LVL 6 Evoker Scorching Ray Op - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

LVL 6 Evoker Scorching Ray Op

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
neilthrun
Dec 21, 2009 13:52:51 Hey people, I'm going to play an Evoker in an upcoming game. It's a one shot session, lvl 6. We won't be leveling up, so there is no need to plan further, or plan for low levels. I want to focus on Scorching Ray and buffing spells. I feel I've done a pretty good job on him, I'm not taking full advantage of Arcane Thesis, but I felt some of the other feats were more usefull than extra metamagic effects. Also, Evoker 6 isn't very optimal, but I can't find any good Prc's that are really worth it for one level. Any suggestions are welcome, be it new spells, feats classes, variants or gear.

We're playing a strange mix of 3.0/3.5. We're using the 3.0 phb, since its what everyone owns, but all 3.5 books are open. This essentially means I can select whichever eddition i want, I just have to get approval from the DM. I'm not aware of any difference between the 3.0 and 3.5 wizard, except some noteworthy 3.0 spells. Namely Haste, Shield and Bull's Strength and its brothers. The party has a paladin of tyranny/fighter/templar(3.0) and a lvl 6 monk, and one yet to be determined character(a D&D newbie). We're all worshipers of Hextor as well.

Johnny Inferno, Neutral Evil Human Evoker 6
Prohibited Schools: Conjuration, Enchantment, Necromancy
Flaws: Pathetic(-2 wis), 1 undetermined flaw
Str 14, Dex 16, Con 16, Int 16, Wis 8, Cha 15

Evoker 1-Variants(Focused Specialist)(Energy Affinity Fire) Feats-Searing Spell, Spell Thematics(Burning Rainbows), Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot
Evoker 2
Evoker 3-Metamagic School Focus(Evocation)
Evoker 5-Split Ray
Evoker 6-Arcane Thesis(Scorching Ray)

Prepared Spells    *Metamagic School Focus
0th-Eh detect magics, prestiditaion whatev
1st   Burning Hands x3, Shield x2, Nerveskitter
2nd Searing Split Scorching Ray x3*, Bull Strength x2, Invisibility
3rd   Searing Split Scorching Ray x3, Haste x2

Important Gear-
Ring of Mystic Fire-+1 fire casterlvl and extra 2d6 damage on fire spells 3/day
Burning Veil- 1d6 extra fire damage on a fire spell that has already hit 3/day
Red Flower Leaves- BOVD drug, +4 on ranged attacks
Healing Belt
Scrolls(probably some bull strength, shield, enlarge person, other stuff not sure what yet)

Spell book-*Spell Thematics
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Shield*, Enlarge Person, Nerve Skitter, Alarm, Cheat, Silent Image, Color Spray, Burning Hands, Luminous Gaze

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Heroics, Bull Strength, Eagle’s Splendor, Scorching Ray*, Invisibility

Haste*, Fly, Dispel Magic

EDIT: Caster level info,

Scorching Ray hits CL 11, its break point for a 3rd ray. 6+ 1(energy affinity)+ 1(Spell Thematics)+ 2 (Arcane Thesis ) +1(ring of mystic fire)

Haste is a thematic spell, lasts 7 rounds

Shield is a thematic spell, lasts 7 minutes

Well any advice?
#2
cru
Dec 22, 2009 4:42:52 I like the build. Actually, it is great at what it does. Have you considered the FR "feat halfling" instead of human?
#3
neilthrun
Dec 22, 2009 13:28:24
I like the build. Actually, it is great at what it does. Have you considered the FR "feat halfling" instead of human?

Ha, Thanks. You seem surprised, I suppose I've seen alot of junk builds on here myself.

I did consider the strongheart halfling, but decided against it. It would be better, the weakest point(other than over specialization) in this build I'd say is the ranged touch attack. An extra +2 would take me from +7(+11 with the leaves) to +9/13. I'm kind of favoring human right now though, I have a huge thing for skills, useless skills (I'm maxing prof(gambling)). Plus I kind of want him to be a bad ass playboy type. Halfing just didn't fit the character concept. Good catch though.

