Wizardly Questions

[Side]

So I was looking over a few of my old characters and I kind of want to bring my frostmage back. The build was a rather simple blaster setup, with archmage and arcane scholar alongside a hopeful improved critical ranged touch attack. The epic levels were planned to fit every epic spell I could fit.

That said, there's a reason my wizard, as much as I love the character, isn't currently active. It's the same reason I never found a working warlock build that I enjoyed. I still like the idea of the build, but I also want my wizard to be a bit more than a warlock with extra utility.

The first thing I have to figure out is what school of magic to focus on. When I first made the character, which wasn't long before her first RCR, I had her as a transmuter. The idea was great, the RP was great, and even after I turned her into a generalist I kept it as part of her backstory, but I found it a bit lacking in those early spell levels when all I wanted was to blow things up with cold spells. Conjuration has a lot of power in the first half of the spellbook, and at the time I wasn't really willing to part with it, even though I wanted to.

So my first question is this; once I learn how to properly play wizard how much of a handicap is having conjuration as a prohibited school? Is it even noticeable? Is it the kind of thing that only takes a determined mindset to make work? Is it a nice idea, but one that will leave me mechanically stunted?

My next question has to do with counterspelling. Is this something worth focusing on? It feels like the kind of thing that requires a lot of practice, and if done improperly can even be a complete detriment. If it's worth my time it does interest me for it's RP value, but I'm neither sure it would be that useful nor sure I'd be able to pull it off.

Next has to deal with Archmage, Frostmage, and Arcane Scholar. Arcane Scholar was in my old build pretty much only for the mechanical benefit. For a blaster wizard being able to empower polar ray seemed like a fantastic idea, particularly with that hopeful improved critical feat. That said it was three levels and a feat dedicated to a single spell that was pretty much for a single playstyle. It's definitely powerful, but without it I can do other things like the as-to-be-mentioned automatic silent/still 0-9 idea for my epic feats.

Archmage, on the other hand, has me in a weird position. I love the power of it, but whenever I test it on JEGs it feels like I'm a bit squeezed for spell slots. Learning what spells I need is part of the process I have yet to fully complete, but between buffs, the possibility of not having summons, the need to be able to kill things, and all the utility spells I want to learn, it feels like I won't have enough spell slots even before I sacrifice a few to the Archmage abilities. I know I'll learn and work out the problem, but it does have me a bit concerned.

Finally what on Earth I should do with my epic feat slots? The way I see it I have four options. I can either go with my original plan and fill them with a bunch of epic spells, I can work my shenanigans and take automatic silent/still 0-9, I can work epic counterspell into the epic spell idea, or I can recognize that I have no idea what I'm doing and ask for help.

I like the idea of having a bunch of epic spells as a hidden reserve of arcane power, for when I need it most, and when I need it I can loose it in a frightening display. I also love the idea of not needing to speak or move to cast spells (even though the animations still play). The RP for that could be pretty fantastic. There are, however, other epic feats I'm ignoring, and I don't know if they would be more useful overall than the flavor or power these two ideas could bring to my character.

To sum all of my questions up:
Is prohibiting conjuration a bad idea for a novice wizard player?
Is counterspelling useful enough to dedicate a fair portion of a build to, including an epic feat?
How hard is counterspelling to learn/master?
What's the best playstyle to match the mechanical benefits given by Arcane Scholar?
Does Archmage feel restrictive on spell slots once you learn to effectively play wizard?
Are the auto silent/still feats worth considering when they take up 6 epic feat slots total?
Is it a bad idea to fill epic feat slots with epic spells only?
Is having six epic spells powerful enough to avoid considering taking all auto silent/still feats? If so would a mix be better, or are epic spells simply strong enough to completely overshadow them mechanically?
Is there any other question I should be asking here?

I'd like to stress that I'm more than willing to take something for it's flavor, even if it is the mechanically inferior choice, just so long as I fully understand what my choice means for me. Any and all assistance here is welcome, so please don't shy away from saying one of my ideas is a bad idea, that won't necessarily deter me from it.

