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I would like to make a Wizard (or some such) designed to kill other magic users.
The idea here is that he would have been trained (hence the idea of wizard, they study, etc.) to combat other magic users, using any method necessary to win. Feats, spell selection, tactics, everything would be focused for this task. I want a practical, efficient combatant.
The only thing set in stone is that the character must be human, due to campaign restrictions.
I would also like for him to be a bit less squishy than a normal wizard, at least competent with a weapon... I feel this would reflect the focus on being a trained combatant, retaining an amount of effectiveness even when out of spells. (maybe a few levels of Eldritch Knight??)
I know I am asking quite a bit!
Thanks in advance!
First check out Spell Duels
I know there are several Counter magic feats that let you counter with same school instead of same spell.
Also consider using bow (crossbow b/c you can use it) and try to build up readied actions on spell casting, to interrupt spells, (at least making them roll to concentrate)
Magus might be good to look at. Though not sure how they will keep up with higher level casters.
Also the Inquisitor Witch Hunter Archetype, (bonus spellcraft for identifying spells, and bonuses against them, etc) Plus they are kind of built for
hunting arcane casters.
First thing that comes to mind is a magus, it's close enough to wizard and fairly martial.
Some feat choices are disruptive and spellbreaker, unfortunetly they both require that you have several levels in fighter, but at level 10,half of a magus' levels count as fighter levels.
step up is a must, and its feat chain in the apg is also a good choice.
im sure there are more choices in ultimate combat and ultimate magic but i have a serious case of the lazies right now.
I think that you might want to be an abjurer. You might also look up Renegade Hunters from the Towers of High Sorcery.
I definitely want to stick with a primary spell caster, at high levels 6th level spells just aren't going to cut it.
I would say a hexcrafter magus. Take spells to give enemies spellblights, maybe improved counterspell, and the spellbreaker and disruptive arcanas (they don't require fighter levels if you take them as arcanas). You could even do it as a dwarf, and when you get your fighter levels you get get spell sunder as a feat. Obviously, you'll want dispel magic. If there any wizard spells you really need, get them with spell blending.
Not only is this a great anti-caster, but the flavor could be all sorts of cool - a witch-hunting witch warrior. Spellblights are really fantastic anti-caster buffs, and you can use other curses on your other enemies. In addition to the normal blasty spells a magus enjoys.
Magus can make a good Mage Hunter.
EDIT: Ninja'd
I am inclined to agree with magus (hexcrafter)
The other option is archery focused, Cavalier 1(Gendarme for free power attack), skills and a free mount. Then 5levels of wiz (Diviner foresight specialist)
From there you go AA4 (so you can shoot+spell) and EK 10
Gives .CL 17 (19 with magical knack), BAB 17. Take point blank master ASAP. You are now awesome.
If you are adamant about primary spellcaster, the Scroll Master archetype of Wizard in the Ultimate Magic book is neat.
Other than that, Hexcrafter Magus and Sandman Bard are nice.
I'd also say an Eldritch Knight would be good at Mage Killing. With Near-Full casting, "fighter" levels, and signifigantly better melee potential I'd say that's what they're made for.
Oh yeah, sandmand bard, like barry suggested. That's less a warrior-type and more a sneaky guy, but stealspell is greatagainst enemy casters. If you're familiar with 3.5 classes, it's basically spellthief + beguiler, using a pathfinder bard frame, and they were two of the coolest classes WotC made for 3.5.
I loved the Spellthief and wished there was a Pathfinder Archetype of it.
Might have to try building a Sandman Bard...
Cleric gets a lot of abjuration, sometimes at lower spell levels than wizards, even. And Abjuration is the best anti-caster school.
If you can use 3E material, the Initiate of the Seven-Fold Veil prestige class is incredible at thwarting other casters once you hit the end levels of it (veils to block spells, and the ability to disrupt other people's turns with the veils as an immediate action). And you can combine it with Master Specialist prestige class, which lets you do a number of things, including cast anti-magic field on other people as the 10th level capstone.
3E also had the Reactive Counterspell feat and ways to boost your CL on dispel checks and a feat to take 10 on CL checks so that a well-optimized dispeller could basically always succeed on the checks against anything near his level.
