Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Jay_Ibero_911 04-15-08, 03:06 PM	He's currently 8th level, but here's the anticipated build: Race: Human Alignment: CN Name: Langmuir STR-10 (2) DEX-16 (10) CON-14 (6) INT-10 (2) WIS-8 (0) CHA-15 (8) Lv1(Sorcerer)Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot (retrain to Empower Spell at 8th) Lv2(Sorcerer) Lv3(Sorcerer)Exotic Weapon Proficiency (retrain to ??? at 9th) Lv4(Sorcerer)+1 CHA Lv5(Sorcerer) Lv6(Sorcerer)3rd Level Spells, Practiced Spellcaster (retrain?) Lv7(Rogue) Lv8(Spellwarp Sniper)+1 CHA Lv9(Spellwarp Sniper)Rapid Metamagic Lv10(Spellwarp Sniper)Precise Shot Lv11(Spellwarp Sniper) Lv12(Spellwarp Sniper)Feat, +1 CHA Lv13(Unseen Seer) Lv14(Unseen Seer) Lv15(Unseen Seer)Feat Equipment of note: Gloves of Dex +2, Amulet of Health +2, +1 Mithral Buckler, 10 Healing Belts, Anklet of Translocation Here are his current spells known: 0:Acid Splash, Detect Magic, Mage Hand, Mending, Message, Read Magic, Prestidigitation 1:Mage Armor, Lesser Sonic Orb, Magic Missile, Ray of Enfeeblement, Guided Shot 2:Scorching Ray, Glitterdust, Web 3:Haste, Fly NONC spells he's gotten access to in total: From SpC: Assay Spell Resistance, Frost Breath, Ray of Dizziness, Ruin Delver's Fortune, Surefooted Stride, Shock and Awe, Remove Scent, Burning Sword, Shadow Radiance, Deeper Darkvision, Ray of Clumsiness, Ray of Weakness, Ectoplasmic Armor, Spell Flower, Weapon Shift, Veil of Shadow From PHB2: Blinding Color Surge, Crown of Veils, Friend to Foe, Legion of Sentinels, Phantom Battle, Greater Mirror Image, Vertigo, Vertigo Field From Sandstorm: Scimitar of Sand, Protection from Desiccation, Wall of Sand, Sleep Mote, Scalding Mud From Stormwrack: Wave Blessing, Quick Swim, Favorable Wind, Fins to Feet, Pressure Sphere, Detect Ship, Disguise Ship All I know for certain is next level I'm trading out Web for Frost breath, because I'll be able to spellwarp it into a ray and turn it into a no save 1 round daze effect. At some point I also want Ruin Delver's Fortune. Greater Mirror Image is pretty sweet too, but I hope to be using Greater Invis most of the time at high levels. I'm also uncertain as to what feats I want to go with. Sculpt Spell and Split Ray are pretty up there, though Energy Substitution and Transdimensional Spell are under consideration as well, with quicken as a possible 15th level option. Sudden Empowered Spellwarped Split Ray Lightning Bolt can really sting...
kenobi65 04-15-08, 03:26 PM	Name: Langmuir Did you know he shares his name with a noble house in Verbobonc (one of the few surviving noble houses, in fact)?
copperwyrmling 04-15-08, 04:07 PM	NONC spells he's gotten access to in total: From SpC: Assay Spell Resistance, Frost Breath, Ray of Dizziness, Ruin Delver's Fortune, Surefooted Stride, Shock and Awe, Remove Scent, Burning Sword, Shadow Radiance, Deeper Darkvision, Ray of Clumsiness, Ray of Weakness, Ectoplasmic Armor, Spell Flower, Weapon Shift, Veil of Shadow From PHB2: Blinding Color Surge, Crown of Veils, Friend to Foe, Legion of Sentinels, Phantom Battle, Greater Mirror Image, Vertigo, Vertigo Field From Sandstorm: Scimitar of Sand, Protection from Desiccation, Wall of Sand, Sleep Mote, Scalding Mud From Stormwrack: Wave Blessing, Quick Swim, Favorable Wind, Fins to Feet, Pressure Sphere, Detect Ship, Disguise Ship Greater Mirror Image and Ruin Delver's Fortune? Jealous! ;) Greater Mirror Image is pretty sweet too, but I hope to be using Greater Invis most of the time at high levels. You may want to plan on Contingency at later levels to put Greater Invis up without action expenditure - it's not low-level enough to quicken efficiently, and spending a round self-buffing is usually not a good idea at high APLs. Greater Mirror Image is only an immediate action to cast, which makes it a very good self-defensive spell - whether you want it or not depends on how much you need extra defence. Unless you spend a lot of time in melee, I would look for a strong battlefield control spell as your first or second L4 spell, given that you're swapping your battlefield control spell (Web) for Frost Breath. L4 has all the best BC spells anyway - Solid Fog, Evard's Black Tentacles, Wall of Sand, etc. With anklets you don't need a teleport defence so badly, but having D-Door and Teleport on tap can still be very useful (for tactical movement, moving meleers into full attack range, bypassing obstacles where you don't have line of sight or line of effect to the other side, getting the entire party out of enemy battlefield control spells, etc) I'm also uncertain as to what feats I want to go with. Sculpt Spell and Split Ray are pretty up there, though Energy Substitution and Transdimensional Spell are under consideration as well, with quicken as a possible 15th level option. Sudden Empowered Spellwarped Split Ray Lightning Bolt can really sting... I would retrain Exotic Weapon Proficiency to Split Ray at L9 (the L8 retrain of Precise to Empower will provide the prereq for it). Sculpt