Anyone know of magic items to help me increase my range touch attacks?

#4
uhm_hoi
Dec 22, 2009 13:50:07 I really like the build. I guess its fantastic at what you want it to do.

I few points of advice though.

First of all, have you considered the focused specialist variant from complete mage? It just increases the amount of scorching rays you can use and I don't think you selected a lot of conjuration, enchantment an necromancy spells. EDIT: sorry, you already have it, my bad.

Second did you consider arcane turmoil, also from complete mage? It's a 2nd lvl spell that could replace dispel magic letting you pick another 3rd lvl spell. Also guided shot is a nice spell that let's you hit stuff with concealment or cover more easily

And last, you cant select select pathetic as a flaw, since the total of your ability modifiers is higher than 8. That said, murky eyes +guided shot = a free feat, as you probably wont be the party scout inattentive is a pretty safe bet and non-combatant is also pretty much a free feat as I dont think you'll be making a lot of melee attacks.
#5
neilthrun
Dec 22, 2009 14:34:43 Arcane turmoil is interesting, I did look at it. As for saving 3rd level spells, honestly I can't find enough 3rd level spells I want. I might even buy scrolls of more 2nd level spells I don't have so I can copy them into my spellbook. I think I like the versatility of dispel magic better, and its only going to be something I prepare if we come up against some obstacle.
Guided Shot only lasts 1 round, theres a good chance in one round of maneuvering I could get past enemy cover. Guiding light is also interesting, but I dislike the 10 foot radius deal. Too easy for someone to move right out of it.

Good catch about the Pathetic Flaw, I forgot about that. Yeah, I'm leaning toward innatentive, it seems to fit with my character. I'd like to avoid noncombatant, its not much of a penalty for a ranged character and the DM wants flaws to actually matter. I might draw up a new flaw, the DM is cool with that.
#6
Son_of_Khoron
Dec 23, 2009 11:16:10 Look into this forum posting that deals with the chaarcter you have.
community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/758...

Might shed some light into new ideas of your "shooter"
#7
streamofthesky
Dec 23, 2009 15:07:05 Have you considered the Fiery Burst reserve feat? +1 CL on fire spells, and gives you an all day ability to deal 3d6 fire (ref half) in a 5 ft radius burst. It's also a Su ability, which is helpful. I know you're already at the CL breakpoint, but with this feat, you could then give up the elemental affinity variant for soemthing else or keep the familiar. Or have both and benefit from another +1 CL on other fire spells.

As for Split Ray...that only gives +1 ray to scorching ray and is useless for many other spells. Empower Spell might be better in general for you. Split ray is 4 rays for 4d6 each, empower would be 3 rays for 6d6 each. And empower could be used on other spells, if that even matters...

Good build, that's about all I could think of to add to it.

#8
dumah87
Dec 25, 2009 8:13:44
Don't forget "heighten spell" . It's a must for Schorcing ray build IMO. Or you want to put yourself in shame against a ridicolous Lesser Globe of Invulnerabiliy? :D
#9
neilthrun
Dec 25, 2009 11:56:18 I'm not sure I want to be in 5 foot range for fiery burst, and also having to keep a spell slot for a 3d6 spell with 5 foot range doesn't seem handy. I did think about it, it also seems like the type of thing the DM would not approve of.

Hmmm. Empower is tricky. I mean 4 rays means 4 possible targets.
If all empowered rays hit, I deal 18d6 damage. If all split rays hit I deal 16d6 damage
If 1 empowered rays misses I deal 12d6, if 1 split ray misses I deal 12d6
If 2 empowered rays miss I deal 6d6, if 2 split rays miss I deal 8d6
If all 3 empowered miss no damage, if 3 split rays miss I deal 4d6.

This doesn't tell us much statistically, since I'm not comparing against an average expected AC. I expect we'll be fighting humanoids of some variety, so I'll assume a touch AC of 10-16. 10 being no dex penalty, 16 being max dex and some kind theotretical +2 bonus.

