PHB II: The Review

[User3]

How about the feats? Any particular winners/losers in the new feat supply?

[Save_versus_Stupid]

Spell linked familiar seems useful;

From 9-11th caster level, you can grant your familiar 1 zero level spell
12-14th, 2/1
15-17th, 3/2/1
18-20th, 4/3/2

They cast at half your caster level, and don't use components.

[Hey_I_Can_Chan]

They cast at half your caster level, and don't use components.

So a Wiz12's familiar could cast identify for free?

[User3]

No. The spells granted can't have XP, GP, of Focus components.

[erik]

Wow, from the description on the PHB II excerpt list I thought that feat showed promise, now it sounds utterly awful. Any cheese you can squeeze out of it isn't likely to matter at all at the levels where it can be used. It takes a 15th level character for this to even compare to a 4th level cleric spell (imbue with spell ability).

[Username17]

Well, like many things it only becomes exciting when used by a Red Wizard.

---

But having gone through the Beguiler's spell list a little more carefully, I just have to say: Holy Crap! This is the best class that D&D has ever printed. Ever. You have as many spells per day as a Sorcerer, and you have a decent skill list and Trap Finding. And then instead of knowing just 2 spells at first level, you have every single good spell in the PHB except grease. This continues through your entire career. Every level it heaps new awesome spells on you. You don't really get class features at all until 20th level, but until then you're ompletely awesome.

Your first level spells include: charm person, color spray, sleep, silent image

That's literally missing only 1 spell off the grand slam list of 1st level attack spells.You also get the major utility divination spells from each level: coprehend languages for 1st, moving on to Clairvoyance and Arcane Sight. WTF?!

I seriously may not play any class again. It requires no explanation, no crazy builds, no special combos. You simply get more than half the spells in the PHB that are any good, and you can cast them all spontaneously. I can seriously list everything you don't get from every level.

For your fifth level spells, for example, oyu don't get:

Cloud Kill
Lesser Planar Binding
Fabricate
Teleport
Wall of Stone

Ouch. Those are five really nice spells that you don't get. I guess you'll have to either use your completely unnecessary feats to get those spells anyway or just struggle on with only Break Enchantment, Feeblemind, Hold Monster, Dominate Person, and Sending whenever you feel like.

The only real question is: Is playing a Beguiler so good that it's cheating?

-Username17

[Book]

Would an *evil* Beguiler benefit from taking the Mother Cyst feat from Libris Mortis?

It grants you another 10 or so spells to add to your list from what I recall. I don't have the Libris Mortis book, so I don't know if there are any synergies between the feat and the new class.

++++++++

The Spell-Linked Familiar feat might get more useful at higher levels (when you have a higher spellcasting level) when you load up those slots with Benign Transposition (SpComp) and Dimension Hop (PHB2).

Your familiar can use those spells to re-position you and your allies while you simultaneously blast-n'-cast. In essence, those 2 spells in those familiar slots become virtual "quickened" spells.

Those spells are also useful for getting you out of grapples, Forcecages, bad terrain. While also potentially moving your allies into more advantageous positions (to help the Rogue flank, for example).

Unfortunately, both those spells have limited ranges that are predicated upon having a decent CL to get the most out of it.

[Neeek]

So, Distract Assailant for the Beguiler's first Advanced Learning or no?

[Username17]

You can almost certainly convince your DM to allow your Beguiler to benefit from Mother Cyst. As written, actually casting any cyst spell has two prerequisites:

1. Have the Mother Cyst feat
2. Be a Cleric, Sorcerer, or Wizard.

Now the Mother Cyst stuff was written before the Dread Necromancer was, so you can make a very good argument that that class at least should be on the list of classes that can benefit from Mother Cyst. But while the entire class restriction thing is probably just an oversight, the fact is that War Mages and Druids existed before the book was published so the RAW reading is unambiguously that you can't benefit from that feat unless you are literally a Cleric, Sorcerrer, or Wizard.

That being said, the Cyst spells are also craptastic beyond belief. To effect anyone with any Cyst spell you need to first implant a cyst which requires:

[*] A spell slot
[*] A standard action
[*] A touch attack
[*] A successful SR roll.
[*] A failed Fortitude Save by the victim

At that point... nothing happens. You then have the opportunity to cast deadly Save-or-Dies on later turns. But essentially you hit your victim with a ghoul touch, and then if it works your opponent can be removed from combat on later rounds instead of just being removed from combat instantly.

So even if you can convince your DM that your Beguiler can make use of Mother Cyst, you wouldn't bother. The spells you get simply aren't good. The fact that as written you don't even get those spells is just insult to injury.

Unfortunately, both those spells have limited ranges that are predicated upon having a decent CL to get the most out of it.

True. How's 20? A Red Wizard can actually use the spell slots she puts into her familiar to jack up her own caster level to be allowed to put higher level spell slots into her familiar. Circle Magic maxxes out at Caster Level 40, but that's plenty for these purposes. Ask your DM what the Epic Progression of Familiar Casting looks like....

-Username17

[Username17]

1148326399[/unixtime]]So, Distract Assailant for the Beguiler's first Advanced Learning or no?

