Eighth Level Druid Spells, Greatest Hits

[Plane Sailing]

I wouldn't underestimate repel metal or stone. You can pretty well lockdown opposing fighters completely with it in some situations. With a 40' per round repel rate, you can keep opposing fighters from approaching at all in (for example) a standard 10' dungeon corridor.

It would be a decent spell as a radius or perhaps even a cone, but as a line? The designers seem to have forgotten that much adventuring takes place outside the 10ft dungeon corridor!

Cheers

 

[DM_Matt]

All from the spell compendium

Bombardment is a long range, 15-foot cylinder spell that does 1d8 per level, reflex half. If they fail the save, they're buried, can't move out without a dc 20 strength check, and can't cast spells with a somatic component.

Brilliant Aura makes your allies weapons brilliant energy, and lasts 1 round a level.

Cocoon wraps a recently (1rnd/lvl) dead body, and if you raise, reincarnate, or ressurect it within a week, it doesn't lose a level. If you don't do anything, it automatically reincarnates in a week.

Phantom Wolf: Summons an incorporeal wolf that does 2d6 and 3d6 touch attack.

Red Tide does up to 4d6 strength damage in a 30 ft radius burst, plus real damage to fire creatures.

Stormrage gives you flying, immunity to projectiles and thrown weapons, and touch attack no save lightning damage once a round at 1/2 Caster level * d6.

Bombardment is even better than that. No SR OR Energy Type. It is the best small-area direct damage spell in the game, IMHO.

Brilliant Aura in Spell Comp is completely different than the one in Master of the Wild and Complete Divine. If your DM allows it in that format, it is the best buff in the game, IMHO.

 

[Plane Sailing]

Another possibility is to see if your DM would allow you to research an 8th level spell which is effectively a lower level spell with a 'baked in' metamagic feat - something like an enlarged firestorm or quickened freedom of movement.

Cheers

 

[Piratecat]

And do 25 damage max with a fifth-level and an eighth-level spell? I can see using repel metal to push someone off a cliff, or into a wall of fire even, or into a prismatic wall if I had a wizard friend. But I'm not sure this combination is especially effective.

Daniel, I think you are badly underestimating the importance of battlefield control. In high lvl play, controlling the battlefield is absolutely critical. If you can lay down walls to split and constrain foes and use spells to push foes around, you're going to be a very successful hero.

On a separate note, remind me some time to tell you how my PCs came across a room filled with dozens of psionic fly demons, and managed to blind all but two of the SOBs with a perfectly placed sunburst. It was a thing of beauty.

I'll echo checking the Spell Compendium. Only a few of the spells in that book are what I'd consider broken, and I've found it very useful.

 

[Pielorinho]

Daniel, I think you are badly underestimating the importance of battlefield control. In high lvl play, controlling the battlefield is absolutely critical. If you can lay down walls to split and constrain foes and use spells to push foes around, you're going to be a very successful hero.

Hmm...the idea of treating the repel metal spell as a wall never occurred to me. I'd always imagined directing it at an enemy, never perpendicular to them. Intriguing . . . do folks treat it as affecting anything in either square to which it's adjacent, effectively making it a wall comprising six 10' cubes? The description of lines says that
"It starts from any corner of your square and extends to the limit of its range or until it strikes a barrier that blocks line of effect. A line-shaped spell affects all creatures in squares that the line passes through." I'm assuming that this should say "affects all creatures and objects": otherwise, lightning bolt is a weird spell .

Sunburst is definitely a good-looking spell; I've assumed it'd be my default prepared spell unless something better comes along.

Daniel

 

[Henry]

I've finished prepping a 17th level Druid for a brief high-level campaign. His three 8th level spells are Earthquake, Whirlwind, and Word of Recall. Earthquake is a good wide-area death-and-destruction spell; whirlwind is a good crowd control spell; and word of recall is saved for if the party is blown to smithereens and I need to get the heck out of dodge.

Other good choices include Bombardment from Spell Compendium - I'm saving this for some poor sap of a spellcaster I need to kill or Bury in a hurry. If you're adventuring in the ocean or near a large lake, keep maelstrom handy - it will likely wreck a mid-sized ship, or at least take their minds off of a battle while they struggle to survive for 15 rounds.

 

[Victim]

Earthquake is good because it denies actions to the enemies. Enemies on the ground can't move or attack.

Bombarbment is better than arcane blaster spells of the same level. /cry.

 

[kigmatzomat]

Well, that and it kills about 1/4 of the people caught in it.