In one of my games, we're having a one-off story to follow what happens if certain events in the main game come to pass.
My Magus... generally a debuffer, Hexcrafter/Bladebound, focuses on Enervation mainly... is going to be put in a spot where he has to take out an ally gone evil in the future, likely one on one.
We'll be bumped to 16th level. He'll be Necromancy spec, penalized in Evoc and I think Abjure. He also likes his Illusion spells. I don't know his exact spells, but he's limited to Core+APG+UM+UC.
He may have as much as 24 hours to prepare for my coming depending on if another character sides with good or evil and tells him (in which case he will 100% have protection against my enervates up), but could have as little as 1-3 rounds if the plot involves my betrayel surprising him (he's a good rp'r and this is just a what if, so he wouldn't metagame it). It's barely, barely, barely possible I would get to surprise round him, from point blank, but I am NOT counting on it.
The fight will take place in a throne room, assuming another character on the side of good successfully uses magic to lock the room down so the Wizard can't leave. It's 750 feet by 250 feet with a 200-300 foot ceiling, no other PCs or NPCs will be involved in the fight.
At worst, he'll be on one end and I'll have to cross about 450 feet to reach him. I'm expecting to have to cross about 50-60 feet. At best, I'll get the (unlikely) point blank surprise. He can have reasonable spells cast to protect himself generically, but unless our side if betrayed and he gets the days notice, he won't be allowed to specifically set up traps against me personally/specifically against my build beyond what he'd generically have up* or can cast one my betrayel is known.
*note: obviously what a 16th level wizard can 'generically' have up all day can be pretty powerful in itself though, so it's not like I'll be jumping him naked, even without him having an edge or metagaming.
Now one of my current ideas is to use Quicken Spell + Touch of Idocy (spell blended) to try and drop his casting quickly. If he doesn't have any protection from negative energy or I can strip his (note: he will not have an item granting it to him, I do know that), then my Spell Perfected Enervations can come into play (this was the build of the character, so for RP reasoins I have to stick to it, even if he's a Necromancer and it's not optimal). I've also got Slumber and IceTomb hexes, so I could hope to save or suck him.
Ultimately it's just the usual issues of dropping a high level caster, just doing it solo as a Magus the first time against a player who as a player is very good at playing casters. The usual he could have some generic defensive spells in place, I may have to cross open space to get to him, I've got to drop him (or drop his casting quick), before he can flood me with Summon Monsters or get multiple save or dies off where I'd eventually fail one.
So... suggestions?
Oops!
And my characters ex-wife (who he's on good terms with) may be captive in the room, so I can't just frag the whole room [*LoL* That was the GMs idea when he realized that's what we'd begun to consider (we had access to a magic 'bomb' via an earlier plot]
However it's been agreed for RP reasons she wouldn't be harmed by either of us and we'd both avoid accidently doing it (I'd consider him to great a threat to not kill even if it cost her life, and we both care about her and he'd be LE and against his code). However she will be fully incapacitated and I can't recover her without a plot item, so she won't be able to aid me.
It does mean since she'll probably be about 50-150 feet from the fight (since we'll try and keep it away from her, for the reasons above) that he can't risk blasting anything with an AoE range that would kill her (she's only level 7 or 8 NPC IIRC), unless it was literally "I do this, or I absolutely die" (and even then, I think, THINK, his code of LE prevents him... *lol* but not banking on any evil PC's 'code' ;)
I am by no means an expert on the Magus, but I did glance through the Magus briefly and the thing that worries me the most is the Wizard will have 8th level spells to your 6th.
My first thought, is, depending on what he knows, hit him with a target Greater Dispel Magic, and then get as close to him as possible to stop him from casting spells.
If you have a second 6th level spell, or use spell recall, then hit him with a chain lightning. He should be nearly dead at that point, then you get in his face.
