Kmart Kommando
First Post
Wraithstrike + Whirling Blade + Arcane Strike + full Power Attack.szilard said:
Looking for a Fighter Wizard build
EyeontheMountain
First Post
Good luck using two free actions in one round.
EyeontheMountain said:
Why is this a problem? there are not limitations on how many free actions in a round except in specifically mentioned circumstances (of which arcane strike is not one) or if the DM wishes to limit it. Now if they were both swift actions, you would have a problem.
Besides the combo sounds nastier than it is. In 12 levels of playing a fighter/mage I managed to get this off exactly once and managed to down exactly 2 mooks with it.
It is fairly rare for critters to line up in a straight line...except in a hallway...
Which is one reason why, before comitting to Whirling Blade, you should get a ruling on its interaction Sculpt Spell(or lack thereof).
If you can turn WB into a Cone, Burst, or 4 seperate areas, it becomes much more effective.
Which is one reason why, before comitting to Whirling Blade, you should get a ruling on its interaction Sculpt Spell(or lack thereof).
If you can turn WB into a Cone, Burst, or 4 seperate areas, it becomes much more effective.
Elder-Basilisk
First Post
That depends a lot on what kind of a weapon you use it with and what else you do in combination with it. At high levels, the spell becomes very very good.
For instance, a +4 (through greater magic weapon) holy wounding greatsword thrown by a level 16+fighter/mage with a 24 int will do a base of 2d6+4+2d6 (to evil foes)+1 point of constitution+int (and if you get 1.5 Int with a two-handed weapon, that's 10 points). So, that's a base of 21 points of damage, 1 point of con, and another 7 points against an evil foe at full attack bonus. Assuming an evil foe, and a 16 hit die foe, that's as good as a lightning bolt but with no spell resistance, no energy resistance, and no saving throw.
Not bad for a 2nd level spell. To get comparable damage with a mediocre int like 24 (figuring in saving throws), you would need to turn to 5th level spells like arc of lightning.
But, it gets better. You can use arcane strike with it. Since arcane strike is a free action rather than a swift action, nothing stops you from casting another swift spell in the round. Still, just taking things one at a time let's assume a moderate arcane strike like a 5th level slot. Assuming further that the +27 odd (+13 BAB, +7 Int, +4 weapon, +2 morale (heroism), +1 weapon focus) attack bonus that the character is likely to have for the attack roll is already sufficient to hit reliably, we'll trade the attack bonus for damage with power attack. Now, that's going to add 10 damage from Power Attack and an additional 12.5 damage from arcane strike dice, bringing the total to 43.5 plus 1 con and 7 vs evil foes. Against the same 16 HD foes, that's about 58 points of damage which is more than the arc of lightning would net you.
But, remember that you still have a swift action left. For a 6th level spell slot, you can drop a quickened whirling blade and do it again. 116 odd points of damage for a 2nd, 5th, and 6th level slot. Not bad.
But, better still, imagine that you found a way to have fires of purity active at the time (contingency perhaps). Now you get two 73 damage attacks on everyone in the line.
But it gets better. If you add wraithstrike to it (which you really shouldn't because wraithstrike is heinously broken), you can crank the Power Attack up to max. Without Arcane Strike, that brings the damage up to 52 points of damage in a line for a pair of second level spells. And, what's worse, you can extend wraithstrike and drop a pair of whirling blades in the next round as well with full power attack and with a hefty spell on the arcane strike. Dropping an 7th level spell ups the damage to 69.5 per attack for a total of 139 damage in a line on the second pair of attacks. The cost (3rd level slot the round before, 2nd level slot, 6th level slot, and 7th level slot in the round used) is high, but the damage output exceeds the area effect damage you can do, even with 9th level slots.
