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RAW: "Actions directed at unattended objects do not break the spell. Causing harm indirectly is not an attack. Thus, an invisible being can open doors, talk, eat, climb stairs, summon monsters and have them attack, cut the ropes holding a rope bridge while enemies are on the bridge, remotely trigger traps, open a portcullis to release attack dogs, and so forth. If the subject attacks directly, however, it immediately becomes visible along with all its gear."
Anzyr RAI: "Remotely trigger a trap" reads "trigger a trap"
Jlighter RAI: "Remotely trigger a trap" means you cannot directly trigger a trap and stay invisible
Anzyr RAI: "Actions directed at unattended objects" includes directly triggering a trap (an attended object by definition) to attack
Jlighter RAI: An object attended by the invisible character that makes an attack aimed by the invisible character constitutes an attack for purposes of breaking Invisibility
Anzyr RAI: "Causing harm indirectly is not an attack" means that anything that has its own attack bonuses is an intermediary, regardless of the fact that the character is using it to attack a target, and thus constitutes "causing harm indirectly"
Jlighter RAI: "Causing harm indirectly" means that the character cannot directly, by his/her own power or through an object he/she is attending, cause harm to a target; "Causing harm indirectly" means that the character's action cannot be directly harmful, and that actions can be performed which indirectly cause other actions to be performed by objects/creatures
So far, that's what I'm seeing as the differences between Anzyr's RAI and my own.
RAW: "Actions directed at unattended objects do not break the spell. Causing harm indirectly is not an attack. Thus, an invisible being can open doors, talk, eat, climb stairs, summon monsters and have them attack, cut the ropes holding a rope bridge while enemies are on the bridge, remotely trigger traps, open a portcullis to release attack dogs, and so forth. If the subject attacks directly, however, it immediately becomes visible along with all its gear."
Anzyr RAI: "Remotely trigger a trap" reads "trigger a trap"
Jlighter RAI: "Remotely trigger a trap" means you cannot directly trigger a trap and stay invisible
Anzyr RAI: "Actions directed at unattended objects" includes directly triggering a trap (an attended object by definition) to attack
Jlighter RAI: An object attended by the invisible character that makes an attack aimed by the invisible character constitutes an attack for purposes of breaking Invisibility
Anzyr RAI: "Causing harm indirectly is not an attack" means that anything that has its own attack bonuses is an intermediary, regardless of the fact that the character is using it to attack a target, and thus constitutes "causing harm indirectly"
Jlighter RAI: "Causing harm indirectly" means that the character cannot directly, by his/her own power or through an object he/she is attending, cause harm to a target; "Causing harm indirectly" means that the character's action cannot be directly harmful, and that actions can be performed which indirectly cause other actions to be performed by objects/creatures
So far, that's what I'm seeing as the differences between Anzyr's RAI and my own.
Mine is RAW. Yours may very well be RAI. When arguing rule I take everything as written and intend nothing.
Also RDM42 considering you can cut a bridge out from under someone and summon stuff and have it attack for you. I don't consider any of that to be cheesy.
No, he is just just pointing out a technicality. RAW and RAI are two VERY different things...So basically Anzyr, you want to rule abuse you way to lesser greater invisibility that lets you attack while pretending with all your might that it isn't an attack?
Exactly so. The main point to take away from this thread is not flying lava dropping wizards, but the fact that antimagic fields are not very good against casters, because it very difficult to locate them when you are denying yourself magical means of locating creatures, difficult to reach when you are denying yourself magical means of movement (unless your a very select race), denying yourself the benefit of save enhancing (and stat enhancing) magic items, while the caster is keeping their full save DC.
So basically what you should take away from this thread is that antimagic field and I'll just quote the great Admiral Ackbar: "It's a trap!"
You're statements really make no sense. So you're implying that instead of AMF, people should just all use rings of invisibility to get up close to the caster that can't see them either, then use AMF to get and suppress all magic on their first strike to kill the caster?
I mean, it's just as nonsensical as half the stuff you've been saying.
Rings of invisibility are even cheaper than AMF and other stuff.
You seem to forget, AMF negates the casters stuff, and most of the encounters with casters are NOT outside.
Furthermore, you're flaw is that a limited resource such as the spells per day, will mean that the others will not have these items simply because they have an optional AMF item that they may or may not have activated.
