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This is a rant.
I don't build characters very well. I understand what goes into optimal characters, I go for what looks thematic, interesting, or cool over what maximizes my DPR. Maybe even more than that, I like taking the road less taken. I try out stuff and see if it works. Have a summoner with quadruped eidolon with only a couple attacks and no pounce. Gunslinger who spent the bulk of his career being able to take only one shot per round (if that). An eldritch knight in full plate. I could read through the rest of my characters, but it is more the same.
I haven't had a fun convention game with a character higher than 7th level ever. Not to say that they were all bad, but even those better ones are more filler as I watch the rest of the party play through an adventure as I struggle to contribute. The worse ones the GMs make fun of my character's ineptness even in portions that are role playing driven.
More recently I have started trying to dig characters out of their large holes with retraining rules, to see if with a few changes if I could have a character I like to play. This isn't too different from before, the outcome isn't my characters with stuff they would have not had if I built them normally, but more changes if I were rebuilding my characters from level one with the information I had now. Twenty prestige here, thirty prestige there, a pile of gold for each. I get some changes I want done, but never all. Some because it is too costly, but others because that portion of retraining has been banned (base class -> prestige class rebuild) for fear of abuse.
After spending what would raise my character once or twice over, I end up around the same spot. With characters I have slightly more fun with at convention specials, but still rather go back to lower level tables. I could try rebuilding them more, once they have prestige again, but I don't stop making mistakes as I level, it feels like I'm trying got use a bucket to combat a flood. Stressful and ineffective.
After all that it seems more clear that retraining/rebuilding in PFS isn't about fixing mistakes, it is about another tool for optimization. Swap out a placeholder low level ability for a better higher level option later. The first time I saw the 1st level rebuild recommended at a convention it was one player telling another that they should drop their +1 caster level to a single spell trait, then use the rebuild to add it as they hit 2nd level just to not have to live with a wasted trait for one level. It seemed contrary to the intent and how I play my characters, but for me that is the playstyle retraining/rebuilding exclusively supports.
I'm done trying to deal with this. If I end up hitting a scenario where I feel my character has fallen behind the curve, I'm really don't want to fight back anymore. I'm just good with calling that character retired. It is better than hemmoraging gold and prestige in some effort to extend the playtime of these characters.
I do honestly wish retraining and rebuilding weren't rules in the society though. Because as they are, I'm never going to get anything to fix my long line of mistakes.
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I don't build optimized characters either. I try to build interesting concepts. Some of them end up being pretty darn effective, and some end up being so-so.
But you know why I have fun with them regardless?
Because I roleplay them. And I interact with everyone else at the table. And I try to come up with creative ways to solve issues, and sometimes those creative ways solve the problem when all the optimization couldn't.
There are other ways to play the game, than dependency on build of any kind.
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One of my bards was taken out in the first round of the first encounter by a full attack from a golem. The GM took that as his cue to make fun of my character for the rest of the adventure even outside of combat. He open one area and closed another with, "the only one in real danger of death is the bard."
My eldritch knight was present at a fair within a special with various events. I went for one not because my character would be good at it, but because it would be fun. After I failed I tried in other events, mostly because no one else in the party was interested and I wanted to break the ice. GM had more fun describing my failures though, by the second event he skipped skill checks and defaulted to hecklers booing me off. I stopped trying after that.
These aren't the once in a while situation, this is more or less the norm. I could go into detail more detail on how another GM decided to change a bit of my bard's name and instead call him Little Shits. Or the GM that decided to elaborate on my summoner's backstory by determining that my eidolon really hated the summoner.
As for other players, there was the moment where another player's first words to me were "Ah, so your character is a prostitute." Another was kind enough to cast heal on my eldritch knight following a feeblemind, but only after a minute of him cooing, making kissing noises, and comforting me like an animal as I stared him dead in the eyes.
While I love it when I get into good roleplay at a convention table, but if convention PFS is consistently good at anything, it is making me not want to roleplay with the people at the table. In those cases, I would really like to fall back on a strong character I can at least have fun with my character mechanically.
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Part of the problem is people. If they are making fun of you too much, ask for them to tone it down because you aren't having fun playing. They might see it as being playful and not realize its effects on you. Most of your problems seem to be bad luck and annoying people.
Personally, I try to make sure when I build silly characters to include some gimmicks that are flavorful and fun, but also are really useful as utility effects and I don't let myself revolve around situational abilities. For instance, the moonlight bridge revelation was in a certain character of mine, and with some creative usage I was able to break scenarios by completely re-shaping dungeon floors. But I still was useful in tons of games that I could't use the ability because there were other things to do. That guy I still get mocked for (it was a leprechaun-themed silly character), but it was still highly requested at tables and one of my favorite and most useful characters ever.
The moral to the story is try optimizing to things you find fun instead of the norm. Look for spells or powers that are flavorful and powerful. Sure your GM might mock your bard, untill he sees you beat DC 35 diplomacy checks no problem. Maybe your eldritch knight gets heckled, until you pop out a giant fiendish dinosaur or maybe an undead roc (funnest table I ever GM'd) to deal with them, while wearing full plate.
