The Iron Mage (WotST build)

[Fedifensor]

Originally posted on the WotC boards - those boards are so unreliable that I thought I'd repost it here. I'm still fine-tuning the idea, and feedback is welcome.

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The Iron Mage (WotST build)

(or, Who Says Staff Wizards Are Useless?)

Race: Human
Class: Wizard/Wizard of the Spiral Tower/Demigod
Size: Medium
Speed: 6 squares

Strength: 13, 15 at 11th level, 16 at 21st level
Constitution: 13, 15 at 11th level, 18 at 21st level
Dexterity: 8
Intelligence: 18+2 = 20 base, 23 at 11th level, 28 at 21st level, 30 at 28th level
Wisdom: 10, 11 at 11th level, 12 at 21st level, 14 at 28th level
Charisma: 10, 11 at 11th level, 14 at 21st level

Hit Points: 23 base, 75 at 11th level, 123 at 21st level, 159 at 30th level
Healing surges: 7 base, 8 at 11th level, 10 at 21st level.
Healing surge value: 5 base, 18 at 11th level, 30 at 21st level, 39 at 30th level

AC: 19 base (hide armor, Int bonus, staff of defense), 30 at 11th level (add +3 hide armor, longsword implement for staff, heavy shield, armor specialization, level modifier), 40 at 21st level (add +5 darkhide armor), 50 at 30th level (add +6 barkskin elderhide armor, also gain +4 degradable AC as daily). Add +1 to AC for levels 21 and 30 when next to a wall (for AC 41 at 21st, and AC 51 at 30th).

Fortitude: 12 base, 21 at 11th level (add +3 amulet), 31 at 21st level (add +5 amulet), 38 at 30th level (add +6 amulet)
Reflex: 16 base, 27 at 11th level (add +3 amulet, heavy shield), 38 at 21st level (add +5 amulet), 46 at 30th level (add +6 amulet)
Will: 13 base, 21 at 11th level (add +3 amulet), 29 at 21st level (add +5 amulet), 37 at 30th level (add +6 amulet).

Weapon (from 11th onward): Longsword (functions as staff implement, 1d8 damage, +3 proficiency)
Ranged Weapon: Magic Missile

Attack Bonus (Int-based powers): +5 base, +14 at 11th level (with +3 longsword), +24 at 21st level (with +5 longsword), +31 at 30th level (with +6 longsword). Add +3 for The One Sword, +7 for Corellon's Blade.

Trained Skills: Arcana, Diplomacy, Dungeoneering, History, Religion

Feats:
Armor Proficiency (Leather) (1st)
Armor Proficiency (Hide) (human bonus)
Toughness (2nd)
Human Perseverance (4th)
Skill Focus: Arcana (6th)
Improved Initiative (8th)
Weapon Proficiency: Longsword (10th)
Shield Proficiency: Light (11th)
Shield Proficiency: Heavy (retrain Improved Initiative, 11th)
Armor Specialization: Hide (12th)
Psychic Lock (retrain Skill Focus: Arcana, 12th)
Solid Sound (14th)
Back to the Wall (16th)
Action Recovery (18th)
Great Fortitude (20th)
Spell Focus (21st)
Lightning Reflexes (21th)
Arcane Mastery (24st)
Epic Resurgence (26nd)
Spell Accuracy (28th)
Iron Will (30th)

At-Will Powers:
Scorching Burst (for AoE at-will damage)
Magic Missile (for Solid Sound, Cloud of Daggers would also work)
Illusory Ambush (for the -2 to hit on a foe, from Dragon #364)

Encounter Powers:
Icy Terrain (1st)
Fire Shroud (3rd)
Enemies Abound (7th, from Dragon #364)
The One Sword (11th, Wizard of the Spiral Tower power)
Prismatic Burst (13th, replaces Icy Terrain)
Ice Tomb (17th, replaces Fire Shroud)
Acid Storm (23rd, replaces Enemies Abound)
Forcecage (27th, replaces Ice Tomb)

