Evocation optimization?


Advice

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I realize it gets a bad rap for being weak and boring, so can we make it better? Want kind of build can a wiz (faster spells) or a sor (more spells per day) make to squeeze the best burnmage blaster possible?


Every wizard build I have seen does not really come into its own until after level 10. Things can get good at level 15, but that is a long time to wait.

Sorcerers blast better. They can cast more spells per day, and they apply metamagic on the fly.


wraithstrike wrote:
Sorcerers blast. They don't really cast more spells per day, and they apply metamagic on the fly.

Fixed it for ya. :)


Ashiel wrote:
wraithstrike wrote:
Sorcerers blast. They don't really cast more spells per day, and they apply metamagic on the fly.
Fixed it for ya. :)

I am assuming damage is the only goal. I am not accounting for a certain feat in the APG that takes away your actions. You know which one it is. :)


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Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Here's a pretty good example of a high damage blaster sorcerer.

He can hit a foe with a maximized fire snake for 127 damage followed by a quickened fire snake for an average of 89.5 damage for a total average of of 216.5 damage per round to multiple enemies. He even has dazing spell, so he can stun-lock multiple enemies while he wears them down with his direct damage.

Thanks to intensify spell, he can blast well with lower level spells too, and by the time he reaches 20th-level will be dealing around 290 damage to multiple enemies at once. No army will be able to stand against him.

And that's not even optimized. If he had empower spell and a metamagic rod, he could do far more damage every round. With different spells or feat/class/ability choices, he could deal just as much damage, but of varying energy types.


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how about trying a Half Orc crossblooded Dragon/Orc tattooed sorcerer.

The Orc Bloodline will give you +1 per die dmg on spells
The red Dragon bloodline will give you +1 dmg per die to fire spells

The Half-Orc alternate racial feat will give you +1 dmg per two levels as a favored class-sorcerer to fire spells.

The familiar tatoo will give you a +1 to CL with a specific school (evocation)

You may just want to take a one level dip in this and then go Admixture Mage and get an addition +1 dmg per 2 levels for evo spells and the abiity to convert spells to another element: Scorching ray to acidic ray

at 5th(sor) lvl you fireball will do 6d6+12

at 5th(sor1/wiz4) your fireball would do 5d6+12, an acid ball would do 5d6+7


There are a few things that you can do to make a Evoker better.

1. Choose Admixture school. You can then stop worrying about what resistances the opponent has.

2. Make sure that you have plenty of scrolls to hand so that you can keep punching. Wands are also nice as soon as you can get them.

3. Feats, Spell Focus, evocation. Spell Specialisation, Spell Specialisation, Spell Specialisation. Intensify Spell. By 5th Level, I'd look to have Spell Specialsation Burning Hands, Lighting Bolt and Fireball, giving me a cone, line and blast effect at an extra 2 dice, my second level spells would be intensified burning hands.

4. Rods. Lesser rods are quite cheap. Rod of Selection is essential as soon as you can afford it, lets you not hit four of your fellow party members 3 times a day. As an Admixture mage Rod of Rime can be applied to any of your blasting spells, and unless the opponent has evasion, is very likely to cause an entangle effect even if they pass there save.


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I think that since UM wizards make better blasters than sorcerers.
Things that you should be aware of:
1)Crossblooded sorcerer (dragonic/primal or dragonic/orc) and i think that it's better to have both bloodlines on the same element.
2)Tattoo sorcerer.
3)Admixture wizard.
3)The best to specialize element is acid.*
4)Rods** are your friends (remember that an empowered fireball can still be affected by a lesser rod)
5)The magical lineage trait.
6)Dazing spell.

As to why i think that wizards make better blasters than sorcerers: rods favor wizards, admixture focused school allows to lose some damage but still contribute and the aura ability allows you to dish out the same damage to any enemy, crossblooded is a bad archetype for sorcerers (it's better used as a one level dip).

But as the others said a blaster wizard comes around at 10+ level, until then you are a somewhat weaker controller.

*In terms of number of creatures with immunity/resistance and admixture allows you to use any blasting spell as an acid spell, i think that cold element comes second becuase of rime spell.

**If your DM allows crafting feats be sure to pick up craft rod.


leo1925 wrote:

I think that since UM wizards make better blasters than wizards.

I think you meant.."......sorcerers makes better blasters...". :)


wraithstrike wrote:
leo1925 wrote:

I think that since UM wizards make better blasters than wizards.

I think you meant.."......sorcerers makes better blasters...". :)

No, that's about right.

Wizards are better than themselves.

x > x

:P

Grand Lodge

Pathfinder PF Special Edition, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Ashiel wrote:
wraithstrike wrote:
Sorcerers blast. They don't really cast more spells per day, and they apply metamagic on the fly.
Fixed it for ya. :)

Actually they do cast more spells per day, even when allowing for Wizard specialisation.


wraithstrike wrote:
leo1925 wrote:

I think that since UM wizards make better blasters than wizards.

I think you meant.."......sorcerers makes better blasters...". :)

Sorry for the typo, i meant "wizards make better blasters than sorcerers", i don't really see how a sorcerer can become a better blaster than a wizard, sure a half orc crossblooded sorcerer might be a few points in damage ahead of a wizard but it loses out on so many things.


I misread the end of your post. I thought you said sorcs were better. Now I see that you said wizards are better. I was really confused for a minute.

I am not saying a sorc is better than a wizard that if both are focused blasters. I am saying the sorc is better at blasting.

I know about dazing spell. I wish that one had been toned down or just not written. I am on the fence about keeping it in my games.


wraithstrike wrote:

I misread the end of your post. I thought you said sorcs were better. Now I see that you said wizards are better. I was really confused for a minute.

I am not saying a sorc is better than a wizard that if both are focused blasters. I am saying the sorc is better at blasting.

I know about dazing spell. I wish that one had been toned down or just not written. I am on the fence about keeping it in my games.

Yes i think that i agree that if you take a sorcerer and a wizard then yes the sorcerer is better at blasting than a wizard but if both of them focus at blasting then the wizard comes ahead.


I think Admixture is what puts a Evocation Wizard (who has taken all the half-orc sorcerer cross-blooded features) ahead of the Sorcerer.

The arcana aren't level dependent, so it doesn't hurt you to only take one level of sorcerer. Also the one less spell per level of sorcerer means nothing because in the end you are a wizard.

And it's even more damage with the Evoker's own extra damage feature.

But being able to readily swap out damage types is handy. Very handy I think. Some of the sorcerer bloodlines let you change it to one type, but I think the ones that do don't have the improved damage features.


All depends on starting level, certain house rules can influence it too, and when you want to cause the most damage.

In normal games both wizards and Sorcs cap out at a max of CL4 at level 1 for a single spell and CL1 for everything else. (Sorcerer gets 4 level 1 spells to a wizards 3) 4d6 shocking grasp at level 1 is nasty, and this is just with simple paizo stuff (UM, APG, Core).

In PFS interestingly a wizard caps out at CL5 (either 3 missile, magic missile or 5d6 shocking grasp)at level 1 for a single spell, and CL2 for Evocation as a whole.

Generally as a blaster getting fast Caster Levels makes the biggest difference in potential damage output assuming you start at 1 and progress at 1 level every 3-5 sessions, (that and class specials that give bonus damage).

Generally I would build sorcerers to Blast and wizards to be generalists as simply put wizards have a nigh infinite spell list and cant afford CL increases to all spells, Sorcerers have a very small subset of spells and as such only need CL increases on a small number of spells (their core blasting spells).

