Help with aoe wizard build please

[Goodlad]

Hey everyone, Im just looking for some tips and ideas for an aoe wizard build.

I havent played d&d in a few years so im gettin a bit over whelmed looking through all the books and trying to put ideas together.

The game is going to be a party of 5, 2 fighters and 2 rogues then my wizard.

Since all other guys are going to be pretty much single target i decided it would fit nice if i tried to focus my wizard a bit into aoe damage.

Obviously i could just go straight wizard and just use a lot of evocation spells like fireball, firebrand etc...

But i would like to try focus into aoe a bit more than that.
I have looked at the archmage for the widen spell increases and also the incantatrix for its funky metamagic lowering stuff.


Have you guys and siggestions of possible builds and feats i could use to try make the idea i have work?

I have all 3.5 books available with stuff to choose from.

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

Multi target spells will work just as well as AoE for your purposes without worrying about hitting allies, look into those.

Try and find any thread on a battlefield control caster. Those are also AoEs and work well with the typical blasting damage fare.

Extraordinary Spell Aim feat from C.Adventurer and Spellguard Rings from C.Mage (have any Fighter you get a pair with split the cost with you) will help to avoid friendly fire.

EDIT: Sculpt Spell will be by far the most valuable metamagic feat you could take.

 

[Goodlad]

Cheers for the reply

I will have a look through some books later for some nice spells for multi target. Those spellguard rings are pretty damn nice! I think i will absolutely be getting a set of them.

I had completely forgot about sculpt spell, that feat alone is turning my mind towards just playing complete blaster build.

I know the other players in the game are all going to min/max the chars.
The Dm is well used to it so it wont break the game.

I think the problem for me is im not great at min/max'ing a mage, if i dont make this char uber broken im going to suck compared to the others! haha!

Im still dredging through the books looking for combinations of various feats and prestige classes for figure out builds. A evoker to just absolutely just blow stuff up might be nice.

I see feats like arcane thesis being mentioned a lot, it does seem pretty nice albeit for just one spell.

I think maybe figuring out a min/max blaster build will work well.
I have been searching the net for about an hour now but im only oulling up small bits of info to help.

If anyone have good advice on a min/max blaster build that would be great. Or even some links to some info on it would be appreciated.

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

I don't agree with every grade he gives out, but Treantmonk is fairly accurate in his Evocation listings. Do note, he is one of the character optimization people who consider direct damage ("blasting") spells suboptimal.

If you really want to play an Evoker, Empower Spell + Easy Metamagic (Empower Spell) is a nice simple combo to make empowering cost only +1 spell level. Easy Meta is in dragon mag and on crystalkeep's feat database. I'm also a fan of Energy Substitution (anything but fire). You could also do Energy Sub (fire), but then you'd also want Searing Spell (Sandstorm), because so many things have fire resistance/immunity. In any case, picking a favored energy type and getting energy sub. in it helps to coordinate your offense.

For example, lightning has a nice level 5 spell in Spell Compendium to shoot d4 bolts for good damage each, Moonbow. With Empower Spell, you get 1.5x as many bolts for 1.5x as much damage. With Energy Sub, you cna match it to whatever element you want. Similarly, SpC has another spell, Acid Sheath, with the acid subtype, that adds +1 damage per die to any acid spell you cast. Use Energy Sub, and it's now buffing whatever energy type you're focused on.

Getting the Reserve feat (C.Mage) for your energy type can be a handy +1 for CL and gives a useful (at low levels) Su ability.

Putting all of this together, take my last lightning mage, a human evoker. By level 6, he had energy sub (lightning), empower spell, easy meta (empower), Storm Bolt reserve feat... As a level 3 spell, he could fire off 2 Static Rays (lightning Scorching Rays ) empowered to deal 6d6 damage each. He could also always toss out 3d6 lightning damage in a line any round he didn't want to waste a spell. By level 11, he was buffing with Acid[/c] Lightning Sheath and tossing around spell level 6 empowered Moon Bolts for crazy damage.

Just some of the combos I used.

Arcane Thesis works well if you have one spell you can reliably spam all the time for many character levels. Combined with Scorching Ray you can make a good damage monster from levels 3 onward. I personally find the feat really boring. The only time I'd ever use it is for a Shadowcraft Mage, when that one spell (Silent Image in that case) is doing infinitely many things.

Think about battlefield control, too, though. No reason to only do blasting. And sculpt spell works well with BFC spells, too. One easy example: Grease. Normally only a 10 ft square of effect, as a level 2 spell you can now use it to affect a MUCH larger area.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

If you have a few spare bucks, you might want to check out this reference book:
[ame=http://www.amazon.ca/Power-Gamers-Wizard-Strategy-Guide/dp/0976808501/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1265173256&sr=1-1]Power Gamers 3.5 Wizard Strategy Guide: Amazon.ca: Power Gamer Strategy Guides, Jason Little: Books[/ame]

Personally, I like AoE spells and don't care if blasting is "suboptimal" (I can already hear other posters' utter lack of surprise that I'd say that)...its FUN. Have your PC take Sculpt Spell, Energy Substitution (I prefer Lightning or Acid) and Energy Admixture and you've got a real party! Explosive Spell is another fave.

 

[Dandu]

Treantmonk's guide has the advantage of being free, more comprehensive, and open to questions.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

That is a nice piece of work, to be sure- thanks for the link!

I can't say for sure its more comprehensive- there were PHB evocation spells he didn't touch in page 1, but the GG guide is PHB only- and I didn't go through all of its myriad pages, but the Goodman Games version has a couple of advantages of its own.

1) Its better organized.

2) You don't need to turn on your computer to read it.

 

[FEADIN]

Also this one for spells:

A guide to Wizards: Playing a GOD

 

[Goodlad]

Thanks again for the replies.

Im really liking the meta magic feat sculpt spell.

Its slightly broken when used with some spells but it could also be a lot of fun.

Im thinking of making a mage that can drop bombs onto the battle field but twist then mad shapes to not hit allies.

So feats like sculpt spell, shape spell, widen etc... all come to mind.

The spell acid sheath is really nice! I will absolutely work that into the mix and focus on one energy type.

I have in my head that there is a prestge class that also gives +1 damage per dice to certain spells?? Can anyone remember what it is?

It was possible to one energy type or just to evocation spells? I cant find it at the min.

With that ability combined wit the extra +1 from acid sheath when cast it adds a nice damage on top of whatever spell i use.

 

[Runestar]

If you are set on blasting, you may wish to play a warmage instead. While it takes a massive hit in the utility aspect, it can be more fun as you get to spontaneously choose which spells to blast the foe with. Work with your Dm to see if you can swap out spells you don't want for damage spells you prefer to better customize it.

Alternative, the focused specialist and master specialist (complete mage) are likely what you want to consider as well.