Our current game has come to the point where large scale combat is inevitable. I'm talking full-fledged national wars and probably 1,000's on the battlefield at a time, and while our little group of 5 people will probably get sectioned off to some degree, I can't help but feel underpowered for this type of scenario.
I'm leveling up to become an 18th level wizard and I am looking for a couple of spells that just plain rock a mass combat scale scenario. I'm allowed to use anything from WotC, and the Player's Handbook seems a bit lacking in regards to spells. I haven't bought a book in about a year (our player's rotate who will buy the next book) and I'm just not that well versed on the bigger spells and splatbooks.
Can I get a little advice or some clever ideas in regards to where I can go or what I can do. Spells, Feats, or any large scale combat tricks are welcome, and I surely appreciate any sagely advice from the experienced.
Cheers,
Widened Firestorm
These both have massive areas even without widen. A lot will depend on the battlefield, your opponents and their strategy too.
Dolorous Motes (BoED) can Daze an enormous number of people.
Other than that, aything for auras (Battle Hymn, etc), buff spells (e.g. at high CL a single Haste can affect a lot of people), and well positioned walls, clouds, etc.
Widen Spell as well - and with War Wizard of Cormyr you can use it for free.
Flaywind Burst (Sandstorm) for a 60ft Cone of awesome. Full-Round casting time bites though.
And when you absolutely have to kill every MoFo in sight (and then some): Locate City.
Of course, permanent effects won't be very permanent with a large number of casters, but even shortterm Firewalls are fairly strong. Also, given the correct climate and time of the year, Control Weather. Make a tornado. Watch the army go away. Takes 10 minutes to cast, so start casting a bit before their host arrives. Make sure it's about ready, but not manifesting yet when they arrive and make sure they'll experience the tornado firsthand. The other times of the year offer nice alternatives too, but not quite as strong options.
Also, +1 for Cloudkill. That spell is awesome for this kind of situation.
Some non-direct damage stuff...
Rock to Mud; protect yourself or archer groups from advancing troops.
Entangle, same reason
Wall of Force ...good start to funnel enemy troops since it's invis
Hallucinatory Terrain 30 ft cube/level
Confusion
Invis Sphere, for a small group of shock troopers
Large Cone spells also would have a huge effect.
Rashemi Elemental Summoning mixed with Summon Elemental reserve feat means unlimited cones of cold
Illusions could theoretically affect entire armies - destroying morale and even causing a rout
Wall of fire can do moderate damage over huge areas (360' long for you) and will likely kill everything adjacent.
I do find it amusing that one of the most potentially devastating area of effect spells is a 5th level druid only.
Can I ask which book SC is? I had Cloudkill on my list already, but there are just other spells I'm unfamiliar with, and I don't know that acronym. And BoED is out for me....I'm the evil character.
Also, don't count out Enlarge Spell. Archers can be shooting at you from nearly 1000ft away, so you'll need a compliment of either long-range spells or some Enlarged medium-range ones. Short-range spells should be ignored.
Any of the Cloud spells would be effective. Inceandiary Cloud, Acid Fog, Freezing Fog, etc.
Powerful summoning spells like gate or Summon Monster 7-9 would also be of a lot of use, seeing as the monsters will stay around for quite some time, and the monsters off those lists can generally wreak a lot of havoc on their own.
Am I the only who thinks divination spells come out as the best spells for this scenario? "Excuse, but where's the nearest city?"
Anyway, summoning air elementals can be nasty with their whirlwind form.
Am I the only who thinks divination spells come out as the best spells for this scenario? "Excuse, but where's the nearest city?"
Sinfire Metioned it.
Move Earth, lots of Walls of Stone. Force the enemy into trenches, THEN cloudkill.
Shrink Item: Ballista, Catapult, Trebuchet, Huge Bonfires, Corpse of a Colossal Red Dragon, and deploy them as necessary on the battlefield. You cast Animate Dead on the Dragon corpse, of course.
Mass Enlarge Person works wonders, too, and has pretty killer duration.
A Master Specialist in Abjuration has this capstone L10 ability that lets you cast Antimagic Fields on others... It would be freakin' great in this scenario, to cast on a Rogue who just hides next to enemy casters, who can't figure out why their spells don't work.
Any creature with a high speed and a fear aura (like a dragon) can be useful, too.
A lot of Illusions cover a large area.
What season? But everyone in the army a potion of Endure Elements and cast Control Weather. Hailstorm is nice for summer. Or Torrential heat.
It's tricky use, because it takes 10 minutes to cast and 10 minutes to effect the battle, but it effects the ENTIRE battlefield. Also the duration is 4d12 hours, so as long as you cast it a couple hours before the battle and start the weather change 5-10 minutes before the beginning of battle(so it happens when the enemy is engaged and can't withdraw easily) you can cause some serious penalties to the enemy.
Edit: It'll be boring until the change occurs, but when the 2-mile radius hailstorm comes a calling, then you can swing the entire battle in your favor.
You might even be able to place it on a mobile object and move it around the battlefield.
Also, don't forget Mass Invisibility for when you want to spring an ambush, it affects everyone within 180ft (although they cannot attack)
If you're near a river, try Raise Water to drown your enemies in 30ft of water (it can affect an area of caster level x 10 by caster level x 10 ft)
Try using spells such as Wall of Fire to herd enemies into tight formation, and then blast them with AoE, such as Widened Sunburst, or Widened Lightning Bolt.
Also, furthering Pluisjen's train of thought, use Move Earth to lower the elevation of the ground next to a river, and then use Control Water to sweep away large amounts of armies. Preferably sweeping them into another trap, such waiting water elementals(vortex to drown them all).
And for personal defense, windwall will keep any number of ranged attacks from you, and Symbol of Death will kill anything that comes near you.
If you could get a hold of it, earthquake could work wonders. Effectively, 25% of the soldiers in the AoE(if cast on open ground) would fall into fissures and be crushed to death.