arcane classes

[shadowspecter]

I just have a few questions about the sorcerer and wizard classes. Ok...here they are:
1)What is the point in raising your INT or CHA past 20?
2)Is there anyway to wear armor and ignore the arcane failure?

I got a question that is totally off topic...who would win, monk vs. sorcerer/wizard, cleric vs. sorcerer/wizard, and monk vs. cleric? If they were pure classes, didn't dual to any other classes and had the best stats for that class without using any equipment to improve anything. All of those classes are at maximum level(level 40).

I think thats all my questions. Thanks if you can answer them.

[Stratos]

1. You will continue to raise the spell DC, and they will become harder to resist.
2. You could always pick the metamagic feat Still Spell. If you have HotU you could also choose the Automatic Still Spell feats.

[Legolas]

1) Increasing the stats will result in your being able to cast more spells per day. In addition, for spells which allow a saving throw, the DC is increased making it harder for the enemy to shrug off the effects.
2) There are two ways. One is to wear armor (or anything else) with a magical property to reduce the casting failure percentage. The other is to make use of the (automatic) still spell feat(s).

The monk, followed by the sorcerer, is least likely to win. Between the wizard and the cleric, it would probably be the wizard winning most often.

The reasons being that a level 40 caster with epic spell penetration and the right spells can get by pretty much any spell resistance. Even failing that, one greater sanctuary and a few buffs later the monk will have trouble getting past the damage reduction spells and will likely end up killing himself on the magical shields in case of wizards/sorcerers, and would struggle to get past the protections and AC of the cleric (assuming, that is, unenchanted equipment is allowed. It's a difference of about 17-22 AC and having a +5 weapon to pierce some types of damage resistance or not, pretty significant on the whole).

The sorcerer will be inferior to the wizard simply because of the less versatile pallette of spells and the reduced amount of feats and skillpoints. Having more castings, as well as lacking a need to select spells to memorize does help, of course.

The cleric, whilst being much more versatile in general, simply doesn't have the spell mantles, magical shields and offensive spell arsenal the wizard can muster to triumph. That said, the wizard won't be able to afford many mistakes.

And of course, they're all of them done in by the rogue.

[robertthebard]

I don't know, I've built some pretty tough monks. I built one that had an ac of 30 naked, so when it's time for it to come to blows, the cleric buffs better be working. My fav monk combo is either stunning fist/flurry of blows, or knock down/flurry of blows. Both seem to work extremely well, even against npc spell casters of either arcane or devine influence.

[Illumina Drathiran'ar]

I disagree, Legolas... In a spellcasting battle, I think a sorc will beat a wizard, simply because when all is said and done a wizard will run out of spells first. Versatility doesn't really matter... After all, how many Stoneskins does the average wizard memorize? How about Magic Missiles? Fireballs? Wizards might have versatility, but in the end they don't really use it unless a specific task calls for it.

[T-D-C]

Well if you both turn up to our EfU battle Royal you can see who is better, a sorc or a wizard!

[Stratos]

A Monk might still stand a good chance against any arcane spellcaster. A lv. 40 Monk has a spell resistance of 50, plus whatever he got from taking multiple Epic Spell Resistance.

[Legolas]

I'd love to, TDC. The only problem is, I have no level 40 wizard ready. I do have a level 34 sorcerer, with whom I will gladly lose to prove the point [img]tongue.gif[/img]
The trick for the wizard is to end his opponent's life before he runs out of spells. The advantage of the varied spell selection is that it lets them get round the incomplete defenses of the sorcerer no matter what these are, whilst keeping their own defences complete.
The sorcerer on the other hand uses something more like brute force to try and break through the shields, which is both predictable and preventable. The alternative is counterspelling, which is where the wizard's feats and skills will win the day.

Clerics can get their buffs up in time. Fast as they might be, the monk will need to hurry to beat the Greater Sanctuary (or Improved Invisibility, or both). Failing that, the monk will simply have to wait until the cleric is ready to strike. And with Divine Power, Divine Favour, and all the other buffs, AC 30 is peanuts to a level 40 cleric (although monks can do much better than that).

As for Spell Resistance, suppose the monk took 10 feats to improve this. That would put it at SR 70. Properly built and used wizards can pierce SR 75 without trouble.

[Illumina Drathiran'ar]

Ah, but the sorc is able to replenish their defenses every time the wizard punches through them... Eventually, someone has to run out of dispels and breaches.

[Stratos]

Monks also have good saves, and all characters gets an additional +1 to saves every two levels when they're epic. That amounts to some good saves, and then I haven't even considered the items and stat bonuses. And Improved Knockdown always works wonders.