Advice from Expert Arcanists sought: my first blaster build

[Invoker]

I'm going to disagree with Chad and say that reserve feats are definitely worth it. Want to solo as a d4? This is what you need, plus some good wards. I've even been getting compliments from multiple PCs about how I have so much magic and how I'm so powerful because I am doing much more consistent damage across encounters vs that mage in the back with his crossbow saving his spells for the right moment.

Nothing against you or your character: if you like it, and you have fun, by all means, do it.

But this is a Tips&Tricks thread, and we need to be objective.

Reserve Feats hold zero relevance from epic levels onwards. Epic enemies with 400-600+ HP each mean dealing 30-50 dmg/round is an extremely bad investment. When in party, you might as well do nothing. When alone, you really do not want to wait those 15 rounds to kill one of the 6 Frost Giants pounding on you.

No respectable mage would ever use a crossbow, btw (to what end?).

Deathgrowl's builds make sense. ASoC is the most powerful PrC you can possibly get, followed by Archmage (especially Mastery of Elements). My suggestion would be to keep Sorc at 6 or 7 (6 starting levels +1 in the epics in coincidence with the Epic Spell you want to pick. If you are evil, get Vampiric Feast), then get 7-10 levels of ASoC and 6 levels of AM for SP I & II and MoE. The new Dragon Disciple seems like a great class, indeed, and fills in a void of defensive solutions for non-evil aligned characters.

As for spells, Flame Arrow and Ice Storm (no save on this one, so extremely important) keep scaling past CL 30. Ice Darts is one of the most effective damage spells in the game. Isaac's Greater Missile Storm is good in certain PvP instances, and more in general against two targets (not one. Not three or more, unless they're all almost dead, and then you do not cast this one). Firebrand is an excellent, party-friendly AoE. One type of Orb is recommended to deal with particularly pesky SR or mantle spam. Vampiric Touch is another excellent spell, but more situational. Cloud spells like Wall of Fire, Cloudkill and Evard's Black Tentacle are very, very good on BGTSCC.

Mirror Images, one between Shades and Premonition (if this one, then grab Shield too), Greater Heroism, Shadow Shield, Circle vs Alignment, Deez's Repulsive Shadow Barrier are some of the key buffs you will need, aside of your pick of stats increases, depending on the way you are built and geared. Haste is also very popular, with Concealment (Greater Inv.) often picked as well. Improved Mage Armor is often on wands, given the long duration.

Mordenkainen's Disjunction and your favourite Bigbies + Grease, Web and possibly Acid Fog are effective control spells, with Enervation being extremely strong on a Sorcerer (alternatively, you can put it on a Wand). A wand of Dimension Door is a "must" right now, given someone thought removing the cooldown was a neat idea (it's overpowered, of course).

Depending on your alignment, one or two summoning spells can be considered, but I personally do not like them very much on a blaster.

Have fun!

[Diamore]

Reserve feats can be great fun. If you dislike them, and don't think they are fun or useful, you don't need them to be effective.

When in party, you might as well do nothing.

They can be objectively very good for sustained damage over a long duration. Especially in a group. Doing nothing in a group is boring and can be annoying to those who are doing things.

Depending on your build, a single feat can be worth it for never needing to rest or run out of spells while consistently attacking. This increases your groups overall damage output while not decreasing your effectiveness at all.

Builds like you are looking to make will be extremely tight on feats though, so focus on Asoc with a possible Archmage if it fits your character. I personally have found Dragon Disciple underwhelming but mileage will vary. Invoker's spell selection and Deathgrowls builds are spot on as usual, but never forget to make your character your own.

[Invoker]

Reserve feats can be great fun. If you dislike them, and don't think they are fun or useful, you don't need them to be effective.

When in party, you might as well do nothing.

They can be objectively very good for sustained damage over a long duration. Especially in a group. Doing nothing in a group is boring and can be annoying to those who are doing things.

Allow me to clarify that I did not address "fun" in any way, since it's a highly subjective topic. I merely commented on effective mechanics.

Having a feat doing 30-50 dmg instead of "nothing" (although repositioning, studying combat scenarios and taking notes on what to cast and when isn't exactly nothing, and will distinguish the excellent wizard player from the journeyman) is obviously a "plus" (albeit a small one).

The problem is: what did you give up for that? A Metamagic feat? Bad mistake. A PrC? Just as bad. Wizards (outside of 15+ Wizard builds, which are however STILL better off without Reserve Feats) and Sorcerers can seldom spare feats, especially in the most powerful builds.

Doing nothing for 5-6 rounds, and then placing a Sunburst that blinds 80%+ of the enemy group permanently is a better use of your time than ca. 280 dmg of Reserve Feat over 7 rounds, which means...half health of an epic enemy.

