We just hit level 4. We had 1 Ninja die because he sorta did something stupid.
We were fighting a Big Shield+Bastard Sword guy, he was standing next to the door, the ninja went Invisible, got in the room with Acrobatics and attacked. Next action the Fighter closed the door using his shield to stop anyone from getting in, and fought the Ninja with only his Sword.
We tried to open the door, but we failed STR rolls and eventually Ninja died because he didn't surrender when NPC asked for it.
My most common spells are
1 - Grease Grease Color Spray Mage Armor
2 - Glitterdust Invisibility Invisibility
We were level 3 at the moment of this fight. We have an Oracle who is basically just healing, so far he has never cast Prot from Evil or Shield of Faith. He is planning on taking Hold Person at level 2 for one of his spells.
Thing is, I don't wanna rely on Save or Suck spells. I can get 1-2 Grease/Color Spray but I'm in need of more spells that are useful whole combat because we only have 2 damage dealers (now 1 because Ninja is dead).
Am I still too lowbie to use those kind of spells? I usually wait a bit for battlefield to set up and cast Color Spray or Grease on opponents that seems most dangerous and we're in a dungeon right now, so using Color Spray takes time to set up to actually hit more than 1 guy.
We're running Rise of the Runelords. Myself I'm doing quite fine, I maybe be thinking going more like a Buffing Wizard considering what spells the Oracle is taking
I would go for Flaming Sphere, then.
I would go for Flaming Sphere, then.
Ok, we're still on a Save or Suck spell, but at least I've got 1 try per level!
RPG Superstar 2015 Top 16, RPG Superstar 2013 Top 16
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Summon monster II for earth elementals. Power Attack, good Str, and earth mastery means they stand a good chance of hitting and doing respectable damage, plus they soak up hits, provide flanks, block enemy movement, and can even earth glide around obstacles.
Im not using summons. Im doing it on purpose so I can Just ignore it. It might seem a stupid idea, but Im trying to Play a more to earth caster. Anyway oracle is summoning too, i leave that to him.
Good idea on B hands
I would go for Flaming Sphere, then.Ok, we're still on a Save or Suck spell, but at least I've got 1 try per level!
I thought your problem was lack of damage and a surplus of control, not the "save" part.
I would go for Flaming Sphere, then.Ok, we're still on a Save or Suck spell, but at least I've got 1 try per level!
You don't seem to understand the actual grasp of Save or Suck spells.
Save or Suck means you either take enemies out of the fight by making them useless (Blindness/Deafness is an example), or you end up wasting your turn because they made the save. By your interpretation of a Save or Suck spell, spells like Fireball, Ice Storm, Lightning Bolt, et. al. are Save or Suck spells.
This is more of a fire and forget spell that deals damage per round.
If you don't want anything with a saving throw, spells like Snowball would be up your alley.
I would go for Flaming Sphere, then.Ok, we're still on a Save or Suck spell, but at least I've got 1 try per level!You don't seem to understand the actual grasp of Save or Suck spells.
Save or Suck means you either take enemies out of the fight by making them useless (Blindness/Deafness is an example), or you end up wasting your turn because they made the save. By your interpretation of a Save or Suck spell, spells like Fireball, Ice Storm, Lightning Bolt, et. al. are Save or Suck spells.
This is more of a fire and forget spell that deals damage per round.
If you don't want anything with a saving throw, spells like Snowball would be up your alley.
On Flaming Sphere I was mistaken, didn't notice that it's a move action to use it after the first cast.
I don't mind Saves, as long as the spell does something even when failing. For example, Summon Monster will at least provide flanking for a couple of rounds, maybe absorb some damage and with some luck deal some damage as well.
Grease is a nice spell as long as there's limited space where the difficult terrain can't be avoided (corridors and such).
I don't like Hold Person, not really a fun of Color Spray as well, but I didn't have many choices at first level.
Now I'm looking more at getting Prot from Evil on regular basis and even Communal Protection, I can always use my familiar to deliver the touch part.
I don't mind buffing the party or doing something that last for a bit on the encounter.
Damage seems to be a problem so far, once I get access to more spell slots I'll have to start packing up some damage spells to help on big guys.
Even if we are level 4 already, we barely played a week in game, so I really didn't have much time to craft some scrolls.
I did manage to buy a wand of Vanish that honestly saved my life a lot of times.
Imagine that as a Wizard in one encounter I had to withstand at least 10 hits while surrounded by 4 goblins dog and 2 goblins.
If you don't want anything with a saving throw, spells like Snowball would be up your alley.