Venture-Captain, Germany—Bavaria
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One of my bards was taken out in the first round of the first encounter by a full attack from a golem. The GM took that as his cue to make fun of my character for the rest of the adventure even outside of combat. He open one area and closed another with, "the only one in real danger of death is the bard."
My eldritch knight was present at a fair within a special with various events. I went for one not because my character would be good at it, but because it would be fun. After I failed I tried in other events, mostly because no one else in the party was interested and I wanted to break the ice. GM had more fun describing my failures though, by the second event he skipped skill checks and defaulted to hecklers booing me off. I stopped trying after that.
These aren't the once in a while situation, this is more or less the norm. I could go into detail more detail on how another GM decided to change a bit of my bard's name and instead call him Little S*+!s. Or the GM that decided to elaborate on my summoner's backstory by determining that my eidolon really hated the summoner.
As for other players, there was the moment where another player's first words to me were "Ah, so your character is a prostitute." Another was kind enough to cast heal on my eldritch knight following a feeblemind, but only after a minute of him cooing, making kissing noises, and comforting me like an animal as I stared him dead in the eyes.
While I love it when I get into good roleplay at a convention table, but if convention PFS is consistently good at anything, it is making me not want to roleplay with the people at the table. In those cases, I would really like to fall back on a strong character I can at least have fun with my character mechanically.
In no particular order:
-I suggest asking for advice, before you build the character. We a whole part of this forum dedicated to pretty much that. Some problematic choices are made at level 1 and can't be fixed.
-Retraining traits isn't currently possible, unless those traits were gained through the additional traits feat.
-Please post some of your builds, I am pretty sure, that they are not quite as horrible as I expect. I have seen pretty terrible characters already, but unless you intentionally cripple yourself...
-Some of those players/GMs violated the don't be a jerk rule. I have no idea when it comes to the particulars, but the GM really should have interfered at some point.
-Thus far I have never used the retraining rules to increase the power of a character, I mostly use it to fix mistakes and gain access to newly published options I like.
This really has very little to do with the retraining rules, but quite a lot to do with discourteous players - soloing the entire scenario is one extreme and being a waste of space (not capable of contributing) is the other.
I usually advice players to aim for a middle ground and build character that can perform above average, but don't always have to give 100 %, it's tricky but sometimes you just have to bring your A game when another character isn't able to perform.
Venture-Captain, California—Sacramento
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So, first off, I am sorry you have had a shitty experience.
One thing I can think of, do you GM? I know there are some boon out there for rebuilding characters, though you have to GM major events to get them.
Another is that some cons seem to attract a certain style of super aggressive gamer / GM. It doesn't seem to happen at the ones I'm at but I keep hearing about it on the boards. Probably your character is good enough for anything but these cons, just keep them around for the local games and start working on some brand new con characters. (Or pick different cons, or start GMing at cons, so you can tell the table to knock it off when they start doing that to other people.)
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-Retraining traits isn't currently possible, unless those traits were gained through the additional traits feat.
Those players were talking about the 1st level full rebuild? I don't mind in any case since that isn't my style, but understanding that is different from retraining.
-I suggest asking for advice, before you build the character. We a whole part of this forum dedicated to pretty much that. Some problematic choices are made at level 1 and can't be fixed.
That is reasonable, and it might be this just doesn't mess terribly well with society play but I don't like planning more than level into the future where I can. In addition, I really do like exploring options, it just so happens that exploring options in society tends to end with me having, what I would call, not terribly useful characters.
This really has very little to do with the retraining rules, but quite a lot to do with discourteous players - soloing the entire scenario is one extreme and being a waste of space (not capable of contributing) is the other.
I usually advice players to aim for a middle ground and build character that can perform above average, but don't always have to give 100 %, it's tricky but sometimes you just have to bring your A game when another character isn't able to perform.
Those were in just response to the reasonable suggestion to make up for character weakness by enjoying the roleplaying the character and using other interesting solutions to problems. I have had tables where I have no complaint about the GMs, other players, or adventure, but still end up feeling like I'm the least valuable player on the team. Having a good character isn't going to make experiences with people I don't end up liking anymore fun. I just want to come away feeling like I contributed to the session and not end up feeling hampered by the poor choices I had played with levels prior.
That is a bit contradictory with me saying I want explore and play within the space, but it is more a matter that I want to find a niche naturally and have not necessarily been something I planned five levels prior.
-Please post some of your builds, I am pretty sure, that they are not quite as horrible as I expect. I have seen pretty terrible characters already, but unless you intentionally cripple yourself...
I shall take that on, will see if I meet the definition of intentionally crippling myself.
Might as well start with this particular character, one of the oldest and certainly not the best. I'll just throw the whole thing right out there. (Although I will note I found a missing feat in typing this out (bonus feat from fighter), I left it off rather than scramble to fill it it, there are likely other errors still I missed.).
