I'm playing a level 11 conjuration spec wizard (oppositions schools are necro and enchant) in RotRL. It's a 5-man party where I am the only arcane caster. My character just discovered info about upcoming baddies and knows they will be powerful casters, so it is no meta-gaming for me to start planning out a strategy to counter BBEG casters.
This is my first PF campaign and my first caster of any type, so I'm definitely lacking in experience on all fronts. However, our DM had a reputation for being tough, and that's proven to be an understatement as the player death count nears 10. After my lovingly crafted barbarian was 100-0'ed by a boss, my goal for this character is to fight BS with BS, and everything I read tells me wizard is the way to go if you want to bend all the rules. So I've spent more time researched the class and the arcane spell list than I spent preparing for many college finals, and I think I've got a basic handle on things.
That said, I expect these upcoming caster fights to be tougher than anything we've faced by a significant degree, so I've come to you all hoping for advice on good anti-caster spells and tactics as a wizard. All Advanced and Ultimate hardcover books allowed, but most things banned in PFS are banned here. Thanks for the help.
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I suggest being an Exploiter Wizard, if it's allowed. That allows you to select some of the fairly useful exploits without any of the annoying Arcanist problems.
Between Potent Magic and the counterspelling/Dispelling exploits combined with your faster spell progression, you should do well against level appropriate foes. Quick Study is useful too, since it basically turns you into a spontaneous spellcaster.
Honestly, Exploiter Wizard is best God Wizard, IMO.
That said, if you want to stop casters who are obviously higher level than you, it's best to go with a readied Magic Missle. Large damage interrupt >> counterspelling, usually.
In rocket tag, the best defense is a good offense. If your Barbarian went from 100 to 0, chances are he'll do the same to your Wizard too, so don't try to survive, just try to win.
Take spells that only have one save, and stop spellcasting if failed. You and the rest of your party can ready actions to interrupt spells. If you really want to stick it to The Man, get some scrolls and juice yourself up right before the fights. Sunder spell component pouches, grapple, fight in Obscuring Mist, or while Invisible. You can pull a lot of shenanigans, but each one has a counter. Given that NPCs can have whatever the spells the GM wants, whether or not he statted them out that way, you're fighting a very uphill battle. Beyond that obvious little trick, you're probably going to be outnumbered (be it in terms of arcane casters, or absolute numbers) and definitely outclassed (the BBEG, almost by definition, will have spells you don't, and higher DCs, higher saves, and so on).
10 deaths sounds pretty high. Does the GM have a reputation as "tough but fair"? Or just "tough"? The truth is that even if you play your caster to the hilt, you'll still probably lose if the GM also plays his casters to the same standard, or he fudges them, or he's statting them to be "tough". If you think he's a decent GM, by all means, arm yourself to the teeth and see what happens, but if this is some weird power dynamic kind of thing, be advised that you can't win against a GM who doesn't let you before you go sinking dozens of hours of theory work into it.
It isn't on your spell list, yet if you can get a wand of silence, that cuts down a lot of verbal component spells, usually used on an inanimate object near your target. You may want the silent spell feat to avoid having this bite you in return (and wizards must prepare any metamagic feat into a spell in advance when preparing for the day).
Break enchantment (5th level) can potentially remove some harmful spells (curses, for example) or spells that aid opponents (such as cats grace, bulls strength, etc.)
Dispel magic (3rd level) is another potential candidate. (and greater dispel magic).
Antimagic field (6th level) is a good one.
Mage's Disjunction (9th level) is a very powerful anti-magic spell.
Featwise, the disruptive spell feat may fit the theme, yet dazing and persistent spell feats tends to be the better choices. I can't stress enough how useful silent spell is to avoid being shut down by silence (or being sneakier when casting, or casting in a vacuum or underwater, etc.).
As for bending rules, nine level casters (casters that can potentially cast 9th level spells) have a lot of narrative altering powers, yet still depends on player skill and experience to really pull off shenanigans. Still, one gains experience by trying things.
RavingDork did an abjuration mage that made good use of Dispel and the feats that can accompany it, to not only dispel magic, but stun (or perhaps it was daze) those that get dispelled. Perhaps you might be able to find that character and get some ideas.
I do think the exploiter wizard might be a good choice as Kaouse suggested.
