Okay, so I'm in a game (and previous games) with a player that likes the idea of playing a blaster. Problem is he sucks at it in regards to picking both the right spells and feats. I do what I can to educate him in how to make a more efficient blaster but that gets back to the ole proverb about leading horses to water.
So what I'm looking for here is some ideas that I can share with him that I may not have considered before. Keep in mind that this fella has told me 'why take a prc instead of progressing pure wizard for the bonus feat?' Yeah, it's that bad and I may well be beating a dead horse in even trying to help him but I actually want him to be able to realize the character concept he seems to want to play.
Anyways, Here are some relatively simple Builds and Ideas that I have sent his way. Any of you have any more good ideas that won't burn too much brain power on his part hehe?
We have 19 levels to work with and this will be going into epic levels.
Various Magus OptionsOption 2 The Simple Arch MageOption 3 The Blasting Ultimate Magus[spoiler]Wizard 5/Warmage 1/Ultimate Magus 10/Archmage 3
Get that same High Arcana from Archmage as above.
Taking Practiced Spell Caster for the Warmage allows us to have 8th level Warmage spells (up to 4th level) and 17th level Wizard spells.
At 19th level the Caster levels would be 16 for the Warmage and 21 for the Wizard
Downside is only fewer high-end spells ie only 1 9th at 19th level but this would add lots of metamagic utility in being able to sacrifice spell slots to add Metamagic on the fly 8 times a day.[/spoiler]
Option 4 The Beguiling Ultimate Magus[spoiler]Wizard 5/Beguiler 1/Ultimate Magus 10/Archmage 3
Get that same High Arcana from Archmage as above.
This would work mostly the same as the Warmage version but have a few more skills and trapfinding. Of course the Beguiler spell list is not blasty at all.[/spoiler]
Option 5 The Simple Warweaver of Awesomeness[spoiler]Wizard 14/War Weaver 5
You know the awesomeness here!!! Only looses 1 Casterlevel but well worth it. Not really so much directly blasty as it allows for action economy which can lead to more time for blasting plus quicker buffs for blasting[/spoiler]
Options 6 The Arch Mage War Weaver of Awesomeness[spoiler]Wizard 11/War Weaver 5/ Archmage 3
Just Better flexibility for buffing and blasting fun.
[/spoiler]
Feats, though certainly not an exhaustive list. What are some other big boys that would really add to a blaster?
[spoiler]
Spell Focus and Greater Spell Focus: Beating Saves equals effective spells.
Downside is that it is only for one school per feat.
Arcane Thesis: Consider this if you are going to use one spell a great deal. Cheapens
Metamagic and Archmage Elemental Mastery will still give awesome
flexibility.
Heighten Spell: An unfortunate necessity since Globes of Invulnerability can be of great
distress for this build
Improved Initiative: Going before the enemy is never bad J
Maximize Spell: Although considered inferior to Empower - when you're piling on the
metamagic - it is a good secondary choice after empower particularly
with Ultimate Magus.
Extend Spell: Double duration is great for a lot of spells, probably overall the most
efficient metamagic feat available.
Minor Shapeshift: Basically you add your HD in temporary HP every round as a swift
action. Later on you will be using Swift Actions for other things quite
often - but this is still pretty sweet. You can choose some other
options - but nothing as good as the HP
Spell Penetration/Greater Spell Penetration: Lots of creatures have SR - and as you go
up in levels - they become the norm. You just can't have enough Assay
Spell Resistance spells for all of them. Spell Penetration is pretty much
a must. GSP is a nice to have.
Craft Contingency:Quicken Spell:Residual Magic: If your already using metamagics might as well get more of out of it more awesomeness!!
AEG FEATS (third party book that is available)
Aid Spell:
Braid Spell: You can memorize to spells of the same school as one spell. This is a great
way to effectively get extra actions at the cost of +2 levels on the highest of
the two spells. Say hello to my double fireball.. or my lightning
bolt/fireball.
Dual Spells: Elemental Focus: Simeple +2 DC for spells of particular elemental type. Not bad for a
blaster.
Remote Casting: Some great possibilities for Casting in areas without line of sight for
+2 spell level.[/spoiler]
In regards to spells I have talked to him about diversifying in regards to saves, SR, and damage types like getting some Orb spells to bypass SR.
What are some of the better Blasting spells out there?
Available materials...I need to clarify the materials available.....
Dragon Magazine feats and campaign specific materials (ie forgotten realms, Eberon).
Most non-world specific books are available, Races of, completes, ect. probably including things like Frostburn, Sandstorm, et al.
Probably could get online Wizards stuff allowed though (I love the swiftblade
)
Thanks for any feedback as I want to help this buddy make the best of his character concept.
Cheers
Edited to clarify available materials.