
Shalin |
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HI folks,
considering different arcane builds. I know blasting is considered sub-optimal in the guides treantmonk et al. None the less i find myself considering it.
Would the following work/ be fun to play.
s 7
d 14
c 12
i 18
w 10
c 10
before racials.
Admixture Evoker.
feat - spell specialisation burning hands. using the 'change element' power this can be made cold and w urea alchemical regeant made into cl 4.
My main questions are - should i be human to be able to choose boreal spell and magical lineage to give me a bit of crowd control. this is opposed to the benefits of being an elf.
is it worth taking magical lineage with burning hands? short term advantage of boreal spell and then intensify spell. vs longer term planning of taking it on fireball. Can't i just take additional traits at level 5, or even 7 to pick up wayang spell hunter for fireball then.
2nd question - arcane bond vs familiar.
arcane bond gives me another spell/day to play with.
familiar has utility. i like thrushes for speaking scouts. can take INT for Diplomacy trait to be at + 10 dip. It can also take the Protector archetype which would help my AC for being a bit closer to the fight...
however if i play a human with some diplomacy that leaves me with only +2 Init which doesn't seem at all ideal - am i trying to do too many things? would i better to just drop the diplomacy thing? Of course there is always the scorpion option if i'm worried about my diplomacy.
answers on a postcard

Rerednaw |
Actually sub-optimal does not mean you won't be turning encounters into plains of molten glass. Just going Admixture Evoker, a decent int and spell specialization is plenty. :)
If you want more optimal then sure, both Magical Lineage and Wayang Spellhunter to Fireball. They come online at 5th and you never look back. Don't use a trait on Burning Hands, you will regret it later (levels 5-20 at any rate). Traits last I heard in PFS are not retrainable.
But with the guts of your build, the race will not influence as much as you think so feel free to choose what you think you will enjoy more.
A "by the cookie cutter" Blockbuster wizard is elf, but there's nothing wrong with human, or just about any other race.
Arcane Bond or Familiar? Well normally the optimal choice is Familiar, BUT in PFS you don't get many of the extra perks till you pick up Improved Familiar so be warned.
Init and Diplomacy...do not try to cover all the bases, especially early on. As a wizard you have a decent pool of skill points, you do not need a bonus to Diplomacy as well. You want to have skill points in monster related knowledges so you know what you are fighting. Plus Perception, still the king of all skills. Maybe a craft skill for some extra cash. If you have a couple after sure throw a token into Diplomacy.
Oh, I would recommend Toughness or it's big brother Tribal Scars till you get out of level 1. Then retrain. 7 hp and 12 con is scary.
One more note, if you want crowd control in a feat, other than vaporized I mean, it is hard to beat Dazing Spell.

strayshift |
You might want to think about Dual Talent for the human and boost your dexterity as well as intelligence by +2.
You 'lose' the bonus skill point (but you have a good Intelligence so not a huge loss) and a bonus feat (more of a loss). Yes, the Elf has the spell penetration and other racial stuff but you do not lose -2 constitution and so have more hit points and so have less need of 'toughness' (a feat saved over the elf?)

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Lower the Charisma and add the points to Constitution. Elf v. Human is a toss-up. I would say Elf because you can get spell penetration, perception, and concentration bonuses, all very useful. If you go Human, definitely grab Spell specialization and add it to your favorite evocation spell for an essential early power boost. You will probably want to do this as an elf as well. Remember that PFS wizards get a bonus spell focus feat in place of scribe scroll.
You will probably want the admixture subschool. However, a significant option that you may want to consider is the teleportation subschool, which has defensive benefits. also, it makes sense to add summoning to your list of abilities so that you are not totally one sided.
Later on you will want to pick up a selective Metamagic rod asap. Throwing a fireball in the midst of one's allies is cool.