Any spell that messes with spellcasters will be good. Namely things that target fortitude. Now. You've taken necro as an opposing school, but as a wizard you can take opposition research to get it back, making amazing anti-caster spells like blindness/deafness, ray of enfeeblement (casters tend to have low or at least average STR), steal voice, and others. Spells like stinking cloud will be amazing, nauseated is one hell of a condition to be stuck in.
At 11th level, you also have access to 6th level spells, greater dispel, major curse, contagion, eyebite, Sirocco.... You've definitely got a lot of good options.
Thanks for the advice. To answer a few questio:
I am locked in as a teleportation subspec as I've played it for two sessions.
My DM is purportedly "tough but fair" and that seems reasonable as he makes all of his combat dice rolls in the open.
I have a Rod of Lesser Silence. Is that enough?
Also, I am focusing heavily on summons (have augment summon, superior summoning, acadamae graduate) so are there any good summoned monsters to summon against a tough caster?
There are far more insidious ways for a GM to "cheat" than fudging dice.
Rod of Lesser Silence only gets you 3rd level spells, iirc. You'd want to step it up a bit, unless you have a swift(ish) spell that undoes silence.
Unless retraining is a thing, I'd advise you against spending feats to target the casters' weaknesses. It'd be better to take a good feat you can use all the time instead of a feat that's great for like 2 levels.
Summons are great at annoying casters, especially those with conditions on hit, like trip or grab. If you're fighting against optimized wizards though, it's too slow unless you're using Acadamae Graduate, which is awesome. If you're not trying a specific way to disable them, just use what are good general summons.
Have a source of the dispels, and remove curses, break enchantment and all that good stuff. But don't spend spell slots on them. The time to use them is after the bodies are cold.
Be prepared for ANY trick you use to be used against you in the next combat. Be prepared to have no secrets, as the BBEG scries you and you fail to save, because he's level a bazillion with 50 int.
Most importantly, have backup plans. If the party wipes, make sure one of them comes back somehow and resurrects the rest. Or have a way to quickly teleport out, and be prepared to call BS if the enemy wizards immediately teleport after you.
The best way to play against casters is just to play a LOT of Pathfinder. Especially as spellcasters and against them, naturally. A spellcaster is a nigh bottomless bag of dirty tricks. To be really good, you have to know them and all their counters.
I feel like Fireball is the best counterspell. Or at your level, Chain Lightning or Fire Snake. Wizards will rarely have Evasion or SR, so readying to cast a spell that is going to do a good bit of damage for when they start casting is going to make it very difficult for them to get their spell off.
Chain Lightning will do an average of 38.5 damage on a failed save, or 19 damage on a successful save. That's a DC 29+spell level concentration check even if they MAKE their save, and basically impossible if they fail. This is one of those times that if you do have a Persistent rod, it would be worth using on an evocation spell.
Resist Energy is the main counter to this, though.
Forget about making any caster above 10th level fail a concentration check that isn't related to grappling or dealing damage right when they cast the spell. A "normal" concentration bonus at level 11 would be +17 from just caster level and ability score modifier. Defensive casting, casting while entangled and casting while taking ongoing damage are all child's play. I definitely wouldn't count on disruptive spell either.
If the caster doesn't have a reliable way to deal with grapples a pimped out black tentacles (4th level conjuration) will basically end the encounter.
Pilfering hand (2nd level evocation) is just awesome, one of my favorite spells. Steal his component pouch.
Strangling hair (3rd level transmutation) is also useful if you only need to grapple one person.
Touch of idiocy (2nd level necromancy) is going to lower both his spell-casting ability and will-save.
Chain of perdition (3rd level evocation) is going to be a bit easier to land than blindness/deafness and uses a CMB check to blind the opponent for rounds/level (no save).
Ray of exhaustion (3rd level necromancy) + Limp Lash (2nd level necromancy) is a nasty combination against casters.
If you're going for the autowin its hard to beat feeblemind (5th level enchantment). Many creatures are immune to mind affecting and compulsion spells, but this is one of the scariest spells to be targeted by as its basically a save or die.
Speaking of save or dies there is always suffocation (5th level necromancy). Not much else to say here.
Telekinesis (5th level transmutation) gives you a number of combat maneuvers (including grapple) to try from medium range.