Beyond that... being able to spam a crapload of enervation spells in quick succession is great at wrecking a caster, as is the "nuclear option" of Feeblemind, which I tend to avoid using in a mutually assured destruction agreement w/ the DM, but still must be mentioned as a good way to mess up a caster.
Generally, though, I think the roles of an anti-caster caster within a party should be focused upon: negating / diminishing the nasty things the caster tries to do to the party; getting information on the enemy caster and transporting the party to him; and buffing the party to better get through his defenses (fly on the fighter so he can go after the caster, for example). Because it's supposed to be a party game, so leaving the actual killing of the enemy caster to your allies is something they can actually handle if set up properly.
I'd think about making a scarred witch doctor if you want something less squshy. With racial heritage he fulfils the requirement.
No matter if you go witch or wizard for a spell I'd suggest call the void with disruptive spell, so perhaps magical lineage (call the void).
The problem with Bards , Magi,and Inquisitors is that eventually your benefits against spellcasters will not be able to overcome the various defenses a full caster has at their disposal.
9th level spells are pretty much the only way to meet or beat 9th level spells.
Thus, I REALLY want to be a primary caster. A soldier, a duelist, an assassin whose weapons are his spells. I feel its the only way to be effective in this capacity.
The fact this character would look more like a warrior and carry a sword is more incidental; its secondary to the spells. Making it work with Eldritch Knight would be cool, but unnecessary. Bard, Magus, and Inquisitor all lack the magical prowess I desire here.
*I mostly need help with choosing WHICH primary caster (arcane is very much preferred) and INT based is also very much preferred. (leaving Wizard, Sorcerer ((Sage)) and Witch.) I demand skill points, hence the INT. He needs to be stealthy, physically capable, and knowledgeable.
I don't know which feats are best used against a caster (melee or ranged, it doesn't matter) and I don't know which spells are best against a caster either.*
Hmm, ok. I misunderstood, then. Quite frankly, Sage is not a great bloodline in my book. Since you demand intelligence based, just forget about sorcerer. i still think my previous suggestion of using curse spells is a really solid choice, so go with witch. Look at all the spells with the [curse] descriptor. Focus on the ones that can give spellblights*. Match those with the plain old bestow curse and its greater counterpart to lower relevant ability scores.
*Just in case you are unaware of what spellblights are, since they're rarely mentioned on the boards by anyone but me, they're magical diseases/curses (they count as both) that affect casters. They do things like make verbal components require a concentration check, force enemies to cast the same spell repeatedly, prevent them from casting at the same enemy twice, take damage when they cast, give them spell resistance they have to beat in order to cast, pass out when they cast, and all other sorts of neat things focusde on messing up casters specifically. They're generally really solid debuffs, and they're all sorts of fun and flavorful.
@Cathulhu: To be clear, what if someone proposed a class (e.g. Magus) along with an explanation of how, even at level 20, even against a primary caster with access to a plethora of 9th level spells and abilities, said class or build would be capable of taking down that mage. Would that be sufficient for you to accept as an option?
The reason I ask is that you are saying you need 9th level spells to counter 9th level spells but no one has actually laid out specifics. I'm not 100% convinced that you are correct about needing a primary caster in order to stop another primary caster, but I also lack the expertise to evaluate that claim.
In any event, I think it would be helpful if you clarified if your requirements are about the goal (i.e. taking down primary casters) or about the means (i.e. must be a semi-martial primary caster).
@Cathulhu: To be clear, what if someone proposed a class (e.g. Magus) along with an explanation of how, even at level 20, even against a primary caster with access to a plethora of 9th level spells and abilities, said class or build would be capable of taking down that mage. Would that be sufficient for you to accept as an option?
The reason I ask is that you are saying you need 9th level spells to counter 9th level spells but no one has actually laid out specifics. I'm not 100% convinced that you are correct about needing a primary caster in order to stop another primary caster, but I also lack the expertise to evaluate that claim.
In any event, I think it would be helpful if you clarified if your requirements are about the goal (i.e. taking down primary casters) or about the means (i.e. must be a semi-martial primary caster).
