Best feats for a Wizard

[Klaus]

One very effective combat-oriented Wizard build I've seen is Wizard + 3 levels of Rogue + Improved Initiative.

Attack before anyone else, cast a ray or ranged touch spell that causes damage, roll +2d6 for sneak attack damage.

The look on the troll's face when you hit him with a Melf's Acid Arrow and rolls 2d4 + 2d6 for the first round of acid damage is priceless!

Edit: Forgot to add Practiced Spellcaster, to keep your caster level up there!

 

[Elder-Basilisk]

I still disagree. Weapon Focus (Rays) already gives you the +1 to hit without being limited to 30' or less, and Precise shot eliminates the -4 firing into melee.
For that matter PBS should have used the word "ATTACKS" just like Precise Shot.

One more post on this.

First, at least half of the ray spells--including the most effective low level rays are close range anyway. If you only get +1 to hit within 30' for your scorching ray or ray of enfeeblement, that's not a massive concern when their range is only 25-45 feet anyway. (At least until 10th level when the range goes up to 50 feet and beyond).

Second, weapon focus ray doesn't apply to all of the ranged touch spells there are. IIRC, acid splash, acid arrow, enervation, and energy drain--as well as all of the orb spells--are energy missiles rather than rays and don't benefit from weapon focus: ray.

Furthermore, while individually, point blank shot is probably no better than weapon focus: ray (the range limitation but damage bonus vs. spell limitation seems like a wash to me) but it serves as a prerequisite for Precise Shot which is essential for making ranged touch attacks more reliable than saving throw-based spells.

 

[Plane Sailing]

Does this mean I'm a bad DM for giving all my players 1 HP at first level with no Con bonus? I just figured I'd make them work for those XPs.

Heh. In the first game of D&D I ever played, I rolled up a character with 14 Dex and everything else average. "Be a thief" they said, so I was a thief. "roll your hit points" they said so I rolled a 1.

From a party of 13 I was one of the only two survivors

 

[fusangite]

My favoured feat progression for a wizard is
Human Feat: Combat Casting
1st Level Feat: Weapon Focus (Touch)
3rd Level Feat: Weapon Finesse
Wizard Feat: Craft Wand

My justification:
(a) Combat Casting: Much as they try to avoid it, wizards often end up having to deal with melee situations. Obviously, being unable to cast spells reliably in this situation can be catastrophic.
(b) Weapon Focus (Touch): A lot of offensive spells are touch attacks, and some of the most important low level ones like Shocking Grasp and Scorching Ray. Once you get Spectral Hand at third level, spells like Shocking Grasp become advisable as primary offensive spells even if you manage to avoid melee. For those who argue that touch attack spells are too rare, I would point out that the following spells are aided by this feat: True Strike, Shocking Grasp, Chill Touch, Ray of Enfeeblement, Melf's Acid Arrow, Touch of Idiocy, Scorching Ray, Ghoul Touch and Spectral Hand. And that's just first and second level spells.
(c) Whether the DM applies Weapon Finesse to touch attacks or not, a wizard's Dex is invariably higher than his Strength; any time you have to actually attack someone in melee, this will benefit.
(d) For the most part, potions are for clerics; sure it's nice to give your fellow party members the chance to turn invisible but it's not really that high on the priority list. So the first item creation feat is obviously going to be a wand; in this progression, wands of Shocking Grasp or Scorching Ray seem like a good idea.

Other worthwhile low-level wizard feats... Already mentioned, Spell Focus (Evocation) as is Greater Spell Focus (Evocation); other schools worthy of a Spell Focus are Illusion and Enchantment. Also, Craft Wondrous Item can be useful, especially if one is working towards making a Headband of Intellect at 8th level. At your level, no metamagic feat is worth it for a wizard.

 

[ARandomGod]

This would be a house rule. You can only use Craft Wonderous to make the wonderous items listed in the DMG.

Actually, NOT allowing it would be a house rule, technically. As there indeed is a chart and rules in the core RAW for making wonderous items for that. They've even listed a few duplicate items that are both wonderous and potions, take the ungent of healing for example. Doing so uses the exact same rules, has the exact same cost, why should they continue to write duplicate items?

For that matter, look at the ENWorld rules about posting, asking about priceing of magic items not specifically listed in the DMG is not a house rules forum question but a rules forum question, because the rules, as written, support the making of such items.

Any other wonderous is, by definition, a house rule and requires DM approval to create. Personally I think your DM would have to be a fool to allow you to create new wonderous items that duplicate the effects of potions and wands since, as you so aptly pointed out, that would make the other craft feats quite useless.

