D&D 5E Treantmonk's Guide to Wizards 5e

Sacrosanct · May 14, 2015

I guess I'm missing a joke somewhere, because I found your guide to be arrogant, condescending, and inaccurate

Psikerlord# · May 14, 2015

Hmm. I find playing a buffbot the most boring of all the wizard types. Some nice tips in this guide however.

DaveDash · May 14, 2015

Treantmonklvl20 said:
I wouldn't. There just aren't any good cantrips that do damage and grant a save. With poison spray you have a 10 foot range, with Acid Splash you have poor damage.

If there is a creature with a high AC, and you want to avoid to hit rolls, you have other options that involve the use of better spells, or even cantrips. Blasts are recreation only, you really don't need one for every occasion.

Acid splash is used much more than fire bolt in two different games I play. One low level, one high level.

Depending on the circumstance (cover, AC, etc) it's the superior option.

FormerlyHemlock · May 14, 2015

Sacrosanct said:
I guess I'm missing a joke somewhere, because I found your guide to be arrogant, condescending, and inaccurate

Come on, man. Even if I agree with your assessment, I think it's kind of a jerk thing to say on this particular thread. Some people will derive some benefit from reading it, and for that I thank Treantmonk even though I don't agree with all of his opinions. I did derive some benefit from it--he's right, Mountain Dwarves don't get shield proficiency, and I didn't know that before reading the guide. (I've never played a dwarf.)

FormerlyHemlock · May 14, 2015

DaveDash said:
Acid splash is used much more than fire bolt in two different games I play. One low level, one high level.

Depending on the circumstance (cover, AC, etc) it's the superior option.

Yeah, DX saves of +0 to +2 are surprisingly common for high-CR creatures, even ones with AC 18+.

BTW,

TreeantMonk said:
Disguise Self: Oh come on, this spell isn’t a ritual? The use of this is totally circumstantial, and the effect is pretty lackluster and narrow. Overall this is just a bad spell. Arcane Tricksters – this is all yours.

Disguise Self has some nice applications for tanky wizards (which this guide isn't targetted towards). Disguise yourself as a Medusa and most intelligent enemies will look away from you per the Medusa entry, and thus take disadvantage to attack you. When it works, it's like a no-concentration Blur spell that lasts for an hour.

Celtavian · May 14, 2015

Sacrosanct said:
I guess I'm missing a joke somewhere, because I found your guide to be arrogant, condescending, and inaccurate

You are missing the joke. It's meant to be arrogant and condescending in a jocular fashion. That's why he calls it the GOD wizard. He's been writing the guide since 3E in the same jocular fashion.

It's fairly accurate, but does not fit all play-styles. It's focused on control as in a "god controlling the world."

I'm sure you are unaware of Treantmonk given your post. Yes. He wrote it from the perspective of the arrogant, condescending wizard as a joke.

Treantmonklvl20 · May 14, 2015

I'm sorry you were offended.

I will enjoy sharing with friends though, that I was accused of arrogance by someone with the screen name "Sacrosanct"

FormerlyHemlock · May 14, 2015

A couple more specific corrections and observations:

Correction: Necromancer's Command Undead feature at 14th level can only control one undead at a time (maximum), because on success the undead is charmed "until you use this feature again."

Correction: Illusory Reality (Illusionist 14) + Silent Image won't give you a no-concentration wall of stone because Silent Image itself requires concentration.

Observation: Grim Harvest (Necromancer 2) is useable with Vampiric Touch. Grim Harvest can give you up to 90 HP over the duration of the spell, depending on circumstances, which is pretty decent for one 3rd level spell.

Correction: Shapeshifter (at Transmuter 10) is not unlimited wildshape, it's once per short rest.

Treantmonklvl20 · May 14, 2015

emdw45 said:
A couple more specific corrections and observations:

Correction: Necromancer's Command Undead feature at 14th level can only control one undead at a time (maximum), because on success the undead is charmed "until you use this feature again."

Correction: Illusory Reality (Illusionist 14) + Silent Image won't give you a no-concentration wall of stone because Silent Image itself requires concentration.

Observation: Grim Harvest (Necromancer 2) is useable with Vampiric Touch. Grim Harvest can give you up to 90 HP over the duration of the spell, depending on circumstances, which is pretty decent for one 3rd level spell.

Correction: Shapeshifter (at Transmuter 10) is not unlimited wildshape, it's once per short rest.

Thanks for response:

Command Undead: Good catch, I'll make the correction

Illusory Reality: I just read it again, I'm pretty sure you can cast Silent Image, use your bonus action to make the wall "real", and then drop the silent image - no concentration required

Grim Harvest: My opinion is that you aren't going to kill many things with the lame duck Vampiric Touch. In addition, if you are down a huge amount of HP, maybe going into melee to do a touch spell isn't your best course of action.

Shapeshifter: Thanks, also good catch.

I'll make the corrections tomorrow. Time for bed.

SteveC · May 14, 2015

Sacrosanct said:
I guess I'm missing a joke somewhere, because I found your guide to be arrogant, condescending, and inaccurate

As someone who really appreciates different takes on things, I hope you'll take the time to do something like this and share it. I'd love to hear a radically different take on a wizard guide.