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Wrong. ElementalSpecialist10/X-bloodedSorc1/Loremaster9 is the absolute best ray caster you can make.
You're missing an extra draconic bloodline for an extra +1 damage/die of fire as well as conversion of energy damage into pure fire, which allows you to convert the unholy damage component of Hellfire Ray into fire and thus multiply all of the damage from Hellfire Ray by 1.5 via Flame Curse.
Moreover, if you're using sneak-attack, you're not using Bolster metamagic and Bolster utterly annihilates any sneak attack build you can make as you need 24 sneak attack dice to match the average damage output of a 19-20/x3 bolstered Hellfire Ray. However, since Loremaster now gets access to two Trickster critical range expansion feats (again lol) regardless of mythic path, you'd need even more dice to match a 17-20/x3 bolstered Hellfire Ray. You're never getting those dice.
As for OP's question about Daeran: he will never be a good Enchanter or ray caster. He lacks the feats AND the starting class which is invariably Elemental Specialist.
But here is why trickser is better - dmg on trickster path dmg from scorching ray is super boosted by sneak dice, one-turning all encounters from act 3 upwards. Also sneak dmg is kinda convinient on firestorm, clearing trash in 1 round. (I admit, with broken persuation 3 trash autoclear itself, and most special encounters also autoclear.)
Or you can just murder stuff https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BEE_tcPgJo with a proper build.
As long as feats goes you need 1)Allied spellcaster, SR GSR, Spell focus evocation spell specialisation to boost your ray. Keep in mind that build would be a dead weight for a lot of the game, as you can`t really deal dmg till you get second hellfire ray, and you need a reliable source of AB to actualy hit stuff you want to hit, cause you won`t be able to ignore enemy dex w/o trickster stance and shatter defence A) come in play late B) Don`t work on a lot of stuff you need to kill.
"""Nothing""" except additionally delayed spell progression. And the fact that you're going to cast all of those metamagic enhanced rays as full-round actions that take 6s in RTwP while the Wizard will only need 3s. You've never played an actual Cross-blooded sorcerer since you don't know this.
No, it isn't.
You checked wrong.
No, it isn't. Arcane Trickster prestige class is completely irrelevant as a ray caster, because sneak attack is irrelevant for ray casting since sneak attack cannot be empowered, maximized and multiplied by Flame Curse. Like I said before, you need 24 sneak attack dice just to break even with the average damage from the bolster damage component on a 19-20/x3 Hellfire Ray.
Assume CL19 Hellfire Ray caster.
All damage is converted into pure fire via Focused Element.
All damage (which is pure fire) is multiplied by 1.5 via Flame Curse.
Assume 19-20/x3 ray crit profile from Improved Critical and Mythic Improved Critical.
Bonus damage from Bolster per ray on a non-critical Empowered Hellfire Ray against a target under Flame Curse:
15*2*1.5*1.5 = 67.5
Bonus damage from Bolster per ray on a critical Empowered Hellfire Ray against a target under Flame Curse:
15*2*1.5*1.5*3 = 202.5
Probability of 0/3 rays being criticals:
0.9*0.9*0.9 = 0.729
Probability of 1/3 rays being a critical:
0.1*0.9*0.9 + 0.9*0.1*0.9 + 0.9*0.9*0.1 = 0.1*0.9*0.9*3 = 0.243
Probability of 2/3 rays being criticals:
0.1*0.1*0.9 + 0.1*0.9*0.1 + 0.9*0.1*0.1 = 0.1*0.1*0.9*3 = 0.027
Probability of 3/3 rays being criticals:
0.1*0.1*0.1 = 0.001
Weighted average damage bonus from Bolster per cast of Bolstered-Empowered Hellfire Ray against a target under Flame Curse:
(67.5*3)*0.729 + (67.5*2 + 202.5*1)*0.243 + (67.5*1 + 202.5*2)*0.027 + (202.5*3)*0.001 =
= 147.6225 + 82.0125 + 12.7575 + 0.6075 = 243
Number of sneak attack dice needed to beat the average damage bonus from Bolster:
243/(3.5*3) = 24
Trickster mythic path allows you to reach 17-20/x4 critical profile on rays and also allows you to guarantee critical hits, which skyrockets the damage Bolster adds to the spell:
Bonus damage from Bolster per ray on a critical Empowered Hellfire Ray against a target under Flame Curse with a x4 critical multiplier:
15*2*1.5*1.5*4 = 270
Number of sneak attack dice needed to match this bonus damage on average: 270/3.5 = 78.
