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Message: <blockquote data-quote="xenoflare" data-source="post: 1231571" data-attributes="member: 12431">multiclassinghi guys,  i'll be speaking from my own experience with losing caster/ manifester levels, be it through multiclassing into other "core" basic classes, or through prestige classes that lose caster/ manifester levels.  in 3.0, i had a diviner 7/ divine oracle 2/ planeshifter 6 (or something thereabouts); i lost out 3 caster levels from the planeshifter prestige class. it really hurt when i was fighting creatures and foes of my CR (15) and above, especially single-class spellcasters and some monsters with very powerful abilities (like the Nightwalker's Level 20 Greater Dispelling) - not only was i finding it hard to penetrate the enemy's SR and saving throws, my own buffs on my party were getting dispelled easily as well.   On the other hand, you can overcome the loss of caster level pretty well by either buffing yourself and staying out of immediate range (so as to be on the "low dispel priority" list) or by countering foes and threats of lower spell power than you. For example, lots of fiends have the ability to use unholy blight, teleport, etc at will - but their caster levels tend to be pretty low as well. You can dispel those rather easily, and save your party a bit of pain... you could take the offensive, and dispel your enemies' enchanted armor, weapons, or gear to suppress its magical propeties for a while, then cast Shatter to destroy them. chances are, the buffed-up warrior-type's gear won't have a very high caster level, and that his Will save to resist the shatter won't be too high either.  there are certain benefits to multiclassing - my character's final battle was against a blue dragon who blasted his lightning breath at me, i took no damage from it when i made my reflex save, due to my divine oracle "prescienct dodge" ability, and in return i used the planeshifter's plane shift ability to shunt both of us to the negative energy plane (where he killed me from damage output- my multiclassing did not give me too much HP though <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f61b.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":-P" title="Stick out tongue    :-P"  data-smilie="7"data-shortname=":-P" />).   another character was a shaman 6/ divine agent 9 - i lost 4 caster levels. at a CR 15 encounter i would be running about with level 10 spellcasting ability, which kinda sucked - but i was the key motivator for the story, because i received divine insight often (a special ability unique to the divine agent) and being an outsider (another divine agent ability) protected me from some special attacks here and there, varying from funky Oriental Adventures nerve strikes to scary spells. in 3.0, when you could become an outsider through polymorph if you were already one, it was also highly useful for assuming the forms of Planetars to go layeth the smackdown - something only possible through multiclassing.  i guess what i'm trying to say is that - you'll feel the sting. it's inevitable. but you'll also feel the joy of multiclassing, only problem is, there's so much attention out by the majority of the gaming world about caster levels and the power of the pure caster, that what you truly have looks small and weak in comparison. but...  when your rogue/ wizard evades a fireball, you'll be happy.  when your monk/ cleric with righteous might and bull's strength grapples a cornugon to death, you'll be happy.  when your paladin/ bard/ sorceror saves against nearly any effect that the DM can throw at you, you'll be happy. (and even happier still, when you use that high charisma and mixture of skills and spells to embellish the truth of what happened, and create a legend of your own immortality among the people...)  all these scenarios are specific ones, that rarely crop up in our thought processes when we make characters. pure casters are hot for offence, but when it comes down to nichecraft, to defence, and for just downright customization...  IMHO, multiclass can't be beat. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":-)" title="Smile    :-)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":-)" />yours,shao</blockquote>

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