Abraxas said:
How do other folks that play arcane spellcasters keep these guys alive?
Is it worthwhile to specialize?
Is specialization in Conjuration the way to go?
Is the utility of the Specialized wizard worth more than the spell slots available to a sorcerer?
I haven't decided but am thinking gnome or human, is the +2 to CON worth the loss of 1 feat and 1 skill point per level?
What PrCs should I be looking to get into (no caster level loss please, I'm already 2 levels behind everyone else)?
What other class(es) would make for good Arcane artillery given what I have to work with?
First of all, I have to say that if you have never played an arcane caster before it's not a very good idea to start at level 7th. It would be definitely easier if you played a Sorcerer (and better suits the artillery role), but I understand that you have already chosen Wizard and I'll stick with your first choice. At least I hope you have some familiarity with the most common arcane spells from watching others playing Wiz/Sor.
- Your stats are very high but also fairly close to each other. Since you're afraid about survival, put 17 in Int and 16 on one between Con and Dex (I suggest Con at this level), and 14 on the other. You have such good stats that it actually doesn't make an important difference where the lowest goes.
- When you ask for magic items, +2 Amulet of Health and Gloves of Dexterity are very cheap. Otherwise Amulet of Natural Armor.
- I think Conjuration is quite fine to make an artillery wizard, actually it's a better choice to specialize than Evocation, since it gives access to other sorts of spells (e.g. summons and teleportation) and as such you're not too limited by having to learn half spells from the same school. Otherwise, you could also not specialise at all and make up for less slots with Wands.
- More difficult to tell you which schools to ban... Definitely not Abjuration or Transmutation. You can leave without each of the others, but of course there's always a price.
- In your case probably Gnome is better than Human for the extra Hp and AC. The only significant loss is one feat less, but you can leave without it (you can think you basically have Improved Toughness).
- Don't bother much about metamagic. I'd suggest to spend the bonus feat in Craft Wand and make it Shield and Magic Missile. That's quite handy for artillery until you have more slots per day. If you specialize, Spell Focus is ok even in Conjuration (in which case you definitely should take Augment Summoning).
- About spells there are many good choices. Here's some good conjurations focused on battle:
Grease and Mage Armor (I)
Glitterdust and Web (II)
Stinking Cloud (III)
Dimension Door (IV)
, but the temporary hit points are pretty high. At 7th level that is 8-17 (avg. 12.5) compared to the 3-18 (avg. 10.5) of Vampiric Touch, which also require a successful attack and only stay for 1h not 7h. At 10th+ level the Vampiric Touch begins to gain in power, but still lacks the convenience of the high duration and cheaper spell slot.