1.) Yes, it would be enough, but I can basically guarantee that in MOST situations, no magus will defeat a prepared (i.e. well played) wizard, sorcerer, witch, or cleric. But, if you can prove it to me outside of an absurdly specific scenario, feel free.
2.) Only (in my 10+ years of gaming/Gm'ing) will a full caster provide the flexibility, versatility, and therefore power, to defeat another full caster... barring DM fiat. Hence my desire for full-ish 9th level spell access.
3.) Thus, my required goal(s) of a.) taking down full casters, and b.) be a semi-martial (<flexible on this bit) primary caster is one and the same if you are following my thought process, as laid out above.
Thanks for the replies, keep them coming, its very helpful. I hope I clarified things adequately.
Well if you simply must be a full caster then I recommend the abjuration school with the counterspell school focus from the apg(wizard). Dispel magic is your friend, along with improved dispel magic.
In general there are a couple good ways to gimp a mage, blindness/deafness. blind: they can't see you, generally they cant hit you, deafness: 20% chance to mess up their spell with a verbal component.
entanglement effects: black tentacles, ice cage...... many others i'm sure...
anti spell effects: globe of invulnerability, antimagic field,
direct damage: if you want the most bang for your buck here, ready your action to when the enemy starts casting a spell then cast yours so it has a chance to interrupt theirs. (edit: upon reading the readying rules I'm not sure if you can do this, so....hmmmm.)
try to use spells that target their fortitude or reflex saves as those tend to be a bit lower than will.
As for feats, if your gm allows it the blighted critical chain might be worth looking into, also spell specialization with dispel magic wouldn't be a terrible choice if you plan to counterspell your way around.
AM BARB and pick up a feat that lets you cast level 0 spells.
And seriously: I think there are some classes that can deal with well played fullcasters. Summoners, Magi, Bards (yes, bards), some gishes and not to forget inquisitors. They just have to be highly specialized.
AM BARB and pick up a feat that lets you cast level 0 spells.
And seriously: I think there are some classes that can deal with well played fullcasters. Summoners, Magi, Bards (yes, bards), some gishes and not to forget inquisitors. They just have to be highly specialized.
Thats kind of the problem though. Such classes need their build to be so specialized that they cannot function outside of that role (as opposed to a wizard who, with a change in spell selection, can be useful in any encounter).
The other problem is that EVEN with that specialization, it's still ridiculously difficult to win. For example, an Arcane Duelist Bard: Step Up feat chain is great, but you still have to guarantee getting into melee range with a wizard to pull it off... A wizard who probably began the day with a divination spell or two, a wizard with Invisibility, Fly, Teleport, Contingency, etc... Something than no Bard, Inquisitor, Magus, or whatever can truly compete with, at the end of the day. Well, barring DM fiat or poor playing.
If 18 INT is genius level, and most high level wizards have INT in the late 20's minimum, then what genius wizard WON'T be prepared for just such an inevitability? Plus, such a high level genius survived to be a high level; countless battles and encounters are under her belt.
Good tactics and paranoia are the rule, not the exception. Sadly, it is my belief that Inquisitors, Bards, and Magi don't have the tools/resources at high levels to defeat/survive such a foe.
Though, if you can show me such a class and build that can kill such a wizard in a generic, non-specific encounter/manner, I will eat my words. I just haven't seen it done without some sort of caveat. (i.e wizard can't use this spell, it has to be at night, it only works if I charge, etc.)
Asking for a full progression caster that can double as an effective martial is not easy. You're best bet is probably Eldritch Knight, but even then, you are going to run into problems. If it were me, just giving things a quick look over, here is what I would try.
Wizard (Counterspell School) 6 / Fighter (Brawler) 4 / Eldritch Knight 10
Get to Wizard 6 / Fighter 1 before you start taking EK levels
For feats, grab Imp. Unarmed Strike, Weapon Finesse, Agile Maneuvers, Stunning Fist, Jawbreaker, Imp. Grapple, Greater Grapple, Disruptive, Spellbreaker, Parry Spell, Quicken Spell, Critical Focus, and Critical Vesatility.
The major downside to this is that you will have to settle for capping at 8th level spells, but all you have to do to beat an enemy caster is grab them, break their jaw, and beat them to a pulp. If they try to come at you with their magic, parry it back. If they try to buff or escape, dispel it. For anything that isn't a humanoid caster, you have 8 levels of spells and a BAB of +17.
