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.

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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.

 

[mellored]

Level 5 Divine Soul Sorcerer:

Well played. But I'll run with it.

Healing Word / False Life
Cure Wounds / Life Transferance
Chaos Bolt / Cromatic Orb
Spiritual Weapon / Flaming Sphere
Silence / Darkness
Flame Blade / Magic Weapon
Spirit Guardian / Cloud of Daggers

Wizard would also have...

*Fireball
*Invisibility
R: alarm
R: Tensors floating disk
R: comprehend language
R: detect magic
R: find familiar
R: water breathing
R: phantom steed
+ any that they find/buy.

 

[the Jester]

Wizards can swap cantrips every day.
Clerics can swap every level.

So WotC agreed with you.

I'd suggest that any caster not limited by a list of known spells like a sorcerer should be able to change cantrips on a long rest.

 

[ECMO3]

Well played. But I'll run with it.

Wizard would also have...

*Fireball
*Invisibility
R: alarm
R: Tensors floating disk
R: comprehend language
R: detect magic
R: find familiar
R: water breathing
R: phantom steed

What about the Abberant Sorcerer?

Wizard is the most flexible class by far and the most powerful overall, but I think the Sorcerer is the most powerful spellcaster in terms of combat power at most levels because with the better subclasses they have more spells prepared than a Wizard and they can enhance the spells with metamagic.

Wizards can enhance some of their spells with their subclasses, but not in the volume that sorcerers can.

+ any that they find/buy.

IME it is not just finding and buying, but the time required to copy into your book. Unless you are an Elf that is hard to come by the time to do that in most campaigns. The Wizard I played in OOTA found two spellbooks with around 25 spells in them. By the time the campaign ended I think I copied about 5 or so into my book, and she was an Elf that could copy spells for 4 hours a night while party members slept.

 

[mellored]

Wizard is the most flexible class by far and the most powerful overall, but I think the Sorcerer is the most powerful spellcaster in terms of combat power at most levels.

Yes.

IME it is not just finding and buying, but the time required to copy into your book.

I am assuming 0 finding or buying spells. Just the ones they get for free.

Anything more is bonus.

 

[tetrasodium]

Clerics and bards already have rituals. This statement tells me that you don't recognize the issue those classes have in having to give up selecting other spells they might want in order to prepare those rituals.

Every ritual that every other class chooses to prepare in order to use that ritual is a choice the wizard is not forced to make and allows the wizard to prepare a better spell instead. You're giving off a vibe of accusing other players of not playing wizards so therefore we shouldn't listen to their arguments while simultaneously having not played the other classes you're bringing into the arguments. ;-)

cleric & druid not an issue due to the fact that their spells list has so little overlap with the wizard list. Other arcane casters... That's where it gets into the double dipping for the benefits of both features and extra spells over a hypothetical✩ under a spell list that contains nearly all of the wizard spells... That was discussed earlier, they each attempt to provide the entire power offset in isolation without factoring in the the other so together they overcompensate.


✩ "Assuming they both prepare the same spells for combat."

hey if you really truly think rituals suck, that is no problem. Take your 5 extra spells (plus the 10ish other spells you will gain when you get your plate or half plate worth of gold that the fighter gets), and choose whatever spells you want. Because that's the thing, while the sorc is handed a curtailed list that you have to have, the wizard can look over the entire list and grab whatever they want.

We don't know, neither of us has any information.... They might be all kinds of things, but unlike JC's excitement over how much GM's will hate a subclass in videos like the sorcerer video the wizard video didn't get that kind of excitement until talking about doing the cleric video. Without that excitement delving deeper the wizard & spells videos both skipped over spotlighting the goals with changes to rituals

Because we don't know anything of substance, rituals can't offer you the substance needed to support your efforts to spotlight them. What we can infer about whatever changes were made to the black box of 2024 rituals is that those changes are not changes that JC & TK were able to get excited about with details that would have provided substance like how much gm's will hate particular sorcerer subclasses or the various at will lockdown abilities.

 

[Ashrym]

cleric & druid not an issue due to the fact that their spells list has so little overlap with the wizard list.

Wizards still have too many spells those other arcane casters won't have available. This is a fact because the wizard list is much larger.