Well, by RAW it's there, so by definition anything NOT allowed has to be specifically exluded, via house rules. But if you want to be pointed along that route, the same is true of any item, class ability, feat, or skill, whether or not it's in the core RAW, as these rules are.

On the other other hand, While I would be the GM in question who would allow such items, I'm also the player who would never make such items. Why? Because, and I quote (myself) "Charged items are crap".

Potions are a horrible investment, make a scroll, it does the same thing better, and without a feat. And for that matter, dont' make many scrolls. What a waste of gold and, more importantly, XP. Because if you never use it it is, indeed, a waste. And if you ever DO use it, you have just destroyed it. OK, ok, personal philosophy. But you don't save much gold with making potions or wands over purchasing them, potions and wands are of marginal use at decent (for a mage) levels... the only reason I even USE them is that selling them at half price isn't generally worth the bother. Craft wonderous item, on the other hand has, bar none, THE MOST items available to make. You want more first level spells? Pearl of power, only 500gold to make. And an unlimited number of "charges". In the short run you'll have saved more than enough gold to buy the paltry few wands or potions you might want by making wonderous items, and in the long run you're far, FAR ahead.

As for my advice. Spell Focus is good for the dedicated evoker or enchanter while Spell Penetration is an absolute must for anyone as your 6th or 9th level feat. Imporved Initiative is usefull as others have pointed out but I am going to have to disagree on Toughness, that feat isn't usefull for anyone. A wiz caught up in melee is dead meat without some spell to save his hide, an extra 3 HP isn't going to change that. Point Blank Shot and Precise shot are not bad choices if you want to be a ray specalist but I wouldn't take them othewise.

Yea, toughness is a waste... and point blank and precise... well,that's TWO feats. If you're not going really heavy on the rays, forget it. (there are some reasons to go heavy on the rays, but it's a specialist type, for example Arcane Trickster-ish reason.

Beyond that my advice is prety simple: stick with metamagic and item creation feats exclusevly. Your spells are your weapons, focus on making them better. Use your Scribe Scroll feat early and often (they give it to you for free for a reason) and get Craft Wand at your earliest opportunity (5th level). Brew Potion is a strong canidate for 3rd level but personally I usually leave that one to the cleric. Craft Wonderous items is a feat that keeps on giving no matter what level you are at. The rest of the craft feats you can take or leave as they strike your fancy. On the Metamagic side of things Empower is one of the best deals out there if you want to focus on damage dealing, Maximize is probably only of value to the dedicated evoker. I rarely see a use for Enlarge or Widen. Extend and Heighten can be devistating if used cleverly or useless otherwise. Still Spell is worth taking just for the stilled-dimension door combo alone and I am sure you will find other uses for it. Silent is only really usefull if you intend to be a sneaky mage. Quicken is essential but not until much higher level.

So, given what you've told us at third level I would recomend you pick one of Brew Potion, Craft Wonderous, Empower, Still Spell or Imporved Initative. Absoluetly take Craft Wand as your fifth level bonus feat.

Hope that helps.

And my alternative opinion.
Never craft a single wand, and don't buy many either. Metamagic is awesome IF you're a sorc, but as a wizard I simply have to either call you lazy or tell you you shouldn't be a wizard, depending on why you didn't research the spell instead. If it's just because you didn't want to, lazy. If, on the other hand, you're DM doesn't allow spell research... well, it's unlikely that you should play with that DM anyhow. At least not as a wizard. Someone without the available time and imagination to invest into arbitrating this and keeping it balanced within the campaign isn't really worth playing under, IMO.

Still, I do agree with craft wonderous and improved initiative. ^_^

 

[ARandomGod]

My favoured feat progression for a wizard is
Human Feat: Combat Casting
1st Level Feat: Weapon Focus (Touch)
3rd Level Feat: Weapon Finesse
Wizard Feat: Craft Wand

These are some pretty good feats. With, of course, my opinion that craft wonderous is better than craft wand, but that's predjudice against wands and I know it. ^_^

Weapon finesse / unarmed can be really great for those unarmed attacks if you have a low strength and high(ish) dex. And, of course:

One very effective combat-oriented Wizard build I've seen is Wizard + 3 levels of Rogue + Improved Initiative.

Attack before anyone else, cast a ray or ranged touch spell that causes damage, roll +2d6 for sneak attack damage.