Generally I would go either Earth bloodline sorc (free change to acid damage) with mainly lightning based spells (shocking grasp, lightning bolt, chain lightning) because, as far as I am aware there is nothing thats immune/has DR to both lightning and acid.

The other choice is an Air bloodline, with acid based spells but there are fewer acid based spells for a reason meaning its alot harder to pick spells in this line.

Liberty's Edge

Michael Foster 989 wrote:

All depends on starting level, certain house rules can influence it too, and when you want to cause the most damage.

In normal games both wizards and Sorcs cap out at a max of CL4 at level 1 for a single spell and CL1 for everything else. (Sorcerer gets 4 level 1 spells to a wizards 3) 4d6 shocking grasp at level 1 is nasty, and this is just with simple paizo stuff (UM, APG, Core).

In PFS interestingly a wizard caps out at CL5 (either 3 missile, magic missile or 5d6 shocking grasp)at level 1 for a single spell, and CL2 for Evocation as a whole.

Generally I would go either Earth bloodline sorc (free change to acid damage) with mainly lightning based spells (shocking grasp, lightning bolt, chain lightning) because, as far as I am aware there is nothing thats immune/has DR to both lightning and acid.

The other choice is an Air bloodline, with acid based spells but there are fewer acid based spells for a reason meaning its alot harder to pick spells in this line.

I'd really love to know how a first level character is getting CL 4 or 5 for that matter. I'm pretty sure that can't actually happen.

Also, earth and air bloodlines are pretty lousy for blasting. Changing the element is nice, but really you want to be able to do damage above and beyond the 1d6/level cap that you so often run into.


The biggest flaws of evocation spells is that they allow spell resistance and their effects are reduced by energy resistance/immunity. Play an elf for the +2 bonus on the caster level check to overcome spell resistance. The +2 Dex will also improve your chances to hit with rays and the +2 to Int is a no brainer. The -2 Con penalty can be partly compensated with False Life (1/hour per level duration). Always keep a few anti-toxins on your person. The weapon proficiency with longbow is a huge boon, and you can cast Gravity Bow (APG) at first level.

If you want to play a rays specialist, take point blank shot, precise shot, weapon focus (ray), arcane strike, spell penetration and greater spell penetration. The alternate class feature in the APG (Admixture School) that lets you change your elemental damage type on the fly will help you a lot against creature with energy resistance/immunity/weakness.

If your GM allows it, you can find a few battlefield control spells in Spell Compendium (3.5), like Capricious Zephyr and Blast of Force. Capricious Zephyr needs to be converted because bull rush do not work the same way in Pathfinder.


I was actually looking at this the other day. I do LIKE blasting, even if i know intellectually its not the best way to go with my spells. There is something that is just so satisfying of pasting a bunch of enemies with a fireball that isnt the same as catching them in a black tentacles, or netting them up in web.

I do think sorcerors are better for this then wizards mostly because even if you are just blasting, its hard to anticipate what kind of spells you need (lines, bursts, rays). If your allies are mixed up with the enemy, then a fireball isnt going to cut it, but if theres a big crowd, you will wish had another fireball prepared.

I happen to use a lot of 3rd party material and if you do, a great option for blasting is the Yuxia archetype from super genius games the Genius Guide to Martial archetypes. Kind of odd I know, but it has some very cool magic based abilities. It has a ki pool (like the monk) and talents you can use with that ki. One allows you to raise your caster level by 4 for one spell by spending a ki, and another lets you apply metamagic feats without raising the spell level by spending ki for each increased spell level.

You have to trade your bloodline for it, but its definately a worthy trade for blasters, especially since there are a bunch of other cool talents you can add as well.


Kolokotroni wrote:
I was actually looking at this the other day. I do LIKE blasting, even if i know intellectually its not the best way to go with my spells. There is something that is just so satisfying of pasting a bunch of enemies with a fireball that isnt the same as catching them in a black tentacles, or netting them up in web.

I've never really got this attitude that battlefield control is better than blasting. It's all about team work. If it was a football match (soccer to the cousins) then you want both a midfield playmaker to control the match, and a striker for him to feed the ball to, so that it goes in the back of the net.

In the same way I'd argue that the best follow up to a black tentacles spell tangling your oppenents up, is nice beefy AOO damage spell.

Reading some of the posts on these boards at the moment, you get the feeling that that there are too many people creating opportunities through battlefield control, and not nearly enough people ready to step up to the mark and take advantage of those opportunities with a good blast.

Just my opinion, but I know from experience how frustrating it is to play with a wizard, who is constantly snarling things up for the enemy, in such a way as the melee characters can't get close, but then doesn't know how to cast fireball!


It was a lot easier to make a good blaster in 3E. PF nerfed Energy Substitution (which NO ONE thought was broken) to cost +1 spell level in its PF update. As of now, there still is nothing like Searing Spell to simply cut through resistances and most immunities like a hot knife through butter. There are no prestige classes like Force Missile Mage to make certain types of blast spells do more damage, either.

The other side of the coin is just how ridiculously non-blasters have been buffed. Look at Persistent Spell and Bouncing Spell. Why did save or lose spells need the help? Look at the Teleportation Conjuror school or the divination ones. It seems like blasters are the only types of casters PF DIDN'T buff up.

If I were to make a blaster in PF, I would probably base it around the Dazing Spell metamagic feat. It wouldn't be about doing damage, it'd be about debilitating lots of foes with reflex saves, with the fact that the spells used are "blasty" merely seeming like a coincidence in the end.


peterrco wrote:
Kolokotroni wrote:
I was actually looking at this the other day. I do LIKE blasting, even if i know intellectually its not the best way to go with my spells. There is something that is just so satisfying of pasting a bunch of enemies with a fireball that isnt the same as catching them in a black tentacles, or netting them up in web.

I've never really got this attitude that battlefield control is better than blasting. It's all about team work. If it was a football match (soccer to the cousins) then you want both a midfield playmaker to control the match, and a striker for him to feed the ball to, so that it goes in the back of the net.

In the same way I'd argue that the best follow up to a black tentacles spell tangling your oppenents up, is nice beefy AOO damage spell.

Reading some of the posts on these boards at the moment, you get the feeling that that there are too many people creating opportunities through battlefield control, and not nearly enough people ready to step up to the mark and take advantage of those opportunities with a good blast.

Just my opinion, but I know from experience how frustrating it is to play with a wizard, who is constantly snarling things up for the enemy, in such a way as the melee characters can't get close, but then doesn't know how to cast fireball!

Its not just a matter of setup. Its the fact that blasting usually, if the opponent fails a save they take some amount of damage. With control spells usually if the opponent fails a save they are trivialized for all or most of the encounter.

For instance if the party is facing 2 goblin warriors, and I hit one with a burning hands. I might kill it, or I might not. If it saves the damage I do wont be very significant. But if I can disable one of those goblins for the duration of the fight, then I have just cut the difficulty of the encounter in half.

Now certainly there are some control spells that are frustrating (I am looking at you create pit) for the other characters. BUT that is a matter of coordination with your allies. A good control wizard doesnt 'muck things up' he makes it so it is EASIER for his melee buddies to beat on the baddies. If the reverse happens he is doing it wrong.


LazarX wrote:
Ashiel wrote:
wraithstrike wrote:
Sorcerers blast. They don't really cast more spells per day, and they apply metamagic on the fly.
Fixed it for ya. :)
Actually they do cast more spells per day, even when allowing for Wizard specialisation.

Heh. Barely. Barely indeed. In fact, for the vast majority of levels, wizards have just as much spellcasting stamina and more bang for their buck.

1st level, sorcerer wins. 3 spells vs 2 (specialist).
2nd level, sorcerer wins. 4 spells vs 3.
3rd level, wizard wins...

