I've managed to come upon the ability to learn three level 3 spells from any spell list and cast them as if they were on my own spell list (currently playing a wizard). So while I can thank Treantmonk for his advice on wizard spells I'm at a bit of a loss when it comes to evaluating other spells from other spell lists. What spells would complement my wizard ? The spell's level must be 3. And if you could please provide multiple choices and grade their cheese factor; I'd like to minimize my cheese.
If you mean to say you're not looking to optimize, then you can just pick any spells you want. Or do you mean "cheese" by taking spells that are lvl3 for a class like Paladin or Alchemist, who have some underleveled spells because they get less spell levels?
Wizards already have excellent lvl3s like Haste, Fly, and Dispel Magic, so it's a level of tough competition. Improved Invisibility is a strong contender, as a lvl3 spell for Summoners (4, for Wizards).
You can likewise get Dimension Door/Anchor, Stoneskin, Wall of Ice, and more at 3 via Summoner, rather than 4.
If you don't have a Cleric, you can pick up the Remove spells (Curse, Disease, Blindness/Deafness) to be just one rest away from having the antidote to whatever ails you and your party (or just have it ready if you expect you'll need it that day).
To get specific advice it would be good to say what level your party is, what casters it already has, and what spells you've already taken. If there's a theme for the adventures your party takes (dungeon crawls, wilderness, urban), that's also good for narrowing down what's useful.
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I'd look for things you can't do well with the Wizard list, so:
Top of the list:
- Arcane Concordance (APG, Bard). Oodles of metamagic feats with no change in caster level. Cast this before you cast your buffs to extend everything for free. Cast this when invisible and cast silent spells. If you're having range problems, cast it to enlarge your spells (extend the range). Best part is, it's a 10' emanation so you cast it and your cleric and everyone else gets the buffs too as long as they stay close.
Others:
- Cure Serious Wounds (though you can get healing from summoned monsters, this is a lower level access to those spells)
- Invisibility Purge (By far the best of the anti-invisibility spells because it helps everyone)
- Bard's 3rd level Confusion? (pretty cheesy to take a 4th level wizard spell in a 3rd level slot)
- Bard's Good Hope (decent duration all-around buff - about the same net effect as Prayer but a different shaped area of effect)?
Well basically the most powerful spells should come from the ranger and paladin lists, but most are regular 3rd level spells. The bard list has some good ones however. Pay special attention to spells that are specific to an individual class such as the bards Glibness spell. Glibness gives a +20 to bluff checks, which is cool for a bard who might already have a +10 or more, but even better for a wizard who probably has a +1 if that. There are also a couple of cool spells from the druid list, such as poison, and plant growth or spike growth.
As for what is cheesy, I would say spells that are on your list, but at a higher level, such as confusion as Greycloak pointed out. I can't really find anything exploitative about taking bard spells, but maybe there are some summoner or oracle spells that could be used for cheese.
well first spell is easy, greater invisibility, the summoner spell
then perhaps absorb toxicity (alchemist), you saved 2 spelllevels, but the spell isnßt that awesome.
good hope is also decent, so as arcane spells are in general better than divine, I would look in classes with another spellprogression to save spelllevels, but as Greycloak said, it is cheesy.
Fickle Winds or Archon's Aura both look like fun options you could take.
If it were not lv 3 only, i would recommend the lv 2 spell; silence
Taking Early entry spells Black Tentacles is kinda cheese, but....
But as it stands:
Fickle Winds- Ranger 3
Arcane Concordance- Bard 3 (free metamagic=good)
Meld into Stone- Cleric 3
Aspect of the Stag- Ranger 3
Adding my vote for arcane concordance. If you are high enough level, spell perfection it. Still-quicken it in the first round of every fight, and then cast every other spell in the fight stilled. If not, cast it as a stilled spell in the first round of every fight. This means...you can rock around in full plate armor and a tower shield, ASF be damned.
Shield other is also a decent option. Make a custom ring of spell-storing that your familiar can wear, then have your familiar use it to cast shield other on YOU. Sure, your familiar may die, but put it this way: if your familiar dies, it means YOU would have died if all that damage went to you. Works like this: you have 2X hp, so your familiar has X hp. Suppose you cop 2X+20 damage. That damage would have killed you. Instead, you take X+10 and so does your familiar. Your familiar dies, you still have X-10 hp, and you can escape and arrange for your familiar to be brought back to life. Essentially boosts your hp by 50%. Make sure you treat your familiar well though.
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No mention at all of the Inquisitor spell list?
At level 3, I'd say your most interesting options are:
Seek Thoughts (perfect for when you want the truth and your spell DC is higher than your Sense Motive)
Retribution (requires that your enemy land a hit on you, so not the best for a squishy wizard, but it lowers your target's saves so a SoS wizard might want it)
Cast Out (2d8+lvl damage and a dispel check in one shot-- you've got Dispel and good blasts already, but do you have one spell that does both?)
Coordinated Effort (I doubt you took any teamwork feats, but if there's one that you like...)