Snowball has a saving throw attached to it...
I've been looking at some spells that I should always have prepared and this is what I think is good enough:
1- Mage Armor, Burning Hands (in case of swarms), Grease (difficult terrain and possible flat footed), Color Spray (I can't think of anything better honestly)
2- Invisibility, Protection from Evil Communal (or Resist Energy), Create Pit (but I think Cloud of Sickness, Web are really good choices, problem with is that they take a big chunk of space and might be hard to position it sometimes, so I went safe choice with Create Pit).
Overall all these spell are useful and most of them function without a Save.
I'm not really sure Prot from Evil is the best choice, I might take Resist Energy in its place.
I really like buffing, helping our melees, but sometimes they expect me to do damage (which is not best Wizard's choice), and I usually end up doing some buffing+crowd control because we will die.
I have a wand of Vanish which helps me on positioning, and I'm thinking on getting a Wand of Shield or Protection from Evil.
If you ask why, well, our Oracle is Medium armor+shield and he doesn't have a weapon, so if someone needs flanking I have to do it, because of our Slayer and Ninja (dead, who knows if he'll come back as Ninja or what). I'm adamant about not using Summon Monster because the Oracle plans to do it and I don't wanna steal his spotlight on that. Also, SM needs some updating every level and checking all the summons and slows down gameplay.
I'll be taking Craft Wand at level 5, so I'll have access to tons of crapy level 1 spells
Color Spray is going to start running out of gas soon. Time to switch it out for something else.
Obscuring Mist is good for shutting down archery attacks, if you get hit with those.
Ray of Enfeeblement can help reduce the opponent's ability to do damage, assuming you can hit them with a ranged touch attack.
Enlarge Person can help your melee types do more damage, but takes a full round to cast.
Ear-Piercing Scream does Sonic damage, very few creatures have energy resistance against that.
I personally am found of Snapdragon Fireworks. It works against swarms since the damage is to a 5' square. Damage is low, but you can move where you are hitting with it each round. Finally, you said this was a Rise of the Runelords game. Goblins are everywhere, giving them something to be distracted by can be useful.
Rayof enfeeblement is a joke and people reallyshould stop recommendin it.
Color Spray is going to start running out of gas soon. Time to switch it out for something else.
Obscuring Mist is good for shutting down archery attacks, if you get hit with those.
Ray of Enfeeblement can help reduce the opponent's ability to do damage, assuming you can hit them with a ranged touch attack.
Enlarge Person can help your melee types do more damage, but takes a full round to cast.
Ear-Piercing Scream does Sonic damage, very few creatures have energy resistance against that.
I personally am found of Snapdragon Fireworks. It works against swarms since the damage is to a 5' square. Damage is low, but you can move where you are hitting with it each round. Finally, you said this was a Rise of the Runelords game. Goblins are everywhere, giving them something to be distracted by can be useful.
Help me with Obs Mist, why does it shut them down? Does concealment avoid ranged attacks?
Enlarge Person was an idea, but our Slayer is using TFW, so the gain in damage is not that high, yes, his weapon damage goes from 1d8 to 2d6, but only +1 on main hand and nothing on offhand.
Ray is a great idea, my only issue with that is that I can only cast it as a first action because then I have -4 for melee and I rarely hit (my DEX is only 12).
Snapdragons seems a nice idea for swarm, since I can keep my distance. I'll have to check, because Burning Hands can help with many minions, but it's a dangerous spell to use if I have to go into melee, which I end up always doing anyway.
Create Pit is good. Even if they make the save to not fall in the pit, you are still providing battlefield control by limiting squares.
I really like the danger of falling into it for standing next to it too! It's basically a lot bigger when you consider this.
Obs Mist
I got it! I have total concealment and they can't locate me with sight, does that mean that I'm effectively invisible?
If you want your spells to have an impact regardless of die rolls, go transmutation specialist and just buff the living hell out of your allies. At this level things like bull's strength and enlarge person are very effective.
If you want your spells to have an impact regardless of die rolls, go transmutation specialist and just buff the living hell out of your allies. At this level things like bull's strength and enlarge person are very effective.
I'm already Conjuration Teleport Specialist. Honestly I chose it because of the power to teleport as Shift action, but I can start putting some nice buffs on the party, seems a good idea.
Are there any spells 1-2 that grant additional attacks or reroll? My Slayer keeps missing a lot, he's always rolling less than 10 and this has caused several issues sometimes.