My touch attack rolls are 3(BAB)+3(dex)+1(point blank shot)+4(red flower leaves). Thats a +11 bonus. I Doubt much will be missing, but who really knows. More attacks means less deviation from the average damage, due to misses. Empowered means a possible extra 2d6 damage. I'm tempted to play it safe, as 16d6 is already a ton of damage. Anyone got better maths to show me on this one?

Unfortunately I don't see room for heighten spell in the build, and it doesn't even work with Arcane Thesis (which is dumb). Also, in 3.0 I'll be dealing with Minor Globe of Invulnerability. A 4th level spell, an enemy spellcaster might have it, but its an extreme contingency to plan for. And I'm grabing dispell magic scrolls anyway.
#10
Krika
Dec 27, 2009 6:26:26 Fiery Burst is a 5' burst within 30 feet, so you don't have to get close to use it.
#11
neilthrun
Jan 23, 2010 14:56:13 Well, Johnny Inferno has been kicking ass. The build is working great, I've burned up alot of drow, kuo-toa and some phoelarchs. In the last session 2 very interesting things occurred for my character, and they might quite likely affect his build, as I have gained enough xp to gain a level.

First, after a run in with some drow and albino rhinos, we found a potion of speak with animals, I drank the potion and talked to the 3 rhinos, and they're now friendly towards me. I used one as a mount in the next battle, nearly died, but had a really good time with it. Being able to cast at any point in the mounts movement is very nice for ride by attacks with my scorching ray.

Secondly, I found a staff of healing, 37 charges remaining.

Now, the paladin of tyranny could use the staff, but as a worshiper of hextor, she refuses to use magical healing. So I figure its up to me to get some use out of the staff.

So what should I level up into? I'd like to get one of the rhinos as my companion, but lack an easy way to do that at 7th level. Also, I can't use the staff unless I have the spells on my spell list. A level in druid or cleric would make the staff useable. And either would give me animal friendship (remember this is a 3.0 game techinacly, so animal friendship is available through the animal domain). I'd need a caster level of 4 to get the rhino (8HD rhino).

Any suggestions on boosting my caster level? Should I instead grab use magic device and try to get a scroll of animal friendship at a later date? Is this all worth ditching my 4th level spells (its only 3 evocations, focused specialist)?