Now show me your ray caster build with 78 sneak attack dice lmao.
Moreover, keep in mind that with Loremaster levels ANY mythic path can get a 17-20/x3 critical profile on rays. 24 sneak attack dice are needed to match bolster at the 19-20/x3 critical profile, the 17-20/x3 profile will need even more sneak attack dice which you will never get since you won't even get the original 24 lmao.
There is more that lvl 20 gameplay in this game. Lets go back to lvl 10 What a bolstered scorching ray does? 6d6*1.5 + 6*5 dmg +5? 88 dmg when maximised not counting crits. Trickster arcane trickster does 300 dmg per cast. See the difference? And that difference would persist till the mid of act 5, when hellfire ray come to its glory.
Oh noe, 1 CL lost, what to do? I know! Spell specialisation add 2 CL and that fire staff add another 1 Cl. Another 1CL can be picked from mythic , altrough i`m not sure its worth it. Full action, who care? You shoot ray stuff die, if you need a DD taxi use a support to deliver your caster in position. If you really need to move you can fast DD but at cost of 1 cast per round. Or just run ahead and press metaskipetr with quickened ray. Heck, most of the time you only need to cast a firestorm to clean the screen, not the ray.
But Sorc have more spell slots and more convinient metamagic option to spread spells between on-demand AoE and Ray. Need quicken Hellfire ray with grandmaster metaskipetr - you get it. Need a maximised ray on lvl 8? You get it. Want to cast fast DD - cast it. Need fast sense vitals - cast it.
Trickster also add dex removing stance on the table. That allone make him superior to loremaster for like half of the game. No need to dispell playfull darkness, no need to wory about fear immune barbarians.
Your math look like you missed some digits.
cause it did around 800 dmg per single ray under vulnerability when i played, with bugged crit multiplier, locked at x2. The only encounter in the game that required more that 2 turns was Arieloo cause i did her w/o shaman and witch support, effectively loosing 85% of DPR. Still killed her in 3 rounds despite concealment, sneak and crit immunity.
Bonus damage from Bolster per ray on a critical Empowered Hellfire Ray against a target under Flame Curse with a x4 critical multiplier:
15*2*1.5*1.5*4 = 270
Number of sneak attack dice needed to match this bonus damage on average: 270/3.5 = 78.
Now show me your ray caster build with 78 sneak attack dice. Do it.
Your numbers are complete nonsense pulled from the ceiling. You don't even know the base damage of Scorching Ray. Absolutely embarrassing. You're also ignoring Flame Curse in your nonsensical number soup which is even more hilarious.
Moreover, Trickster Arcane Trickster is something you become at level 11+, not level 10. Why are you casting Scorching Ray at character level 11 when the ES/Loremaster is casting Hellfire Ray? Oh, wait, your gimpbuild suffers from delayed spellcasting progression so shall we compare your impotent Scorching Ray vs Hellfire Ray at cahracter level 11, hmmm?
CL? Lol, you don't even understand basic game mechanics. It's not about CL, it's about delayed spell progression. Your gimpbuild is always 1 step behind in terms of which spells it can cast. You're casting Scorching Ray at level 11 while I cast favoriteBolstered Hellfire Ray. Your spellcasting progression is delayed by 2 levels since you're casting as a sorcerer (-1 level) and need the ES dip (-1 level) while I am delayed only by a single level (-1 from x-blooded sorcerer dip). This means I am always 1 step ahead in metamagics:
1. I cast favoriteBolstered-favoriteEmpowered Hellfire Ray 1 level earlier.
2. I cast favoriteBolstered-favoriteMaximized Hellfire Ray 1 level earlier.
3. I cast favoriteBolstered-favoriteEmpowered-favoriteMaximized Hellfire Ray 1 level earlier.
And this continues throughout the majority of the game until you can finally reach level 19 and get level 9 spells on your gimpbuild lmao.
People who actually know how the game works. 6s casting time vs 3s is literally twice the cast time lmao.
So your gimpbuild wastes actions that can be used for attacking or casting just to move? Lmao.
You playing storymode? Everything is clear to me now. Care to show me your 1k damage firestorm? Firestorm is not even in the same dimension when it comes to dealing damage compared to rays or even Chain Lightning on a good build.
Means nothing in a game with Abundant Casting where you get more than enough spells to wipe out any dungeon with the allowed number of rests.
