So, I'll be starting a wizard at level 1 for a Rise of the Rune Lords campaign.
Not sure if I want to go human or elf (first query for you folks reading this).
Planning on going Conjuration specialist with the Teleportation subschool option, focusing on crowd control and summoning mostly.
Going to be using Kolokotroni's magic item replacement system, which involves (among other things) getting to use one of Super Genius' archetypes without having to replace class features, so I'll be using the Mental Examplar. For the purposes of character build, this will mean that I have an extra bonus feat at level 5, 10, 15, 20.
I was thinking that I would go with a familiar (one of the ones that grant +4 Initiative, or the flying lizard that provides +2), since the only permitted crafting feats are Brew Potion, Craft Wand, and Scribe Scroll (and that includes being able to modify your arcane bonded item). Not sure if I would bother with Improved Familiar down the road or not.
For my feats, I was thinking about taking the following (though I'm not sure what order I'd like to pick them up in):
Spell Focus: Conjuration
Spell Focus: Evocation
Augment Summoning
Superior Summons
Rime Spell (use with Frost Fall, Ice Spears, other stuff down the line)
Spell Specialization (probably more than once)
Greater Spell Specialization
Improved Initiative
Metamagic School Focus (3.5 feat that allows the reduction of a metamagic feat to a spell of a school you are either specialized in or have Spell Focus for by 1, 3/day)
If I go elf, I was thinking:
1. Spell Focus: Conjuration
3. Augment Summoning
5. Spell Focus: Evocation, Rime Spell, Metamagic School Focus
7. Superior Summons
9. Spell Specialization
10. Greater Spell Specialization, metamagic feat
The favored class bonus would get me more uses/day of Shift, which is nice, and I would take the alternate racial trait for +2 on Concentration to cast defensively in place of the weapon proficiencies.
If I went human, I would either take Improved Initiative at level 1, or bump SF: Evocation down to 1, and bring the level that I grab the rest of my feats down by one. Not thrilled with the favored class bonus here.
So, I suppose my questions are:
Which race do you think I should go with?
What order would you take the feats in?
What metamagic feat would you pick up at level 10? I was thinking Extend, Reach, or Dazing, though the last ends up making Rime kind of unnecessary.
Do you think it's worth taking a familiar if you don't plan to take Improved Familiar, given the restrictions on bonded item usage (basically, go with Wand so I can craft on it, or Ring only for the 1 extra spell per day)?
I believe Elf to be better than human on the long run, except if you really feel an urge to bring some specific feats on the table early on.
But it's mostly about your playstyle. If you want to go enchanter and play the save or die game, Elf is the way to go.
If you're more about buffing/land control, human is good.
(although you might want to consider the Tiefling if you have access to the advanced race guide)
I think wether you chose Elf or Human, Augment summoning can wait for Level 5. Therefore Spell focus Conjuration can be your 3rd level feat and Improve initiative your first (I just value more the init boost than stronger summons that last 1 to 3 rounds rounds).
If summoning is your absolute best/favourite option then you can go crazy about it and bring superior summoning by level 3 if you go human.
If you go Human you can also consider toughness as your level 1 feat.
If you don't plan to go the improved familiar route for action economy, I'd go with the bonded item. That extra spell is so flexible it is really hard to turn down for me. Don't do it if your GM is vicious enough that you positively know he'll sunder it though.
If that's the case and you still don't want to use an improved familiar, make full use of fun stuff like Burning Gaze on your familiar.
My level 10 feat would be either Selective Spell or Dazing spell if you don't have it already. These two feats simply drastically change the way you control and damage areas.
Why do you think the human is better than the elf for buffing/control?
Tiefling looks good, but I don't know how I feel about it when stacked against the elf.
-2 Cha > -2 Con.
+2 Perception > +2 Bluff and Stealth
Immunity to Sleep and +2 vs. enchantments seems about even with Resist 5 to cold electricity and fire, although Resist Energy doesn't take too long to acquire, while the elven benefits aren't replicable.
+2 Concentration and +2 Spell Penetration are both pretty good, although I'm hoping to not be in melee range when casting much, and most of the spells I'm looking at don't allow for SR (although some do, and more will as I level).
Darkvision > Low-light Vision, especially with the free Darkness 1/day (although I'd have to see what the rest of my party is doing to decide whether darkness makes a good combat tactic).
The prehensile tail is rather good.
Am I missing anything in that assessment?
As for initiative, the familiar, and the bonded item, I'd view the familiar as basically a free bonus feat (either Improved Initiative or Extra Trait: Reactionary) with some additional benefits.