Why?

Because sorcerers have stunted spell growth. At 3rd level wizard has 3 1st, and 2 2nd level spells, versus the sorcerer's 5 1st level spells. So in this case, the wizard has an equal number of spells to the sorcerer, except 2 of his spells are higher level. That's before factoring bonus spells, which he gets bonus spells in both 1st and 2nd level spells, while the sorcerer is only getting bonus spells in 1st level spells, which means the wizard is likely beating him by 2 additional spells per day, one of which is stronger than anything the sorcerer can manage.

It then continues on like this from 3rd level up until 19th level, and then at 20th level the chart breaks and sorcerer jumps 2 spells per day (showing once again that their spell progression is stupid), finally bringing himself 1 level beyond the wizard in each level.

However, the wizard still laughs at the sorcerer, because the sorcerer knows a handful of spells, and cannot make use of pearls of power, which the wizard can craft himself, and add to his versatility greatly. That's also before scribing scrolls, which is relatively inexpensive, thus being able to store away spells they don't usually prepare for a rainy day (such as having that scroll of knock handy when trying to make your escape with an unconscious rogue), while the sorcerer can't diversify himself by making scrolls or wands or anything himself (since he can't make spell completion or spell-trigger and apparently potions unless he knows the spell).

For the majority of the game, the idea that sorcerers have tons more spells than wizards is a bad illusion. While it may be true that they have an edge at some levels, their edge over the wizard is 3 levels out of 20. The other 17 levels the wizard is laughing at the sorcerer.

This is one of the design problems I eventually addressed in my home games. In my games sorcerers get the same spell progression as wizards, but with sorcerer spells per day / spells known (effectively you count as a sorcerer of your level+1 when determining your spells per day and spells known).

As for blasting. Both classes do it more or less equally, with advantages on both sides depending on what sort of specializations, feats, alternate racial features, and other random stuff you add into the mix. In core, Evokers are the best general blasters since they get their damage bonuses to all evocation spells, whereas elementalist sorcerers only get it to their favorite element (which makes it completely useless or when you encounter something with immunity or heavy resistances).

Liberty's Edge

Ashiel wrote:
For the majority of the game, the idea that sorcerers have tons more spells than wizards is a bad illusion. While it may be true that they have an edge at some levels, their edge over the wizard is 3 levels out of 20. The other 17 levels the wizard is laughing at the sorcerer.

This is so inaccurate as to be dishonest. The sorcerer has an edge over the wizard, in spells per day, more like 12 levels out of 20, and that's giving the wizard the advantage every time it can cast higher level spells than the sorcerer. At 4th level a wizard looses to a 4th level sorcerer (by a first level slot), a sixth level wizard looses to a sixth level sorcerer by a first and second level slot, etc.

Of course, the wizard could always go sin magic, and then never, ever, have fewer spells per day than the sorcerer. Stupid sin magic.


Kolokotroni wrote:

Its not just a matter of setup. Its the fact that blasting usually, if the opponent fails a save they take some amount of damage. With control spells usually if the opponent fails a save they are trivialized for all or most of the encounter.

For instance if the party is facing 2 goblin warriors, and I hit one with a burning hands. I might kill it, or I might not. If it saves the damage I do wont be very significant. But if I can disable one of those goblins for the duration of the fight, then I have just cut the difficulty of the encounter in half.

Pretty much this. Blasting tends to be weak at low levels and lose effectiveness as enemy HD rises. At low levels, your typical 1st level NPC warrior has 5 base Hp. A +1 Con brings that to 6. Toughness to 9, etc. Magic missile at most deals 5 damage. Shocking grasp is at best 6. Burning hands is at best 4. Etc, etc.

Each level the NPC warrior gains, he is getting 5.5 HP, so he goes:
5, 11, 16, 22, 27, etc.

Each caster level, you are gaining:
2 (magic missile), 2.5 (burning hands), 3.5 (shocking grasp or fireball).

Additionally, most blasty spells allow a saving throw for half, energy resistances (resist energy at 2nd level has a decent duration and effectively negates most blasting, and protection from energy creates an impenetrable shield for up to X damage).

I had a pair of players playing mages in a game I was running. They were up against some orc zombies wielding clubs. The first mage ran into melee and popped a shocking grasp dealing 3 electricity damage to the zombie (the zombie who had 12 Hp), and the other mage ran up and cast burning hands, dealing 2 damage to the zombies. The zombies proceeded to kill them on the following round. Had they dropped something like grease, the zombies would have been screwed. Even silent image would have created difficulties for the zombies moving (since the zombies would have to make a successful save to realize they could walk through it). Animate rope would have essentially removed a zombie from the battle entirely.

Quote:
Now certainly there are some control spells that are frustrating (I am looking at you create pit) for the other characters. BUT that is a matter of coordination with your allies. A good control wizard doesnt 'muck things up' he makes it so it is EASIER for his melee buddies to beat on the baddies. If the reverse happens he is doing it wrong.

Which applies for all casters, I must concur. Had a party member in a game one time who was really bad about aiming his spells, and kept blasting the blasting the party along with the badguy (but in his defense, there are some cases where you simply cannot avoid hitting the enemy and your party, depending on terrain).

Finally, there's one really major reason blasting tends to suck in games...

It destroys your loot. See a room full of goblins? Obviously tossing a fireball in there is a Good Idea(TM) right? Well, maybe. If the room is featureless and has no treasure or anything important.

See, that room also happens to have a wooden desk with a note on it from the big bad to his subordinate detailing important bits of information about his master plan. Inside the desk is a spellbook. On the shelf in the corner are several scrolls and a wand. On the walls are expensive tapestries worth thousands of gold pieces as art objects. Behind the desk, there is a 1/2 inch thick wooden chest that is filled with potions...

Congratulations, all these unattended objects fail their save and are destroyed. You killed a few CR 1/3 goblins, destroyed all your loot, screwed up some potions, set fire to anything resembling flammable, destroyed a spellbook, burned up critical information, and essentially just screwed up royally. :P


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ShadowcatX wrote:
Ashiel wrote:
For the majority of the game, the idea that sorcerers have tons more spells than wizards is a bad illusion. While it may be true that they have an edge at some levels, their edge over the wizard is 3 levels out of 20. The other 17 levels the wizard is laughing at the sorcerer.

This is so inaccurate as to be dishonest. The sorcerer has an edge over the wizard, in spells per day, more like 12 levels out of 20, and that's giving the wizard the advantage every time it can cast higher level spells than the sorcerer. At 4th level a wizard looses to a 4th level sorcerer (by a first level slot), a sixth level wizard looses to a sixth level sorcerer by a first and second level slot, etc.

Of course, the wizard could always go sin magic, and then never, ever, have fewer spells per day than the sorcerer. Stupid sin magic.

What's sin magic?

Liberty's Edge

Inner sea magic book I think. Basically they give up entire access to their 2 banned schools in exchange for an additional bonus spell slot, but they have to put the same spell in both spell slots at each level.

Edit:Yes, inner sea magic. The proper name is: Thassilonian


Burning Hand saved our skin in our last Carrion Crown game.

Minor spoiler:
Our party is composed of only 3 members (15 points buy). The Ranger was down and dying (after missing 3 cleave attempts in a row because of bad rolls with cursed dice) while I, the Alchemist, was shaken with only 3 hp left while 3 skeletons were clawing at me. Then, the Invoker used Burning Hand, rolled high and killed the 3 skeletons in a single round. We were all 2nd level.

Sleep doesn't work against undead, so I'm glad we have an Invoker by our side.


I'm not sure why everyone is so worried about the difference in the number of spells between Wizards and Sorcerors.

