Post/Author/DateTime	Post
ToastedAmphibian 04-24-08, 12:32 AM	Ive been thinking of making a character that specializes in magically buffing his companions. I know bards, marshals, crusaders, dragon shaman ect. are all good in this respect, and will be considered. However i am currently interested in evaluating the merits of the 4 Core casting classes. Druid and clerics are obviously the kings of self buffing, but im not looking to buff myself. So, of the 4 core casters, which offer the best prospects for a dedicated buffer? What spells are the best at each level? What feats would you suggest? If i where to be a specialist wizard, what school should i specialize in? (Please dont say conjuration, or, inversly, evocation. Atleaaast not without a compelling argument.... ill just assume your being unhelpfull/sarcastic) Abjuration sounds like it would be a good choice, but quickly looking over the wizard spells i dont see a whole lot there in the way of buffs. I personally belive that primary casters are WAY too powerfull, and as such always tend to build melee oriented characters, or combat oriented rogues. However, im thinking about making my next character a caster, in teh spirit of giving it a fair shot. As such, even if something is obvious, please feel free to point it out. Im rather new at this mage thing. Is it just me, or is the "Protection From X" line the best bargain spell out there? (Buff wise)
Omen_of_Peace 04-24-08, 01:18 AM	Transmuter 5/War Weaver 5 : Transmutation is definitely the best buffing school (Abjuration, Enchantment & Illusion also have some buffs). War Weaver is from Heroes of Battle, the best buffing PrC that exists.
ToastedAmphibian 04-24-08, 01:28 AM	Transmuter 5/War Weaver 5 : Transmutation is definitely the best buffing school (Abjuration, Enchantment & Illusion also have some buffs). War Weaver is from Heroes of Battle, the best buffing PrC that exists. Care to elaborate a little more? Its all well and good to know your opinnion, but its alot more usefull to understand yoru reasoning/thought process behind said opinion. Why abjuration? Why War Weaver? Why only 10 lvls? Any particular spells you would suggest? Where might i want to go from there?
Omen_of_Peace 04-24-08, 02:36 AM	WW allows you to affect several allies with a single casting of 1 spell, and to store one or more buffs that you can activate as a move action in the 1st round of a fight. The king of buffing spells is Polymorph, preferably on the meleer(s), but many groups rightly frown on it. I refer you to this guide (http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=1003624), but it's not oriented specifically towards buffing. A quick list for core low-level : 1- Enlarge Person (reach, more damage), Expeditious Retreat (mobility is king !), Reduce Person (+2 AC, +4 Hide) 2- Bear's Endurance is temporary healing, Fox's Cunning for your wizard spell DCs, Cat's grace for AC..., Spider Climb for mobility, Rope Trick to rest in peace (at level 8+ especially) 3- Haste, Fly: 2 of the most powerful spells for their level.
ToastedAmphibian 04-24-08, 03:53 PM	After getting a copy of the book, and looking at the warweaver class, ive stumbled upon the aswmness of a War Weaver Bard. Combined with sublime chord, this seems like a doable option. CL 19, +11 BaB and +6, +9, +12 saves. 2 9th level wizard spells, and acsess to bard spell list for things like CSW, and Greater Heroism. It sounds like a winner. Problem is, im having trouble finding spells that are both usefull and that dont overlap. Do blur, Displacment, and Greater Invisibility get checked seperatley? Id imagine that invisibility overrides the others as you cannot see the individual so the illusions wouldnt matter. But what of just blur on displacment? Is the tapestry destroyed after i cast the stated number of spells? It dosnt list a limit on how often i can make a new tapestry, so i assume i can make a new one every time i use the old one, if i have 10 minutes to spare. Do the quintessence spells coutn aginst the limits of the tapestry? I imagine they would, but it dosnt exactly say. What 6th 7th and 8th and 9th level spells would you recomend from teh wizard list?
mvincent 04-24-08, 05:04 PM	As a wizard I tended to be the party's biggest buffer. Before entering any dungeon most of the party would get the following buffs (which would usually last long enough for that day's crawling): - Greater magic weapon - Heroism - Mage armor (if desired) - Circle of protection evil - Telepathic bond - detect scrying - resist energy (electricity & cold) - protection from energy (fire) - Protection from Arrows - keen edge - Flame arrow - Alter self (transmitted via any ring of spell-storing): troglodyte form for +6 natural armor - Moment of Prescience (transmitted via a greater ring of spell-storing) During combat I'd often give out haste, fly and/or greater heroism (also enlarge, from a wand) If I were to pick a specific school to specialize in here, I'd pick transmutation.
ToastedAmphibian 04-24-08, 05:37 PM	Sadly, a sublime cord dosnt get acess to many of thoes spells. Most tragically, Protection from evil and Magic circle aginst evil are not on the bard list, and are 3rd level or lower, alogn with the resist/protection from energy spells. Can a WarWeaver use scrolls through a tapestry? Probably not, and im ragther certaint that a wand wouldnt work, nor a staff, as they both use spell triger completion. If i can use scrolls through the weave, are wizard spells lower than 4th level on my list from sublime chord? If not, can i use them with a sucessfull UMD check? Can i use Divine spells with a UMD check?