My thoughts for spells were to use things like Grease, Snowball, Glitterdust, Create Pit, Rimed Frost Fall, Aqueous Orb, etc... in addition to the summon spells. As for timing, at level 3 my summons would last for 4 rounds (Conjuration specialist school ability), and they don't seem like they'd be really worth using for Superior Summons until I get Summon Monster 4: the SM I list is pretty poor, as is the SM II list, while SM III is when things start getting good with, for example, multiple leopards or lanterns. I could be wrong in this thinking, though.
For the Bonded Item, I don't THINK I'd be at great risk of having it sundered, but disarmed is possible, and again, unless I go with a wand (not terrible, but also not fantastic), it will only be one extra, very flexible spell slot. The familiar will be the equivalent of two feats basically (the initiative bonus and Alertness), along with providing some scouting options and potentially a little action economy via things like Burning Gaze. Believe me, I really like the extra spell, and haven't EVER taken a familiar before, but having a +9 Initiative at level 1 (+2 trait, +4 familiar, +3 Dex) looks pretty good.
Thinking about picking up Acadamae Graduate, but not too sure about that. I'd probably go human in that case, in order to fit in the other feats I want, and would lean heavily toward the familiar, so I can get the initiative bonus and spend my non-campaign trait on +1 Fortitude. I'd also have more Con on the human than on the elf.
Could also pick up Heart of the Fields to soften the blow a bit as well.
Thoughts?
Actually putting the character together now, and it looks like I'm stretched a bit thin. Other than investing 3-4 feats in summoning, and a couple in the Rime Spell schtick, I'm realizing that I won't have enough spell slots to actually be using both of these strategies for the most part. Certainly not at level 5.
What do you readers think? Am I being overly ambitious here? What would your spell selection look like? I planned up to level 5 and was looking at something like:
3rd (3) - Aqueous Orb, Summon Monster III, and one of Haste, Ice Spears, Fly, or Mad Monkeys
2nd (4) - Create Pit, Baleful Transposition (3rd Edition spell), and some combination of Frost Fall, Summon Monster II, Glitterdust, Flurry of Snowballs, Invisibility, Mirror Image
1st (5) - Grease, Snowball, Benign Transposition, Mage Armor or Shield, and maybe Burning Hands
I could get 3 metamagic'd Rime Spells in there (Metamagic School Focus means no level adjustment to the spell), but I'm only tossing out 1 or 2 summons with the above. I could chalk the feats up to planning for what I'll be doing down the line, but I dunno. Especially since, if I'm not really using one or the other much, I could put it off until later and pick up other feats early on, like Improved Initiative or something.
Thoughts?
If you set a wizard up for summoning, do you tend to summon in every combat? Do you continue to use other battlefield control?
Actually putting the character together now, and it looks like I'm stretched a bit thin. Other than investing 3-4 feats in summoning, and a couple in the Rime Spell schtick, I'm realizing that I won't have enough spell slots to actually be using both of these strategies for the most part. Certainly not at level 5.
What do you readers think? Am I being overly ambitious here? What would your spell selection look like? I planned up to level 5 and was looking at something like:
3rd (3) - Aqueous Orb, Summon Monster III, and one of Haste, Ice Spears, Fly, or Mad Monkeys
2nd (4) - Create Pit, Baleful Transposition (3rd Edition spell), and some combination of Frost Fall, Summon Monster II, Glitterdust, Flurry of Snowballs, Invisibility, Mirror Image
1st (5) - Grease, Snowball, Benign Transposition, Mage Armor or Shield, and maybe Burning HandsI could get 3 metamagic'd Rime Spells in there (Metamagic School Focus means no level adjustment to the spell), but I'm only tossing out 1 or 2 summons with the above. I could chalk the feats up to planning for what I'll be doing down the line, but I dunno. Especially since, if I'm not really using one or the other much, I could put it off until later and pick up other feats early on, like Improved Initiative or something.
Thoughts?
If you set a wizard up for summoning, do you tend to summon in every combat? Do you continue to use other battlefield control?
If you are gonna summon, and spend feats on it, then just do summons. If you wanna blast things, then just blast things and spend feats on it.
You will run yourself out of resources very quickly if you try and do everything.Remember, you gotta split your spells basically 3 ways anyway (utility, buff, and combat spells) and if you are only prepared for combat, the second you guys need something done out of combat and you don't have something like knock or identify prepared you will find your party saying things like "some caster you are."
Elves are probably the better wizards, but I still went with human as my wizard and thus far I've enjoyed it. The extra feat and extra spells past 3rd level are really useful to me. The more spells I have to choose from, the more options I have to get us out of trouble if needed.
