This is more of a build sketch and thoughts about the beguiler:
Basic Beguiler Build SketchRace: Gnome
Bonus Feats:
Heighten Spell, Versatile CasterFlaws:
Pathetic, Vulnerable 1) Beguiler 1
Spell Focus (Illusion)2) Beguiler 2
3) Beguiler 3
Skill Focus (Religion), advanced learning: net of shadows4) Beguiler 4
5) Beguiler 5
Silent Spell (B)6) Mind Bender 1
Mindsight7) Dinive Oracle 1
8 ) Divine Oracle 2
9) Shadowcraft Mage 1
Residual Metamagic10) Shadowcraft Mage 2
11) Shadowcraft Mage 3
12) Shadowcraft Mage 4
Rapid Metamagic13) Shadowcraft Mage 5
14) Divine Oracle 3
15) Shadow Adept 1
Shadow Weave Magic, Insidious Magic(B), Pernicious Magic(B), Tenacious Magic(B)16) Beguiler 6
17) Beguiler 7
advanced learning: invisibility superior 18) Divine Oracle 4
Arcane Thesis (Silent Image)19) Wyrm Wizard 1
20) Wyrm Wizard 2
expanded knowledge: Miracle (for awesomeness)
Note that this is a pretty tough fellow for a spellcaster:
- Mindsight makes him hard to surprise
- Shadowcraft mage => 40% miss chance
- Can wear light armor
- Invisibility Superior + Insidious Magic is super cool
- Divine Oracle for evasion+
- this assumes that heightened shadow spells can help you qualify for shadowcrafter, and that heightened spells with versatile spellcaster count as spells of the next level, and so give you access to spells of that level.
- also, I'm not sure, but I think you can qualify for prestige classes with feats that you get at the same time you get the class? (I believe it isn't so with skill points).
- finally, I'd like to fit in prestige bard, but really don't want to give up the caster level. It is most useful earlier on (for the extra spells), but also costs too much ... that would be even more pure awesome. We could lose Divine Oracle 4 for Prestige Bard 1, but the problem is that this would delay getting large-quantity casting of 9th level spells until 20th level (instead of at 18th), which isn't cool.
****COMMENTS
- shadowcraft mage smooths out the roughness that a beguiler starts seeing at the 5th levels spells (which are very mediocre)
- Wyrm Wizard for Miracle is awesomeness, and has the benefit that it just doesn't cost that much!
- has decent spell access with Beguiler + shadowcraft mage + miracle (albeit this doesn't kick in until late).
- heighten + versatile spellcaster (raw) gives access to spells of 1 level higher than normal at the cost of 2 lower level slots. Putting him 1 level earlier than a wizard, rather than later (albeit at high cost).
****ROLES
Face
Trapmonkey
Scout / Diviner
Battlefield Control
Thoughts about the beguilerI think measuring whether one class is better than another depends a lot on the level at which you are talking:
Example:
@ Level 1Sorcerer spells known 2
- Possibly color spray or grease or sleep
- 1 other
Beguiler spells known 14! (many of the first rate spells)
- charm person, color spray, mage armor, obscuring mist, sleep, silent image ... !
@ Level 4Sorcerer knows 4 spells
- Grease, Color Spray, Sleep
- Alter Self
Beguiler knows 31 spells!
- charm person, color spray, mage armor, obscuring mist, sleep, silent image ... !
- mirror image, fog cloud, touch of idiocy, minor image, silence ...
@ Level 8Sorcerer (a random assortment of good picks - I used this thread to pick spells-
http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=571861)
lvl1- Color Spray, Grease, Silent Image, Enlarge, Ray of Enfeeblement
lvl2- Alter Self, Rope Trick, Wings of Cover
lvl3- Haste, Dispel Magic
lvl4- Polymorph
Beguiler:
lvl1- Color Spray, Charm Person, Mage Armor, Obscuring Mist, Silent Image, Sleep, ... 7 others
lvl2- glitterdust, fog cloud, invisibility, mirror image, minor image, detect thoughts, 13 others
lvl3- Haste, Dispel Magic (the spells the sorcerer might pick) + 18 others
lvl4- Solid Fog, Charm Monster, Freedom of Movement, Greater Invisiblity, Greater Mirror Image, + 7 more
The beguiler is really much better than the sorcerer until about 11th level, just because it knows many more
good spells.
My estimate:Levels
1 - 7 Beguiler >> Sorcerer
8- 10 Beguiler > Sorcerer
11 - 15 Beguiler < Sorcerer
16 - 20 Begulier ~ Socerer (especially with the versatile caster trick)
At the higher levels (~11 - 20), the beguiler still has more flexibility because of a much larger list of spells known, but the sorcerer starts to edge ahead in power because of the greater range of spells that he can choose to learn (Celerity, Arcane Spellsurge, Polymorph, ...). However, this doesn't really start to be felt until 8th level (with Polymorph), and it still takes a few levels past that for the sorcerer to catch up.
The "problem" with the beguiler as compared to the sorcerer starts at the 5th level spells. The beguilers list is mediocre, the sorcerers list is quite good. Later, at 7th level spells the sorcerer gets arcane spellsurge, doubling the spells he can cast. 8th level gives greater arcane fusion, letting the sorcerer really spam spells and move up on the power curve quite a lot (although not on the versatility curve).
When a beguiler gains a new level of spells, it gains *all* it's new spells.For example, at level 18:
A sorcerer gains 1 9th level spell known. (Timestop or Shapechange)
A beguiler gains 6 9th level spells. (Not only the timestop that the sorcerer might get, but also Dominate Monster for a pet, Foresight, etc.)
Because the beguiler doesn't give up spells known after 18th level, he can also do things like:
Beguiler 18/Wyrm Wizard 2, using Wyrm Wizard to learn Miracle. He'll still know that massive list of spells.
Beguiler 18/Saint +2
Beguiler 19/Nightmare spinner (for extra spells slots).
Beguiler 18/Prestige Bard 1/Sandshaper 1
etc.
Good dips for a beguiler:
- Mindbender 1 + Mindsight
- Shadow Adept 1
- Wyrm Wizard 2 (high level dip)
- Nightmare Spinner 1 (high level dip)
- Divine Oracle 3 (makes you a wonderful diviner, along with making you tougher)
- shadowcraft mage 5
****WOULD BE NICE:
Greater Anyspell
Arcane Spellsurge
Arcane Fusion, Greater
Celerity
Incantatrix / Ultimate Magus for feats / spells / Sculpt Spell
****ALTERNATIVES
Recaster - gives any 2 spells, perks, costs 1 CL
Mage of the Arcane Order PrC
Divine Oracle 3
Retributive Spell (although you shouldn't be in combat)
1 level of prestige bard
Just some thoughts.
Best,
David
