I'm playing a Fey bloodline sorcerer, currently 2nd level, about to go to third.
STR 10 DEX 14 CON 11 INT 12 WIS 10 CHA 16+2 (18 point build)
Traits: Reactive, Missionary (Sense Motive)
Feats: Spell Focus: Enchantment, Improved Initiative
0 Spells: Mend, Mage Hand, Light, Detect Magic, Acid Splash
1 Spells: Sleep, Burning Hands
We're about two sessions away from third level. Any recommendations for what 1st level spell to pick up, and what feat to pick up?
Using Unseen Servant to reload the crossbow seems amusing - with two heavy crossbows, it effectively turns a 1st level spell into a 1d10/round damage spell.
At 4th, I'm bumping CON up. My 2nd level spell at 4th will probably be Scorching Ray. I will probably replace Sleep with something else, likely Grease or Silent Image at that point.
At 5th I get Hideous Laughter as a bloodline spell, and will probably pick up Greater Spell Focus and Eagle's Splendor.
It's the feat/spell choices choices at third that are making me scratch my noggin.
Mage armor is a solid choice. +4 armor for 1 hour/level.
Grease is good for slowing melee types down.
Obscuring mist is useful for shutting down ranged attackers.
Enlarge person is good for buffing melee types.
Silent Image is a very versatile and useful spell.
Eagle's splendor is an ok spell. The problem is by that point, you will need to get at least a circlet of charisma +2, and that will cut into that spells usefulness a lot.
Color Spray is always a good 'knockout' spell. Even at high levels, a 1-round Stun can be useful.
Charm Person is very good, especially for the Fey Bloodline (+2 to DC of Compulsion subschool spells).
Or you could opt for the 'evergreen', Magic Missile (I would have personally chosen that spell over Burning Hands without a doubt).
Shield has a low duration - still too low for a 3rd level spellcaster. Mage Armor is a better choice (although Mage Armor would become useless at high levels, thanks to Bracers of Armor, while there are very few things an Arcane caster can take to have a Shield bonus and no Armor Check Penalty - basically, on Core, only Ring of Force Shield if I'm not mistaken...)
For the feat, have you considered Toughness ? Having a +1 hp/level is good, especially considered that some of your 'tricks' (like Laughing Touch) and spells (like Burning Hands) would require you to come to close-quarters to your enemies.
Or maybe a Skill Focus (Use Magic Device) if you have decided for a 'jack-of-all-trades' Sorcerer who could use various kind of Magic Items.
At 5th level I would personally opt for Mirror Image, Glitterdust, Invisibility or Web. As Charender said above, Eagle Splendor is good... but a permanent item which grants +2 to Charisma is easy to obtain at such levels (and taking a spell only to have an additional +2 for a few minutes is not worthy, IMHO).
Just my 2c.
Charm Person is very good, especially for the Fey Bloodline (+2 to DC of Compulsion subschool spells).
The fey bloodline only effects enchantment(compulsion). Charm spells are enchantment(charm).
The fey bloodline only effects enchantment(compulsion). Charm spells are enchantment(charm).
Hmm, you are right. I forgot Charm Person is not a 'compulsion' spell, but it is only a 'charm' spell.
Well, the spell is still good (and the OP even took Spell Focus - Enchantment), only thing is that it is not quite so good in combat (+5 to the save of the enemy could have been ameliorated by the +2 DC - but again, this is not the case...).
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Well, with the Fey Bloodline and the Spell Focus the obvious (but maybe not the best) choice has to be Hypnotism.
I know it's not a popular choice for most spellcasters, but this guy seems optimised for it and, worked well, it can have more utility than a Charm Person (since it can hit a crowd), although admittedly mostly in urban-type environments where you're likely to meet more low-level people whom you want to get favours out of, and who start off with at least a 'neutral' attitude (instead of the party Fighter killing them all before you've even finished your pitch!). The thing to remember about Hynotism is that one lasting 'request' you get to make which lingers after the spell finishes - word that well and the spell can rock.
