I'm creating a Blaster Wizard using this guide Brewer's Guide to the Blockbuster Wizard but the guide makes no mention of the Wayang Spellhunter trait. It is Magical Lineage but as a Social trait so it stacks. But if I take it I lose out on the Observant trait effectively losing +4 to my Perception. And I'm not sure if the second metamagic reduction is worth it.
The guide is a little confusing to me. As I understand it the Magical Lineage trait reduces a spell's slot by 1 when metamagic is applied but not below it's lowest level. He gives a snapshot of the build at 12th level and it has Intensified Empowered Fireball as a 5th level spell. That makes sense. (Fireball 3 Intensified +1 Empowered +2 - Magical Lineage -1 =5) But it also has Intensified Fireball as a 4th level spell and that doesn't make sense. (Fireball 3 Intensified +1 Magical Lineage -1 =3) Am I missing something?
Perception is a big deal in PFS but being able to use my 3rd level slot to cast Empowered Fireball is pretty sweet as well. Especially since that keeps it in range of a lesser Selective rod.
Is the tradeoff worth it?
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So let's look at where each of your traits will come from, to make sure that you can take them all:
Observant -- Grand Lodge Faction Trait (Campaign)
Wayang Spell Hunter -- Regional
Magical Lineage -- Magic
Reactionary (+2 to initiative) -- Combat
All of these could work for a human who takes the alternate traits feat. And you didn't mention the last one, but hey... Everyone needs a better initiative.
Hmm
I'm partial to the extra reduction in metamagic cost. Not so much because it's super powerful, but because it lets you start blasting really effectively a couple levels earlier. Less time with a concept that's dead in the water is a good thing, in my opinion.
Elf gets the +2 to beat SR, +2 to Dex, and +2 to Perception. I can also take the alternate racial trait that grants +2 to defensive casting so even with the -2 to Con dropping me to 12 it is still a real contender.
You can be an Elf who was born in a Human Region right?
Are you going be human? I did the math and a human could get spell focus, spell spec, extra traits, and empower spell at level 5 for fireball. In other words you can have everything you want at the right timing if your willing to be this race.
Well the guide specifies Elf and chooses Spell Specialization Burning Hands at first level and picks Intensify Spell at 3rd so that they can put Burning Hands as Second level spells. I could try this.
Elf Wizard born and raised in Minata traveled to Absalom and chose to support the Grand Lodge as a Pathfinder. Evocation Specialization Admixture school. Greensting Scorpion familiar.
Level 1 traits Observant and Gifted Adept (Burning Hands) Switching to Reactionary before my first Lvl 2 adventure. Feats Spell Focus (Free) and Specialization Burning Hand 4D4+2 dmg for Burning Hands
Level 2 Still 4D4+2 Dmg on Burning Hands but now Init is +10 (+4 Dex, +4 Scorpion, +2 Reactionary)
Level 3 Intensified Spell feat using my level 2 slot for a few extra Burning Hands though they won't do any extra damage until 4th level.
Level 5 regular feat Additional Traits (Wayang Spell Hunter) & (Magical Lineage) both for Fireball. Bonus Wizard feat Empower metamagic. Switch Spell Specialization to Fireball. Buy a Lesser Selective metamagic rod.
Level 7 Maybe Improved Familiar feat Mephit. I can get max ranks of UMD with my Headband of Intellect but 7 ranks +2 Chr isn't going to work very often. Or I can stick with the Scorpion and take the Improved Initiative feat instead. Level 4 spell slots are now Intensified Empowered Fireball even though the Intensified doesn't do anything yet. 13D6+4 dmg Fireballs are better then most other level 4 options. Level 1 and 2 slots are a couple of Burning Hands and some utility spells.
I'm kind of sad that there are no Archetypes to help me and Loremaster would require at least 1 feat I cant spare.
I don't have access to Tiefling. And a 50% chance of ignoring 45+ dmg can be a big deal. Don't forget the extra Dex adds +1 to my AC and the alternate racial trait of +2 to cast defensively can matter.
You don't need metamagic to prepare a spell in a higher level slot, or to use a higher level slot to cast a lower level spell if you're spontaneous. It's usually a good idea, since otherwise you're just burning power, but intensifying a CL 5 Burning Hands is pretty pointless. By 3rd level you probably don't want to be getting that close to your opponents anyway.
So I could put Fireball in a 4th level slot and it would count as a 3rd level spell? I'll want Intensify at some point, May as well get it early for extra Burning Hands use. Though I confess getting Improved Init at 4th level instead of 7th would be sweet.
You want Empower before Intensify.
Intensify is only useful if your caster level is above 5 for 1st level spells, or 10 for 2nd+ level spells.
At level 3, with metamagic reduction, you can cast in your 2nd level slots an EMPOWERED Burning Hands spell. If you took Evo spec for the caster level bonuses, you are casting at CL 5, meaning you are doing 7d6+7 damage.
At level 3.
Take intensified at 5th. At which point, with both metamagics, you're doing Empowered Burning Hands for 7d6+7 out of your 1st level slots, and Empowered Intensified Burning Hands out of your 2nd level slots for 10d6+10 damage.