As far as feats go, you won't see the better summon spells until summon monster 3 (i.e. 5th level) so in my opinion you'd definitely be better of going with improved initiative as your first level feat, then at 3rd maybe spell focus conjuration, 5th you get an extra feat so I'd suggest augment summon and whatever you're allowed to get with the bonus.
I've been playing arcane bond item and it's been very useful for me. Of course it depends on your DM. My DM prefers not to outright attack my spellbook or items and instead focuses on dangers from the outside. If your DM is the opposite then familiar would be best I would think. As for which familiar, greensting scorpion is really good and will stay useful if you don't want improved familiar.
Don't shy away from extra spell slots, especially at lower levels. The arcane bond isn't JUST an extra spell. It's a spell from your book, unprepared. So, you didn't study burning hands, but your DM threw a swarm at you? You can still do it anyways. Familiars are great bonuses though.
Just my opinion of course, so do as you feel is best.
Actually putting the character together now, and it looks like I'm stretched a bit thin. Other than investing 3-4 feats in summoning, and a couple in the Rime Spell schtick, I'm realizing that I won't have enough spell slots to actually be using both of these strategies for the most part. Certainly not at level 5.
What do you readers think? Am I being overly ambitious here? What would your spell selection look like? I planned up to level 5 and was looking at something like:
3rd (3) - Aqueous Orb, Summon Monster III, and one of Haste, Ice Spears, Fly, or Mad Monkeys
2nd (4) - Create Pit, Baleful Transposition (3rd Edition spell), and some combination of Frost Fall, Summon Monster II, Glitterdust, Flurry of Snowballs, Invisibility, Mirror Image
1st (5) - Grease, Snowball, Benign Transposition, Mage Armor or Shield, and maybe Burning HandsI could get 3 metamagic'd Rime Spells in there (Metamagic School Focus means no level adjustment to the spell), but I'm only tossing out 1 or 2 summons with the above. I could chalk the feats up to planning for what I'll be doing down the line, but I dunno. Especially since, if I'm not really using one or the other much, I could put it off until later and pick up other feats early on, like Improved Initiative or something.
Thoughts?
If you set a wizard up for summoning, do you tend to summon in every combat? Do you continue to use other battlefield control?
If you are gonna summon, and spend feats on it, then just do summons. If you wanna blast things, then just blast things and spend feats on it.
You will run yourself out of resources very quickly if you try and do everything.Remember, you gotta split your spells basically 3 ways anyway (utility, buff, and combat spells) and if you are only prepared for combat, the second you guys need something done out of combat and you don't have something like knock or identify prepared you will find your party saying things like "some caster you are."
Well, my intent is to cover some of those things with scrolls, although, so far in playing Pathfinder, I haven't found Identify to be a necessity. And we have a rogue for locks.
I'm definitely leaning in the direction you suggest, but I don't know. My plan isn't to do much buffing, really. We have an inquisitor and a barbarian 1/alchemist, which should be able to cover some buffing for the group. I'd look to write up scrolls for some buffs, and would want to be carrying at minimum Haste for some fights. I'm strongly leaning toward going with the item bond: wand, and eventually crafting it as a wand of Haste so I can provide that buff each and every combat (doubt that will drop as treasure), and for the 1 extra spell a day, which should help cover some of the utility needs.
I tend to enjoy running a lot of control spells during encounters, which is why I'm going conjuration, but Rime makes some light blasting look really nice by combing some damage with control. It seemed like a good idea initially, but now, looking at the spells I'll be able to pack, I'm not so sure. At level 5, I'd rather have SM III, Aqueous Orb and Haste than have Ice Spears as my 3rd spell, but at level 6, I could see fitting it in. And down the line, I'd have the slots to include a few more of those. After all, while the damage may not be great for things like Flurry of Snowballs or Ice Spears, it's SOME damage, and comes with a pretty good crowd control effect on it that doesn't care whether they make a save or not.
Then again, I'm also thinking about grabbing Dazing Spell at level 10, which, with Metamagic School Focus, I'd be able to apply to 3 spells a day at +2 spell level, which would do something very similar to Rime, but not leave me tied to one element. With 5th level spells I could prepare a Dazing Fireball, Dazing Ice Spears or something else.
I know that I definitely want to keep the control spells like Create Pit, Aqueous Orb, and such, but I don't know which way I should split on the Summons vs. blasting. As a Conjuration specialist, I should be doing SOME summoning.
Thinking I'll ditch Rime Spell and go something like the following:
1. Acadamae Graduate, Improved Initiative
3. Spell Focus: Conjuration
5. Augment Summoning, Superior Summons, Spell Focus: Evocation
7. Spell Specialization, or Dimensional Agility
9. Greater Spell Specialization
10. Metamagic School Focus, Rime Spell OR Persistent Spell or Dazing Spell
With the plan of picking up Spell Specialization another time or two after that, with one keyed to a Summon spell, and the other to something else I'd like to cast frequently.
