Your thoughts on a utility spellcaster

[Lord Pendragon]

Currently my 7th (nearly 8th) level paladin is still playing around with the idea of getting a cohort at 9th-level. Our party already has a blasting wizard (who isn't very good with utility spells) and a cleric (who is part bard and also isn't very good with spells in general.) So I've been thinking of getting a cohort who could act as the party's utility spellcaster. No flashy fireballs or scorching rays. Just the spells you need--in and out of combat--that aren't very spectacular but are very useful.

So with that in mind, what would you go with in a 7th-level character? I played around with a Mystic Theurge build, since it'd be nice to be able to cover both the pseudo-cleric and the blaster-wizard in the utility spells department, but I couldn't come up with a build that had access to very many spell levels.

Straight cleric, perhaps? That seems like a decent option, though it would mean forgetting about sor/wiz buffing spells.

Is there another class in a splatbook somewhere that does a better job as a utility spellcaster?

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

 

[RolandOfGilead]

see my thread on CA mystic theurge build; allows you to cast Cleric spells at character level -1;; very handy! Sorceror spells at CL-4.

 

[Thanee]

Warmage!!

Nah, I'd go with a generalist wizard, or one that drops Evocation and specializes in Transmutation perhaps.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Rikandur Azebol]

Abjurer or Transmuter mage, like Thanee said.

 

[Pbartender]

If you have Tome & Blood or Complete Arcane available...

I've a Sorcerer/Mage of the Arcane Order to be an excellent combination for a utility spellcaster.

A Bard/MotAO is almost as useful, provides bardic music buffing, and gives the option of healing magic... Though the power of your available spells won't be as high.

In both instances, though, you'll need the Arcane Preparation feat in addition to the usual MotAO prerequisites. If I remember correctly, both Bards and Sorcerers should be able to gain the PrC by 7th level, and get access to the Spell Pool.

 

[shilsen]

Get a mage focused on item creation with evocation banned. Even better would be if you could talk your DM into letting you use the artificer class from the Eberron setting.

 

[Thanee]

If I remember correctly, both Bards and Sorcerers should be able to gain the PrC by 7th level, and get access to the Spell Pool.

Not sure, if there has been any official word. It's quite obvious that spontaneous casters can gain access to the PrC (they are mentioned in a few places), but they won't be able to utilize the spell pool, since even with Arcane Preparation they lack the ability to leave spell slots open (a very unique feature of wizards, tho maybe AP is meant to allow that, too, it doesn't really say anything specific about it), which is required for the spell pool.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Pbartender]

...but they won't be able to utilize the spell pool, since even with Arcane Preparation they lack the ability to leave spell slots open (a very unique feature of wizards, tho maybe AP is meant to allow that, too, it doesn't really say anything specific about it), which is required for the spell pool.

I'd have to double check the wording of how the Spell Pook works, but...

I thought it only required an unprepared spell slot (or some such), which, technically, all of a spontaneous spellcaster's unused spell slots are. I could be wrong.

 

[Thanee]

Yeah, that's exactly the point... "open" spell slots are only really mentioned with wizards, spontaneous casters have their spell slots "readied".

It's pretty clear, that only those slots, which wizards leave open during preparation are meant there.

The big question is, whether Arcane Preparation allows sorcerers to mimick this ability as well. It doesn't say anything about it, tho, only that they can "prepare" spells like wizards do, but it's probably vague enough to read it either way.

Bye
Thanee

 

[rumblehed]

healer

IMO, you can never go wrong with a second healer in the party.