Help me choose a feat

[Quickbeam]

Last night one of my PC's managed to attain 6th level and I must now select his newest feat. The character is a Cleric 3/ Illusionist 3, who already has Point Blank and Precise Shots (I wanted him to contribute on a consistent level to combat). Right now, I'm looking at Craft Wand or Craft Wondrous Item, but I've never selected either feat for a PC and don't know how effective or practical these options are.

Please give me your thoughts and suggestions, including any feats you'd consider for this spellcaster. Thanks!!

 

[drunkadelic]

Cleric 3/ Illusionist 3?

Hmm...

From my own mind, it seems as this character will be doing some casting in melee, the heals on the cleric side, and possibly distractions to the enemy from the illusionist side.

I'd reccomend Combat Casting. It may not seem incredibly worth it to get a +4 on concentration while you cast on the defensive, but believe you me, from playing mainly clerics in 3e so far, that 4 points can be the difference between healing your companions and busting through the enemy or a TPK.

I've always wanted to pursue the item creation feats on a character myself, but have not done so yet. If the player seems more interested in those feats, I say let him have 'em. He may have something in mind.

Good luck, whatever you decide.

 

[hong]

Get Craft Wand, and churn out those wands of cure light wounds. At 375 gp + 30 XP for 50d8+50 points, you won't find a more cost-effective way of healing. This frees up your spell slots so that you can do other, more interesting stuff.

[edit: whoops, just realised you only have a caster level of 3rd for both cleric and ill, so you technically can't get Craft Wand. See if you can browbeat your DM into letting you stack caster levels for the purposes of gaining creation feats, at least. Characters who take multiple spellcasting classes tend to lose out, so this would be a way of redressing the balance.]

 

[BiggusGeekus]

I'd take Improved Initiative.

With those ranged weapon feats and spellcasting ability, you're not going to be in the thick of things. But with Improved Initiative you have a better chance of going first and responding to a situation.

 

[Furn_Darkside]

Please give me your thoughts and suggestions, including any feats you'd consider for this spellcaster. Thanks!!

Extend spell might not pay off right now, but with illusions and clerical buffs- it will in the long term.

FD

 

[Quickbeam]

I'm amazed at the diversity in these four responses, but appreciate the wisdom behind all of them!!

drunkadelic:
I've considered Combat Casting, and last night's action did almost result in a TPK, but I managed a Concentration check by '1' to heal the party's best combatant. Very close call !

hong:
Dammit, I missed the caster level requirement also...but I will definitely petition to allow for combining the separate class levels. Obviously this path of progression is not optimal for a spellcaster (but it fits the PC), and maybe the DM will mitigate the slow progression in this way. Thanks.

BG:
A very reasonable suggestion. Lord knows that casting/healing early in a round can be the difference between life and death.

Furn:
Given my split caster levels, I'd rather wait for these types of metamagic feats since my spell options are pretty limited right now.

 

[sigfried]

Fun with feats

If your DM will let you use feats from the Netbook of Feats at www.netbookoffeats.org you might want to check that out. Its got a number of feats that you might find usefull. There are some strong ones that let you spontaniously cast domain spells or one that lets you start gaining a new domain, which can be quite good. We are working on one that lets multi class casters cast at a higher caster level but we havn't got it finished yet, that would probably be perfect for you. Touch to Ray is nice, it allows you to turn touch attacks into ranged touch attacks.

If you must use WOTC feats only you might want to look into the devine feats from Defenders of the Faith, they let you use your turning attampts to do spell like effects.

If you are limited to the PHB selection, It kind of depends on the future direction you want your character to take. Craft wand is great but you need some more levels to get at it. Even scribe scroll can be very nice and the xp cost is quite low.

For the long run the dodge, mobility, spring attack chain can be effective for combat healers. Short run you could just weapon focus on your chosen ranged weapon. If you are going to focus on cleric still spell will let you cast your illusions while wearing armor which can be very nice.

 

[Furn_Darkside]

Re: Fun with feats

For the long run the dodge, mobility, spring attack chain can be effective for combat healers.

Salutations,

That reminds me- Quint Wizard has a feat "Cast on the Run", which allows movement before and after a casting. I don't recall the requirements though.

FD

 

[Rel]

Quickbeam, I like the sound of your character.

If you can get your DM to let you take Craft Wand, that would be a good choice. The healing wands mean that more of your cleric slots gan go to other things. And you can probably get the other party members to chip in some cash toward making the wands anyway. I'm getting ready to run an illusionist myself and I can already see that wands of Minor Image and Major Image would be handy. Also, if there are any other Clerics or Arcane casters in your group, you can colaborate on creating wands that are on both your spell lists giving you greater diversity.

If your DM won't go for that, I'd say take Craft Wonderous. What is really nice in your situation is that with the Cleric spells you've got and your spellbook, you will have a large selection of spells to make minor items from. There are tons of low cost magic items that you could make to give yourself and the rest of the party a minor edge. Hats of Disguise come to mind right off hand.

Good luck, and have fun.

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

Combat Casting is fine at low levels but you will outgrow it-- your skill ranks will eventually outstrip the defensive casting DC. I recommend against that one.

My vote would be for wands, hands down, if you can swing it now.

If not, Craft Wondrous Item is great. Having cleric spells and a wizard's spellbook, you'll be able to make a lot of really cool items.

If your DM is permissive, you can even make an amulet that gives you +10 competence bonus to Concentration (as seen in a popular story hour...)

If you have the money to fund it and a DM who gives you full access to create anything you can dream up, you can't beat Craft Wondrous.

Your party will love you... Cloaks of Resistance, Belts of Strength, Boots of Speed, etc...

But as I said before, wands are better. They're cheaper and you will use them ALL THE TIME. A few wands of cure light wounds (at 750 a pop) in your pocket and you can heal up to full strength after every fight. In some adventures, whether you head back to town to rest up, sleep overnight 'on location', or take a few seconds with your wand can make a big difference.

Wulf