Why not Wizard Slayers?

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Having only recently rejoined the board I have noticed in many older posts that people seem to really have a problem regarding Wizard Slayers.

Now I realise that they are severely restricted with regards to their useable items but I have seen the terms - "useless" and "worthless" used to describe them.

So what's the beef. Are they just 'hard work' or truly a waste of speace in your mind?

Or is their only hope dualing with thief to get UAI?

 

Well, I think the main problem people have with Wizard Slayers is the restrictions on equipment, and the fact that you actually have to hit the enemy spellcaster in order to get the % chance of disrupting the spell. With most mages, the toughest task is taking down their defenses. Once that is accomplished they usually fall quickly. So that problem isn't disrupting their spellcasting, it's hitting them in the first place. Because of this more people would prefer a character that specializes in taking down enemy defenses (like an Iquisitor). Since Keldorn is one of the most popular NPCs, having both him and a Wizard Slayer in the party is superfulous.

That having been said, I do see two types of encounters where a Wizard Slayer has a great deal of usefulness: liches (especially the demi-lich) and dragons. The demi-lich's spells will fail repeatedly with a Wizard Slayer, as will dragon's spells. With dragons, this is especially useful against ToB dragons which have a habit of casting heal when they get badly hurt.

 

Wizard Slayer/Thief DC is one of the most powerful option in that game, with UAI it has no drawback at all.

I like Wizard Slayers even if they're not dualled, true they're harder to play but the payoffs are really good. It is important to remember that their special attack only works with melee attacks so it's a good idea to get as many as possible (e.g. dual wielding or using weapons such as Belm or Kundane).

I think their bad rep is due to the fact that most people can't be bothered with the limitation on magic items. I can understand that, although I tried I really didn't like to play a Kensai because of the armour restriction...

 

Friend of mine keeps convincing me that WS's rock but all I have ever seen on here is negatives.

Glad for the two considered opinions above.

According to my friend he has a WS with FOA and Belm dualed. He makes up the frontline with Keldorn. In two weeks he has gone from Chateau Irenicus to Draconis and says that no-one has been a huge problem once he has brought the two fighters to bear.

Which did make me wonder as to why they had such a bad wrap.

I guess it is that old thing "hard to do, but ultimately very rewarding".

P.S. Imagine a two-handed sword wieldig Wizard Slayer/Thief with Carsomyr in hand...YIKES!

 

It's been done before!

 

The other thing is that most people that DC fighter-types with thieves go with a Kensai thief combo, as UAI also eliminates nearly all of their disadvantages as well.

 

Jesus Herbert Walker Christ. Why didn't I ever think of that?

 

Because not using magic items (while being able to use magical weapons and armours) is not as damaging as not being able to wear armours or bracers or helmets?
Critical hits are a pain with a Kensai...

 

A WS doesn't have to deal damage to get the miscast effect. They are extremely useful given that stoneskin is one of the most widely used and annoying spells in the game.

 

PFMW is a bigger problem then SS

 

Crits ain't too bad for Kensai... an Ioun Stone protects 'em too!

 

PFMW can be taken care of by a non-magical weapon. I always carry a club just for that reason.

 

Seriously, Abdel?

Not just a regular, unenchanted longsword (or whatever)?

I think that's pretty cool, actually.

 

I've heard that, and it is how it's supposed to be, but for some reason I doubt that it works that way. I've seen more than a few high-level creatures that only have a single immunity affect, and I doubt that any are immune to +2 weapons but not +1 or normal.

 

edit: opps

 

I found that playing a wizard slayer is a good way to find out how many of your enemys use really force spell.

 

Normal weapons can hit enemy wizards protected by PFMW. The difficulty is with enemies who are already immune to unenchanted weaponry casting it (e.g. Maraliths). Generally, though, it's just easier to use Breach. Rayic Gethras is the only encounter I can recall where I've consistently used the normal weapons trick to get through his defences.

 

As Maggie say, Fel, it does work. I also always carry unenchanted weapons with me.

 

Like magpie I tend to find that enemies with PFMW are also immune to normal weapons. Such as Liches, Demons etc.

And then of course we have demi-liches which I think are immune to breach as they are immune to lower than Lvl 6 spells.

Many I time I have been flailing away at a demi-lich waiting for PFMW to run out.

 

A simple turn undead works against liches just fine. I usually save my Protection from Magic scrolls for demiliches. I don't use them to protect my tanks, though. I use them on the demi-lich. (It's also a great way to beat Kuroisan.)