Help with wizard5/war weaver2

[pressedcat]

Last week the regular group i play with suffered tpk, mostly due to poor party composition. So we all rolled our stats and agreed to create a working mercenary group. We'll all be starting at lvl 7 (half way to level eight so will have 3500XP to play with). The rest of the group will consist of a goliath fighter going down the combat brute/shock trooper route, a human two-weapon fighter, a spellthief and a cleric (probably going into radiant servant of pelor). I volunteered to be the group's wizard, but not having played one before, am struggling with some of the spell selection choices/feats. So far i have:

Grey elf wizard 5/war weaver 2, lawful neutral. (The 1st level of warweaver has no spell progression, so lvl 6 caster)

Stats(with racial bonuses inc., but not lvl 4 increase)
Str 10
Dex 18
Con 13
Int 18
Wis 13
Cha 10

Bab: +3, Fort +1 (+2 inc stat bonus), Ref +1 (+5), Will +7 (+8)

Feats: Scribe scroll, Meta. Enlarge (war weav. pre req) + 3 others, one of which is a wizard bonus spell

Skills: Knowledge arcane (6), Craft weaving (6) +48 to distribute, obviously with good range of knowledges, concentration, spell craft etc.

Spells per day (inc int bonus): 0 lvl (4); 1st (4); 2nd (4); 3rd (3)
Free spells in book: 1st (9); 2nd (4); 3rd (4)

Special: The warweaver can create a web between members in the group so that a single casting of any spell with harmless or target willing in spell description effects all members in the weave (with normal range restrictions), up to maximum level of class level.

The questions

1.Specialist vs elven non specialist
As well as useful party buff/enablers (some of these spells i can be carrying in scrolls), i will be the main ranged blaster, so would appreciate having as many spell slots as possible. To boost my spell slots, i could either be a specialist mage or go for the elven non-specialist substitution level (Races of wild, gives one extra slot at highest spell level, bonus spell for book each level).
If i went specialist in either conj. or evoc., i would probably drop ench. and necro. However never having played or seen a high level character, i dont know how much i would miss spells from these spells, especially since a lot of the save or die spell seem to be in these schools.
So the question is, is it worth sacrificing ench/necro spells, or would i be better off going for the elven specialist.

2. What feats to take
I have to take enlarge spell, but what other ones should i consider (have three more to take)?
I’ve considered metamagic empower and metamagic school focus if I go the specialist route (decreases level adjustment of metamagic on specialist spells by 1), but I really don’t have much of a clue for feats.

3. Any must have spells I should consider
Have got hold of the spell compendium, but feeling a bit swamped. Any really good new ones level 1 to 3.

What items should I spend my 19000gp on?

The books I currently have access to are core 3, phb2, complete- arcane, adventurer, divine, warrior, mage, heroes of battle, races of wild, spell compendium, magic item compendium.

Thanks in advance.

 

[moritheil]

Last week the regular group i play with suffered tpk, mostly due to poor party composition.

It's refreshing to see that you don't blame the DM!

Grey elf wizard 5/war weaver 2, lawful neutral. (The 1st level of warweaver has no spell progression, so lvl 6 caster)

Stats(with racial bonuses inc., but not lvl 4 increase)
Str 10
Dex 18
Con 13
Int 18
Wis 13
Cha 10

Bab: +3, Fort +1 (+2 inc stat bonus), Ref +1 (+5), Will +7 (+8)

Lower your dex and wis and get better Con if you can. You'll regret having a 13 con with d4 HD.

Feats: Scribe scroll, Meta. Enlarge (war weav. pre req) + 3 others, one of which is a wizard bonus spell

If you're allowed PGF, go for PGF Innate Spell. It requires two Metamagics (Silent and Still) and allows you to permanently lose one spell slot to gain three daily uses of a spell you can cast as a spell-like ability. Fireball or haste 3/day in exchange for losing one third level slot? I'd take that. Plus, once you qualify for it, you can go on and keep taking Innate Spell as you get new spell levels, then take Boost Spell-Like Ability and increase your save DCs for ALL those spell-like abilities. It's flagged as a metamagic feat, so you can use your wizard bonus feat slots to pick it.

1.Specialist vs elven non specialist

The elven generalist is always worth it. You learn many more spells, which you can use to pick up situational spells that you can then scribe to scrolls and never prepare. Your familiar also becomes more useful. My only caveat is to avoid the archery feats.

Thanks in advance.

My pleasure!

 

[pressedcat]

Thanks for the feedback. My stats were rolled, and i had a con of 15 before elven adjustment applied. My stats looked like 16, 16, 15, 13, 12, 10, so i could have used a 16 for con instead of dex i guess. I've still got the stat increase at 4 to assign, though i was tempted to boost my int even higher.