I would recommend making your opposed schools Enchantment and Illusion since they both focus on will saves, but you might consider changing out Illusion for something else, like maybe necromancy. You can always change out any of the other feats you don't like for opposition research.
For the record, I haven't really put too much work into this guy. He might be terrible (quite likely, in fact), but I think he could be interesting. The major problem I see with him right now is he will be stressed on having enough swift actions for everything he wants to do.
Pala2/Summoner might work
Or maybe even a monk(tetori)[/samurai?]
Pala/Sorc/DD could work too
I have to admit Magus will have a hard time, Bards work probably better combined with 2 levels of paladin and maybe even DD8.
mh and pala/oracle could go as well, but I'm not sure about that.
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-Race / Class-
Half - Elf / Summoner (Synthesist), Paladin 2, Monk 1
-Stats with out Eidolon (25 point buy)-
STR 07 (+6 item)(-6 age) = 07
DEX 07 (+6 item)(-6 age) = 07
CON 10 (-6 age) = 04
INT 13 (+3 age) = 16
WIS 17 (+6 item)(+3 age) = 26
CHA 18 (+2 racial)(+3 age)(+5 leveling)(+6 item) = 34
-Saves with out Eidolon-
Fort = 28
Reflex = 25
Will = 40
AC = 36
Touch = 23
Flat - Foot = 28
-Stats with Eidolon-
STR 29
DEX 28
CON 13
INT 16
WIS 26
CHA 34
-Saves with Eidolon-
Fort = 32
Reflex = 37
Will = 44
AC = 72 (76 with combat expertise)
Touch = 31
Flat - Foot = 58
-Eidolon Abilities-
Base - Darkvision, Evasion, Improved Evasion, Devotion, Multiattack
Form - Biped - claws, limbs (arms), limbs (legs)
Claws (x2)
limbs (arms) (x2)
Immunity (acid, cold, electricity, fire, and sonic)
Spell Resistance (28)
Flight Su (30ft)
Improved Natural Armor (8)
Improved Damage (claws)
-Class / Feat Progression-
M 01 Dodge, Skill Focus Perception, Toughness
P O2
P 03 Combat Expertise
S 04
S 05 Extra Evolution
S 06
S 07 Combat Reflexes
S 08
S 09 Extra Evolution
S 10
S 11 Vigilant Eidolon
S 12
S 13 Extra Evolution
S 14
S 15 (insert feat here)
S 16
S 17 (insert feat here)
S 18
S 19 Extra Evolution
S 20
-Gear-
Bracers of Armor
Ring of Protection
Ring of Forcefangs
Cloak of Resistance
Amulet of Natural Armor
Headband of Mental Prowess (wis and cha)
Belt of Physical Might (str and dex)
High saves, immunities to all spell damage but positive / negative and force, and spell resistance. Here is ur mage killer if there ever was 1.
Yea that summoner is about what I had on my mind.
You should maybe add something to reroll a potentially natural 1.
Otherwise this looks fine to me, even though I'd probably make the eidolon synthesist.
Any thoughts to using a druid or cleric? They get 9th level spells and have more martial power then a wizard would, or are you really only concerned with an arcane caster?
Also, are you allowed 3rd party products? Because if you are the super genius games archetype Exorcist from the genius guide to divine archetypes could potentially be added to any class, which gives you an ability that can greatly weaken any caster or supernatural creature.
If you want a trained full caster with a hint of martial prowess, why not simply take the Cleric with Magic and Protection domains?
Medium BAB, decent HD, high Fort and Will saves + bonuses from Protection + high Wisdom, up to medium armor, lots of spells to screw with casters and/or buff your combat capability. Most definitely requires a lot of training.
If you want a trained full caster with a hint of martial prowess, why not simply take the Cleric with Magic and Protection domains?
Medium BAB, decent HD, high Fort and Will saves + bonuses from Protection + high Wisdom, up to medium armor, lots of spells to screw with casters and/or buff your combat capability. Most definitely requires a lot of training.
