Deathgrowl wrote:Aelcar wrote:Ohhh! Sorry, I misunderstood. This is a thread about mages. Like...well built mages, supposedly.
Thanks for that. You know, just because a build isn't min-maxed, doesn't mean it isn't well built.
Every time you say "min-maxed" associated to well built you make a mistake. Min-maxing is absolutely useless on arcanes. Min-maxing is useful when you have to fit particular feats in the build (like EDM) or add a particularly costly prestige class (WM, for instance). Talking about min-maxing with a mage is silly. NONE of my mages is min-maxed. They all did and do the job just fine.
And absolutely no caster mages (meaning non-gish), no matter what build, can consistently kill things for an hour non-stop. You just do not have the spell slots for it. It's simply impossible.
There is no place where you stay one hour without clearing it. There are extremely few builds that can go one hour without consumables CONSISTENTLY killing things. Also, the word "consistently" is relative, therefore it doesnt mean anything out of context.
My current mage can go in the Frost Keep and clear the place in less than 10 minutes, King included. It can also sip tea on his way out, still full of spells.
As for the Vault, my Wiz20/AM10 Generalist (so, not that many spells) could just buff an ele, and then consistently Sunburst/Bigby (5/6)/<insert control spell here> and then let the ele kill everything. You set the ele stationary. You group the enemies up. ONE Sunburst DC 40: end of the fight. Move on.
It's a build issue, and a learn to play issue. Mages can do everything you build them for, and then some more, and all of this without dying, ever, unless in total lag.
As I told you several times, there are few things REALLY important with a wizard: your DC, your punch (CL & attack options), your AC and HiPS. You need ONLY ONE of these to be a good wizard. Some characters have up to three of them. YOUR CHARACTER HAS NONE. How do you call that? I used the term "RP Build", and yet you find it offensive. What am I supposed to say?
You have no punch (it's given by CL and attack PrCs, mainly ASoC & FM or AM for instance. You only have ASoC, and you're not a sorc, actually you're even a Generalist, and your INT could be higher...so nevermind...), you have no DC (decent CL, zero DC PrCs like AM or BM, average INT, zero Epic Spell Focus), you have no AC (it would be fine if you had anything else...), you have no HiPS. You have detection...well, at least you can see the stuff pounding you to dust! I gave you suggestions on how to fix this, you took none. And now you rage at me?!?! Joke?
If I were to play your mage, despite the fact it has really nothing to boast mechanically, you'd be surprised of what I could do. I would quite possibly solo the Vault with a couple of scrolls, for instance, and then avoid the Dracolich because you have some 10+ wasted levels in that build (I might kill it with consumables, but why? I can just go in with a companion or two, and make sure we do it easily). Angels (it's an excellent summon), Sunbursts, Undeath to Death (yes, even with your horrid DC), ONE buffed ele for the first floor (combined with control spells, so it gets easy kills), FIRE WALLS (ONE spell, 2-4 kills extended. My Evoker utterly destroyed the Vault several times.), Greater Ruin if you have it...you name it. Wand of Silence under the Liches, Wand of Silence under the Dracolich if you are alone, but mantle first cause since your build is bad he'll kill you before that.
You want competent advice? This is competent advice. Now use it.
. It's not like if you want to Wail an Evoker has problems: DC 37 is still playable, all in all, when it's not your specialty. Illusion as a focus is less versatile than Evocation, because many creatures are immune to mind spells, most of all many of those you normally fight (Undead, Constructs), but it's a great school:if you like it, pick it without doubts.