I'm now leaning towards collegiate training as a feat, so that if i go with the elven generalist, i'll have 16 1st, 10 2nd and 10 3rd level spells in my book for free (2 doubled by c.l. feat + 1 for elven sub =5 per level). If i then keep a load of scrolls prepared, i should be covered for most situations. I spotted an item in the magic item that dispenses scrolls on command, drawing them like a weapon and also giving a concentration bonus on casting the scroll defensively, which seems like it would work nicely, but at just under 3000gp i'm not sure if it is worth it (it's likely that most of the spells i'd scribe would be the utility ones like spider climb etc).

That is two of the four feats picked. I'm also thinking about craft wondrous item, but am not so sure on this one. Are there two other feats that would serve me better.

I checked out innate spell, but you need quicken, silent and still for it to work, and also need to permanently take up a slot 8 levels higher to use it, so thats out for a few levels yet.

 

[moritheil]

Thanks for the feedback. My stats were rolled, and i had a con of 15 before elven adjustment applied. My stats looked like 16, 16, 15, 13, 12, 10, so i could have used a 16 for con instead of dex i guess. I've still got the stat increase at 4 to assign, though i was tempted to boost my int even higher.

Hmm . . . you do want a very high int. Well, if you can rely on your teammates to keep you safe, I suppose you can get by.

I'm now leaning towards collegiate training as a feat, so that if i go with the elven generalist, i'll have 16 1st, 10 2nd and 10 3rd level spells in my book for free (2 doubled by c.l. feat + 1 for elven sub =5 per level). If i then keep a load of scrolls prepared, i should be covered for most situations.

Collegiate wizard is often a useful feat. I've never actually doubled it up with elven generalist, but it sounds like a good idea.

I spotted an item in the magic item that dispenses scrolls on command, drawing them like a weapon and also giving a concentration bonus on casting the scroll defensively, which seems like it would work nicely, but at just under 3000gp i'm not sure if it is worth it (it's likely that most of the spells i'd scribe would be the utility ones like spider climb etc).

I'm not familiar with all the new items in the MIC (unsurprisingly), so I'm not sure what to recommend there. For a belt slot you might consider the healing belt which is only 750 gp or so.

I'm also thinking about craft wondrous item, but am not so sure on this one. Are there two other feats that would serve me better.

CWI, while very very good with sufficient downtime, is not something I recommend for wizards. You already have an outlet for spare XP and downtime: scrolls.

I checked out innate spell, but you need quicken, silent and still for it to work, and also need to permanently take up a slot 8 levels higher to use it, so thats out for a few levels yet.

No, not Innate, PGF's Innate Spell. It has the same name and is an entirely different feat. It only requires Silent and Still, and it takes up a slot of the same level. The Innate Spell you're talking about involves sacrificing a slot 8 levels higher to get a spell-like ability at will. PGF Innate only gives you the spell-like ability 3/day.

 

[pressedcat]

My bad. Is pgf players guide to faerun? If so, none of the players have access to this book so i probably wont be able to use that feat, though it does sound pretty good.
Items i was looking at were:
Headband of intellect +2 (4000gp)
Cloak of resistance +1 (1000gp)
Rod of meta: extend (3000gp)
Ring of protection +1 (2000gp)
Infinite scrollcase (2800gp)
Circlet of mages (5000gp)
Total 17800gp.

The circlet of mages (something like that anyway), allows you to cast a number of memorized spells without burning the slot. Has three charges/day and lets you pick from 1st (1 charge), 2nd (2 charges) or 3rd (3 charges) spells. Also gives concentration bonus. I realise this takes up the same slot as the headband of intellect, but there's a table in the back of the magic item compendium which, if i'm interpreting it right allows you to stack some commonly used bonuses on the same slot for base prices. I might be wrong on this however.
This seems like a fair selection of items, but i'd welcome some feedback.

 

[moritheil]

My bad. Is pgf players guide to faerun? If so, none of the players have access to this book so i probably wont be able to use that feat, though it does sound pretty good.

Yes. And don't feel bad; it's WOTC's fault for making two feats with the same name!

Items i was looking at were:
Headband of intellect +2 (4000gp)
Cloak of resistance +1 (1000gp)
Rod of meta: extend (3000gp)
Ring of protection +1 (2000gp)
Infinite scrollcase (2800gp)
Circlet of mages (5000gp)
Total 17800gp.

The circlet of mages (something like that anyway), allows you to cast a number of memorized spells without burning the slot. Has three charges/day and lets you pick from 1st (1 charge), 2nd (2 charges) or 3rd (3 charges) spells. Also gives concentration bonus. I realise this takes up the same slot as the headband of intellect, but there's a table in the back of the magic item compendium which, if i'm interpreting it right allows you to stack some commonly used bonuses on the same slot for base prices. I might be wrong on this however.
This seems like a fair selection of items, but i'd welcome some feedback.