For instance, a +4 (through greater magic weapon) holy wounding greatsword thrown by a level 16+fighter/mage with a 24 int will do a base of 2d6+4+2d6 (to evil foes)+1 point of constitution+int (and if you get 1.5 Int with a two-handed weapon, that's 10 points). So, that's a base of 21 points of damage, 1 point of con, and another 7 points against an evil foe at full attack bonus. Assuming an evil foe, and a 16 hit die foe, that's as good as a lightning bolt but with no spell resistance, no energy resistance, and no saving throw.
Not bad for a 2nd level spell. To get comparable damage with a mediocre int like 24 (figuring in saving throws), you would need to turn to 5th level spells like arc of lightning.
But, it gets better. You can use arcane strike with it. Since arcane strike is a free action rather than a swift action, nothing stops you from casting another swift spell in the round. Still, just taking things one at a time let's assume a moderate arcane strike like a 5th level slot. Assuming further that the +27 odd (+13 BAB, +7 Int, +4 weapon, +2 morale (heroism), +1 weapon focus) attack bonus that the character is likely to have for the attack roll is already sufficient to hit reliably, we'll trade the attack bonus for damage with power attack. Now, that's going to add 10 damage from Power Attack and an additional 12.5 damage from arcane strike dice, bringing the total to 43.5 plus 1 con and 7 vs evil foes. Against the same 16 HD foes, that's about 58 points of damage which is more than the arc of lightning would net you.
But, remember that you still have a swift action left. For a 6th level spell slot, you can drop a quickened whirling blade and do it again. 116 odd points of damage for a 2nd, 5th, and 6th level slot. Not bad.
But, better still, imagine that you found a way to have fires of purity active at the time (contingency perhaps). Now you get two 73 damage attacks on everyone in the line.
But it gets better. If you add wraithstrike to it (which you really shouldn't because wraithstrike is heinously broken), you can crank the Power Attack up to max. Without Arcane Strike, that brings the damage up to 52 points of damage in a line for a pair of second level spells. And, what's worse, you can extend wraithstrike and drop a pair of whirling blades in the next round as well with full power attack and with a hefty spell on the arcane strike. Dropping an 7th level spell ups the damage to 69.5 per attack for a total of 139 damage in a line on the second pair of attacks. The cost (3rd level slot the round before, 2nd level slot, 6th level slot, and 7th level slot in the round used) is high, but the damage output exceeds the area effect damage you can do, even with 9th level slots.
Darklone said:
And to reiterate, the spell lets you use your highest BAB AND whichever stat gives you the best attack bonuses- Str, Int or Cha.
First, SR has no effect on the spell.
Additionally, a lot of the potential for abuse in the combo is present in the game's economics and other non-Feat or spell intensive ways.
A simple one-time expenditure of spending the dough to get a +5 edged weapon boosts this spell's efficacy...especially if we're talking about something like a +1 Holy Flame Frost 2Hd Sword (2d6+1 19-20x2 +2d6 +1d6 +1d6).
Then we get into PC/Campaign specific boosts. A feat like Monkey Grip or the racial trait Powerful Build boosts that +1d6.
Each level of Kensai (used in the build I posted) gets you a +1 enhancement or enchantment to your weapon, creating the equivalent of up to an aggregate +10 weapon (without going epic)...and then there's that +8 Str boost the class gets on a Will check, and which stacks with any other Str booster I can think of. The class can do this multiple times/day depending on how many times the PC makes the ever increasing DC of the check.
And I'm sure there's other ways to boost the nasty. There are all kinds of buff-spells, magic items, & Aura classes out there.
wildstarsreach
First Post
Another option with your fighter level is to take the Armored Savant Fighter replacement level 1. This will reduce you armor catagory and halve the arcane failure penalty. This is in Dragon #355
Eldragon
First Post
Elder-Basilisk said:
Correct me if I am wrong, but I thought Arcane Strike was a swift action as well. Since Arcane Strike was written before Swift Actions were in the rules, so when Swift Actions were created the Arcane Strike feat became a swift action instead of a free action?
Also, I thought Fires of Purity only provided a damage bonus with Melee attacks?
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