The shadow conjuration/evocation spell has its uses even without investing resources on it. The standard action casting time makes spells that require a long casting time makes spells like Contingent Action and Contingent Scroll viable in battle. And avoiding expensive materials makes spells like Draconic Ally a serious bargain.So what about investing some feats/class features on those spells to make them even better substitutes than most spells they mimic? Here is a build test I've come up with.
shadow magic build:
Race:Elf(grab Illustrious Urbanite for Spell focus_illusion and keep elven magic)
Class:Wizard(Pact wizard(shadow Patron covers almost all the spells you need——to cast Spontaneously)+ Exploiter Wizard(mainly to grab some bonus feats to get spell perfection on lv15,and the flexibile bonus on DC or CL is also welcomed.)
Looks like a pretty damned powerful build by far. Use ur argumented illusions to distract ur foes until u hit lv7(or 8 if you would rather get the spell from Patron for free) when shadow conjuration comes into play.At lv9, u get a persistent shadow conjuration at spell level 5. When you get lv15, you can cast a spell level 7 persistent+quicken+dazing shadow conjuration(-2 spell level from trait and class feature. A free quicken from spell perfection), at an extra 4 DC and 10 caster level against magic resistance. And when u get ur epic lv9 spells, nothing feels better than countering a timestop of a badass wizard, more importantly, you can roll twice and add ur int mod to that cl check.
Something feels odd about this: no matter how high the dc hits, when it comes to the control side of this spell, you are always casting a spell targeting will save and being affected by magic resistance. As a result, with all those resources invested,you are doing no better——or even a bit worse than a enchanting wizard casting confusion. You didn't get the Flexibility you were wishing for, on combat side.
Any advice on improving this build? What about focusing on the free quicken of a chosen spell and let other spells do the "control" work?
Illusion magic is great, as long as your GM understands when and how things actually get saving throws against your illusion spells...if they don't, it is about as fun as making out with a wood chipper.
The 2 big downsides of the shadow spells (Shadow Evocation, Shadow Conjuration, etc) are your targets all get to make 2 saves...the normal save for the spell you are mimicking, and the save -vs- illusions. If you focus on getting your DCs up high enough, it becomes less of an issue...especially if you are smart with your spell choices and targets...and you don't get them until later than the original versions of the spells, and they use up higher level spell slots...shadow evocation is a level 5 spells, while fireball is only level 3, etc.
That said, if you have a GM that understands how illusions work, and you know your way around the spell lists, illusion can be one of the most versatile and overpowered schools of magic in the game.
One thing to consider is the fact that Gnomes have a feat that is tailored towards illusion magic, so playing a Gnome (or a Human with the Racial Heritage: Gnome feat) can unlock some new and interesting options.
Effortless Trickery allows you to maintain concentration of an illusion spell as a swift action, allowing you to maintain multiple illusions at once, or just cast other spells while still maintaining your illusion, etc.
Depending on your GM, you may also be able to get bonuses on your DC to disbelieve your illusions if you throw in some actual spells from the school your are mimicking with your shadow spells...an enemy is more likely to believe your shadow fireball if they just watched you incinerate someone with a regular fireball.
Solid shadows is an obvious feat to get. If you can't be sure of getting hold of the Crook of Cidhureen then you might possibly want craft staff.
But yes, take the two most powerful wizard archetypes together and if you don't get a powerful character you aren't trying. For as long as their spells hold out anyway - a wizard without a specialist school isn't drowning in spell slots.
The big problem of illusion is the inherent unreliability. Either it works completely, or fails off the same level. Possible double saving throws, multiple resistances/immunities, or immunity to illusion effects outright. The DCs also climb lower than the saving throws at higher levels.
The others are right about the school's usefulness because the effects are strong on average. But the big disclaimer can't be avoided.
Thanks for the replies. As far as I'm concerned, improving "trueness" is an effective approach, but if it doesn't hit 80% or higher, targeting a shadow magic on high-will-save or illusion-immune foes is still a bad move.That said, combining Shadowcaster, Solid shadows,and two charges of Crook of Cidhureen will easily hit 100% "trueness" on shadow conjuration and evocation. As for the greater ones and shades, the metamagic feat and class feature can easily accomplish a 100%.
These are a lot of investments though. Especially when taking Shadowcaster means giving up arcane bond, 2 bonus feats for merely some bonus spells and a dark vision and 20% trueness. These are nothing to sneer at, but will definitely slow down the build.