Other arcane casters... That's where it gets into the double dipping for the benefits of both features and extra spells over a hypothetical✩ under a spell list that contains nearly all of the wizard spells...

This still isn't true. The wizard list contains almost the entire sorcerer list while the opposite isn't true and the bard or warlock list share some spells but those lists diverge away from the wizard list.

Level​	Bard​	Sorcerer​	Warlock​	Wizard​	Wiz SB​
1​	4​	2​	2​	4​	6​
2​	5​	4​	3​	5​	8​
3​	6​	10​	8​	6​	12​
4​	7​	11​	9​	7​	14​
5​	9​	15​	12​	9​	17​
6​	10​	16​	13​	10​	19​
7​	11​	19​	16​	11​	22​
8​	12​	20​	17​	12​	24​
9​	14​	24​	21​	14​	27​
10​	15​	25​	21​	15​	29​
11​	16​	26​	23​	16​	32​
12​	16​	26​	23​	16​	34​
13​	17​	27​	25​	17​	37​
14​	17​	27​	25​	18​	39​
15​	18​	28​	27​	19​	42​
16​	18​	28​	27​	21​	44​
17​	19​	29​	29​	22​	47​
18​	20​	30​	29​	25​	49​
19​	21​	31​	30​	26​	51​
20​	24​	32​	30​	29​	53​

Those are the spells prepared compared to these classes including those warlocks and those sorcerers with bonus spells from their subclasses. It also includes the bard 20th level bonus spells. The wizard spell book includes only those spells added by leveling up. The chart are based on the UA and align with the comments I linked to the sorcerer article on DDB earlier.

It's possible there might be tweaks but this is consistent with what's been stated so any differences would be minor.

If there is some weird group that you're in where you are playing a wizard and someone else is playing another arcane caster and they are trying to take "all your spells" then let them try. Your wizard can just take different spell that they cannot and also change them up easily whereas they need to level up in order to make minor changes.

It's not possible for any of those classes to do what you describe and take all the spells away. They don't have access to the full list and they are more limited in preparing them or swapping them out. This is true because the list is so big and the spell book contains more options at the bare minimum.

That was discussed earlier, they each attempt to provide the entire power offset in isolation without factoring in the the other so together they overcompensate.

Yes, but when it was discussed earlier what I'm continuing to say now was demonstrated. There isn't any information in what you are stating. It's just "I'm right because I said it before" when what was stated before was the same claims without any evidence to back those claims up.

One of the reasons rituals work out well for wizards is because they don't need to cost slots, which is a very limited resource, and because they don't need to be prepared like every other class requires. So going back to out 5th level sorcerer vs wizard example the sorcerer who tries to compete with the wizard cantrips is only going to get to have about 3 of their spells selected outside of those rituals because the subclass spells are fixed. They can select more spells (and less "wizard list spells") or they can select more spells but give up the rituals. Wizards easily do both.

The wizard can literally change those spells with a short rest if a different spell is needed. No, that doesn't guarantee the spell is in the spell book but the likelihood is a lot higher given the number of spells in the spell book compared to the choices available to those other arcane class or the lack of ability to change those spells out at all.

Wizard advantages are the huge list from which to select, the best mechanics for using rituals, the larger pool of spells from which to draw from within the spell book, and ease of which the wizard can change those spells. And they also might be able to add to those options just for a low cost in gold and time.

Also going back to that 5th level example, the wild magic sorcerer does not get bonus spells. The aberrant mind does. At 5t level those bonus spells are not something the player can select. What that sorcerer selects up to that point are 9 spells while the wizard has selected 14 in general and 3 from their school. The wizard has nearly twice the selection they can take.

What spells do you think these classes are taking that you feel like the wizard is getting invalidated?

 

[Neonchameleon]

What about the Abberant Sorcerer?

Wizard is the most flexible class by far and the most powerful overall, but I think the Sorcerer is the most powerful spellcaster in terms of combat power at most levels because with the better subclasses they have more spells prepared than a Wizard and they can enhance the spells with metamagic.