Sielan, AKA. Made Before Magus was a Thing, AKA. Hindsight is 20/20
Male human wizard 5/fighter 1/eldritch knight 4
CG Medium humanoid (human)
Init +1; Senses Perception +13
AC 24, touch 12, flat-footed 23 (+11 armor, +1 deflection, +1 Dex, +1 natural armor)
hp 110 (5d6+5d10+58)
Fort +11, Ref +5, Will +6; +1 vs enchantment
Speed 30 ft.; (20 ft. in full plate)
Melee +1 holy glaive +13/+8 (1d10+8) or
.... masterwork silvered warhammer +13/+8 (1d8+5) or
.... adamantine spiked gauntlets +13/+8 (1d4+5)
Special Attacks telekinetic fist 6/day
Wizard Spells Prepared (CL 8th; concentration +13)
Specialist School: Transmutation
.. 4th-dimension door, stilled fly
.. 3rd-displacement, dispel magic, greater magic weapon, keen edge
.. 2nd-blindness/deafness (DC 15), blur, invisibility, knock, stilled enlarge person
.. 1st-endure elements, liberating commandx2, feather fall, true strikex2
.. 0 At-will—detect magic, read magic, open/close, prestidigitation
Prohibited Schools Evocation, Enchantment
Str 20, Dex 13, Con 18, Int 16, Wis 8, Cha 9
Base Atk +7; CMB +12 (+16 to bull rush, +14 to sunder); CMD 24 (28 vs. bull rush, 26 vs. sunder)
Feats Arcane Strike, Greater Bull Rush, Improved Bull Rush, Improved Sunder, Power Attack, Spell Focus (transmutation), Still Spell, Tenacious Transmutation, Toughness
Traits Indomitable, Focused Mind
Skills Climb +8, Fly +2, Knowledge (arcana) +14, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +14, Knowledge (history) +15), Perception +13, Sense Motive +7, Spellcraft +17, Swim +7
Languages Common, Elven
SQ arcane bond (toad), physical enhancement +2 (Con)
Combat Gear potion of cure light wounds (6), potion of shield of faith[i], potion of [i]haste, wand of acid arrow (5 charges), wand of magic missile (49 charges), wand of magic missile (CL 3rd; 25 charges), wand of glitterdust (9 charges), vial of alchemist's fire, vial of acid (2); Other Gear adamantine spiked gauntlet, masterwork silvered warhammer, +1 holy glaive, belt of giant strength +2, headband of vast intellect +2 (Perception), handy haversack, cloak of resistance +2, +2 full plate, ring of protection +1, amulet of natural armor +1, armiger's panoply (with silken ceremonial armor), spellbook (with prepared spells and greater invisibility, shout, tongues, haste, water breathing, vampiric touch, false life, glitterdust, see invisibility, minor image, alter self, make whole, shield, alarm, comprehend languages, magic weapon, expeditious retreat, and all 0 level spells.
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Granted, but he is a 4 star GM. It might be an option for him. (In retrospect, I knew he GMed when I posted that, so some of that question seems silly. I blame the fact that it is nearly midnight.)
It is an option that I am aware of (and really peeved at if I am to be honest). I don't like traveling for both cost and time lost so I try to limit large events I travel to which has been PaizoCon thus far. GenCon does go a bit larger than my comfortable with such that even if it didn't cost anything else, I wouldn't really enjoy the event even if it just meant going to the event rather than running enough games to qualify for the boon.
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Regarding Sielan, I am getting some different numbers for a few things, might be something I am missing.
I would assume you realize you have a 3rd and 4th level spell slot open.
Skill points spent: 52 of 52, including 2 from Wiz FCB
Spellcraft, with 10 ranks, comes to +16, 10 ranks, 3 class skill, 3 from Int mod.
From Alertness, either Sense Motive is +9, or all 5 FCB go to hit points, so 112 instead of 110.
Feats: As you know, you have one unspent feat left.
Languages: Several short. Common for free, ethnic, if any, for free, 2 from Int, 1 preset from the headband.
Telekinetic Fist appears to do 1d4+2, since you are only a 5th level Wizard.
Also, and this is purely IMO, your spell loadout could be better. For instance, as a Transmutation spell, haste is useful, and is something that can benefit the whole party. Remember that extra speed or extra attack, and their effects, are part of your contribution. Just one example of a minor change that can help the whole party, and increase your sense of contributing.
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With regard to the build, there are several things you can do to improve just by spending gold. Looking at it, your to-hit is a little low for a 10th level melee character. I had the same issue on several of my characters as I approached higher levels for the first time. I don't have a link to Jiggy's original post on the matter, but take a look at the Monster Creation table. You'll often be facing creatures at a CR equal to your level, with bosses 2 or 3 higher.
At +13 facing a CR 10, you can expect an average AC of 24. That means you're exactly 50/50 to hit. So you only succeed in your main attack half the time against a creature on the lower end of the CR range.
Facing a CR 13, you can expect an AC 28. So you'd hit on a 15 or better, or only 30% of the time.
Now, you're a caster, so you can buff with spells. If you have Greater Magic Weapon running, that gives you an extra +1. Bull's Strenth would give you another +1 for big fights. Though see my notes below on items. There have also been many, many new spells that have come out since Magus wasn't a thing that could help. And as was mentioned, Haste would be a good first round action, as it helps you and the party. Alter Self into a medium creature would give you a +2 size bonus to STR even though you haven't actually changed size. Or just Enlarge Person.