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 neilthrun Dec 21, 2009 13:52:51	Hey people, I'm going to play an Evoker in an upcoming game. It's a one shot session, lvl 6. We won't be leveling up, so there is no need to plan further, or plan for low levels. I want to focus on Scorching Ray and buffing spells. I feel I've done a pretty good job on him, I'm not taking full advantage of Arcane Thesis, but I felt some of the other feats were more usefull than extra metamagic effects. Also, Evoker 6 isn't very optimal, but I can't find any good Prc's that are really worth it for one level. Any suggestions are welcome, be it new spells, feats classes, variants or gear. We're playing a strange mix of 3.0/3.5. We're using the 3.0 phb, since its what everyone owns, but all 3.5 books are open. This essentially means I can select whichever eddition i want, I just have to get approval from the DM. I'm not aware of any difference between the 3.0 and 3.5 wizard, except some noteworthy 3.0 spells. Namely Haste, Shield and Bull's Strength and its brothers. The party has a paladin of tyranny/fighter/templar(3.0) and a lvl 6 monk, and one yet to be determined character(a D&D newbie). We're all worshipers of Hextor as well. Johnny Inferno, Neutral Evil Human Evoker 6 Prohibited Schools: Conjuration, Enchantment, Necromancy Flaws: Pathetic(-2 wis), 1 undetermined flaw Str 14, Dex 16, Con 16, Int 16, Wis 8, Cha 15 Evoker 1-Variants(Focused Specialist)(Energy Affinity Fire) Feats-Searing Spell, Spell Thematics(Burning Rainbows), Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot Evoker 2 Evoker 3-Metamagic School Focus(Evocation) Evoker 5-Split Ray Evoker 6-Arcane Thesis(Scorching Ray) Prepared Spells Metamagic School Focus 0th-Eh detect magics, prestiditaion whatev 1st Burning Hands x3, Shield x2, Nerveskitter 2nd Searing Split Scorching Ray x3, Bull Strength x2, Invisibility 3rd Searing Split Scorching Ray x3, Haste x2 Important Gear- Ring of Mystic Fire-+1 fire casterlvl and extra 2d6 damage on fire spells 3/day Burning Veil- 1d6 extra fire damage on a fire spell that has already hit 3/day Red Flower Leaves- BOVD drug, +4 on ranged attacks Healing Belt Scrolls(probably some bull strength, shield, enlarge person, other stuff not sure what yet) Spell book-Spell Thematics html_removed html_removed html_removed html_removed Shield, Enlarge Person, Nerve Skitter, Alarm, Cheat, Silent Image, Color Spray, Burning Hands, Luminous Gaze html_removed html_removed html_removed html_removed Heroics, Bull Strength, Eagle’s Splendor, Scorching Ray, Invisibility Haste, Fly, Dispel Magic EDIT: Caster level info, Scorching Ray hits CL 11, its break point for a 3rd ray. 6+ 1(energy affinity)+ 1(Spell Thematics)+ 2 (Arcane Thesis ) +1(ring of mystic fire) Haste is a thematic spell, lasts 7 rounds Shield is a thematic spell, lasts 7 minutes Well any advice?
#2 cru Dec 22, 2009 4:42:52	I like the build. Actually, it is great at what it does. Have you considered the FR "feat halfling" instead of human?
#3 neilthrun Dec 22, 2009 13:28:24	I like the build. Actually, it is great at what it does. Have you considered the FR "feat halfling" instead of human? Ha, Thanks. You seem surprised, I suppose I've seen alot of junk builds on here myself. I did consider the strongheart halfling, but decided against it. It would be better, the weakest point(other than over specialization) in this build I'd say is the ranged touch attack. An extra +2 would take me from +7(+11 with the leaves) to +9/13. I'm kind of favoring human right now though, I have a huge thing for skills, useless skills (I'm maxing prof(gambling)). Plus I kind of want him to be a bad ass playboy type. Halfing just didn't fit the character concept. Good catch though. Anyone know of magic items to help me increase my range touch attacks?
#4 uhm_hoi Dec 22, 2009 13:50:07	I really like the build. I guess its fantastic at what you want it to do. I few points of advice though. First of all, have you considered the focused specialist variant from complete mage? It just increases the amount of scorching rays you can use and I don't think you selected a lot of conjuration, enchantment an necromancy spells. EDIT: sorry, you already have it, my bad. Second did you consider arcane turmoil, also from complete mage? It's a 2nd lvl spell that could replace dispel magic letting you pick another 3rd lvl spell. Also guided shot is a nice spell that let's you hit stuff with concealment or cover more easily And last, you cant select select pathetic as a flaw, since the total of your ability modifiers is higher than 8. That said, murky eyes +guided shot = a free feat, as you probably wont be the party scout inattentive is a pretty safe bet and non-combatant is also pretty much a free feat as I dont think you'll be making a lot of melee attacks.
