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I have a 10th level Monk in PFS and we are going up against a possibly level 12-15 Wizard that's supposed to be pretty scarey. I'll have probably about 15-20k gold available but not sure what I should get to keep from getting destroyed by this upcoming Wizard. My saves are all 11+ and I have 101hp, but I don't have any SR. Are there any items/consumeables/ or other suggestions to help when going against an Arcane caster that's a good 2-5 levels higher than you?
... 3 levels before you get sr.if this is an ongoing campaign i wouldn't spend cash on sr.
if you dont have them,get items to boost your saves more, like resistance cloak (+4 is what 16k?.+3 is 9k). the best ways to deal with monks though is diract damage that hits with an attack roll(as a wizard can quicken a true strike for +20. but the saves and evesion of monks tend to make him untouched with normal auto hit spells). if you know his alignment get a potion of protection vs(evil\good\chaos) or two. it gives +2 to ac and saves from his spells and helps with summoned and domination attacks.
other then that. try and get a frendly wizard a wand of dispal and have him just counter or dispal the other caster's spells.that should freak him out(let him use spellcraft first to identify, so he can avoid wasting charges on spells cast just to make him waste them).
get any swarm casting item you can get and toss it at him. casting spells in a swarm is something most gm don't prep their wizards against (damage delt and swarm distraction).
also i find grappleing wizards and pining them(to prevent talking) a very nasty way ot take care of any who don't preper ahaed of time agianst such tactic.
... 3 levels before you get sr.if this is an ongoing campaign i wouldn't spend cash on sr.
if you dont have them,get items to boost your saves more, like resistance cloak (+4 is what 16k?.+3 is 9k). the best ways to deal with monks though is diract damage that hits with an attack roll(as a wizard can quicken a true strike for +20. but the saves and evesion of monks tend to make him untouched with normal auto hit spells). if you know his alignment get a potion of protection vs(evil\good\chaos) or two. it gives +2 to ac and saves from his spells and helps with summoned and domination attacks.
other then that. try and get a frendly wizard a wand of dispal and have him just counter or dispal the other caster's spells.that should freak him out(let him use spellcraft first to identify, so he can avoid wasting charges on spells cast just to make him waste them).
get any swarm casting item you can get and toss it at him. casting spells in a swarm is something most gm don't prep their wizards against (damage delt and swarm distraction).
also i find grappleing wizards and pining them(to prevent talking) a very nasty way ot take care of any who don't preper ahaed of time agianst such tactic.
I would not rely on dispel or counterspelling.
FYI for the following I am assuming the wizard is getting some warning to toss up min/level buffs. If you think you can actually get a surprise round against him then try to win then instead if possible.
The wizard will probably lob high level spells at you first. Counterspelling with the same spell won't be an option, and he will be high level enough so that dispelling or dispel counterspelling will be as unreliable as heck (you will probably have a 30% chance of success or so even without CL buffs).
SR from items is basically not an option here. A level 13 wizard has a minimum roll of 14 - if your SR is below 15 it is literally useless.
If this wizard is being played intelligently, you seriously risk autolosing though cheese like Limited Wish->Geas or Maze. Suppress Charms and Compulsions will negate the Geas cheese (no idea if it is PFS legal though). As for Maze...Stick a dimensional anchor on yourself before fighting? Or don't rely on any one party member, especially ones without a high int.
The wizard is toting DCs in the region of at least 22 for their high level spells. Even a DC21 suffocate has a 75% chance of removing a character with a +11 fort from combat before they can take meaningful action. DC21 icy prisons have a 50/50 chance of removing a character while screwing them even if they make the save. You will probably want your saves higher than that so that the wizard can't spam SoLs until you fail.
You will want to watch your positioning as well. Getting half of your party locked out of the battle because of a well placed wall of force is pretty much a game over. Bear in mind that if the wizard is build properly his initiative will be pretty high (if it is below +10 the wizard isn't really properly built). He could potentially drop hard battlefield control before any of your party acts.
A nice way of actually hindering the wizard is readied actions to disrupt spellcasting. Unfortunately you really need ranged attacks to do that so your monk won't be much use. Get an allied spellcaster to nuke him with an empowered fireball or something when he casts his non-quickened spells and your time will be made much easier. If the allied caster can keep disrupting him while you beat him to death the battle shouldn't be *too* horrific.
Grappling also works, but this depends on him not having a ring of freedom of movement or similar. Unless you have a silly bonus to grappling even a quickened grease on himself will hurt.
Basically, beating him works as follows - Look through the wizard spell list and see what wrecks you badly. *Try* to counter as many of those as you can with your own resources, and pray that the wizard doesn't use the ones you can't counter. Then beat face until he kills you or you win.
something you might want to consider. depand on party build.
there are some 1st level abilities in the sorcerer's blood line\cleric domain that auto-no save waste a round on some1 (im looking at you fey bloodline) if that wizard is alone without a horde of summoned criters. that might just be enough to get the edge on him. keeping him busy.
(stuning fist can also be good if your dc is high enough. it is a fort save and anyway if you hit yul do some damage.)
if you can get it. a scroll of anti-magic field can royaly screw with even a very high level wizard and cost less then 2k gp.