So what about a second "focused spell", one that doesn't target will save and bypass SR? Aqueous Orb seems to be the approach. Targeting reflex, the weakest save on high level games, 2d6 non-lethal damage makes dazing spell available. Ignores SR, and with ur full control of the orb, selective becomes unnecessary. Combine it with dazing spell and its only weakness, unable to affect creatures larger than large, is rendered unimportant. Take Wayang Spellhunter on this spell and Yuelral's Blessing discovery, and you should be good to go. Maybe a bit too good that makes me wonder why not focus on conjuration instead.
My main caution is that in a high level campaign a disturbingly large amount of high CR creatures have True Seeing as a constant ability. Depending on the campaign's nature your illusions may be against 'immune' opponents 80% of the time. Especially if you are warring against devils or demons.
So what about a second "focused spell", one that doesn't target will save and bypass SR? Aqueous Orb seems to be the approach. Targeting reflex, the weakest save on high level games, 2d6 non-lethal damage makes dazing spell available. Ignores SR, and with ur full control of the orb, selective becomes unnecessary. Combine it with dazing spell and its only weakness, unable to affect creatures larger than large, is rendered unimportant.
Well, for one, Shadow Conjuration allows spell resistance even if the mimicked spell is SR:No. "In addition, any effect created by shadow conjuration allows spell resistance, even if the spell it is simulating does not."
Another suggestion, as you may have missed Shadow Enchantment from the Occult books. True, it'll be double will saves usually, but it doesn't have to be hostile enchantments and you just have your allies willingly fail their saves.
So what about a second "focused spell", one that doesn't target will save and bypass SR? Aqueous Orb seems to be the approach. Targeting reflex, the weakest save on high level games, 2d6 non-lethal damage makes dazing spell available. Ignores SR, and with ur full control of the orb, selective becomes unnecessary. Combine it with dazing spell and its only weakness, unable to affect creatures larger than large, is rendered unimportant.
Well, for one, Shadow Conjuration allows spell resistance even if the mimicked spell is SR:No. "In addition, any effect created by shadow conjuration allows spell resistance, even if the spell it is simulating does not."
Another suggestion, as you may have missed Shadow Enchantment from the Occult books. True, it'll be double will saves usually, but it doesn't have to be hostile enchantments and you just have your allies willingly fail their saves.
No I didn't miss out that spell. The only issue with buffing through shadow magic is that there's no need to boost its DC or optimize about metamagicing to make it useful. Thus a solid option as it is, little can this build offer about the buffing side till you get the free quickening.
As for the Aqueous Orb, what I meant was to cast it as a 3rd level conjuration spell on its own,instead of mimicking its effect. Honestly, conjuration spells are so powerful and flexible on the battlefield control side, ignoring SR only gets more powerful as the PC levels up.
Meirril wrote:
My main caution is that in a high level campaign a disturbingly large amount of high CR creatures have True Seeing as a constant ability. Depending on the campaign's nature your illusions may be against 'immune' opponents 80% of the time. Especially if you are warring against devils or demons.
And that makes the "second approach" even more important.
So what about a second "focused spell", one that doesn't target will save and bypass SR? Aqueous Orb seems to be the approach. Targeting reflex, the weakest save on high level games, 2d6 non-lethal damage makes dazing spell available. Ignores SR, and with ur full control of the orb, selective becomes unnecessary. Combine it with dazing spell and its only weakness, unable to affect creatures larger than large, is rendered unimportant. Take Wayang Spellhunter on this spell and Yuelral's Blessing discovery, and you should be good to go. Maybe a bit too good that makes me wonder why not focus on conjuration instead.
Aqueous Orb won't be the go-to solution. Reflex being the weakest save won't avoid the fact that at these higher levels, a high percentage of opponents will have inherent Freedom of Movement, or just won't care about the engulfing outright. Potentially having to lose the move won't be as forgiving as it is early, either. There's also seeing whether if the opponent takes zero damage due to the frequent DR or immunity to nonlethal damage, the dazing effect still stands as there's a heavy doubt about it.
I would try going Glitterdust instead, there's not better guarantees but it can potentially target several opponents, which compensates for the usually higher will saves. There's just hoping there's no blindsight, but would expect there's some during these sessions.
You could take deific obedience instead of greater spell focus. I don't know if it makes sense for your character, but Mahathallah's divine obedience grants a +2 to all illusion spell DC's.