is pretty marginal for you at the moment: you only have one spell that it works with - I would rather take Transdim or Energy Sub to make your rays work on more targets. If you take Evard's Black Tentacles, Sculpted Evard's becomes a very nice option, but I can't remember if your region has issues with it. If Enervation is allowed in your region then it's a very nice Split Ray candidate. Given most rays are Close range and you need to be closer still for your sneak attack, I've found Phantom Steed to be a helpful spell for getting into range, firing and getting back out to a safe distance. If you take Greater Mirror Image then this isn't so important as you can probably survive standing near the monsters for the whole fight, but it's another option (it also helps with avoiding cover in rounds where you've used your swift action on something else and thus can't do Guided Shot). At high levels Phantom Steed also becomes hours/level flight for the whole party, which is nice. You may want to swap Fly for something else and take Mass Fly at some point. Haste often gets swapped for Greater Magic Weapon at L12 (since a lot of meleers have boots of speed by then).
magebeast 04-15-08, 04:32 PM	Greater Mirror Image and Ruin Delver's Fortune? Jealous! ;) No kidding! I would LOVE ruin delver's fortune. My Sorcerer's saves are only ok, and running around with the ability to throw up +7 to any save (currently) would be awesome. Shock and Awe is a pretty cool spell if I remember correctly. What's your initiative usually like? Does Spellwarp Sniper lose a caster level? If not, I'd totally dump practiced spellcaster for a metamagic feat. Make it empower spell at 8 so you have your qualifying metamagic feat earlier, and you get to keep precise longer that way. EDIT: Heck, even if you do lose two caster levels I might consider just "eating" that loss.
UMiskatonic 04-15-08, 05:52 PM	You haven't asked a question, per se. What is it that you want?
Timlagor 04-16-08, 10:40 AM	No-save Daze is revolting. I'd usually say Assay Spell Resistance is a 'Gimme' but I'm not sure you need it. Unless you lose more spell levels than I think, I'd want Quicken at 12th ..this might be less of a priority if you have a lot of swift/immediate items. Split Ray on that silly daze is just too obvious to even mention. Sudden Maximise is better than Sudden Empower if you have a choice though I'm not sure I'd take either. At least we can console ourselves that he doesn't have either Transposition... yet.
magebeast 04-16-08, 12:50 PM	At least we can console ourselves that he doesn't have either Transposition... yet. My sorcerer has had benign transposition since 6. I look at the spell and I think awesome. Everyone else talks about how awesome it is! I have used it once, and I'm almost level 10. I often think, "well, I could use this, or I could cast haste" or, "I could use this, or I could d-door four of us over there...". Am I missing something?
copperwyrmling 04-16-08, 03:34 PM	My sorcerer has had benign transposition since 6. I look at the spell and I think awesome. Everyone else talks about how awesome it is! I have used it once, and I'm almost level 10. I often think, "well, I could use this, or I could cast haste" or, "I could use this, or I could d-door four of us over there...". Am I missing something? Well, my sorcerer quickens it, which is mostly what makes it better than d-door / teleport for her. Sometimes it's better than teleport/d-door on its own, but that's relatively rare: mostly I just use it as a swift-action reshuffle-the-battlefield spell and it's great for that. There was a point in the last APL 16 I played where the warchanter was looking very unhappy after soaking up a full attack, and we had a frontliner with inspire recklessness and a weapon that did an extra 7d6 damage against the creatures we were fighting (he was doing about 80 per swing), but he was on the other side of the room... it was very good to be able to transpose them, rescuing the warchanter while simultaneously putting the tank in place for his full attack (which easily splatted the monster). In a later combat, the first frontliner sacked his AC for maximum attack bonus (using inspire recklessness) and thus really didn't want to hang around for the Huge dragon's retaliatory full-power-attack full attack - it was good to be able to transpose him with the second (much higher AC) frontliner, allowing the second tank to take his full attack while getting the low-AC guy out of full attack range. The other times where I've seen BT be more useful than d-door / teleport were (a) transposing a fighter with the unconscious VIP to thwart an assassination while also giving our fighter a full attack, and (b) readying it vs spring-attacking dread-wraiths, to get a squishy out of the way and guarantee a tank his readied attack. My high-level sorcerer is also quite fragile, so she likes the fact that Benign Transposition (unlike teleport / d-door) doesn't leave her standing near the nasty melee monsters.