I guess some questions I still have are:
-Does that progression look okay?
-How worthwhile does Superior Summons seem?
-What level of Summon Monster does Superior Summons become worth using? It seems like it probably isn't worth using on SMII or SMIII, the first because the SMI summons are so poor, and for the second because the SMIII summons are so much stronger, individually than the SMII ones, but does it become worth using at SMIV? V?
-Acadamae Graduate seems like it would be fairly strong, getting my summons out as a standard action, but is it worth becoming fatigued for the whole day? Or exhausted if I do it again?
-If I go the Acadamae Graduate route, should I invest heavily in Fortitude with a +1 trait, maybe pick up Great Fortitude somewhere early on, and lower Dex a little to bump Con? I was going to grab a +2 Initiative trait otherwise. Should I skip the item bond and initiative-familiar for a rat familiar for the Fort bonus from him?
I do like superior summons with summon monster 3, but that's just because of the small elementals available. Having a few earth elementals or air elementals could come in handy, but not necessarily mandatory.
Note that you'll only have 2 feats total at lv. 5. Also, the bonus feat only allows certain feats. (I.e. Metamagic, Spell Mastery or Magical Item Creation).
As for Acadamae graduate, if I remember correctly it requires a 15 + level fort roll? If that's correct, that will be quite the tough roll to try to make even with a plus from a trait and a decent Con.
I'd stick with the +2 initiative trait. For control and summoning, initiative is really useful. (Thus the greensting scorpion.)
So if going Elf I may suggest:
1. Improved Initiative
3. Spell Focus: Conjuration
5. Augment Summoning and either a metamagic or create wondrous items
From there it's up to you. I'm not convinced you need Spell Focus: Evocation at all really, but I guess it does help for those reflex saves. Superior Summons could be really good and might make a good lv. 7 as could spell specialization.
If you go human or half-elf, then just move stuff down. Improved Initiative and Spell Focus: Conjuration at 1, Augment Summoning at 3 and Superior Summoning with a metamagic at 5.
Anyways, that's just some suggestions. Others may have some useful insight as well.
Good point, but would you take two small elementals over a pouncing leopard, or biting, grabbing, death rolling crocodile?I do like superior summons with summon monster 3, but that's just because of the small elementals available. Having a few earth elementals or air elementals could come in handy, but not necessarily mandatory.
Note that you'll only have 2 feats total at lv. 5. Also, the bonus feat only allows certain feats. (I.e. Metamagic, Spell Mastery or Magical Item Creation).
Actually, I do have 3 feats at level 5. My DM for this game, Kolokotroni on the boards, is using a low-wealth system to address the "Christmas tree effect," and one of the benefits of that, is that I'll have an additional bonus feat at levels 5, 10, 15 and 20. Also, since the only magic item crafting allowed will be for consumables (potions, scrolls and wands), the bonus feat options for the wizard have been opened up a little bit to include Spell Focus.
Yeah.
As for Acadamae graduate, if I remember correctly it requires a 15 + level fort roll? If that's correct, that will be quite the tough roll to try to make even with a plus from a trait and a decent Con.
I'd stick with the +2 initiative trait. For control and summoning, initiative is really useful. (Thus the greensting scorpion.)
That was my intent initially, but I'm leaning more toward picking up a Bonded Item: Wand for some added utility down the line. We won't be rolling in magic items or wealth, so beefing up a familiar won't be QUITE as powerful (I think), and having that extra spell should come in handy, especially for the early levels when wizards never have enough spells to see them through the day.
From there it's up to you. I'm not convinced you need Spell Focus: Evocation at all really,
The SF: Evocation is there for usage with Metamagic School Focus (if I go that route), and Spell Specialization, if I decide that I want spontaneous access to a spell from that school. I describe MSF in my first post I believe (it's from 3.5's Complete Mage, or Complete Arcane...think it's Mage).
Well, it's not a question really that a crocodile or a leopard are superior really, just that a few elementals may be your answer to specific threats. Earth elementals can get through some walls, which could be a good preemptive strike on an enemy. Air elementals are useful for holding up flying creatures and such. However, you are correct that superior summons only helps so much. It'd just adding one body, but that guarantees you at the very least 2 summons of the summon monster 2.
It's up to you really though, if you don't feel it's worth it then by all means work towards the metamagic school focus or something else if you wish. There are certainly a number of good metamagic feats to choose from.
