D&D (2024) 2024 Player's Handbook Reveal: "New Wizard"

"The paramount collector of spells."

Open your spellbooks, everybody. Today we get a Wizard video.

​

The last version of the class was in the UA Playtest 7 package (PT7). It's not clear how much they'll say here. Of the base class, I am hoping that they have recanted the level 5 ability, Memorize Spell (or perhaps shifted it to needing a short rest). They've said that the PHB will get clearer rules for how illusions work -- maybe they'll talk about that? Other than that, I think the most they can do is show us some revised spells: Will the revised version of Counterspell be kept? Any surprise Necromancy reveals? Let's find out.

OVERVIEW

• "the paramount collector of spells": "many" of new spells are for the wizard.
• As in PT7: cantrip change after long rest (level 1); scholar -- expertise in an academic field (at 2)
• NO MENTION OF ARCANE RECOVERY
• NEW: Ritual Adept broken out as a new class feature. They can cast spells in their spellbook, as before, but here ID'd as a new feature.
• NEW: Memorize Spell at 5: you can swap a spell after short rest.
• Each subclass gets a new version of Savant: free spells in spellbook of preferred school. 2 free spells of favored class, and a new spell for each spell level (so every 2 levels, as in the playtest. This isn't what is said in the video, but has been corrected elsewhere.

SUBCLASSES
Abjurer

• new abjuration spells feeds back onto how subclass functions.
• NEW: Arcane Ward at 3: resistance, immunity applied before the Arcane Ward.
• NEW: Projected Ward a 6: your friend's resistance is applied before the ward for them.
• NEW: Spell breaker at level 10: Counterspell and Dispell Magic are both prepared (PT7 did not include Counterspell). Dispell Magic is a bonus action.

Diviner

• NEW: Third Eye at 10. As in PT7, bonus action to activate; 120' darkvision, see invisibility. NO MENTION of Greater Comprehension ("read any language")

Evoker -- "all about bringing the boom"

• As in PT7: Potent Cantrip at 3 applies to cantrips both with a saving throw or an attack roll.

Illusionist -- "we felt that the subclass needed more" (YAY)

• NEW: Improved Illusions at level 3:
  • cast illusion spells with no verbal components. (FUN)
  • illusions with range with at least 10' is increased to 60' (no-- by 60' to 70').
  • you get minor illusion cantrip, with both visual and audible
  • you cast minor illusion as a bonus action.
• NEW: Phantasmal Creatures
  • summon beast and summon fey spells always prepared. These MAY BE changed from conjuration to Illusion, and the illusory version can be cast without expending a spell slot, but the summoned version, only with half the hit points. ONCE PER DAY.
  • illusions can step on a trap to set it off (?!)
  • (replacing Malleable Illusions, which I complained about here. This is so exciting.)
• NEW: Illusory Self triggered by you being hit by an attack (not when you are targeted). As in PT7, you can get more uses by giving up a spell slot of level 2+.

SPECIFIC SPELLS

• NEW: school shift to Abjuration: no examples
• Counterspell as in PT7.
• GUIDANCE ON ILLUSIONS in Rules Glossary. E.g. How are they affected by environment?
  • spell descriptions also clarified. Rules Glossary to be discussed in future video (also conditions, areas of effects, guidance on teleportation, telepathy, "
• "being dead" to be discussed in Cleric Video. Tease...

So this gave much more than I was expecting, and it looks amazing. Playing an illusionist will now be much more clearly not a "mother may I?" situation, which (I feel) has long been the case. I think I got most of what I'd asked for in the PT feedback.

 

[Lord Ustur]

Meanwhile the Draconic sorcerer has an improved ac formula of 10+dex+cha. Meaning by max charisma you’ll likely have 17-18 ac.

And apply charisma on all elements spells damage and still gain more 10 sublass spells.
The new Arcane eruption Spell for sorceres now can blast and also control. You can choose the element damage when cast it.

When the encounter starts the wizard is just an inferior sorcerer.

 

[mellored]

And apply charisma on all elements spells damage and still gain more 10 sublass spells.
The new Arcane eruption Spell for sorceres now can blast and also control. You can choose the element damage when cast it.

When the encounter starts the wizard is just a inferior sorcerer.

Empowered + Arcane Eruption can be fun. Reroll the damage die until you get a 1, and you get incapacitated.

*assuming things haven't changed from the playtest.

 

[Lord Ustur]

Empowered + Arcane Eruption can be fun. Reroll the damage die until you get a 1, and you get incapacitated.

*assuming things haven't changed from the playtest.

Heightein it against a bad guy. AoE incapacited is fun.

Also, for an effective blaster, at higher levels the Draconic Sorcerer can fly without concentration turning it into a Flying blasting machine that can burn enemies at 300ft+ safely.

 

[Stalker0]

When the encounter starts the wizard is just an inferior sorcerer.

I would change this slightly to be.... "when the encounter starts, and the sorceror has a good spell for the encounter, the wizard is just an inferior sorceror".

And frankly that is supposed to be the niche right? The whole idea is that the sorc is the most "powerful" caster in raw terms. They can do things with magic that makes other casters green with envy, its in their blood and bones. If a sorc is casting spell X, and a wizard is casting spell X.... the sorc is supposed to win.

The wizard excels in the swiss army knife function. Sure on Spell X the sorc triumps, but on Spell Y (which the sorc doesn't have or in some cases cannot even take), the wizard gets to step into the sun. Downtime is also the wizard's playground, getting to use their wide selection for whatever particular activity is needed.

