Celestial four column

Keep in mind that my memorization is also assuming that I have Spirit Stored myself into a Golem:

1: Disarm x 4
2: Magic Armor x 4
3: Bind x 2, Shatter x 2
4: Shun x 1, Banish x 4
5: Web x 4
6: Lightning Storm x 4 (healing)
7: Confine x 3, Dominate x 1
8: Dispel x 3, Solidify x 1
9: Prison x 3, Circle of Power x 1 (first night will use a Ward in lieu of one Prison)

I sometimes have a Magic Storm in memory, but those are used so rarely I have stopped memorizing them unless I reason to believe I will need it.
 
Shandar said:
Mobius said:
Shield Magic
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You're showing your age. ;)
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¡Crap! I've got to tuck that back, darn thing's always poking out at the wrong time

Shandar said:
I generally agree with you on the idea that precasts can be reserved for scrolls, but scrolls are not always widely available. In our game we have one scroll maker that I know of, and scrolls rarely go out as treasure. Memorizing is often the only way our boomers *get* those spells.
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prashka said:
This is the idea that I have had for a few months now. The only problem is i have yet to find a scrollsmith in a Sea/Ore game, much to my dismay (since i'd love to learn and do just this). In fact, I know another player in the local chapters who is likewise looking for such a skill, and has yet to find it. C'est la vie, n'est pas?
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A PERFECT opportunity awaits you on the Forums: "Looking for Scroll Smith: Adeventurer seeks competitive bids on series of Battle Scrolls; please send pigeons with price for single and bulk rates. Thank you". ¡Embrace the anachronism that is the Capitalist Bazaar! Sending tags across country costs a stamp; sending coin across country costs $5.20 (gods bless USPS Flat Rate). Problem solved.
 
True, and I'd rather be able to make them myself. :) I'd love to have the skill, in all honesty. Plus it gives me an excuse to justify travelling to other chapters in search of a Scrollsmith. :D Not that i truly NEED an excuse, but still...
 
My scholar was a Celestial/Earth production boy, so I had a relatively small pyramid- topped at 6th for Celestial, 4th for earth.

What I also had was plenty of scrolls and potions. Most of my memorized stuff was evocations, as "opportunity shots" against specific monsters. Scrolls gave me plenty to work with otherwise. Expensive, sure. But worth it.

If I was going straight Celestial and didn't have anything else to depend on? Direct damage is the last thing I'd memorize. With the way defenses work, it's better to beef up and protect someone with a weapon for the spell slots, or try for outright disabling effects instead.
 
However, if more and more of us C-casters don't prep evo, doesnt that encourage monster camp to send out mobs with a boat load of resists to that type?
 
Dr_Chill said:
However, if more and more of us C-casters don't prep evo, doesnt that encourage monster camp to send out mobs with a boat load of resists to that type?
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In which case, see my last post. Then I feel even less useful and more wise in hiding behind the meleers and letting them deal out the damage.

The higher NPC body totals and defenses get, the more punch you get out of being as unoffensive as possible as a caster and just focus on buffing/shielding the fighters, with a smattering of two-shot bindomancy to deal with whatever isn't so heavily protected.
 
I actually know more than a few celestial casters who essentially play full support roles. They memorize ONLY celestial utility spells in lieua of the offense (with only a few exceptions.)

Given the right cicrumstances this seems to be a pretty viable option. It's actually the direction I intend to take with my Celestialist once my primary perms (I'm a Polearm fighter... how long do I really have? lol)

Do any of you folks out in other regions have similar character concepts?

Stephen
 
To give you some background, the metaplot for SF has had me fighting almost entirely "bugs" which wield almost exclusively body weaponry, are immune to commands and some binds, and rip free from the rest. In the other SF campaign, there are almost always element-vulnerable monsters, often fire or ice based (which I love so much). This means damage is really the only thing worth taking on some levels.

I don't have a 4-up yet, but I've got a 9th, so some of these are "planned" spells.
1: Disarm x3, light x1 (because being caught without a light sucks)
2. Magic armor x3, Repel x1 (repel is the only bind that works on bugs)
3. Ice bolt x3, Shatter x1 (shatter doesn't work on body weaponry, but it's good to have one in case someone's got a shield)
4. Awaken x2, Flame bolt x2
5: Spell shield x3, Release x1
6. Elemental shield x1, Lightning storm x3
7. Ice Storm x4
8. Dispel x4 (Because earth casters can't fix prisons)
9: Prison x4

I've got a lot of activatable trinkets on top of this, mostly evocation. Those increase my damage output. It's worth it to memorize ice storm if you can throw a total of ten of them, if only for the NPC freak-out factor. By the way, I know this isn't the thread for it, but can we have a thread for use celestial scholars to complain about how our damage doesn't scale, so few thing take binds/command (this may be a chapter-specific thing), and how the wand should really do more damage, especially at lower levels?
 
As a C Templar swinging 5s to back up my casting, I generally never bother to prepare low-level evocation, opting for more "utility" spells and using my Stone Bolt equivalent of a sword when I need to hurt something (and prepping a pair of Elemental Blades in case an element is needed). For when I need evocation, I keep my scroll book on me.
 
Straight evocation... most of the time.