No. shadow spray (Spell Compendium). It's like color spray except:

1. It's not mind affecting (but it is a Fort save that doesn't affect Objects).
2. It has a smaller area, but that area is anywhere you want within medium range.
3. It causes 4 points of Strength Damage if it works.
4. It hits every fvcking round for your level in rounds, so any victim who fails the save takes the strnegth damage and then sits there like a sucker to have to make a save next round.. and so on until they run out of strength, you kill them, or they make a save.

That spell is teh awesome. Distract assailant is just dumb. Your opponents being flat foted doesn't even matter particularly.

-Username17

[Book]

My current Wizard has a metamagic rod of sculpt spell and the Shadow Spray spell. Sculpting the Shadow Spray spell is both cheap and utterly, mindblowingingly fantastic in its expanded field of coverage.

Since it is a 2nd level spell, you can't take it as a Beguiler's first Advanced Learning though. Net of Shadows (SpComp) comes to mind. Distract Assailant is possibly viable if you have a party companion who has an assload of Sneak Attack dice at his beck-&-call (but that's doubtful that you'll have 2 trapmonkeys in a given party). Inhibit (SpComp) may work for partys that can benefit from single opponents doing *nothing* in 1 round while the rest of the party pig-piles on the damage.

Like Frank said earlier, every spell a Beguiler truly needs at lower levels is already available. The 1st level of Advanced Learning (at 3rd level) is hard to wow anybody with in regards to grabbing a kickass spell. For the 3rd level Beguiler, it is more of a gravy class ability.

[User3]

For the first Advanced Learning, I'd probably pick Instant Diversion (RoD). Its a swift action 1st level spell and a fine way to run monsters out of their AoOs (which is kind of a big deal if they are Reach Monsters). The fact that it can be used as a form of misdirection and a way to occassionally make people waste real attacks or spells is just a side benefit.

Yeh, the Beguiler is the awesome. For your 7th level Advanced Learning you can pick up Wraithstrike and just be a totally awesome Gish, if you were so inclined, on top of being a Diplomancer/Rogue/combat control caster.

Toss on some Fiend-blooded as your PrC, and you can even do a little blasting or Necromancy if you feel like it. With Arcane Disciple, you can even choose a whole new role if you feel like it depending on your God.

Yeh, I think you actually have to try to make a bad Beguiler.

[Username17]

Wow. Yep, the Advanced Learning that a Beguiler gets is custom crafted to piss them off because they get it at the levels just befre they get a gripof new awesome spells. So yeah, coming in at 3rd level as it does, you have to take a 1st level spell. Too bad about that.

The 7th level one can't get a Wraithstrike, because it only takes Illusion or Enchantment. Honestly, I think you are best off just taking shadow spray anyway because all the good 3rd level spells are already on your list. Heck, you even get zone of silence (the bard spell) at a lower level than Bards do.

The key is coming up with sufficient (Shadow) type spells to make the prereqs of illusionist classes. And that is best done by taking an Arcane Disciple Domain.

-Username17

[User3]

The 7th level one can't get a Wraithstrike, because it only takes Illusion or Enchantment.

I would have sworn that Wraithstrike was an illusion spell...meh, I guess this means you take Bladeweave or Spectral Weapon if you want to go Gish.

Did anyone notice that Master's Touch was completely changed so that you don't cast it ever again? It used to be a kinda cool way to get proficiency in a weapon or armor as an immediate action, and now its a way to gain a small bonus to a skill check(one that takes one round).

That bonus most likely stacks with whatever you're using, but did the original really need such a nerfing?

[Book]

Beguiler XX / Prestige Bard 2 / Whatever PrC XX

...

UA's Prestige Bard is an interesting dip for Beguiler. Per its "Unique Spells" clause, you can add *all* the unique Bard-only spells to the Beguiler's spell list. Granted, the clause does have a possible sketchy-worded escape for DM's who dislike this angle. Also, this combo entails a 1-level hit to overall spellcasting level. But by getting a whole tonne of extra spells, a few low-level CHA-synergy bard goodies, 2 good saves, and skill type continuity .. it might be worth the dip.

The only significant barrier to entry is the Perform skill ranks. Which is easily resolved via the Skill Knowledge feat from UA (p. 81?) as well. Or alternately, preceding Prestige Bard with a level or more of Harper Mage. Since you may want the Extend Spell feat anyway.

[dbb]

Did anyone notice that Master's Touch was completely changed so that you don't cast it ever again?

Maybe this was their small way of making it up to the Fighter for all the awesome fighting spells they printed in the same book. If so, it was a flaming failure, but big shock there. At low levels you barely care what your weapon is, and by the time you find an artifact weapon you've had time to take a level of Dragonslayer anyway or whatever nonsense anyway.

Then again, it's clear HotC's idea of what martial weapon proficiencies are worth is a little ... confused, given that they (in Core) require a feat for each of them, and then turn around and give the Elf six for free. So nerfing this perfectly pedestrian spell is the logical result of that confusion, I guess.

--d.

