Illusionist

[Delssar]

Hello everyone

Iv never really played a wizard before (atleast not past level 10) and Im not sure exacly how DC or spell penetration works. I dont want to just go for another necro build. Im interested in an illusionist and Im requesting a 32 point build that uses no tomes and isnt Extremelly gear heavy (I can farm some stuff but I dont own all the packs yet). This build wont be doing much epics (just enough to get the tokens and tr). Can anyone help me out, and which race should I use?

Thanks in advance!

[Spoonwelder]

I understand your desire for flavor...but

Blur
Displacement
Hypnotic Pattern
Invisibility (spell)
Invisibility, Mass
Phantasmal Killer
Shadow Walk

That is your illusion spell list.....thus no-one has made an Illusionist build.

[Talon_Moonshadow]

Problem is... that I think there are only "TWO" illusion spells in the game that are have saving throws to even worry about.
And one of those is dang annoying to look at, doesn't last near long enough to be useful IMO, and is slow to cast so it is difficult to catch anything in it anyway..

PK also has two saving throws so is greatly inferior to higher lvl insta-kill spells.

And only about three or four other illusion spells in-game right now. (Edit: five! lol)

Since Invisibility is one of those spells though, my thoughts for a DDO Illusionist would have a high Move Silently score to get max use out of Invis.

I wish they would add more Illusion spells.

I wish they would "fix" the illusions in Party Crashers to make sense!
Illusionary traps should do "ZERO" damage on a (Will) save!
Illusionarly monsters should actually be dispellable! (like they say they are!)(Oh...and although they might actually "be" dispellable currently, my Wiz20 failed to dispel a single one of them.....on hard! That would be lvl6!)

Sry... just venting about are current illusions...

Adding illusionary monsters and traps would be easy IMO.
(and Gnomes to cast them!)

[Spoonwelder]

Yes my first thought was ....wait for Gnomes....then wait for their PrE which should allow Illusionary Summons.

An Illusionist in this game should be powerful if it was ever expanded since it would all be will saves.....

That said they could simply build Illusionist as a class that is able to select any spell with a visual effect (ie. firewall yes but finger of death no) and cast it as an illusion of the real spell using their Illusionist DC but then the mobs get both Will saves and whatever save they would normally have.

The benefit would be that you get higher DCs in a broad spectrum of spell types but potentially two saves against each (or a save where they normally wouldn't ie. magic missle).

[Failedlegend]

I understand your desire for flavor...but

Blur
Displacement
Hypnotic Pattern
Invisibility (spell)
Invisibility, Mass
Phantasmal Killer
Shadow Walk

That is your illusion spell list.....thus no-one has made an Illusionist build.

Here's Hoping for Two things

- Gnomes come w/ more illusion spells

- The Devs use a Gnome sub race so their stats arn't useless (+2Con.-2STr iirc.....Tinker Gnomes are much better +2Dex/Int, -2Str/Wis)


Altenatively it would be cool if gnomes came with a Racial PrE....I forget the actual name its Shadowcraft Mage or something it allows you to have an Illsuinonary version of any evocation or conjuration spells the idea is instead of a reflex save or whatever you have to bypass a Will Save (vs. Illusion DC) to make them "Believe"their actually being attacked IIRC their slightly weaker though (80% or something)

[Kinerd]

Here is how DC works:

You have a DC, and a monster has a save.
Your DC is 10 + spell level + Int mod + gear + enhancements + feats.
For "gear" you are looking for School Focus (or Greater/Epic School Focus) relevant to the school of the spell.
For "enhancements" you are looking at Archmage or Pale Master.
For "feats" you are also looking at School focus (and/or Greater School Focus). This stacks with gear.
The specific save is determined by the specific spell: most instant kills target Fortitude, most CC targets Will, some direct damage targets Reflex.

Here is how Spell Penetration works:

You have Spell Penetration and a d20, and a monster might have Spell Resistance.
Your Spell Penetration is caster level + gear + enhancements + feats.
Unlike DC, you can get Spell Penetration from enhancements without being any PrE. (You should always have a PrE as a wizard.)
Not all spells allow a check against Spell Resistance. These are almost entirely direct damage. A notable exception is Web, which CCs without Spell Resistance.

.

As others have illustrated, Illusion is not a good school to specialize in. Here is a build I am recommending for you:

Warforged
Str 14
Dex 8
Con 18
Int 18 (all levelups here)
Wis 6
Cha 6

Feats
Regular: Toughness, Spell Pen, Maximize, Greater Spell Focus: Enchantment and Necromancy, Greater Spell Pen, Quicken
Wizard Bonus: Mental Toughness, Spell Focus: Conjuration, Enchantment, and Necromancy, Heighten

Enhancements
Archmage 4
Archmage Spell Mastery 2: Enchantment
SLA Hypnotism
Archmage Secondary Spell Mastery 1: Conjuration
SLA Grease (never use this) and Web (use this as soon as it gets off cooldown)
(You need Intelligence 3, Energy of the Scholar 3, and Concentration 3 to get these.)

Pick an element to specialize in: Manipulation 7, Crit Multiplier and Crit Chance 1. (I like Electricity. Cold is a good choice too. You could do both.)
Pick a bunch of other elements to dabble in: All three or just Manip rank 1. (I like Repair, Force, Flame.)

Inscribed Armor 1: so you can cast without Arcane Spell Failure. Casting is good.

.

You will have very good CC and passable Necro. You will be *extremely* durable.