Hello,
First of all, I know a blaster wizard might not be the best way to use a wizard, and some might advise me to go sorcerer if I want to nuke.
However, the group has many high-Cha characters (paladin, oracle and cleric) and no brains. Which means I'm dead-set on playing a wizard. Furthermore, the controlling part is handled by the oracle, and they're expecting me to deal damage. We'll be level 10.
So here's my dilemna: what school would you take for a blaster ? I'm torn between Admixture or Fire.
The way I see it:
Admixture:
+ Can switch elements without meta feats, so less resistance problems.
+ Small but ok bonus to damage (+5 at level 10)
- Two opposition schools hurt
- The level 8 power seems pretty meh.
Fire:
+ Free selective spell 5/day for fire spells seem awesome
+ Free resist fire 10 can come handy
+ Only one opposition school that will penalize neither offense nor defense (loss of sleet storm hurts, though)
- Against fire-resistant mobs, i'm much weaker
Of course, I'm also thinking about teleport school (yeah, it's THAT powerful) but it won't help me deal damage.
So, did I forget something ? What would you do ? Is there a school I should pick if my goal were to deal damage ?
Wouldn't it hurt to lose one spellcasting level ?
But yeah, that sounds like a nice deal ^^
However, I lose the level 10 bonus feat, and I'm feat-starved as is.
So far I had:
Traits:
Magical Lineage (Fireball)
Resilient
Human: Toughness
1: Spell focus (evocation)
3: Intensify spell
5: Spell specialization (fireball)
5 bonus: Empower spell
7: Spell Penetration
9: Varisian Tatoo (evocation)
10: Greater spell specialization (fireball)
That would allow me to throw an empowered intensified fireball (level 5 slot) as CSL 13. If I'm not mistaken, that would be 19d6.
Edit: Would that make 19d6+38 with one level of crossblooded ?
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Wizards have a few big advantages with blasting against Sorcerers. The most notable of which being that they apply metamagic without increasing casting time, and this includes preferred spells.
Anyway, admixture is way better than fire. Both replace a metamagic (elemental spell or selective spell) but admixture allows you to memorize a variety of blast spells with little worry of energy resistance while selective spell can be achieved by selective aiming in many cases.
However teleport school is good when you are dropping blast spells that can be repositioned with your move action - it basically let's you move on your turn if you want anyway.
I would also consider divination: foresight. The reroll power will help you with touch attacks (rays) and spell penetration. The initiative bonus is super awesome. You can also sacrifice your specialization slot for your preferred spell so it doesnt really matter that the divination school is slightly weaker on some levels.
I'd say if your only goal is to do damage though, admixture is probably the best pick. If you go Elf (you should for spell penetration anyway) you could increase your number of admixture uses for the day.
Fire resistance is extremely common btw.
Why would elf be better ? I keep hearing that and I don't get it.
+2 SP = human feat, so no advantage here.
+2 int vs +2 int (human), no avantage here.
+2 dex vs -2 con is just horrible. IMHO, a mage doesn't need that much AC - but he certainly needs more HP.
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If you're aiming for damage, it doesn't hurt so much, especially with Magical Knack (a trait that increases your caster level by +2, but no higher than your character level, so you may "lose" two levels in another class without hurting your effective caster leve). Not cumulable with Magical Lineage, sadly. Otherwise a +2 damage per die rolled (so, per CSL with Fireball) is better than a fix +3.5 average damage per spell.
I would even add that the spellslinger archetype may allow you to land sweet damage with it's x4 multiplier on a successful critical hit with a spell cast from your firearm (keep evocation and necromancy, as you will want the damage, and the potential 8d4 negative levels on an Enervation critical hit).
Does your GM allow non-Pathinder feats?
If so, take Energy Substitution and change the descriptor of your spells to [Sonic].
If you're gonna blast- Dazing spell is essential.
Why would elf be better ? I keep hearing that and I don't get it.
+2 SP = human feat, so no advantage here.
+2 int vs +2 int (human), no avantage here.
+2 dex vs -2 con is just horrible. IMHO, a mage doesn't need that much AC - but he certainly needs more HP.
Dex=bonus to initiative and ranged touch attacks. Armor is tertiary. Reflex is also nice.
Losing Con does hurt but it washes out with the Dex bonus.
The thing about spell penetration is that it stacks with other effects if you need to, but you're right, it is basically the equivalent of a feat.
But the reason I recommend Elf for Admixture is for his Favored Class bonus. You can boost your number of uses by 5 at level 10, letting you alter basically every spell you'd have memorized if you want to.
If you're gonna blast- Dazing spell is essential.
This too.
Biggest problem with going admixture is getting two opposite schools.
What would you take ? Divination and enchantment ?
Biggest problem with going admixture is getting two opposite schools.
What would you take ? Divination and enchantment ?
Opposition research is a feat that gets you back one school.
But yeah, in your circumstance I'd dump divination and enchantment. You can always scroll stuff like scrying, and your oracle can cover mind affecting nonsense.
You can't prohibit Divination. Enchantment and Illusion are your best choices though.
I'm pretty sure you can now in pathfinder.
You can't prohibit Divination. Enchantment and Illusion are your best choices though.
I think that was in 3.5. In pathfinder, divination is a legit choice. Hopefully.
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Arcane Bomber
Bomb (Su): At 1st level, the arcane bomber gains an ability nearly identical to the alchemist’s bomb ability.
School of the Bomb : The creation and use of bombs is often so engrossing or intellectually taxing that an arcane bomber forsakes four schools of magic. (Abjuration, Evocation, Illusion, and Necromancy)
Arcane Bomber
Bomb (Su): At 1st level, the arcane bomber gains an ability nearly identical to the alchemist’s bomb ability.
