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 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?
There are very few disadvantages to Naerai's elemental form, so if he isn't an elemental yet, you might want him to become one. For what he does, the flight provided by the air form is extremely useful. Stick with that unless you have a good reason not to. Such reasons might be: you want to "swim" through stone (earth), you want to breathe and function under water (water), you are in the middle of an inferno (fire), etc.
At the moment, you can become a small, medium or large elemental. Large elementals are tougher, with better bonuses to abilities and armor. Their special attacks (especially the whirlwind ability of the air form and vortex ability of the water form) are much more useful as well. The drawback is you take up a lot of space and look menacing as well, so, sometimes medium is a better choice.
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 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?
While great at flowing through cracks and such, Rauros has the drawback that she takes that combat penalty when out of water. You have a number of options to get some water sloshing around her to eliminate this penalty, all of which are also useful on their own. Could be that you have too many spells for this sort of thing, so play around with them and maybe you can winnow them down. The spells are create water (0 level, create 24 gallons of water at will, enough to cover a 5 foot square to a depth of an inch and a half), hydraulic push (1st level, knock someone down with water, leaves enough water around for a turn or two), slipstream (2nd level, create a cascading wave that rushes along in a single direction, which Rauros can ride), aqueous orb (a rolling sphere of water you can control). Naerai also has a decanter of endless water, which can potentially fill a whole room is left open long enough.
Naerai's bond with Rauros allows him to cast spells with a range of "personal" on her. Personal spells include some good defensive buffs like shield, blink, mirror image and elemental aura.
You can also cast spells through Rauros a couple times a day, so use her to get within range for short range spells.
Rauros is now equipped with spell storing bracers of armor, which means she can trigger a spell onto an attacker that hits her, once it is stored into the bracers. Since no to hit roll is required, the best spell to throw in here is probably vampiric touch, which would hurt the attacker and give Rauros temporary hit points. The drawback is that it is a necromancy spell, and that's an opposition school for Naerai (costs two spell slots to memorize). An alternative is to cast it from a scroll, though that gets expensive. Or, you could have Oreni fill the bracers for you (with vampiric touch or intensified shocking grasp, maybe). Another choice might be touch of idiocy, which Naerai can cast easily; however, the types of targets who will be hitting Rauros are the most likely to not care much about mental stat damage (unless you send Rauros after casters, specifically).
Can I buff a party member?
Rauros can also be buffed with magic, just as any other member of the party. Don't forget yourself, either. Some fun choices:
| Spell | Spell level | Ideal target |
|---|---|---|
| enlarge person | 1 | Lostwhite or Carilaria |
| protection from evil | 1 | anyone being enchanted |
| vanish | 1 | Scoffney |
| mirror image | 2 | yourself or Rauros |
| fly | 3 | any ranged attacker |
| elemental aura | 3 | Rauros |
| invisibility (greater) | 4 | Scoffney |
| produce flame | 1 | yourself or Rauros |
| magic fang greater | 3 | a summoned creature |
| detonate | 4 | a summoned creature, someone immune to the element you pick |
| blur | 2 | yourself |
| owl's wisdom (self) | 2 | yourself |
Does anyone need set on fire?
Naerai isn't as much of a blaster has he used to be, but can still hurl a fireball.
Druids also have a number of spells (produce flame, call lightning, etc.) that generate a lasting effect that you can invoke repeatedly (e.g. call down a 3d6 lightning strike ten different times). Calling these effects takes an action, unfortunately, but spells like this can be useful for mopping up, or when you want to let the battle develop a little before acting.
Other
If out of other ideas, try this:
- Move to somewhere more advantageous.
- Use a wand
- Use your scimitar (this is a more important thing to do if you face incorporeal creatures, as your weapon is particularly good against them).
- Refill a spell storing item.
Adjustments to prepared spells
In looking at this stuff, I noticed a couple of things about Naerai's spell selection. Might want to change some selections next time he rests:
- burning hands - can't think of any case where your action couldn't be used better than by casting this. Either a duplicate of a favorite 1st level spell, shield or touch of gracelessness might be better.
- charm person - mentioned this above.
- fly - Oreni can cast this on himself, and you can fly as an air elemental, so haste might be a better choice. Also, air walk lasts ten times longer (though is a higher level spell).
- air walk - since you can fly as an air-elemental, there may be better uses of the slot that this. Something like scrying, geyser, ice storm, ball lightning or flame strike might be better.