Without access to lots of low-level but useful NPCs its probably not really worth it though - not since you're already hitting third level, and all the 'max of X hit dice worth of targets' spells tend to drop usefulness fast as you start to level.
With Acid Splash, Sleep, and Burning Hands you've got something of a 'blaster' set going on, so lot's of combat in the game then? Mage Armour is pretty much 'industry standard' for helping you not die, and being a Sorcerer you can always swop it out later if you get hold of Bracers of Armour.
Personally, I like your Unseen Servant call - some much needed utility to your primarily combat-based spell set (plus the whole crossbow thing, natch... ;) ).
For the Feat I'd go... Improved Unarmed Strike! Purely 'cos delivering a Laughing Touch via a punch to the nose or a swift kick to the happy sack appeals to my sick sense of humour... ;)
We're doing Legacy of Fire, and to date, most of the encounters have been combat.
Having a save DC 18 Sleep spell at 1st level probably caused my GM to crunch antacids. It was "Cast spell. End fight."
So far, the rest of the party (and a proper appreciation of just how unpleasant blood stains would be on my fine silk clothes) have kept me from getting hurt too badly...and most of my actions have been:
Round 1: I go first (With +8 to initiative, this is not unusual): Start Sleep on targets that are about 60' away.
Round 2: Sleep goes off. Most enemies go thud. Rest of party walks up to do mop up.
This will eventually stop working.
I will probably swap Sleep out for HypnoToad
My thinking on Unseen Servant is that it gives me a lot of utility casting with one spell, but right now, yeah, I'm the blasty sorcerer with Sominex.
I chose Burning Hands because it's the only area effect damage causing spell at 1st level, and if a spell doesn't affect more than one target it's not a good choice for one of my limited spell slots.
So far, the choices I've been considering for feats at 3rd level:
1) Dodge
2) Toughness
3) Weapon Focus: Ray
4) Spell Focus: Evocation
Ones suggested here:
1) Skill Focus (UMD)
2) Toughness (matches one of my choices)
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Well, you need to make a decision. What kind of sorceror are you?
Forward sorcerers attack normal defenses like AC. Point blank and Precise shot are good here, as are ray spells and crossbows. DC's don't have to be high.
Reverse sorcerors attack saving throws with sky-high DCs. They rarely if ever roll to hit, and benefit from meta-magic feats like Heighten, Empower, and Quicken Spell.
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You build a guy with Fey Bloodline, and then took spell focus enchantment. Then you put most of your points into CHA. This says to me "I want to be an enchanter, a reverse sorcerer"
But now, you're thinking about Evocation? Weapon Focus? This says to me "I'm confused".
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Do NOT make the mistake that evocation is the only successful strategy in the game. You said yourself, sleep was hugely successful. Yes, slepp will wear off over time, but you'll get better spells like confusion and dominate person that will also be hugely successful.
When you get 2nd level spells at 4th level, you'll have almost twice as many spells a day, and you'll feel better about saving the crossbow for emergencies.
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My advice: Be an enchanter. Take an enchantment spell at every spell level, and then use the other spells for some utility. Buy a wand of magic missiles if you need to, or a scroll of scorching ray, if you are worried about doing damage, but recognize that hitting people for damage isn't Plan A for you. Ending the fight with a single spell is plan A, so focus on that.
Buy more scrolls. A lot more.
I'd take Mage Armor or Enlarge Person as your next spell, followed by Hynotic Pattern at 4th level. It's really good.
Do you ever use your touch attack? If you're in love with it, you could take Weapon Finesse, but it doesn't sound liie you ever use it.
Otherwise, use the feat to do something spells CANT do. Wasting a feat on dodge is silly when there's already Mage Armor and protection from evil (both great wands and scrolls too). I'd recommend Mage Armor or Toughness.
Skill Focus UMD is a good feat, but not for 3rd level. The reason is that you STILL won't be able to reliably hit those DC 20s. Take it later, if you decide you want it.
