Hello all! So, I'm outfitting a high-level BBEG wizard, and I am looking through what Quickened spells to give him (1st through 3rd levels). There have been some threads to this effect on the boards before, but they're all quite old, 2013, 2014, and there's been a lot of new material since then.
So here's the question: What are the best spells for a BBEG mage to Quicken, either on their own or in combination with some sort of other spell?
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Ill Omen is a fantastic Quickened spell, especially at high levels. Say that the BBEG researched a Wizard version of it.
No-save "get off me" spells like Hydraulic Push and Frigid Touch might be good, or at least unexpected. Quickened Spells don't provoke AOOs, so that could be handy.
Deja Vu is another unlikely choice, but can cause all kinds of trouble for an opponent if used at the right time. No save.
If you choose feats and abilities that abuse spells like Snowball or Snapdragon Fireworks, having quickened versions prepared can be nasty.
If he uses ray spells a lot, Quickened True Strike -- not so much for the to-hit bonus, because ray spells are likely to hit, but because it also negates miss chances from concealment, which are an important part of high-level defenses. Might also work for touch spells.
Quickened Spectral Hand allows him to use touch spells at a distance, and possibly from behind defensive barriers.
Quickened Blindness/Deafness is a great way to shut down enemy arcane casters, who usually need to see their target and often have poor Fort saves.
Quickened True Strike when you must land that touch attack of the next spell.
Quickened Mirror Image can be pretty effective.
Deja Vu is another unlikely choice, but can cause all kinds of trouble for an opponent if used at the right time. No save.
Deja Vu isn't as good as you think. Lots of people misunderstand this spell and think it's better than it is.
The target acts normally the round after you cast it, then repeat that action on the second round after you cast it. So there is no "right time" because you can't predict what action they will take after you cast it and hoping for a good restriction two rounds from now is not a great strategy. If the target has Spellcraft and identifies the spell they can deliberately choose an action they don't mind repeating after the spell hits them.
Vanish/Invisibility, Mirror Image, can be good defensive options.
Being able to go invisible and summoning in the same round is a powerful combination. Also Nondetection can be good if you're going that route.
Ear piercing scream if you're going for pure damage.
Grease is always an interesting spell, as Create Pit.
Obscuring mist/Fog cloud can make another great spell to avoid being targeted. Give your BBEG Fog-cutting lenses to be able to see.
Blindness/Deafness if you're going for SoS
For a higher level, being able to cast a quickened Dispel Magic is always great. And Haste, if he has minions.
I didn't mention any spell that he should have casted in advance, but if he is going to be caught unawares you might add some buffs to the list, like resist energy, protection from arrows, protection from evil/good/whatever, etc.
High level play (let's loosely define this as "where spells of level 6+ are likely to be flying around) is somewhat different from lower-level play. Many things that worked well at lower levels are likely to be completely ineffective (or at best marginal) against a high-level character.
For instance, invisibility is less likely to be great because enemies often have true seeing or see invisibility up. Things like globe of invulnerability, for instance, can completely shut down attacks by lower-level spells -- so a high-level caster's best bet is to use those low-level slots for self-buffs rather than attacking enemies.
Haste is something his familiar, or a minion, is likely to cast from a wand, instead of him using an action to do it. (An enemy 13th-level caster oould easily have 5-6 minions of 5th-7th level, for instance.)
Any high-level caster is likely to have a dozen or more extended hour/level spells up (he can have them up all day, why not?).
Lots of high-level stuff is "counter, counter, who's got the counter" -- if you can guess or predict what the enemy is likely to do, tailor your pre-cast defenses specifically for that occurrence. The winner is eithe r the one who wins initiative, or the first one to use something for which the enemy doesn't have a counter.
Invisibility can still be good combined with Nondetection, even though it's not perfect.
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Deja Vu is another unlikely choice, but can cause all kinds of trouble for an opponent if used at the right time. No save.
Deja Vu isn't as good as you think. Lots of people misunderstand this spell and think it's better than it is.
The target acts normally the round after you cast it, then repeat that action on the second round after you cast it. So there is no "right time" because you can't predict what action they will take after you cast it and hoping for a good restriction two rounds from now is not a great strategy. If the target has Spellcraft and identifies the spell they can deliberately choose an action they don't mind repeating after the spell hits them.
Agree with how the spell works. Totally disagree with your perspective on its usefulness.
The spell has no save and limits an enemy's options. A thoughtfully prepared offense with this spell can put the enemy into a difficult situation and force a difficult choice. You can predict what an enemy will do if you're thinking ahead and/or manipulating the conflict.A high-level Wizard has more than a few things up their sleeves that can mess up a PC's next couple of turns when combined with this spell.
Another note: If you prepare Quickened Dispel Magic and a regular Dispel Magic, you can cast it twice in a turn. This is a very strong option.