Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
White Dwarf Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Nest
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
EN Publishing
Twitter
BlueSky
Facebook
Instagram
EN World
BlueSky
YouTube
Facebook
Twitter
Twitch
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
Defensive Staff Wizard vs. Deadly Orb Wizard
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Mistwell" data-source="post: 4550578" data-attributes="member: 2525"><p>I am trying to decide between two builds, and I wanted some advice from folks who have played wizards more than I have.</p><p></p><p>Both builds will use humans, with point buy, and I would prefer an illusion theme if possible. I will be playing with a fairly well balanced group, and all the roles except controller are covered by the group.</p><p></p><p>The first build is an Orb wizard. Int 16 (18), Wis 16, Con 12, Chr 12 (for Spell Focus later), Dex 10, Str. 8. To gain advantage from the orb, this wizard will select Sleep as one of his daily spells (and flaming sphere as the other one), and Thunderwave as an at-will (to take advantage of the higher wis). The other two at-wills will be illusory ambush (or cloud of daggers, if someone can talk me into that) and scorching burst. Encounter will be grasping shadows. Eventually, there will be more spells that benefit from a high wisdom, and of course the orb ability will come into play more at higher levels with the reduction to saving throws. Feats are likely improved initiative (to try and get a grasping shadows off early at a group of baddies) and action surge (to spend on my daily most often, to make sure it hits).</p><p></p><p>This wizard has more potential to deal out deadly spells, but a lot of that is in the future. For example, his sleep spell may well essentially kill things once a day. However, this wizard also lacks hit points, and has a low AC.</p><p></p><p>The second wizard is a staff wielding one. Mostly the same build as before, but the two feats will be leather armor and hide armor, for a total AC of 18 at first level. Wis and Con will be flipped, so he will have more hit points and his staff power will be more effective. This wizard will be harder to hit, and more durable. However, his potential to deal out death in the future is a bit lower, he will almost never go first and thus will have a hard time hitting a group of enemies at the beginning, and his daily will miss more often without action surge. Also his thunderwave only pushes one square, and he cannot deny saving throws like the orb wizard can.</p><p></p><p>So, what do you think? Which build do you think tends to be better in play? Any suggestions?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Mistwell, post: 4550578, member: 2525"] I am trying to decide between two builds, and I wanted some advice from folks who have played wizards more than I have. Both builds will use humans, with point buy, and I would prefer an illusion theme if possible. I will be playing with a fairly well balanced group, and all the roles except controller are covered by the group. The first build is an Orb wizard. Int 16 (18), Wis 16, Con 12, Chr 12 (for Spell Focus later), Dex 10, Str. 8. To gain advantage from the orb, this wizard will select Sleep as one of his daily spells (and flaming sphere as the other one), and Thunderwave as an at-will (to take advantage of the higher wis). The other two at-wills will be illusory ambush (or cloud of daggers, if someone can talk me into that) and scorching burst. Encounter will be grasping shadows. Eventually, there will be more spells that benefit from a high wisdom, and of course the orb ability will come into play more at higher levels with the reduction to saving throws. Feats are likely improved initiative (to try and get a grasping shadows off early at a group of baddies) and action surge (to spend on my daily most often, to make sure it hits). This wizard has more potential to deal out deadly spells, but a lot of that is in the future. For example, his sleep spell may well essentially kill things once a day. However, this wizard also lacks hit points, and has a low AC. The second wizard is a staff wielding one. Mostly the same build as before, but the two feats will be leather armor and hide armor, for a total AC of 18 at first level. Wis and Con will be flipped, so he will have more hit points and his staff power will be more effective. This wizard will be harder to hit, and more durable. However, his potential to deal out death in the future is a bit lower, he will almost never go first and thus will have a hard time hitting a group of enemies at the beginning, and his daily will miss more often without action surge. Also his thunderwave only pushes one square, and he cannot deny saving throws like the orb wizard can. So, what do you think? Which build do you think tends to be better in play? Any suggestions? [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
Defensive Staff Wizard vs. Deadly Orb Wizard
Top