Do you have a familiar? If so what is it?
I have Bonded Item, Ring of Invisibility. My opposition schools are Necro and Enchantment. How do you recommend pimping out black tentacles? I have a str of 7, so the CMB on that spell isn't great, unlike spells that use your caster level and int score. Thanks for all the interesting combat maneuver spell ideas, though.
Your Str score is not relevant for Black Tentacles.
When determining the tentacles' CMB, the tentacles use your caster level as their base attack bonus and receive a +4 bonus due to their Strength and a +1 size bonus.
Your Str score is not relevant for Black Tentacles.
When determining the tentacles' CMB, the tentacles use your caster level as their base attack bonus and receive a +4 bonus due to their Strength and a +1 size bonus.
Oh, for some reason when I read that spell, I thought it meant it used your caster level as your BAB and gave you a +4 to str but still used the rest of the caster's CMB to calculate. Now that I think about it, that doesn't make much sense.
Unfortunately, we're in the part of RotRL where it's ogres all the way down, and the next BBEG looks to be a rune giant caster. Doubt combat maneuvers will help me much there.
Some suggestions on summoned creatures that could be useful against casters. Note however, that getting most relatively dangerous creature in their face would probably be useful anyways. However. Here's what I see off the top of my head.
Summon monster 6 - Mud Elemental (Huge): It's got earth glide, but more interestingly it has entrap if / when it hits the enemy. Entrap forces a fort save, that if they fail, they become entangled. If they fail another fort save when entangled this way, they become helpless, meaning they can't move or cast anything with somatic components until they break free. They can cast verbal spells though, at a DC 20 concentration check.
Summon monster 6 - Shadow Demon: Immune to a lot of stuff, has a spell resistance, lots of useful at will abilities to get in close, its attacks are pretty brutal all things considered, but it almost becomes powerless in very bright lights / sunlight. So avoid that.
Summon Monster 6 - Succubus: Perhaps your caster enemies just need some loving. Succubus are happy to help there. For the simple price of their soul energy (negative level) they'll give them a hug.
Summon Monster 6 - Invisible Stalker: Always invisible foe that hits with slam attacks for the caster to play with. If you're invisible when you summon this sucker, just imagine the confusion. If you can get the drop on the caster, which you may not, this will be a nice surprise.
Summon Monster 5 - Babau Demon... it has at will dispel magic, at will darkness, at will greater teleport for itself, spell resistance 17, an ooze defense if they get brave with weapons, it has constant see invisibility for cheeky casters, reach, decent attacks. A very solid creature against a lot of stuff.
Summon Monster 3 - Lantern Archon: They shoot lasers that overcome DR. Ranged touch of course. The damage is minimal (1d6) but to them, mage armor and shield mean nothing. If you somehow manage to get 9 out at the same time... you can sort of make the voltron of archons.
Just some possibilities really. As I said above, you could probably just toss something tough beside a caster and make their day more complicated. Granted they might poof away to another spot, but that means they're taking time not kazaming you and your party I suppose.
Darkwood from the alchemy manual gives +1 CL for all effects to spells with the creation sub-school (black tentacles does), so there's another +1CMB. You can get 5 doses for 10gp.
A tanglefoot bag when used as a material component allows you to re-roll one grapple check against a single creature. You can use more than one bag for extra re-rolls but they're 50gp a pop.
You can also cast black tentacles on the ceiling or wall if need be.
Pit spells are good but by this point all casters are assumed to have flight. Nobody with an int of 20 that made it above 10th level did it by staying on the ground with the witch hunting/spell sundering barbarians and grapple-happy monks.
Level 11 gets you summon monster 6 ... and if you catch the caster on the ground then good for you, summon a dire tiger and take a nap.
If not then you're going to have to get a little more creative.
A dungeon is rarely going to have anything close to bright light/sunlgiht so I'll throw a vote in for the shadow demon, he gets telekinesis at CL 10, more than enough to break a brittle full-caster's CMD and grapple him from across the room. He has a perfect fly speed and pounce.
Succubus relies on a lot of will saves and otherwise has weak attacks. Powerful against non-casters.
Erinyes, has a good fly maneuverability and constant true seeing along with decent ranged attacks from the bow. Have it ready to shoot the mage if he casts.
