Possible changes and upgrades for Archmage

[Aelonwy]

Goal: To give each Archmage specialty its own unique usefulness. To make Archmage live up to its title, not Mediocre-mage.

Abjuration School changes: This is the worst school by a wide margin
Shield SLA, can be cast on self and others (to indicate the Abjuration specialist's mastery of their chosen school)
Change Protection from Elements to Glyph of Warding (I realize this is a divine spell but it seems so much better than the same level Fire Trap)
Change Dismissal to Banishment (Banishment has limited usefulness, especially with the inflated HD issues of DDO, but its the best Abjuration gets)

Conjuration School changes:
Change Cloudkill to Everard's Black Tentacles
This has always been a wiz/sorc spell but I understand the devs wanting to keep some uniqueness to the warlock spell list.
So this is a compromise that only Conjuration specialized Archmage would have access. Cloudkill is a terrible spell in DDO because its determined by the target's HD and as we all know enemy HD go off the charts eventually. Speaking of which epic ward prevents or severely curtails ability score damage also neutering Cloudkill's usefulness. Finally, web looses much of its viability as CC when enemies as well as teammates spew fire on the battlefield so Tentacles would give this school a late game CC.

Enchantment School changes:
Change Resistable Dance to either Charm Person or Touch of Idiocy
(I know most people don't use ToI but I like to use it in the early game to prep a target for Charm or Hold and a cheaper version of this could be useful to an enchantment specced Archmage even at higher levels.)
Change Hold Monster to Mind Fog
(Same reason really, in later gameplay I rarely if ever used the single target SLA versions of Hold/Charm but Mind Fog was useful to blanket an area and reduce enemy saves.)

Evocation:
Evocation is what it is, the only possible change I might make to it would be Fire Shield to Force Missiles but some people really like their constant up Fireshield so...? Up to popular opinion I guess.

Illusion School changes:
Alright Illusion has the least number of spells but is in a decent place right now however these are the changes I would make...
Displacement self only version same as now AND a 2nd friendly version that can't be extended (to indicate the Illusion specialist's mastery of their chosen school)
Change Shadow Walk to NEW Weird (Should work very similar to Phantasmal Killer but instead of single target it should affect multiple targets, still has all the saves, SR and limitations of PK and likely a longer cooldown.)

Necromancy School changes:
Possibly change Halt Undead to Ray of Exhaustion. (Reason is Halt Undead has limited usefulness when it only works on undead and no more than 3 at a time. Basically would rather use a web in most cases for the same purpose.)
Possibly change Waves of Fatigue to either Negative Energy Burst or Death Aura. (Reason is - I think either would be more useful to a late game Necromancy specced wizard than Waves of Fatigue which will soon be replaced entirely with Waves of Exhaustion when that type of effect is needed.)

Transmutation School changes:
This one is very difficult. Most of its best spells or rather just most of its spells are 6th level spells. Perhaps the ability to cast Tensor's on party members unextended (to indicate the Transmutation specialist's mastery of their chosen school) would give this more niche.

[Aelonwy]

Other Core changes:
Master of Magic is a little underwhelming in comparison to more recent Capstone enhancements. It could use an additional +2 Int or instead perhaps +2 to Spell Pen.

Speaking of which if the spell schools got a final SLA in the capstone or exclusive school ability that would be great.
Abjuration - Permanent Freedom of Movement? This is a really crummy spell school to specialize in.
Conjuration - Augment Summoning Feat ?
Enchantment - Mass Suggestion or Symbol of Persuasion SLA
Evocation - +10% chance to crit with spells
Illusion - ? Permanent displacement? Illusion options are very limited.
Necromancy - Could be either of the SLAs not chosen to replace Waves of Fatigue or maybe the better choices of Circle of Death/Necrotic Ray
Transmutation - Good place for the friendly version of Tensor's or possibly Disintegrate or Reconstruction

[Aelonwy]

Changes to Tier 1
Energy of the Scholar changed to match costs/benefits in Spellsinger 1 AP per rank, 30/60/100 Spell points
Superior Wand and Scroll Mastery (You are an Archmage after all, the ultimate studious mage) 25%/50%/100% and 1/2/4 DCs of wands/scrolls

Changes to Tier 2
Efficient Metamagics need to somehow become more efficient. That's part of a much larger discussion however.