The look on the troll's face when you hit him with a Melf's Acid Arrow and rolls 2d4 + 2d6 for the first round of acid damage is priceless!

Edit: Forgot to add Practiced Spellcaster, to keep your caster level up there!

The old Arcane Trickster. Very effective when combined with rays and touch attacks. For more cheesery, add instead one level of roge, then five wizard, followed by one level of Assassin, THEN on to arcane trickster. Sure, you have to be evil for a second or two, but you can repent. Or, you're only taking one level, and you've got a lot of mage levels, there's plenty of room to roleplay a way into getting that level without actually killing anyone in cold blood or going to the assassin school even.

 

[argo]

Actually, NOT allowing it would be a house rule, technically. As there indeed is a chart and rules in the core RAW for making wonderous items for that. They've even listed a few duplicate items that are both wonderous and potions, take the ungent of healing for example. Doing so uses the exact same rules, has the exact same cost, why should they continue to write duplicate items?

No. First off those charts are not in the Players Handbook, they are in the Dungeon Master's Guide and like all material in the DMG is meant as material to aid the DM in running the game, not for the players to wave in his face and cry foul. Secondly, even if you don't buy that argument the DMG still states quite clearly that magic item pricing charts are not rules but guidlines and that the DM may need to adjust the price of any new magic items to fit their power.

Now, that doesn't mean that a DM shouldn't allow the player to invent new items. That sort of thing is just rewarding good play and can add a great deal to a campaign. But don't forget that that is exactly what we are talking about... DM approval of a house-ruled item. And I don't think many DM's would let you go makign wonderous-item-wands willy nilly, otherwise you wind up witht the sort of absurd munchkinism where one feat does the work of three.

For that matter, look at the ENWorld rules about posting, asking about priceing of magic items not specifically listed in the DMG is not a house rules forum question but a rules forum question, because the rules, as written, support the making of such items.

I guess I must have missed the part where ENWorld posting rules were declared official errata

Potions are a horrible investment, make a scroll, it does the same thing better, and without a feat. And for that matter, dont' make many scrolls. What a waste of gold and, more importantly, XP. Because if you never use it it is, indeed, a waste. And if you ever DO use it, you have just destroyed it. OK, ok, personal philosophy.

Scrolls are an incredibly cheap way to get around the wizard's two basic limitations: number of spells per day and not knowing what spells to prepare. And wands are a great way to make sure that your wiz can contribute something every round of combat, even if it's just a simple magic missile, while saving his slots for the big fight at the end. Potions are more of a cleric specality but it is still nice for a team-oriented wiz to be able to hand out items that the rest of the party can use.

Of course, wonderous items do that better

Later.

 

[Starman]

Heh. In the first game of D&D I ever played, I rolled up a character with 14 Dex and everything else average. "Be a thief" they said, so I was a thief. "roll your hit points" they said so I rolled a 1.

From a party of 13 I was one of the only two survivors

Nice.

A friend of mine likes to talk about his ranger from 1st or 2nd edition who, at third level, did not have double digit hit points. This was in a solo campaign, so his only viable tactic was hit and run or ambush. He refused to get into melee. I don't remember what he said ever happened to the character, though.

Starman

 

[Falling Icicle]

And for that matter, dont' make many scrolls. What a waste of gold and, more importantly, XP. Because if you never use it it is, indeed, a waste. And if you ever DO use it, you have just destroyed it. OK, ok, personal philosophy.

I couldn't disagree more. I've been saved many times by having a scroll handy that had a spell I needed but hadn't prepared (or had already expended). I'm not saying one should go crazy on scroll making, but it's helpful to make a few here and there with spells that can be lifesavers but you can't afford to prepare.

And Wizards should always keep a couple scrolls handy of some of the more staple spells, like Dispel Magic, Invisibility, Stoneskin, etc. You never know when things will go messy and you need an extra one of those spells. It's better to have something and need it than to need something and want it.

Yes, it costs xp, but the experience loss of making a scroll is miniscule (my first level scrolls only cost me 1 xp each - oh no), and it's an awful lot less xp than dying will cost you.

 

[Starman]

That's not to say your DM isn't watching and scribbling notes furiously.

Speaking of that, would you be open to a Fireborn campaign? Since we can never decide on a good compromise between d20M and Spycraft, I figured that might be a good option for the modern campaign I want to run.

Hey, Wil, you wouldn't mind commuting up here to Montana once a week, or so, to run a game for me, would ya? I promise I'd be a good player. I'd be down with a Fireborn campaign.

Starman