That would be my initial thought, though I will freely admit I haven't given much thought to it. The Magus is going to have a large advantage over the wizard in melee combat, while the wizard is going to have the advantage in spell repertoire. I think, the key to winning the fight, is whether or not you can get close enough to him to prevent him from casting spells. If you can't, then there is a good chance you will lose the fight as he simply has much more powerful spells than you do.
Don't lose initiative. I was in an PbP PVP with 10th level casters, and whoever lost initiative lost the fight sometimes in the first first. He might open up with persistent feeblemind in round 1. If there is any protection against that spell you will need it.
Once he can reduce you to a drooling neanderthal the match is pretty much over. There are other bad things that can happen also.
Elemental gems might help you. Being invisible might also help you get to him. I am sure he will have see invis prepped, but if he doing that then he is not assaulting you.
Whatever happens give us the results. :)
Step 1: prepare all of your spells as Silent for the day.
Step 2: cast all your buffs
Step 3: silence yourself
Step 4: grapple the wizard
Step 5: ???
Step 6: Profit
Step 1: prepare all of your spells as Silent for the day.
Step 2: cast all your buffs
Step 3: silence yourself
Step 4: grapple the wizard
Step 5: ???
Step 6: Profit
Hit him with a targeted Greater Dispel First to make sure he doesn't have anything aiding him.
The biggest tricks to deal with if he has any prep time at all are spell turning and a presumed counterspells ring to stop a greater dispel magic.
If you start out all the way across the room - and you don't have the suite of D-Door feats - you're in serious trouble as he'll simply bombard you with fireballs until you get into Close range (65').
If you're in close range, his smartest bet is to drop a maze on you first thing.
When you finally escape the maze, you're likely hosed. 50/50 shot to dispel your way out leaves you open for his nuking you the same way you should nuke him: chain lighting him and ALL of his gear.
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If he likes illusions or turning invisible, make sure you somehow have True Seeing active - I think there's an item that gives it.
Hmm... here's an idea: use your arcana to get the Silence spell. Right before combat, cast it on a bunch of small items, then at the start, scatter them across his side of the room. That might work to limit his spellcasting. :)
Thanks so far all... noting a lot of this.
My flight hex and force hook:charge are tools I think will help gap close as well.
How much dmg per round would I have to do on a 16th level Sorc to really force some nasty concentration checks? I'm wondering if burst damage over debuff might be the ay to go?
Also... while technically no NPCs, he may have a 16HD undead bodyguard somewhere in the room he created via spell or subschool [I have zero idea what type, except 'not incorporeal'] (he has multiple minions, but he has several on errands around his keep, and they'll be tied up when it goes down)
You want continuing damage to mess up his Concentration checks.
Burst damage is to drop him ASAP.
The minion is what it is - ignore it unless you have no alternative. With the master so goeth the minion.
Sounds like a sorcere, so a clone *might* not be an issue. If he has one, you could be in trouble, since your ability to heal is pretty limited...
Cheat...
Hire a party of NPC heros to help you, expect him to do the same and bribe them to turn on him. Attack him while he is asleep and dictate the terms of the battle.
High level caster duels are about strategy not tactics so stop planning your character and start planning the encounter then build your character to fit the encounter.
I'd expect him to do Mind Blank + Invisibility at the start. If he's smart you won't be able to catch him without at least blindsense (preferably blindsight). So I'd be looking for a way to get those at the very least.
You really need more information. For instance, how will the room be barred from inter-dimensional travel? Dimensional lock is 8th level but only effects 20 foot radius, the DM could rule it available for permanency(also assume the caster will have all permanency effects available to it such as see invis and arcane sight) in which case the caster will know the chambers are under such an effect. Certain spells, like forcecage, will be deadly if a character cannot travel via teleport, plane shift, etc.
Is the necro a sor or wiz? Ultimately you want to create a mock-up of the character to have an idea what you might be facing. If this is someone your character would know, have adventured with, etc, ask the DM for a character sheet -- even with the expectation you might not know everything about the character, you would likely know important magic items, common spells, etc. Assume clone has been cast in which case you may not want to outright kill the character, but find a way to trap it until you can locate the clone.