[Moltrazahn]

Counterspelling feats ain't all working correctly. So you can basically just use the free starter feat and not put any advancements feats into it. It will take your highest dispell and use it to try and counter targeted spells from a mob. The only real use of this is to counter boss-mobs to prevent them from mording your team. Stack a 3-5 mordenkaine and dispell it. It's what's I've done when in groups.. and if you win the save. Your team will stay nice and warded through the fight.

Arch mage is great. Since you get full caster level and bonus feats in form of high-arcane. Yes. Most of them sacrifice an x-level spell slot for a utility... but it's often worth it.

Mastery of shaping = groups members don't get hit by your AoE spells.
Master of elements = turn any elemental spell into a other elemental type. (*your frost mage spells are selected. Thus turning a fireball into a ice spell don't mean it will be affected by your frost mage feats)
Arcane fire: turn any spell into a dmg spell.

All good picks.

[Nachti]

Dont pick conjuration as prohibited school (You know you can pick any school? ).

[chad878262]

Dont pick conjuration as prohibited school (You know you can pick any school? ).

^ This... Your wizard comes with a feat that you can activate to set your opposition school.

Also, as my good friend Invoker would say, you can be effective as a mage with any prohibited school, so long as you understand the weaknesses that come along with it. I have a level 30 illusionist with prohibited school of evocation (no bigby, no IGMS, etc.) Now, I won't lie, I still have a lot to learn about how to handle things like undead that are not effected by mind spells, but I also know that undead are a weak point for my wizard, so I don't attempt to take on powerful ones solo.

That said the ability to pick the prohibited school should make it a much easier selection... From a powerbuild perspective just pick divination and carry on, or from any RP perspective pick whatever makes sense, if I can play a wizard marginally effectively without evocation I'm sure you can play without a school as well!

[Fragglerock]

I also have a question. When in HIPS, with auto still/silent can I cast a spell without coming out of stealth?

[Valefort]

Nope, casting a spell breaks HiPS no matter what unfortunately.

[Fragglerock]

Well at least that help me figure my future feats thanks Vale

[metaquad4]

Depending on your build, I'd fill them with great INTs. More DCs and more spellslots are something every wizard needs. Not to mention bigbys 6 scales off INT on this server, instead of having +14.

Pure wizard (26+) wizard, I'd always fill with great ints (like so http://nwn2db.com/build/?257975)

With anything less than that, I'd still do great INTs and end on an event note. Take an epic spell, or somesuch, if you have an extra feat. I'd recommend vampiric feast or greater ruin.

Also, as mentioned above, keep conjuration. The most expendable schools are divination (some good spells, mostly useful for RP. Very very useful for RP. Lots of RP power.) and enchantment (dominate monster and greater heroism are the best this school has to offer. Other spells are redundant.).

[Side]

I really haven't looked into wizard in a long time it seems! When did they add the ability to choose your prohibited school? That's a fantastic change! I'll probably choose necromancy, as divination is a personal favorite of mine and the others all have interesting and useful things I can use.

Counterspelling not being worth an investment definitely makes things a bit easier on me too. I take it auto still/silent isn't really worth the investment either?

I'll definitely look into a mix of great INT and epic spells. Some of those epic spells were only there because I had the slot, and I never really planned on using them outside specific, niche situations.

In that note, since I don't know a lot here, just how good are Mass Foul and Entropic Husk? I'll most likely be keeping Epic Ruin and Hellball on my list of feats, but what about these other two? Are they worth considering over Ruin or Hellball? I can easily grab enough great INT to reach 30 alongside a pair of epic spells.

Thanks for the help so far everyone!

[chad878262]

Counterspelling not being worth an investment definitely makes things a bit easier on me too. I take it auto still/silent isn't really worth the investment either?

auto still is only worth it if you want an armored caster, auto silent is more for RP than anything, I would personally go for auto-quicken before auto-still, utility wise. auto-quicken grease is a great way to start so you can keep the baddies at bay. My personal opinion is Epic Vamp feast and Greater Ruin are the way to go. The others are a bit lackluster for epic spells. That said, so long as you load up on INT feats in epics I would say you can take any epic spell you want from an RP standpoint...you're a wizard, it's not like you'll be underpowered!

