Post/Author/DateTime	Post
tyrecian 12-05-06, 02:43 AM	First of all I want to caveat this by saying that I am playing in a campaign that is CORE ONLY. That being said (PHB MMI and DMG) I would like to ask, does anyone really know of anything better than pure wizard for the money? I am currently lvl 9, and pure wizard. I didn't specialize because I wanted to go ahead and not be barred from any combo i wanted to take. I don't *really* regret the extra spell. I mainly use evoc/conj for a variety of reasons and many are known through all manner of previous posts. Even the archmage seems kinda warbly since one must sac a high level spell slot. So in core, to progress in a fairly high mortality campaign (3 deaths + one TPK of 5 players) what can i do to alter my wizard that makes people say that post 5th wizzie is useless? Or is that just so much hot air? I have thought about the ArchMage at higher levels, and i don't really know how i feeel about losing the spell slots, since it is permanent loss and I must admit i think i would rather have the high level spell slot than some of the options... then again i might be drastically wrong, hehe... anyways thoughts? My party role is the glass cannon. I use a variety of conjuration (mostly fog line) to deal with multiples and evoc them heavily. I also enjoy combos (telekinesis/flame arrow, polymorph/mage armor [brass dragon is +8 NA at lvl 9], enervate/phant killer, etc.). that being said, i am pretty good as a glass cannon reinforcer. I also use wands when i am only needed as a blaster (aka warlock ;) ) and so i wouldnt so much be interested in watterring down my spell power for evasion/turning etc. Mystic thurge is completely out. advice is appreciated, i enjoy hearing input from these boards, so many great ideas. Our party has gone pure class for this next try at the adventure, so we are now cleric/wizzy/paladin/rogue. Our 5th man quit as he takes death kinda hard.
Endarire 12-05-06, 03:20 AM	Were you at character creation, I'd vote wizard7/loremasterX/archmageX. -EE
tyrecian 12-05-06, 03:27 AM	so is loremaster worth taking now? I could qualify for it... does it offer better than wizzy? I dont have the DMG, but i guess since my lvl and intel bonus would grant me additional spells it must be pretty nice, or save bonuses... and legend lore eh
Tenebrous_Sage 12-05-06, 03:27 AM	What you're doing with Archmage, essentially, is trading endurance for versatility. It is worth the investment for some abilities, and for some concepts. Mastery of Elements is invaluable for any blaster type (sonic fireballs anyone), Mastery of Shaping is very useful for battlefield control and blasters. Reach spell (or whatever it's called) is useful at high levels, but not really vital. If Archmage still doesn't look good to you consider Loremaster. They have some useful class abilities, and a lot of flavor.
Venator 12-05-06, 04:44 AM	Straight Wizard is fine and quite powerful in and of itself. Yuor options are basically just Loremaster and Archmage... with the former being so feat heavy its, in many cases, not worth taking. Loremaster is... different. You lose some of the wizard feel and pick up some true "bookworm" abilites. IMO you sacrifise a bonus metamagic feat or two for some 'character' your character may or may not need / want. Wizard is certainly not a dead class after 5th, and only appears to be when you have alternatives that really push the power cruve... like Incantatrix. Other than Incantatrix there really arent to many PrC's that are just straight up better than wizard unless you are going for a certain feel. Core only, Wizard 20 is perfectly fine and very, very viable / powerful.
AkaKageWarrior 12-05-06, 08:53 AM	I recently saw 2 archmages in the game - wow! Mastery of Elements and Mastery of Shaping are a must for every damage dealing spellcaster! AKW
angryman 12-05-06, 09:00 AM	I recently saw 2 archmages in the game - wow! Mastery of Elements and Mastery of Shaping are a must for every damage dealing spellcaster! AKW And not just damage. Wizards have A LOT of AOE spells, not just damage spells. Casting a Waves of Exhaustion while excluding the fighter is well worth the ability alone.
BelRex 12-05-06, 09:58 AM	What race are you? There may be racial sub levels that could help, or racial prcs.
DwarfPcfan 12-05-06, 10:24 AM	First advice I'd give is to go for Mage of Arcane Order to abuse spellpool and bonus metamagic feats ( wich actually come up faster withn the PrC) If you were an elf I'd suggest the generalist wizards substitution for wizards in RoW. I once played a gnome wizard 10/mage of the Arcane Order13 from 1rst to 23rd level and he was the best character I ever played from every perspective...
Yorath_theWolf 12-05-06, 10:50 AM	ummm guys in your zeal to help you're over looking that the posterd can't go MotAO or use Racial Subs cause 1) they're not Core(PHB, MMI, DMG) and 2) he's already 9th lvl. but yeah, as has been stated Loremaster's great(though it'd be better to go into it at 7th lvl so ya got 3 lvls free there at the end to pick up Archmage and Mastery of Shapeing, Mastery of Reach, and if this was 3.0 Arcane power +3. but anyway, Loremaster rocks, sure you lose a metamagic feat or 2 but that's a pitance to what you get. you'll be able to boost all saves, grab an extra feat, and pick up an extra spell or 2 for going into the PrC. ALL good things. also, IF the game goes Epic, well you'll have a 10 lvl PrC to qual for Epic as well as 3(well in your current build's case 1) lvl of Archmage for some special abilities(in your case with just 1 lvl of it, Mastery of Shapeing seems to be the best bet). so yeah there's nothing but good going into Loremaster to get some usefull abilities and do more than advance your familer(assumeing you have one).