Any spell caster worth their salt is going to be tooling up with (at the appropriate levels) scrolls, wands and staves.

Wizards get a head start with the scrolls, and have extra slots if they need to craft wands and staves. But I'd be surprised if in a reasonable sized party that someone hadn't taken craft scroll, wand or stave when available, for the sorceror to piggy back on, so by the time you add in the extra's I would think that any minor difference in the number of actual spells can be cast would be lost in the math.


peterrco wrote:

I'm not sure why everyone is so worried about the difference in the number of spells between Wizards and Sorcerors.

Any spell caster worth their salt is going to be tooling up with (at the appropriate levels) scrolls, wands and staves.

Wizards get a head start with the scrolls, and have extra slots if they need to craft wands and staves. But I'd be surprised if in a reasonable sized party that someone hadn't taken craft scroll, wand or stave when available, for the sorceror to piggy back on, so by the time you add in the extra's I would think that any minor difference in the number of actual spells can be cast would be lost in the math.

Well the biggest place the sorcerer loses out with stuff like scrolls and wands and such is in their spell selection. Like you said, a sorcerer is best served piggy backing off the wizards who can make scrolls and spell-triggers for them.

Whereas by having another wizard in the sorcerer's place, you can have 2 wizards, who can share their spellbooks (cutting cost on spells for both of them), research different spells, craft a wide variety of different items which they can both use, etc.

So wizards are more useful in general, and they aren't really outmatched in casting power by sorcerers either. This coupled with the fact a lot of sorcerer bloodlines don't really give a lot that's usable to the sorcerer to make up for this (for example, a lot of sorcerer bloodlines give melee natural attacks, or martial-based feats, which don't really help them at all unless they're going to be some sort of gish-caster, but the best gish-casters are typically eldritch knights, and progressing as an eldritch knight prevents you from picking up your heritage benefits, etc).

The fact you can go Ranger 1-2 / Wizard 7-9 / Eldritch Knight 10 and then pickup a sorcerer's bloodline with feats is almost sad. :o

EDIT: In fact, I'm tempted to re-roll my old tiefling conjurer and snag the abyssal bloodline. It'd cost me 3 feats, and I need skill focus (knowledge:planes) to qualify for Loremaster anyway.


Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Ashiel wrote:
I had a pair of players playing mages in a game I was running. They were up against some orc zombies wielding clubs. The first mage ran into melee and popped a shocking grasp dealing 3 electricity damage to the zombie (the zombie who had 12 Hp), and the other mage ran up and cast burning hands, dealing 2 damage to the zombies. The zombies proceeded to kill them on the following round. Had they dropped something like grease, the zombies would have been screwed. Even silent image would have created difficulties for the zombies moving (since the zombies would have to make a successful save to realize they could walk through it). Animate rope would have essentially removed a zombie from the battle entirely.

Your players' character didn't get killed because they were blasters. They got killed because they were idiotically entering into melee range with monsters designed to be powerful melee beasts. That's a strike against bad tactics, not a strike against blasting.

In short, they committed suicide against a foe they could easily have outmaneuvered and picked off with longer range direct damage.


Ravingdork wrote:
Ashiel wrote:
I had a pair of players playing mages in a game I was running. They were up against some orc zombies wielding clubs. The first mage ran into melee and popped a shocking grasp dealing 3 electricity damage to the zombie (the zombie who had 12 Hp), and the other mage ran up and cast burning hands, dealing 2 damage to the zombies. The zombies proceeded to kill them on the following round. Had they dropped something like grease, the zombies would have been screwed. Even silent image would have created difficulties for the zombies moving (since the zombies would have to make a successful save to realize they could walk through it). Animate rope would have essentially removed a zombie from the battle entirely.

Your players' character didn't get killed because they were blasters. They got killed because they were idiotically entering into melee range with monsters designed to be powerful melee beasts. That's a strike against bad tactics, not a strike against blasting.

In short, they committed suicide against a foe they could easily have outmaneuvered and picked off with longer range direct damage.

Ravingdork is right. The mages could have just moved 30 feet away from the zombies and used ranged offensive spells every rounds.


Ravingdork wrote:
Ashiel wrote:
I had a pair of players playing mages in a game I was running. They were up against some orc zombies wielding clubs. The first mage ran into melee and popped a shocking grasp dealing 3 electricity damage to the zombie (the zombie who had 12 Hp), and the other mage ran up and cast burning hands, dealing 2 damage to the zombies. The zombies proceeded to kill them on the following round. Had they dropped something like grease, the zombies would have been screwed. Even silent image would have created difficulties for the zombies moving (since the zombies would have to make a successful save to realize they could walk through it). Animate rope would have essentially removed a zombie from the battle entirely.

Your players' character didn't get killed because they were blasters. They got killed because they were idiotically entering into melee range with monsters designed to be powerful melee beasts. That's a strike against bad tactics, not a strike against blasting.

In short, they committed suicide against a foe they could easily have outmaneuvered and picked off with longer range direct damage.

What you say is entirely truthful, Ravingdork. I wasn't really trying to use it as a mark against blasting because they died, but because the damage that the blasting did was pretty meaningless in the grand scheme of things. I didn't mean to suggest something else. :o

I just meant non-damaging options would have been useful, but unless they were fighting enemies with less than 3 hit points, the odds of them disabling or hindering their performance in the battle was pretty low. Like I said before, HP scales faster than damage. This is true for martial types as well (generally) but they begin with a higher power and excel at damage dealing as their primary thing (a fighter can easily inflict 100 damage against a target at 11th level, without expending any meaningful resources; while a wizard or sorcerer deals a small fraction of that by wasting spell slots).

But it should be known that martials have to deal with HP scaling as well. They can easily begin with 1dx+6 to damage at 1st level, which will 1 shot anything after a move+attack. By even 4th level, that ship has sailed, and by high levels, if you can't get your full-attack on, you're moving in slow-motion. A 20th level Fighter specialized in a 2 handed +5 weapon, +5 collision enhancement (see psionics), +4 weapon training, +2 gloves of dueling, +10 strength, and greater weapon specialization, might be dealing 2d6+35 (42 average) damage with a standard attack. That's not even enough to 1-shot a CR 5 enemy.

It's just that by default, blasting offers extra protections against it, often comes with a save, no matter what you are expending resources, AoE blasting is hazardous and requires a heavy consideration of your surroundings, and the damage scales pretty poorly on its own (stuff like fireball is 3.5 damage per caster level. Most enemies get 4.5 Hp per HD, before adding their Con or Cha modifiers multiplied by their HD). Couple the fact that enemies you face may have up to twice the hit dice that you have caster levels, and it quickly becomes apparent that blasting has difficulty keeping up.

For example, let's take something simple like a gnoll with 6 warrior levels. It's CR 4. Its HP is 50 (2d8+6d10+8) assuming he didn't buff his 13 Con to 14 at 4HD, and has +7/+2 BAB, +9 Fort, +1 Ref, and +1 Will. A 5th level wizard could drop a fireball on him for an average of 17.5 damage save for half. On a successful save the wizard wouldn't have even killed regular gnolls without extra HD (who have 11 hp). This is before energy or spell-resistances.


Maerimydra wrote:
Ravingdork wrote:
Ashiel wrote:
I had a pair of players playing mages in a game I was running. They were up against some orc zombies wielding clubs. The first mage ran into melee and popped a shocking grasp dealing 3 electricity damage to the zombie (the zombie who had 12 Hp), and the other mage ran up and cast burning hands, dealing 2 damage to the zombies. The zombies proceeded to kill them on the following round. Had they dropped something like grease, the zombies would have been screwed. Even silent image would have created difficulties for the zombies moving (since the zombies would have to make a successful save to realize they could walk through it). Animate rope would have essentially removed a zombie from the battle entirely.

