Best 6th-level wizard spells?

[Plane Sailing]

As an aside, Flesh to Stone is mechanically a superior spell to Disintegrate. Flesh to Stone is truly a save-or-die spell (unless your opponent has an ally with magic which will reverse the petrification to hand) with no attack roll. By comparison, Disintegrate is a save-or-get-hurt spell. By the time you can cast Disintegrate, its maximum damage won't actually kill the big things you're fighting. And it requires an attack roll.

Too true, unfortunately. An 11th level wizard will do 22d6 damage IF he hits and IF the target fails his Fort save - and with that many nice you are not going to get far off the average damage which is 77 damage. Compare that with the hit points of the 11th level NPC fighter in the DMG... he is very likely to be able to walk away from that disintegrate even if he fails the save now. Frankly 77 damage from a 6th level spell isn't that impressive. The way it is designed now it shouldn't bother with the save at all IMO. Either that or make the damage a flat 10 per level like Harm has.

< house rule >
My 3.5e house rule for disintegrate is that anything that fits within a 10ft cube disappears if it fails its save as per 3e; anything that is larger (i.e. Huge or bigger) just loses a chunk of itself and thus takes damage as per the 3.5e rules.
</ house rules >

 

[Taren Seeker]

IIRC Imbue Familiar with Spell Ability is 6th level, and a must have. Complete Arcane I think. Having your familiar cast slow, enervation or scorching ray in addition to your regular casting(s) per round is very useful. You can also give him Dispel Magic and let him try to counterspell, or just have him ready to disrupt with an ice storm or something. Closest thing to 3.0 haste you can get without being a Psion

Fires of Purity is a killer buff spell. Your fighters will thank you.

EDIT: Also mark me down as a big "meh" for 3.5 Disintegrate. It's pretty much a utility and Force killing spell now. You can do more damage with some Metamagiced Scorching Rays.

As a utility spell it's still good, but it's in scroll territory now.

 

[JoeBlank]

On Flesh to Stone v. Disintegrate:

I agree the damage is a problem, but you should not use this spell against high-Fort-save opponents anyway, and they are the ones likely to have high hit points.

Plus, Flesh to Stone affects your opponents equipment, so no phat lewt for you.

And Disintegrate has non-combat uses.

Plus, Flesh to Stone is limited to creatures made of flesh, as Diirk mentioned.

All things considered, I think Disintegrate is a little better, despite the ranged touch attack required. I'm taking it as my sorcerer's second 6th level spell, after acid fog (just hit 13th level).

 

[Taren Seeker]

Dhulaurk's Glasstrike: Like Flesh to Stone, but turns em to glass. Also leaves the items untouched Magic of Faerun.

Acid Fog is a good spell but I think you get more bang for your spell level buck with Solid Fog.

 

[Thanee]

Yeah, Acid Fog is rather weak for its level. The little damage it does is almost neglectible, and Solid Fog even has the better duration, tho that's not much of an issue either, unless you use it to "block" a passage for a while, for example.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Infiniti2000]

Well, the acid doesn't do a lot of damage, but the hope is that the enemy does not have acid resistance. If you combine mass resist energy (acid) on your meatshields with this spell, it will be a pretty effective combo. The enemy will have a difficult time escaping the cloud. Of course, this is all subject to a wide array of variables, but acid fog does have its uses. It's also useful in a pseudo-non-combat way -- it blocks off pursuit a lot better than solid fog. Enemies will likely go through a solid fog to chase you, but not acid fog.

 

[Angel of Adventure]

Has anyone mentioned Chain Lightning?

 

[JoeBlank]

Dhulaurk's Glasstrike: Like Flesh to Stone, but turns em to glass. Also leaves the items untouched Magic of Faerun.

Acid Fog is a good spell but I think you get more bang for your spell level buck with Solid Fog.

Hmm, I still have time to change my mind, and I like the sound of Dhulaurk's Glasstrike. Can anyone give me more info on this spell? I have MoF at home, but am heading to dinner and Batman Begins after work, won't get a chance to look at it until after midnight.

On Acid Fog, it has good and bad points. Couple it with a wall of force and it can do a good bit of damage, with no spell resistance.

 

[Nail]

Has anyone mentioned Chain Lightning?

It's not that good, really.

 

[Thanee]

Yep, Chain Lightning needs to be full damage to every target to be viable for its level. As written, it's more a 4th level spell than a 6th level spell.

Bye
Thanee