Between the former example, and casting the reserve feat 5-6 rounds and then placing Sunburst, there is no practical difference whatsoever. I could go on for very long with such examples, demonstrating that in practical epic play, not only reserve feats are meaningless, but they subtract a very much needed feat from your arsenal.

If, however, the Reserve Feat is the center of an RP build, I am the first one to say arcane casters can be made work handsomely even in such circumstances. But it is clear to me there is no mechanical benefit to Reserve Feats (they do nothing, for all practical purposes). None. Believe me: I played too many mages to lvl 30 and beyond not to know

[Incarnate]

Cloudkill and Evard's Black Tentacle those two especially go exceptionally well together.

EBT will immobilize and damage, though be cautious with it as it will also hurt allies.
Cloudkill will continiously damage constitution, which will affect make EBT perform better as the fortitude saves will be reduced as cloudkill keeps reducing constitution.

With regards to reserve feats, I'd also say that reserve feats certainly isn't bad at all - seriously, don't underestimate the ability to keep a high level of damage, which will out perform the triggering damage spell, it just takes more castings to achieve the same. However from the perspective of bursting with everything you have until the target is dead, then reserve feats would be questionable, because action economy is a very important thing, but not so much when in a party. In my opinion, reserve spellcasting feats are greatly undervalued, because being able to keep a high level of damage is NOTHING to scoff at, seriously, and certainly not if you begin to compare the alternative which would be much lower if its a weapon you're going to rely on. Especially also when considering the fact that the rest timers is also a thing, which certainly doesn't become any less a factor at higher levels, especially not if you're bursting all your spells. Of course, you can get around using a reserve feat and just use scrolls or wands to achieve the same with a higher level of damage, but it will become costly, especially at epic levels.

[Steve]

I have a question: considering the Build-type of Blaster Sorc/Wiz, what would be the expected Top Armor Class for this build, in considering having the Best gear possible?

My calculations have come out at 37, without a shield (if you dip into a PrC for this, then you could bump to 43). Once can build an armored blaster and then get mith plate even, for what I calculated at 47 (using a shield).

I guess this question came up after the recent reserve feats, because those Reserve Feats also require a mage to get into combat range, which in itself isn't always the best "move," especially if you're AC-light.

So...what about AC?

[Incarnate]

I guess this question came up after the recent reserve feats, because those Reserve Feats also require a mage to get into combat range, which in itself isn't always the best "move," especially if you're AC-light.

So...what about AC?

What do you mean by "combat range?" Are you talking about actual melee range? Or are you referring to casting range? As far as I recall, the range is based on the level of the triggering spell - 5 feet per level of the triggering spell - potentially 45 feet. Basically anything above melee range would work, but of course the close to the fray you get the likely a target you will be.

[Invoker]

In my opinion, reserve spellcasting feats are greatly undervalued, because being able to keep a high level of damage is NOTHING to scoff at, seriously,

35 dmg/round average is not a high level of damage. It's an insignificant level of damage. You need twenty rounds to kill a respectable epic enemy. It's a waste of a feat, and a waste of time, unless it's an RP choice, or you have a very specific kind of build (AT applying SA to it, and still you'll end up dealing about 100-120 dmg single target, which is not "a high level of damage" by any stretch).

Let me repeat: nothing against them. But for the sake of correct information, they are worth nothing mechanically. When we talk about arcanes, I do not overvalue or undervalue anything, trust me.

So...what about AC?

You usually end up with AC 40ish, as you correctly stated. This means you'll only die if you get dispelled, provided you have Mirror Images, DR 30 and displacement effects on. Obviously, any sort of lag can and eventually will kill you on such a build.

Keeping a Quickened movement boost is usually a good idea to minimize risks on a build without defensive classes in it (say, 0-3 deaths lvl 1-30 with good play).

[chad878262]

Armored Sorc dipping Paladin, Blackguard or Cleric can get very high AC...

10 + 11 (MFP) + 6 (IMA) + 4 (Deez) + 5 (ShadowShield) + 8 (Dodge/Deflection)= 44 + 12 (Divine Shield) = 56.

Note that 44 AC with mirrors and 20% concealment from Deez is generally enough to make you immune to physical attacks anyway.

Edit: Such a build could also take ICE and/or use a Towershield, but either way they're spending feats and the AC is hardly needed. ICE is really needed if you are building a caster that isn't wearing armor and even then there are simply better ways to avoid damage as a caster then spending two feats. As Invoker mentions above feats area always at a premium on a caster build since all the meta-magics have key uses while many PRC's are relatively costly for casters in terms of feats (especially 'worthless' feats like skill focus spellcraft and/or concentration). Thus, if you're race allows it, such as Paladin for Aasimar it is often worth it to take 4 Pal levels (vs. 3 Blackguard) since you can avoid taking cleave. You still need Power Attack to get Divine Shield.

