Please criticize and give advices to my 1st-level Wizard Build

[Nifft]

The best Heroic feat for a Wizard is probably Armor Proficiency (Leather).

I would not bother with Astral Fire. It's certainly not worth it if it's the only reason you want to pump Dexterity -- Wizards are short on dump stats already.

Agree with the chorus about Flaming Sphere. It's the best control and the best damage spell a Wizard will see at that level.

If you have a Wisdom bonus, you ought to consider Thunderwave. I've gotten great use out of it.

Magic Missile is lackluster without feat & item support. You can make it great, but you must allocate your resources accordingly. (On the other hand, it's really the only option for range 11-20. Do you have any Archers in your party?)

For Paragon, my default answer is BLOOD MAGE. If you can't think of what you want to do, try that one. It's fun and powerful, and interacts very well with Valor Bards.

Cheers, -- N

 

[Shin Okada]

The best Heroic feat for a Wizard is probably Armor Proficiency (Leather).

Hmm. Possibly. Especially if I try to use Close powers.

I would not bother with Astral Fire. It's certainly not worth it if it's the only reason you want to pump Dexterity -- Wizards are short on dump stats already.

I am planning to take Dual Implement Spellcaster. That is why I put dex 13. I am not a big fun of Improved Initiative but ... maybe.

But regarding Astral Fire, yes, there seem to be much better ways to increase damages.

Magic Missile is lackluster without feat & item support. You can make it great, but you must allocate your resources accordingly. (On the other hand, it's really the only option for range 11-20. Do you have any Archers in your party?)

I don't know it yet.

But having one each of VS Fort, Ref, and Will attacks seems nice when having 3 at-wills. So Thunderwave, Scorching Burst/Magic Missile & Phantom Bolt, maybe?

For Paragon, my default answer is BLOOD MAGE. If you can't think of what you want to do, try that one. It's fun and powerful, and interacts very well with Valor Bards.

It will take a long way to reach Paragon. The game starts from 1st-level and played once per month.

 

[Nifft]

Hmm. Possibly. Especially if I try to use Close powers.

It's also great for all those situations you don't plan on being in, like being the target of archers. (But yeah, it's VERY nice if you plan on being near melee too often.)

I am planning to take Dual Implement Spellcaster. That is why I put dex 13. I am not a big fun of Improved Initiative but ... maybe.

But regarding Astral Fire, yes, there seem to be much better ways to increase damages.

Hey, if you need the Dexterity anyway, try it. You can retrain it later.

The only thing to be super-careful about is stat allocation, since you can't retrain that.

But having one each of VS Fort, Ref, and Will attacks seems nice when having 3 at-wills. So Thunderwave, Scorching Burst/Magic Missile & Phantom Bolt, maybe?

Agree with this reasoning. It's great to be able to target all three defenses.

Cheers, -- N

 

[Turtlejay]

The hybrid wizard in my game has gotten a ton of use out of thunderwave+enlarge spell+wand of thunderwave.

Being able to chose from a variety of close bursts and blasts at will is very, very handy, and really helps you control the battlefield.

If you are going with enlarge spell then focus on the effects the spell does. I'd not take enlarge spell and then choose mainly damage powers (like fireball) for instance.

Jay

 

[Amaroq]

For feats, I've definitely become a fan of "planned retraining". So, I'd consider the following:

Arcane Reserves (human, arcane)
+2 dam for at-wills when out of encounter powers

This is totally useful at first level, as you have one encounter power, which you will usually cast in the first round of combat, leaving you to either blow your daily or dink away with at-wills for the rest of the fight. You can always retrain out of it somewhere in the Level 3 - Level 7 range as you begin accruing more encounter powers and begin relying on your at-wills less.

Toughness
+5 hit points

Doesn't matter too much when you're at higher levels, but 5 extra HP can be a lifesaver at first level .. and you can retrain out of it as early as Level 2 or Level 3.

White Lotus Defenses
+1 to all defenses against any creature you hit with an at-will arcane power, until the end of your next turn

If your DM allows Dragon Magazine content, this one can be pretty nice - less focused on AC than Armor Proficiency (Leather), but also limited in that its only "on" for creatures you've hit in your last turn. As you become less reliant on your at-wills, it gets less powerful, so you'll probably retrain out of it by Level 7 or 8.

Armor Proficiency (Leather)
+2 AC

A 10% less chance to get hit is always good, and most Level 1-3 monsters attack AC. This could be another one to consider taking at Level 1, and then retraining out of. (That might be something to mention to your DM, e.g., "I'm taking Leather Proficiency, but I want to retrain out of it, so if something like a '+1 Robe of Contingency' showed up as treasure, I'd be perfectly happy.")

Improved Initiative
+4 initiative

Its not absolutely game-breaking, but if your party does not include a Warlord and his +2 initiative gift, playing with a +0 or +1 initiative makes you act after the bad guys about 2/3 of the time; it can be really frustrating to roll an 18 for initiative and still go after the enemy. On the other hand, if you're a reactive type, sometimes letting the opposition clump up gives you massed targets to whomp on with your area-effect spells. Not something to retrain out of, once you have it, but I do think its a very idea to pick it up, and earlier rather than later.

Implement Expertise
+1 to hit; +2 at Lvl 15

Typically, I'd suggest this get picked up much later in the career arc. You shouldn't have too much trouble hitting at Level 1, especially with your current build .. so I'd save this for a little further down the power curve, when you start missing a little bit too often for your tastes. It might be the ideal "retrain into" as you mature out of "Toughness", for example.

 

[AbdulAlhazred]

Grease was one of my favorite spell and 4e version seems to be nice. But I am wondering how many times a wizard can make that knockdown attack? Just once? Or as many as possible until end of the encounter?

