D&D 5E Challenge - Optimize a 10th level wizard's spell prep

[Wolfwood2]

A PC I play in a long-running but slow-moving game has just made 10th level. To give you an idea how slow-moving, this character started out in 3E, was translated to 4E, and was translated again to 5E. Slow-moving as it has been, the DM has been reasonably generous about letting me scribe new spells. Generous to the point where I have many more spells than I can actually prepare every day. So I thought it would be interesting to see what people think ought to fill his 15 spells slots (20 intelligence + 10 levels) on days where I don't know what he might encounter.

What spells should he prepare when in the city? When on the road? In the wilderness/dungeon? Choose 15 spells from the list... and choose wisely!

Relevant information:
Wizard (Conjuration) 10
Forest Gnome
Feats: Spell Sniper (please, no comments on it being a dumb choice)
Trained Skills: Investigation, Arcana, History, Persuasion
Relevant attuned magic items: Bracers of Armor (constant effects of mage armor spell), Wildshape Amulet (1/day wildshape as per a Druid 8)

Spell Slots:
1st: 4; 2nd: 3; 3rd: 3; 4th: 3; 5th: 2

CANTRIPS KNOWN: Mage Hand; Light; Fire Bolt; Ray of Frost (spell sniper); Minor Illusion (forest gnome); Message; Prestidigitation

1ST-LEVEL SPELLS
Alarm (ritual); Protection from Evil and Good (concentration); Shield; Mage Armor; Find Familiar; Fog Cloud (concentration); Grease; Tenser's Floating Disk (ritual); Unseen Servant (ritual); Comprehend Languages (ritual); Detect Magic (concentration) (ritual); Identify (ritual); Sleep; Magic Missile; Thunderwave; Illusory Script (ritual); Silent Image (concentration); Expeditious Retreat (Concentration)

2ND-LEVEL SPELLS
Cloud of Daggers (Concentration); Web (Concentration); Locate Object (Concentration); Melf’s Acid Arrow; Scorching Ray; Shatter; Invisibility (Concentration); Mirror Image; Nystrul's Magic Aura; Enlarge/Reduce Person (Concentration); Levitate (Concentration); Magic Weapon (Concentration); Rope Trick

3RD-LEVEL SPELLS
Dispel Magic; Glyph of Warding; Magic Circle; Fae Passage (new spell - pass through gate to realm of faerie); Sleet Storm (Concentration); Stinking Cloud (Concentration); Fireball; Hypnotic Pattern; Major Image (concentration); Phantom Steed (ritual); Fly (Concentration); Gaseous Form (Concentration)

4TH-LEVEL SPELLS
Conjure Minor Elementals (Concentration); Dimension Door; Fire Shield; Wall of Fire (Concentration); Fabricate; Polymorph (Concentration)

5TH-LEVEL SPELLS
Cloudkill (Concentration); Conjure Elemental (Concentration); Teleport Circle; Contact Other Plane (Ritual); Bigby’s Hand; Wall of Force; Dream; Seeming

The tricky part is that so many of these spells are concentration. So for a general load-out, what 15 would you pick?

 

[Greg K]

try the charop area.

 

[AaronOfBarbaria]

Here are the spells I'd prepare for a normal adventuring day if I were playing that character - though I'm not going to call them "optimal" choices since making actually optimal choices is impossible without knowing what sort of adventure the character is up against.

shield, mage armor, grease, mirror image, rope trick, melf's acid arrow, dispell magic, fireball, fly, conjure minor elementals, wall of fire, polymorph, cloudkill, conjure elemental, teleporation circle

 

[steeldragons]

I suppose I should preface all of this by saying, I don't "optimize" characters. So take the below with a grain of salt. But given the options you present, the following seems to make sense to me for a flavorful and helpful conjurer.

1st: Fog Cloud (for the conjuration flavor as much as the defensive use), Detect Magic (for utility), Sleep and Thunderwave (for offense/crowd control). Most of your utility is in ritual, which is great! Exactly as it should be/I would be trying to do it as a wizard PC of any specialty. So use Alarm whenever you hunker down for the night. Unseen Servant on a rest, just because/to be magicky/help you out with setting up or packing or cooking or whatever. Comprehend Languages, of course, as it arises. Identify on rests, as necessary. Right there, you've doubled your effectiveness/contribution and 1st level spell output without having to prepare more than 4.

2nd: Cloud of Daggers (again conjuration flavor along with defense), Web, Invisibility (for personal safety/hiding if necessary), Scorching Ray (for direct offense, if needed. If you take 3 spells in 4th or 5th, see below, then drop Scorching Ray).

3rd: Dispel Magic (always a must, to have "in case"), Fireball (your "SURPRISE!" damage spell), Fae Passage (always prepare this as an absolute last resort escape route)

4th: Conjure Minor Elementals (obvious conjure flavor & offense), Wall of Fire (offense or defense as necessary). If not on the road/in a necessarily dangerous situation, maybe add Fabricate as well for conjure flavor as much as utility. But most times, I'd probably only prepare the two to use among the three slots or save the third slot to cast a lower level spell with.

5th: I'd say take Teleport Circle or Seeming (useful for the whole group for escape and/or infiltration). With either of those, Wall of Force is just too good to not take as a matter of course.

I would generally leave Conjure Elemental (is anyone else horrified/mystified that this is not castable as a ritual?) alone unless I was preparing/knowing I was going into a BIG fight...and even then, is the potential offensive power more or less useful than the ability to get everyone out in a flash (teleport circle) or defend everyone from...well, pretty much anything (wall of force)?

Think that makes a flavorful, useful, and deceptively powerful gnomish conjurer.

 

[DMCF]

For a slow moving campaign how often does your DM have you in a thrilling chase scene? If not often then I'd dump the ritual spells. Without knowing your roll in the party this is also hard. I've picked what I feel would have the most wide-spread usefulness in the day of an adventuring wizard.

1. Fog Cloud, Grease, Magic Missile, Silent Image (Sleep if you have Minor Illusion cantrip)
2. Enlarge, Levitate, Rope Trick
3. Hypnotic Pattern, Gaseous Form, Dispel Magic
4. Dimension Door, Wall of Fire, Fabricate
5. Conjure Elemental, Teleport Circle

Sleep looses a lot of it's appeal in later levels as a combat spell, but in RP situations with nobles and commoners or minions just in place to sound an alarm it is still holds amazing capabilities, but I can definitely see changing it depending on the situation.

 

[Flamestrike]

Shield; Unseen Servant (ritual); Detect Magic (concentration) (ritual); Sleep; Magic Missile

Scorching Ray; Invisibility (Concentration); Mirror Image; Rope Trick

Fireball; Major Image (concentration); Fly (Concentration)

Polymorph (Concentration), Dimension door

Wall of Force

Would be my standard load out.

 

[Kalshane]

I don't have anything to add, except some (not all) folks seem to be forgetting that Wizards are special in that they don't need to prepare Ritual spells in order to cast them as such, they simply have to have them in their spell book. Considering you're extremely unlikely to need something like Unseen Servant in combat (I won't say never, but most of those situations could be easily covered by the Mage Hand cantrip), there's no reason for a wizard to actually prepare it.

Also, with a one minute casting time, Teleportation Circle isn't going to be great in "we need to leave NOW!" situations. Though if you have a way to hold the enemies off for a minute (such as with Wall of Force, as mentioned above) it's still a nice escape route.