I mean, I can make a spaghetti monster that will attack when all the characters are sleeping and only when they don't have their equipment on because I want that specific situation to come up...but really...you're going for a VERY specific set of circumstance rather than what NORMALLY happens in modules, adventures, and other areas.
You're also doing an unequal assessment in that you feel that the AMF item is the ONLY item that characters have access to...and that invisibility is the kill all of know alls (which is an even BIGGER presumption than the AMF idea).
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AMF only negates the casters stuff if you can find and get close to him, which being in a AMF makes extremely difficult if not impossible.
You say its nonsense, but AMF being pretty much a self inflicted nerf against casters is distilled knowledge that stretches back to the 3.5 edition of the game. Spells per day is significantly less limited then you seem to assume. I have literally never seen a caster run out of spells after level 11 and even that may be being generous.
Your post seems to indicate that you aren't following my post at all. Invisibility is a low low level way to fight people who live in an AMF and it is very effective at that.
Most encounters may not be outside, but they also aren't in a 10x10 room that the caster feels compelled to enter (I'd just destroy the room rather than go in, or wall it off, shrink item is good at this to, and go around it). In most fights, the person in the AMF is screwing themselves.
The only extremely rare exception is when they magically start the fight directly next to caster somehow ignoring all his minions/party members. Even then, the caster will simply use the withdraw action and then activate Emergency Force Shield should you try to re-engage.
Really... AMF is not just a poor answer to casters, it is in fact a trap.
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Baseline, the reason casters are considered so good isn't really due to combat effectiveness, it's due to the large amount of utility they have. Game changing spells like teleport, planar ally, and wish are what are important. AMF doesn't stop casters from doing their most important spells, unless your whole world is anti-magic, in which case you shouldn't have magic users to start with.
It's a bathtub of shrunken lava. When it enters the AMF it expands to 4000x its shrunken volume and mass.People on this forum think that Lava is Boiling Kool-Aid.I don't know why the hell a bathtub worth of lava is so special either.
It can set probably one building on fire.
It's a bathtub before shrinking. Or nearly two, actually, for a 5th level caster. You can shrink about 15 gallons per caster level. A bathtub is around 40.
stuff
Just so you know, you can stop referring to this sentence:
"Actions directed at unattended objects do not break the spell."Because by RAW, it means nothing. If you direct actions toward an object, it's by definition not unattended.
Also, note that for any traps etc you might want to use:
1. Traps do not have a listed weight nor do the rules specify them as moveable. Thus, you're relying on GM goodwill.
2. It is very easy to attack someone intent on dropping lava, because lava gives of light. Invisibility does not prevent light from spreading. Readying actions is quite simple.
Also, lava is quite a non-issue in a city by RAW. At worst, it can cause stuff to start burning, but fire only deals 1d6 damage, and even wood has a hardness of 5. Sure, a straw roof or two might be gone, but when a drunk or a beggar has 13 hit points, potentially taking 1d4 damage per minute just isn't that big of a deal (unless they step directly in the fire and fail the save). Direct damage from the lava itself is only 2d6, which might slowly eat its way through stone - though how long it takes for the lava to cool of is up to GM adjudication.
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I didn't make up the initial scenario, Anzyr. You did.
Your scenario is "This entire city is powerful enough to cloak it in an AMF, but is too stupid to think of the many ways to attack it from outside the field that don't involve spells, and furthermore doesn't have the collective gray matter to think up a solution to any of them."
On top of this is some completely self-serving interpretations of invisibility that no one here agrees with. You lost the argument when you starting having to resort to English-skewing to make a point that nobody is buying.
A city that can afford an AMF can also afford to planar bind air elementals, invisible stalkers and other creatures to guard its airspace, in addition to having mounted troops of its own, and ways for sentries to detect the invisible, ranging from bats to See Invisible areas excluded from the AMF.
There are SO MANY ways to shut down your piddling little mage who if he is very very lucky can barely get into position to do his damage with one spell, and has to cast another just to flee, and gets to do all his casting with nobody capable of sensing him, because, you know, the whole city is just that dumb.
It's a bad example, and like all blanket statements, yours that AMF is a trap and useless is untrue. The greatest fireball caster in the world can't do squat against an AMS, and once inside and the grappling starts, he's hosed. Certain spells are best used against certain targets, and AMS used against casters is definitely a good use if done correctly...especially if you have teammates who can cover for you.