Jay_Ibero_911 04-16-08, 04:57 PM	Hmm, lots to think on. The reason I'm planning on trading out web is because I haven't been able to use is a single time in the first few mods since getting it, with the whole need to anchor it and all. The sudden empower I mentioned is a 1/day class feature of spellwarp sniper that only works on rays. I'll also have the ability to sneak attack with rays at up to 60ft instead of 30. Some of my choices will also depend on how the spellwarp ability interacts with metamagic feats, since I can only spellwarp spells of up to my spellwarp sniper level, capping at 5th level spells. For instance could I spellwarp a Vitriolic Sphere (5th level spell) and then apply split ray, or would that not work becuase it takes a 7th level slot? As far as needing an action for greater invis, I was planning on just having my familiar hold the touch charge and tag me with it the first round of combat, then duck inside my pack. If I ever make it to 15th with this character I'd be able to do contingency greater blink. Retraining into sculpt at 9 would let me sculpt both glitterdust and frost breath (when I'm not using it for single target auto-daze). Depending on interpretation I may or may not be able to a split ray spellwarped frost breath at that level. I do plan on trading out fly for mass fly when I get to that level (possibly sooner since I haven't used the spell meaningfully yet), and probably haste too, though at least haste has gotten a LOT of use so far. Solid Fog seems like a good pick of a first 4th level spell....drop it on a crowd giving the party some time to buff, then use spellwarped frostbreath to lockdown baddies as they pop out....
UMiskatonic 04-16-08, 05:33 PM	Solid Fog is a very nice replacement for Web, and IIRC, you can get airborne critters with it too. The thing about being a sniper is that you need range. This means you need distance from your target, and mobility. Solid Fog and Mass fly give you that.
copperwyrmling 04-16-08, 06:29 PM	For instance could I spellwarp a Vitriolic Sphere (5th level spell) and then apply split ray, or would that not work becuase it takes a 7th level slot? ETV, because it's not specified anywhere, but the metamagic-rod precedent (e.g. not being able to use a lesser rod of extend on spontaneously empowered false life) is not in your favor. As far as needing an action for greater invis, I was planning on just having my familiar hold the touch charge and tag me with it the first round of combat, then duck inside my pack. I have to warn you to expect serious table variation on this one. I used to try this with my sorcerer (and the Fly spell) every mod - I stopped asking after the fifth GM in a row ruled that the familiar would unavoidably touch something and discharge the spell within a minute or two. If GMs in your area are happy with it then go for it - it's not like it takes any extra investment - but I wouldn't expect too much. Retraining into sculpt at 9 would let me sculpt both glitterdust and frost breath (when I'm not using it for single target auto-daze). That's true - the 30ft range on Frost Breath does limit it somewhat as a Sculpt target, but area ref-save-or-lose spells are pretty rare. And indeed, Split Ray may not be so useful for you until you have a couple more levels of Spellwarp Sniper. UMiskatonic, he's going to be using Close-range rays (or 30ft-range, in the case of warped Frost Breath) with sneak attack (limited to 30ft) for his primary offence - he's probably not going to be doing much long-range stuff. That said, Solid Fog and Mass Fly are still excellent picks.
Timlagor 04-16-08, 06:30 PM	Some of my choices will also depend on how the spellwarp ability interacts with metamagic feats, since I can only spellwarp spells of up to my spellwarp sniper level, capping at 5th level spells. For instance could I spellwarp a Vitriolic Sphere (5th level spell) and then apply split ray, or would that not work becuase it takes a 7th level slot? Assume you won't be able to do that. The rules are very badly written but I would be surprised to find a GM that allowed that (though I'm sure there are a few). As far as needing an action for greater invis, I was planning on just having my familiar hold the touch charge and tag me with it the first round of combat, then duck inside my pack. If I ever make it to 15th with this character I'd be able to do contingency greater blink. That won't work at my table either. ETV but as far as I'm concerned teh 'ticker' on a touch spell starts when you cast it not when you deliver it. I do plan on trading out fly for mass fly when I get to that level (possibly sooner since I haven't used the spell meaningfully yet), and probably haste too, though at least haste has gotten a LOT of use so far. Not everyone gets ACCESS to Boots of Speed so you might want to hang on to that one. Mass Fly of course is the most powerful 5th level spell* so good call on that one. * most powerful open one at any rate.. I'm sure there's something sick I don't know about somewhere ;)
RanielK 04-17-08, 09:59 AM	Not everyone gets ACCESS to Boots of Speed so you might want to hang on to that one. True and even then chances are your CL will be higher than 10 so could potentially save them a use or three if combat actually went long. And for those that do have boots of speed, they can just not worry about being in range as they'll provide their own haste.