Since you can prep you'll want to go through the suite of available protections, such as stone skin, spell turning etc. considering investing in a scarab of protection.
Hire a cleric to raise you and your characters ex-wife, and then use the magic bomb anyway.
Win initiative and have true seeing up. Hit him with a Quickened Ill Omen (which is conveniently on your spell list thanks to Hexcrafter), then drop a Persistent Save or Suck that you think is most likely to land on him. That'll force him to save 4 times in a row, essentially. Have your DC as high as possible.
Antimagic field.
Now the trick is trying to figure out how to cast it.
If your use magic device is good you could just buy a scroll of it for 1950gp.
There's no Magus arcana gained at 16 to add it to your list with spell blending.
Custom magic items might be possible but are always an iffy proposition.
Activating an antimagic scroll with UMD is a DC 33 check. Note that a 1 does not auto fail so if you can achieve a +32 UMD check (easily possible at lvl 16) you'll be able to activate the scroll without fail.
Anti Magic is not a great option. It's a small area centered on you. You'd have to cast then move up to the wizard. He could then just easily move away, taking a full withdraw if he wants, and cast a quickened spell. Then you're stuck in an AMF, and he has a bunch of ways to deal with you while you never get close to him again.
If you're worried about Save or Die and Save or Suck effects from the wizard, you should consider the Reflection Arcana. It basically allows you to use spell turning as an immediate action, at the cost of arcane pool points. This could be a...
This seems a nice option to have, but note that you'll still need to win initiative to use it as you cannot use immediate actions while flat-footed. Its trite, but it all comes down to initiative against a Wizard.
Thanks so far all... noting a lot of this.
My flight hex and force hook:charge are tools I think will help gap close as well.
Make sure you'll be able to rely on such tactics. Is the "teleportaion prevention magic" you'll be using to prevent his escape going to foil your own teleportation abilities? If so, unfortunately you'll have to rely on things like invisibility to safely get close enough to him.
If teleportation within the room is still okay, I'd recommend the dimensional agility line of feats to close the gap immediately while still being able to act. Preservation of action economy when combined with movement will be very important.
You'll need to try to get rid of his protections via a greater dispel, but as mentioned, expect this to be countered at least once. If not, great. Silence and/or antimagic field precast on your person are both good options (even casting into the AMF, he'll be very limited w/r/t the options available to him, most of which will not be particularly dangerous to you unless he's very creative).
Obviously, some of these tactics are mutually exclusive (dimension door + dimensional agility line is not going to play well with AMF for example). Just keep that in mind.
Once you get in close, you can initiate a grapple or just wear him out with your superior melee ability (even with spell-combat + silent spell if you don't/can't drop AMF).
Keeping him close will also be important if you don't seal his fate in round 1, so the Step-Up feat line may also be useful.
Ultimately though, you'll be fighting uphill if you can't win initiative (at least he's not a diviner). First, do all in your power to stack that deck in your favor. After that, high level magic duels are most often decided by the high stakes chess game that is spell-turning and (ring of) counterspelling. Guess right on one of these (or use spell reflection) and you can turn his offense on its head.
I recommend not counting on your strengths. He is a better caster than you. Play up the wizards weaknesses. He is a much worse combatant than you. You should only be using your magic to try and get close enough to beat the holy carp out of him.
1) Contingent silence to go off when grappling a spellcaster. He is unlikely to have many silent and stilled spells prepared.
2) Rod of quicken with Force Hook Charge to get next to him instantly. Also, dimension door and blink could be good for this. Have several prepared incase he does manage to get away once or twice.
3) You now threaten him. Take the feats to screw with a threatened caster.