Because, you know, all your examples assume wizards with helpers and minions and callings, and the attacker is a solo melee who has nothing. Which is HILARIOUS.
==Aelryinth
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Mine is RAW. Yours may very well be RAI. When arguing rule I take everything as written and intend nothing.
My point is that some of what you are saying is not RAW, it is strictly RAI by you.
RAW, there is a difference between remote and direct, yet you act as if it doesn't exist.
You treat a trap as an unattended object, when (RAW) the mere act of directly activating it makes it an attended object.
You say that using an object that has its own attack bonuses means that any attack made is "indirect," regardless of the fact that it is an attended object and is being aimed to make the attack, which isn't RAW.
Anyway, I'm done with this thread. My apologies for the partial hijack, and if you're interested in the Invisibility issue, I'm sure other threads can be created or will crop up where RAW vs. RAI can be argued in a more reasonable way.
A city that can afford an AMF can also afford to planar bind air elementals, invisible stalkers and other creatures to guard its airspace, in addition to having mounted troops of its own, and ways for sentries to detect the invisible, ranging from bats to See Invisible areas excluded from the AMF.
There are SO MANY ways to shut down your piddling little mage who if he is very very lucky can barely get into position to do his damage with one spell
How many ways don't require being a full caster yourself? I thought this was a "how to beat casters without being a caster" argument.
How many ways don't require being a full caster yourself? I thought this was a "how to beat casters without being a caster" argument.A city that can afford an AMF can also afford to planar bind air elementals, invisible stalkers and other creatures to guard its airspace, in addition to having mounted troops of its own, and ways for sentries to detect the invisible, ranging from bats to See Invisible areas excluded from the AMF.
There are SO MANY ways to shut down your piddling little mage who if he is very very lucky can barely get into position to do his damage with one spell
Was it? When did it become that? I thought it was an "is amf useful as a defense" argument?
Also, pretty much none of the ones mentioned by Aelryinth up there. Especially since it's a city collectively doing it.
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The rules prevent it. Magic Item Creation are guidelines not hard set rules, they are up to GM to allow/disallow or change. The Item can not be created by RAW as it is not listed under spells able to be made permanent on items, just a location. So if you want to play king of the hill and stand in a spot then sure you can have hour AMF. And without magic a Dragon will still mess up/ murderate said fighter in hand to hand.
Please show the quote by RAW where ONLY spells able to be made permanent (assuming using the Permanency spell) can be made into magic items. In the section on creating magic-items there is no mention of this at all. The Permanency spell is not necessary for creating items.
Mine is RAW. Yours may very well be RAI. When arguing rule I take everything as written and intend nothing.My point is that some of what you are saying is not RAW, it is strictly RAI by you.
RAW, there is a difference between remote and direct, yet you act as if it doesn't exist.
You treat a trap as an unattended object, when (RAW) the mere act of directly activating it makes it an attended object.
You say that using an object that has its own attack bonuses means that any attack made is "indirect," regardless of the fact that it is an attended object and is being aimed to make the attack, which isn't RAW.
Anyway, I'm done with this thread. My apologies for the partial hijack, and if you're interested in the Invisibility issue, I'm sure other threads can be created or will crop up where RAW vs. RAI can be argued in a more reasonable way.
The more you post the less certain I am that you are actually following that argument. Ok... the trap is attended... so?
It's still not an attack action to activate it. And its not "any spell targeting a foe or whose area or effect includes a foe."
Your argument does nothing to address this fact, which is why your argument is effectively dead.
@ Krome - You have massively misunderstood his post and he in fact says nothing about Permanency (no really where did you get this from?). One should not assume Antimagic Swords, because there are no rules for them and they would have to be custom magic items, which are subject to GM discretion.
@ Aelryinth - Umm... I did no such thing. I responded to a scenario that had been set. Namely a town in an antimagic field and was pointing how even low level wizards can cause problems for it, to say nothing of higher level ones. I'm not sure how you keep missing this point, but it is rather frustrating since I believe you are more capable in a discussion then that. You keep changing the scenario I responded to (which I did not create) by adding elements other then "town in AMF", such as hippogriff riders, which where not what I responding to. What most bizarre is you keep positing these new scenarios as though they were the original one, which is really beneath you. I expect better posts from you.