You're right on the MIC stacking rule.

I'm not really sure that extend is a better idea than silent. I normally fear a silence spell shutting me down as a spellcaster.

In terms of headbands, there's an item in C. Adv. that allows you to make a concentration check instead of a Fort save once per day. I believe it's only a couple thousand gold. You may want to put that on your list of features to incorporate into your headgear when you get more gold.

Rather than a +1 ring of protection, I'd strongly consider the MIC belt that lets you heal for a limited number of charges per day. It's under 1000 gp and technically I believe it can be swapped out, meaning you can have two for the price of a +1 ring. 3d6 hit points of healing, twice per day, might be more likely to save you in a fight.

 

[mr_outsidevoice]

If you go specialist, I recommend Transmutation, as most Buff Spells fall under that school. Dumping Necro and Enchantment can work.

If you want to go range, Point Blank Shot and Precise Shot are recommended. For your bonus wizard Feat you could look into a Reserve Feat from Complete Mage or Empower spell for damaging mojo.

Spells True Strike
Any Ray spell
Lesser X Orb is nice
Buffing spells, abjuration and Transmutation are filled with options
Bear's Endurance, cause all your friends will like the HP and Fort save bonus.
Heroics has potential

Find the PHB II, ther are some spells in there that you might like.

For your Items, those are good choices. If the Circlet of Mages is not allowed, look into a wand that lets you dish out damage, be it a Magic Missile at 5th level, or a Melf's Acid Arrow, or even a Wand of True Strike.

 

[BASHMAN]

You should't specialize in Evocation, as this would be a total waste of the War Weaver class. The whole point is to bull's strength the whole party for the cost of a single spell. You should specialize in buffs, which I think are usually abjurations, enchantments or transmutations, yes?

The non specialist might be a better way to go than having to pick one of these schools, though.

Other feats to consider: practiced spellcaster-- you'd be a 7th level caster, and you could take 3 more non-caster levels without losing an effective caster level (it gives +4 to caster level, but caster level cannot exceed your HD).

Magic item: that orange ioun stone that gives you a +1 caster level bonus is also a must.

 

[pressedcat]

There's so many items in the MIC to choose from that i was really spoilt for choice. I also really liked a set of bracers that for 2000gp which let you entangle creatures you damage with a spell for d4 rnds if you opt to deal 1/2 dam. This would be a really good use for magic missile. There's also a pair of gauntlets that let you add 1d6 slashing dam/level of spell a limited no. of times a day which is also awesome. I've got so many items lined up to buy when i have more cash that i'd probably need an infinite scroll case just for the shopping list

As for feats: Ive looked at reserve feats several times and liked some of the acid/fire ones, but was concerned about how close a range would be necessary until i gained higher level spells. The reserve feat that lets you dim door short ranges would also be great for escaping grapples etc, but again in the mic there are boots that let you do that.
Because of the number of items i like, i was considering craft won. it., but i'm concerned with time constraints, and although the dm does give down time, i could easily be spending this just scribing scrolls.
The ever dependable imp. init. might be worth it, but with a dex of 18 and cats grace i wonder whether this might not be overkill.
Point blank/precise shot has worked really well for a sorcerer in a campaign i'm running and if nothing shinier comes up i might take these feats so that i can continue to contribute once the bashers all move in.

I'm leaning more towards the elven generalist sub. now though i found that when i was eyeing up my free spells, i actually found myself selecting very few ench/necro ones. Still this campaign is designed to go to lvl 20ish, and i'm worried i'd miss those shools at higher levels. I was going to specialise in evoc or conj because i know i'm always going to want damaging spells, whilst many of the buff spells suffer far less when cast from scrolls (often its just a question of duration). Also, with a cleric in the party, we can share buffing duties, whereas i'd be the main artillery piece.

Still, more ideas on feats would be really welcome, because i've not seen many high level wizards in action and don't know what feats/combos work well together. Thanks

 

[ronin]

We had a war weaver in our last campaign and he rocked! He was a sorcerer that buffed the group and used the transposition line of spells to move the fighters around giving us many extra rounds of full attacks. Once he got celerity it was even worse. He was an swift and immediate action menace. He started at lower levels with animalistic power but later dropped it in favor of draconic might. He rarely ever did damage but he allowed the fighters in the group to do much damage thanks to his buff and movement spells. That combined with the 3 or 4 spells he'd cast in the first round of combat when he'd release his weave on the group made him very important for our group.

It's a very strong class.