The only reason I didnt consider Cleric is that I wasn't feeling the "religious order hunting mages" bent. I would also be spending lots of stat points, and wouldn't be able to afford INT for skill points.
Play a spellbreaker inquisitor. Choose evocation as your 1st resistant school. At 20th lvl you become to evocation spells. That wizard should have a lot of fun fighting him with his high will saves and immunity to most damaging spells.
I dont think any wizard will try to win a fight with damage spells at that stage...
Here's a question. How does a wizard beat contingency that a bard or magus can't? Because a well designed contingency is going to get a wizard out of nearly anything. The bard or magus has an equal will save, a better reflex or fortitude save, and an equal caster level.
Schroedinger's wizard is basically unkillable outside a dead magic zone. If all NPC wizards are Schroedinger the only viable mage killer is the DM.
And yet, when planning to fight a wizard you need to assume a worst case scenario. You need to assume (and try to plan accordingly)that the spoellcaster you are trying to kill has defenses and plans you haven't thought of.
Yes, contingency saves the day, regardless of my class. What does a Bard or Magus do against an invisible flying wizard though?
At least if I play a wizard, I can try Dimensional Anchor to prevent my enemy from teleporting away... Something a Bard or Magus cannot do. Level 6 spells and a handful of cool class features do not equal level 9 spells.
I don't know why you are trying to defend a clearly less capable class. Magi, Bards, and Inquisitors are all fun to play, but the reality is that they have little chance of defeating a high level full caster. However, by also playing a full caster, I increase my chances of success.
On that note i have been looking further into witches, and between their spell list and Hexes, they look to be very promising in taking down more traditional spell casters via extensive debuffing and well placed Save or Dies.
Well - that the wizard can escape does not mean he wins the fight.
killing the synthesist up there will be everything but easy for the wizard and once caught (especially if the summoner would specialize on some more grapple) it gets pretts hard for him.
Well - that the wizard can escape does not mean he wins the fight.
killing the synthesist up there will be everything but easy for the wizard and once caught (especially if the summoner would specialize on some more grapple) it gets pretts hard for him.
no, but if my character bills himself as a mage killer or hunter, the wizard escaping doesn't do much to promote that image. In RP terms, it makes for a bad reputation, which is bad for business.
-Race / Class-
Half - Elf / Summoner (Synthesist), Paladin 2, Monk 1-Stats with out Eidolon (25 point buy)-
STR 07 (+6 item)(-6 age) = 07
DEX 07 (+6 item)(-6 age) = 07
CON 10 (-6 age) = 04
INT 13 (+3 age) = 16
WIS 17 (+6 item)(+3 age) = 26
CHA 18 (+2 racial)(+3 age)(+5 leveling)(+6 item) = 34-Saves with out Eidolon-
Fort = 28
Reflex = 25
Will = 40AC = 36
Touch = 23
Flat - Foot = 28-Stats with Eidolon-
STR 29
DEX 28
CON 13
INT 16
WIS 26
CHA 34-Saves with Eidolon-
Fort = 32
Reflex = 37
Will = 44AC = 72 (76 with combat expertise)
Touch = 31
Flat - Foot = 58-Eidolon Abilities-
Base - Darkvision, Evasion, Improved Evasion, Devotion, Multiattack
Form - Biped - claws, limbs (arms), limbs (legs)
Claws (x2)
limbs (arms) (x2)
Immunity (acid, cold, electricity, fire, and sonic)
Spell Resistance (28)
Flight Su (30ft)
Improved Natural Armor (8)
Improved Damage (claws)-Class / Feat Progression-
M 01 Dodge, Skill Focus Perception, Toughness
P O2
P 03 Combat Expertise
S 04
S 05 Extra Evolution
S 06
S 07 Combat Reflexes
S 08
S 09 Extra Evolution
S 10
S 11 Vigilant Eidolon
S 12
S 13 Extra Evolution
S 14
S 15 (insert feat here)
S 16
S 17 (insert feat here)
S 18
S 19 Extra Evolution
S 20-Gear-
Bracers of Armor
Ring of Protection
Ring of Forcefangs
Cloak of Resistance
Amulet of Natural Armor
Headband of Mental Prowess (wis and cha)
Belt of Physical Might (str and dex)High saves, immunities to all spell damage but positive / negative and force, and spell resistance. Here is ur mage killer if there ever was 1.