If you switch to fireball with your feats/traits, you can cast an empowered Fireball out of your 3rd level slots for 10d6+10 damage instead. You can leave Intensified Burning Hands in your 2nd level slots, or use them for defenses.
At level 7, you can cast a Maximized Fireball out a 4th level slot for 63 damage.
At level 10, an Intensified Empowered Fireball out of a 4th level slot is 18d6+18 damage (with only a +2 caster level increase, mind you).
==Aelryinth
I'm assuming he's taking the school ability that provides +1/die of something to something. Bloodline would do it. I think the evoker path is +1/spell level, however.
Without bonus damage, being a blaster really lags hard. He said he's following a blaster guide, so I'm assuming at least a little sorc splash.
==Aelryinth
Burning Hands is D4 not D6. The guide doesn't recommend the dip but yest I am doing Crossblooded Draconic/Orc dip ay 6th level. Empower adds to the total not the # of dice so even if I decided to focus on Burning Hands instead of Fireball at 3rd level and took the 2 metamagic traits at first level I could use a first or second level slot for Empowered Burning Hands dealing 5D4 * 1.5 +2.
The bonus damage is considered part of the rolled dice and is multiplied along with it.
it has never NOT been done that way. Seriously.
All variable, numeric effects of an empowered spell are increased by half including bonuses to those dice rolls.
and 6d6 +50% is 9d6 when shorthanded and much easier to figure.
So 5d4+5 is effectively 7d4ish+7 which is much nicer then (5d4+5) *1.5 when it's time to type it out.
I suppose I could use only even levels...
==Aelryinth
The bonus dice rule isn't clear though. Shortcuts are fine but this is a PFS character and has to go by RAW.
An Empowered fireball from level 6 caster method #1 6D6 average 21 multiplied by 1.5 rounded down 31 + 12 dmg multiplied by 1.5 18dmg + 3 from Intense Spells = 52
Method #2 multiplying dice 9D6 = 31.5 + 18 then multiply by 1.5 +3 = Just under 78. Big difference.
Then you're not reading Empower Spell. Look at my post above.
All variable, numeric effects of an empowered spell are increased by half including bonuses to those dice rolls.
So I don't want to be blunt, but you're flat out wrong.
Intense spells is also a bonus to those die rolls, tacked on at the end (it's not per die, its a bonus to your die roll the same way your str bonus is a bonus to your weapon die roll).
So the CL 6 Empowered Fireball would properly be (6d6+15) x 1.5. Which is thematically saying 9d6+22, since you round down.
BGIB, I think you were confusing my level 6 spellcaster throwing a level 9 fireball...+1 to Evocation spells from Varisian Tattoo and spell specialization is +3 to caster level.
So at level 5, you can cast a fireball at level 8, so 8d6+16 dmg if using the crossblooded thing. IF you're crossblooded, you're probably using Admixture instead of Evoker, so you can swap the element.
If you have both metamagic reducers, you can throw an Empowered Fireball out of that level 3 slot. Damage will be 12d6+24, or (8d6+16)*1.5 if you like to write things out longhand (I always preferred to do the math in my head and skip to the answer).
You don't actually need Intensify Spell unless your caster level exceeds the dice limit. So, CL 5 for Burning Hands, CL 10 for fireball. You don't bother with Intensified Fireballs until level 8 if you have a +3 caster level bonus.
==Aelryinth
Intense Spells explicitly says it is not increased via Empower btw. And Admixture replaces the Force Missile ability. You keep Intense Spells.
I won't have Varisian Tattoo so at 5th level my 3rd level slot will be Empowered Fireball for 7d6 * 1.5 +3 and at 6th level when I dip into Sorcerer they will still be 7D6 * 1.5 But then I'll add 21 and finally 3.
I stand ye corrected by fine points of a class ability!...which doesn't change the general rule, but that's okay.
==Aelryinth
Crossblooded Sorcerer Draconic (Gold) +1 damage per die rolled on Fire spells, Orc +1 damage per die rolled on evocation spells. Focusing heavily on Fireball means I'm dealing +2 dmg per die on each cast.
If you're doing evocation, a crossblooded sorcerer dip is a straight up +50% to your damage...and +200% to your minimum damage, because of that fixed per die damage.
Without spending feats.
yeah, it's that good. Take the dip, and your 7d6 is now 7d6+14, going from 24 to 38 average damage instantly, even if your caster level hasn't increased.
But then, you've got the caster level buff from spell spec, so you're going to be tossing out a base 9d6+18.
if you have both metamagic traits, you get Empower for free. Intensify costs one slot.
You'll have tons of room to throw on other metamagic, or you'll find your level 3-4 spells are going to be useful for a long, long time.
==Aelryinth
admixture wizard would let you switch the elemental descript on the fly...that's why no one picks elemental as an evoc wizard.
Mage needs Con, but looks good.
