[3.5] Shapechange abuse and archmage/wizard stuff

[Pippin]

Hello everyone,

I haven't played at D&D 3.5 for a while and I'm now trying to retrieve whatever knowledge I used to have (not much anyways ^^)

1. I want to play a wizard and my favorite spell has always been Shapechange. I want to use this spell permanently 24/7. Now, one way to do that would be to use the Archmage's Spell-Like Ability, but I really don't want to waste so many high arcanas (and spell slots) for this. Another way would be to craft a ring, or a staff with infinite charges, but that would require a crafting feat (so I'd be wasting a feat for this). Would you know the least restrictive way to abuse Shapechange on my own without any help?

2. Speaking of Archmages, would you think it's a good idea to take the Spell Power High Arcana five times (+5 CL for me) if you were to take 5 levels of Archmage PrC? Or would you take Arcane Reach + Mastery of Shaping + 3x Spell Power ? Or something else maybe ? Tell me!

3. If you were to play a level 20 wizard, what build would you choose? Is there something better than Wizard Lv5 + Master Specialist Lv10 + Archmage Lv5 ?  I remember Incantatrixes being cheesy but I don't remember why and how much.

Thanks a lot for your help!

[Debatra]

I'm going to answer in reverse-order.

3. I really like the Killer-Gnome/Shadowcraft Mage builds. Be an Illusionist with Evocation and Conjuration as barred schools, then take Spell Reprieve to get Greater Teleport. Maybe even Arcane Transfiguration if I can spare the feats. That doesn't always work though, so I usually wind up with Abjuration barred instead of Conjuration. Then I take Spell Reprieve to get Arcane Turmoil.

Don't forget your early-entry shenanigans. Heighten/Earth Spell with Metamagic reducers. Precocious Apprentice. Etc.

2. Depends what spells you use. If you like Touch Spells, Arcane Reach is invaluable. Especially if you like Chain Spell. Anyone who Blasts even part of the time and has even one ally needs Mastery of Shaping, and probably Mastery of Elements. (Fire Mage vs Red Dragon? Well now you're an Ice Mage too. And an Acid Mage, and...) I usually don't bother with Spell Power. If you're starving for Caster Levels by 20th-level, something has gone horribly wrong.

1. Spell-Like Ability depends on what spell you want to take with it. It costs one fifth-level slot, plus one slot of whatever level the spell is. So taking it for a fifth-level spell is pointless, and fourth or lower is worse than useless. Shapechange is a ninth-level spell, so it's almost definitely worth it. As an Archmage, you already have two Spell Focus feats. Is one Transmutation? Then try out Metamagic School Focus with Extend at the very least. Maybe throw on two more +1 Metamagics, alongside whatever +0s you have. Remember that SLAs don't have Verbal or Somatic Components, so don't bother with Silent or Still Spell.

What level are you starting at? A permanent Shapechange item costs... 459,000 gp. Okay, so not WBL until at least level 19.

Master Specialist... Depends on your School, and how lenient your DM is. For example, I once convinced a DM that the capstone for Illusionists was underpowered, so he let me use it at-will instead of 3/day. For a Transmuter, I probably wouldn't take more than four levels for the Minor Esoterica.

If you want to cheese yourself into semi-permanent Shapechange, all you really need is Incantatrix 3 (be sure to get the Player's Guide to Faerun version, NOT Magic of Faerun), Persistent Spell and the ability to reliably hit a DC 63 Spellcraft check. Remember that you can combine Persist and Extend for a 48-hour duration (which also bumps the DC up to 66).

---

Although, if shapeshifting shenanigans are all you really want, might I recommend the Master of Many Forms Bible instead? I'd recommend going in as a Wildshape Ranger instead of a Druid.

[phaedrusxy]

Shapechange lasts a long time, anyway. With the Rainbow Falls magical location, plus Extend (via a Greater Metamagic Rod), you can get it up to 6x the normal duration, or 1 hour per caster level. Boost your CL to 24, and voila, 24/7 Shapechange from a single spell slot.

[Debatra]

Yes, but Rainbow Falls can't extend a spell's duration beyond 24 hours. By the time a Wizard gets Shapechange, they can already get the other stuff.

[Pippin]

Thanks for the answers.

I see, so there's no easy way to achieve this. Incantatrix is good but I would have to give up a third school besides Enchantment and Evocation... and I'm really not sure if I want to give up Necromancy. So I would need to not specialize myself, and eventually, the 24-hour shapechange state comes at the price of loosing the extra spell slots granted by specialization. Tough decisions will have to be made, but on the other hand, I've never played an Incantatrix yet and I'm sure a lot of people would argue that giving up 3 schools is still definitely worth it. I will think about it.

Side note: I've studied how Artificers work in the past, and I liked to think that if I were to abuse metamagic feats, then Artificer is definitely the class to play. Artificers mimic wizards, but also they can craft all sorts of items at ridiculous prices, they can reach very, very high DCs... And they're not even limited to arcane spells, in case one gets bored XD

[Debatra]

If you do go Incantatrix, make sure you know enough spells for Archmage first. A lot of people go with either Incantatrix or Focused Specialist, forgetting that losing three schools early enough prevents the "knowledge of 5th-level or higher spells from at least five schools" requirement. Then again, Spell Reprieve.

[Pippin]

If you do go Incantatrix, make sure you know enough spells for Archmage first. A lot of people go with either Incantatrix or Focused Specialist, forgetting that losing three schools early enough prevents the "knowledge of 5th-level or higher spells from at least five schools" requirement. Then again, Spell Reprieve.

I'd rather not specialize then. My very flawed build can be found here!

Q: Is it true that, if your int. mod. increases, you can (and must) change the list of the spells that you chose when you took the Spell Mastery feat?

[kitep]

Q: Is it true that, if your int. mod. increases, you can (and must) change the list of the spells that you chose when you took the Spell Mastery feat?

I don't know of any official ruling, but I would go with "no".  Once you pick the spell mastery spells, they're set, whether your intelligence goes up or down.

Each time you take this feat, choose a number of spells equal to your Intelligence modifier that you already know. From that point on, you can prepare these spells without referring to a spellbook.

[Debatra]

Also, I'd like to point out that I mistyped before. You can go Incantatrix or Focused Specialist without losing out on the five schools, but not both.

You know, since there are eight schools. Even then, it's still possible to have a Focused Specialist/Incantatrix/Archmage if you know 5th-level spells before going Incan.

[phaedrusxy]

The 3.0 version of Incantatrix explicitly let you keep the spells already in your spellbook from the banned school picked up as part of the PrC. The 3.5 version didn't include that language, but I think that its likely RAI. Otherwise... what happens to them? They're in your spellbook, but suddenly you can't cast them anymore?

Assuming that it still works as in 3.0, you could simply scribe the higher level spells you need into your book before entering the PrC (you can scribe scrolls into your book of a higher level than you can actually cast, if you can make the necessary spellcraft checks).

[nijineko]

What level are you starting at? A permanent Shapechange item costs... 459,000 gp. Okay, so not WBL until at least level 19.

ah, no. try not until epic level. can't craft items costing more than 200,000gp (not counting certain components in the crafting cost like spell and component costs) below epic level. so, 21 level at a minimum. unless, of course, you have access to an epic level caster who is willing to just sell you such a thing... dicey but remotely possible.