Naerai Tactics
Naerai has a metric ton of options, which can be a bit paralyzing when it gets to his turn and there is no obvious best choice. Keep some of the following in mind if you get stuck. The most complicated of Naerai's choices actually come when selecting which spells to use each day. His usual list is a pretty solid mix, but a bit of tuning based on expected events can go a long way. In any case, once the spell list is fixed, if you are not sure what to do on a given turn, ask yourself some questions in roughly this order:
Can I tag someone with acid?
OK, this isn't really your first consideration, but Naerai's acid dart ability only costs a swift action to use, which means you can usually toss out a 1d6+1 of acid damage each time you act and still do whatever else you want to do. In a day when you expend all your uses of this ability, that's basically 45 points of free damage. This damage is also a good way to force a caster concentrating on maintaining a spell to make a concentration test (most spells don't require concentration to maintain, but wall of fire is an example).
Is the party hasted?
The haste spell is one of the most useful in the whole game. This should probably be memorised multiple times a day (which is tough, because there are a lot of good third level wizard spells). Keep one in reserve for a "boss battle".
Can I alter the environment to give the party an advantage?
Battlefield control is Naerai's bread and butter and he has a lot of spells that do this in ways that can't be resisted on his current list. You have a good handle on how to use these already, so just remember that this sort of stuff is really what Naerai was built to do. You'll probably only really need one or two of these per battle.
| Spell | Spell level | Defense | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| faerie fire | 1 | none | Outline anyone in the burst area, removing concealment." |
| grease | 1 | Reflex (DC 19) | Targets in area slip and fall |
| obscuring mist | 1 | none | Provides concealment |
| chill metal | 2 | Will (DC 20, object) | Slowly building cold damage from metal armor on six targets. |
| darkness | 2 | none | Radiate darkness |
| glitterdust | 2 | Will (DC 20, blinding only) | Outlines invisible, targets in area may be blinded) |
| pyrotecnics (fireworks) | 2 | Will (DC 19) | Blinds creatures. Extinguishes fire. |
| pyrotecnics (smoke cloud) | 2 | Fort (DC 19, penalties only)) | No sight inside cloud (not even darkvision). Those inside take -4 to Str and Dex |
| soften earth and stone | 2 | none | Softens unworked ground (wet ground becomes thick mud, dry earth becomes loose sand, etc.) |
| web | 2 | Reflex (DC 20) | Grapples those in area; makes terrain difficult; provides cover |
| wind wall | 2 | none | Vertical curtain of upward wind along any path. Prevents passage by small creatures and fouls arrows. |
| sleet storm | 3 | none | Blocks sight, makes ground really slippery icy, extinguishes small fires |
| stinking cloud | 3 | Fort (DC 21) | Nauseates those within for 1d4+1 rounds |
| stone shape | 3 | none | Form a stone into any crude shape you like |
| black tentacles | 4 | Combat Maneuver Defense | Targets in area hit with grapple attack each round |
| confusion | 4 | Will (DC 21) | Targets in area at casting time become confused. |
| spike stones | 4 | Reflex (DC 20) | Impede movement through an area and deal 1d8 damage for each 5 foot section crossed. |
| wall of fire (sheet) | 4 | none | Sheet of fire dealing fire damage to those close to one side. Double damage to undead. |
| wall of fire (ring) | 4 | none | |
| transmute rock to mud | 5 | none | Turn natural stone into mud |
| wall of stone | 5 | none | Create a plane of stone in any shape, which will merge into existing stone. |
For these spells (and others), consider the type of save the target gets when choosing one. Caster types tend to have high Will saves and low Fortitude saves. Most brute strength fighting types are the opposite. Both tend to have bad Reflex saves, but agility fighters/sneaks have good Reflex saves (and often Evasion).
Generally speaking, if you can setup your front line fighters so that they engage only one or two enemies at once (and don't have to move, so they can full attack them), you're doing good. Another consideration is to pin foes such that they line up nicely for a blast from Oreni or yourself.
Should I be an elemental?
Can I mess with a big bad guy?
If there is a big boss type of enemy, Naerai has some tricks to gimp him, so look to do that next. If there is only a big boss, this might be more important than battlefield control (but maybe not). For casters, particularly arcane casters, feeblemind and dispel magic are good choices. At the right time, telekinesis can also be useful.
You often have charm person memorised, but this might not be a great choice anymore for three reasons: a) you haven't faced a lot of humanoids lately, b) the save DC is really low, since it is a first level spell and c) you're a better conjurer than an enchanter. Even the higher DC and greater target choic of charm monster isn't all that compelling, as you have better things you can do with a third level spell. Could be that you'd get more mileage out of pfsrd-spell:u/unseen-servant as a first level spell.
Can I summon help?
Creatures summoned by Naerai tend to be better than average, thanks to some feats and his Ally Infusion ability. In addition, he can make use of summoned creatures in ways that others can't (as as using them as a spell conduit). Some things to remember about summoned creatures:
- They act on the round they are summoned.
- Because they act independently hey allow you to get around one of the largest restrictions in the rules: only having one action per round.
- Because they are temporary, you want to use their resources (hit points, spells, etc.) instead of your own when possible. Every hit on a summoned monster is damage you don't have to heal.
Some summoning choices are better than others. Stick with these:
| Creature | Summoned by | Suggested infusion | Use |
|---|---|---|---|
| giant spider | summon nature's ally ii | air | weak, but get ranged web attack, which can entangle up to large creatures |
| crocodile | summon nature's ally iii | earth or fire | bite and grapple foes |
| 1d4+1 dogs | summon nature's ally iii | air or earth | flanking and fodder |
| magma mephit | summon nature's ally iv | already elemental, gets max hp | breath weapon, pyrotechnics |
| cyclops | summon nature's ally v | air or earth | physical combat |
| ettin | summon nature's ally v | earth or fire | physical combat |
| large elemental | summon nature's ally v | already elemental, gets max hp | physical combat |
| dire tiger | summon nature's ally vi | water or fire | physical combat |
| huge elemental | summon nature's ally vI | already elemental, gets max hp | physical combat |
| 1d3 large elementals | summon nature's ally vI | already elemental, gets max hp | physical combat |
| flaming sphere | flaming sphere | n/a | fire damage |
| hell hound | summon monster ii | n/a | breath weapon, physical combat |
| choker | summon monster iii | n/a | grapple, silence's target |
| celestial dire boar | summon monster iii | n/a | physical combat |
| hound archon | summon monster iv | n/a | magic circle against evil, aid |
| celestial tiger | summon monster iv | n/a | physical combat |
| celestial ankylosaurus | summon monster v | n/a | physical combat |
| celestial dire lion | summon monster v | n/a | physical combat |
| celestial dire tiger | summon monster vi | n/a | physical combat |
| celestial lillend | summon monster vI | n/a | bardic performance, enchantment spells, cure serious wounds |
Can I make Rauros more effective or vise versa?
create water, hydraulic push, slipstream, aqueous orb.
detonate
Can I buff a party member?
| Spell | Spell level | Ideal target |
|---|
enlarge, prot from evil, vanish, mirror image, fly, elemental aura, invisibility greater, produce flame, magic fang greater, air walk, blur, owl's wisdom (self)
Does anyone need set on fire?
fireball
Other
position wands scimitar