4) Grapple
5) Magic item to cast Anti-Magic field on yourself. This shuts down spells, spell like abilities, supernatural abilities, almost eveything. Unless he has an artifact, he is pretty much a rich commoner.
6) Have a light weapon to wail on him with until he is down.
Wear only light armor so if you do have to chase him without magic he is not faster.
Also second the idea of a ring of couterspells with whatever your spies tell you is his favorite desperate attack spell.
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Tanglefoot bags are a good way of slowing him down if you think he might flee on foot. It's also a nice little de-buff that can be made as a touch attack (so you can use it on your last attack roll which is likely to miss anyway). It gets better if he doesn't make his save(unlikely).
What kind of sword is your black blade?
A spell storing sword with silence spell could be fun. Stab him and shut him up all at once. Alternatively a blindness-deafness(curse) if you can't get someone to cast the silence for you.
Do you have any time to prep spells before the actual fight?
Right, I'm gonna go actually think about this now.
Overland Flight, Greater Invisibility and Foritude-based save-or-sucks like Baleful Polymorph all go a long way. I'd work towards incapacitating him rather than spending all my time chasing him around trying to melee...
I must say though, he probably has the easier path to victory - should be a hell of a challenge.
Ready an action to hit him with a disintegrate when he casts. It will force a pretty tough Concentration check, even if he makes his save. A staff with disintegration would allow you to spam it for multiple rounds.
Basically rely on long-ranged ranged-touch attacks. Maybe try to combine a black tentacles with a quickened stinking cloud. His CMD should be pretty low, and if he fails the stinking cloud Fort save, he will be nauseated and reduced to move actions. Or even a scroll of Crushing Hand.
His CMD is probably pretty low, even if he has Defensive Combat Training. Try to exploit that. Disarm/Sunder him of wands and staves, bull rush into dangerous terrain, trip him to demobilize him, etc. etc.
EDIT:
Also try some non-magical stuff, like tanglefoot bags and poison. Exploit those low Fort saves and CMDs. Especially if you can get an exotic poison that Con AND Int/Cha damage. Take his hit points AND high level spells away from him!
Thanks all. I'm on a trip this week so no time to write a real lengthy reply with character sheet details, but I've been keeping up and appreciating the input and a bunch of good ideas/good points here.
Some offweek RP this week by other players has clarified a few things...
I will, if not having surprise, at least initiate the fight without warning, so I can prebuff for about 2-3 rounds but he can't (aside from long duration stuff)
I will start about 60 feet away
I have +2 higher initiative then he does (4 if I get cats grace up), so hopefully that pays off
He won't have a clone(s)/backup. (It's being taken care of by a high level ally)... essentially for rp reasons, this is an all or nothing 'duel'
He does have perma see-invis (which I had assumed)
He, for antimetagaming reasons, wouldn't do anything like be invis before the fight, etc (as far as his pc knows, he's alone in his throne room with no immediate worries)
Just a warning: If I were a high level mage with a throne room, my throne would have a permanent wall of force around it of some clever kind of design. I'd never allow people to have shots at me, clear lines of movement to me, etc. You'd at LEAST have to spend a round dropping the wall/transporting through it, and, I'd hope, that'd give me all the time I needed.
If you have time to buff and he doesn't know you're coming, you'd better just have an AMF up, and charge him, with feats that allow you to keep him in your AMF and threatened spaces no matter what he tries. Then beat him up. The big problem with this strategy is that if you lose initiative, you very well might lose. He'll probably just cast, realize you're AMF'd, and then fly up out of your reach, before just sitting up there trying to figure out how to kill you by dropping rocks on you or something.
Anticipate Peril might help with winning initiative (if you don't go the AMF route).