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... 3 levels before you get sr.if this is an ongoing campaign i wouldn't spend cash on sr.
if you dont have them,get items to boost your saves more, like resistance cloak (+4 is what 16k?.+3 is 9k). the best ways to deal with monks though is diract damage that hits with an attack roll(as a wizard can quicken a true strike for +20. but the saves and evesion of monks tend to make him untouched with normal auto hit spells). if you know his alignment get a potion of protection vs(evil\good\chaos) or two. it gives +2 to ac and saves from his spells and helps with summoned and domination attacks.
other then that. try and get a frendly wizard a wand of dispal and have him just counter or dispal the other caster's spells.that should freak him out(let him use spellcraft first to identify, so he can avoid wasting charges on spells cast just to make him waste them).
get any swarm casting item you can get and toss it at him. casting spells in a swarm is something most gm don't prep their wizards against (damage delt and swarm distraction).
also i find grappleing wizards and pining them(to prevent talking) a very nasty way ot take care of any who don't preper ahaed of time agianst such tactic.I would not rely on dispel or counterspelling.
FYI for the following I am assuming the wizard is getting some warning to toss up min/level buffs. If you think you can actually get a surprise round against him then try to win then instead if possible.
The wizard will probably lob high level spells at you first. Counterspelling with the same spell won't be an option, and he will be high level enough so that dispelling or dispel counterspelling will be as unreliable as heck (you will probably have a 30% chance of success or so even without CL buffs).
SR from items is basically not an option here. A level 13 wizard has a minimum roll of 14 - if your SR is below 15 it is literally useless.
If this wizard is being played intelligently, you seriously risk autolosing though cheese like Limited...
I doubt there's much of any possibility to get the jump. This Wizard will be the BBEG of a 5 scenario string and from what I hear has some pretty rough spells (A person mentioned just one spell that he uses, which is Cloudkill but that he's got some other really rough spells.)
My specific saves are: Fort 12, Reflex 14, Will 11 (13 vs mind effects). Dragon Style also boosts me up another +2 vs Sleep, Paralysis, and Stun. My CMB to grapple is +16 and CMD vs grapple (in case of Black Tentacles) is +31.
From what I'm gathering with the party build (Since 1 person has played some of the scenarios) I'll have a level 10 Gunslinger, a level 9 or so Arcane Archer (or a level 7 Negative Channel Cleric which he played last scenario but he died and had to get rezzed.) Other than that we will probably have 1 pregen which may end up being Kyra and the one guy playing his Arcane Archer.
Charge and grapple. Many wizards are not designed to respond to that. Monks have fast movement and, and depending on your character can be extremely good grapplers. Before the fight buff yourself. Haste, prayer, good hope and bard's performance effects help. Research the wizard and find his favorite attack spells. Then have your cleric drop spell immunity for them on you.Have you mage hit him with ray of enfeeblement as well. He will likely make the save but it will still make him easier to grapple.
The plan
Buff up and charge. Use acrobatics to bypass minions. Have the party deal with those so you get a clear shot. Once he is grappled, pin him, then throttle him under.
Problems
depends on his defenses. fire shield and thorn body will make life uncomfortable. He could dimension door (it is verbal). It depends on his spells. But if he does d door, chase him down. He probably will treat you as target one, but you are fast, you have evasion and hopefully all those buffs
A lot of the deadly high level spells need Line of sigth, so dont give him that until you are in his face. Low level spells and smoke sticks can do much agains things like horrible wilthing. Main advice is to get in his face as fast as possible and stay there. If he gets to cast spells on you it May very well be over. But if you get in and hit him with everything, all the way Down to stunning fist, he may be a easy figth.
If this is the monk/ninja we were talking about gear for on the other thread i suggest the same stuff:)
Do you have *any* idea of what this fight is going to be like. The wizard's tactics could be wildly different depending on his build. The environment you are fighting in also matters hugely.
Cloudkill isn't really a big deal unless you get stuck in it. Worst case it eats 10hp and debuffs your fort save by 2. Hardly devastating for someone who can no-save auto-stagger or auto-entangle with a fort/reflex save negates rider of "You are probably going to die without immediate aid".
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Do you have *any* idea of what this fight is going to be like. The wizard's tactics could be wildly different depending on his build. The environment you are fighting in also matters hugely.
Cloudkill isn't really a big deal unless you get stuck in it. Worst case it eats 10hp and debuffs your fort save by 2. Hardly devastating for someone who can no-save auto-stagger or auto-entangle with a fort/reflex save negates rider of "You are probably going to die without immediate aid".
I really don't have any idea except that he's either a Wizard or Sorcerer and high level. I've not tried snooping around the scenario because I don't really want to spoil the fun but I do want to have a small amount of preparation going against a high level caster.
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If you're entire party is level 10 and you have a door/wall you can hide behind before the encounter, consider gloves of reconnaissance to peek through the wall and figure out the mage's position. If he's got buffs up, wait them out (unless you're on a time limit). Otherwise, alpha-strike him with a series of stunning fists or combat maneuvers. Even better if you have a mage to DD the party next to the target so your front-liners can have their readied actions go off to put a dent in the wizard's skull.
I'm pretty sure I know what scenario you're talking about, and I'm waiting to play through the same one in the next month or so. I don't know anything about the setup, just that there's that epic fight at the end and I'll be playing with a level 8 character.
Good luck!