Aelryinth RPG Superstar 2012 Top 16 |
2 people marked this as a favorite. |

A note: Blaster style is only weak if a non-blaster build uses it.
A blaster build, optimized to deal damage, can solve many, many encounters by the expedient power of Making Them Dead.
Its poo-pooed because your average mage, swapping spells in and out to deal with situations, will SUCK at blasting. His power comes from the spells applied to a problem, NOT from hurling huge blasting magic at something.
1) You need a level in Sorcerer. Preferably dual blooded orc/draconic or Orc/Elemental, with a Varisian Tattoo. These bloodlines grant MAJOR damage bonuses to blasting spells. You need that damage boost to be a good blaster. THEN, take your Admixture wizard to the top.
2) You want caster level bonuses to the spell you will use. Varisian Tattoo gets you back to par, spell spec gives you +2. With a dual bloodline, +2 CL is also +4 damage.
3) You don't have to blast. With spell spec, you can sack a general control spell for your blasts. So, you have all the versatility of any normal mage IF YOU WANT TO PLAY THAT WAY.
But a normal mage will not be able to blast.
4) Your goal for all practical purposes is Fireball. The feats you are going to want are Energized, Empowered, Maximized, Quickened, and Dazing. IF you are allowed to take both Magical Lineage and Wayang Spellhunter, you get Empowered for FREE.
At level 8, out of a 4th level slot, you can throw an 80 HP damage fireball, which will seriously mess up anything of that CR.
At level 10 out of a 5th level slot, you are throwing a 96 HP fireball, and can follow up with a quickened fireball for another 10d6. 131 HP dmg to the face, thank you.
5) At level 1, if you take varisian tattoo and spell spec (burning hands) as a sorcerer, you are throwing a 4d6+8 damage burning hands. That's 22 hp damage in an arc at level 1. Retrain Spell Spec to Fireball when you get there. You have to be human, but you fry everything of basically cr3 or less right off the bat.
At level 6, your very first fireball with SPell Spec and your traits will be an Empowered for free 7d6+14 + 50% monstrosity, dealing an average of 57 damage to your CR6 enemies. It will solve a LOT of encounters, particularly with NPC's who don't have 20 COn to buff their HP.
6) NO need to blast? Memorize other spells. Dump them into fireballs on demand. Play control. Play summoner. And then roll up your sleeves and give them 100 HP to the face, something a non-blaster simply cannot do.
==Aelryinth

Gregory Connolly |

A few thoughts in no particular order.
I play one of these in PFS and he draws so much aggro it isn't funny. This is from someone who is on the no sorc dip side of the fence too, the other guys have even bigger numbers.
You need more than a 10 con to survive in my experience.
I like Elf over Human for a couple of reasons. First, the +2 vs SR is huge, it has been the difference in a couple of fights. Second, you can take Warrior of Old and still get a combat trait. Third, you can get the Fleet alternate racial and get another +2 init. You get a bonus to dex and a penalty to con which is a wash since you need good both.
I have to say Fireball is really the be all end all spell for blasters because of the combination of area, range and level. Lightning Bolt and Pellet Blast can work too, but they aren't Fireball.
Additional Traits is a really good feat if you plan it right, letting you pick up Magical Lineage (Fireball) and Wayang Spellhunter (Fireball) at 5th level when you get Fireball while you use your bonus feat to pick up Sickening Spell or Empower Spell. You have to leave room for a magic trait and a regional trait though.
Sickening, Dazing, Quickened, Selective, Intensified, Empowered, and Maximized are all worthwhile but you can usually grab a lesser Selective Rod by 5th level and not worry about it until later.
Spell Focus, Greater Spell Focus, Improved Initiative, Toughness, Varisian Tattoo, Bloatmage Initiate, Spell Specialization, Spell Penetration, Greater Spell Penetration, and Spell Perfection are also on the list of nice feats for a blaster.
You can't have everything you want, but there are quite a few good ways to build a blaster.