To be fair, I NPC exclusively and straight evocation is monsterously effective (pun intended) for a NPC. That is 900 damage output per life.

-MS
 
As many people have stated, there seems to be a real concern about the usefulness of evo in higher level play. Wands provide a damage option, but do not really improve evocation spells, since when you have a steady damage option worth 7 points a packet, throwing binding is no longer about stalling until a fighter or rogue shows up, it's about landing your next 40 damage on an incapacitated target. Since, outside of ward and prison, evo is really what Celestial is about, it's a shame that it doesn't really play out past at best mid teens.

I was going to suggest adding a new spell, but high magic is the new thing, so here are some options:

Add a high magic effect which forces a target to take double from evocation.

Add a high magic effect which allows the caster to throw double effect evocation.

Add increased damage component to elemental augmentation.

Add a high magic effect which either via uses per purchase or blanket at a high cost allows evocation spells to be cast from memorized other spells, i.e. give up a dispel to lightning storm a bugbear.
 
Scaling damage output is another upside to my multi-packet "storm" spells, where you get number of packets per spell = 1+# of slots in that level. If you have 2 level 6 spell slots, and memorize both with a "storm" spell that deals 20 damage per packet, your damage potential is 120 (3 packets per spell times two packets.) Now once you've got 4 level 6 slots you fill with the same spell, and your damage potential ramps up to 400 (5 packets per spell times four packets.)

The other idea I've heard kicked around before to have more spells like Enflame, which combine elemental damage with a secondary effect.
 
Tyson said:
The other idea I've heard kicked around before to have more spells like Enflame, which combine elemental damage with a secondary effect.
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Maybe there could be some sort of high magic ability could allow you to cast 2 spells together? Spend points on a high magic skill and create a single spell from two others. This way you could customize spells as you like, like a spell that is both a stone bolt and a web or something.

Although I suppose the incants would be a problem. Idk, just a random thought.
 
Hypothermia - ice damage plus sleep
Concussion - stone damage plus waylay
Electrocute - lightning plus paralysis
Cerebral Edema - ice-based eviscerate

Why not an element-based MEC storm type of thing?
 
Added new spells might go against the "newer-simpler' ruleset that the owners are rumored to be looking into.

I like High magic though, not changing incants, or adding new spells, just giving some more options.

I like the idea Dan stated. Spontaneously casting Evo would be cool. Might be a bit overpowered if it covered everything. End of logistics becomes the "Burn baby Burn!" time when all the C casters open-up. You could limit it by element, or level. Especially with the advent of Battleboards, this wouldn't be too tough to keep track of. You could give the same ability to Earth with High Magic. Definately make it limited by level though then. Since healing doesn't have the flavors of Evo.

-Joe
 
Again, this is on the same rabbit trail, but off topic from thr original posting.

Fighters and Rogues both have a 1-shot kill skill (eviserate and assasinate), it would seem to make sense that there would be a similar 1-shot kill skill/spell/high magic ability.

It takes 65 build for a fighter to be able to eviserate once, as well as enables them to add 4 or 6 damage to their swings. It would stand to reason that as a 4-column of spells costs 100 build, that there would be an equivalent skill/ability/spell available. Yes its true that there is more utility involved in being able to cast 36 potentially different spells as well as throwing 36 "stone bolts" per day with your wand, but if the intention of the C-caster is to be the uber damage dealer, it stands to reason that there should also be a big ability (think everquest's manaburn aka blowing everything for one giant effect).

Back on topic with my 4-column, I generally prep utility over evo as illustrated below:
1: Fortress x1, Disarm x3
2: Repel x1 (get off me!), Pin x3
3: Bind x3, Shatter x1
4: Elemental Blade x2, Shun x2
5: Spell Shield x1, Web x3
6: Enflame x1, Sleep x3
7: Subjugate x1, Confine x2, Charm x1
8: Solidify x1, Dispel x3
9: Prison x2, CoP x1, Magic Storm x1

Overall, the general feedback appears to be that rarely do C-casters ever prep evo spells due to various reasons including level-creep, high resist, high hp, [insert reason here]. Whatever the reason, it appears that the primary focus of the C-caster has evolved into bindomancy/utility versus the big massive fireball throwing, nuking machines we have all experienced in D&D, EQ, WoW, etc.

If this is the intention of the owners/runners of the game that is one thing, however if it is not...

-Ryan
 
Celestial casters DO have a kill spell.

Prison.

If it resolves the target is just as dead as if I land an eviscerate. It also has the added utility of being a good defensive spell as well.
 
RiddickDale said:
Celestial casters DO have a kill spell.

Prison.

If it resolves the target is just as dead as if I land an eviscerate. It also has the added utility of being a good defensive spell as well.
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Good point, I didn't think of that spell quite in that manner. The Eviscerate and Assasinate abilities are damage focused to bring the target to -1 HP, whereas Prison is an indirect spell versus direct damage. I was referencing that there was no equivalent -1 HP direct damage skill.

-Ryan
 
Back in the day there was, and I'd like to see Doom back (or have elemental blast do 500 points of choose-your-element damage) but I cannot deny that Prison is still going to be superior as it's a personal force field as well.
 
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