Changes to Tier 3
Arcane Bolt needs to scale with more % to spellpower after level 20, maybe something like 125% at lvl 20, 150% at lvl 25, and 200% at lvl 30

Changes to Tier 4
*shrug*

Changes to Tier 5
Arcane Blast SLA needs similar changes to Arcane Bolt, scale with more % to spellpower after level 20. Additionally, changing this to an effective 6th level wizard spell instead of 4th level might help reduce saves versus the effect at least some. I suggest 6th level spell because its Tier 5, and you must be a 12th level character to access Tier 5s and a 12th level caster gets access to 6th level spells.

If possible I'd like to see the primary school DC bonus be +2 in Tier 5 (total of +3 with the +1 from Tier 4) for 3 AP similar to what Warlock gets in Tainted Scholar. And I wouldn't say no to having the secondary school changed from selecting a specific school to a +1 to all DCs or all DCs except the primary school similar Tainted Scholar... but if not I'm okay with the secondary school selection.

Arcane Supremacy. Arcane Supremacy annoys me. Its almost always triggered on the last spell used on a group of mobs such that the entire 12 second effect goes entirely to wasteas I'm running to find something else to take advantage of its benefits. About the only place I get the full benefit of this ability is ToEE and that's entirely due to the proximity and density of mob clusters. I would very much prefer this changed to something I can choose when it goes off, even if that means it has a much longer cooldown and limited charges.

[Xgya]

I gotta say I can support most of the suggested changes, except the following:

Transmutation School changes:
This one is very difficult. Most of its best spells or rather just most of its spells are 6th level spells. Perhaps the ability to cast Tensor's on party members unextended (to indicate the Transmutation specialist's mastery of their chosen school) would give this more niche.

Tenser's, while a fantastic buff when you welcome it, is also a very short buff with a rather hefty downside.
Since this could be potentially used to troll people (increasing someone's cooldowns will do that), I'd recommend against it.

GIMME BALEFUL POLYMORPH! We have the technology! We can already turn people into frogs. Give me a single-target heroic version, please?
Alternatively, instead, Disintegrate? It's a quintessential and well-known Transmutation spell, after all, and while Flesh-to-Stone (and inversion thereof) can be useful in some limited instances, turning things to dust is a go-to solution in DDO.

[Domince]

Maybe some spell critical % in the higher cores and SP.

[Aelonwy]

Tenser's, while a fantastic buff when you welcome it, is also a very short buff with a rather hefty downside.
Since this could be potentially used to troll people (increasing someone's cooldowns will do that), I'd recommend against it.

You're right of course. I was thinking it might be a nice buff to pass out for teamwork purposes but forgot about the dark side. Those dark side bad apples have a way of misusing things.

Oh well Disintegrate or Reconstruct would be better suited then.

Baleful Polymorph...hmmm... well if we ever get a single target Frog spell it ought to go in a Druid tree. But Baleful Polymorph, I vaguely remember someone using that in PnP to turn someone else into a mini-beholder... except the guy didn't get any of it's powers so he wiggled around on the ground like a beach ball until an ogre kicked him at us. Good times.

[Hipparan]

I like a lot of the changes listed, but I want to focus on what is by far the weakest line.

Abjuration School changes: This is the worst school by a wide margin
Shield SLA, can be cast on self and others (to indicate the Abjuration specialist's mastery of their chosen school)
Change Protection from Elements to Glyph of Warding (I realize this is a divine spell but it seems so much better than the same level Fire Trap)
Change Dismissal to Banishment (Banishment has limited usefulness, especially with the inflated HD issues of DDO, but its the best Abjuration gets)

Currently the line of SLAs is:

1. Shield - This is boring and you can get a better version from Eldritch Knight. Even before the EK changes it was better.
2. Resist Energy - This is very slow progression. I'd put this on Tier 1.
3. Protection from Energy - I understand it's an SLA, but having to pick one energy type at a time is annoying and is a lot to cast.
4. Stoneskin - Do many people use this spell at higher levels? Can always get it on Gnome
5. Dismissal - Instakills are nice, but this one is pretty restricted.

Here is what I would change it to:

1. Resist Energy - Buff spells like this aren't very attractive for SLAs, so dropping the level requirement is a boost.
2. Protection from Elements - Same reasoning as Resist Energy but also making it Elements so one cast per person rather than five.
3. Fire Trap - Fire Trap is actually pretty decent because it has a max caster level of 20. However, the damage dice are lousy compared to the upgraded fire spells from U41. Greater Glyph of Warding might be nice too, but I don't know how the Devs would feel about passing around Divine spells to Arcane casters.
4. Globe of Invulnerability - This can be useful but very situational. Most Abjuration spells are. Stoneskin would probably be more popular here still. How about Greater Glyph of Warding here to go along with damaging with Fire Trap?
5. Banishment - Still limited to outsiders but better than Dismissal.