Casting metamagic enhanced spells as full-round actions is the opposite of "convenient metamagic".
I can "get it" with a prepared caster, because I'm not mentally challenged.
No, I don't, because I'm not playing a gimpbuild that cannot move and cast a metamgick'd spell lmao.
Completely irrelevant in a game where you can buff yourself with 30+ attack bonus and guarantee an 11 on an attack roll against touch AC lmao.
No, it makes AT a completely irrelevant gimpclass since bolster and sneak attack are mutually exclusive and bolster massively overshadows sneak attack damage.
You have no cue how to calculate damage output and you have already proven it with your number soup when you tried to show me scorching ray numbers lmao.
So you did absolutely pitiful damage that is not even in the same dimension as a Trickster casting bolstered hellfire ray? Trickster can deliver 4.5k damage total per cast of Hellfire ray lol. You have absolutely no clue how to build a ray caster.
I will not even compare your gimpbuild to a Trickster bolstered Hellfire Ray build. Your gimpbuild cannot even compete with Demon who delivers 1k Hellfire Ray Crits naked lol. Without marking a target via flame curse. And can cast HF Ray 3 times per round instead of just 2 like Trickster lol.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2919640851
Now show me how your build stacks 78 sneak attack dice, because without them it's completely irrelevant relative to a bolster build.
And i`m casting scorching ray cause it`s more effective. You`re not behind in CL compared to elemental specialist till you dip for conversion. And you became AT at lvl 5, not 11. And there is no point to cast 1 hellfire ray ray when you could cast 3 scorching ray rays in first place as you deal more dmg with sneak dice at that point. The delay is just your imagination.
so what, you still can only cast 2 times per round.
Sure if you rest a lot and enjoy recasting.
It does 400 dmg, but that enough to clear trash. On unfair, lol.
Wait, you waste 3 mythic ability just to get 3 spells per circle? Seriosly?
Oh you play a gimped build that need to preraire spells before casting them, i forgot. And waste 3 mythic just to get enough slots for them to actualy finish a map w/o rest.
Dude i played on 1.2 when
1) Crit multiplier was locked on x2. Effectively halfing dmg.
2) Some items didn`t work effectively removing 6d6*1.5 dmg per cast
3) Conversion from unholy dmg didn`t work(it shouldn`t , its a bug)
Even with all these in mind, the only encounter that lasted more that 3 round was Arieloo fight. I did it w/o curses. In my first run, on first try in 7 rounds with just AT dealing dmg.
And btw, how often can you rage in demonic rage? once per rest? Sounds like fun (no)
yeah yeah, better precacle these luck just in case.
Scorching Ray more effective than a favoriteBolstered Hellfire Ray converted into pure fire and multiplied by 1.5 via Flame Curse? Lmao.
You have absolutely no clue what you're talking about.
And you dip for conversion the moment Hellfire Ray becomes available or you lose damage... except you can't dip without losing a level of spell progression so your gimpbuild ends up casting your pitiful Scorching Ray for one more level until you get pure fire Hellfire Ray while I enjoy fully converted favorite bolstered and multiplied Hellfire Ray.
And starting from the moment I acquire Hellfire Ray at level 11 you're always behind in metamagics up until you get level 9 spells lmao.
Without being able to reposition beyond a 5ft step lmao. Or having to waste actions that can be used for attacking just to reposition. And you can never cast in RTwP due to the crippling 6s casting time lmao. You know what this smells like? A gimpbuild.
Those couple of bonus spell casts per spell level are not going to save your gimpbuild from resting. For practical purposes they are meaningless, because you will still need to rest just as much or almost just as much and they provide you with no real advantage in any individual encounter since a Wizard has more than enough casts both per day and per encounter to never run out of spells or rests.
So you do no damage? OK. Random mobs on unfair can have upwards of 1k HP, your 400 damage might as well be zero damage, because you can't clear them in 1 round with 2 casts. You have no clue how to deal real damage.
I maximize number of spells cast per rest at the cost of absolutely nothing, because I sacrifice absolutely nothing to get those mythic abilities. There is literally nothing else to take, the build is fully complete in terms of maximal damage output. Sounds like you're playing a gimpbuild with worthless junk mythic abilities/feats that doesn't even have any real advantage in number of spells cast per day than a Wizard lmao.
Like I said before: preparing spells is not a disadvantage unless you're mentally challenged. I know precisely when and what I am going to cast: a couple of buffs per spell level, if any, and the rest are filled out with damage spells (on a ray caster). Sounds like a you problem.
