Please help. Best spell selection for sorc arcan trickster?
- Thread starter Cake Mage
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please help.
adndgamer
First Post
Hm. Well, are you looking to min/max? Or to create one true to character?
If your min/maxing, I believe that Wizards has a board section devoted just to min/maxing. Perhaps the people here are sick of min/maxing?
I'd help, but I'm not good with sorcerer spell selections... I much prefer wizards.
If your min/maxing, I believe that Wizards has a board section devoted just to min/maxing. Perhaps the people here are sick of min/maxing?
I'd help, but I'm not good with sorcerer spell selections... I much prefer wizards.true to character of course. Maybe I should put that in the header...
He's a tricky little bugger. well liked of course but a deffinate prankster. Halfling aasimar(sp?) He's generaly a good person but has been granted the abilty to cast magic inately, and as a halfing its pretty rare. Of course he uses this to its fullest potential.
I want to make him like that, but also have a few defensive and offinsive spells to keep him well rounded and not useless in a fight.
He's a tricky little bugger. well liked of course but a deffinate prankster. Halfling aasimar(sp?) He's generaly a good person but has been granted the abilty to cast magic inately, and as a halfing its pretty rare. Of course he uses this to its fullest potential.
I want to make him like that, but also have a few defensive and offinsive spells to keep him well rounded and not useless in a fight.
Squire James
Explorer
I'm assuming you want min/max advise for a character that is not exactly powergaming. Arcane Tricksters have a strike against them in the power department because they have to take at least 3 rogue levels.
First of all, if you want a powerful spellcaster, then going Wizard is better than going Sorcerer. A 14th level character can be a Rog3/Wiz5/Trick6, and actually be able to cast 6th level spells! You want Eyebite, you really really do! Furthermore, your high Intelligence will yield rogue-like skill points even for your Arcane Trickster levels, so your skills won't be much behind a full-blown rogue. This arrangement also means you must choose a non-ECL race, like human or elf. If you can get an 18 Dexterity, I'd go with elf to get it up to 20 (and get composite bow proficiency to boot!). Otherwise, I'd probably stick with human.
You MUST have Haste, an Invisibility of some sort, and some spell that can deliver a sneak attack. I favor one of the Lesser Orb spells for a "normal" sneak attack, and one of the 4th level Orb spells for the Impromptu Sneak Attack. You probably want True Strike and several spells geared toward increasing your AC, because your normal AC will not be very good. The aforementioned Eyebite is excellent, and Charm spells are pretty good. The stuff most likely to pound you into the ground round will also fail Will saves a lot!
First of all, if you want a powerful spellcaster, then going Wizard is better than going Sorcerer. A 14th level character can be a Rog3/Wiz5/Trick6, and actually be able to cast 6th level spells! You want Eyebite, you really really do! Furthermore, your high Intelligence will yield rogue-like skill points even for your Arcane Trickster levels, so your skills won't be much behind a full-blown rogue. This arrangement also means you must choose a non-ECL race, like human or elf. If you can get an 18 Dexterity, I'd go with elf to get it up to 20 (and get composite bow proficiency to boot!). Otherwise, I'd probably stick with human.
You MUST have Haste, an Invisibility of some sort, and some spell that can deliver a sneak attack. I favor one of the Lesser Orb spells for a "normal" sneak attack, and one of the 4th level Orb spells for the Impromptu Sneak Attack. You probably want True Strike and several spells geared toward increasing your AC, because your normal AC will not be very good. The aforementioned Eyebite is excellent, and Charm spells are pretty good. The stuff most likely to pound you into the ground round will also fail Will saves a lot!
Yes, he is plane touched and he is a halfing still. No, they are not two seprate races as the first line in their discription is something like, "plane touched refers to someone who can trace their bloodline back to a outsider". I'm not using the teifling one I'm using the aasimar. I have his background already done so I don't want to change him around to Min/Max him and be all munchkiny. I want to play a sorc not a wizard. I would just like help picking spells as I don't have much expeirince playing the spell caster type (I'm usually the fighter type).
Here is the # of spells:
lvl # of spells
0 9
1 5
2 4
3 3
4 2
5 1
I think so far I'm going to get Impr invis for 1 of my 4th lvl and my 5th lvl, wall of force though I was pondering telekaniesis(sp?) 3lvl I'll prob pick up haste and 2nd lvl l'll get knock (gets rid of open lock skill) I like the idea of the orbs. I'll have to read up on the sneak attack with spells.
Also, whats a good feat for this guy I have one left and not sure what I should pick up. I already decided not to get combat casting as it wouldn't help much anyways. He will be maxed out concetrate and won't be doing a lot of up-close casting. My feats are as follows: Improved init, Point blank shot, percise shot, Quicker then the Eye.
What do you think so far? what should I add? Any I should get rid of? Thanks in advance.
Here is the # of spells:
lvl # of spells
0 9
1 5
2 4
3 3
4 2
5 1
I think so far I'm going to get Impr invis for 1 of my 4th lvl and my 5th lvl, wall of force though I was pondering telekaniesis(sp?) 3lvl I'll prob pick up haste and 2nd lvl l'll get knock (gets rid of open lock skill) I like the idea of the orbs. I'll have to read up on the sneak attack with spells.
