Hey everyone,
Usually I come to the forums with very convoluted questions, but this time around I have a more... Straightforward one :D
What 2nd level spells would you advise for an Inquisitor Archer? I am getting two 2nd level ones with my level up, and honestly there are so many good options (Align Weapon, Bloodhound for the combo, Boneshaker, Ghost Whip, Invisibility, See Invisibility, Litany of Duty, etc etc) I am having a hard time deciding...
Which ones would you consider 'essential'?
Thanks!
Holy water balm can substitute for align weapon (good) - chaos or law are less frequently used, and vanish may be as good as its big brother invisibility. You probably don't want save based spells though that depends a bit on how much Wis you have. Litany of duty may not be useful against many effects, and your will save's likely to be good anyway. Ghost whip is cute but not one to get first.
Bloodhound has more out of combat utility, see invisibility more in combat utility. If there's someone in the party who can cast glitterdust I wouldn't get see invis.
Weapon of awe is a useful combat buff especially if you use a crossbow. Mindshock is very similar.
Hunter's lore is useful and if there isn't someone else in the party who can cast it resist energy is useful.
Focused scrutiny can be a serious face skill buff.
Making a few assumptions, if you're an archer with about 14 Wis who isn't particularly a face character, you have a useful combat buff like divine favor already, you don't have interesting racial or deity spells and there's people in the party who can cover some spells then I might get bloodhound (utility & find invis/stealthed in an emergency) and spiritual squire (aid another for you or an ally, maybe block charges plus utility). YMMV.
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Personal suggestions:
Align weapon - especially if you are neutral
Resist energy - especially if no one else in your party can cast it.
See invisibility - especially if someone in your party likes to turn invisible.
Tongues - just good.
Weapon of awe - good when you are expecting a fight to start soon. Mindshock is similar but I prefer awe's duration and wider array of targets that can be affected with the damage boost.
There's a ton of good out-of-combat buffs and ones that are excellent in a particular type of campaign, but those are some of my top picks. One thing you may want to consider picking up later is cure moderate wounds. Mainly because the level 3 and 4 inquisitor spells are SO good you probably won't be able to squeeze in a healing spell there. Again, depends on your group.
Whenever I played an Inquisitor I focused on buff/defense spells and utility spells, not offense.
Personally I would avoid offensive spells as you're unlikely to make them work (with your likely low Wisdom, since you should focus on dex).
Since you're a spontaneous casters pick things that are generally useful and not too niche. Some of my personal go to spells are Resist Energy and See Invisibility.
Acute senses.
+10/20/30 to perception is great
The bonus to perception is nice, but it only lasts 1 minute per level.
To me trying to estimate when I would need that bonus is advance is pretty hard, and it's also pretty easy for that to wear off in a dungeon.
If you know you're really going to need a perception bonus it could be great. But this might be something better as a scroll or even wand. Even at the lower static bonus.
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See invisibility would be my first choice. You shouldn’t need to cast in combat that often. Even if the party has someone with glitterdust, see invisibility’s duration will mean you won’t get surprised by an invisible enemy, and you can tell the person with glitterdust where to aim.
Resist energy is good. Or align weapon. The situational spells people pointed out that you can take advantage of due to being a spontaneous caster.
If you’ve invested in Intimidate (what Inquisitor hasn’t?), then I like blistering invective just for the fun of it. But it’s not going to be as effective as some of the ones others have mentioned.
Thank you for the feedback everyone.
And yes avr, your assumptions are mostly correct :D
I usually like to split my options between offensive and defensive, and it seems See Invisibilty gathers a lot of consensus. I am grabbing that one for sure.
Resist Energy is brutal, though my saves are pretty reasonable at this moment. So perhaps I would not take it, and instead go for an offensive spell - Weapon of Awe?
Or I can think the other way around, just assume my damage buffing spell will be only Divine Favor for now, and grab Resist Energy after all.
Decisions, decisions...
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My experience was that Divine Favor/Power was the only buff I would spend time casting in combat. Everything else was either a pre-combat buff or a situational spell (with blistering invective sometimes for fun, because a Halfling intimidating a room full of Giants was worth it). First round was often swift for judgement, standard divine favor, move up. Then swift for Bane and attack on round 2. Much more than that and combats would be mostly over before I ever got to attack. I was running a gunslinger inquisitor, so moving up to get into the 1st range increment was important. You may not need to factor that in.
Weapon of awe is a minute/level spell, so if you feel like you can regularly predict within a few minutes of when a combat is going to occur in your game, then it would fall into the pre-buff category. But I always found I'd get more use out of something situational that a prepared caster might not have ready when it was needed.
If you have access to defending bone (Gm doesn't restrict it to Pharasma), that is another one to consider. A lot of things have bludgeoning damage, but it helps. Clay skin or stoneskin are obviously better options for DR, so you might stop using it if you take those later (maybe retrain it or swap it out at 8th level for something else).
I agree with Ferious Thune.
A big problem for the Inquisitor is action economy as an archer and spell caster. The best spells for you are ones that last 10 minutes/level or longer so you don't have to compete between making an archery full attack or casting a spell. Some spells are really worth casting in combat, like Divine Favor/Power but I usually wouldn't spend time casting more than 1 spell in combat.
Understood!
I was initially fully convinced on See Invisibility, but after mulling it over for a while, and with avr's suggestion - what about Bloodhound as alternative? If I pack some pheromone arrows, that can also double as an offensive option? And it has additional utility.
Second spell would then be Resist Energy.
Sounds decent?
Note: My best option at this level against incorporeal would be the Weapon Blanch - ghost salt, right?
Bloodhound isn't bad. But if you're doing it for scent, you could probably pick it up via items.
I don't know what's available right off hand, but I'm guessing there's something.
In terms of dealing with an invisible enemy, See Invisibility is going to be way better than even scent.
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Ghostbane Dirge is on the Inquisitor list, but it allows a save, and generally that’s a bad thing for inquisitors due to having a lower save dc (unless for some reason you prioritized casting stat).
Ghost salt arrows are cheap enough and presuming your GM lets them last indefinitely until used, they should be standard for any archer once you can afford the ghost salt.
Also, incorporeal is something that will affect anyone who uses weapons to deal damage. This means, hopefully, you will have a full caster party member who will be capable of casting ghostbane dirge.
If not, if you have a magical bow you will still deal half damage. Which isn't great, but doesn't leave you completely shut down.
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Ghostbane Dirge is a spell that should be useful but when you actually do the math is terrible.
1. Allows a save
2. Allows SR
3. Has a 50% miss chance against incorporeal creatures unless you use the Ectoplasmic metamagic feat (or are incorporeal yourself).
Corporeal spells and effects that do not cause damage only have a 50% chance of affecting an incorporeal creature.
The third one is the stupidest to me. The spell is literally intended solely for use against incorporeal creatures, but doesn't bypass that miss chance.
I think most of us ignore that 3rd one given the entire point of the spell, but technically you're correct.
Thank you for all the advice guys - in the end I went with Resist Energy and See Invisibility. Will update you on how it goes ;)
I'd just go for the communal version of Resist Energy but otherwise sounds fineThank you for all the advice guys - in the end I went with Resist Energy and See Invisibility. Will update you on how it goes ;)
Resist energy communal isn't a second level spell though. The OP was specifically looking at 2nd level spells.
Now, when they get 3rd level spells it would be smart to replace it with communal resist, using the classes rules for replacing spells as they level up.