Xanathar's War Mage is Gandalf, Dr Strange, and Elric

Ok I love that he gave a shout out to old school Michael Morrcock character Elric

What is Crazy is how old those books were when I started reading them 84-86 time frame

 

[cbwjm]

I found the war mage in UA to be rather dull, admittedly they might have tweaked it to be more interesting, I will have to wait and see, what I was really hoping for was the lore master or the theurge. Mind you, i don't play AL so I guess I can still use the UA versions.

 

[gyor]

I'm fine with the War Wizard, but I'm sad about the Lore Master getting scuttled. I know the Lore Master needed to be tweaked/toned down, but when I play a wizard, I really want him to be the smartest guy in the room. Doubling proficiency in Arcana (without multiclassing into Knowledge cleric) would be a really swell thing for a wizard subclass to offer.

I wouldn't be surprised if that part survives in a future Generalist Wizard subclass that it more knowledge focused, not so much metamagic focused.

 

[Matthan]

I wouldn't be surprised if that part survives in a future Generalist Wizard subclass that it more knowledge focused, not so much metamagic focused.

I imagine it will. It just may be a while before we see it though. Still excited for the book though.

 

[pukunui]

I found the war mage in UA to be rather dull ...

Same. It was the least interesting of all the new wizard subclasses they put out in UA. It's sad to learn that the war mage has killed the lore mage and taken its stuff. That doesn't even really make sense anyway. Why would the "action wizard" gobble up bits of the "even-more-bookish-than-usual wizard"? Meh.

It seems to me like they just went with the blandest option because it was a "safe" choice.

 

[Kobold Avenger]

I have a distaste for the Generalist Wizard based on the fact a General Studies Degree from University doesn't get your far...

Declare a major like Necromancy or Divination!

 

[IchneumonWasp]

I love the concept of the war mage, but I dislike the subclass. Having a slightly weaker and different version of the Shield spell as a class feature looks good, but in practice it means that you likely have to choose between using the class feature or casting the spell (it's not like a war mage is not going to learn the spell), which doesn't seem like a fun choice (do I want a slightly better version of the mechanic in exchance for a whole spell slot?).

 

[BookBarbarian]

I have a distaste for the Generalist Wizard based on the fact a General Studies Degree from University doesn't get your far...

Declare a major like Necromancy or Divination!

If you think General Studies is bad, wait until you see the Communications Degree Wizard.

 

[Li Shenron]

So... a spellcaster who is the specialist at laiding waste of the enemies but is also very relisient on the front line, huh? Oh, and it gets a bonus to initiative.

Sounds broken.

Adds nothing new to the game.

This and the Sun Soul Monk will be the lowest points of XGE. Thank God the rest sounds a lot better.

 

[lostsanityreturned]

Ding dong the lore wizard is dead, thank the gods they could recognise the problems with it.
Now we have time to have a REAL lore wizard that is thematically appropriate and not just a giant mess of "no ribbon all capstone"
If I had to choose one of the three wizards to have in the game it would have been conceptually lore, but it just wasn't right.

Same. It was the least interesting of all the new wizard subclasses they put out in UA. It's sad to learn that the war mage has killed the lore mage and taken its stuff. That doesn't even really make sense anyway. Why would the "action wizard" gobble up bits of the "even-more-bookish-than-usual wizard"? Meh.

It seems to me like they just went with the blandest option because it was a "safe" choice.

Because the bookish option was by far the most action orientated option as well?

 

[Jester David]

Very disappointed that the Lore Master isn't making it into the book. I want to play a generalist, not a war mage. It's a lousy excuse that it's overpowered to not include it when every subclass needs balanced before it's put into the book.

I think if it had tested better than the others it would have made it in. They decided to just go with one wizard archetype and this was the favourite.