Aelryinth RPG Superstar 2012 Top 16 |

Spell Penetration is indeed a useful feat to have at the lower levels. Once you get SPell Perfection, however, you double Tattoo and Spell Spec and Spell Pent for +10 to Caster level combined...SR ceases to be a problem.
And if Spell Pen is a problem...use other spells. There's no reason to be stupid and fireball the Golem when a Pit does the job.
==Aelryinth

Shalin |
Thanks for your thoughts folks.
i am resistant to the sorcerer first thing. also i wonder if i don't think far enough ahead - traits for fireball seems like a loong way away. in fairness im just starting PFS and mainly doing PBP so it is a long way away!
I am still thinking about the diplomacy option - i want the thrush, it seems so helpful in terms of taking 2 perception tests, getting it to spy on meetings, other people etc. Now i know PFS can be a bit rail-roady, does that make this sort of thing less useful?
then diplomacy. 2 traits to get int and trained means i have 5 int+4 skill +3 thrush +2 aid other +12/14 is that worth it for the 2 traits it takes? What would i take instead, +2 init and magical lineage, seems a bit ho-hum vs giving him a whole other angle, relatively easily
finally assuming i stick as an elf +2 init or +2 concentration and perception. given that for the first few levels he's a burning hands boy which is more important?
i know people say be a human for the extra hp and feat. feeling a bit not sure about that as i've started the character as an elf, so would be better rp continuity...

Gregory Connolly |

You are pretty much describing my PFS wizard. I have a -2 diplomacy and revel in forcing others to do the talking (my bard has a +22 diplomacy and does almost all of the talking) and it works in most groups. If you aren't going the sorcerer route it becomes more important to land debuffs as your damage will be lower.
If you want to invest in diplomacy, the second trait that makes it a class skill is not needed. Grab your social trait to make it int based and an init trait. Leave your regional and magic traits untaken for later. At level 5 take Additional Traits and get Magical Lineage and Wayang Spellhunter both on Fireball. Then take Sickening Spell (or Empower Spell) with your bonus wizard feat.
You want init as a wizard because a monster going in the surprise round and then in the first round will probably kill you. I would take the init over the perception. Perception is a skill you can max out (with a headband if you didn't do this already) that has an easy +5 from Eyes of the Eagle. Init is really hard to come by and most of it comes from build. I would go so far as to recommend an init familiar over a bonded object, even with the loss of versatility.
A lesser metamagic rod of Selective costs 3,000gp and should be purchased before getting Fireball, as you have no control over others positioning.

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Diplomacy from a trait, full skill ranks, add that with the Thrush familiar and you'll be better at diplomacy than pretty much anyone but a Bard or another Cha based caster that also picked up a diplomacy trait.
Remember this is PFS, where people will either play Charisma based casters or dump that stat into the ocean. (Not that I blame them.) Merely having a positive modifier to the skill will make you the best party face half the time.

Serisan |

Diplomacy from a trait, full skill ranks, add that with the Thrush familiar and you'll be better at diplomacy than pretty much anyone but a Bard or another Cha based caster that also picked up a diplomacy trait.
Remember this is PFS, where people will either play Charisma based casters or dump that stat into the ocean. (Not that I blame them.) Merely having a positive modifier to the skill will make you the best party face half the time.
Don't forget to leave some room for mediocre CHA scores, like Bloodragers. ;-)

Rerednaw |
Diplomacy from a trait, full skill ranks, add that with the Thrush familiar and you'll be better at diplomacy than pretty much anyone but a Bard or another Cha based caster that also picked up a diplomacy trait.
Remember this is PFS, where people will either play Charisma based casters or dump that stat into the ocean. (Not that I blame them.) Merely having a positive modifier to the skill will make you the best party face half the time.
In PFS your table is like a box of chocolates. I remember an APL 4 table where I had an 8 or so Diplomacy (I don't stat dump and like playing someone who yaks, even if I have to burn a trait to make it a class skill). And mine was the lowest Diplomacy score by far. :)