I need people's opinions and suggestions concerning the most optimized level progression route for dual casting Shadowcraft mage build I'm designing.
My biggest consideration here is feat allowance and graining access to Signature Spell: Silent Illusion as well as a trick to ULTIMATE POWER I'm trying to verify. Please share your thoughts on the following two builds and help me figure out which is the better route to take. Please do note that the base class is a Domain Wizard with a custom domain that has Miracle in it so there is no real need to take the Arcane Disciple feat.
Also assume that this is a Middle Aged Illuminian Wizard with the Krau and Aesh sigil and two flaws.
STATS:
STR: 10 (11-1), DEX: 8 (9-1), CON: 16 (17-1), INT: 19 (18+1), WIS: 13 (12+1), CHA: 18 (17+1)
Option 1: Domain Illiminian Wizard 5/ Mindbender 1/ Shadowcraft Mage 3/ Heartfire Fanner 1/ Sublime Chord 1/ Ultimate Magus 9
Option 2: Domain Illiminian Wizard 5/ Mindbender 1/ Prestige Bard 1/ Shadowcraft Mage 3/ Sublime Chord 1/ Ultimate Magus 9
What's the difference between the two?
OPTION ONE will only break spell casting progression for 1 level and gain the Bardic Music through the Heartfire Fanner PrC (default level 5 Bardic Music and a song that grants allies a bonus feat), allowing us to gain all the prerequisites for Sublime Chord without stopping spell casting progression. The problem with this build is that the prerequisites for Heartfire Fanner require that we learn two useless feats, feats that could have been used to gain Arcane Mastery and Signature Spell: Silent Illusion for some awesome versatility (prepare nothing but utility spells and cast Silent Illusion to fuel Shadow Illusion spontenously). This build actually has two free slots that it can use for the feats, the only thing is that they come in at ECL 18 and 20, much too late for me.
OPTION TWO will force us to lose two spell casting progression levels in order to fulfill the Bardic Music requirement for Sublime Chord, our Bardic Music level will not be as high as when we took Heartfire Fanner nor will we get his awesome feat granting song. On the upside, we free up those two feats that will allow us to learn Signature Spell: Silent Illusion and gain some versatility on the whole.
So far, feat progression looks like this:
ECL 1 (3) Heighten Spell, Earth Sense, Extend Spell
ECL 3 (1) Earth Spell
ECL 5 (1) Spell Focus: Illusion
ECL 6 (1) Skill Focus: Perform (Heartfire Fanner Prereq)
ECL 9 (1) Negotiator (Heartfire Fanner Prereq)
ECL 12 (1) Residual Metamagic
ECL 15 (1) Improved Sigil (Krau)
ECL 16 (1) Persistent Spell
ECL 18 (1) (Free)
ECL 20 (1) (Free)
Would like to hear some recommendations for the last two feats
Regardless of what route we take, the build is always going to have the following benefits:
- Able to cast 9th level evoc/conj spells via Shadow Illusion from a 8th level slot. Could be lowered if we use the Easy Metamagic exploit
- Awesomely high caster level due to various spells, Improved Krau, and Earth Spell
- Capable of persisting a good number of spells via synergy between Augment Casting (UM class ability), Residual Metamagic, and Shadow
Illusion used to mimic a Miracle Spell.
----- Necrotic Empowerment
----- Fiend Form + Draconic Polymorph into a Pit Fiend, Bite of the Werebear (Great since we have Aeshkrau, resulting in an Str score of 61 = 37 Pit Fiend + 16 Bite of the Werebear + 8 Draconic Polymorph)
----- Arcane Spellsurge
----- Nixie Grace
----- Swords of Darkness (made awesome by our jacked up caster level)
----- Wraithstrike, Aspect of Bahamut, and Tenser's Transformation (On familiar)
----- BattleMagic Perception
So, what does CO think? Which route should I take?
Also, would like to ask for some help concerning a trick I might have discovered.
This concerns the spell Energy Transformation Field from SpC. Taking a look at the spell and was thinking that it would be awesome if the field could follow me around wherever I go. So was thinking of casting it into something that creates extrdimensional spaces, like say, a Permanent Familar Pocket spell and just keeping the lid of the container open. That way, the space where the field is planted still follows me around. My question is, (1) Would the field (30 ft radius) spill out to Material Plane and follow me wherever I go, since it is a relative space (which is only 10ft in size), and (2) How would Energy Transformation Field function with an Illusion spell that requires the caster to give shape to the illusion first? (3) and most importantly, suppose I link a Silent Image heightened to 9th level to the field, every time the field casts the spell, would I be able to use the Heightened Silent Image to fuel Residual Metamagic and instantly heightened the next Silent Image for Shadow Illusion I cast to 9th level?
I think the interaction of Residual Metamagic and Energy Trasnformation in (3) might actually work as the spell description states that the spell functions as though the caster of the field had cast it.
If (3) works, and assuming that I cast a Silent Image every round, then I would have effectively heightened ALL my prepared Silent Images to 9th level. All I have to do is get the field to fire once, then cast a Silent Image spell instantly heightened to 9th level due to Residual Metamagic, which will in turn feed the field another 9 levels of spell energy causing it to fire instantly again, giving me yet again residual metamagic to heighten my next Silent Image to 9th level, etc... etc... ad infinitum! A loop ensuring that I cast a 9th level spell every round!
Would this trick actually work?