Baldur's Gate : The Sword Coast Chronicles : NWN2 Persistent World

Carbondk wrote: - Mass fowl. Haven't tried this one, but as far as I understand, instead of polymorphing now, it insta-kills all those in the AoE that miss the save. Seems decent enough to me.

It only instantly kills PCs. NPCs and monsters are still turned into chickens. If anyone questions the effectiveness of the spell:

-Deacon was able to turn the entire Boareskyr Bridge bandit group into chickens.

-Deacon turned one of the Orcs that was trying to eat him into a chicken. Leaving the other Orcs to eat their friend instead of Deacon (RP situation with a group of Orc players)

This does clear it up for me since this character is more of a generalist with a focus in conjuration. A higher charisma score will boost Epic Spells DCs, but spell focuses won't. So invest in DC and go for Epic Ruin, Vampiric Feast, Epic Gate (they will up the duration eventually ), and maybe....just maybe Mass Fowl. Mass Fowl for the win....if it instakills hostile targets, and maybe turns PCs into chickens? Anyone know?

Caleb wrote:

Carbondk wrote: - Mass fowl. Haven't tried this one, but as far as I understand, instead of polymorphing now, it insta-kills all those in the AoE that miss the save. Seems decent enough to me.

It only instantly kills PCs. NPCs and monsters are still turned into chickens. If anyone questions the effectiveness of the spell:

-Deacon was able to turn the entire Boareskyr Bridge bandit group into chickens.

-Deacon turned one of the Orcs that was trying to eat him into a chicken. Leaving the other Orcs to eat their friend instead of Deacon (RP situation with a group of Orc players)

I was waiting on you to clear that up buddy! Deacon for the win!

As some has pointed out, it's important to remember that epic spells don't count in CL or spell focus feats. Thus, the +5 to your DC is only partially true. For some spellcasters, the epic spell DC may be lower than it is on a level 9 spell.

I particularly enjoy Vampiric Feast, and for most non-good spellcasters I create, I think more than once before I exclude this one in the build. Every other epic spell is situational to the character for me.

For example, Mass Fowl is cool, but its essentially a lesser version of Vampiric Feast since it does not heal. Damnation is a single target version of a finger of death, but its a will save. That is frankly its only strength. Entropic Husk, in turn, is only a lesser version of Damnation due to the delayed effect.

The epic spells that have 3 uses a day is worth considering for some characters though. That's because they're the equivalent of 3 level 9-ish spell slots. They all deal damage. Now, for some characters this is a blessing. Divine characters are tailored towards spell effects, save or die, entanglement and so forth, and lack damage spells. For them, the 3/uses per day epic spells are great, and sometimes a necessity. Greater Ruin and Epic Lightning Storm are great feats that deals respectable damage. Any divine caster that is not using wildshape really needs one or both.

The arcane classes however, don't need this. They've alot of damage in their repertoire as well as spells with debilitating effects, so they get a whole lot less out of them from a power perspective. The arcane classes often gain a whole lot more if they take other feats instead, typically feats that increase their DCs, stealth, SR penetration or AC.

Last, Epic Gate. If I want a summon, I want it to stick around so that I can buff it. It's not entirely useless, of course, because it can deal a respectable about of damage to targets of a lower level than you in PvM. Thus, its sometimes a better choice in PvM than most other epic spells (if you compare the damage it does). But, its usefulness is diminished greatly in PvP, in boss fights or in any hard PvM encounter the DMs throw at you. That's why I would never take this feat on any character.

In my opinion, the only Epic spells worth taking are on a Warlock (who would otherwise be spending his feats most likely on bonus d6 blast damage). The raw damage feats are sort of silly, especially with reserve blast spells. Greater Ruin is interesting because of the Positive Damage which can't be resisted by most creatures, but eh. All of the death-inducing spells have crummy DCs, especially considering you only get 1 shot. Vampiric Feast can fully heal your mage, but so can a few heal kits.

On a Warlock though, I'd take as many as you feel comfortable taking.

Is epic call lightning storm available for arcane casters? It wasn't available for my arcanist.