Daily Powers:
Flaming Sphere or Phantom Chasm (1st)
Web or Stinking Cloud (5th)
Mordenkainen's Sword or Wall of Fire (9th)
Bigby's Grasping Hands or Wall of Ice (15th, replaces Flaming Sphere)
Acid Wave or Evard's Black Tentacles (19th, replaces Web)
Corellon's Blade (20th, Wizard of the Spiral Tower power)
Elemental Maw or Prismatic Spray (25th, replaces Mordenkainen's Sword)
Legion's Hold or Greater Ice Swarm (29th, replaces Acid Wave)

Utility Powers:
Shield or Expeditious Retreat (2nd)
Dispel Magic or Dimension Door (6th)
Blur or Arcane Gate (10th)
Shape the Dream (12th, Wizard of the Spiral Tower power)
Displacement or Stoneskin (16th)
Mass Fly or Mordenkainen's Mansion (22nd)
Divine Regeneration (26th, Demigod power)

Notes:
The Iron Mage is primarily designed for a high armor class. At level 1, he has an AC just as good as a front-line sword-and-board fighter. At level 30, he has a 50 AC, and can increase that AC multiple times per day (to 52 with Blur, or 54 with Barkskin Armor). Back to the Wall will give a further +1 to AC. In addition, the Iron Mage has two separate interrupt actions to improve AC that are each usable once per encounter. The first is Staff Implement Mastery (+4 to all defenses, untyped), and the second is Shield (+4 to AC and Reflex defense, doesn't stack with Blur or Barkskin Armor). In the event an attack hits, Displacement can be used once per encounter to force the attacker to reroll (great when Barkskin Armor is running). Finally, the Illusory Ambush power in combination with Psychic Lock can give a foe a -4 on its next attack roll.

The other defenses aren't quite as strong, and the weakest defense of the Iron Mage is not Fortitude, but Will. However, the Iron Mage has multiple powers to raise defenses or force a reroll (Shield, Displacement, Blur, Staff Implement Mastery) and can use Illusory Ambush (with Psychic Lock) to lower a foe's attack roll until the end of his next turn. He can also use Magic Missile or other force powers to gain +2 to any one non-AC defense (from Solid Sound). Versus Will attacks, the Iron Mage can also use Shape the Dream once per day to completely negate one attack.

Finally, versus damage and conditions that end on a save, the Iron Mage has both Human Perseverance and Action Recovery to shake off the most detrimental effects.

As a variant, the Iron Mage can forgo the Demigod bonuses to take Archmage in the Epic tier. This will lower his AC by 1 (due to a lower Intelligence), but he can use the 21st level ability to cast Blur twice per day, or even use the 30th level ability to have Blur available for every encounter (giving a near-constant +2 to all defenses).

 

[Nifft]

ISTR the highest constant (non-circumstance or power dependent) AC possible at level 30 was 49. Could you show the level 30 math more explicitly?

Cheers, -- N

 

[Fedifensor]

ISTR the highest constant (non-circumstance or power dependent) AC possible at level 30 was 49. Could you show the level 30 math more explicitly?

Sure, glad to!

10 base AC
+5 (elderhide armor AC)
+6 (elderhide armor enhancement bonus)
+2 (heavy shield)
+10 (Intelligence bonus)
+15 (level modifier)
+1 (armor specialization feat)
+1 (staff implement mastery - used with longsword because of WotST)
---
50 AC

In addition, there are situational bonuses from feats, powers and item abilities:
* +1 bonus to AC when next to a wall - Back to the Wall feat, no limitations on use
* +4 power bonus to AC from Barkskin Armor (degrades by 1 point per successful hit) - daily item ability
* +2 power bonus to all defenses from Blur - daily utility power
* +4 power bonus to AC and Reflex defense from Shield (as an immediate interrupt) until the end of your next turn - encounter utility power
* +4 untyped bonus versus a single attack (as an immediate interrupt) from staff implement mastery (based on Con bonus) - encounter ability
* Reroll one successful ranged or melee attack against you from Displacement - encounter ability

So, standing next to a wall, with Barkskin Armor active, your AC is 55 until you get hit with an AC attack, with the ability to either raise it to 59 AC or force a reroll of a (ranged or melee) attack as an immediate interrupt.

 

[Ginnel]

ISTR the highest constant (non-circumstance or power dependent) AC possible at level 30 was 49. Could you show the level 30 math more explicitly?