@ - Ilja - "AMF is worthless for fighting casters." has always been the response to the OP. Well that and "The reason you don't see people with antimagic swords is cause they are custom items."
Krome: i think you misunderstood ashe's point. Custom magic items are homebrew material and not part of the RAW. Apart from published magic items, the only way to get such a sword by RAW would be by permanency, which doesnt work.
Its not that theyre connected by themselves, just that its the only explicit place that would have rules for it.
How many ways don't require being a full caster yourself? I thought this was a "how to beat casters without being a caster" argument.A city that can afford an AMF can also afford to planar bind air elementals, invisible stalkers and other creatures to guard its airspace, in addition to having mounted troops of its own, and ways for sentries to detect the invisible, ranging from bats to See Invisible areas excluded from the AMF.
There are SO MANY ways to shut down your piddling little mage who if he is very very lucky can barely get into position to do his damage with one spell
Was it? When did it become that? I thought it was an "is amf useful as a defense" argument?
Also, pretty much none of the ones mentioned by Aelryinth up there. Especially since it's a city collectively doing it.
Correct. This isn't an anti-caster thread. It's a pro=AMF thread. The one has nothing to do with the other.
Casters can make use of AMF. Shutting down a rival caster so the barbarian can twist him into pretzels is a great use of the spell. Forming a living barrier that summons and line of effect spells can't get past is a great use of the spell. Stopping the dragon from being able to set the city on fire, preventing the rampaging medusa from petrifying half the city, stripping the magical protections from invading demons so they are easier to damage...all are useful uses of Anti-magic.
In no way does that mean 'just because I have anti-magic I can't use magic at all to help me out.' That's just plain dumb.
==Aelryinth
While you are in a AMF, you can't use magic to help you out... that's kind of what I've been saying for... like 3 pages now. Does antimagic field have uses? Sure. But I would much rather have magical buffs when fighting demons then for the demons to not have their magical protections. And that is true about almost every scenario.
(yawn). Sure you can. Your friends can use magic ALL THEY WANT TO. They can exit the AMF. They can enter the AMF. It's a tactical, motile defensive screen against magical assaults and creatures. You don't deploy it against things you need magic to attack, you deploy it to stop the magical attacks of the enemy.
You're being DELIGHTFULLY one-sided in your view of the intelligence of AMF users, Anzyr. I never said is 'one size solves all problems'. But you seem to INSIST that anyone with an AMF up has to keep all of their allies tightly bunched inside it, which is pretty much the definition of stupidity. Meanwhile, the enemy caster gets to keep all of his allies outside of it, and always has magic that isn't shut down by an AMF.
neither example is true, which is the standard problem with your blanket statements and assessments.
==Aelryinth
A caster (or anyone really) who is keeping it up is going to be extremely weak to the following: Bigger/Stronger monsters that don't rely on magic, instantaneous conjurations, animated/called/created allies, and anything the person in the field requires magic to locate.
It's honestly a really really bad 90% or more of the time.
They are great in situations where you can force the victim into the effect though.
Traps with an offensive Plane Shift can do interesting things.
there really isn't a way to use anti-magic field without screwing yourself. even as an arcane archer. and well, permanent anti-magic fields are bound to screw martial characters more than casters due to the existence of planar binding, and instantaneous conjurations.
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I'm kind of the opinion that 'unable to use just about all my uber class abilities and magic items' is much more restrictive then 'my items lost their magic', but YMMV.
Having minions unaffected by AMF doesn't help you when you're in one and being pretzel-twisted by the barbarian, and his casters are outside it and Holy Wording your minions back to their homes.
==Aelryinth
I'm kind of the opinion that 'unable to use just about all my uber class abilities and magic items' is much more restrictive then 'my items lost their magic', but YMMV.
Having minions unaffected by AMF doesn't help you when you're in one and being pretzel-twisted by the barbarian, and his casters are outside it and Holy Wording your minions back to their homes.