As for bonded items, I'm personally partial to the ring, because it's a lot harder to disarm than most other item choices, you can wear it and hide it with gloves if you wish (and the DM allows) and you can wield another item while still using the ring. The flavor of using a wand is really nice though and wands certainly can come in handy.
By the way, sorry for skimming, my eyes sort of skipped to the feats and spells. That being the case, then I'd say the feat setup isn't all that bad. As you probably noticed I'm iffy on the acadamae graduate. It does something very useful, but at a decent cost. Sure fatigued isn't all that bad for wizards, but exhausted is really nasty. Meaning acadamae graduate sort of turns into a once a day ability that will most likely make you fatigued.
In any case, I'll shut up now. Good luck.
Well, it's not a question really that a crocodile or a leopard are superior really, just that a few elementals may be your answer to specific threats. Earth elementals can get through some walls, which could be a good preemptive strike on an enemy. Air elementals are useful for holding up flying creatures and such. However, you are correct that superior summons only helps so much. It'd just adding one body, but that guarantees you at the very least 2 summons of the summon monster 2.
That's true. Not as cut and dry as I was figuring.
As for bonded items, I'm personally partial to the ring, because it's a lot harder to disarm than most other item choices, you can wear it and hide it with gloves if you wish (and the DM allows) and you can wield another item while still using the ring. The flavor of using a wand is really nice though and wands certainly can come in handy.
I'd prefer a ring, too, but not allowed to craft on it in this game, so it would ONLY be an extra spell per day, which doesn't seem worth giving up a familiar for. So I'm stuck with the wand, or a familiar.
In any case, I'll shut up now. Good luck.
No need to shut up. Back and forth is good, even if I don't agree with all of it--helps me turn things over and see all the angles. And I vacillate on a lot of this stuff anyway.
TbH I wouldn't bother with the evocation stuff simply because you already don't have enough feats and by the time you get the early blasting feats in you won't want to use them because at that point you will be past level 9 and your character should be done by then, or at least shaping up.
Level dipping is usually bad btw, you don't want to divide your CL.
Summoners suffer at early levels due to a low CL, and slitting that more just seems bad to me, it will take even longer for your summons to last more than a couple turns.
So what is your combat strategy? When in the round do you plan on going? First? Last? Does it matter? Conjurations specializing usually means you are going to be greasing and making pits all over the place at the earlier levels, summoning can wait usually until level 5ish when you get some actual run time out of your summons.
Improved Initiative is important because normally you want to go first to either A) get your battlefield set up the way you want it before the enemy gets a chance to rush you or B) get your party started on buffing so they don't have to spend their turns standing there waiting for you to buff them. Haste is really important to use, and not many other people in your party seem to have it. Controlling the battlefield doesn't mean jack if your team members die, and no one likes a caster that doesn't share the love.
Hmm...early Spell Specialization WOULD be pretty good. That's something to consider.
Definitely aiming to go first, to drop some CC before the enemies get to move, and before my party is in close proximity to them. Tossing an early Haste would be good as well. And being able to get myself in a safe position before my opponents get to move is also important.
The animal companion sounds nice, but I'm of the same opinion as master marshmallow--dipping on a full caster is a poor idea. Heck, I dismiss most PrCs that lose a single spell level unless they offer something AMAZING.
What feat would you take in place of Spell Focus: Evocation as the level 5 wizard bonus feat then? My choices are Spell Mastery, (Greater) Spell Focus, or Metamagic. Could grab Persistent Spell, but I don't really have anything at that low a level that I'd rather Persist than use a higher level spell, and I don't think I'd grab Metamagic School Focus at 5 right now.
Initially I was leaning elf, but looking at all the feats I want, human is looking better and better...just have to hope Spell Resistance doesn't become too much of a problem down the line, or I'll pick up Spell Penetration somewhere. Also, if my DM rules that Acadamae Graduate doesn't offer a choice, as a human I could pick up Heart of the Fields to ignore the penalty 1/day.
Here's what I'm thinking now I guess:
Human
1. Improved Initiative, Academae Graduate
3. Spell Focus: Conjuration
5. Augment Summoning, Spell Specialization (SMIII), ???
7. Dimensional Agility (to use w/ Shift Teleportation subschool power)
9. Greater Spell Specialization
10. Metamagic School Focus, Dazing Spell or Persistent Spell
11. Spell Specialization (some non-summon spell)
13. ???
15. Quicken Spell, ???, ???
I don't know if we'll go all the way, but my understanding is that Rise of the Rune Lords goes to level 15-18ish. Hoping we get that far.
Could also choose something that gains more from Spell Specialization at 5 than Summon Monster does, since at that point it will last for 7 rounds, which should be more than long enough for most combats, and even the few out of combat situations I'd use a summons for. Ice Spikes at 6 would give me a second spike, fireball would be 2d6 more, etc...
