any tactics for a definsive wizard?

[Elder-Basilisk]

If I were playing your party members, I'd leave you at the inn and recruit a different wizard to adventure with me. (If I wanted a half-competent crossbowman with a lousy BAB, I'd hire a commoner). From the sounds of things, smart enemies don't need to bother doing anything to you because there's very little chance you'll ever do anything to them. They can kill all the useful characters then deal with you at their leisure. Or not. It's not as if there's much risk you'll mess them up if they don't deal with you.

Seriously, if you spend all of your energies on defense it ends up being the functional equivalent of sitting in the bar and drinking until the PCs come in and then casting identify for them in order to pay your bar tab. Forget the multiple Endure Elements. They don't help all that often and five magic missile spells would help you every time you cast them. If you don't want to make yourself a target, cast haste on the party (3.5) or on a main fighter (3.0) for your first action and then cower in the corner (or an Otiluke's resilient sphere if the corner is too dangerous for you) until the rest of the party has killed all the big bad monsters. But do SOMETHING with your spells to help.

 

[jayaint]

If I were playing your party members, I'd leave you at the inn and recruit a different wizard to adventure with me. (If I wanted a half-competent crossbowman with a lousy BAB, I'd hire a commoner).

If you don't want to make yourself a target, cast haste on the party (3.5) or on a main fighter (3.0) for your first action and then cower in the corner (or an Otiluke's resilient sphere if the corner is too dangerous for you) until the rest of the party has killed all the big bad monsters. But do SOMETHING with your spells to help.

Thank you. Amen. Preach on, Brother Elder-B. I tried this approach about two/thirds of a page ago, and got nowhere. But glad to hear a second.

 

[two]

Just cast Mirror Image at the start of every battle, and then do something useful to help the party.

Whenever your images drop to 1-2, cast it again. Heck, get a wand of Mirror Image if you are freaking out about danger.

At lower/moderate levels (up to 10th or so), nothing (almost nothing) can "see" through the images, meaning your mage will be "immune" to most targeted spells and missed by most attacks. Unless you wander into the middle of a horde of grunts, you can hang out and feel confident that a random archer/spellcaster/monster taking a pot shot your way will either miss or, more likely, choose another target.

It is very hard to be killed when you are mirror imaged, unless your are hit by area effect spells, multiply. Or somehow surrounded.

So, just relax, and actually be proactive/have fun with the game. Mirror Image is the best 2nd level defensive spell ever.

 

[Elder-Basilisk]

Yeah, I think I got caught up in the moment. As a DM (or player), nothing annoys me more than characters who spend all their energy on saving their own hides and leave their companions to rot. The real irony is that they aren't really helping themselves since by increasing the chances that the rest of their party falls, they increase the chances that they will be killed too. And because all of those carefully erected defenses aren't necessarily enough to save them if the bad guys decide to go after them (even if the bad guys go after them later).

Cast Shield in round 1 and you reduce your chances of taking damage from the bad guys. Kill a bad guy with magic missile on round 1 and you eliminate everyone's chances of taking damage from him. Separate half of the bad guys with a Wall of Force and you've eliminated everyone's chances of taking damage from them for at least a round. Cast Mirror Image and the bad guys may just introduce you to the interaction of Great Cleave with low AC, no hp images. Cast Protection From Arrows, and the bad guys will almost certainly introduce you to the fact that GMW scales faster than it (3.0 or 3.5 although at least you can get ahead of a lower level caster in 3.0). Cast Minor Globe of Invulnerability and the bad guys will demonstrate why you'd rather have them using fireballs. (If you're level 7+, odds are they are too--hello Enervation, Hold Monster, Feeblemind, etc).

Defense is important (and is best done before combat or with spells that also increase offensive capability (Righteous Might, Divine Power, Bear's Heart, Polymorph, Blink (if you have expert tactician or sneak attack), etc). Neglecting offense is an even surer road to defeat than neglecting defense.

Thank you. Amen. Preach on, Brother Elder-B. I tried this approach about two/thirds of a page ago, and got nowhere. But glad to hear a second.

 

[mzsylver]

saving the wizard

i play an Arcane Trickster and as people have said, one of the best ways to live is to not be attacked.

energy buffer is great for dragons/fire ball sorcerers if you dont have evasion. consider blowing 2 levels on rogue or one on monk. evasion is endlessly helpful.

to increase your chance of not being targeted but still being functional, go invisible the first round and cast spells that help your party: HEROISM, HASTE, Buff Spells (cats grace, endurance), Enlarge, Impr Invis on the Rogue, Keen Edge, False Life (if you're in 3.0 land), FLY, Stoneskin, Illusory Wall, Wall of Force. summoning silent monsters is another great idea people have mentioned.

i am also afraid of insta-kill death spells. beg the cleric for a deathward or rely on Blink or Ghostform for a 50/50 miss chance.

also... consider telling the party to capture a tough monster for you to Magic Jar into (which you can get next level). nothing like adventuring in someone else's body. have your familiar hold the focus gem and stay in the rogue or cleric's pocket.

i wish you luck! =)

 

[Sejs]

Melee combat: fly, levitate, air walk or some other way to make yourself not be on the ground. If they can't reach you to hit you, they can't hurt you. Not 100% effective because combat can and does happen in restricted terrain. But for those times when you have room to maneuver - make use of that room.