==Aelryinth
by the Time Antimagic Field Really becomes an Option, the Wizard could have a few bound Planetars whom would generally be unaffected
and a Planetar without spells is
generally better than a barbarian without most of his better rage powers and without his gear bonuses
and a fighter or other martial combatant depends more on magical gear than a bound planetar or few depends on spells. the Planetar innately has better stats and saves than most martial characters, and well, it's Armor Class is actually better than the fighter or barbarian whom lost a huge chunk to the anti-magic field.
the wizard may simply be an intelligent and weak commoner, but that doesn't matter with planar binding and instantaneous conjurations (such as acid splash) a bound planetar, available at generally the same level Antimagic field comes into play as a legitimate option, will mop the floor with any level appropriate martial whom can't benefit from the magic of their gear.
in addition, any spells aimed at the caster in the antimagic field are nullified as well.
If I might make a vain effort at summing up the debate to reach some kind of conclusion, I think we could all say that Anti-Magic Field can be a useful spell if used tactically, but can easily backfire if it's used in the wrong situation, or if you assume that just casting it is an auto-win against anything with spells or supernatural abilities.
Are there any other effects besides Selective Spell that allow you to exclude a target from an area effect spell? Back in 3.5 there were some gish builds that used Extraordinary Spell Aim or the Archmage's Mastery of Shaping to run around with an AMF that did not affect themselves.
Planetars are also a highly situational summons that won't go against their ethical code.
If you are the good guys, the bad guys can't use a planetar, because he simply will not go against his code, regardless of coercion. It says so right in the planar ally language.
And funnily enough, there are no high level evil outsiders with intrinsic class levels. I suppose you could try for a marilith or horned devil...
And honestly? I'd take a 15th level barbarian over a planetar in a brawl any day, especially a planetar with no buffs, no magic sword, no DR, no regen, and no Aura of Menace. If you can bind a planetar at that level, I can Dictum him home instantly and make your preparations for naught, too.
I mean, come ON. Your whole argument that AMF is ineffective is based on conjuration tricks which can be blown apart by a single holy word, and don't help the bad guy caster who is already IN the AMF a jot?
==Aelryinth
Also those Conjuration tricks you mention are more likely to be something like Dazing Acidic Spray. At level 15 you are looking at something like DC26-8. With your cloak of resistance and stat booster turned off your chance to save is pretty terrible. Base poor save at level 15 is 5. Combined with perhaps Dex 14 without a stat booster means you need a 19-20 to save. Good save is a 9 so if you aren't maxxed out on Dex you probably need a 15+ to avoid it.
At that point planar bound allies can pretty much kill you at their leisure.
Alternatively if you go the summon route SMVIII will give you 1d4+2 Erinyes as capable flying archers. Expect to be shot full of holes as they refuse to come anywhere near you and your AMF. They are moderately fragile but they fly and can easily be summoned well spread out to prevent them being caught in a single effect.
Pretty much this ya.
Planetars are also a highly situational summons that won't go against their ethical code.
If you are the good guys, the bad guys can't use a planetar, because he simply will not go against his code, regardless of coercion. It says so right in the planar ally language.
And funnily enough, there are no high level evil outsiders with intrinsic class levels. I suppose you could try for a marilith or horned devil...
And honestly? I'd take a 15th level barbarian over a planetar in a brawl any day, especially a planetar with no buffs, no magic sword, no DR, no regen, and no Aura of Menace. If you can bind a planetar at that level, I can Dictum him home instantly and make your preparations for naught, too.
I mean, come ON. Your whole argument that AMF is ineffective is based on conjuration tricks which can be blown apart by a single holy word, and don't help the bad guy caster who is already IN the AMF a jot?
==Aelryinth
actually, a Planetar Still has their DR and their Regen because those are always extraordinary in nature
it loses buffs, magic weapon and aura of menace
but the Planetar also has a bunch of Natural Armor the Barbarian Lacks, Flight, and better attributes before you factor items, plus with a tweaking of Gear and Feats, a Planetar could be a nasty Archer that can fly
plus, an Evil Wizard Can Simply Bind an Evil Planetar whom was about to be executed by his good buddies anyway.
yeah, it loses a lot of features, but it is effectively, Archer with Really Good Natural Flight Versus Humanoid with Crappy Gear whom is busy grappling a wizard master
just Swap the Planetar's Feats and Gear, and you get a nasty Archer whom could kill the barbarian without engaging it up close, due to clustered shots and the like, even without the magic on a bow, and yes, the barbarian may kill the wizard quickly, but the evil Planetar Archer will eventually kill the barbarian while taking advantage of his crippled defenses and inability to fly because of his antimagic field he needed.