I could take Spell Focus in a school besides Evocation at 5 so that I can use one Spell Specialization for something else. Could also grab one of the metamagic feats I want early just so I have it for later when I'll actually start using it.
Actually...I could ditch the arcane bond: wand, pick up a familiar, ditch Improved Initiative (for the time being), grab a familiar with +4 Initiative, and take Craft Wand as my level 5 wizard bonus feat. I don't really want to give up that flexible extra spell, but this seems like a fairly solid idea, unless I decide that I want to use Dazing Spell down the line.
Hmm...early Spell Specialization WOULD be pretty good. That's something to consider.
Definitely aiming to go first, to drop some CC before the enemies get to move, and before my party is in close proximity to them. Tossing an early Haste would be good as well. And being able to get myself in a safe position before my opponents get to move is also important.
The animal companion sounds nice, but I'm of the same opinion as master marshmallow--dipping on a full caster is a poor idea. Heck, I dismiss most PrCs that lose a single spell level unless they offer something AMAZING.
What feat would you take in place of Spell Focus: Evocation as the level 5 wizard bonus feat then? My choices are Spell Mastery, (Greater) Spell Focus, or Metamagic. Could grab Persistent Spell, but I don't really have anything at that low a level that I'd rather Persist than use a higher level spell, and I don't think I'd grab Metamagic School Focus at 5 right now.
Initially I was leaning elf, but looking at all the feats I want, human is looking better and better...just have to hope Spell Resistance doesn't become too much of a problem down the line, or I'll pick up Spell Penetration somewhere. Also, if my DM rules that Acadamae Graduate doesn't offer a choice, as a human I could pick up Heart of the Fields to ignore the penalty 1/day.
Here's what I'm thinking now I guess:
Human
1. Improved Initiative, Academae Graduate
3. Spell Focus: Conjuration
5. Augment Summoning, Spell Specialization (SMIII), ???
7. Dimensional Agility (to use w/ Shift Teleportation subschool power)
9. Greater Spell Specialization
10. Metamagic School Focus, Dazing Spell or Persistent Spell
11. Spell Specialization (some non-summon spell)
13. ???
15. Quicken Spell, ???, ???I don't know if we'll go all the way, but my understanding is that Rise of the Rune Lords goes to level 15-18ish. Hoping we get that far.
Could also choose something that gains more from Spell Specialization at 5 than Summon Monster does, since at that point it...
Spell specialization cannot be taken as your bonus spell at level 5, you would have to spread it out better. At level 5 you get summon monster 3 access, and specializing in it lets you summon for 7 rounds, which is decent. Don't forget that every few levels you can actually switch which spell is your specialized spell, so if that wasn't a factor in deciding to take it again at later levels, it should be. Depending on how you wanna play it, by level 11, with Magical Lineage (Haste) you can open with a quickened Haste and a CC spell after you go first because you always want to win initiative, and it's a really effective move. Taking elf is good because you can get a racial +2 to your initiative and all you have to give up is the weapon familiarity that you already don't care about because you're a freaking wizard. The right familiar, trait, improved initiative, and elf status with their natural +2 DEX score makes for some ridiculous initiative rolls.
I had been looking pretty hard at elf, but there are just too many feats that I'd like to take, so I think human will be the way to go. As it is, though, I'll have a +4 Initiative familiar (at least until I maybe take Improved Familiar), Reactionary for +2, and a 14 Dex for another +2, and may take Improved Initiative. Also, I'll be picking up enhancement bonus item-equivalents to Dex a little behind my other concerns, so that will help. Note that the elven racial +2 Initiative costs both weapon proficiency AND Keen Senses.
Changing the selected spell for Spell Specialization is definitely part of the allure. My thinking is that I could pick 2 or 3 spells with Spell Spec for a small variety of spells that I can cast spontaneously. Basically dabble in being a sorcerer a little bit.
I won't be taking Magical Lineage, but with my (eventual) Metamagic School Focus, I could quicken a CC spell and then cast Haste, maybe. Otherwise, I was looking at crafting a wand of Haste, maybe giving it to a familiar to use at the start of every fight.
Rory, I appreciate the thought, but I don't think I'll be flipping all the way around to sorcerer. Some day I'll give one a try, but I really prefer the versatility of playing a wizard. Thanks, though, in any case.
I had been looking pretty hard at elf, but there are just too many feats that I'd like to take, so I think human will be the way to go. As it is, though, I'll have a +4 Initiative familiar (at least until I maybe take Improved Familiar), Reactionary for +2, and a 14 Dex for another +2, and may take Improved Initiative. Also, I'll be picking up enhancement bonus item-equivalents to Dex a little behind my other concerns, so that will help. Note that the elven racial +2 Initiative costs both weapon proficiency AND Keen Senses.