I would definately go +1 for the buff/controller route.
Fey sorcerers have lots of good battle field control choices.
Hypnotism, Hideous Laughter, Hold Person, Deep Slumber, Confusion all get the +2 compulsion bonus to DC.
Mix in a few other AoE save or suck spells like Web, Grease, and Slow.
Throw in some all purpose buffs like Enlarge person, Haste, Mage Armor.
Then pick up 1 solid damage spell for helping mop up after you have slowed, webbed, confused your enemies for your enlarged, hasted friends to clobber.
I mostly plan on doing battlefield control.
The reason why I'm dithering for third level is that at 3rd level my primary save or suck spell becomes MUCH less useful, and my alternate blasty spell is still kind of weak. And a save DC of 15 is much less fun than a save DC of 18 is...
Hypnotism is less useful in combat, but definitely worth swapping Sleep for at 6th, from the looks of it.
Mage Armor is a good general purpose spell - but so far, I've managed to avoid taking ANY damage, largely because there are a bunch of pointy headed sociopaths willing to charge forward on my behalf.
Enlarge Person lets me make a pointy headed sociopathic buddy much more effective as one - or would if any of them were using two handed weapons.
Magic Missile is less useful at third level than Burning Hands or a crossbow is (aside from its lack of saving throw...). Shocking Grasp requires I get close enough to touch someone, and if that's the case, I'll giggle-slap them instead and let the aforementioned pack of pointy headed sociopaths deal with the problem.
Unseen Servant is a very nice utility spell to pick up - it's got a zillion and one uses, and using it to reload crossbows is the tip of the ice berg.
Grease will eventually be added. It's too useful of a spell.
Long term, I see the 1st level list looking like this:
Hypnotism (Swapped Sleep for this at 4th or 6th)
Burning Hands
Prismatic Spray (learned at 3rd)
Grease (learned at 5th)
Unseen Servant (learned at 7th)
Entangle (Blooodline)
2nd level spells:
Hypnotic Pattern (learned at 4th)
Hideous Laughter (Bloodline at 5th)
Pyrotechnics (Learned at 5th)
In the current part of the plot arc, buying scrolls is almost impossible, ditto wands. I would so buy Mage Armor wands or scrolls.
So far, the consensus seems to be Toughness for the feat at 3rd level.
Dodge + Mage Armor gets my AC up into "Comparable to the Rogue".
Spell Focus (Evocation) makes my Burning Hands better, and improves the incentive to take other evocation spells down the road. However, if I'm doing damage with a spell, I'm at my least effective.
Spell Focus (Illusion) means that if I pick up Prismatic Spray as my next 1st level spell at 3rd level, it has a save DC of 16. Also boosts Hypnotic Pattern at 4th.
I expect to take Greater Spell Focus (Enchantment) at 5th level with Hideous Laughter.
I've narrowed it down to two choices.
Choice 1:
Feat: Toughness
Spell: Unseen Servant
Choice 2:
Feat: Spell Focus (Illusion)
Spell: Color Spray
Choice 1 offers more flexibility. And hit points. Not that I've actually been hit once for damage so far, so I'm still not exactly sold on it. On the other hand, piles of hit points are a waste, up until the point where they most definitely aren't.
Choice 2 offers an option for when the DC 18 Sleep spell doesn't work.
In looking over the numbers, I'm not convinced that Spell Focus (Evocation) is ever worth it. Blasting sucks.
I ultimately went with Choice 2:
Feat: Spell Focus (Illusion)
Spell: Color Spray
For 4th level, I'm looking at swapping Burning Hands for Hypnotism and taking Scorching Ray for my 2nd level spell.
At 5th level, I officially leave the Valley of Suck when I get Greater Spell Focus (Enchantment) and Hideous Laughter (Save DC of 20) as a bloodline spell. (I will probably also have a +2 Hatband of Shiny by 5th)
This is also probably where I take Glitterdust as my new 2nd level spell, and learn Grease.