comes to my mind.
EDIT: And now I remember core's acid arrow.
I see your point, although I think it's not much of a stretch to call reach spells ray's. I would allow all reach spells to be whatever the player wanted them to be (ray or projectile). It's a non issue.
IF (big if in some cases) your GM is amenable to researching new spells then perhaps ans arcane version of searing light?
Searing Light
School evocation; Level cleric/oracle 3, inquisitor 3; Domain glory 3, sun 3
CASTINGCasting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S
EFFECTRange medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level)
Effect ray
Duration instantaneous
Saving Throw none; Spell Resistance yesDESCRIPTION
Focusing divine power like a ray of the sun, you project a blast of light from your open palm. You must succeed on a ranged touch attack to strike your target.
A creature struck by this ray of light takes 1d8 points of damage per two caster levels (maximum 5d8).
An undead creature takes 1d6 points of damage per caster level (maximum 10d6), and an undead creature particularly vulnerable to bright light takes 1d8 points of damage per caster level (maximum 10d8).
A construct or inanimate object takes only 1d6 points of damage per two caster levels (maximum 5d6).
No save makes it a good candidate for a blast-y based sorcerer (Orc bloodline maybe) spell perfection selection to boost the spell pen feat bonuses make it long range with reach, quickens, etc.
I wonder if, generally speaking, a cleric or oracle might have better ray options between the domain/ mystery spells and their base list?
Can someone help me dig a little deeper on how to make a decent "Ray Specialist"What do you want to be able to do, and why this narrow idea?
In other words what are you picturing here?
-James
I think the op was looking at a ray combo specialist
think sort form and online with combo after combo of deadly rays
basicly a blaster but with rays
Can someone help me dig a little deeper on how to make a decent "Ray Specialist"What do you want to be able to do, and why this narrow idea?
In other words what are you picturing here?
-James
I think the op was looking at a ray combo specialist
think sort form and online with combo after combo of deadly rays
basicly a blaster but with rays
EXACTLY!! I originally wanted to starsoul combo the daze with my evocation rays, but later found out that will not work... so now im looking for the best way to glass cannon, like quicken true strike, maximize or heighten, disintigrate.
IF (big if in some cases) your GM is amenable to researching new spells then perhaps ans arcane version of searing light?
Searing Light
School evocation; Level cleric/oracle 3, inquisitor 3; Domain glory 3, sun 3
CASTINGCasting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S
EFFECTRange medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level)
Effect ray
Duration instantaneous
Saving Throw none; Spell Resistance yesDESCRIPTION
Focusing divine power like a ray of the sun, you project a blast of light from your open palm. You must succeed on a ranged touch attack to strike your target.
A creature struck by this ray of light takes 1d8 points of damage per two caster levels (maximum 5d8).
An undead creature takes 1d6 points of damage per caster level (maximum 10d6), and an undead creature particularly vulnerable to bright light takes 1d8 points of damage per caster level (maximum 10d8).
A construct or inanimate object takes only 1d6 points of damage per two caster levels (maximum 5d6).
No save makes it a good candidate for a blast-y based sorcerer (Orc bloodline maybe) spell perfection selection to boost the spell pen feat bonuses make it long range with reach, quickens, etc.
I wonder if, generally speaking, a cleric or oracle might have better ray options between the domain/ mystery spells and their base list?
There is a prestige class I might be able to take that is arcane/divine.. cant remember what they are called, but would that give me a better variaty of ray spells?