Right now he's at 4 STR 4 BAB 1 Weapon, +1 Studied Target.
His damage is 1d8+4 +1 Weapon +1 Study.
So far my only way to help is Bull's STR but since I took Vale Familiar I'm planning already on making him a +2 STR, so Bull's STR loses power.
What else can I cast that gives +hit?
Obs MistI got it! I have total concealment and they can't locate me with sight, does that mean that I'm effectively invisible?
Invisible is another way to get total concealment, yes.
Archers would have to select which 5' square to target, have a 50% miss chance, and still need to hit your AC. If you want to shoot out, you can be at the edge of it and still have 20% concealment.
Against spells, it breaks line of sight but not line of effect. Can be useful, but not quite as good as other things.
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Ray of enfeeblement at 4th level does 1d6+2 Str damage. That is -1 to -4 to attacks and damage from one creature. It isn't my favorite spell, but if you know that the opponent is mostly about strength it can be effective. The more attacks the creature has, the better it works -- much more effective on a troll than a kobold.
I'm already Conjuration Teleport Specialist. Honestly I chose it because of the power to teleport as Shift action, but I can start putting some nice buffs on the party, seems a good idea.
Knowing your opposition schools would help here.
Edit: Would also be good to know if you went familiar or bonded item.
Create Pit, Flaming Sphere, Invisibility, Mirror Image and Rope Trick are my favourit level 2 spells on the Wizard list. Obscuring Mist, Grease, Feather Fall and Mage Armour are my favourit 1st level spells.
Love those spells! I'm looking better at Flaming Sphere, I might be able to pull some shenegamis with my Familiar.
Rope trick will be a must once I reach level 5, because I went crafting way and I need the time to craft.Nice introspection on Create Pit, makes a lot of sense. So far we've been in dungeons, so it's just a corridor or a 20x20 space, and sometimes it's hard to avoid enemies, specially having Color Spray.
I was able to survive almost every fight and dropped only once or twice, considering I was getting attacked like 7 times/round.
I'm guessing Line of Sight will be important for some spells (lile ranged touch attacks), I'm hoping the Target= 1 creature ones (they can't see me after all). I know I can't avoid AoE ones for sure.
Invisible is another way to get total concealment, yes.Archers would have to select which 5' square to target, have a 50% miss chance, and still need to hit your AC. If you want to shoot out, you can be at the edge of it and still have 20% concealment.
Against spells, it breaks line of sight but not line of effect. Can be useful, but not quite as good as other things.
Is there a reason you don't have Magic Missile, Ray of Enfeeblement, Shocking Grasp, Burning Arc, Flurry of Snowballs, etc...?
I'm only level 4, so Magic Missile is almost a wasted slot. Ray of Enfeeblement it's a 50/50. I have only 12 DEX +2 BAB (now that I'm level 4), and that's only a 3 to attack. Even if I go first on the initiative, sometimes we're facing weak creatures that are not worth a spell slot and I have to wait on the combat evolves to be sure I'm taking the best advantage out of my slots.
Usually our biggest problem has been our melees missing a lot of hits, and some not so good choices on the tactic level.The other ones you mentioned are generic damage spells, which I'm trying to avoid. I'm letting the melees do the damage part, I'm taking care of Buffing and help them set the battlefield without entirely destroying everything with 1 spell.
Knowing your opposition schools would help here.
Edit: Would also be good to know if you went familiar or bonded item.
Owl, for roleplaying purposes. My Wizard is a guy who was educated at Magnimar on the biggest Academy and found that many professors encouraged the use of Conjuration spell invoking any type of creature, including evil ones.
Ashamed of this, he just concentrated on studying and went back to Sandpoint, hoping to get some sort of nobility title to move up on the hierarchy and be able to modify something. Of course, getting raw power and tons of money through adventuring doesn't hurt either.I will not be taking Improved Familiar. I have Valet Familiar, so I'm focusing on crafting CWI, CWands and I'll be taking Staff like wand (wizard discovery) eventually. It's not really optimal, I know, but I love the idea of being able to craft crap wands and make the best use of them. Maybe a Wand of Dispel Magic, or classic Magic Missile.
Opposition Schools= Enchantment, Divination > not sure whether I should get Opposition School at level 9 for Divination.
I'm trying to build something that I like/enjoy but it's not OP. Even without feats I think Wizards (if well played) are over the top, so I should have no problems.
My idea of enjoying is making the others have fun while contributing to combat. With some level I'll start packing some damage spells to contribute in combat in a more visible way.
EDIt= screwed up all the quotes