School of the Bomb : The creation and use of bombs is often so engrossing or intellectually taxing that an arcane bomber forsakes four schools of magic. (Abjuration, Evocation, Illusion, and Necromancy)
do
not
do
this...
Seriously, I HATE that Archetype.
Arcane Bomb - at level 10 would do 5d6 damage, and you can use it 10 times a day. For this you're giving up ALL of your specialization bonus spells AND your familiar. Lets forget that you're taking 4 opposition schools.
Let's talk about what you can do with the FIVE slots you're giving up and compare.
Level 1: Magic Missile. 5d4+5 damage, plus an extra 5 from Evocation School. On average I'm guessing that's about the same as an Arcane Bomb without the splash effect.
Level 2: Cast Fire Sneeze on that Familiar you give up - it gets 5 rounds of 2d6 damage. Total - 10d6+5 damage if they fail all their saving throws, or 5d6 if they succeed all their saving throws. Note that after the first round, you're not making any other actions.
Level 3: Fireball. 10d6+5 damage to a 20' radius, not crappy splash damage to everything in the squares around the target. Might deal 1/2 damage, but it's still more damage.
Level 4: Ball Lightning. 2 globes that last 10 rounds dealing 3d6 damage a round. Total damage 60d6+5 (though some can be negated by reflex). You move this around with a move action.
Level 5: Icy Prison. No save 10 damage per round unless they spend an action or two to break the ice, and if they fail their save they're helpless. Lasts 1 MINUTE per level. At level 10, that's 10 minutes, or 100 rounds. If they don't break the ice, that's potentially 1000 damage to a single target.
You could also cast a Dazing Fireball with this slot if you have Magical Lineage.
So if you threw a bomb every round for the 10 rounds you get with it, you're going to deal potentially 50d6 damage.
Adding up all the damage you could potentially do with these 5 slots, not including Icy Prison, you're still getting much much more. Just the level 4 slot alone does more damage over that time.
Arcane Bomber is the most insulting archetype ever conceived by any official developer.
I agree about the arcane bomber uselessness.
I'm wondering whether going sorcerer 1 is worth it, though. Sure, if it were a one-shot, i would see only benefits to dipping. But since we'll be playing (hopefully) from 10 to 20, I wonder if the lost spellcasting level wouldn't hurt.
On another subject, is there any prc you would recommend ?
I'm generally not a fan of multiclassing, so I haven't really looked into the merits of a Sorcerer dip.
+2 to damage per die rolled sounds good with what someone suggested, but it's only for Fire spells... It's a good trick, but it's fire only, and is that worth pushing back your spell levels for forever? 10d6+20 against anything without fire immunity says you might consider it.
I do however sort of like the Bloatmage, but I only really like him for his capstone power. Considering you're starting at level 10 however you might look into it. Essentially, before level 10, you can get a couple of spell slots back every day for your highest level spell slot.
In trade, your familiar doesn't get the ability to speak with animals, spell resistance, and scry on Familiar until your late levels assuming you switch back to Wizard, and you miss out on 20 free spells in your spellbook as you level up. You also lose 2 bonus feats.
Once you hit level 15 however, if you drink the blood of certain enemies, once per day you can pretend you're a full caster level sorcerer for an hour. This can be really powerful if you're a summoner who combines Superior Summons with the Abyssal Bloodline level 15 power - letting you summon 3 of the best monsters at the same time. So the usefulness of this PrC depends on how long your days are.
The Abyssal trick is a pretty good one, but for you I doubt it's worth it though I haven't looked at all those bloodlines you can absorb thoroughly. I think you'd rather have the 2 bonus feats for more metamagic if nothing else.
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Well, the orc bloodline is a bonus to all damaging spells, and the draconic is a bonus to fire spells. 1 point each per dice, so 2 points/dice rolled for fire spells and 1 point per dice rolled for everything else.
Fighting something with fire immunity? change that fireball into an iceball and deal 10d6+10 and yay for vulnerabilities!
Honestly, I'm partial to the tattooed sorcerer archetype as well. A familiar that isn't always risking death? Sounds good to me.
That tattoo is kind of nice, but I dunno if it's worth the dip in itself.
A shame it doesn't let you have both the item and the Familiar. It's like they have my number!
I actually looked up Orc this time, and it gives a nice set of abilities. I personally would still hate pushing back my spell progression, but it's up to you.
You also get 4 more fully memorized cantrips and 2 spontaneous 1st level spells, so that's kind of cool.
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If you are going to dip a level in Sorcerer then I would suggest being a Tattooed, Crossblooded Sorcerer and then choose two of the three bloodlines with damage boosting bloodline arcana (Draconic, Primal, or Orc). I also recommend an Admixture Wizard.
I would also suggest the Thassalonian Specialist, but I am not sure if you can have a school AND be a Thassalonian Specialist.
NOTE: Thassolonian Specialist, Tattooed Sorcerer, and Orc Bloodline are not from the core rulebooks (CRB, APG, UM, UC) and may not be allowed by your GM.
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Also note that if you dip, you should have a cha of 11 so you can have your spontaneous spells and you can't dump your wisdom as much since crossblooded imposes a penalty to will saves.
Don't forget, though, that your one level of Sorcerer adds +2 to Will saves (exactly counteracting the penalty to Will saves for being crossblooded).
If you are starting at 10th, have you considered Rogue 1 Vivisectionist 1 Wiz 5 Arcane Trickster 3? A lot of skill points and you skip the most painful levels of the build (the parts you dont have greater invisibility and a bunch of fun rays to back it up)