As to the question of "who blasts better", an Evoker Wizard or a Sorc.....the answer is a sorc. Again, that's the niche. If a player is looking to just have raw dumb fun, they want to just sling as many fireballs and blasts as humanly possible and just revel in fire....than the sorc is the better option. Now if a player wants to do a lot of blasting....but then wants to do all the crazy cooky things outside of combats or in downtime, than the wizard might be more their style.

 

[tetrasodium]

I would change this slightly to be.... "when the encounter starts, and the sorceror has a good spell for the encounter, the wizard is just an inferior sorceror".

And frankly that is supposed to be the niche right? The whole idea is that the sorc is the most "powerful" caster in raw terms. They can do things with magic that makes other casters green with envy, its in their blood and bones. If a sorc is casting spell X, and a wizard is casting spell X.... the sorc is supposed to win.

The wizard excels in the swiss army knife function. Sure on Spell X the sorc triumps, but on Spell Y (which the sorc doesn't have or in some cases cannot even take), the wizard gets to step into the sun. Downtime is also the wizard's playground, getting to use their wide selection for whatever particular activity is needed.

As to the question of "who blasts better", an Evoker Wizard or a Sorc.....the answer is a sorc. Again, that's the niche. If a player is looking to just have raw dumb fun, they want to just sling as many fireballs and blasts as humanly possible and just revel in fire....than the sorc is the better option. Now if a player wants to do a lot of blasting....but then wants to do all the crazy cooky things outside of combats or in downtime, than the wizard might be more their style.

Sorcerer gets big power offsets for that hypothetical except there is the problematic & ignored detail that sorcerer+subclass spell selection is so ineffectively limited that they are almost guaranteed to have "a good spell for the encounter". Thanks to 5e's "intentionally overtuned" spell design ensuring that it will probably also be the best spell for the encounter.

 

[occam]

Sorcerer gets big power offsets for that hypothetical except there is the problematic & ignored detail that sorcerer+subclass spell selection is so ineffectively limited that they are almost guaranteed to have "a good spell for the encounter". Thanks to 5e's "intentionally overtuned" spell design ensuring that it will probably also be the best spell for the encounter.

Why is it that you keep referring to any proposed non-combat capability as "hypothetical"? Are you suggesting that it's only a hypothesis that people might play D&D as anything other than a nonstop series of combat encounters? I'm just trying to understand why you use that word.

 

[tetrasodium]

Why is it that you keep referring to any proposed non-combat capability as "hypothetical"? Are you suggesting that it's only a hypothesis that people might play D&D as anything other than a nonstop series of combat encounters? I'm just trying to understand why you use that word.

I gave the word hypothetical a star ✩ back in 325, your question came quoting 385 though & in 385 I instead linked to a dndbeyond article detailing how the spells are designed to make certain spells so good they render all other options irrelevant as if it is a good thing. I keep referring to it as hypothetical because due to the way excessive spell list overlap & an abundance of must pick spells it really is more of a hypothetical than something with notable impact from session to session.

 

[occam]

I gave the word hypothetical a star ✩ back in 325, your question came quoting 385 though & in 385 I instead linked to a dndbeyond article detailing how the spells are designed to make certain spells so good they render all other options irrelevant as if it is a good thing. I keep referring to it as hypothetical because due to the way excessive spell list overlap & an abundance of must pick spells it really is more of a hypothetical than something with notable impact from session to session.

But in 385 you weren't responding to a post having anything to do with that particular hypothetical, yet you used the term anyway, so it seemed like you were using it in some more general sense.

 

[tetrasodium]

But in 385 you weren't responding to a post having anything to do with that particular hypothetical, yet you used the term anyway, so it seemed like you were using it in some more general sense.

No I believe it's the same hypothetical, it only looks like it could be a different thing because of efforts made by a few posters to oversimplify a complex interconnected issue. To show the extent of that oversimplification... Earlier in the thread one of those posters quoted single sentences from a post in isolation and asked questions that were answered in the rest of the post those were stripped in.

Sorcerer warlock and Bard (the other arcane casters) get class features and subclass features+many bonus spells to offset their limited spell selection and those are balanced as if the shorter list is still a noteworthy loss as it was in earlier editions. With 5e however spell design ensures that the limit being offset is more of a hypothetical edge case possibility than one likely to really matter while that same design ensures that the wizard having a wider selection with more choices can rarely be meaningful thanks to the overuse of concentration &must take "iconic" spells that render other options irrelevant

 

[Stalker0]

With 5e however spell design ensures that the limit being offset is more of a hypothetical edge case possibility than one likely to really matter while that same design ensures that the wizard having a wider selection with more choices can rarely be meaningful thanks to the overuse of concentration &must take "iconic" spells that render other options irrelevant

In summary, that there are certain spells that are just so generally good that a sorc has every spell they need to get the job done.

So....lets put that to the test. Lets take a 5th level clockwork sorc since we have discussed them quite a bit. Pick any spells for loadout, and then we will add in the clockwork spells. Lets see if that loadout covers all of the key scenarios a spell-slinger might deal with.

A reminder, the sorc will have (I am assuming they are swapping spells for higher level ones but feel free to use those for lower level spells as you see fit):

1) Cantrips - 5
2) 3rd level - Dispel Magic, Protection from Energy, 1 pick
3) 2nd level - Aid, Lesser Restoration, 2 pick
4) 1st level - Alarm, Protection from Evil/Good, 0 pick
5) Additional spells based on the 1 swap per level.

• One 3rd, 2nd or 1st level spell
• Two 2nd or 1st level spell