The other easy way to boost effectiveness is by buying relatively cheap items for your level. A cracked Pale Green Prism Ioun Stone would give you a +1 Competence bonus to attack. If you aren't regularly adventuring with a bard, that's a 5,000 gold boost. Dusty Rose Prism Ioun Stone for a bonus to AC. There are lots of cracked ioun stones with useful bonuses (+1 to init for 500, +1 to about any skill, etc.). A Jingasa of the Fortunate Soldier for another +1 AC. Heroism is on your spell list, even if it's a prohibited school. Carry one or more scrolls of it. For 375gp, a +2 to hit, etc. is a big bonus if you aren't already getting a morale bonus from somewhere, and a scroll will last most dungeon crawls.
For a pricier item, go ahead and get a +4 belt of strength when you can. It's 12,000 gold, but it gets you +1 to hit with no need to buff and +2 to damage, effectively, because of 1 1/2 strength.
With a +2 STR from somewhere (bull's strength or belt), the cracked green prism Ioun stone, greater magic weapon, haste, and heroism, you're at a +19 to hit (with 2 full bab attacks thanks to haste) and +14 with your iterative, meaning you'll hit about as often with the iterative as your main attack hits now.
All of that is without changing the feats or actual build of the character.
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Your Eldritch Knight doesn't look bad really. You know Haste and False Life already and with a few more spells known it could be pretty strong. I haven't been to a con in 14 years so I couldn't tell you if it would be strong compared to convention characters but it would be fine in most PFS games I see.
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Regarding Sielan, I am getting some different numbers for a few things, might be something I am missing.
** numbers and stuff spoiler omitted **
Right on spells, this was from the first sheet I grabbed a spells prepared list from prior level.
Hit Points: All favored class in hit points. 12 hp from first wizard level, 10 hp from following wizard levels, 11 hp from levels in other classes, 3 hp from familiar. For 110.
Skills: Erroneous trait on character. Focused Mind should be Classically Trained. Spellcraft is correct, Concentration is not. Alertness is included in values.
Languages: No additional ethnic language from Taldan. To my recollection, headbands do not grant additional languages and one increase during levels was was to int, which is not retroactive to my knowledge. Common plus one language from initial intelligence is correct.
Your telekinetic fist damage matches what I have on my sheet.
Also, and this is purely IMO, your spell loadout could be better. For instance, as a Transmutation spell, haste is useful, and is something that can benefit the whole party. Remember that extra speed or extra attack, and their effects, are part of your contribution. Just one example of a minor change that can help the whole party, and increase your sense of contributing.
Correct. The only reason it isn't on this load out was because it was adjusted for the party he was in. Haste was already well accounted for, but most of the party was melee without options for ranged attacks which is why fly was prepared to be able to cast on another party member in that situation. In typical situations, haste would be prepared instead.
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I have to say, you have a solid tank there. Most 12 level PCs oriented towards melee don't have 100 hit points, much less more than that when half your levels are d6 HD.
I would look into not preparing Blindness/Deafness most of the time, just because the save DC is low and most threats will make that DC more than 50% of the time. One of the downsides to being a multi-attribute dependent caster type. I'd also look at prepping a Shield spell for +4 to AC. Greater Invisibility is a great spell and I would make it a prepared staple along with haste.
Otherwise, most of the advice is solid in that gear is where you can make some great strides, especially in your to-hit. I haven't checked your spells for Somatic components...but isn't your Spell-casting Failure Chance pretty huge wearing Full Plate? I'm betting that's impacting your spell selection.
I'd recommend a Rod of Still Spells (Lesser or higher) if only to save you on spells lot bumps for preparing things as Still. Whether you want to keep (or retrain) said feat is up to you. Get a Glove of Storing for your non-gauntlet hand to keep it in to avoid issues around wielding a two-handed weapon (you can access/store one item as a free action).
That said: Is this on par with a Magus? Nope. That's the unfortunate downside to making a concept before a more cohesive base class or archetype exists for what you want. Several of my characters suffer from this (my poor crossbowman looks longingly at Slayer or Bolt Ace). But it's just as viable and as fun.
Venture-Lieutenant, Netherlands—Leiden
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I think this is a decent versatile character. You come to a table and check out what everyone else is playing.
If the party already has frontliners, but lacks a serious wizard, you can do that well enough. Just select some different spells prepared for that day.
If the party has a wizard but is a bit light on the front line, you're a decent melee warrior as well. Switch your spell selection to self-buffs, particularly the ones with 10min/level and longer durations.
If the party is somewhere in the middle, go frontliner. I've found that a lot of adventures area quite easy if you can overwhelm them with frontliners, AND you can actually counter a lot of the things people do to keep frontliners at bay (like, fly after them).
You can even prep a few ranged touch spells, your BAB is better than average for a wizard.
The point is that you can contribute to a table by adjusting your daily spell selection to the party composition.
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Your Eldritch Knight doesn't look bad really. You know Haste and False Life already and with a few more spells known it could be pretty strong. I haven't been to a con in 14 years so I couldn't tell you if it would be strong compared to convention characters but it would be fine in most PFS games I see.