Your players' character didn't get killed because they were blasters. They got killed because they were idiotically entering into melee range with monsters designed to be powerful melee beasts. That's a strike against bad tactics, not a strike against blasting.

In short, they committed suicide against a foe they could easily have outmaneuvered and picked off with longer range direct damage.

Ravingdork is right. The mages could have just moved 30 feet away from the zombies and used ranged offensive spells every rounds.

Yes Ravingdork is right, but your alternative is questionable. At 1st level, if they had relied on direct damage spells, they wouldn't have lasted through the first encounter. Now using their 3 + Int mod special abilities like acid dart might have got them through it, but those aren't spells. Blasting the zombies with stuff like burning hands, magic missile, or similar things wouldn't have been very useful.

However, they could have indeed kited the zombies by moving around low obstacles/difficult terrain and using acid splash over and over, but that's purely because zombies suck at moving and can't move + attack without charging. But relying on damaging spells would have gotten them no where.

Shadow Lodge

Some people want to use magic to blow stuff up, it's fun, get over it. Go rain on someone elses parade.


Ashiel wrote:
Maerimydra wrote:
Ravingdork wrote:
Ashiel wrote:
I had a pair of players playing mages in a game I was running. They were up against some orc zombies wielding clubs. The first mage ran into melee and popped a shocking grasp dealing 3 electricity damage to the zombie (the zombie who had 12 Hp), and the other mage ran up and cast burning hands, dealing 2 damage to the zombies. The zombies proceeded to kill them on the following round. Had they dropped something like grease, the zombies would have been screwed. Even silent image would have created difficulties for the zombies moving (since the zombies would have to make a successful save to realize they could walk through it). Animate rope would have essentially removed a zombie from the battle entirely.

Your players' character didn't get killed because they were blasters. They got killed because they were idiotically entering into melee range with monsters designed to be powerful melee beasts. That's a strike against bad tactics, not a strike against blasting.

In short, they committed suicide against a foe they could easily have outmaneuvered and picked off with longer range direct damage.

Ravingdork is right. The mages could have just moved 30 feet away from the zombies and used ranged offensive spells every rounds.

Yes Ravingdork is right, but your alternative is questionable. At 1st level, if they had relied on direct damage spells, they wouldn't have lasted through the first encounter. Now using their 3 + Int mod special abilities like acid dart might have got them through it, but those aren't spells. Blasting the zombies with stuff like burning hands, magic missile, or similar things wouldn't have been very useful.

However, they could have indeed kited the zombies by moving around low obstacles/difficult terrain and using acid splash over and over, but that's purely because zombies suck at moving and can't move + attack without charging. But relying on damaging spells would have gotten them no where.

Yeah, I was thinking of Force Missile and Acid Splash as "offensive spells", plus maybe a few scrolls. Fighting more than one zombie at first level can lead to a TPK however.


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Pretty much CL4 is attainable using 2 feats and 1 trait

Gifted Adept (shocking grasp) CL+1 with shocking grasp
Spell focus (evocation)
Spell Specialisation (shacking grasp) CL+2 with shocking grasp

which is exactly CL4 with shocking grasp

The reason CL5 requires wizard and PFS is because scribe scroll is switched to spell focus for free in PFS

meaning a wizard can get

Gifted Adept (shocking grasp) CL+1 with shocking grasp
Spell focus (evocation)
Spell Specialisation (shacking grasp) CL+2 with shocking grasp
Varisian Tatoo (Evocation) +1 CL to all evocation spells

Which is CL5 shocking grasp, CL2 evocation, and CL1 everything else.

note none of these feats say they dont stack, none of these feats are capped at CL=HD meaning you cant complain about the order in which they stack, Like I said optimising blasting is all about selecting the level in which you want to shine, and then selecting your feats and traits to take advantage of this.

Using similar methods one could have CL10 fireball at level 5 as a wizard or CL10 fireballs at level 6 as a sorcerer


Maerimydra wrote:
Yeah, I was thinking of Force Missile and Acid Splash as "offensive spells", plus maybe a few scrolls. Fighting more than one zombie at first level can lead to a TPK however.

Nah, zombies are sweethearts. Most of them suck at ranged attacks and they're really good at being still while you kill them. Basic zombies are really easy to kite, and difficult terrain pretty much screws them up completely, since they already aren't exactly speedy and their best option is usually charging. :P

Zombies are fun to encounter in mobs. :3

I'd hate to think you'd need to drop some scrolls to take out some zombies. Better to leave those for real threats. :P

Ogre wrote:
Some people want to use magic to blow stuff up, it's fun, get over it. Go rain on someone elses parade.

Cool it Oscar. The first step to being a good blaster is understanding why blasting is bad. If you're a GM, it's a good to know where to address blasting to make it not so terrible.

Humorously, blasting is one of those things that is way more dangerous in the hands of the GM and his NPCs. Blasters are a pain to deal with in groups. It's difficult to build a mage who by his lonesome can deal damage that will be relevant. However, four low level mages droppin' bombs can scare the hell out of a party really fast.

10th level wizard tosses a fireball into a group of enemies and deals 35 damage average w/ save for half.

Five 5th level wizards toss fireballs into the party, and deal 43.75 damage to everyone, assuming everyone made all 5 saves. :P

RPG Superstar 2012 Top 16

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REPOSTING THIS:

Spells Known by Level, Sorc, FC Benefit, Arcane Bloodline, Human

2
2
3 +Blood1 +1/ =4/
3 1 +1/ +2/ = 5/1
4 2 +Blood2 +2/ +3/1 = 7/3
4 2 1 +2/1 +3/2 = 7/4/1
5 3 2 +Blood3 +2/2 +3/3/1 = 8/6/2
5 3 2 1 +2/2/1 +3/3/2 = 8/6/4/1
5 4 3 2 + +Blood4 +Arcana (4th) +2/2/2 +3/3/3/2 = 8/7/6/4
5 4 3 2 1 +2/2/2/1 +3/3/3/3 = 8/7/6/5/1
5 5 4 3 2 +Blood5 +2/2/2/2 +3/3/3/4/1 = 8/8/7/7/3
5 5 4 3 2 1 +2/2/2/2/1 +3/3/3/4/2 = 8/8/7/7/4/1
5 5 4 4 3 2 +Blood6 (+Arcana 6th) +2/2/2/2/2 +3/3/3/4/3/2 = 8/8/7/8/6/4
5 5 4 4 3 2 1 +2/2/2/2/2/1 +3/3/3/4/3/3 = 8/8/7/8/6/5/1
5 5 4 4 4 3 2 +Blood7 +2/2/2/2/2/2 +3/3/3/4/3/4/1 = 8/8/7/8/6/7/3
5 5 4 4 4 3 2 1 +2/2/2/2/2/2/1 +3/3/3/4/3/4/2 = 8/8/7/8/6/7/4/1
5 5 4 4 4 3 3 2 +Blood8+Arcana (8th) +2/2/2/2/2/2/2 +3/3/3/4/3/4/3/2 = 8/8/7/8/6/7/6/4
5 5 4 4 4 3 3 2 1 +2/2/2/2/2/2/1 +3/3/3/4/3/4/3/3 =8/8/7/8/6/7/6/5/1
5 5 4 4 4 3 3 3 2 +Blood 9 +2/2/2/2/2/2/2 +3/3/3/4/3/4/3/4/1 =8/8/7/8/6/7/6/7/3
5 5 4 4 4 3 3 3 3 +2/2/2/2/2/2/3 +3/3/3/4/3/4/3/4/1 =8/8/7/8/6/7/6/8/4

Grand totals and analysis.