Also, whats a good feat for this guy I have one left and not sure what I should pick up. I already decided not to get combat casting as it wouldn't help much anyways. He will be maxed out concetrate and won't be doing a lot of up-close casting. My feats are as follows: Improved init, Point blank shot, percise shot, Quicker then the Eye.
What do you think so far? what should I add? Any I should get rid of? Thanks in advance.
Last edited:
Dougal DeKree
First Post
feat...
Hi there,
a pity you are steadfast about having a sorcerer, the Rog3/Wiz5/Trick6-proposition sounds really good to me. BUT as for the feat: how about the extend-spell metamagic feat? it doubles the duration of a spell, and you can combine it with nearly all your longer lasting spells. It is always useful for things like mage armor or bulls strenght, but also for invisibility or similar.
Think about it. if you would rather like something more combat -like, choosing one from songs&silence will be a good idea. like chink in the armor or pyromaniac
As for spells: illusions are a good choice, too, for a trickster. they can be decoy, diversion or sheer mayhem, if used properly
Have fun
Dougal DeKree, Gnomish Illusionist and "Magic-items-seller"
Hi there,
a pity you are steadfast about having a sorcerer, the Rog3/Wiz5/Trick6-proposition sounds really good to me. BUT as for the feat: how about the extend-spell metamagic feat? it doubles the duration of a spell, and you can combine it with nearly all your longer lasting spells. It is always useful for things like mage armor or bulls strenght, but also for invisibility or similar.
Think about it. if you would rather like something more combat -like, choosing one from songs&silence will be a good idea. like chink in the armor or pyromaniac
As for spells: illusions are a good choice, too, for a trickster. they can be decoy, diversion or sheer mayhem, if used properly
Have fun
Dougal DeKree, Gnomish Illusionist and "Magic-items-seller"
Last edited:
Klaus
First Post
Bear these points in mind:
1 - By having Rogue levels, you trade off spellpower for physical capabilities. So your spells should be chosen with those capabilities in mind. If you have an amazingly high Hide check, don't choose Invisibility, which would make Hide obsolete. Choose Cat's Grace, which bumps Hide even higher, as well as other Dex-based needs.
2 - If you choose rapier as a melee weapon, you should really get the combo keen edge + magic (or greater magic) weapon+true strike, and probably invest on Improved Critical feat. Why? Rapier has a threat range of 18-20. With keen edge, it gets up to 15-20. Throw in Improved Critical and you're scoring a threat with any natural roll of 12+. couple with True Strike (which also adds +20 to any critical roll), you're almost guaranteed to turning that sneak attack into a critical. Get Weapon Finesse and Cat's Grace too!
3 - Also, try and avoid combat spells that can't be used for sneak attacks. Give preference to spells such as Chill Touch, Shocking Grasp, Melf's Acid Arrow, Flame Arrow (as opposed to Fireball). Archery feats like Point Blank Shot also work with the ranged touch spells.
4 - Get some spells that incapacitate your foes in a non-permanent way, like Ray of Enfeeblement. It's a great way of getting past guards that can't even carry their armors.
5 - Ray of Frost. It's a 0-level spell, and does only 1d3 damage. But get in a sneak attack with it and you'll be doing 5d6+1d3 cold damage with a 0-level spell!
6 - Haste. It's uses are legion (escape, combat, reconaissance).
7 - Jump. +10 (IIRC) to Jump checks is a great boon!
1 - By having Rogue levels, you trade off spellpower for physical capabilities. So your spells should be chosen with those capabilities in mind. If you have an amazingly high Hide check, don't choose Invisibility, which would make Hide obsolete. Choose Cat's Grace, which bumps Hide even higher, as well as other Dex-based needs.
2 - If you choose rapier as a melee weapon, you should really get the combo keen edge + magic (or greater magic) weapon+true strike, and probably invest on Improved Critical feat. Why? Rapier has a threat range of 18-20. With keen edge, it gets up to 15-20. Throw in Improved Critical and you're scoring a threat with any natural roll of 12+. couple with True Strike (which also adds +20 to any critical roll), you're almost guaranteed to turning that sneak attack into a critical. Get Weapon Finesse and Cat's Grace too!
3 - Also, try and avoid combat spells that can't be used for sneak attacks. Give preference to spells such as Chill Touch, Shocking Grasp, Melf's Acid Arrow, Flame Arrow (as opposed to Fireball). Archery feats like Point Blank Shot also work with the ranged touch spells.
4 - Get some spells that incapacitate your foes in a non-permanent way, like Ray of Enfeeblement. It's a great way of getting past guards that can't even carry their armors.
5 - Ray of Frost. It's a 0-level spell, and does only 1d3 damage. But get in a sneak attack with it and you'll be doing 5d6+1d3 cold damage with a 0-level spell!
6 - Haste. It's uses are legion (escape, combat, reconaissance).
7 - Jump. +10 (IIRC) to Jump checks is a great boon!
Last edited:
Carnifex
First Post
Just as a note on the aasimar thing - as they stand in the MM, they *are* basically a separate race, *not* a template that can be applied to other races. You cannot, for instance, be a halfling aasimar or a tiefling dwarf - as it stands in the book. You can only be an aasimar or a tiefling (or a fey'ri or tanarukk if you have Monsters of Faerun, but thats another matter).
Of course, you might be using some house rule on this, but you haven't made it clear in your post.
Of course, you might be using some house rule on this, but you haven't made it clear in your post.