katrick 04-26-08, 05:55 PM	Feats, what about Spell penetration, apart from lsr orb, all your attack spells have SR. Then perhaps Weapon Focus (Ray)/Grt, Ranged spell Spec. i'm not seeing what EWP is for and PracSpell, +1 caster level won't really matter when you don't get the spell level. Personally i would retrain Precise at the level you regain it, but that's just me. Definately take Ruin Delvers thats insane. Out of the spells you have access to Assay spell resistance might be better than SP. Well, well, well, you can spellwarp an orb to get WF Ray, how lovely. katrick
Jay_Ibero_911 04-26-08, 09:26 PM	Feats, what about Spell penetration, apart from lsr orb, all your attack spells have SR. Then perhaps Weapon Focus (Ray)/Grt, Ranged spell Spec. i'm not seeing what EWP is for and PracSpell, +1 caster level won't really matter when you don't get the spell level. Personally i would retrain Precise at the level you regain it, but that's just me. Definately take Ruin Delvers thats insane. Out of the spells you have access to Assay spell resistance might be better than SP. Well, well, well, you can spellwarp an orb to get WF Ray, how lovely. katrick EWP was for Heavy Repeating Crossbow...it treated me very well at lower levels. The orb can't be spellwarped since it's not an area spell. Weapon Focus and Specialization are a complete waste for how little they give. I plan on trading Practiced Spellcaster out at 11th level, with 12th level retraining reserved for skills to qualify for Unseen Seer. I plan on taking Blast of Flame as a 4th level spell at some point to give me good area and no SR damage...which I can spellwarp and sculpt at later levels for more versatility.
Hariman 04-28-08, 12:56 AM	EWP was for Heavy Repeating Crossbow...it treated me very well at lower levels. The orb can't be spellwarped since it's not an area spell. Weapon Focus and Specialization are a complete waste for how little they give. I plan on trading Practiced Spellcaster out at 11th level, with 12th level retraining reserved for skills to qualify for Unseen Seer. I plan on taking Blast of Flame as a 4th level spell at some point to give me good area and no SR damage...which I can spellwarp and sculpt at later levels for more versatility. A little point of advice: See if you can spellwarp Arc of Lightning. I know Vitriolic Sphere + Spellwarping sounds fun (18d6 over three rounds is nice.) BUT your sorcerer will likely be better off just doing the 10d6 on the first round of the spell. The biggest problem with Vitriolic Sphere is that the enemy is probably still going to be able to act while you are waiting for those 2 rounds of 6d6 acid damage. Oh, have you looked at Rapid Metamagic? I didn't notice if it was mentioned before or not but having that move action and the option to take the feat Quicken Spell is something to consider.
magebeast 04-28-08, 01:26 AM	A little point of advice: See if you can spellwarp Arc of Lightning. I know Vitriolic Sphere + Spellwarping sounds fun (18d6 over three rounds is nice.) BUT your sorcerer will likely be better off just doing the 10d6 on the first round of the spell. The biggest problem with Vitriolic Sphere is that the enemy is probably still going to be able to act while you are waiting for those 2 rounds of 6d6 acid damage. Oh, have you looked at Rapid Metamagic? I didn't notice if it was mentioned before or not but having that move action and the option to take the feat Quicken Spell is something to consider. I dunno. If it lasts more than one round, Vitriolic Sphere is pretty nice. He can spellwarp the sphere, then follow up with a one-round boomer in the next round. Rapid is in his original build at level 9.
Jay_Ibero_911 04-28-08, 05:09 PM	Spellwarping Arc of Lightning is tricky because of the special mechanics of arc of lightning...the whole ARC part of targeting 2 creatures for the points...also, Arc caps at 15d6, so it is considerably better on the immediate damage side. I was thinking blast of flame as good sculpt spell, energy sub, and spellwarp candidate, with no SR and whatnot...only 10d6 cap though...
Hariman 04-28-08, 11:28 PM	Spellwarping Arc of Lightning is tricky because of the special mechanics of arc of lightning...the whole ARC part of targeting 2 creatures for the points...also, Arc caps at 15d6, so it is considerably better on the immediate damage side. I was thinking blast of flame as good sculpt spell, energy sub, and spellwarp candidate, with no SR and whatnot...only 10d6 cap though... I can't argue about Blast of Flame. It's good, but that cap of 10d6 is limiting. The major flaws of Arc of Lightning are that it requires two creatures as targets and that it is a Close range spell.