Dotting
AA + AMF or EK + wall of stone + AMF is generally an easy way to kill makes. AA is of course by far easier to pull off.
Easier isn't always better, and as I remember, this particular brand of napalm has been pretty harsh on AA's in the past...
The absolute minimum requirement to beat a 20th level caster is a Disjunction+quickned dimensional anchor. Everything else is secondary.
The absolute minimum requirement to beat a 20th level caster is a Disjunction+quickned dimensional anchor. Everything else is secondary.
Which is a 9th level spell. (I steal your words to prove my previous points.)
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Yes, contingency saves the day, regardless of my class. What does a Bard or Magus do against an invisible flying wizard though?
Silent Image-Creates minor illusion of your design.
See Alignment-Pick an alignment; in your sight, creatures and items with that alignment emit a ghostly radiance.
Lock Gaze-Compels the target to look only at you for the duration of the spell.
Expeditious Retreat-Your base land speed increases by 30 ft.
Hideous Laughter-Subject loses actions for 1 round/ level.
Fumbletongue-Target cannot speak intelligently.
Beguiling Gift-Subject immediately accepts an offered item and uses it.
Obscuring Mist-Fog surrounds you.
True Strike-+20 on your next attack roll.
Returning Weapon-Grants a weapon the returning special weapon quality.
Longshot-Grants a +10-foot bonus to the range increment for any ranged weapon fired.
Magic Missile-1d4+1 damage; +1 missile per two levels above 1st (max 5).
Those are all 1st level spells, most of them are shared by the Magus and the Bard. Now, it doesn't take a Genius (18+ intellegence, as you put it) to figure out how most of these would work. If the mage had the time to find out about you, then you have the time to find out about him. And, as a bonus, you're forgetting the most important rule behind EVERY encounter, EVERY game, EVERY team, EVERY moment in Pathfinder and D&D history:
You will never be alone. You will always have a team of people. You will almost never have to go into a fight by yourself.
Spells like Lock Gaze, which I mentioned, will guarentee that the mage you are fighting, even if they are 100ft. in the air and invisible, will only target you.
And don't forget, those class abilities make it different from the wizard! If there were 2 classes, the only difference being 1 casts up to 6th level spells, the other casts up to 9th, then the option is obvious. But that's the thing. Bard and Magus give up going all the way to 9th level for class abilities that make it so that you're not doing the most predictable thing everytime.
I would like to make a Wizard (or some such) designed to kill other magic users.
The idea here is that he would have been trained (hence the idea of wizard, they study, etc.) to combat other magic users, using any method necessary to win. Feats, spell selection, tactics, everything would be focused for this task. I want a practical, efficient combatant.
The only thing set in stone is that the character must be human, due to campaign restrictions.
I would also like for him to be a bit less squishy than a normal wizard, at least competent with a weapon... I feel this would reflect the focus on being a trained combatant, retaining an amount of effectiveness even when out of spells. (maybe a few levels of Eldritch Knight??)
I know I am asking quite a bit!
Thanks in advance!
Two possible routes:
Fighter (or Ranger) 1/Sorcerer (Arcane/Sage) 6/Eldritch Knight 10/Sorcerer +3
This would be more of an upfront combatant; fighter gives a bonus feat and stacks better with eldritch knight, while ranger has more skills and allows the use of wands of ranger spells (i.e., cure light wounds and lead blades) without Use Magic Device checks. Take Exotic Weapon Proficiency (Bastard Sword) at 1st level and obtain a Large bastard sword (can be used two-handed by a Medium character; -2 on attack rolls, 2d8 damage); true strike does not have somatic components and can be cast in armor without chance of spell failure (take as one of your initial 1st-level spells); Arcane Armor Training is useful for low- to mid-level play and should be taken at 3rd level (eventually invest in darkleaf cloth studded leather or a mithral chain shirt); pick up the spells enlarge person (to increase bastard sword damage to 3d8), false life/greater false life (to increase survivability), heroism (+2 on attack rolls, saves, and skill checks), and eventually antimagic field (you just lost all your magical protections and spellcasting, but I'm still hitting you with my big sword) as some of your spell choices; mirrored and righteous/unbound/unrighteous/vigilant (depending on alignment) armor abilities, impact and spell storing weapon abilities, sash of the war champion (if fighter)/vest of the vengeful tracker (if ranger), glove of storing, and juggernaut's pauldrons are worth looking at obtaining. An adaptive distance composite longbow and lesser/greater bracers of archery, as well as the spell gravity bow, give a pretty decent ranged attack capability if you don't have the "perfect" spell or want to conserve spell slots.