[Enoach]

What I think would be a better approach longstanding would be...

1. Add more spells of each school so that they are more evenly represented over the 9 spell levels
2. Change all AM sla's to "Pick a Spell of that school from the designated spell level" - This will make these cores much more flexible and allow the player to pick their SLA

As a note I've come to enjoy picking the Abjuration Shield sla along with Wand and Scroll Mastery from the AM tree on my PM. Gives me a cheap defensive spell and doesn't take a spell slot . But that is all I spend in that tree.

[Aelonwy]

I like a lot of the changes listed, but I want to focus on what is by far the weakest line.
Here is what I would change it to:

1. Resist Energy - Buff spells like this aren't very attractive for SLAs, so dropping the level requirement is a boost.
2. Protection from Elements - Same reasoning as Resist Energy but also making it Elements so one cast per person rather than five.
3. Fire Trap - Fire Trap is actually pretty decent because it has a max caster level of 20. However, the damage dice are lousy compared to the upgraded fire spells from U41. Greater Glyph of Warding might be nice too, but I don't know how the Devs would feel about passing around Divine spells to Arcane casters.
4. Globe of Invulnerability - This can be useful but very situational. Most Abjuration spells are. Stoneskin would probably be more popular here still. How about Greater Glyph of Warding here to go along with damaging with Fire Trap?
5. Banishment - Still limited to outsiders but better than Dismissal.

Those are good options too. Not everyone spends points in EK, even for the better Shield. My reasoning for keeping Shield was to allow for an Abjuration specialist to be able to cast it on friendlies as a benefit to teamwork. It would be an exclusive benefit to selecting such a subpar school. I know its available on wands for those with UMD so it doesn't seem like much but this way it could be cast on pets, summons, hirelings, that barbarian in the party who's never heard of UMD, maybe even a charmed creature that's taking missile spam to the face.

Small options like this are subtle benefits but can still be worthwhile.

I've never played around much with the Globe's of Inv. they seem more hassle than they're worth. I spam stoneskin from wands though, before every big fight just for the extra cushion of damage absorption. I don't know how worthwhile it would be to have the spell as an SLA if you can just carry around a couple wands.

[Enoach]

...
I've never played around much with the Globe's of Inv. they seem more hassle than they're worth. I spam stoneskin from wands though, before every big fight just for the extra cushion of damage absorption. I don't know how worthwhile it would be to have the spell as an SLA if you can just carry around a couple wands.

These are often overlooked for that exact reason you state.

Some good uses:

1. Place to stand vs casters such as Lightning bolt spammers
2. Drag mobs that protected by level 4 or less spells into it - Deathward is a level 4 spell


If you use kiting, spells like this one can benefit you by debuffing. If you are one that likes to stand still and shoot back, then this spell can protect you from a number of low level spammed spells.

[Aelonwy]

2. Drag mobs that protected by level 4 or less spells into it - Deathward is a level 4 spell

I'll have to play around with it some. Deathward is nuisance to my PK.

[Aelonwy]

Any other ideas or alterations?

[Sunnie]

Wizards being able to cast Shield (or Nightshield) on others would be awesome.

[Enoach]

Wizards being able to cast Shield (or Nightshield) on others would be awesome.

These spells are traditionally "self". But along that vein I think the Displacement spell should be returned to being a spell that can be cast on others. That was something that was changed during the "armor up" era to help "balance" defense, and then they went and added gear with all sorts of "concealment" type bonuses that did not have a time restriction and could not be dispelled.

[Aelonwy]

These spells are traditionally "self".

True. But there are many, many changes both subtle and extreme between DnD and DDO. It would probably be amiss but perhaps not a terrible transgression for these self only spells to be changed to self & other under all circumstances but I specifically would like these few changed under the exclusivity of being an Archmage specialized in the particular school that gives access to only select features. Tough Choices, has been their motto for some time now.

So do you want to be an Archmage with exclusive access to?:
Abjuration: Shield cast on self & others
Conjuration: Everard's Black Tentacles
Enchantment: SLA Mindfog?
Evocation: Nobody has had any suggestions here. If capstone suggestions are applicable then better spell crits than ALL other Wizards.
Illusion: Displacement cast on self & others and hopefully Weird.
Necromancy: Negative Energy Burst or Death Aura SLA?
Transmutation: Disintegrate or Recon SLA. Friendly Tensors is obviously out from the discussion above. Too many bad apples.