Changing the selected spell for Spell Specialization is definitely part of the allure. My thinking is that I could pick 2 or 3 spells with Spell Spec for a small variety of spells that I can cast spontaneously. Basically dabble in being a sorcerer a little bit.
I won't be taking Magical Lineage, but with my (eventual) Metamagic School Focus, I could quicken a CC spell and then cast Haste, maybe. Otherwise, I was looking at crafting a wand of Haste, maybe giving it to a familiar to use at the start of every fight.
Rory, I appreciate the thought, but I don't think I'll be flipping all the way around to sorcerer. Some day I'll give one a try, but I really prefer the versatility of playing a wizard. Thanks, though, in any case.
You're right, I forgot about losing Keen Senses, but it is still a very good variant.
Lotsa stuff
Sorry I haven't connect in a while.
I didn't mean to say human is better then Elf for control/buff, i just mean they are on par with Elf for that since the elves bonuses matter less for this playstyle.As far as Tiefling vs Elves, both are really interesting yet different flavour. I still believe the Elf to be strictly superior, but the prehensile tail can be real useful to handle metamagic rods and the malus to Cha instead of Con means you may not have to take Toughness (so I see it as a free feat)
I'm also thinking the familiar is the better option, above all with a Pseudogragon or Mephit. What I wanted to say is that the bonded item is not the trap some say it is, in my experience it all depends on the DM you play with. Mine never ever messed with my bonded item, and that flexibility really helped (it was not an AP campaign, so there was much less fight, boosting the usefulness of that one/day spell greatly as I reached higher levels).
I like taking Superior Summoning as early as lvl 3, using it to summon dogs/eagles or Ponies. With Augmented Summoning those guys can be quite neat.
Dogs: Quite squishy(8), but with +4 attack(Smite Evil) and D4+4 Damage they should be quite reliable hitters.
Eagles: Even better than dogs. Slightly less HP, but they got 3 Attacks, which hit quite hard (D4+3) thanks Augemented Summoning/Smite.
Pony: With 17 Hp a pack of ponies can SOAK a bunch of hits at that lvl. A melee oriented CR 3 Monster is supposed to have +6 to hit for 13 Damage. Against the ponies AC 11 it deals and average 9. 75 per round. Killing one pony will normally take the monster 2 rounds, maybe even more.
If you are playing a human, be a Sorcerer - you know it makes sense!
???
If you are playing a human, be a Sorcerer - you know it makes sense!???
Human Sorcerers can, as their favored class bonus, add another spell to their spells known list, giving them more utility than regular sorcerers.
Ah, yeah, that's nice.
Is this for PFS? If so, then everything we've told you is wrong, because you get access to Spell Focus for free at lvl 1 at the cost of your Scribe Scroll feat.
7heprofessor has a decent build there, except did you get Metamagic School Focus approved by a DM? Because it's from 3.5 Complete Mage.
I completely agree with staying away from blasting, even at later levels, since you can get some okay blasts from conjuration spells (acid arrow, snowball, etc.) so you can avoid dumping resources into evocation.
Human > Elf in all but niche cases. The first two levels you take favored class option for HP and after that you add more spells to your spellbook (which is amazing).
I'm warming up to the value of that extra scribed spell.
Familiar > Bonded Item unless your DM targets them out of spite and/or doesn't allow the improved familiars to use Wands (which is ridiculous). The action economy granted by having a permanent companion is bar-none better than 1 spell/day versatility.Which familiar you take depends on whether or not you go with Acadamae Graduate. It's an awesome feat, but you must build your character around making that damn Fort save.
If you decide on it, take a Donkey Rat as your familiar for +2 Fort saves, take Great Fortitiude as your human bonus feat, make your Con 14 (or higher if you can) and the Resilient trait. That's +7 vs DC16 at level one. Not too shabby.
I don't know if I want to invest that heavily in Fort to make this work, and not at the expense of Initiative to that degree, I think.
Considering taking Heart of the Fields to ignore a fatigue effect once per day, going to start with a 16 Con, and will make improving my saves a priority.