But really, I doubt you'll find any spells that are better for you than Arcane Concordance.
What I'm wondering is how you are able to get these spells added to your list. Is this from a book somewhere or is it something you came up with along with your GM?
I'd look for things you can't do well with the Wizard list, so:
Top of the list:
- Arcane Concordance (APG, Bard). Oodles of metamagic feats with no change in caster level. Cast this before you cast your buffs to extend everything for free. Cast this when invisible and cast silent spells. If you're having range problems, cast it to enlarge your spells (extend the range). Best part is, it's a 10' emanation so you cast it and your cleric and everyone else gets the buffs too as long as they stay close.Others:
- Cure Serious Wounds (though you can get healing from summoned monsters, this is a lower level access to those spells)
- Invisibility Purge (By far the best of the anti-invisibility spells because it helps everyone)
- Bard's 3rd level Confusion? (pretty cheesy to take a 4th level wizard spell in a 3rd level slot)
- Bard's Good Hope (decent duration all-around buff - about the same net effect as Prayer but a different shaped area of effect)?
Sheesh, everyone says bards are underpowered and suck. What are they talking about, those spells are AWESOME! (Not trying to start a flame war :S)
On top of that, I'm really looking forward to these spells for my Magus:
Haste
Dispel Magic
Vampiric Touch
Buffer or Blaster?
For Buffer, I'd say:
Blessing of Fervor (which an Oath of Vengeance Paladin technically gets as a 3rd level spell)
Cure Moderate Wounds (always need healing, always need it from a new source)
Charm Monster (Charms ANYTHING with a duration of 1 day/level, Summoner 3rd level spell)
I'd look for things you can't do well with the Wizard list, so:
Top of the list:
- Arcane Concordance (APG, Bard). Oodles of metamagic feats with no change in caster level. Cast this before you cast your buffs to extend everything for free. Cast this when invisible and cast silent spells. If you're having range problems, cast it to enlarge your spells (extend the range). Best part is, it's a 10' emanation so you cast it and your cleric and everyone else gets the buffs too as long as they stay close.Others:
- Cure Serious Wounds (though you can get healing from summoned monsters, this is a lower level access to those spells)
- Invisibility Purge (By far the best of the anti-invisibility spells because it helps everyone)
- Bard's 3rd level Confusion? (pretty cheesy to take a 4th level wizard spell in a 3rd level slot)
- Bard's Good Hope (decent duration all-around buff - about the same net effect as Prayer but a different shaped area of effect)?Sheesh, everyone says bards are underpowered and suck. What are they talking about, those spells are AWESOME! (Not trying to start a flame war :S)
On top of that, I'm really looking forward to these spells for my Magus:
Haste
Dispel Magic
Vampiric Touch
3.5 bards were not that great, but I have never seen anyone say PF bards suck.
Bards are pretty nice.
Servant Horde is one of my favorites.
Is this through Pathfinder Savant?
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I'll go with my favorites Fireball, Lightningbolt, and Summon Monster 3.
I'm a very subtle person.
Edit whoops see you've already got wizard was wondering why the standbys were not listed.
Summon natures ally 3 from druid has some fun critters aurochs, apes, and dire bats oh my although fiendish dire bat might be on SM3 not sure.
Cures are always good or Snare and Spike growth are useful if you need to defend a location.
Jester's Jaunt
Wait for teleport
Blacklight
Its on your list but it's awesome and I'm the only person to ever use it.
Burst of Speed
So good, and it's a swift action for emergencies, boosts slow fly speeds.
Stoneskin
Pure cheese, but awesome cheese.
My DM is running a homebrew setting in which divine casters are disliked and arcane casters reviled. Last session he gave my character an item with which I could learn any three spells I know of or have heard of and add them to my spellbook as arcane spells. I could do this for any level but it seems that holding onto such an item forever would be a waste, given that we are only level 4. That's why I'm looking at level 3 spells as the selection of good arcane spells available is in of itself worth spending all three "charges" on spells from that list.
I'm liking the feedback so far, but I need to keep in mind that I have to have heard of that spell before attempting to use the item on it.
Magic Vestment isn't very flashy, but it can be useful.
If you can pick Words of Power spells, then Far Sight could be useful (much better than Clairvoyance/Clairaudience, at any rate). So could Dimensional Hop or Blizzard.
Illusory Script.
Gaseous Form.
Nondetection.
Yes, all Sorcerer/Wizard spells... but all incredibly useful.
If you're going to dip into divine casting, on the other hand...
Call Lightning, Neutralize Poison, and Glyph of Warding are all good ones.
Naturally, Cure Serious Wounds is, ah, a serious (pardon the pun) contender... I'd let Call Lightning go if your party is shy of healing.
From the Bard list...
Cure Serious Wounds (again)
Charm Monster (hard to resist as 3rd level, despite mild "cheese" of dropping the level on a spell on your own list)
Glibness. Seriously. Awesome.
For a scattershot, I'd cull out:
Cure Serious Wounds, Glyph of Warding, and Glibness for the win.