Rogue 1/Wizard (Admixture) 4/Assassin 1/Arcane Trickster 8/Arcane Archer 2/Arcane Trickster +2/Arcane Archer +2
This is more of a sneaky, backstabbing/sniping combatant; assassin requires an evil alignment. If you're willing to give up another level of spellcasting progression, Rogue (Sniper) 3/Wizard (Admixture) 3 also works (and you can take the rogue talents Bleeding Attack, Surprise Attack, and Trap Spotter; two from Extra Rogue Talent feats). Point Blank Shot and Precise Shot are must have feats, as is Weapon Focus (Shortbow) later on to qualify for arcane archer; Sneak Attack damage can be added to any spell that uses an attack roll, so concentrate in picking up spells that use ranged touch attacks; Reach Spell and Intensified Spell are useful metamagic feats once you get to about CL 5+, and you'll want Quicken Spell almost as soon as you can cast 5th level spells; grease, glitterdust, and invisibility/greater invisibility are obvious spell choices to set up Sneak Attacks, as well as true strike and other magic to raise attack bonuses (even though you'll be attacking touch AC as much as possible); sniper's goggles are a must have item. Imbue Arrow (coupled with a Quickened true strike) can do damage (plus extra Sneak Attack damage, even if you have to use Impromptu Sneak Attack) AND generate an area spell effect on the target (antimagic field is a big one for a mage-killer; although damaging spells can also cause extra Sneak Attack damage once you gain the Surprise Spells capstone).
In both cases, you'll want to pick up the Magical Knack trait to help mitigate the loss of caster level.
Homestly - both of these buils are not that effective. You could optimize them a lot more.
I don't have a lot of experience with high level play, but it seems to me that these type of hypothetical builds always focus on what's happening at level 20. What about getting to that point? Do most people's campaigns actually get to those upper levels?
Regardless, I'm not sure dimensional anchor or AMF or any off those things are necessary. If you're considering witch, get him a lesser rod of quicken spell. Quickened I'll omen, feeblemind. At level 9, it's awfully tough to beat that. Seems like it could work at higher levels too, but replace the feeblemind with other save or suck spells.
The Void elemental school specialist wizard is a pretty nifty mage hunter. Void awareness really shores up your defenses against the more dangerous forms of attack, while at high levels the combination of reveal weakness + a quickened spell can be brutal.
You might look at some of the Eldritch Heritage options as well - SR is usually a real negative for the party, but if you are a dedicated mage hunter it can make a world of difference.
Homestly - both of these buils are not that effective. You could optimize them a lot more.
Fill in the details...
They're general guidelines to match the concept of the OP, not complete "builds."
For effective spells black tentacles (said before +1) and shout with a fortitude save and deafness effect.
Dwarven Kensai or Myrmidarch Magus with Shatter Spell (aka Spell Sunder)?
Bonus to Init is of course important, you can go DEX/Weapon Finesse focus if you want to further focus on that.
Teleport Tactician (Combat)
You are highly alert for enemies using teleportation to approach you or flee from you.
Prerequisites: Combat Reflexes, Disruptive, Spellbreaker.
Benefit: Any creature using a teleportation effect to enter or leave a square threatened by you provokes an attack of opportunity, even if casting defensively or using a supernatural ability.
Grapple is a good option to have.
Getting Grab on a Natural Weapon via some means is a good way to combine normal combat with Grapple, especially for AoOs.
Having a Familiar is a good idea, they can help your Action Economy and do things like deliver Dimension Door for you.
Necromancers' Life Sight is a good Blindsight that lets you distinguish illusions and bypass any concealment...
You should probably pick up Eldritch Heritage, there's several Bloodline's which would be useful...