Ferious Thune has about half of the issue, the low attack bonus on the character is dramatically under par. If there is a bard-like character performing aggressively within the party it brings my attack bonus normal fighter numbers and normal fighters to automatic hit bonuses (generally).
The other half are will saves. Spent back to back encounters significantly hampered with the first being a suggestion to "go home" and the second with a feeblemind.
Bringing him to convention specials is the other issue. They run more encounters as the table can handle. When the rest of the party goes faster, my character keeping pace hasn't been viable.
Now, you're a caster, so you can buff with spells. If you have Greater Magic Weapon running, that gives you an extra +1. Bull's Strenth would give you another +1 for big fights. Though see my notes below on items. There have also been many, many new spells that have come out since Magus wasn't a thing that could help. And as was mentioned, Haste would be a good first round action, as it helps you and the party. Alter Self into a medium creature would give you a +2 size bonus to STR even though you haven't actually changed size. Or just Enlarge Person.
Which is why I have all those spells on the spellbook, but given the pace of many encounters, it often hasn't been an effective strategy to start an encounter with more than a single self buff which has limited my potential to gain significant amounts of attack in a combat without the aid of a bard or someone fulfuling a similar role. If you have other spells to recommend I haven't already scribed, please note them. I have kept the spellbook up to date even if I can't change the base class.
The equipment list is reasonable. Most was already on target to get. Cracked ioun stones aren't really an item I look at it would be a reasonable purchase. The only thing I would argue on his haste, while it is a strong opening move and it is something I could reasonably pull off, with the typical party I have seen an conventions at this level, battles often only last three rounds on average with or without a haste backing it up.
Otherwise, most of the advice is solid in that gear is where you can make some great strides, especially in your to-hit. I haven't checked your spells for Somatic components...but isn't your Spell-casting Failure Chance pretty huge wearing Full Plate? I'm betting that's impacting your spell selection.
I have, it is, and it does. And how!
It is the reason I don't have shield and instead have blur as well as blindness/deafness (even as a low DC long shot).
For general information, here is a spell breakdown.
Spells Without Somatic Components: dimension door, displacement, blindness/deafness, blur, knock, liberating command, feather fall, true strike, shout
Long Lasting Spells: greater magic weapon, keen edge, endure elements, tongues, water breathing, false life, see invisibility, alarm, comprehend languages
Other Spells: fly, dispel magic, invisibility, enlarge person, greater invisibility, haste, vampiric touch, glitterdust, minor image, make whole, shield, magic weapon, expeditious retreat
Now the reason for me not having a metamagic rod of still spell is that it doesn't actually exist to my knowledge. Still Spell is about the only metamagic feat not available in rod form for one reason or another. Instead armiger's panoply is used for this purpose as it can as swift action, for a limited number times per day, swap my armor for my alternate dress (in this case it is just very light armor with no armor check penalty).
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You can even prep a few ranged touch spells, your BAB is better than average for a wizard.
My BAB is better than wizard of my level, but not by much. It is closer to wizard BAB than a fighter's. Because of my (relatively) lower dexterity, my ranged attack bonus is around the same as a wizard of my level. Ranged touch spells often tend be a hard sell especially if I'm using higher level slots to launch something with a decent chance of outright missing (like enervation). Also a lot of attack spells are evocation or grant saving throws. I do have acid arrow on a wand as a ranged option.
I think this is a decent versatile character. You come to a table and check out what everyone else is playing.
If the party already has frontliners, but lacks a serious wizard, you can do that well enough. Just select some different spells prepared for that day.
If the party has a wizard but is a bit light on the front line, you're a decent melee warrior as well. Switch your spell selection to self-buffs, particularly the ones with 10min/level and longer durations.
If the party is somewhere in the middle, go frontliner. I've found that a lot of adventures area quite easy if you can overwhelm them with frontliners, AND you can actually counter a lot of the things people do to keep frontliners at bay (like, fly after them).
...
The point is that you can contribute to a table by adjusting your daily spell selection to the party composition.
I have attempted that with very limited success. With the prohibited schools, low DCs, loss of two caster levels, and lack of supporting feats being a supporting wizard has not been beneficial. There are a few spells I could pick up to support that role better like black tentacles. Even going as a serious wizard, I would be better off picking up the 7th level pregen. The sole benefit to my character over Ezren in that case would be that my toad familiar has about as many hit points as Ezren.
While adjusting my spell selection to match the party is a good idea, it has been something I have tried, but I end up as either a poor fighter or a poor wizard, maybe if I spend another ten or twenty thousand gp I'll get closer to being a better fighter, but it is a lot harder to make up for those lost caster levels and focus in intelligence when faced with things with spell resistance, decent saving throws, or just other high numbers in general compared to what I can dish out with spells.
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This thread has our discussion of benchmarks for the power level of characters. They are all purely subjective opinion and shouldn't be taken too seriously. But they might be a good place to start when you are trying to decide if your character is appropriately powerful. (Some of the benchmarks in there are actually much too high. That is discussed toward the end of the thread.)
Regarding Sielan
He actually looks pretty good. There are a couple of things that could use some tweaking. Some of this advice will be a repeat of stuff mentioned above.