[User3]

Whoever wrote the new polymorph rules is a goddamned idiot.

What exactly does this nerf besides the druid's wildshape ability? And it is a royal royalling; druids have been contemptuously knocked to the bottom of the spellcasting stack by clerics, beguilers, and wizards. Is this to get more people to try out those amazingly shitty Displacer Beast/Dragon/Trollform spells?

...

All in all, thumbs down on this book. The feats were obviously written in a way to make fighters more viable and while it does do a better job more than any other core fighting class at giving them a better attack bonus, this is at the cost of EVERY SINGLE FEAT THEY HAVE.

Also, what the hell is up with the feats in this book that let you set fire to stunning fist attempts for shitty effects? Stunning Fist is probably one of the best feats ever published for monks (next to Rapid Stunning, Unbalancing Strike, and Pain Touch), especially when combined with an Owl's Insight and Ki Straps. Trading one of my few unique offensive options in combat for a crummy 1d6 to all attacks or using a standard action and two of these attempts for a 3d6+Wis modifier (at 12th level)? What are these peoples' problems?

The only people who will appreciate the feat section in this book are rogues. It's a very nice powerup to them; with nice feat cajiggery they become the most painful tanks in the game.

I wonder if the people who design this game are starting to realize that people who play fighters and sorcerors just will not benefit from any new published material unless it's on the sheer cheese level of Divine Metamagic or Item Familiar. Probably not.

While we're at it, if you're ever designing a build for a min-max contest and you're a spellcaster, you should always stick Item Familiar into your build. It's free money and with the help of Craft Wondrous Item will make you universally win more competitions than any other feat ever published, with the possible exception of Initiate of Mystra.

[RandomCasualty]

1149446693[/unixtime]]
I wonder if the people who design this game are starting to realize that people who play fighters and sorcerors just will not benefit from any new published material unless it's on the sheer cheese level of Divine Metamagic or Item Familiar. Probably not.

Having writers who try to create abilities on par with "cheese" crap like divine metamagic and wraithstrike would totally destroy the game.

The best WotC can do is start up a "ban" list like with M:tG and stick all the cheese on it. I mean we're playing with an M:tG paradigm anyway, we might as well use the same treatment for broken abilities that we use for broken M:tG cards.

I didn't really think the PHB2 was all that bad. It fixed the insane power of polymorph and gave us an alternative to the druid.

A permanent fixture in my game since the PHB2 has been forcing druids to use the shapeshift variant and banning the entire alter self -> shapechange chain and using the poly spells in the PHB2 which actually have a remote chance of being balanced.

The PHB2 wasn't exactly great, mostly due to the total waste of space for the roleplaying chapter and the affiliation rules, which were both pure garbage.

Still, it wasn't terrible either.

[Username17]

Whoever wrote the new polymorph rules is a goddamned idiot.

Granted.

What exactly does this nerf besides the druid's wildshape ability?

It certainly doesn't nerf the Druid's Wildshape ability. As per the rrata, druids are not dependent upon Polymorph at all. They are dependent upon Alternate Form. So the new rules don't affect them in any way.

It doesn't really affect polymorph either, since polymorph has its own rules text supercede the Polymorph Subschool whenever they are in conflict. So, because the polymorph spell, after errata, states that it functions like alter self, and after the errata alter self still states that you retain all qualities derived from class levels, you keep all your class features while polymorphed.

The new polymorph rules are more complex, but actually more powerfl than they've ever been before. The basic rules are now that you default to gaining all the powers of the creatur whenever the rules don't specify. Of course, since the printing of the polymorph subschool rules, noone has made a polymorph build, because it is no longer possible to tell the DM in a reasonable amount of time how it works and noone knows what it is supposed to do. Adjudicating polymorph now requires:

Checking the polymorph errata.
Checking the polymorph spell enry.
Checking the alter self errata.
Checking the alter self entry.
Checking the Polymorph Subschool rules.
Checking the Monster entry of the creature you are becomming.
Performing a find-and-replace on your character sheet with tall the stuff that is being added and replaced on your character.
Recalculating all your figured characteristics based on the interaction of the new number set you have.

With shapechange running, you can add two steps to that process and even do it as a free action in the middle of a full attack routine. Adjudicating polymorph is a nightmare that noone comprehends. The power available is intense, and the only thing that stops it is that even I can't explain exactly how it works without a chalkboard.

-Username17

[Absentminded_Wizard]

We've been having a discussion about the Adaptive Flanker feat on Nifty. Does it allow a spike-chain wielding rogue to repeatedly sneak attack an opponent without any flanking teammates, or are we missing something?

[Username17]

1149851095[/unixtime]]We've been having a discussion about the Adaptive Flanker feat on Nifty. Does it allow a spike-chain wielding rogue to repeatedly sneak attack an opponent without any flanking teammates, or are we missing something?

In the 3.5 rules for threat range you have to be at one of the compass points of your opponent for that to work, but yes it does work. You count as occupying both the square directly south and directly north of the victim.

Since you are a creature friendly to yourself, it counts for flanking purposes (PHB, age 153).

-Username17