Save or Die stuff: research Death Ward. It's perfectly acceptable as an arcane abjuration.

 

[Ferox4]

I know I seem to go a little too far when it comes to my personal saftey but me and an old gaming freind of mine always said, "the name of the game is protect your Quarterback, me" Maybe its because him and me were big on playing wizards, but we belived the main job off all the other classes (fighters, clerics, ect.) was to make sure the wizard was safe. We are the frailest and can dish out the most pain so we are the prime target for anything and everything.

Not only that but all my wizard are usually arrogant, as a wizard should be, and I see myself as the king on a chessboard. Also, my wizards usually have some animosity toword sorcerers, but im getting off the point.

Why should they "protect their quarterback" when their quarterback is riding the pine? I would also argue that the Cleric is most often the QB in a party, but that's a digression.....

I never saw your reply to the question:

Is this a character concept...or a player concept?

And this goes beyond arrogance. Every party member could sit around and brag about their value to the party, what they can do and why their so indispensable. If you were in my party you'd best be sleeping with one eye open - you'd have more to fear from your "friends." :

My party member have gotten on to me for combat cowardness put i always counter them with.

"whose tiny hut is it we sleep in every night?"

"who cast reduce on the stoned party members so we coulde carry them back?"

"who makes the rope tricks so we can all have 8 hours of saftey"

"who IDs all the magical items?"

"and who's going to be our major from of transportation when he gets teleport next level."

See, I may be a little cowardly but i contribute much to the party. Think of me more as a utility tool than a combat person. Im like a highly prized magical item or familiar.

 

[MarauderX]

I like your ideas, and thought I would share.
I went with a monk/fighter/wizard build to get his AC and saves up, as my last two characters died because of missed Fort and Reflex rolls. It sucked, and now my build is more of a gimmick PC (he has Great Throw, but running is his best ability, really) and has the highest AC(=23) in the party after casting Mage Armor (we're all 7th level). His saves are among the best in the party as well, with high fort from 2 levels in fighter, Will is high for a level in wizard and his high Wisdom, and reflex is up there since his Dex is high too. His strategy now is to run around drawing attacks from opponents while trying to survive, allowing his teammates to down those that waste their time targetting him. With Expertise and Dodge, his AC gets better, and once he reaches 8th level(4th in Monk) his AC will jump up by 2 - 1 for monk, 1 as he adds his ability bonus to dex. With deflect arrows, he doesn't need the spell, and a high tumble and movement rate let him enter/exit a tight spot fast. At 9th level, he will be able to get Grappling Block, a feat from OA that turns potential hits on him into disarming his opponents.
Yup, he is pretty defensive.

 

[Elaer]

An opinion from a player of a very defensive epic wizard...

Perhaps the problem some people have with a defensive wizard is that they view them as somewhat worthless in combat. This is not necessarily true, but but I might yield the point in order to make another:

There is no wrong way to play the game if it is still fun.

If someone doesn't want their character to die, and therefore decides to focus on that defense, that's no less valid than someone making a different choice.

The offensive characters, who don't like taking all the risks in combat while others hang back, may want to leave the defensive characters back, because they are cowards.

The utility characters, who spend all their time figuring out how to get a 250 pound man wearing another 50 pounds of equipment through a dungeon, may want to leave the characters who can only fight behind, because they incompent.

The sneaky characters, who are sick of having all their hide and move silent checks ruined by characters in armor, might want to leave the armored friends behind, because they're clumsy.

The cleric who is sick and tired of having to heal the barbarian up to full hit points every time, so he can charge into combat, may want to leave him behind because he's reckless.

The bard may want to leave the other more brutish characters behind when they go to roleplay with the nobility, because they're rude.

I won't even make the argument that all characters are necessary to the party. I won't say that you'll be glad to have that defensive wizard when he is the only one to survive a near tpk or the barbarian when you need to hold a door, or any of the other possibilities. Instead, I'll point out that everyone who plays this game makes a character, usually that they think they'll enjoy, and to talk about how you would leave that character behind or not give him xp just to satisfy your view of "how the game should be played" makes the game less fun for that player.

In that case, I would say your the one who's not playing the game correctly.

 

[Otterscrubber]

Looks like you are playing 3.0, so might as well take advantage of that. Invis lasts for a decent amount of time so use that and buff your team mates with minimal risk to yourself. Invis only drops if you attack with it so you will still be invis and if you are worried about those creatures with gaze attacks just be sure to stay 30ft away or else close your eyes and polymorph into something with tremorsense. Based on what you've posted so far though doesn't sound like staying 30 ft away is a problem for you.

If your DM allows you to use the spell Ghostform (severely overpowered spell in my opinion) then use that. Awesome defensive and mobility options there. Invest in items to give you a higher Con asap as well as a ring of Freedom of Movement to help with those ugly grapple situations. If your party hasnt dumped you yet they are obviously finding value in your utility rather than combat usefullness and it should be no problem convincing them to give you a lion's share of the loot to afford these lofty items. Cloaks of displacement can also help in the unfortunate eventuality that you have to put yourself in harms way.