[Side]

Very true! Necromancy will likely be my prohibited school, but if I decide otherwise I'll swap Hellball out for Vampiric Feast.

To sum up the questions I have left, both new and old:
What's the best playstyle to match the mechanical benefits given by Arcane Scholar
Does Archmage feel restrictive on spell slots once you learn to effectively play wizard?
Is Improved Critical: Ranged Touch Attack worth the feat slot?

For that last question I definitely plan on making good use of Disintegrate and Polar Ray, but I could use the feat slot for other, possibly more useful feats (greater spell focus, greater spell pen, etc).

[chad878262]

What's the best playstyle to match the mechanical benefits given by Arcane Scholar?

Sorcerer... all those metamagics fit fantastic with Sorcerers ability to select them on the fly, vs. having to plan out all the various metamagics with wizard. However, having quicken, empower and maximize lowered by one spell level cost each is a boon in any case (and not just for blasters!)

Does Archmage feel restrictive on spell slots once you learn to effectively play wizard?

Have not played an Archmage, but my take on it is this... You need to have a strong understanding of the spells and mechanics to play anything that takes away spell slots well. If you know what you are doing I'm sure it can be fantastic... I don't play a wizard well enough yet to be confident in my own ability to play it though.

Is Improved Critical: Ranged Touch Attack worth the feat slot?

Sure, if you are going to be a blaster, but direct damage is not really the strongest spells for a caster... Save or X will always beat direct damage in the long run. However, that does not mean blaster/direct damage can't be worth it, and I don't know if the ICRTA applies to disintegrate, but if it does...ouch! I would rather get higher DC's personally, or more metamagic or a lot of other feats...that doesn't mean my way is right, you have to decide what's important to you!

[Side]

I definitely plan on spending more time learning how to play as a non-blaster this time around, but I also love the idea of a spell hitting for 400+ damage out of the blue.

I just looked it up and I'm actually not sure Disintegrate can crit... I know for a fact that Polar Ray can, and the nwn2 wiki agrees, but it says nothing about Disintegrate. I guess Improved Critical really depends on Disintegrate then, as I plan on focusing more on transmutation this time around than cold spells.

I'd love to go as a full DC transmuter, but I wouldn't even know where to begin. I guess that's the next thing I need to look into before I think about hitting the RCR.

EDIT: Time to do some reading!

EDIT 2: Can confirm Disintegrate is able to critically hit.

[chad878262]

Transmuter wouldn't be the optimal choice (The two primary spells are both 6th level) for a DC caster. Though if you are interested in going that route, you might see if JCVD1 has some time to chat with you as he's probably got the most experience with that school.

[Side]

Alright! After reading through that thread about DC Wizards I think I'm on the right track. It's a pretty tight fit feat wise making wizard/frost mage/archmage/arcane scholar work with solid DCs, so much so that if I want to take Spellcasting Prodigy I might have to wait until level 18 for extend spell... Or I can just drop Arcane Scholar and free up feat slots that way. Without Spellcasting Prodigy I can get a hypothetical DC of 37 for a level 9, focused spell, which is one lower than the suggested amount in that other thread. Not bad if I say so myself.

I think I want DCs and blasting to go hand in hand here a little too much, which is obviously a problem. In that regard just how powerful is the Archmage ability Arcane Fire? With it could I end up with a spellbook filled with defensive/utility spells, while maintaining a fair amount of raw damage?

I doubt it will be comparable to an empowered Polar Ray, or a Maximized Disintegrate, and the damage dice agree, but those are likely overkill in most situations anyway.

Also, I take it metamagic doesn't effect a spells DC, even though it technically changes the spell level? Would be nice if it did, but something about how everyone seems to write about it makes me think it does not.

With all this in mind, if I want to try and walk the line between DCs and blasting, what position does Improved Critical: Ranged Touch Attack have now? Arcane Fire can crit, and Disintegrate both has a DC attached to it that my spell focus covers and can crit. It doubles the crit range here, but in a very feat starved build I either have to sacrifice an epic spell slot, drop my DC by a bit, cut out a class completely, or play without extend spell.