As I cannot abide Necromancy or that playstyle, I personally would still be left with an incredibly tough choice between Conjuration, Enchantment, and Illusion. Transmutation would greatly benefit a warforged caster if they go with Recon SLA but still not incredibly competitive. Abjuration is still pretty pathetic even if it was given every suggestion we've come up with so far. Evocation is still best for Shiradi builds. And I really need a Palemaster focused player to comment on that school in Archmage because I'm honestly just guessing... it has been years since I even dabbled in it.

[Xgya]

There's been tricks and tips to make Self-only spells target other people since metamagic and splatbooks were a thing.

I've seen theoretical optimization giving Transcend Mortality (a spell that makes you REALLY hard to kill for a few rounds, and then ends your life in ways only higher level resurrection magic can remedy it) where the whole point was casting it on the opponent and then dismissing the spell.

This is part and parcel of Wizards everywhere - using magic in "creative" ways.

I know Master Specialists (so, wannabe Archmages) of the Abjuration school get the benefits quite easily.

[Aelonwy]

This is part and parcel of Wizards everywhere - using magic in "creative" ways.

That's casters in PnP absolutely. What's the most creative we can be in DDO? Disco-inferno?

[SpardaX]

Necromancy: Negative Energy Burst or Death Aura SLA?


As I cannot abide Necromancy or that playstyle,

As someone who very much can abide by the Necromancy playstyle, and has made a considerable amount of PM's, I can say this much. I would take AM Necromancy enough to get either of these spells as an SLA to use for (hopefully) low cost, free meta'd healing almost certainly.

Which is why I instantly assume that neither of these spells are going to ever be seriously considered by the devs.

But on the off chance, I think Negative Energy Burst would be ok. It's out of PM tree so you have to spend more resources to get it, and Radiant Servant Clerics get the positive burst basically as an SLA anyway, so I don't think it would do too much damage.
And Divine Disciple Clerics literally already have it as an SLA.

I would -Prefer- Death Aura, but I also think Not in a million years would they do that. So NEB it is.

[SpardaX]

Let me quickly jump into the spell compendium, and I'll see if there are any spells I think could easily be implemented that might be some options

Lv 1: Ray of Clumsiness. It's a Transmutation spell. Other than that, it's Ray of Enfeeblement 99% the same with the single change: Strength -> Dexterity.
They could literally copy paste Ray of Enfeeblement, Change the word Strength to Dexterity, Change it to Transmutation, and rename it. Done.

Lv 2: Phantasmal Assailants. Illusion spell. Use PK's animation. Will save for no effect. If Fail Will save, Fort save. If fail Fort save, take 8 points of Wisdom and Dexterity damage. If pass Fort save take only 4 points.
PK already uses a Will save, Fort save system, so the code is in place. And a low level spell that deals 8 Wisdom and Dexterity is going to lower the enemy's Reflex and Will saves by 4 each. At lv 3 (when you have a lv 2 spell) that's pretty significant.

Lv 2: Ray of Sickness. Necromancy. Use your choice of Necromancy green or purple ray animation. PnP spell has no Save, but if that's too strong, maybe Fort save negates? Effect is, target becomes sickened. -2 to Attack rolls, Save rolls, and Skill rolls.

Lv 3: Healing Touch. Necromancy. Heals target up to 1d6 per 2 caster levels (10d6 at lv 20) but you take half of the damage you healed the target for.
It gives a Wizard a way to heal a dying ally, and I think thematically it fits a Palemaster build, since Palemasters are all about using their health to fuel their SLAs.
But that's just my opinion.

Lv 4: Blast of Flame. Is Conjuration by default, but Flame in DDO tends to be Evocation, so maybe its one for that list. 60ft Cone, 10d6 maximum. (It's basically Cone of Cold but 10d6 max instead of 15d6, and lv 4 instead of lv 5.)

Lv 4: Corporeal Instability. Transmutation, Fort save negates. Effect is: Basically transforms one enemy into an Ooze.
This could be your single target heroic "Mass Frog" spell. Though Baleful Polymorph to actually turn them into a Frog would also work.

Lv 5: Indomitability. Abjuration. While the spell is on a creature, the first time that creature would be reduced to below 1 hp, it is instead left on 1 hp and the buff is expended.
If this isn't just the perfect Abjuration spell to be at either lv 18 or 20 core, then I dont know what is.

