Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Enchanted Trinkets Complete--a hardcover book containing over 500 magic items for your D&D games!

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="evilbob" data-source="post: 4312889" data-attributes="member: 9789">But it kind of determines a huge deal for the character.  <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=":)" />  Effectively, my choice is:a)  do I go for arcane reach at level 21, orb)  do I start with a +3 Wis modifier.Here are my breakdowns:Things that will not change either way:- controller human wizard- 16 Int boosted to 18, 8 Str, 12 Cha (to catch spell focus at 11)- some starting power choices (scorching ray + thunderwave at-wills, cold AOE as encounter)- paragon, epic paths (divine oracle, demigod)choice a- stats:  16, 14, 13, 13, 12, 8.  Starting with a 13 Dex and intending to hit 15 at level 21 to catch arcane reach.- Staff wielder with the intention of grabbing orbs at level 11.- Would take new illusion daily spell (dragon magazine) and cold AOE daily as my two dailies, and cloud of daggers as 3rd at-willpluses:- Much more "rounded" character.  No negatives (except Str, duh) and qualifies for a very wide range of feats.  I could even snag evasion later on (which, since my Int -> reflex is high, is not a bad choice).- Staff + leather + 18 Int = 17 AC to start with.- "eh" bonus to HP, init, and several skills- open to new splatbooks giving a wider range of feats that require statsminuses:- Never be able to make up that -5% to orb abilities later; cloud of daggers and thunderwave are -1 to their extras forever as well.- Most of the current feat options that I'm opening up suck.choice b- stats:  16, 16, 12, 12, 10, 8.  Dex drops to 10 and Con drops to 12 so that Wis can go to 16.- Orb wielder with the intention of grabbing staves at level 11- Would take acid splash and sleep as first two dailies, along with new illusion at-will (dragon magazine)pluses:- +5% to save penalties and +1 to thunderwave.  New illusion at-will can be extended if I don't boost my daily.- Actually able (at level 28) to cause a creature to have -10 to a save with the orb.- The feats I'm losing I can live without.negatives:- Much more focused character means feat options are slightly more limited.- Missing "eh" bonus to HP, init, skills.- Future splats may have something better that requires extra stats.Effectively, I'm deciding "staff or orb" for the first 11 levels, along with some other minor bonuses and tradeoffs.I've checked:  there are 5 spells from level 1 to 11 that I would take that could benefit from an orb, and 4 of them are level 1 stuff.  (Including the illusion magic from the dragon magazine.)  So giving up orb for the first 11 levels is pretty easy.Also, the orb abuses are more "save or die" oriented, in that they either work or they do not.  So, sometimes "yay!" but other times "boo."On the other hand, you can never get that 5% back, and it does make the difference at level 28 of giving -9 to giving -10 to a save.  That's also a bunch more time that I -could- be trying to get a "yay!" while I'm working up the levels.Conversely, high AC and decent well-rounded character seems much more stable overall, especially for the long haul.  It seems easier to just "play" that character.These powers would also shy away from stuff like sleep and go with more "at least I did something" powers.  So instead it's either "cool" or "well, ok."And arcane reach is definitely awesome - at least two of my final dailies (and one at-will) will be able to use it.But, we're talking level 21 before I can even get it.  Which is forever.  And campaigns end before forever happens.  And I could be using that +1 to Wisdom immediately for orb powers and skills.But I could also be using that +1 to HP, init, and several off-skills immediately as well.I can just keep coming up with good reasons on both sides!!!  <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=":)" />  I feel stuck - although I admit that at the moment it's about 51% staff/reach and 49% orb/sleep.  Anyone else have suggestions?</blockquote>

Verification