Spell Penetration is kinda bla

[Thanee]

And maybe the dragon has Shroud of Undeath active and gets healed by the Harm spell... and afterwards, dismisses the spell and the following Heal spell heals him again!

Ok, maybe not the most realistic scenario!

Bye
Thanee

 

[Nail]

Our party's Sor 12 just leveled up, and is preping for tonight's game. I've been telling him to switch out a spell to get Assay Resistance (Sor/Wiz 4), and not bother with the Spell Penetration feat.

I've laid out my reasoning ("analysis") above.

....but now some of you have got me thinking. Do y'all really think Lower Resistance is better?

 

[Thanee]

In a caster-heavy party I can see the benefit of that spell (tho you will be totally hosed by SR if the caster you rely on gets disabled before getting the spell off), but in general I think Assay Resistance wins hands down.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Nail]

And, yeah, isn't stuff like Divine Reach nice? And aren't big things with low Dex's nice? Very nice. Most Dragons have about a 10 touch AC.

...and isn't a dragon's mobility, spell casting power, and AC vs AoOs nice? Unless we're talkin' about a white dragon wyrmling......

I think yer reaching on the dragon example, bub.

In any event, creatures with SR tend to be intelligent. Intelligent creatures might (or might not-true enough) decide that hitting the guy casting a full-round spell would be a good idea. No need for a Spellcraft check.

...and several of these guys with SR have a teleport or dimension door -like power. Who cares where the silly fighters are?

Or: the BBEG casts Obscuring Mist so that you can't target him when yer finished with the spell. Ouch; a 4th level spell countered with a 1st level one. The "Wall" spells might be even more fun.

Etc, etc, etc.

Tell ya what: have yer DM contact me. He and I will be able to fix this problem.....

 

[Nail]

Off-Topic:

It's been said here that "the fighters are between me and the BBEG anyway, and the BBEG won't risk the AoOs to come and get me." That is used as reason why a 1 round casting time is a relatively painless option for the party wizard.

But consider: if the BBEG stands there toe-to-toe with the Ftr, he'll be exposed to a full round attack. Leaving the Ftr and going after the wizard means he's only attacked once (as an AoO), as then the Ftr will have to move too, etc. IOW: it's actually better to take the AoOs and go after the weakest link....which in this case is the wizard. YMMV, of course.

Don't be afraid of AoOs, bad guys!!! Take out the wizard quickly!

 

[Trainz]

Our party's Sor 12 just leveled up, and is preping for tonight's game. I've been telling him to switch out a spell to get Assay Resistance (Sor/Wiz 4), and not bother with the Spell Penetration feat.

I've laid out my reasoning ("analysis") above.

....but now some of you have got me thinking. Do y'all really think Lower Resistance is better?

Well, I agree with Thanee, but in any case, relying on spells for SR above 12th level is unreliable. Eventually you run out of 4th level slots but the SR critters keep on coming.

The best thing is to go for both: Spell Penetration (with Greater), and Assay Resistance for the odd very high SR critter. By 12th level, a sorceror should already possess his "must have" feats, so SP at 12th and GSP at 15th is a good strategy.

 

[MerakSpielman]

I just noticed that one of the 2nd level wizard/sorcerer spells in the Kingdoms of Kalamar Player's Handbook grants spell resistence 10+caster level (for 1 round per level). The only catch is that the spell ends if a single spell penetrates the resistence.

I just allowed unequivically all spells, feats, and classes from that book into my game (since I'm running a KoK campaign, it only seemed fitting. If something turns out to be horribly unbalancing I can always change it as it comes up). Once the wizard players catch on to the usefulness of that spell (probably from me throwing NPC wizards at them with it going), I have a feeling Spell Penetration will see more play in my game.

 

[Nail]

Well, I agree with Thanee, but in any case, relying on spells for SR above 12th level is unreliable. Eventually you run out of 4th level slots but the SR critters keep on coming.

...depending on the DM. The Sor 12 has 6 spells of that level (at least!), so it's not likely he'll run out over 2 to 3 encounters.

After 3 encounters, depending on the situation, we usually get to rest.

Thanks for the advice. I think I'll stand by my original analysis, and have the Sor 12 take Assay resistance.....and then possibly the feat Spell Penetration. (After all, there is the feat Purify Spell to concider....)

 

[Jdvn1]

The most precious comodity in D&D is actions, and Assay Resistance is a swift action. Nothing beats that. No save, no spell res.

I guess I'm just a control freak.

Well, I also like preserving actions, but for the whole party. If the Sorcerer loses a spell or four because of SR, that's probably more important than my one round. Since he does way more damage than I do.

 

[Jdvn1]

harm + divine reach is nice, but not a killer.

True, but I can't complain about 150 nor 75 damage in one spell.