Arcane Augmentation - help me understand

[mikarddo]

I am trying to understand when it might be worth using an Arcane Augmentation item - mostly seen from a sorc point of view.

Fireball has a ML of 10. Sorcs get it from level 6. At that level the effective casting level is already 9 (6 from levels and 3 from cores). With a bard buffer its 10 maxing out the potential of Fireball right away in which case +CL items have no effect. Is that correct or am I overlooking something?

Chain Lightning has a ML of 20. Sorcs get it from level 12. At that level the sorc can add +4 from cores making the CL 16 (or 17 with a bard). At this point up to 3 extra caster levels from gear would be great. Is that correct?

Delayed Fire Ball has a ML of 20. Sorcs get it from level 14. At that level the sorc can add + 4 from cores making the CL 18 (or 19 with a bard). Thus a +2 effect to CL from items would be good exactly at level 14 if no bard is around to buff. Is that correct? Now take the Firestorm Conduit which adds +2 CL to arcane spell but is ML15. At that level the sorc is at CL19 (or CL20 with a bard) and thus the staff does not really add to the effective CL. Is that correct?

Dragonborn may get more use though from their +1CL/+2MCL making arcane augmentation a bit more useful if I understand correctly.

Any help in understanding this is very much appreciated - I am hoping I am simply overlooking something :)

[Stormraiser]

I am trying to understand when it might be worth using an Arcane Augmentation item - mostly seen from a sorc point of view.

Fireball has a ML of 10. Sorcs get it from level 6. At that level the effective casting level is already 9 (6 from levels and 3 from cores). With a bard buffer its 10 maxing out the potential of Fireball right away in which case +CL items have no effect. Is that correct or am I overlooking something?

Chain Lightning has a ML of 20. Sorcs get it from level 12. At that level the sorc can add +4 from cores making the CL 16 (or 17 with a bard). At this point up to 3 extra caster levels from gear would be great. Is that correct?

Delayed Fire Ball has a ML of 20. Sorcs get it from level 14. At that level the sorc can add + 4 from cores making the CL 18 (or 19 with a bard). Thus a +2 effect to CL from items would be good exactly at level 14 if no bard is around to buff. Is that correct? Now take the Firestorm Conduit which adds +2 CL to arcane spell but is ML15. At that level the sorc is at CL19 (or CL20 with a bard) and thus the staff does not really add to the effective CL. Is that correct?

Dragonborn may get more use though from their +1CL/+2MCL making arcane augmentation a bit more useful if I understand correctly.

Any help in understanding this is very much appreciated - I am hoping I am simply overlooking something :)

So you have a CL which is the caster level that you are in the class. So in your example of DFB, at level 14, your caster level is 14 + 4 from cores. at level 15, your caster level is 15 + 4 from cores. At 17, its 17+4 from cores. at this point your caster level is 21, and the ML is 20, so your effective caster level is 20. Raising your max caster level is often better on capped spells.

Does that help?

[mikarddo]

So you have a CL which is the caster level that you are in the class. So in your example of DFB, at level 14, your caster level is 14 + 4 from cores. at level 15, your caster level is 15 + 4 from cores. At 17, its 17+4 from cores. at this point your caster level is 21, and the ML is 20, so your effective caster level is 20. Raising your max caster level is often better on capped spells.

Does that help?

A bit, it clarifies what I believe I knew and posted above, thanks.

When you post "raising your MCL is often better" which ways do you propose to do so? Are there infact any ways outside Draconic that raise the MCL more than also raising the CL either at the same time or as a prereq?

[Arctigis]

A bit, it clarifies what I believe I knew and posted above, thanks.

When you post "raising your MCL is often better" which ways do you propose to do so? Are there infact any ways outside Draconic that raise the MCL more than also raising the CL either at the same time or as a prereq?

Savant cores 5 and 6 raise MCL with same element. Elemental form also adds +1 I think.

[mikarddo]

Savant cores 5 and 6 raise MCL with same element. Elemental form also adds +1 I think.

Savant cores also raise the CL, so the extra MCL is covered at the very same time. Thus this adds no reason to use Arcane Augmentation to fill a gap as none is added. Same with elemental form.

[droid327]

Not every caster is a pure caster. EKs might splash /2 rogue or arti or fvs, maybe even /1 lock or alch. They'd definitely benefit from the extra CL to make up the difference.

Same for other more exotic gish builds that use spells from the arcane book

Hell, it seems like an item that lets you splash /2 monk for evasion without giving up anything but spell access levels (which becomes irrelevant post-20) would be something a pure caster might consider anyway

[Therrias]

I am trying to understand when it might be worth using an Arcane Augmentation item - mostly seen from a sorc point of view.

Fireball has a ML of 10. Sorcs get it from level 6. At that level the effective casting level is already 9 (6 from levels and 3 from cores). With a bard buffer its 10 maxing out the potential of Fireball right away in which case +CL items have no effect. Is that correct or am I overlooking something?

Chain Lightning has a ML of 20. Sorcs get it from level 12. At that level the sorc can add +4 from cores making the CL 16 (or 17 with a bard). At this point up to 3 extra caster levels from gear would be great. Is that correct?

Delayed Fire Ball has a ML of 20. Sorcs get it from level 14. At that level the sorc can add + 4 from cores making the CL 18 (or 19 with a bard). Thus a +2 effect to CL from items would be good exactly at level 14 if no bard is around to buff. Is that correct? Now take the Firestorm Conduit which adds +2 CL to arcane spell but is ML15. At that level the sorc is at CL19 (or CL20 with a bard) and thus the staff does not really add to the effective CL. Is that correct?

Dragonborn may get more use though from their +1CL/+2MCL making arcane augmentation a bit more useful if I understand correctly.

Any help in understanding this is very much appreciated - I am hoping I am simply overlooking something :)

It helps vs spell resistance. My sorc has Wail, FoD, Dancing Ball, Hold Monster, etc.

[Enoach]

there are also the fact that raising the caster level benefits a few other spells

Knock, Dispel, Greater Dispel, Dismissal and Banishments are just some of them.

It can also help for the Off Element of the Sorcerer Savant.