Playing a warmage

[Master Thrower]

Hello, playground. I am joining a campaign medium OP, where I (after playing a variety of batmans, and DMM persist clerics in other games) I would like to play a warmage. However the DM bans early entry tricks(precious apprentice, sanctum spell, etc) , as well as metamagic reducers. So playground any thoughts on a build?

Starting level is 6 or 7
Books- PHB, CA,CW,CadV, CD,PlH, LM ,DrM

Thanks!

Edited

[gkathellar]

Do you know what level you're playing to?

Also, how exactly is "early entry trick" defined? Because some tricks are way more exploitative than others.

[Master Thrower]

Do you know what level you're playing to?

Also, how exactly is "early entry trick" defined? Because some tricks are way more exploitative than others.

Edited the OP, but no precious apprentice and the like to get higher level spells

[jaybird]

Hmm...it's a shame there's no Age of Mortals in there, because Warmage IIRC has all the prereq feats for the remarkably good War Mage prestige class in there. 5 level progression with full casting, +3 damage/dice on all your spells by the end, 2 free metamagics out of (I think) Empower, Maximize, Widen, and...either Shape or Enlarge, I think, and a Cha-based buff aura.

Alternatively, try Warmage/Wizard/Ultimate Magus. You'll have to dump Str and Wis pretty heavily, but man that'll be a cool combination. Bonus feats, copying Wizard spells into your Warmage list, and a total of +4 CL to all your arcane spells. Easily good enough for a mid-op game.

[gkathellar]

PlH and DrC are ... something and Dragon Compendium?

If you think it'll get you anywhere, plead for Dragon Magic's Versatile Spellcaster. Even if you can't use it for early entry, it's a staple trick for full-list casters and, particularly for a non-Rainbow Servant Warmage, probably your best bet for keeping up.

I ask what level you're playing to because it affects whether or not Rainbow Servant is worth it. If you can't get the capstone until level 16 and you're stopping at 12, then you should go elsewhere.

[Master Thrower]

PlH and DrC are ... something and Dragon Compendium?

If you think it'll get you anywhere, plead for Dragon Magic's Versatile Spellcaster. Even if you can't use it for early entry, it's a staple trick for full-list casters and, particularly for a non-Rainbow Servant Warmage, probably your best bet for keeping up.

I ask what level you're playing to because it affects whether or not Rainbow Servant is worth it. If you can't get the capstone until level 16 and you're stopping at 12, then you should go elsewhere.

Plh= planar handbook, and DrC I meant as DrM meaning dragon magic

[Grim Reader]

If you're going to level 16 +, indeed, Rainbow Servant is a must. Assuming your DM goes with the text trumphs table, don'r run the 6/10 advancement Servant.

Note that the same set of rulings that specified that Rainbow Servant is 10/10 also specified that Versatile/Heighten early entry is leagl and RAW. You can argue that the ability to enter a PrC a level early compensates spont. casters for being a level behind on spells.

If you don't decide on Rainbow Servant, consider a brief sojurn as a Sand Shaper.

A Bloodline feat from Dragon Compendium is also worth it.

[Master Thrower]

If you're going to level 16 +, indeed, Rainbow Servant is a must. Assuming your DM goes with the text trumphs table, don'r run the 6/10 advancement Servant.

Note that the same set of rulings that specified that Rainbow Servant is 10/10 also specified that Versatile/Heighten early entry is leagl and RAW. You can argue that the ability to enter a PrC a level early compensates spont. casters for being a level behind on spells.

If you don't decide on Rainbow Servant, consider a brief sojurn as a Sand Shaper.

A Bloodline feat from Dragon Compendium is also worth it.

well we are starting mid way to 7th, and we're gonna attempt to level up very fast. And so my current idea is to go into rainbow servant.

But I do like the ultimate magus, if so it is worth it even if my DM bans the metamagic reducer part of it. something like-

Warmage 1, Wizard 4 UM X

Using practice spell caster ofc

[Tvtyrant]

I have heard that Warmage isn't bad with Anima Mage either, though not as good as one of its spiffier brothers is.

[deuxhero]

May be because it is 1:00 here, but LM?

[dextercorvia]

May be because it is 1:00 here, but LM?

Libris Mortis, book of rhyming latin.

Edit: I was just reminded in another thread. Spellgifted Trait, Wild Mage dip, and Practiced Spellcaster. It doesn't change your tier (which is a good thing if you are trying to tone it down), but it makes you better at what you do. Xd6 damage

[Corlindale]

I played an almost pure warmage from level 1 to 20 - it was fun, but I missed some versatility. I went into Archmage at the end, but in retrospect it might be a bit too costly for an already feat-starved class (and a pure warmage can't enter it before level 16 under normal circumstances). Though Mastery of Shaping and Mastery of Elements sure are handy for a blaster.