Wizard Returns Later Via Clone and Binds another Evil Planetar Archer or Few.
Krome: i think you misunderstood ashe's point. Custom magic items are homebrew material and not part of the RAW. Apart from published magic items, the only way to get such a sword by RAW would be by permanency, which doesnt work.
Its not that theyre connected by themselves, just that its the only explicit place that would have rules for it.
I think you misunderstand what RAW is to some (not all). ReRead the CRB, pages 548-553.
Unless you are already using the AMF items that are in PF (as explained earlier in the thread) which are actually shield items instead of weapons, you are correct that it WOULD be a custom magic item though for an AMF items overall.
Of course, some people are discussing getting bathtubs of lava, which in essence could also be seen as custom.
While you are in a AMF, you can't use magic to help you out... that's kind of what I've been saying for... like 3 pages now. Does antimagic field have uses? Sure. But I would much rather have magical buffs when fighting demons then for the demons to not have their magical protections. And that is true about almost every scenario.
YOu haven't really been listening since page 1 then.
1. First, these probably are activated items, meaning you wouldn't activate for every fight. Many have NOT been talking about always on AMF...perhaps that's your first fallacy.
2. If you are using AMF as a mage killer, why would you activate the weapon for a Demon? Are you crazy or just making things up?
3. You are going through great lengths to try to show AMF is not something desired. I mean, you have 99 conditions which have to be met in order for you to triumph over AMF...that have to be met...which is ridiculous.
Simply put, in an average encounter in a dungeon, you have a ceiling which is about 10 feet high, and when your characters encounter the wizard...you think he's going to go up and fly his brain right into the ceiling, bashing his brains all over it and killing himself...because????
Or that on an outside encounter, for some odd reason out of all of Golarion, that wizard will suddenly know EXACTLY where the PC's are?
And if he can do that, the PC's don't have ANY other items other than their AMF items....
That sounds a little more contrived than the PC's having an AMF item (which I still can't see why a group wouldn't have one, it would seem good enough for everyone to want one) which they can activate when needed once or thrice a day, along with their other gear if they want to basically depower the wizard upon facing him.
They'd still have the rest of their gear if they wanted it. They wouldn't have to activate the item if the didn't want to. As most wizards are just as heavily dependant on their Magic items, and MORE heavily dependant on their magic, having a PC with it go and depower the wizard seems like a pretty valid strategy.
Especially if it's a Monk or Martial Character, as at that point, depending on level, there's a good chance they may be able to outdamage and out fight that wizard if the wizard has no access to his normal spells and magic items himself.
I would have to say nothing in this thread has convinced me a GM that AMF is a bad choice actually.
Most of those arguing against it seem to use contrived situations where it's the WIZARD getting the jump on the PC's rather than the PC's going on an adventure into a dungeon or lair to get the wizard...
In normal gaming, almost all of the situations given by the anti-AMF crowd would never come up...which is why I call most of them contrived.
I'm interested in NORMAL gaming, not contrived GM situations which happen once in every ten.
Thus far it seems that AMF IS an effective thing...and in reality there isn't a good reason for PC's NOT to have an AMF item anymore than there's no reason for any wizard over 19th level to be loaded with wish items.
Of course, letting a wizard have a ton of wish items on them could be detrimental to the gameplay...which really means it is up to the GM on what they want to allow in their game in order to keep it fun.
Umm... AMF is generally a debuff, that you place on yourself. Most of my responses that seems off to your were in fact in response to other people in this thread, so please do pay attention. Shrunken Lava is not a custom item, it is the way the spell Shrink Item interacts with lava.
Wizards can in fact find out exactly where the PCs are, through one of many divination spells. (Play 20 questions with the universe ala Contact Other Plane for example.)
Next, use activated AMF *IS* more useful then always on AMF, no argument there. But even that is fairly useless. Take your 10 ft. Dungeon corridor. You move up to the Wizard (how I'm not sure since he's probably behind minions/allies, but sure you somehow got there why not I'll give you a handicap) and all he has to do is Withdraw and be ready to immediate action Emergency Force Shield (which he could have done if he suspected you had a AMF to stop you from getting to him in the first place.