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he may have a better selection of spells than you as far as lists go. but you are level 16 with some money and access to pops scroll shop. make sure and max your umd so there is no chance of failing. get your 2 rounds worth of buffing in and then have 2 scrolls. first one be a high level summon monster spell. maybe summon monster 8 for 1d4+1 dire tigers that are 15 feet away from him and they all get full round actions once they pop up so charge pounce grapple.
you mentioned he has a love for illusions. as do i. my favorite thing is a simple trap right in front of my door. you walk in and see me sitting at my study candle burning low and a long quilled feather laying beside a piece of parchment. you move in to take me by surprise and BAM you fall in a whole welcome to step one of my trap i use illusory wall to conceal a large pit directly inside of the door. also follow up with a secondary illusory wall shaped around the pit to make the room appear to be occupied by me sitting at the table. after that its hello faithful hounds. they also see invisibile and dont require sleep so they are always up at the cost of one 6th level slot i have them extetnded. an alarm spell on every entrance into the building. use spells to bar extradimensional travel. and my favorite have shadow step ready so i can illusion-teleport out. my familiar in high level games acts as my last case scenario and i usually use her to use a wand/scroll of freedom of movement or some other save me spell. now thats the bad news. this is how i protect my home its always like this. when i travel i use similar tricks for instance i bring a large tent. i set it up go inside and use the back wall to bring my mansion door up while using means to monitor the tent. you are going into a level 16 evil necromancer who loves illusions HOME kicking in the door and saying "heres johnny"
but fear not as from all my time being a wizard in one game or another i have my "worst fear" list. usually if its 1v1 i dont worry unless they are higher level than me or they get a huge jump on me. so heres what i would fear most with a level 16 magus (sorry just lold out loud) came to get me. im going to assume he has imp familiar and keeps an invisibile imp in the room to use wands to get him out of a tight situation after all i do.
follow the buff and summon routine to flush out the little bugger and have a ready action to cast any spell you have to take him out of the fight to ignore a casters familiar is foolish and will cost you your life. dont worry about hit dice. again for this vs other casters i use my faithful hounds they see invis and have an attack form. they can attack him and reveal his location then a "ceiling to floor wall to wall" wall spell will sequester him in a small area with two angry dogs.
now you get the wizard to blow his first line of defenses he should be able to obliterate your pets but that will take a standard action so you could simply stack yourself with greater dispels and counter him until his tricks run out. but against a mage i prefer an agressive approach. now greater dispel him remove those annoying buffs he has. pull out another scroll and silence one of the floor where he stands. for good measure throw a blacklight scroll on him too. charge your weapon with your biggest nastiest damage spell and move in for the kill. if he manages to do anything it will be resolved in order most likely. he may get of a greater dispel (which will cost him 2 slots yeah) and her dispel will take a second swipe at her own buffs at this point. the problem is eh will have to make the concentration check from being grappled to even cast the spell it will take up 2 7th level slots for the silent metamagic feat to be applied to a restricted school. and when its all said and done your tigers are gone your silence and blacklight will be gone. so if he gets this off first round and destroys the cats right away (unlikely) then you still have scrolls to use. i would also suggest (after scanning the room for covered pits and the like) cast anitmagic field on yourself via a scroll and charge your opponent all magic defenses will disappear as you charge him his spells cant stop you short of a mundane trap you are golden.
i dont know much about your current character but may i point out tripping a caster inside of an antimagic field is very nice. feats i would like to see here would be
improved trip, greater trip, step up, weapon proficiency fauchard (reach, trip, 15-20 crit), improved critical fauchard,
and for arcana maneuver master trip just to be sure.
you charge you trip he falls you hit him again. he stands up you hit him he takes whatever movement he can to get out of your antimagic field. unless he has a quickened spell set to escape all he has done is set him self up for "rinse and repeatsville."
you said you start about 60 feet away a charge action will take you right to him if you have a straight line. if you dont just move onto him to mess with his spells he will spend a round running away and you can keep moving ontop of him.
Dispelling Strike and Lingering Pain seem like useful arcana. Reflection might be a good defense.
The throne room is 750 by 250 by 300 tall, so you NEED Nephril's wall of text just to block in the wizard! ;-)