I would not count on the baubau to dispel much with his CL 7, the other abilities are decent but summoned creaters can explicitly not use their teleport or summon abilities.
However, on the summon monster 5 list we have the ankylosaurus that has one +14 tail attack, at a reach of 15, that stuns on a hit. The DC to resist this is already high at a 23, but wait it says its strength based so that increases it to a DC 25 with your augment summoning. This is good, especially when you can summon 1d3+1 of them with a standard action.
On the summon monster 4 list we have the mephits. Wait come back! I promise this isn't a joke. The Ice mephit gets magic missile at a CL 6 1/day so thats 2 1d4+1 missles that always hit. Summon 1d4+1 of them and have them ready to fire at the caster when he tries to do anything. If you're feeling extra mean summon lighting mephits instead, they can cast shocking grasp at CL 6 so thats 5d6 damage on a touch attack. Mephits can also fly.
I would highly recommend checking out the feat evolved summon monster. Sticky is probably the best one but other evolutions of note are; pounce, reach and improved damage.
EDIT: Killing ogres is not the wizard's job, it's the fighter's/barbarian's job. If they aren't doing their job then summon a new fighter/barbarian. If you're really worried about ogres just pound their reflex save or summon more fighters.
Thanks for all the summon suggestions pipedreamsam. Looks like I'll be printing some more stat sheets before next session. Unfortunately I can't find room in my build for evolved summon monster. At level 13 I'm taking Greater Spell Specialization so I can spontaneously cast my current best summon and open up spell slots for other things if I don't need summons. At 15 I'm thinking spell penetration and True Name. Does +4 to my summons CMB become worth more than any of those choices in practice?
...but summoned creaters can explicitly not use their teleport or summon abilities.
Forgot about that. Nevermind about Babau at this level. The succubus note is true as well, actually if there are other enemy non-casters in the room, I'd probably sick the succubus on them.
In any case. Summoning alone brings you a lot of options. That coupled with some fort targeting spells and spells that mess with the opponent (like black tentacles) should work fine I would think.
At level 13 I'm taking Greater Spell Specialization so I can spontaneously cast my current best summon and open up spell slots for other things if I don't need summons. At 15 I'm thinking spell penetration and True Name. Does +4 to my summons CMB become worth more than any of those choices in practice?
You're mileage is going to highly, highly vary with true name based on your GM. Some will see it as a headache and just treat the creature as your personal cohort, some will see this as a roleplay opportunity and others will see this as a way to make your life miserable. The true name page gives numerous examples of ways for your bound creature to get out of its contract or get you killed. Good roleplay is really you're only way to keep it from turning on you.
There is a huge page on binding outsiders with details on basically everything you could call. Your alignment is going to play a heavy role, your personality is going to play a heavy role and the party composition is going to play a slightly less heavy but still significant role. I would stay far far away from demons, daemons and qlippoth.
You do get 18HD to play with, which is going to be significantly more powerful than anything you can get with summon monster IX, if you can pull it off. Since you only get to know the true name of one creature the feat only lets you call one creature, and not multiple as the spell suggests. SR is going to be an ongoing problem as is the will save the creature gets. -5 from saying the true name helps, but unless you take a lot of preparations to further lower it they are still likely to pass fairly often. The planetar angel with 17HD is the only creature I'm going to throw a vote in for as its basically a level 16 cleric with the ability to constantly fly. You can probably get him to help you with minimal coaxing due to the RoTRL plot.
The one loophole is if you call an elemental. They are generally cool with pretty much anything ... but don't bring a lot to the table other than a couple natural attacks and an alternate movement type.
The last important detail is the fact that planar binding is a from the calling subschool, not the summoning subschool.
Calling: a calling spell transports a creature from another plane to the plane you are on. The spell grants the creature the one-time ability to return to its plane of origin, although the spell may limit the circumstances under which this is possible. Creatures who are called actually die when they are killed; they do not disappear and reform, as do those brought by a summoning spell. The duration of a calling spell is instantaneous, which means that the called creature can't be dispelled.
Lots of potential for GM abuse there.
In summary, true name very powerful but expect a lot of roleplay, a lot of headaches and a small margin for error. If this doesn't sound like something you want to deal with other feats are still good choices. Spell perfection is considered to be a must-have for any high level wizard.