Polar ray


Pathfinder First Edition General Discussion


A have my arcanist lv 19 and soon I will reach lv 20 my question is how I get 25d6 if the limit lvl is 20


There's ways of boosting your caster level above your character level. As an arcanist you could spend points from your arcane reservoir for example.


Various things that boost caster level. There is an arcanist ability to do so. There is a tattoo. There is an ioun stone.


Ok I have potent magic that elevate y spell 2 lv and ion stone increase 1 I don't have spell specialization so I don't know from where I get the other two lv


You could put that ioun stone in a wayfinder. The normal resonant power is adding 1d4-2 to the caster level in addition to the ioun stone's base +1 caster level. If unique items from the rise of the runelords AP are OK in your game then the robes of Xin-Shalast are another +1. The spell death knell aura could give you another +1, but it has the [evil] tag for good reason. There will be other ways too.


Inquire of the GM if he/she intends to run the campaign beyond character level 20. CRB pp. 406-407 has some basic tips on extending play and characters beyond level 20. Not quite the equivalent of 3.x' Epic Level Handbook, but it's a start! :)


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You could also acquire a greater metamagic rod of Empower (73,000 gp) to add another 50% to the "base" 24d6 with Varisian Tattoo (Evocation), an ioun stone (orange prism) (30,000 gp) and Potent Magic: 36d6 total.

A greater metamagic rod of Maximize (121,500 gp) is a bit more pricey, but gives the polar ray with the tattoo, stone, and exploit a flat 144 damage vs. average 126.


Dragonchess Player wrote:

You could also acquire a greater metamagic rod of Empower (73,000 gp) to add another 50% to the "base" 24d6 with Varisian Tattoo (Evocation), an ioun stone (orange prism) (30,000 gp) and Potent Magic: 36d6 total.

A greater metamagic rod of Maximize (121,500 gp) is a bit more pricey, but gives the polar ray with the tattoo, stone, and exploit a flat 144 damage vs. average 126.

It does not do 36d6, it does (24d6)*1.5. There is a slight mathematical difference.


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thorin001 wrote:
Dragonchess Player wrote:

You could also acquire a greater metamagic rod of Empower (73,000 gp) to add another 50% to the "base" 24d6 with Varisian Tattoo (Evocation), an ioun stone (orange prism) (30,000 gp) and Potent Magic: 36d6 total.

A greater metamagic rod of Maximize (121,500 gp) is a bit more pricey, but gives the polar ray with the tattoo, stone, and exploit a flat 144 damage vs. average 126.

It does not do 36d6, it does (24d6)*1.5. There is a slight mathematical difference.

Most of the time, it's quicker and easier to just roll more dice. And more fun for many people, too.

Rolling more dice does make the total more likely to be closer to the average result, however.


Dragonchess Player wrote:
thorin001 wrote:
Dragonchess Player wrote:

You could also acquire a greater metamagic rod of Empower (73,000 gp) to add another 50% to the "base" 24d6 with Varisian Tattoo (Evocation), an ioun stone (orange prism) (30,000 gp) and Potent Magic: 36d6 total.

A greater metamagic rod of Maximize (121,500 gp) is a bit more pricey, but gives the polar ray with the tattoo, stone, and exploit a flat 144 damage vs. average 126.

It does not do 36d6, it does (24d6)*1.5. There is a slight mathematical difference.

Most of the time, it's quicker and easier to just roll more dice. And more fun for many people, too.

Rolling more dice does make the total more likely to be closer to the average result, however.

True, but what do you do when it is 23d6? It is best to use the same rule/math all the time.


What do you do when it's 23d6?

Pick a different spell. Polar ray sucks unless you're fighting a red dragon or something.


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thorin001 wrote:
Dragonchess Player wrote:
thorin001 wrote:
Dragonchess Player wrote:

You could also acquire a greater metamagic rod of Empower (73,000 gp) to add another 50% to the "base" 24d6 with Varisian Tattoo (Evocation), an ioun stone (orange prism) (30,000 gp) and Potent Magic: 36d6 total.

A greater metamagic rod of Maximize (121,500 gp) is a bit more pricey, but gives the polar ray with the tattoo, stone, and exploit a flat 144 damage vs. average 126.

It does not do 36d6, it does (24d6)*1.5. There is a slight mathematical difference.

Most of the time, it's quicker and easier to just roll more dice. And more fun for many people, too.

Rolling more dice does make the total more likely to be closer to the average result, however.

True, but what do you do when it is 23d6? It is best to use the same rule/math all the time.

23d6 -> 34d6 + 1d3.


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But if you are going for exact math, 0.5 * 1d6 != 1d3.


If you're throwing 34d6 then the difference between 1d6/2 and 1d3 on top of that is basically never going to matter.


I don't know why u guys are calculating more DMG if my question for polar day is how u get the other 5 faster lv (for non arcanist)


Your original question was answered I thought. You want to know how to get CL 25 with polar ray with a non-arcanist now? Why? And what sort of non-arcanist exactly?


Well to answer that it because I'm playing an arcane party an mi friend ask me how he can do it whit his evoker, we are playing my background in anslat before the earthfall, and I'm an arcanist lv 19, there is a evoker 18, magus kensai lv 19, and a bard lv 19


An evoker wizard could use any of the means of increasing caster level I mentioned aside from the arcanist/potent spell part of course. I don't think there's anything wizard-specific, but a couple more means for either of you are the preparation ritual in the Cold Irony spellbook, and using a urea alchemical reagent gives +1 CL to the effect of cold spells.

As mentioned by a few people above, polar ray is not a good spell for its level. Using a lower level spell with more metamagic (e.g. battering blast or cosmic ray) is going to be much more effective.


The reason we ask for polar ray is because we are in a campaign fallowing the champion savith to kill the serpentfolk god and right now our only guess (we get an 27 in knowledge) it that they have spell resistance and a little weakness to cold, false or true we are role-play whit that info

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