A build idea, a 'FEAT' 'WIZZARD'!

[Sun Wukong]

So... any comments on this thing here?

http://nwn2db.com/build/?283423


EH, EH, EH?

[Diamore]

Too many wizard levels. It isn't enough of a gish as well as a blaster.

I made mine earlier today, designed it after Steve's first post.

[Sun Wukong]

That is a good point.

I should drop the Light Armor and Shield Proficiency, get Spell Focus (Transmutation) and Augment Form feats instead so that I can use Polymorph and Shapechange as some kind of quasi-gish. Hence, drop the Still Spell for Extend Spell for even longer gish-buff durations.

Additionally I could pick more epic spells, possibly.

[Hawke]

Augment form feats made it in?

[Sun Wukong]

I think so. It is listed on the wiki and the guy who made it seemed to state it was in. Not to mention that the feat appears in the builder. It has no icon and it doesn't seem to work, but I guess that is sufficent evidence to state it is in.

It is kind of sad that you cannot take the Beckon the Cold as a Wizard bonus feat at level 20. But on the the bright side, at least you got a lot of epic spells.

[Marathados]

Been a while the last time I played a full spellcaster. But the reserve feats are not really worth it, if I recall correctly...

[Sun Wukong]

I think the complaint was 'not enough damage' and how you got items with spell like abilities that do about the same damage by default.

But that said, why not do it still? Get bit of that offensive spellcasting going on... While most of your spell book remains spent on buffs.

[Tsidkenu]

Reserve feats are a waste on pure wizard. You'll accomplish more hiding behind a good, buffed, tanky ally and nuking over their shoulder when things get tougher.

Wiz 30 is an excellent build by itself though. Can't really go wrong with that!

[Sun Wukong]

Reserve feats are a waste on pure wizard. You'll accomplish more hiding behind a good, buffed, tanky ally and nuking over their shoulder when things get tougher.

True enough. However, I am somewhat lazy to re-adjust my spellbook. Thus with a few spells to fuel reserve feats, I can get by as a buffed up shapeshifter, or party buff bot, while being to fling some magical damage through the reserve feats.

I just find the idea of a 'quasi' warlock fun.

[Incarnate]

Reserve feats are a waste on pure wizard. You'll accomplish more hiding behind a good, buffed, tanky ally and nuking over their shoulder when things get tougher.

Wiz 30 is an excellent build by itself though. Can't really go wrong with that!

Don't see why they're waste, they might deal less damage, but thats plenty justifiable considering you can do an infinite amount of damage with them WITHOUT as much as casting a single spell from your spellbook or you could be finding yourself in a position where you using the reserve feat would be better than to try and beat them with a stick. However I wouldn't mind if they scaled a little better in terms of damage/level. One thing to consider, if taken early they will help tremendously with levelling, and will still remain somewhat useful. One the reasons why a reserve feat is good early on simply has to do with the limited amount of spell slots available. Also consider, you don't have to begin diminishing your pool of spells already from the beginning of a fight, whether that be PvE or PvP, it may be that the damage is lower, but this means you can go far longer as long as you retain a spell that trigger the feat - basically this means you can retain your spells to when they're truly needed.

For instance the Fiery Burst reserve feat:
You channel your magical talent into a blast of fire. As long as you have a fire spell of 2nd level or higher available to cast, you can spend a standard action to create a 5-foot-radius burst of fire at a range of 30 feet. This burst deals 1d6 points of fire damage per level of the highest-level fire spell you have available to cast. A successful Reflex save halves the damage.

Trigger Spells: Deadly Lahar, Delayed Blast Fireball, Elemental Shield, Fire Storm, Fireball, Flame Arrow, Flame Strike, Incendiary Cloud, Meteor Swarm, Shades, Wall of Fire, Firebrand, Inferno, Combust, Flame Weapon, Fireburst, Greater Fireburst, Shroud of Flame, Body of the Sun, Scorching Ray, Lesser Energized Shield, Energized Shield, Flame of Faith, Weapon of Energy, Orb of Fire, Heartfire

Note: Unless they've removed this part, the reserve feat also confers a +1 to compentence bonus when casting fire spells.

Lets say Fireburst: Fireburst evokes flames all around the caster that extend to 5 feet away. All creatures within this 5-foot radius take 1d8 points of fire damage per caster level, to a maximum of 12d8, unless a reflex saving throw is made for half damage.

