Here's the stats:
8 Str, 16 Dex/Con, 21 Int, 12 Wis/Cha Tiefling, NG 5th level core wizard
Feats: Craft Wand, Weapon Focus: Ray, Ranged Spell Specialization.
Other pertinent info: FR gods with a FR-ish/Dragonlance homebrew world. Low magic items; I'm the only one who has any and those are just the wands I've crafted. 7 Players. My character is very quiet and reserved since tieflings are usually perceived as untrustworthy or evil. As a result I don't use many spells that are flashy; fireball, lightning bolt, web etc... Splat books are allowed with DM approval. Also, save for one guy's son all of us are over 30 and therefore don't want annoying crap or drama and we have a pretty much standing rule that everything goes as long as it doesn't disrupt play too much. I.E. Don't have AC 30, +22 to hit or other ridiculous things at 5th level.
Another quick question for this boards regulars. I've noticed that many people suggest multiclassing into sometimes 4 or 5 or more classes. Is it just assumed that no one is using the 10% experience penalty per class after the 2nd? I would think you would lag far behind with a 30% to 40% penalty.
Thanks all!
And you'll get some free metamagic effects. With that, you can you're character insanely powerfull, but you're by no means forced to do so and can avoid the annoying crap and drama. As for the other question, where do you get the 10% XP penalty from? According to 3.5 phb, you get 20% only in certain situations (not using favoured class and multiclassing, where one of the classes is more then 2 levels higher then the other). I think in most builds on these boards people play human to avoid penalties, are make sure they play races that have usefull favored class. Also, plenty of groups don't use the XP penalty rules. Prestige classes are exempted from multiclass rules, btw.
Iirc, Tiefling's favored class is rogue. If xp penalties are used, that makes builds with 1 level rogue and then spellward sniper/unseen seer viable (no xp-penalties).
Good luck!
Another quick question for this boards regulars. I've noticed that many people suggest multiclassing into sometimes 4 or 5 or more classes. Is it just assumed that no one is using the 10% experience penalty per class after the 2nd? I would think you would lag far behind with a 30% to 40% penalty.
Thanks all!
I would suggest that you go reread the XP penalty rules, and then look at those builds again more carefully. Most of them won't have any XP penalty at all. There is no penalty as long as none of your non-favored classes are more than 1 level apart. Also, prestige classes don't count at all. You ignore them, as if they were a favored class.
The general plan for any ray caster qua ray caster is 1) to make the rays as deadly as possible, and 2) to be sure that the rays connect. I will treat each area below.
Deadly Rays
The way to make Rays stronger is to apply Metamagic to them. Good metamagic feats for Rays include:
(not really in order, though Split Ray should be at the top)
1. Split Ray
2. Empower Spell
3. Sudden Maximize
4. Sudden Empower
5. Enlarge Spell
6. Quicken Spell
Honorable Mention: Ocular Spell from Lords of Madness. Now who's crazy?
Now, some DMs will allow Chain Spell to work with Rays, in which case it's about the best thing you could possibly do with them. Mine have never allowed this.
Once in possession of such feats, you may want to lower the metamagic cost of applying them. The methods for doing this include taking the Easy Metamagic feat, the Practical Metamagic feat, the Arcane Thesis feat, levels in Incantatrix, and miscellaneous classes that improve only one or another MM feat (ex. Arcane Disciple from FRCS which reduces Enlarge Spell).
Easy/Practical MM reduce the cost of one MM feat. Arcane Thesis reduces the cost for one spell- consider which spell you choose carefully. Three levels in Incantatrix will let you put on practically FREE metamagic, and is by far the most powerful method under consideration. Levels in classes like Arcane Disciple can be taken in games that aren't extremely optimized, to be cute.
Rays, after all, have bad range- enlarging them actually isn't that bad. Sometimes the DM will think, "Ha ha, let's have archers attack from range," and you'll say, "100' is fine- let's see how they like this Ray of Clumsiness." Besides, melee is unhealthy for the average wizard.
The Right Spell
Also to be considered under "Deadly Rays" is choosing the right ray spell to enhance. There are a lot of nice ray spells. My favorites include:
1st: Ray of Enfeeblement / Clumsiness. These are good even at high levels, and combine well with certain other spells- like Web, Grease, Black Tentacles, Bands of Steel, which ask for various DEX- and CON-related checks.
2nd: Seeking Ray / Scorching Ray. Nice damage rays. Obviously, you knew about these already, so I feel foolish.
3rd: Ray of Enfeeblement / Ray of Dizziness. The fatigued condition will stack with the Ray of Enfeeblement you're about to lay on- that's a Strength penalty massive enough to reduce almost any opponent to a quivering helpless mess. Warriors in full plate will be reduced to heavy encumbrance. Ray of Dizziness also begs to be split- this spell is so good, you'll use it almost every battle.
4th: Lots of goodies here. Everyone knows them. All the famous Enervation casters and Orb chuckers get their candy from this spell level.
5th: Not too many good rays here- but I give honorable mention to the Moon Motes spell in Spell Compendium. Empowering it affects both the number of motes and the damage dealt by each one, making this a good MM candidate.
I'm not going to bother with high level spells- I never get to play those levels.
Connecting with Rays
When casting a high-value ray, with several class features, a high Dexterity score, and multiple feats behind it, it hurts to miss. There are techniques to avoid this.
1. Quickened True Strike. For high level casters, this practically guarantees the hit unless you roll a natural failure. Even then, if you use the -10/30 optional rule, sometimes you can still hit.
2. Guided Shot. From one of the Completes as well as Spell Compendium, this 1st level spell lets you ignore cover bonuses to AC as well as concealment miss chances for a round. It's like the low-level quickened true strike (which carries the same benefits).
3. True Casting. Make a wand of it- cast it the round before against high-SR targets.
4. Assay Spell Resistance. Notice there's no advice for Quickened True Casting- Assay takes care of that for an additional 4th level slot. Pricey, but sometimes necessary. From Complete Mage.
5. Tremorsense / Blindsense. These are spells from various sources that will give you the abilities for a little while. It's good to have a scroll of them handy, for those times when you have to shoot through Solid Fog or some other low-visibility situation.
Now that I have all these ideas, just have to start planning on how to implement them. Everything through roleplaying so it should be fun seeking out npcs for the new feats I want. Thanks again!