Lv 6: Illusory Pit. Illusion. In DDO terms, it would be a spell that targets a Mass AoE area, and would force all creatures in the area to make a Will save, and on a failed save, all creatures fall prone (Because they believe the ground has suddenly disappeared, and they are now falling into a pit.) Is a Mass Prone spell good? Is a Mass Prone spell good at Spell Level 6? I don't know, that's up to other people.

Lv 7: Solipsism. Illusion. Single Target Will save negates. Convinces one creature that everyone and everything else in existence is a fake illusion. Target stands still and takes no actions or defence. Basically Single Target CC that leaves them Helpless. Does the game need another one of these? At this high of a Spell Level? Maybe not.

I would also recommend the Dev team look at the Orb of (Element) and Lesser Orb of (Element) spells, but I know they just added the (Element) Bolt, so that's fine if they want to just stick with those. Just a thought.

I also think the devs should look into the Shadow Conjuration and Shadow Evocation spell lines for some more illusion spell attacks. What they do is, allow you to emulate any spell of a level below, of that type.

So for example, Shadow Conjuration is a level 4 spell. With it, you can emulate any conjuration spell of 1st, 2nd, or 3rd level, with the Save DC of a 4th level spell. With the down side, that on top of any normal saving throw, they also get a Will Save to drastically reduce the damage further. I bring it up, but I also realise it's probably not an easy spell to implement (I assume you would probably limit them to only 3 or 4 options per spell instead of all of them), but since there's 5 total spells: Shadow Conjuration (Lv4), Shadow Evocation (Lv5), Greater Shadow Conjuration (Lv7), Greater Shadow Evocation (Lv8), and Shades (Basically Greater Greater Shadow Conjuration, Lv9) it might add a bit more to the lists, without actually having to do much work. They're basically Heightened spells with an extra save. I think should be easy?

Keep in mind, if you want to find any of the spells I've mentioned above, you can just google: 3.5 [Spell Name] for a more complete and in depth description.

I'm sure there are other spells, this is just a quick look through the spell compendium, listing any spell I think would both work in DDO, and also be fairly easy to implement into DDO.

[Tuxedoman96]

I like a lot of the changes listed, but I want to focus on what is by far the weakest line.



Currently the line of SLAs is:

1. Shield - This is boring and you can get a better version from Eldritch Knight. Even before the EK changes it was better.
2. Resist Energy - This is very slow progression. I'd put this on Tier 1.
3. Protection from Energy - I understand it's an SLA, but having to pick one energy type at a time is annoying and is a lot to cast.
4. Stoneskin - Do many people use this spell at higher levels? Can always get it on Gnome
5. Dismissal - Instakills are nice, but this one is pretty restricted.

Here is what I would change it to:

1. Resist Energy - Buff spells like this aren't very attractive for SLAs, so dropping the level requirement is a boost.
2. Protection from Elements - Same reasoning as Resist Energy but also making it Elements so one cast per person rather than five.
3. Fire Trap - Fire Trap is actually pretty decent because it has a max caster level of 20. However, the damage dice are lousy compared to the upgraded fire spells from U41. Greater Glyph of Warding might be nice too, but I don't know how the Devs would feel about passing around Divine spells to Arcane casters.
4. Globe of Invulnerability - This can be useful but very situational. Most Abjuration spells are. Stoneskin would probably be more popular here still. How about Greater Glyph of Warding here to go along with damaging with Fire Trap?
5. Banishment - Still limited to outsiders but better than Dismissal.

I'd suggest:

1. Resist Energy
2. Fire Trap
3. Stoneskin
4. FoM (or Banishment, which would be more appropriate for an arcane caster)
5. and NEW Greater Globe of Invulnerability - Suppresses lvl 5 and under non-friendly spells (dmg and CC) while inside the barrier and prevents such spells from targeting anyone in the barrier. Furthermore, friendly spells (i.e. buffs and heals) cast by you and your allies are remain unsuppressed inside this barrier. The idea is that you've such a mastery over abjuration that you can control which spells can pass through your barrier (similar to how SR works in tabletop).

As far as casting shield, etc. on other party members, I'd suggest making such an ability T5 and having it work based off of the specialty you've taken:

Imparting Knowledge: Self-only spells may be cast on allies if they are in your spell school specialty. (e.g. shield for abjuration, displacement for illusion, false life or death aura for necro, etc.) The spells this would affect would only be spells that wizards can get, either through the their class trees or their spellbook.