Probably won't be summoning at level 1, but at level 3 I'll have a base of +1, +3 from Con, +1 from magic item equivalent (conveniently, this is a luck bonus, so I can benefit from things like the Resistance spell if I want a little more), 5 vs. a 17. Not too good. I could drop Improved Initiative or Reactionary for a Fort bonus, but I don't know if I'd give up both, AND the familiar bonus. I guess the question is, of the 3 options, which are most worth swapping? +2 Init for +1 Fort, +4 Init for +2 Fort, +4 Init for +2 Fort? I think part of the decision will be based on whether my DM decided that I may choose whether or not to use Acadamae Graduate, or if I MUST use it every time I summon. If it's a must, I'll probably invest more heavily. If not, I figure I'll have at least 1 summon without penalty, and can stand being fatigued for the day, with around a 50% chance of making the save, I figure I'll be able to get 3 summons off a day before having to go back to 1 round casting to avoid exhaustion. We'll see.
Superior Summoning works great at level 7+ when you can get 1d3+1 Aurochs.
Is that for the Stampede ability? I'm on the fence about Superior Summons. That will be a decision to make later I think.
Spell Specialization at level one is an interesting idea and without it you will NOT be casting summon monster in combat until level 3. It's simply much more worth it to pop off a Color Spray or Sleep than have a dog for two rounds.
If I weren't taking Acadamae Grad I'd probably grab this at level 1 for this purpose, but the feat fits my character idea and the campaign setting too well, and should be helpful enough to be worthwhile. I'm happy using Color Spray, Grease, Burning Hands and Snowball for the first couple of levels.
But that delays Augment Summoning until level 5. So, barring crazy free bonus feat stuff:
The craziness for bonus feats just grants them at 5, 10, 15, 20 unfortunately. The idea that my friend and DM for this game came up with as a low-magic-item system, is twofold:
1) Each character may select a Super Genius archetype (he likes SG) and apply it to their character without swapping out for the archetype abilities. So, in my case, I'm stapling the Mental Exemplar onto the wizard, which grants +1 (2?) Will at level 1, an extra skill point/level, a +1 bonus to a mental ability score at level 2, 6, 10, 14, 18 (exactly identical to normal leveling stat increases, except restricted to a mental ability score), and the bonus feats (which cannot benefit a physical skill).2) Starting at level 3, characters get to select 1 ability from a list: +1 luck to saves, +1 attack/damage with a chosen weapon, +1 AC with a type of armor or shield, +1 bonus on attack rolls and caster level checks with spells as well as +1 damage to the first die rolled for damaging spells. Later, you gain access to +1 Natural armor, +1 Dodge, and +2 to a stat. Then these all scale up with level. The nice thing is that the saves, natural armor, and dodge bonuses improve +1, +3, +5.
The system does a pretty solid job of freeing you from reliance on the Big Six magic items (it's a little behind the curve, but not too much, I think). Personally, I find that we get too few other magic items, but that's a difference of opinion between my GM and I.
1) spell focus conjuration
H) improved initiative
W1) scribe scroll
3) augment summoning
W5) extend spell
5) spell specialization (smiii)
7) superior summoning
9) greater spell specialization
W10) quicken spell
10) Improved Familiar
11) meta magic school focus
13) spell penetration
W15) spell focus: something else
15) spell specialization:...
Here's what I'm thinking:
1. Improved Initiative, Acadamae Graduate3. Spell Focus: Conjuration
5. Augment Summoning, Spell Specialization, Craft Wand
7. Dimensional Agility (allows me to use Shift from Teleportation subschool and retain actions after, which seems like it would be pretty strong)
9. Greater Spell Specialization
10. Metamagic School Focus, either Dazing or Persistent Spell
11. Improved Familiar
What would be Quickening at level 10? Even at +3 spell level 3/day from MSF, there aren't too many spell slots to really use that effectively, unless I'm missing something. Some buffs, like Haste, but giving up a level 6 spell slot for that is rough. My hope is to craft some strong utility wands (Haste, Fly, Invisibility, etc...) and eventually have my familiar using those at the start of combat.
For Dazing Spell, there are a few solid Conjuration Spells that it could work well with. Acid Arrow, for instance, could be prepared as a level 4 spell that may Daze-lock an enemy, even targeting Will instead of Reflex, that would be a save every round for 1 round +1 round/2 levels with 2 rounds of Daze. Could take a single creature out effectively, I think, and there are some decent AoE spells that it could be appended to. Otherwise, Persistent is a strong effect to attach to crowd control, and with 3 at just +1 spell level...
My selections beyond level 5 are fairly malleable, as I'm going to have to see what things actually look like before making those decisions.
Definitely some points worth considering, thank you.
Well, I'll probably not have the improved familiar until level 11, but once there, I intend to use it as much as I can; however, I may take it at level 7 instead of Dimensional Agility if I'm rarely in situations where I'd want to be using Shift before completing my other actions, or if I find that I'm able to turn out enough wands really make having a familiar using them worthwhile.
I was thinking about going with the Lyrakien, but I've seen people suggest the pseudodragon and faerie dragon. Thoughts?