1. As mentioned before, haste. Seriously.
2. No need to prepare knock. Get some scrolls of it.
3. Still Spell isn't that good of a feat. You are applying that metamagic feat to spells that don't really need it, which only has the effect of using higher level spell slots.
4. You really need Weapon Focus. The biggest drawback to playing Eldritch Knights is their crappy attack bonus (mine have this problem too). You gotta do something to mitigate that.
5. You probably don't have much gold lying around, but if you can scrape together 80,000 gp, you can make your +1 holy glaive into a brilliant energy weapon. If you can manage 50,000 gp, then you can make your mwk silvered warhammer into a brilliant energy version. That would be a huge leap for you because you'd be hitting touch AC.
6. Sielan is an awesome tank. He has a good AC and a ton of hp. Make sure that he is moving around in combat to provoke attacks of opportunity and set up flanks for any rogues in your party. If you move before casting spells, you probably won't even need to cast defensively if they take their attacks of opportunity when you're moving.
Just some ideas.
Lastly, I want to say that there is no need to even have a super optimized character. If you have a character that is fun to play, that is all that matters. Don't let other people tell you that you need to have a certain power level for your characters.
Even though I think about the power level of my characters, and have posted benchmarks, and have given advice to you and others on making characters more powerful, my favorite character to play is one of my least powerful characters. He is even more fun to play because most of the people I play with enjoy having him at the table too, despite his shortcomings as a pathfinder. :)
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There's no Still metamagic rod, but there is this expendable:
Still Metamagic Gem. It's 1,000 gold, so not something you'd want to use often, but they can be used on any level spell, so being able to pull off a high level spell with no spell failure is a pretty good ace to have up you're sleeve. It doesn't really solve your immediate issue, though.
It definitely takes a little effort and guess work to make all of the buff spells pay off. You should aim for only casting one buff spell actually in combat. For the others, try to guess when you'll need them, and cast them ahead of time. And as others here have mentioned, the character isn't that bad off to begin with. He's got a lot of positives.
Other spells to look into:
Blade Tutor's Spirit Min/level again, so you have to guess right, but when you do, it's either a +2 to hit or +6 to damage, depending on how you look at it, because it eliminates the penalties for Power Attack.
Long Arm Your primary weapon is a reach weapon. More reach, more battlefield control.
Defending Bone Long duration, grants DR/10 Bludgeoning. DR/Bludgeoning isn't great against monsters, but in a humanoid oriented scenario, this can be powerful.
Resinous Skin DR 5/Piercing plus several situational effects. 10 mi/level. DR/Piercing is slightly more useful than DR/Blugeoning, though it's a higher level spell slot and less DR.
Heroism - Much like Haste, this is almost a must have. It's almost worth spending two slots to memorize it. It's definitely worth the cost of a scroll per scenario to have it active for the boss fight and maybe more. And it helps out of combat because of the bonus to skills, too.
And one more item to add to the list. A cracked Vibrant Purple Prism Ioun stone. Maybe more than one. 2,000 gold. Stores 1 spell level. It works like a ring of spell storing, so there's no Arcane Spell Failure chance. Put a 1st level spell that you might want to cast in combat, but which has a Somantic component, into the stone at the start of the day. Now you can cast it in combat without a chance it will fail. Shield, Vanish, and Long Arm are all good candidates, even with the reduced caster level, since it will make it easier to use them when you need them. This would be about versatility, since you'd be able to put a different spell in it each day. Shield is probably still better off on a wand kept in a spring-loaded wrist sheath.
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I was impressed by the amount of HP your EK had so I checked it out a bit.
10 from Fighter + 5d6 wizard + 4d10 EK + 40 CON + 3 Toad + 10 toughness = 107.
It was quite a bit of HP but am I missing 3 from somewhere? Still incredibly tanky some AC boosts would go a long way.
Edit: Blade Tutor's Spirit isn't legal.
The Extended Heroism is awesome though.
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He posted the hit point breakdown up thread.
Hit Points: All favored class in hit points. 12 hp from first wizard level, 10 hp from following wizard levels, 11 hp from levels in other classes, 3 hp from familiar. For 110.
So 1st level was wizard, not fighter, but for the 5 levels of wizard he gets his favored class bonus. First level Wizard gets 4 less hitpoints than a first level fighter,but the later level of fighter gets 2 more, and he gets 5 extra for favored class. 2+5-4=3. That's the extra 3 HPs.
4 + 4 con + 1 fc + 1 Toughness = 10 per wizard level
52 HP from Wizard
6 + 4 con + 1 Toughness = 11 per Fighter/Eldritch Knight Level
55 HP from Fighter/Eldritch Knight
3 HP from Toad familiar
110 total - Looks right to me.
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Lastly, I want to say that there is no need to even have a super optimized character. If you have a character that is fun to play, that is all that matters. Don't let other people tell you that you need to have a certain power level for your characters.
This is less about what other people think about the character and the struggle to hit in an encounter while other members of the party fight on par with ease.
The power that I'm looking for is to not struggle as much in these CR appropriate encounters (whether it is because of my will save, attack bonus, spell selection, or AC) and not end up looking at my chronicle sheets to note that I have spent enough prestige to get two raise dead spells cast on my character and almost enough gold to have funded a third.