0) We’re ignoring cantrips, but note that sorcs get a ton more cantrips at all levels, available all the time.
1) Start with 2 spells known. No recourse, no bonuses. This is…bad. 2 Spells Known.
2) Look, sorc gains NOTHING at this level. Yay. Still 2 SK
3) Ah, look, Bloodline spell, and a bonus for the level. This is where the wizard gets his level 2, so the sorc is behind the curve. 4 SK.
4) Finally, bonus spells, and we can start using FC bonus for level 1 spells. 6 SK
5) SK is starting serious accrual now. We jump to 10 SK.
6) 12 SK, 3rd level spells
7) 16 SK
8) 19 SK, 4th level spells
9) 25 SK
10) 27 SK, 5th level spells
11) 33 SK
12) 35 SK, 6th level spells, and LOOK WHAT HAPPENS…the progression to 5 SK/level known BREAKS. Instead of all spells moving to 5/level, mid level spells top at 4!!!
13) 41 SK
14) 43 SK, 7th level spells
15) 47 SK
16) 49 SK, 8th level spells….and the SECOND break occurs. High level spells known stop at 3!!!
17) 54 SK
18) 56 SK and 9th level spells
19) 60 SK
20) 62 SK

The comparison to a wizard is harder because it is ABILITY SCORE DEPENDENT. Basically, the Wizard closes the gap with spells known (in memory) with his high Int…but much of that Int is spread across levels.

For purposes of this illustration, I’m going to go with the following:

Starting Int 16 + 2 Bonus = 18 (no, I’m not starting at an 18.) +1/1/1/1 at appropriate levels.

4) +1 level bonus = 19
5) +2 Int toy = 21 +2/1/1/1/1
8) +1 level bonus = 22 +2/2/1/1/1/1
10) +4 Int bonus toy = 24 +2/2/2/1/1/1/1
12) +1 level bonus = 25
13) +6 Int toy = 27 +2/2/2/2/1/1/1/1
16) +1 level bonus = 28 +3/2/2/2/2/1/1/1/1
18) +5 Inherent bonus = 33 +3/3/3/2/2/2/2/1/1
20)+1 level bonus = 34 Int. +3/3/3/3/2/2/2/2/1

yes, you can argue he gets a +6 toy sooner. I’m going by the APs where the spellcasters have a +6 toy at 13, not 10th.

I’m going to use the Generalist table because of the off-school cost…if you want to claim versatility, you must claim all schools, and if you memorize an off-school spell, you’re not any better then a generalist.

1) 1 +1/= 2/ =2
2) 2 3/ =3
3) 2/1 +1/1 3/2 =5
4) 3/2 4/3 =7
5) 3/2/1 +2/1/1 5/3/2 =10
6) 3/3/2 5/4/3 =12
7) 4/3/2/1 +2/1/1/1 6/4/3/2 =15
8) 4/3/3/2 +2/2/1/1 6/5/4/3 =18
9) 4/4/3/2/1 +2/2/1/1/1 6/6/4/3/2 =21
10) 4/4/3/3/2 +2/2/2/1/1 6/6/5/4/3 =24
11) 4/4/4/3/2/1 +2/2/2/1/1/1 6/6/6/4/3/2 =27
12) 4/4/4/3/3/2 6/6/6/4/4/3 =29
13) 4/4/4/4/3/2/1 +2/2/2/2/1/1/1 6/6/6/6/4/3/2 =33
14) 4/4/4/4/3/3/2 6/6/6/6/4/4/3 =35
15) 4/4/4/4/4/3/2/1 +2/2/2/2/1/1/1/1 6/6/6/6/5/4/3/2 =38
16) 4/4/4/4/4/3/3/2 +3/2/2/2/2/1/1/1 7/6/6/6/6/4/4/3 =41
17) 4/4/4/4/4/4/3/2/1 +3/2/2/2/2/1/1/1/1 7/6/6/6/6/5/4/3/2 =45
18) 4/4/4/4/4/4/3/3/2 +3/3/3/2/2/2/2/1/1 7/7/7/6/6/6/5/4/3 =51
19) 4/4/4/4/4/4/4/3/3 7/7/7/6/6/6/6/4/4 =53
20) 4/4/4/4/4/4/4/4/4 +3/3/3/3/2/2/2/2/1 7/7/7/7/6/6/6/6/5 =57

Note: Unlike the sorc progression, the wizard progress carries through to ALL LEVELS, and receives a nice kick at level 20.
Note that a wizard is getting 36 spells from levels and 21 spells from INT!

Direct Comparison
2 2 4 6 10 12 16 19 25 27 33 35 41 43 47 49 54 56 60 62 is the Sorc, Human Arcane.
2 3 5 7 10 12 15 18 21 24 27 29 33 35 38 41 45 51 53 57 is the wizard, Human.

This number could be slightly borked if you allow 18 Int at level 1, which adds up to +3 spells by level 20, and means the sorcerer doesn’t draw ahead until level 10 or so.

Also keep in mind this is a mandate for ALL DIFFERENT SPELLS in memory. Wizards often spend two slots on repeats of one spells, something the sorc doesn’t have to do. Also note that if the wizard uses metamagic, it takes a spell slot. For a sorc, it changes nothing.

So, the only real advantage the wizard who claims ‘versatility over all’ is going to have is if they start with an 18 Int, and only then until around mid level. Now, if they DO want to gimp versatility, they can end up at 66 different spells in memory…but then they lose the versatility argument. Furthermore, said advantage could very well be Color Spray x 2, Web x 2, etc, which really isn’t a spell advantage at all.

=======
In the end, it depends on your choice. Wizards are certainly going to have more spells if they gimp themselves as rigid specialists. They are also certainly going to have more different spells in comparison to non-human casters who don’t use the FC option.

The sorcerer will still dominate in potential spells/day, especially as levels increase. This becomes important when Quicken spell comes into play…the wizard gives up versatility for speed, and the sorcerer gives up nothing.

As always, its tradeoffs and style of play. Certainly as a human sorceror, you’re not at any spell disadvantage except at the very lowest levels…levels where you are likely to spam key spells, anyways.

Oh, and as a sorc, you get tons more fun cantrips to use at all times!

J

==Aelryinth

RPG Superstar 2012 Top 16

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Now, if you want to talk spells castable/day, you have to do the same thing as I did above...apply Cha to spells/day for sorc, and use the Int tables for wizards.

Also, I was also corrected, Ashiel...sorcerers can't use Pearls of Power, but they can use Rings of Wizardry! And, of course, wands. Wizards use Pearls so they can act like Sorcs, after all. Sorcs also get bonus feats or powers as they level, just like a wizard...it's a tradeoff. Saying they can't craft is definitely not a good idea.

And the wizard spamming blasting spells means he actually has to memorize fireball x 4. That's a very stupid thing for a wizard to do. The sorceror just needs to have it as one of his spell known, and then can cast it five times.

=======
Someone above mentioned the save or die/save or suck nature of spells with saves. They ignore the downside of save or suck...the save. If the monster saves, your mage just spent his round and his action doing nothing. THe blaster mages just spent his action doing something, and leaving residual damage even if the enemy saves.

In 3.5 this wasn't that hard. You took a spell, buffed it to the moon, and leveled the enemy via metamagic efficiency. At higher levels, you could wipe an enemy, or half-wipe the enemy. Blasting becomes the answer to everything...no need to save or suck, it's ALWAYS going to suck for the bad guy, your spells were never wasted.