You can make the attack any time it is triggered. Grease lasts the whole encounter and the triggered attack has no mention of a limit on how much it can be used. Every time a creature enters the Grease zone you can make an Int vs Ref attack on it and if it succeeds the target is prone and you slide them 2 squares. The trick is you make the attack as soon as they try to cross the zone and then slide them BACK out the way they came. Now they have to stand up and try again (or give up). This makes it VERY difficult for creatures to cross the zone. Given that it is difficult terrain even if the attack misses then the creature will need at least 10 movement to get across. Also consider what happens if someone pushes a creature INTO the zone, you get to trigger your attack and possibly knock them prone and slide them! Note also it is a Free Action and thus there is NO limit on how often you can use it or when you can use it.

Basically Grease makes a burst 2 zone that pretty well creates an area monsters cannot cross. Any monster attempting to do so is going to spend 2 movement actions inside the zone (unless it flies or its a very very fast monster). So its going to get hit with 2 Int vs Ref attacks (that have implement keyword BTW). Chances are slim they'll make it to the other side without getting hit. If they DO get hit then their movement is mostly negated by the slide AND they have to burn a move action just to stand again.

Basically Grease is almost the ultimate low level area denial spell. Nothing beats it. In the vast majority of cases it simply wins the encounter. Even in the open where the monsters can go around it will likely prove to be the decisive advantage if used reasonably. Note also that for YOUR side the area IS difficult terrain but still not really that hard to cross. Its even possible you could slide your own guys in it, though that would probably be a pretty strange thing to do.

 

[AbdulAlhazred]

I still say Thunderwave isn't really that great. It sounds awesome in some theoretical sense but truthfully its very hard to target a blast 3 into a melee and not hit your allies. The push also sounds cool but it usually has tactically marginal consequences. Pushing an enemy that is in melee with you just means they get to charge you next time their turn comes up. It certainly isn't useless, but a level 1 wizard should NOT be adjacent to the enemy anyhow, even with staff of defense (which is by far the most lackluster IM in terms of doing your party role).

Scorching Burst - Gives great control in that the DM now has to worry about avoiding getting his monsters too close to each other. It does pretty decent minion sweeping, especially with Enlarge Spell. Yes, it has no fringe benefits, but just the fact that you have at-will AoE is in and of itself a form of control that DOES work. If the DM ignores that, then you get to do some quite impressive overall damage output.

CoD works pretty well as both an MM substitute and a guaranteed 1 minion kill, but killing one minion isn't THAT impressive. Still it can be good when you need a ref attacking at-will. I'd still take MM instead.

Again my load out would be Illusory Ambush (vs will and -2 is better than Phantom Bolt's push 1), Scorching Burst (just basic area control and its vs reflex), and Storm Pillar (total block of one square and pretty reliable situational damage).

Forget about Armor Proficiency. Your a wizard, you're squishy, accept that. Take Shield as your utility spell at level 2. It will usually deflect the worst damage and all you need to do is survive the combat as you will almost never bottom out on surges. Use cover wisely (remember your allies grant it vs ranged attacks) and you'll be OK. Later on you can worry about your defenses but a +2 AC for a feat is not worth it for a non-melee character at level 1.

 

[Stalker0]

Another fan of flaming sphere for your daily. At 1st level, its one of the best dailies in the game.

Later on I would replace it with sleep, as that + the orb wizard makes it one of the best dailies in the game once you get some more wisdom and spell focus/save penalty items under your belt.

 

[Lostdwarf]

What about Sleep?

I will agree that flaming sphere is an excellent spell, and would might be a good contender for the go to first level daily. Im kind of surpised that no one has advocated a sleep spell, however. I know sleep is risky, in that if they make their first save you end up with a daily for a one round slow, but the possiblily of infliciting the strongest status effect on the game on mulitple targets is amazing. Unconcious targets have no actions, do no dammage, and have staggering defence penalties. If sleep works its a total game chager.

On the other hand, if it doesn't work as I said you burn you daily for a one round slow, but when it comes together is can absolutly devistate the enemy. And the orb saving throw penalty seems made for it.

 

[AbdulAlhazred]

I will agree that flaming sphere is an excellent spell, and would might be a good contender for the go to first level daily. Im kind of surpised that no one has advocated a sleep spell, however. I know sleep is risky, in that if they make their first save you end up with a daily for a one round slow, but the possiblily of infliciting the strongest status effect on the game on mulitple targets is amazing. Unconcious targets have no actions, do no dammage, and have staggering defence penalties. If sleep works its a total game chager.

On the other hand, if it doesn't work as I said you burn you daily for a one round slow, but when it comes together is can absolutly devistate the enemy. And the orb saving throw penalty seems made for it.

Eh, one of my players messed with Sleep a bit at 1st level. It was pretty lackluster. Most of the really important monsters are elite or higher level, or both. In that case its fairly tough to get a positive result. Agreed that if you do it can be great, but some of the other level 1 dailies are almost guaranteed to work. I mean you will pretty much be guaranteed to win an encounter where you unleash Flaming Sphere or Grease unless its a VERY tough encounter or the situation is very unfavorable to using it.

Sleep becomes the uber spell at paragon tier and if you dedicate yourself totally to maxing it out you can make it a pretty scary spell by 8th level, but earlier than that it just doesn't quite stack up as the best option. I'd say a 5th level orbizard might consider taking it when you KNOW you're going to face some nasty solo and just toss it out there in the hope of basically ending the encounter, but by then you have another daily and other resources to fall back on if it doesn't work. At level 1 its pretty darn risky (but again maybe if you know you're going to take on something ridiculously powerful you might still try it).