I'm honestly surprised you're using SPell Focus instead of feats which increase your caster level. I can see you want to up their saves...but which is more valuable, +2 CL that helps punch spell resistance and ups the damage of your spells by 2d6+4, 3d6+6 for fireballs, or +2 to the enemy Reflex save?
For evocs, caster level to accelerate damage is EVERYTHING. I'd swap the spell focus for Caster level boosts ASAP.
==Aelryinth
Just to weigh in on the SpellHunter+lineage vs. one less plus perception:
If your party has weak perception, take the perception.
Otherwise, take the MM reductions. I recently helped a player do the reductions on a Druid for flaming sphere and I love how it works so far.
Well, if you're doing a rebuild, you probably want to rebuild to human, in all honesty.
You'd pick up a bonus feat and +2 Con. That's like getting Toughness and Varisian Tattoo for free. But if you like being an Elf, that's fine.
The metamagic you want to take a look at is dazing spell - if they fail their save, they do nothing for a round. Denying a round of actions on the enemy is awesome, and its hitting their Reflex, not their Will saves.
The other option is, of course, Maximize Spell. Tossing out a 12d6+24 fireball that resolves as 96 Hit points damage should turn some heads, from a 5th level slot.
I don't think you need just more cantrips, so what you really want is at least Cha 11 if you want to cast ANY spells as a sorcerer. You'll get some extra 1st level spells - Prot/Evil, True Strike, maybe Floating Disk, etc make good spells to take there and never need to memorize again (in addition to those extra cantrips). Since I doubt you're springing for a +4 Cha booster at your level...yeah, you probably want to get to Cha 9, and buy a +2 Cha booster, or get to Cha 11.
You can probably do the stat change by going to human and not touch your other stats, but I could be wrong. Still, that Con penalty for being an elf is ouch! Up Con bonus a point and you know, you won't need Greater False Life.
==Aelryinth
Blaster Wizard Human vs Elf
Human
+2 Con -2 Dex Extra HP is sweet but since your Wizard will be at range you should be making more Ref saves then Fort saves. The extra Health is probably slightly better then the +1 AC, CMD, and Init bonus.
1 extra skill. Wizards get plenty of skill points due to high Int.
1 extra feat. The main reason people play Human. For the sake of argument let's say this feat is Varisian Tattoo for an extra caster level on your Evocation spells. That is usually 1D6 +2.5 for 6 Extra damage every Fireball counting Intense Spells.
Elf
Low Light vision Comes up sometimes in larger rooms with no light or vs enemies that use Darkness but not a big factor.
+2 to cast defensively traded for weapon familiarity. Comes up sometimes but you are trying to avoid melee.
+2 to Perception. Getting to act round 1 is huge. But you don't always have to roll Perception and +2 won't always matter when you do.
+2 to Identify Items with Spellcraft. Depends on your GM but very useful ability.
+2 to Spell Penetration Probably useless until high levels.
+2 to Enchantment spells and Immune to Sleep. Comes up rarely but you'll be glad you have it when it does. Especially if you dip into Crossblooded Sorcerer and cancel out that Sorcerer's +2 to Will with Crossblooded's -2 to it.
So Elf gets a lot of situational benefit's vs the Human's extra feat. I honestly feel that the bonuses are worth the 6 extra damage.
Not having to grab Cross School for Necromancy and instead grabbing Toughness is an option (and honestly what I would do in this situation). +2 per die for going human, instead of having to cast Greater False Life (and still having that option if you need to), would be worth it.
The Will save IS a bummer. It's good that you can buy it off with a wayfinder and clear spindle ioun stone just like the Melees can.
SPell Penetration you are taking care of with caster level buffs. When you finally get Spell Perfection, watch out!
It's a toss-up. You can get permanent low light or darkvision for money, too.
But, Player's choice. It would be nice to have Cha high enough to actually make use of Sorcery, however.
==Aelryinth
1st Spell Focus Evocation (bonus) Spell Specialization Burning Hands
3rd Improved Initiative
4th Switch SS Burning Hands to Fireball
5th Empower Metamagic (bonus) Additional Traits Magical Lineage and Wayang Hunter both for Fireball
7th Dazing Metamagic
9th Intensify metemagic
That is the feat progression for my Evoker that dips sorcerer at 6th. In theory Improved Init could be switched out for varisian tattoo.
Some additional points on the elf vs. human debate. The thing I haven't seen mentioned is the alternate racial ability Fleet-Footed. Another +2 to initiative can be the difference between life and death. I'm also not sure why you are going for intensified empowered fireballs instead of dazing fireballs. An Elf has less feats to work with and dazing is roughly on the level of intensified empowered, though they will both wreck encounters with regularity.
Well, the reason you go with Intensified Empowered Fireballs is that if they fail the save, you likely just ended the entire fight in an explosion of volcanic fury. If they didn't fail the save, they're half dead.
If you go dazing, you brought yourself a round of time and did light damage if they fail the save. If they make the save, you did almost nothing.
Really, if you're going to focus on an AoE save build, you're not going to be a blaster, so why would you go crossblooded, etc? You'd just keep the Spell Focus and Elemental Spell Focus feats climbing into the stratosphere.
==Aelryinth