It was fairly easy to build a force missile mage that could take out a 100 HP enemy in one round at tenth level with magic missile spells. Arcane Thesis (magic missile) was your friend. At high levels, you could easily pop them for 400+ in magic missile force damage, that you could swing to any element at need.

The key spells in blaster mage builds were magic missile and scorching ray. that was because they were low level spells with good damage potential that could be meta'd to the moon. Just like an Empowered Fireball does more damage then a Cone of Cold, an Empowered Twinned Searing Burning Force Missile Mage's MM's could outperform THAT. Add in Admixture and Born of the THree Thunders, Quicken Followups, and that tactical metamagic feat that allowed you to apply a meta for free if you cast it on the round after a spell, and the sustained damage you could pump out was ridiculous.

This is, however, quite difficult at lower levels...you need those extra spell levels to pay for the meta costs, and you need the stacking feats to multiply the damage. The only two damage multiplier feats in PF are Empower and Maximize, with Energize there as a partial kicker. That highly limits your upside damage potential. You have to go to bloodlines to really get the damage you are craving.

===Aelryinth


@Aelryinth
Why do you keep saying that for a sorcerer metamagic costs nothing? that is wrong, a sorcerer still has to use a higher level slot.
Also if the wizard is going to be a generalist (unlikely but it may happen) he should have an amulet of magecraft which gives enourmous versatility over the sorcerer, if he isn't a generalist then the difference is much smaller.
You are still forgetting that poor sorcerers have a difficult time using rods (and that pains blasters) and also get their new spell levels one level after the wizard.
Oh and unless you are playing at 15 point buy why don't you start with a 18 INT?
And yes sorcerers have a much harder time crafting than wizards.

RPG Superstar 2012 Top 16

1) where do I say metamagic costs nothing?

A wizard memorizing an Empowered Fireball has to stick it in a 5th level slot, denying himself other 5th level spells.

The sorc who wants an Empowered Fireball...casts Empowered Fireball if they want to.

2) An Amulet of Magecraft is cool, and certainly helps with the Spells Known problem. Unfortunately, it doesn't help with the spamming problem.

What if I need to cast fireball, lightning bolt, Acid cone, and fireball?

I still need 4 evocation/blasting spells memorized, which grossly cuts down on my spell selection, even for a wizard. Flexibility, yes. Repeatability, no, at least if you want to stay a flexible wizard.

The sorc won't necessarily have both fireball and lightning bolt until higher levels, but they can simply spam fireball four times if need be...and still have other Spells Known. For instance, they could still cast Haste and Fly, or Dispel Magic/bloodline spell. The Wizard shot his wad and has one 3rd level spell left...the sorc has any of 2-7 spells left.

Also note that's a 20k item and the wizard won't have it until 10th level. It ALSO must be his bonded object, and it takes the neck slot...no Amulet of Nat Armor for him, without really shelling out the dough!

3) Why do sorcs have problems using Rods? they can use rods as readily as wizards do.

4) the fact they get new spells later is on the table. Note: That post does not give spell levels CASTING...but Spells Known. CASTING is important for blasters...I'll have to make a new table, I guess.

5) I have to have a baseline, and I use 15 point buy as baseline. If you want to use higher point buy, that really starts favoring class who only need one ability score, ESPECIALLY the Wizard. 15 point buy is more neutral. When I do character comparisons, I usually run the elite array, and I definitely don't let characters tank scores to 7. People like looking at an average, not a min-max, so I don't min-max examples if I can help it, stat-wise.

==Aelryinth


First of all what does amulet of magecraft has to do with spells known? Oh and since it's the bonded object it actually costs 10K and not 20K.
Second, sorcerers who use rod have to use a full round action but the wizard has no such limitation.
About the example of 4 evocation spells, amulet of magecraft helps you with that or just memorize the spells (if you are a specialist you have enough spells), also there is no cone acid spell iirc.
Anyway why are we still discussing generalist wizards as blasters, blaster wizards lose SO much if they don't go evoker.


I don't know about your numbers but i make it 63 spells for a human sorc with 17 favoured class spells and 3 extra from arcane bloodline and 57 slots for wizard without arcane bond or specialisation. Ignoring bond for both as they can both have it the sorc is 6 spells infront.

Saying a wizard can't specialise bacause he gives up on generalisation is bull, if they take a specialisation and drop two schools, lets say evocation and enchantment, they get an extra 9 spells per day (66 total) and they can take opposition research to only have one opposed school. Tbh i would keep evocation as opposed since the only must have spell is contingency and you cast that in downtime, any other evocation damage spells can be replaced with other options (there are several none evocation spells in the apg and um that deal d6/level hp damage).

Now we come to the real advantage that wizard has, at lets say 10th level, the sorc and wizard are about even. But the wizard has picked up fast study to go with his opposition research, he only memorises about half his spell slots in the morning ready for general combat and leaves the rest of his slots open. It takes him 1 (one) min to be able to cast any spell from his spell book to suit any situation, even without fast study it takes 15 mins (less time than treat deadly wounds), none of his spells have to be wasted on spells he might only ever cast once.

Finally he has 17 more hp than the sorc using a racial feature, and he doesn't have to be human to do it... If your saying sorcs make good casters i agree with you but the key difference between sorcs and wizards is the option to change ALL of your spells when you want to not the number of spells known/castable.


There's also the fact that pearls help wizards in two major ways. Firstly, it's essentially an extra spell per day. Secondly, and this is a big one, it allows you to more easily diversify.

For example, let's say I have a pearl of power II. Instead of preparing Web x2 and Mirror Image, I instead prepare Web x 1, Mirror Image x 1, and Scare x1. I have a different spell in each slot, but I can use the pearl to recover them, turning myself into a pseudo-spontaneous caster, because I have 3 spell slots locked and one floating spell slot to use any of those three spells in.

Rings of Wizardry are cool, and probably a good investment for a sorcerer, since it can turn you 1 spell advantage into a 4 spell advantage, all things being equal (specialist has 5/day so that becomes 9/day, sorcerer has 6/day, that becomes 12/day). This isn't a bad option for a sorcerer. They're still a better option for the wizard though, because the wizard can prepare more stuff in them.

The lower level rings of Wizardry combo nicely with Pearls of Power, since you could prepare up to 9 different spells if desired, and then pseudo-spontaneous cast them as needed. It's a good way to get all your buff spells in alongside a few more typical spells.

Again, the biggest problem with sorcerers taking advantage of magic items is they basically cannot help themselves. They either have to buy all their stuff at full price or get someone else to help them, when speaking in terms of scrolls and wands. That's because you cannot ignore the spell requirement on spell-completion or spell-trigger items. That's a pretty fierce drawback for a sorcerer, since the wizard can scribe scrolls and craft wands of various spells he either A) rarely uses, or B) doesn't need a high caster level or save DC on, to spread out his love.

A conjurer could prepare his usual combat spells like stinking cloud, sleet storm, and summon monster III, but also enjoy the fact he has a scroll of fly, knock, gaseous form in the odd chance he needs them; which he scribed himself. Later, he could craft a wand of magic missile with a 9th caster level, which he can use to interrupt enemy spellcasters with (5d4+5 damage makes for a pretty gnarly Concentration check).

The sorcerer...well he just can't. Well, I mean he could, if the wizard were to craft those items for him. Or if he forked over the market cost for the scrolls and wands and such. But he can't make 'em himself, and that kind of sucks. He will never know more than 5 spells of any given level (1st and 2nd), 4 spells for 3rd-5th, and 3 spells for 6th-9th. Barring the human favored class feature, he is pretty much doomed to be lackluster.

