Post/Author/DateTime	Post
ZiggZagg 01-17-08, 07:45 PM	The 3 feats from Complete Arcane (Mage Slayer, Pierce Magical Protection, Pierce Magical Concealment) seem to be good feats to use to make a mage slayer character, or just someone who wants to be prepared for just such an event. However, I am looking for anybody who has actually used any of these feats. Were they worth the investment, or do they not work as well as I think they will? I mean, being able to dispel their defenses with a single attack seems like a good deal.
Sinfire Titan 01-18-08, 03:08 AM	A Karsite Warlock with Mage Slayer and the feat that lets you take 10 on CL checks can heal himself every round, so it is worth it. But yeah, the feats are ok. Lots of things have SLAs, and being able to AoO off of them every time makes this fun. Robilar's Gambit+Stormguard Warrior+Mage Slayer+High Dex+Time Stands Still maneuver=Dead Dragon.
mplindustries 01-18-08, 03:44 AM	I am actually playing a Binder right now (level 10) with Mageslayer and Pierce Magical Protection. In the most recent battle, I managed to sneak up on a powerful enemy caster and smash all his buffs, dropping his AC from 33 to somewhere under 20. From there we made quick work of him. He only survived long enough to take one action. Of course that one action he took was to cast a spell anyway, using Wings of Cover to stop my Mageslayer granted AoO. Anyway, Pierce Magical Protection is absolutely worth it. Mageslayer's usefulness wil definitely vary. If your GM likes Wings of Cover (probably one of the best level 2 spells available...up there with wraithstrike I think) its really going to be more like "Mageannoyer" than "Mageslayer." Otherwise, if you can get at least 10' of reach, mageslayer, and stand still, you can pretty much completely shut down any caster if you can get into their face in the first place.
ZiggZagg 01-18-08, 02:28 PM	So is the Pierce Magical Concealment worth it then? I really like the protection one, and have already seen a lot of instances where that would be useful. But how about negating concealment spells? Does it come up often enough to put a feat in to it?
Sinfire Titan 01-18-08, 02:47 PM	So is the Pierce Magical Concealment worth it then? I really like the protection one, and have already seen a lot of instances where that would be useful. But how about negating concealment spells? Does it come up often enough to put a feat in to it? Blink, Blur, and Displacement are common defenses against attacks for Gishes, and casters in general. Yes, it is worth it, but only if your DM uses those a lot.
ZiggZagg 01-18-08, 03:10 PM	Well we are still pretty low level, and I don't even know that this character is going to be set up as my mage slayer. But I have a character in mind for the future that will make heavy use of the ToB to combat mages, and was wondering if these feats are worth it. Sounds like they might be. Thanks for all the help!
Nightshade 01-18-08, 03:52 PM	Mageslayer works best with a reach weapon cause the Mages can still take that annoying 5 foot step or take the feat Mobile Spellcasting.
LostPassWordDoesNotWork 01-18-08, 03:58 PM	Pierce Magical Concealment may or may not be worth an entire feat slot. I know your playing in a low level game, but consider this an option. Invest one skill point into UMD or more, pay a wizard to create two custom scrolls of Permanency, then pay him to cast two spells on you. Scroll of Permanency (wiz 5th, cl 10, 1,000XP): 6,250gp Scroll of Permanency (wiz 5th, cl 11, 1,500XP): 8,875gp Arcane Sight: 150gp See Invisibility: 60gp Lastly, and the key part of this, is a UMD boosting item, the higher the better. Don't worry about it's cost, you'll only lose half the booster's value seeing how you can sell it after your done. Total costs: 15,335gp + UMD booster (bonus * bonus * 100) With a little arguement to your DM you'll effectivly ignore everything but blink for under 25k. Clones created by Mirrior Image do not carry true magical items, since you can see magic item auras you know which one is the caster and which ones are fake. Same for blur/displacement. Since you can see invisible stuff, you by pass the miss chance when battling a mage using greater invisiblity. Ethereal Jaunt is something to fear later on sure, but PMC may or may not work on it in the first place. Same arguements for PMP dispelling shapechange apply in this case. In anycase, carrying one of those ghost touch crystals will fix that. Depending on your preferences, you may consider shelling out 25k for this weaker version of PMC in exchange for a feat slot.
FrostHammer 01-19-08, 01:05 AM	This is why you should be a Knight. A Knight's threatneded areas count as difficult terrain. That means no more 5-ft steps for the mage! If the mage tries to move normally, you trip them (and then smack them). If the mage tries to cast, well also trip them and smack them.
aelryinth 01-19-08, 12:33 PM	I would like to point out that Mageslayer does not grant AoO's against Spell-like abilities by a hard reading of the feat. It works against Spells being defensively cast, not SLA's. I consider it a logical extension, but by a pure reading of the feat, you are SoL. Pierce Magical Protection is great if your enemy is a buff puppy. Anything that relies on buffs that have an effect of raising their AC is going to get chewed apart by this attack. Best of all, its a standard action, so anytime you are limited to one attack, you can get this off without penalty. If, however, your opponent gets all his AC from magical ITEMS...this feat does nothing. The Dispelling feature is awesome because there's no caster level check...the spells are simply gone. And the variety of spells which grant an AC bonus is tremendous. Pierce Magical Concealment is arguably less useful then something like Blindsight. If your DM allows feat retraining, its good to have, and then get rid of when you can afford gold to replace the feat. The one caveat is that it works in anti-magic zones, and you can't lose the item, and the dispel feature is always handy to have. My Lockdown build, in my sig, is based around locking down opponents, especially spellcasters, and simply not letting them get off their spells, nor escape reach until you or your friends can eliminate them. Much of the thread is taken up by casters looking for ways out of the Lock, and they get REALLY inventive trying to do it...probably not something NPC's are going to be able to do. ==Aelryinth