Highest possible ratio of caster level to effective char level?

Hi, everyone!

I'm curious as to what the maximum effective caster level for a Holy Word or Blasphemy spell can be, relative to a character's effective level. I'm sure everyone realizes what I'm trying to accomplish with this question; I'm just wondering about the various ways people would pick to achieve it.

Additional comments regarding when the caster level:char level ratio is greatest and when it is worst are also helpful.

I believe that, for spells like those, area of effect might also be an issue in determining the true power of a build, but that's a secondary issue here.

My NPC ranks wait in eager anticipation of your collective prowess.

If you go epic with Red Wizard, Archmage, and magic items, you can get a really high Wizard caster level. For clerics, Beads of Karma and that CD feat give you +8 and you can get 2 more from ring and ioun stone, at least.

Rystil Arden said:

If you go epic with Red Wizard, Archmage, and magic items, you can get a really high Wizard caster level. For clerics, Beads of Karma and that CD feat give you +8 and you can get 2 more from ring and ioun stone, at least.

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Hmm, so that's 40 caster level at 30? Oh wait, that's a Wizard caster level . . . I suppose I could just use Wish to cast a Holy Word (automatic, no save killing of things considerably higher level than the character, in an area, is the goal of the build), but I wonder if that reduces my overall power. Although, now that I put it that way, if I don't fixate on divine spells, and if I work with things that DO allow a saving throw, I can abuse Fatespinner . . .

Thanks for being the first to kick this off!

Oh, and another minor point to mention - Holy Word can be resisted by SR, but SR is a caster level check . . .

In addition to the stuff already mentioned....
If you grab the Hierophant Prestige class, you can add 5 over your character level by taking Spell Power each time (you don't lose caster level to the prestige class, just spell progression).
Death Knell can get you another +1 .... for a time, anyway; between the two, you've got six more.

Edit: And, you know, the ratio doesn't matter... just the caster level relative to the targets' level, in absolute terms. If you can get 10 or more over .... well.... they do have some chances: you fail an SR check; you lose the spell (e.g., because you were deafened and can't do the Verbal Components); the spell is countered (by Bardic Countersong, Dispell Magic, Counterspell, or the like); the spell is neutralized (Silence, Anti-Magic Field); targets not being able to hear (it's a listed problem in the 3.5 SRD version of the spell); probably a few others I'm missing, but if you know that is what you are up against....

Jack Simth said:

targets not being able to hear (it's a listed problem in the 3.5 SRD version of the spell);

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What do you mean by 'listed problem'?

Holy Word and Word of Chaos won't kill someone who can't hear (though they can be banished); Blasphemy and Dictum have no such restriction.

-Hyp.

Missed that - strange; they are otherwise such clones of each other.... So the Deaf Lawful Evil character is immune to all four ... hmm ... So a Lawful Evil Cleric 8 with Blindness/Deafness and Remove Blindness/Deafness prepared with Silent Spell can be immune .... completely .... to the various instakill word spells.... at will .... hmm.....

Jack Simth said:

the spell is countered (by Bardic Countersong, Dispell Magic, Counterspell, or the like);

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Countersong is useless, by the way.

-Hyp.

... becuase those four don't allow saves. Missed that, too.

Jack Simth said:

Missed that - strange; they are otherwise such clones of each other.... So the Deaf Lawful Evil character is immune to all four ... hmm ... So a Lawful Evil Cleric 8 with Blindness/Deafness and Remove Blindness/Deafness prepared with Silent Spell can be immune .... completely .... to the various instakill word spells.... at will .... hmm.....

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Don't bother. Deafness and Synesthete = lower level solution. You "feel" the sound and thus do not "hear" it. Further, I'd be more afraid of the Neutral Cleric 8, assuming he could cast all four.

And I'm aware that the ratio doesn't matter when you're killing things; I just want to know when it peaks as a point of curiosity.

Thanks for responding, though!