Cheers, -- N

I'll jump in on this one

10 AC for just the standard constant
+10 AC for 30 int 20 starting int
+10 AC stat increases (4th 8th 11th 14th 18th 21st 24th 28th demigod demigod)
+1 AC for feat
+1 AC for staff
+11 AC for the uber hide armor
+15 AC for level
+2 AC for heavy shield

= the magical 50 quite neat really

note this is also attainable for a dex/int character who attains hide armor use and heavy shield use and maxs the aforementioned stats takes the armor or shield specialisation feat and also multiclasses fighter to take the pit fighter paragon path (armor optimization) to get its extra +1AC

infact the wizard in the example could multiclass fighter and take the pitfighter paragon path to give a 51 constant AC

a plate character on the other hand gets

10 constant
20 godplate armor including enchantment
15 level adj
2 heavy shield
1 shield or armor specialization
1 pitfighter paragon path

giving us a 49 AC

his usual being 48 without the restricting paragon path

 

[Innuit]

Why would you not MC in fighter and make this guy an Iron Vanguard.

Take Thunderwave and just dominate the front lines. You might need to concentrate more on Con and Wis, but you could make this guy a pretty decent badass.

Trample the Fallen (16th level):​

​

​

​

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When you push
a creature or knock a creature prone, it takes damage​

equal to your Constitution modifier.

Enduring Warrior (11th level):​

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​

​

When you drop
an enemy to 0 hit points or fewer, you regain hit points​

equal to your Constitution modifier.

 

[Ginnel]

hmm I've just thought you can't wield a staff and a shield at once (I believe it was said you needed two hands on the staff to wield it and gain the AC), making the 1 AC staff mastery grants useless, so knock the AC max down to 50 if taking pit fighter.

 

[Fedifensor]

Why would you not MC in fighter and make this guy an Iron Vanguard.

Take Thunderwave and just dominate the front lines. You might need to concentrate more on Con and Wis, but you could make this guy a pretty decent badass.

Well, there are a few reasons. First, though I don't know whether the rules state this, my assumption is that a staff implement must be used in two hands to get the +1 AC. Thus, the only way around that is to take Wizard of the Spiral Tower.

Second, this build really doesn't have points to spare on Wisdom. The only stat I can lower in that case is Charisma, and doing so both lowers Will defense and prevents taking the very, very useful Spell Focus feat.

Finally, I'm not a big fan of one-trick wonders. Taking Iron Vanguard would be done only for one ability (with the encounter and daily powers being wasted), and I'd prefer to get more use out of my chosen Paragon Path. Wizard of the Spiral Tower has several nice abilities - the encounter, utility, and daily powers are all nifty, along with the ability to combine weapon and implement.

Of course, I consider the ability to get AC in the mid-50's (with decent amounts in the other defenses) pretty "badass" already, so I'm happy.

Now, one thing that could be done to improve the build is to lower Wisdom to increase Constitution. However, doing so renders the Spell Accuracy feat basically useless. As it stands, the feat only allows two squares to be excluded. If the character ends up swapping out Magic Missile or Scorching Burst for Thunderwave (which I'm still considering), the push effect of the power becomes even less useful.

 

[Nifft]

So, standing next to a wall, with Barkskin Armor active, your AC is 55 until you get hit with an AC attack, with the ability to either raise it to 59 AC or force a reroll of a (ranged or melee) attack as an immediate interrupt.

Cool beans.

One suggestion: take more Hand powers. With your Reflex and Fortitude defenses, and your interrupt augmentation of them, very few critters will be escaping.

Cheers, -- N

 

[bardolph]

What exactly are you getting from STR, or even CHA, for that matter? Dump Strength and Charisma, and focus on Wisdom and Constitution for your secondaries. This has the added benefit of keeping your Fortitude and Will high.

Really, the only reason a wizard would want to get such a high AC is to dominate the front lines with Close attacks. That's Thunderwave, Burning Hands, Color Spray and the like.

I like the choice of Hide Armor. So, go ahead and push it. Close attacks FTW!

 

[Torebo]

I thought the spiral tower paragon path merely allowed you to use a longsword AS an implement. Does it actually have wording that allows you to use it a) as an implement Of Your Choice or b) as a Specific implement (which one would presumably choose the implement or an implement in which one has mastery)?

Even if not, still a cool concept.