One question about power levels is at which tier? I'm going to suggest the following things are all true:

• At tier 1 the Sorcerer is the weakest class in the game; they just don't have the spell slots to do that much that often. (The wizard is way stronger at tier 1 because of their abilities with ritual magic). (And far the best sorcerer at tier 1 was the Aberrant Mind because of twinning spells like Dissonant Whispers and Hideous Laughter for "budget second level" spells out of first level slots; this may well have changed)
• At tier 4 the Wizard is waaaay ahead of the sorcerer and almost certainly the strongest class in the game. The ability to mix up their ninth level spells from a great spell list (and have better high level spells than are on the cleric or druid lists) can be monstrous
• At tier 3, especially low tier 3 the Warlock is the strongest class. The level 11 power spike from two fifth level spells per short rest to three fifth level spells per short rest plus a sixth per long rest (oh, and a third Eldritch Blast) is massive even if they don't then scale as well as the true full casters because Mystic Arcana are so inflexible.
• Tier 2 is the best balanced (and the improved invocations will help prevent the warlock lagging in late tier 2 the way they do in 2014 rules)
• In terms of pure 100% combat power the 2024 sorcerer beats the 2024 wizard by design (and the Draconic Sorcerer gets both offence and defence). The wizard smokes just about everyone in downtime.

 

[Staffan]

Yes.

I am assuming 0 finding or buying spells. Just the ones they get for free.

Anything more is bonus.

This is an issue in general, and connected to WOTC's adventure offerings. Many of their adventures are large in scope, spanning multiple levels and with few if any opportunities for downtime. In addition, adventures tend not to include all that many found spellbooks, or even scrolls, and the rules are rather silent on the cost of acquiring spells to copy into your spellbook (they specify the cost of the copying itself, but not of acquiring something to copy). That means that one of the wizard's main abilities, that of expanding their spell selection, is extremely campaign-reliant.

 

[mellored]

In addition, adventures tend not to include all that many found spellbooks

I am still completely ignoring any found spells.
Just as I ignore magic items.

expanding their spell selection, is extremely campaign-reliant.

So is every class.

Have a campaign in a vast open desert with no locks and no cover to hide behind will make the rogue worse.

A campaign on air ships fighting bow wielding dragon riders will make the paladin less potent.

Being a dragon sorcerer in a puzzle dungeon full of traps and hazards that you can't charm or blow up isn't going to go well.

And while the wizard might not be a top class in every campaign, they will never be the worst either.

I suppose if you get to swap characters in between each one-shot, then that versatility doesn't do much.

 

[tetrasodium]

Wizards still have too many spells those other arcane casters won't have available. This is a fact because the wizard list is much larger.

The devil is in the details. While there are going to be some gems, without scaling by caster level the vast majority of those spells that can tote this sort of label

are going to be ones at the bottom of the trash tier grouping of spells like wall of sand. Nearly all of the "wizard exclusive" spells that might be considered worth casting are spells granted to one or more sorcerer/warlock subclasses as always prepared by their subclass after their base class already compensated them for the reduced class spell list making them simply a case of "I chose x top shelf spell at this slot level rather that Y spell" that doesn't need to have a power offset. That all once again it loops back to the oft repeated problem of the other arcane classes getting real tangible benefits at the loss of

This still isn't true. The wizard list contains almost the entire sorcerer list while the opposite isn't true and the bard or warlock list share some spells but those lists diverge away from the wizard list.

Seer above, this is single leaf on a single tree level focus, pull back to the forest

If there is some weird group that you're in where you are playing a wizard and someone else is playing another arcane caster and they are trying to take "all your spells" then let them try. Your wizard can just take different spell that they cannot and also change them up easily whereas they need to level up in order to make minor changes.

They don't need to because 5e's spell design itself does that by making it so they all have the same logically best choices, most of those are damage focused to boot. Spell choices centered around Non-damage themed (de)buff/control spell choices like the old god wizard or whatever are possible, but the massive overuse of concentration shrinks the viable pool of spells before you are just adding filler down so low that it renders it irrelevant for the wizard to have a strength of a wider spell list with more choices.

Yes, but when it was discussed earlier what I'm continuing to say now was demonstrated. There isn't any information in what you are stating. It's just "I'm right because I said it before" when what was stated before was the same claims without any evidence to back those claims up.

You misunderstand by insisting that you are right simply by repetition. I pointed out that it was discussed earlier because you were not adding anything new by bringing it up again .