Mage of the Arcane Order is a nice choice for a Prc. You can qualify with the Arcane Preparation feat, and its spell pool can give you some very nice versatility, especially with out of combat-spells (offsetting one of the major weaknesses of the class).
Fatespinner (4 levels) is also solid for any caster, and really easy to qualify for.

You also want some way to cast quickened spells at the higher levels. A shame CM isn't on the list, then I would suggest Rapid Metamagic. But Arcane Preparation can serve a similar purpose, even if it does have drawbacks.

[Yuki Akuma]

Libris Mortis, book of rhyming latin.

No no, the Book of Bad Latin.

[dextercorvia]

No no, the Book of Bad Latin.

Meh, From the Book of the Dead isn't such a bad title. It gives it an archaic sound like On the Origin of Species.

[Need_A_Life]

Sanctified One [Kord] from Complete Champion will let let you ignore fire resistance. A single level in elemental savant (CompArc) will let you turn all your blasts into fire.

Any class that adds spells to your spell-list is worth considering. Feel free to dip around outside your base class, 'cause warmage isn't exactly solid gold.

[Grendus]

You could take Prepared Spellcaster and go into Mage of the Arcane Order. You'll still be a blaster in combat, but you can use the spellpool for utility tasks and pay it off with your immense spells/day. Won't make you overpowered, but it will let you be a decent utility caster.

You could take Arcane Disciple/Extra Spell to get a few divination spells and go Warmage 4/Spellthief 1/Unseen Seer 5/Arcane Trickster 10. Pump your mundane stealth, unless you can find a way to get (Greater) Invisibility, and you can be a skillmonkey with 8d6 sneak attack damage backed by impressive blasting capacity. With Master Spellthief, every time you hit an enemy with sneak attack you could remove one of their highest level spells, which is great against enemy casters.

[hex0]

You could take Prepared Spellcaster and go into Mage of the Arcane Order. You'll still be a blaster in combat, but you can use the spellpool for utility tasks and pay it off with your immense spells/day. Won't make you overpowered, but it will let you be a decent utility caster.

You could take Arcane Disciple/Extra Spell to get a few divination spells and go Warmage 4/Spellthief 1/Unseen Seer 5/Arcane Trickster 10. Pump your mundane stealth, unless you can find a way to get (Greater) Invisibility, and you can be a skillmonkey with 8d6 sneak attack damage backed by impressive blasting capacity. With Master Spellthief, every time you hit an enemy with sneak attack you could remove one of their highest level spells, which is great against enemy casters.

Warmage/(preferably Trickster) Spellthief/Daggerspell Mage or Spellwarp Sniper might be ok as well.

[Chronos]

Before you go Rainbow Servant, make sure to ask the DM for how he interprets it first. Yes, by the strict RAW, text trumps table, but RAW also explicitly says that DMs are allowed to make houserules, and it's common for DMs to houserule Rainbow Servant to match the table.

Actually, "ask the DM for his interpretation first" is a good policy for any build decision. But especially so for controversial ones like Rainbow Servant.

[Grendus]

Warmage/(preferably Trickster) Spellthief/Daggerspell Mage might be ok as well.

Not really a huge fan of Daggerspell Mage. Aside from the crappy prereq feat, it only has d6 hit dice, 9/10 caster progression (which really sucks when you consider you already lost a caster level to qualify), very poor sneak attack progression, and the class features are underwhelming. Might be viable for a wiz/sorc build, since they have better defensive spells, but Warmages are kind of squishy. You'd be like a melee rogue with crappy sneak attack and a few good blasting wands. Plus it doesn't have search as a class skill, so if you were trying to be a trapmonkey you're hosed.

[hex0]

Not really a huge fan of Daggerspell Mage. Aside from the crappy prereq feat, it only has d6 hit dice, 9/10 caster progression (which really sucks when you consider you already lost a caster level to qualify), very poor sneak attack progression, and the class features are underwhelming. Might be viable for a wiz/sorc build, since they have better defensive spells, but Warmages are kind of squishy. You'd be like a melee rogue with crappy sneak attack and a few good blasting wands. Plus it doesn't have search as a class skill, so if you were trying to be a trapmonkey you're hosed.

You can sneak attack with spells and/or channel them via DSM. I think they got erratad to have search. May be wrong.

I edited and also suggested Spellwarp Sniper. But that is a no go as well.

If Dragon Mag was allowed, you could make a Force Missle Mage build work as a Warmage. One trick pony, but Force damage is great...