It definitely takes a little effort and guess work to make all of the buff spells pay off. You should aim for only casting one buff spell actually in combat. For the others, try to guess when you'll need them, and cast them ahead of time. And as others here have mentioned, the character isn't that bad off to begin with. He's got a lot of positives.
Thank you for those suggestions, the gem is definitely expensive, but I wasn't aware of it. It would be a nice back up to hold onto in case I have run out of swift armor swaps during the day.
The spells are good suggestion as well, I do wish fro more spells for the offensive end, either targeted or buff.
The Eldritch Knight isn't terrible, but his specialization isn't helping. Depending on your group composition he can still perform, but really needs some accuracy buffs like heroism
Right, the specialization is where the retraining would hit this character hardest. I could spend 10 prestige (1000 gold) retraining the specialization toward something with a more offensive bent or one that grants a stronger unique ability while not impacting my spells too negatively. Not sure if that changes prohibited schools (another 5 prestige/500 gold in that case).
I could keep going through the feats and class abilities that after several adventures I realize I should change just because they are either ineffective or just because I have never used them, but I could easily spend 45 prestige retraining this character (if i had that much prestige). But that wouldn't make the character good, just slightly better for the cost of a mountain of resources.
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Having evocation as an opposed school makes offensive damaging spells problematic. Snowball is a good option from Conjuration. Low enough level that you can Still spell it. Maybe invest in an Intensified Spell metamagic rod.
Unfortunately most of the really good personal buffs are divine only spells. Heroism is an exception, which is why I push that one. It's too bad you can't pick up Magus spells.
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Alright, lets look at what your character is good at, what's he's not and how to leverage those strengths and weaknesses with minimal expenditures.
Props:
1: He's tough, he's got a reasonable AC and lots of HP.
2: He can benefit from some longish term buffs like Heroism and greater magic weapon
3: He's got some combat maneuver feats for useful tricks.
Slops:
1: He has trouble hitting
2: Dealing with Spell Failure is complicated
3: Saving Throw DC is unexciting.
The trick is, when things are going well, barbarian McSmashyson is going to clean up monsters way quicker than you are. That's unavoidable and you'll burn way too many resources trying to compete with that and you'll never catch up.
I actually really like this character and have some suggestions for how to feel/perform more awesomely with just some spell/tactic changes.
Your character is good at denying monsters the ability to hurt people. Some of that is just your ability to soak damage, but you also control extra space with your polearm.
One of the ways to leverage your polearm further is to use battlefield control spells, especially ones with no saves. Spells like Black Tentacles are going to be amazing for you. There's no save so your relatively low int doesn't matter and enemies are forced to move out of it, where you can punish them with your polearm.
Web is good even with a low save DC
Stonecall does a little bit of damage, no save and creates difficult terrain which opens up more AoO opportunities for you.
Another long duration spell I like is Magic Circle against Evil (people tend to forget it's also on the wizard list)
If you're fighting a humanoid spellcaster, your best bet may be to close and try and get off a greater bull rush, everybody getting an attack is awesome. You can also use your bull rush to push people into the terrain issues you've created.
tl;dr;
This character will never compete in the DPR olympics.
He's a solid addition to the party who's tough as nails and has plenty to contribute though.
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Having evocation as an opposed school makes offensive damaging spells problematic. Snowball is a good option from Conjuration. Low enough level that you can Still spell it. Maybe invest in an Intensified Spell metamagic rod.
Unfortunately most of the really good personal buffs are divine only spells. Heroism is an exception, which is why I push that one. It's too bad you can't pick up Magus spells.
I don't necessarily mean offensive spells for exclusively deal damage to target. I mean more spells I could use to attack like black tentacles, web, and haste. A long duration damage reduction is nice but I'm looking at more spells that I could reasonably cast as as wizard with low DCs.
The reason why he doesn't have as many of these kind of spells is largely because the armiger's panoply fast armor swap trick has only entered his options within the last two adventures. Prior to this, any spell I had is one I was either one with no arcane armor failure chance, one I thought was good enough to be stilled, or a buff spell I could cast before armoring.
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Something to remember, because it is easy to forget:
Adding a new spell to your spellbook is fairly cheap, depending on level.
Assuming you don't have a Blessed Book, so, new spell acquisition, outside of freebies form enemies, or from PC casters:
1st level: 15 gp (10 to scribe, 5 to purchase access from a generic NPC Wizard)
2nd level: 60 gp (40 to scribe, 20 for access)
3rd level: 135 gp (90 to scribe, 45 for access)
4th level: 240 gp (160 to scribe, 80 for access)
With a Blessed Book, of course, the cost drops to just the access cost, but the book costs 12k gp.
With the Cypher Script feat (I think it is), scribing cost drops by half, access cost remains the same.
There are a couple of other feats of note, too, like the one that lets you fill an open slot in one minute, instead of 15 minutes...
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Ash Storm, Ice Spears, Mad Monkeys, Rain of Frogs, and Sleet Storm are all 3rd level options that can be good offensive/battlefield control spells and don't allow a save (well, Ice Spears might have one for half damage, but the cover effect still happens, and if they do happen to fail their save, you get the free trip attempt).