I don't care about your worthless excuses. 800 damage is absolutely laughable. Moreover, I am 100% sure that the 800 damage you mention is the maximal damage you have seen, not your average damage - the damage value that actually represents a sneak attack build since you cannot maximize sneak attack dice.
Here's how a real ray caster looks like: 1.5k guaranteed ray crits (not accounting for target Fortification) for a total of 4.5k guaranteed damage (again, not accounting for target Fortification) per cast. Naked:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2919895181
If I put on Elemental Imbuement and Hide armor of Elemental Carnage that damage is going to grow by +3 damage per die which means 3*15*1.5*1.5*4*3 = 1215 extra damage per cast of Hellfire Ray or 405 bonus damage per ray. This brings the build to 5.7k damage per cast of Hellfire Ray. This is what a real ray caster looks like. And I'm not even counting irrelevant items like Ring of Pyromania or Call of Fiery Things since they add minuscule amounts of extra damage.
Whatever other nonsense you ahve to say is of no interest to me until you provide competitive damage numbers on a Sneak Attack ray caster build, which you won't, because as I have already calculated you'd need 78 sneak attack dice for that lmao.
I'm not going to write the entire leveling process, because it's extremely tedious and needs some thinking, what I can do is give you the feats and classes I use.
- Feats in no particular order:
1. Point Blank Shot and Precise Shot - needed to attack targets in melee without penalty.
2. Skill Focus Knowledge Arcana/World - needed to qualify for Loremaster.
3. Armor Proficiency Light and Medium, Arcane Armor Training and Mastery - that's a lot of feats just to wear Hide Armor of Elemental Carnage and not suffer spell failure, but there are no other feats to take that would boost your damage and you get enough feats to take everything you want, so it doesn't matter. Alternatively, you can get a martial level that gives you armor proficiency, but then you'd lose 1CL and delay spellcasting progression and have to compensate for that via Spell Focus Evocation + Spell Specialization or School Mastery Evocation so the benefit is arguable at best.
4. Improved Initiative - you want to act as early as possible.
5. Metamagics: Bolster, Empower, Maximize, Completely Normal Spell.
6. Spell Penetration and Greater Spell Penetration.
7. Improved Improved Critical and Improved Improved Improved Critical taken early via 2 loremaster secrets (3 loremaster levels). This will allow you to benefit from expanded critical threat range before you get 8BAB for Improved Critical and potentially before you even get Perception 2 mythic trick.
8. Improved Critical and Improved Improved Improved Critical Improved once you get 8BAB.
- Mythic Abilities and Feats in no particular order (some Abilities have to be taken as Feats via Extra Mythic Ability):
1. Ascendant Element Fire
2. Favorite Metamagic: Bolster
3. Favorite Metamagic: Empower
4. Favorite Metamagic: Maximize
5. Second Bloodline: Draconic Red/Brass/Gold (the one you haven't already taken).
6. Abundant Casting I
7. Abundant Casting II
8. Abundant Casting III
9. Mythic Spell Penetration
10. Mythic Improved Critical: Ray
Mythic tricks: Perception 2 for Trickster-exclusive critical feats and Athletics 3 to acquire full BAB. The rest you can take to taste and experiment. Religion is very good, though.
I use the following class distribution: ElementalSPecialist10/X-bloodedSorcerer1/Loremaster9.
Elemental Specialist gives you Focused Element which allows you to convert Hellfire Ray that consists of Fire + Unholy components into pure fire damge. This has massive synergy with Flame Curse that multiplies any fire damage inflicted on the target. Without full conversion of Hellfire Ray into fire, you will not get as much extra damage from Flame Curse, because it will not multiply the Unholy component.
X-blooded Sorcerer gives you the ability to take 2 of Red/Brass/Gold Draconic bloodlines, each of which grants you +1 damage per die of spell. The third bloodline you get via the Second Bloodline mythic ability.
Loremaster gives you access to Trickster critical feats early (bypasses all requirements) and also grants you bonus spells (you can take some cleric buffs, but this isn't really important). Loremaster allows you to continue your spellcasting progression without reaching level 15 in Elemental Specialist. This is very important, because at level 15 Elemental Specialist's Focused Element stops performing conversion into pure fire and instead starts converting into fire + untyped - something we don't want, because untyped damage is not multiplied by flame curse. We need strictly conversion into pure fire so we don't level Elemental Specialist past level 10 (last level with a bonus feat).