[Steve]

Fiery Burst, as example, is this:

...you can spend a standard action to create a 5-foot-radius burst of fire at a range of 30 feet.

Invisible Needle:

This attack requires a successful ranged attack roll, and the dart has a short range.

So, fixed ranges.

Having played an Arcane Trickster w/ Invisible Needle, I learned that the range was such that the Build was impossible to play in the first incarnation, which was WITHOUT HiPS, and required and RCR. Otherwise, getting into Combat Range to successfully land the attack—for SA to have worked—you would be immediately pummeled to death, unless there was a) a higher lvl meat shield to lure the AI away from you, b) you had HiPS to get away. Then, Rinse & Repeat.

@ Invoker:
Yeah, the buffs of Mirrors 30 DR and Displacement gives you lots of defense...as long as you don't get multiple crits in the melee, which is bound to happen (cause the Engine cheats! )

@ Chad:
Yeah, Divine Shield really helps with situational and temp AC, for sure. It is a good deal, because for 2 Feats you can get a 12 AC bump, where as you need 4 feats for Armored Casting (Silent + 3 Epics).

[Invoker]

Armored Sorc dipping Paladin, Blackguard or Cleric can get very high AC...

10 + 11 (MFP) + 6 (IMA) + 4 (Deez) + 5 (ShadowShield) + 8 (Dodge/Deflection)= 44 + 12 (Divine Shield) = 56.

Note that 44 AC with mirrors and 20% concealment from Deez is generally enough to make you immune to physical attacks anyway.

True, but Armored Sorcerer is a very mediocre blaster.

Going that route, I'd suggest abandoning anything allowing saves, because the DCs will be even worse than usual.

Polar Ray is mandatory on that kind of character, and improper use of IGMS almost inevitable for lack of better alternatives.

[Incarnate]

In my opinion, reserve spellcasting feats are greatly undervalued, because being able to keep a high level of damage is NOTHING to scoff at, seriously,

35 dmg/round average is not a high level of damage. It's an insignificant level of damage. You need twenty rounds to kill a respectable epic enemy. It's a waste of a feat, and a waste of time, unless it's an RP choice, or you have a very specific kind of build (AT applying SA to it, and still you'll end up dealing about 100-120 dmg single target, which is not "a high level of damage" by any stretch).

Let me repeat: nothing against them. But for the sake of correct information, they are worth nothing mechanically. When we talk about arcanes, I do not overvalue or undervalue anything, trust me.

It is undervalueing it, because it allows one to continue where normally one wouldn't be able to because of being exhausted.
Also, you're assuming that one is only using this feat to defeat the encounter, which obviously one shouldn't, unless of course this what one is left with. Also, reserve feats are intended to make you more powerful, but they intended to make one able to extend further, which is exactly what they do. The damage is high compared to what you could do with a weapon, even if its a magic one. Also, being able to deal 35 damage on average every round compared is a lot better than closer to nothing, which around what a spellcaster can do if the spellcaster is out of spells, the alternative is auto attacks with a weapon which will be even lower.

Basically you seem to be comparing the reserve feats from the perspective of relative power when it should be from the perspective of what they're intended for - namely sustainable damage and extending one's power. Reserve feats will never be able to matct the relative power of spells of the triggering spell level, and the spell will never be able to match the amount of damage the reserve feats can output in total between rests.

Fiery Burst, as example, is this:

...you can spend a standard action to create a 5-foot-radius burst of fire at a range of 30 feet.

Invisible Needle:

This attack requires a successful ranged attack roll, and the dart has a short range.

So, fixed ranges.

There also others that doesn't have a range specified, only an area of effect - like for instance Stormbolt.

[Steve]

There also others that doesn't have a range specified, only an area of effect - like for instance Stormbolt.

Actually:

...you can fire a 20 foot long line bolt of electricity an infinite number of times per day.

[Incarnate]

There also others that doesn't have a range specified, only an area of effect - like for instance Stormbolt.

Actually:

...you can fire a 20 foot long line bolt of electricity an infinite number of times per day.

Yeah, thats the area of effect - a 20 foot long line.
- that doesn't describe from at what range it can be cast.

[Steve]

Have you used it before? Where do you think the line originates from?

[Incarnate]

Have you used it before? Where do you think the line originates from?

I have, though not on this server, and it could originate further away from the caster.