Monstrous Physique I and II both have a lot of uses (lots of natural attacks, fly speed, Darkvision, etc., just like Alter Self but better).
And, again, I stand by Snowball. There is no save to reduce the damage, just to avoid the Staggered effect. It isn't subject to Spell Resistance (unlike Magic Missile). It can be Intensified. It's one of the best blasting spells in the game. My Sorcerer still uses it at 14th level (granted, often Quickened and/or Intensified).
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Just noticed, don't you have too few 3rd and 4th level spells prepared? If you get your int up to 18 you'll even get another 4th level spell.
With 16 INT you should have:
5 1st level spells and your school bonus spell Total: 6
4 2nd level spells and your school bonus spell Total: 5
4 3rd level spells and your school bonus spell Total: 5
2 4th level spells and your school bonus spell Total: 3
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Venture-Captain, California—Sacramento
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I think you have a cut and paste error there.
did you mean?
With 16 INT you should have:5 1st level spells and your school bonus spell Total: 6
4 2nd level spells and your school bonus spell Total: 5
4 3rd level spells and your school bonus spell Total: 5
2 4th level spells and your school bonus spell Total: 3
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We covered the open spell slots earlier, he was copying from an earlier list of spells prepared, from a previous game, at a lower level.
There are potential benefits, by the way, from leaving a slot or two open, especially if you have a way to prepare them quickly. They can help get the "perfect" spell for a circumstance that was unforeseen earlier. Normally, it tales 15 minutes to fill that open slot, but there are a couple of feats that can help that, reducing time to one minute with one, and halving it with another, for 5 rounds with both.
Of course, the more spells in your spellbook, or at least the wider the effects range, the better this works.
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More Numbers and Stuff:
Languages: No additional ethnic language from Taldan. To my recollection, headbands do not grant additional languages and one increase during levels was was to int, which is not retroactive to my knowledge. Common plus one language from initial intelligence is correct.
I'm only addressing this as everyone else has more advice about being a caster than I. You're right, Taldans don't get additional languages.
Intelligence: If my Intelligence modifier increases, can I select another bonus language?
Yes. For example, if your Int is 13 and you reach level 4 and apply your ability score increase to Int, this increases your Int bonus from +1 to +2, which grants you another bonus language.
Technically, Int-enhancing items such as a headband of vast intelligence should grant a specific language (in the same way they do for skill ranks).
So this means your headband you bought comes with a specific language known just like it comes with a specific skill.
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Venture-Lieutenant, Netherlands—Leiden
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Cast Monstrous Physique II at the start of battle. Change into a grendel. Gain 3 massive attacks, 4 with haste.
I'm not sure that's legal. I think Grendel is a unique monster, so not a legal polymorph target.
I'd been eyeing him for my Investigator, but I don't think it's gonna work.
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tl;dr;
This character will never compete in the DPR olympics.
He's a solid addition to the party who's tough as nails and has plenty to contribute though.
I'm good with that and thanks for the suggestions. The bull rush was one of the elements I retrained into, removing feats that I wasn't use for an option to throw people if I wasn't the only melee character in the group.
With a Blessed Book, of course, the cost drops to just the access cost, but the book costs 12k gp.
With the Cypher Script feat (I think it is), scribing cost drops by half, access cost remains the same.
Right, the book cost does drive that decision. The spell costs will hurt but I do not believe that I will spend that much on spells. Maybe if I were still before making other big purchases prior levels, but right now scribing costs total estimates appear to be less than 5000 if I am picking and choosing what I would likely prepare.
Cast Monstrous Physique II at the start of battle. Change into a grendel. Gain 3 massive attacks, 4 with haste.
I do appreciate the suggestion. I wasn't aware of the grendel as a monstrous humanoid, however with the CR and mythic nature, I would be comfortable with more common forms.
I didn't see if your arcane bond was an item or a familiar. If item, enchant it as an AOMF. If familiar, then you might consider the feat Improved Shared Spells (I think that is it) and casting Monstrous Physique II on you and your familiar in the same round for those attacks.
It is a toad familiar, but while it is as tough as 7th level Ezren, he is still as tough as 7th level Ezren so I am not keen on throwing him into melee. If there was any trick I would be prone to do, I would cast monstrous physique II to turn my toad into doppelganger, then give it bows, laser rifles, wands, and low level scrolls I had handy then let it attack from the rear (If I wasn't reasonably sure whatever GM would shut me down with "no, I'm not letting you do that.").
So this means your headband you bought comes with a specific language known just like it comes with a specific skill.
Thank you for for letting me know that.
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Cast Monstrous Physique II at the start of battle. Change into a grendel. Gain 3 massive attacks, 4 with haste.I'm not sure that's legal. I think Grendel is a unique monster, so not a legal polymorph target.
A Formian Queen is pretty vicious too with a pair of 4d8 claw attacks. Take Improved Natural Attack: Claw to make them 8d6(?) claw attacks. And then click your heels for +1 attack using Boots of speed.
I wonder if someone has a list of viable polymorph targets. I bet there is one somewhere.