Dark Archive

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Michael Foster 989 wrote:

The reason CL5 requires wizard and PFS is because scribe scroll is switched to spell focus for free in PFS

meaning a wizard can get

Gifted Adept (shocking grasp) CL+1 with shocking grasp
Spell focus (evocation)
Spell Specialisation (shacking grasp) CL+2 with shocking grasp
Varisian Tatoo (Evocation) +1 CL to all evocation spells

Which is CL5 shocking grasp, CL2 evocation, and CL1 everything else.

Add Reach spell at 3rd level, and that's not too bad of a 2nd level effect, then Intensify Spell at 5th or 7th.

If only Intensified Spell synergized with magic missile, this setup would be a pretty glorious thing with that spell.

Or Enlarge Spell worked on burning hands for that matter, instead of having to wait for the over-priced Widen Spell...

Note to self; make an 'Embiggen Cone' feat.

Shadow Lodge Contributor, RPG Superstar 2010 Top 8

Michael Foster 989 wrote:

Pretty much CL4 is attainable using 2 feats and 1 trait

Gifted Adept (shocking grasp) CL+1 with shocking grasp
Spell focus (evocation)
Spell Specialisation (shacking grasp) CL+2 with shocking grasp

which is exactly CL4 with shocking grasp

The reason CL5 requires wizard and PFS is because scribe scroll is switched to spell focus for free in PFS

meaning a wizard can get

Gifted Adept (shocking grasp) CL+1 with shocking grasp
Spell focus (evocation)
Spell Specialisation (shacking grasp) CL+2 with shocking grasp
Varisian Tatoo (Evocation) +1 CL to all evocation spells

Which is CL5 shocking grasp, CL2 evocation, and CL1 everything else.

note none of these feats say they dont stack, none of these feats are capped at CL=HD meaning you cant complain about the order in which they stack, Like I said optimising blasting is all about selecting the level in which you want to shine, and then selecting your feats and traits to take advantage of this.

Using similar methods one could have CL10 fireball at level 5 as a wizard or CL10 fireballs at level 6 as a sorcerer

You can get Varisian Tattoo for free as a Sorcerer if you take the Tattooed Sorcerer archetype.

RPG Superstar 2012 Top 16

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Part Two: Caster Power.

This example uses the total spells castable. Note this number does not change for the Wizard, so I’ll repeat the Wizard first.

Cha = Int for this example. So bonus spells are:

Starting Int 16 + 2 Bonus = 18 (no, I’m not starting at an 18.) +1/1/1/1 at appropriate levels.

4) +1 level bonus = 19
5) +2 Int toy = 21 +2/1/1/1/1
8) +1 level bonus = 22 +2/2/1/1/1/1
10) +4 Int bonus toy = 24 +2/2/2/1/1/1/1
12) +1 level bonus = 25
13) +6 Int toy = 27 +2/2/2/2/1/1/1/1
16) +1 level bonus = 28 +3/2/2/2/2/1/1/1/1
18) +5 Inherent bonus = 33 +3/3/3/2/2/2/2/1/1
20)+1 level bonus = 34 Int. +3/3/3/3/2/2/2/2/1

Wizards get thusly, unchanged from part One:

1) 1 +1/= 2/ =2
2) 2 3/ =3
3) 2/1 +1/1 3/2 =5
4) 3/2 4/3 =7
5) 3/2/1 +2/1/1 5/3/2 =10
6) 3/3/2 5/4/3 =12
7) 4/3/2/1 +2/1/1/1 6/4/3/2 =15
8) 4/3/3/2 +2/2/1/1 6/5/4/3 =18
9) 4/4/3/2/1 +2/2/1/1/1 6/6/4/3/2 =21
10) 4/4/3/3/2 +2/2/2/1/1 6/6/5/4/3 =24
11) 4/4/4/3/2/1 +2/2/2/1/1/1 6/6/6/4/3/2 =27
12) 4/4/4/3/3/2 6/6/6/4/4/3 =29
13) 4/4/4/4/3/2/1 +2/2/2/2/1/1/1 6/6/6/6/4/3/2 =33
14) 4/4/4/4/3/3/2 6/6/6/6/4/4/3 =35
15) 4/4/4/4/4/3/2/1 +2/2/2/2/1/1/1/1 6/6/6/6/5/4/3/2 =38
16) 4/4/4/4/4/3/3/2 +3/2/2/2/2/1/1/1 7/6/6/6/6/4/4/3 =41
17) 4/4/4/4/4/4/3/2/1 +3/2/2/2/2/1/1/1/1 7/6/6/6/6/5/4/3/2 =45
18) 4/4/4/4/4/4/3/3/2 +3/3/3/2/2/2/2/1/1 7/7/7/6/6/6/5/4/3 =51
19) 4/4/4/4/4/4/4/3/3 7/7/7/6/6/6/6/4/4 =53
20) 4/4/4/4/4/4/4/4/4 +3/3/3/3/2/2/2/2/1 7/7/7/7/6/6/6/6/5 =57

SORCERORS get:

1) 3 +1 =4
2) 4 +1 =5
3) 5 +1 =6
4) 6/3 +1/1 =7/4 =11
5) 6/4 +2/1 =8/5 =13
6) 6/5/3 +2/1/1 =8/6/4 =18
7) 6/6/4 +2/1/1 =8/7/5 =20
8) 6/6/5/3 +2/2/1/1 =8/8/6/4 =26
9) 6/6/6/4 +2/2/1/1 =8/8/7/5 =28
10) 6/6/6/5/3 +2/2/2/1/1 =8/8/8/6/4 =34
11) 6/6/6/6/4 +2/2/2/1/1 =8/8/8/7/5 =36
12) 6/6/6/6/5/3 +2/2/2/1/1/1 =8/8/8/7/6/4 =41
13) 6/6/6/6/6/4 +2/2/2/2/1/1 =8/8/8/8/7/5 =44
14) 6/6/6/6/6/5/3 +2/2/2/2/1/1/1 =8/8/8/8/7/6/4 =49
15) 6/6/6/6/6/6/4 +2/2/2/2/1/1/1 =8/8/8/8/7/7/5 =51
16) 6/6/6/6/6/6/5/3 +3/2/2/2/2/1/1/1/1 =9/8/8/8/8/7/6/4 =58
17) 6/6/6/6/6/6/6/4 +3/2/2/2/2/1/1/1/1 =9/8/8/8/8/7/7/5 =60
18) 6/6/6/6/6/6/6/5/3 +3/3/3/2/2/2/2/1/1 =9/9/9/8/8/8/8/6/4 =69
19) 6/6/6/6/6/6/6/6/4 +3/3/3/2/2/2/2/1/1 =9/9/9/8/8/8/8/7/5 =71
20) 6/6/6/6/6/6/6/6/4 +3/3/3/3/2/2/2/2/1 =9/9/9/9/8/8/8/8/7 =75

Here’s the direct comparison:
Level- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Sorc - 4 5 6 11 13 18 20 26 28 34 36 41 44 49 51 58 60 69 71 75
Wiz - 2 3 5 7 10 12 15 18 21 24 27 29 33 35 38 41 45 51 53 57
Spec- 3 4 7 9 13 15 19 22 26 29 33 35 40 42 46 49 54 60 62 66

Skeptics take note: The Specialist Wizard catches the sorc ONCE…at level 5…and never again.

Sorcs have more spells/day.


Aelryinth wrote:
Part Two: Caster Power.

Heehee. :3

EDIT: Anyone who paid attention to Schoolhouse Rock or the messages that popped up on their favorite Mortal Kombat arcade machine knows that knowledge is power. :P


What kind of results do you get if you weight spell level? Having two more level 1 spells might not compare to having access to level 2 spells.

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