Some thoughts on building a Frost Mage Stormsinger

[Galdinao]

Hello everyone! I'm going to RCR a level 12 toon and I'm thinking about a Bard4/Spirit Shaman6/Storm Singer10/Frost Mage10 build.

I need some thoughts about this build: http://nwn2db.com/build/?325045 and how to improve it. Do you think it's playable?! The gnome choice is needed for my RP. I have some doubts about Empower Spell and focusing on Evocation school.
I also need advice on choosing spells because my only experience with Spirit Shamans was many years ago in MotB.

[zhazz]

I took a quick look at it.

Here's my take on the build you're looking at:
http://nwn2db.com/build/?325066

Changes:

• Can wear Mithral Full Plate (Battle Caster feat)
• Gets +3 AC from Tumble
• Gets Extend Spell instead of Empower
• Skips Curse Song (Stormsinger doesn't count for it IIRC)
• Skips Extra Music
• Charisma caps at 26 with a +3 item

If you really truly want 28 Charisma (with a +4 item or buff) then I'd recommend dropping Dexterity to 10 and go for a Mithral Half Plate instead. It's only 1 AC lower than Full Plate.

Battle Caster adds up to 3 AC with a Mithral Full Plate (8 base + 3 Dex) as compared to a Breast Plate (5 base + 3 Dex), so I would recommend keeping it.

[Galdinao]

I took a quick look at it.

Here's my take on the build you're looking at:
http://nwn2db.com/build/?325066

Changes:

• Can wear Mithral Full Plate (Battle Caster feat)
• Gets +3 AC from Tumble
• Gets Extend Spell instead of Empower
• Skips Curse Song (Stormsinger doesn't count for it IIRC)
• Skips Extra Music
• Charisma caps at 26 with a +3 item

If you really truly want 28 Charisma (with a +4 item or buff) then I'd recommend dropping Dexterity to 10 and go for a Mithral Half Plate instead. It's only 1 AC lower than Full Plate.

Battle Caster adds up to 3 AC with a Mithral Full Plate (8 base + 3 Dex) as compared to a Breast Plate (5 base + 3 Dex), so I would recommend keeping it.

You did exactly what I was looking for! Thank you very much!
I'll drop DEX to 10 becasue I have a +4 CHAR item to use on him. Any advice on selecting spells will still be appreciated. Thanks again!

[zhazz]

You're very welcome

I've updated the proposed build to get Battle Caster quite early. Since a Mithral Half Plate isn't too difficult to come by, you would want to be able to use that as early as possible. They cost about 50,000 gold. If you can find a Mithral Heavy Shield too, you can wear that on top of the armor for a bit more defenses.

The proposed build has also had its abilities updated to reflect your goal of wearing a +4 CHA item with a Mithral Half Plate.

[Galdinao]

You're very welcome

I've updated the proposed build to get Battle Caster quite early. Since a Mithral Half Plate isn't too difficult to come by, you would want to be able to use that as early as possible. They cost about 50,000 gold. If you can find a Mithral Heavy Shield too, you can wear that on top of the armor for a bit more defenses.

The proposed build has also had its abilities updated to reflect your goal of wearing a +4 CHA item with a Mithral Half Plate.

Well, I actually have a question. Picking Battle Caster will give me Armor Proficiency (Medium)? Because at the current state none of my class allow me to use Medium Armor, only Light Armor.

[zhazz]

You're very welcome

I've updated the proposed build to get Battle Caster quite early. Since a Mithral Half Plate isn't too difficult to come by, you would want to be able to use that as early as possible. They cost about 50,000 gold. If you can find a Mithral Heavy Shield too, you can wear that on top of the armor for a bit more defenses.

The proposed build has also had its abilities updated to reflect your goal of wearing a +4 CHA item with a Mithral Half Plate.

Well, I actually have a question. Picking Battle Caster will give me Armor Proficiency (Medium)? Because at the current state none of my class allow me to use Medium Armor, only Light Armor.

Good catch. I always forget that Spirit Shaman doesn't get Medium Armor per default.

In that case one option is to drop base CHA to 23, and up it to 24 with a Great Charisma feat later on. Thereby dropping Battle Caster. This will allow base DEX to be at 12, which with Cat's Grace will put it at 16. Wearing a Mithral Breastplate or Chainmail will then give you the highest possible AC of 8 (5 armor +3 dex). It has to be Mithral, since you want to drop it down to Light Armor.

Alternatively you can get Medium Armor Proficiency by dropping another feat, which would likely either be Epic Spell Focus (Evocation) or Practiced Spellcaster (Spirit Shaman). Which one you drop is up to you. Dropping Focus will make it slightly easier for enemies to resist/negate spell effects, while dropping Practiced will make your own spells more vulnerable to dispels and won't last as long.

In short, your choices are between losing one of the following:

1. 2 Armor
2. 1 Evocation DC
3. 4 Caster Levels

That is a gameplay choice I cannot make for you