How ridiculous is a Level 20 Abjur Wizard?

[Jester David]

For what it’s worth, I played in a game that jumped from level 7 to 20 and ran for five sessions at 20th level.
I played a warlock, which was kinda weak that those levels. (The inability to scale up their spells to a 7th or 8th level slot hurts, and their high level spell choices don’t deal much damage.)
We had a life cleric that could heal a truly ridiculous amount, a moon druid that was hard to kill but not impossible, a totem barbarian that actually was functionally impossible to kill, and an assassin rogue that was okay. Getting assassinate is tricky in practice.

We were tough and could really do amazing things, but some surprising mundane things could eff us up. Concentration really limited some things. The DM just assumed we’d all be immune to fire going into a red dragon fight, but the best we could do was resistance to half the party.
It was significantly less gonzo and swingy than even Pathfinder at level 12 or 13. And having run some Pathfinder that hit 16 and 18, the power level and complexity felt manageable.

 

[Ogre Mage]

I played an abjurer wizard from 1-15. During that time I was playing alongside a diviner wizard.

My experience was that at high levels improved abjuration and spell resistance make the abjurer the strongest wizard. The diviner's portent starts to drop off due to most monsters having a long list of immunities, legendary resistance, magic resistance, etc. Portent does still have some usefulness because high numbers can guarantee you'll make a critical save. But the abjurer's defensive abilities are way stronger at that point.

That said, most of 5E tends to be played in Tier 1 and 2. And during those stages, portent RULES. I was effective, but not as effective as the diviner was.

 

[CTurbo]

I played an abjurer wizard from 1-15. During that time I was playing alongside a diviner wizard.

My experience was that at high levels improved abjuration and spell resistance make the abjurer the strongest wizard. The diviner's portent starts to drop off due to most monsters having a long list of immunities, legendary resistance, magic resistance, etc. Portent does still have some usefulness because high numbers can guarantee you'll make a critical save. But the abjurer's defensive abilities are way stronger at that point.

That said, most of 5E tends to be played in Tier 1 and 2. And during those stages, portent RULES. I was effective, but not as effective as the diviner was.

I agree that Abjurer and Divination seem to be the strongest Wizards overall, and I have seen both at low to mid levels and I'd also agree that Diviner seem to be a little stronger in the mid levels. I've never seen either at high levels but Abjur appears to be much stronger from 14-20.

Kinda makes me want to play one.