#5 neilthrun Dec 22, 2009 14:34:43	Arcane turmoil is interesting, I did look at it. As for saving 3rd level spells, honestly I can't find enough 3rd level spells I want. I might even buy scrolls of more 2nd level spells I don't have so I can copy them into my spellbook. I think I like the versatility of dispel magic better, and its only going to be something I prepare if we come up against some obstacle. Guided Shot only lasts 1 round, theres a good chance in one round of maneuvering I could get past enemy cover. Guiding light is also interesting, but I dislike the 10 foot radius deal. Too easy for someone to move right out of it. Good catch about the Pathetic Flaw, I forgot about that. Yeah, I'm leaning toward innatentive, it seems to fit with my character. I'd like to avoid noncombatant, its not much of a penalty for a ranged character and the DM wants flaws to actually matter. I might draw up a new flaw, the DM is cool with that.
#6 Son_of_Khoron Dec 23, 2009 11:16:10	Look into this forum posting that deals with the chaarcter you have. community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/758... Might shed some light into new ideas of your "shooter"
#7 streamofthesky Dec 23, 2009 15:07:05	Have you considered the Fiery Burst reserve feat? +1 CL on fire spells, and gives you an all day ability to deal 3d6 fire (ref half) in a 5 ft radius burst. It's also a Su ability, which is helpful. I know you're already at the CL breakpoint, but with this feat, you could then give up the elemental affinity variant for soemthing else or keep the familiar. Or have both and benefit from another +1 CL on other fire spells. As for Split Ray...that only gives +1 ray to scorching ray and is useless for many other spells. Empower Spell might be better in general for you. Split ray is 4 rays for 4d6 each, empower would be 3 rays for 6d6 each. And empower could be used on other spells, if that even matters... Good build, that's about all I could think of to add to it.
#8 dumah87 Dec 25, 2009 8:13:44	Don't forget "heighten spell" . It's a must for Schorcing ray build IMO. Or you want to put yourself in shame against a ridicolous Lesser Globe of Invulnerabiliy? :D
#9 neilthrun Dec 25, 2009 11:56:18	I'm not sure I want to be in 5 foot range for fiery burst, and also having to keep a spell slot for a 3d6 spell with 5 foot range doesn't seem handy. I did think about it, it also seems like the type of thing the DM would not approve of. Hmmm. Empower is tricky. I mean 4 rays means 4 possible targets. If all empowered rays hit, I deal 18d6 damage. If all split rays hit I deal 16d6 damage If 1 empowered rays misses I deal 12d6, if 1 split ray misses I deal 12d6 If 2 empowered rays miss I deal 6d6, if 2 split rays miss I deal 8d6 If all 3 empowered miss no damage, if 3 split rays miss I deal 4d6. This doesn't tell us much statistically, since I'm not comparing against an average expected AC. I expect we'll be fighting humanoids of some variety, so I'll assume a touch AC of 10-16. 10 being no dex penalty, 16 being max dex and some kind theotretical +2 bonus. My touch attack rolls are 3(BAB)+3(dex)+1(point blank shot)+4(red flower leaves). Thats a +11 bonus. I Doubt much will be missing, but who really knows. More attacks means less deviation from the average damage, due to misses. Empowered means a possible extra 2d6 damage. I'm tempted to play it safe, as 16d6 is already a ton of damage. Anyone got better maths to show me on this one? Unfortunately I don't see room for heighten spell in the build, and it doesn't even work with Arcane Thesis (which is dumb). Also, in 3.0 I'll be dealing with Minor Globe of Invulnerability. A 4th level spell, an enemy spellcaster might have it, but its an extreme contingency to plan for. And I'm grabing dispell magic scrolls anyway.
#10 Krika Dec 27, 2009 6:26:26	Fiery Burst is a 5' burst within 30 feet, so you don't have to get close to use it.
#11 neilthrun Jan 23, 2010 14:56:13	Well, Johnny Inferno has been kicking ass. The build is working great, I've burned up alot of drow, kuo-toa and some phoelarchs. In the last session 2 very interesting things occurred for my character, and they might quite likely affect his build, as I have gained enough xp to gain a level. First, after a run in with some drow and albino rhinos, we found a potion of speak with animals, I drank the potion and talked to the 3 rhinos, and they're now friendly towards me. I used one as a mount in the next battle, nearly died, but had a really good time with it. Being able to cast at any point in the mounts movement is very nice for ride by attacks with my scorching ray. Secondly, I found a staff of healing, 37 charges remaining. Now, the paladin of tyranny could use the staff, but as a worshiper of hextor, she refuses to use magical healing. So I figure its up to me to get some use out of the staff. So what should I level up into? I'd like to get one of the rhinos as my companion, but lack an easy way to do that at 7th level. Also, I can't use the staff unless I have the spells on my spell list. A level in druid or cleric would make the staff useable. And either would give me animal friendship (remember this is a 3.0 game techinacly, so animal friendship is available through the animal domain). I'd need a caster level of 4 to get the rhino (8HD rhino). Any suggestions on boosting my caster level? Should I instead grab use magic device and try to get a scroll of animal friendship at a later date? Is this all worth ditching my 4th level spells (its only 3 evocations, focused specialist)?