This means a level 3 caster would deal 3d8 with the spell, since fireburst is a second level spell the Fiery burst reserve feat would deal 2d6 as opposed to 3d8, not too bad. Damage wise this is 3-24 vs. 2-12, considering you can keep on using it for as long as you have the spell memorized. However, with this being said at higher levels reserve feats exponentially lose efficiency due to scaling being based on spell levels rather than caster levels which spells scale by, this goes in hand with how spells get expontentially more powerful with each spell level.

It basically just means you need to use it more to achieve somewhat the same to equivalent the spell.

Lets say Meteor Swarm: Its deals a maximum of 24d6 = 24 - 144, successful reflex saves halves damage With Meteor Swarm being a 9'th level spell it would deal 9d6 with the reserve feat above which is 9 - 54, successful reflex saves halves damage - this means that in 2.67 castings you could've achieved the same damage as with the Meteor Swarm, of course the area of effect is different which can be both good and bad, depends on the situation.

Consider if the reserve feats scaled with caster level rather than the spell level, you'd suddenly have damaging abilities that would be somewhat on par with spells on the respective and equivalent spell level, which basically would cause an almost no need to cast other equivalent damage spells as long as its efficient.

So, are reserve feats viable as opposed to using the spells? In my opinion I think they are, and I think its quite clear from above why reserve feats still retain their usefullness, even at higher levels. Another good reason why they still good - the thing about wizards, once a wizards are out of spells the wizards is generally speaking out of the fight, the wizard cannot contribute to the fight on equal terms with other party members.

[NegInfinity]

Don't see why they're waste, they might

They're a waste because they do a LOT less damage and monsters on bgtscc tend to have ton of health. By the time you're done softening a monster up with "infinite damage" you'll have wasted damage resistance buffs or time on short-term buffs.

So, reserve feats that deal damage usually make sense only on arcane trickster.

So... any comments on this thing here?

http://nwn2db.com/build/?283423


EH, EH, EH?

Can't comment on power, but, I think auto still + auto silent is more interesting.

Alternatively, if you're going for max int, you could raise your unbuffed int to 35.

[Incarnate]

Don't see why they're waste, they might

They're a waste because they do a LOT less damage and monsters on bgtscc tend to have ton of health. By the time you're done softening a monster up with "infinite damage" you'll have wasted damage resistance buffs or time on short-term buffs.

So, reserve feats that deal damage usually make sense only on arcane trickster.

They might have more health, but as you can see on my comparison above, it only equates to more casting, obviously some spells deal far more damage that the ones I used in the comparison, however a wizard who's out of spells is out of the fight more or less - a wizard who's out of spells is more a liability than anything else. True the wizard could be using scrolls, wands and what not, but thats really besides the point here, also that is a limited resource and potentially quite costly. Additionally, I think its worth remembering here that the monsters here have been designed with emphasis on group play, thus you also consider the wizard as being part of a group.

[NegInfinity]

They might have more health, but as you can see on my comparison above, it only

It means that a better idea is to summon a powerful minion, buff it up, and let it do the fighting.

The character will have less damage than default warlock, and it will not get higher past level 20.

An arcane trickster gish will deal MORE damage (still sucky amount, but this one can actually play support), and will have means to increase damage dice of reserve feats past level 20 (at the cost of caster levels, though).

That's why it is not recommended. There are better options.

The feats can still be picked for flavor, though.

[Sun Wukong]

Can't comment on power, but, I think auto still + auto silent is more interesting.

http://nwn2db.com/build/?149519

[Cenerae]

They might have more health, but as you can see on my comparison above, it only

It means that a better idea is to summon a powerful minion, buff it up, and let it do the fighting.

The character will have less damage than default warlock, and it will not get higher past level 20.

An arcane trickster gish will deal MORE damage (still sucky amount, but this one can actually play support), and will have means to increase damage dice of reserve feats past level 20 (at the cost of caster levels, though).

That's why it is not recommended. There are better options.

The feats can still be picked for flavor, though.

Reserve feats might not be *good*, but they do give you something to contribute besides sitting there twiddling your thumbs for half an hour or more while everyone else does all the work.

Not that you contribute much of note, or anything. But if you have a free feat spare I can't really see the harm in taking one.