Wizards are less dependant on magic items then pretty much any other class in the game (excepting Clerics/Druids/Oracles/Sorcerers who are arguably less). The fact that you think a Wizard is dependent on magic items shows a clear lack of understanding of the reality of the Pathfinder rules. I recommend you learn more about the system before trying to have this kind of discussion.
a Wizard NPC would never be alone, even as a boss encounter, the wizard most likely has allies and some of them, are probably good enough in combat, even without magic, to dogpile the Barbarian with the AMF weapon and take him down while his badass defenses are crippled. if the barbarian is a minmaxed human superstitutious invulnerable rager with beast totem, then the mooks are likely archers with clustered shots, and similarly built barbarians, that while individually weaker, can take down the barbarian whom suppressed the magic of his gear by activating his weapon, because his defenses took a nose dive to the point power attack, deadly aim and clustered shots from mooks could be a lot more lethal to him and his allies. this could be done with rangers, fighters, or barbarians technically.
if Adventurers can bring a party, NPCs can have minions.
Even if you do get close then Emergency Force Sphere prevents it from affecting the caster as an immediate action. So you need to get the drop and achieve a surprise round while standing next to the target.
In general I agree with the rest of your post, but EFS isn't a sure bet, since the caster has to understand that what's coming is an AM field. That's far from sure, especially in the case where it comes in the form of a drawn weapon. The caster can't know it's an AMF until the magic winks out, and then it's too late to ESF, just like you ESF to prevent an attack, but not do it after seeing what the damage roll is.
Anything less than that and you are facing a flying, invisible, undetectable death platform which doesn't care that you are immune to most spells.
I think this is an exaggeration. As soon as it casts spells, you'll know where it is, and even if takes a move action afterwards that doesn't prevent readied actions.
there really isn't a way to use anti-magic field without screwing yourself. even as an arcane archer. and well, permanent anti-magic fields are bound to screw martial characters more than casters due to the existence of planar binding, and instantaneous conjurations.
How so? If you hit the wizard planar bindings etc doesn't really matter, since the wizard can't cast anything when inside the AMF, and they can't get away from it if the attack hit... So I'm not seeing how in any way you screw over yourself?
there really isn't a way to use anti-magic field without screwing yourself. even as an arcane archer. and well, permanent anti-magic fields are bound to screw martial characters more than casters due to the existence of planar binding, and instantaneous conjurations.How so? If you hit the wizard planar bindings etc doesn't really matter, since the wizard can't cast anything when inside the AMF, and they can't get away from it if the attack hit... So I'm not seeing how in any way you screw over yourself?
you screw over the gear of any melee companions whom gank the now weakened wizard without the benefits of their gear, against a wizard whom can still use instantaneous conjurations like dazing acidic spray the set up the warriors for the planar bound minions and hired mooks to kill. leaving your arcane archer self having to deal with cover, and well, the risk of hitting an ally by accident. which will in turn screw you over if you are vulnerable to still living loyal mooks.
Uhm... 1. You can use ranged weapons against the npw defenseless wizard and 2. You cant cast spells in the AM field, conjurations or not. Yoi can cast inst. Conjs. Into the field from outside though, so the AA and any other caster can stil bombard the victim.
Heck, a wizard in an AM field has so bad defenses even a monks shuriken aredangerous to them, to take on of the most melee focused classes.
Uhm... 1. You can use ranged weapons against the npw defenseless wizard and 2. You cant cast spells in the AM field, conjurations or not. Yoi can cast inst. Conjs. Into the field from outside though, so the AA and any other caster can stil bombard the victim.
Heck, a wizard in an AM field has so bad defenses even a monks shuriken aredangerous to them, to take on of the most melee focused classes.
but how are you getting access to the antimagic field weapon without a wizard's help?
if you can cast instant conjurations into the field from outside, you would be able to project them outward from the inside, no such thing as a one way forcefield.
but then, Antimagic Field Producing Weapons are such an expensive item they are bound to be impractical to afford till much later on.
Arcane Archer is likely giving up wizard levels for the feats and BaB for Antimagic field arrows. and yes, an antimagicked wizards defenses do suck, but how many people seriously use antimagic fields in their own game. if you use it against the DM, it invites the DM to use it against you.