How does one beef up damage dealt by 2nd lvl Wizard?

[Labon]

How can one increase damage dealt out by a 2nd lvl Eladrin Wizard? Take for example this scenario which left the damage potential rather weak for our Wizard. Granted the roles for a wizard and ranger are different but the amount of damage seems to be significant at 2nd level. (The characters only using At-will powers and using only PH1)

Wizard: Casts a Magic Missile using a +1 Staff of Defense for 2d4 +3 (int) + 1 (magic staff) equals max of 12 pts or average of 9 pts.

Ranger : Shoots a long bow w/ Hunter’s Quarry and Nimble Strike and assumes both hit for ((1d10 + 3(dex)) (x2)) + 1d6 = max of 32 pts or average of 20.5 pts. Heck, with one hit, our ranger deals 1d10 + 3 + 1d6 for max of 19pts or an average of 12pts. (Our Ranger actually has 4 DEX and a Weapon Focus feat for another +1, so the numbers come out even higher)

So, how can those Wizards keep up?

 

[Droogie128]

Wizards can't keep up with rangers in damage. Noone can. Rangers are strikers, wizards are controllers. They have completely different functions in combat.

Just choose feats to boost the damage types you use, also items like the staff of ruin will help a lot. Could also consider dual implement spellcaster.

Also, why is your ranger using Nimble Strike instead of Twin Strike? Twin Strike is the highest damage at-will in the game.

 

[LightPhoenix]

The short answer is they're not supposed to.

Rangers are supposed to be doing large amounts of damage, more than non-Strikers. In fact, Rangers are perhaps the largest damage-dealers in the game. What Wizards have that Rangers don't is a lot of effects, and a lot of multi-target abilities (see: Thunderwave, Scorching Burst). Even the post-errata Magic Missile is great for minion control, since it doesn't use an attack roll.

 

[Ahrimon]

There's a couple of things stacked against the wizard here.

First, wizards are controllers and rangers are strikers. A strikers primary purpose is damage. A controller is about battlefield manipulation. The big damage from a controller comes from an AOE and a lot of targets. Against any individual target they controller just can't keep up. The days of the king of the hill wizard are over.

Second, I'm confused about what abilities you are talking about with the ranger. Nimble strike is only one attack. 1d10+(dex) +1d6. Twin Strike allows two attacks, but you don't get your dex modifier to damage. Some of the confusion might come from, if you played previous editions, the fact that bows used to attack twice per round. Now it's all based on the attack ability that you use. The weapon is just the tool used for the power now. Ranged basic=one attack, Nimble strike=one attack, Twin strike=two attacks.

Third, When 4e first came out the controller role and wizard suffered from a lack of clear focus. This has been fixed in later books such as arcane power. Or even the new mage in Heroes of the Forgotten Lands. If you are being restricted to PHB1 then the wizard is in for a struggle. At least allow the erratad powers. A lot of wizard encounters received half damage on miss when essentials came out.

 

[Mapache]

As others have said, wizards can't keep up with rangers in damage, because damage is the ranger's entire job. Additionally, you seem to not be using the current version of the rules, as that's not how Magic Missile works anymore; it no longer has an attack roll or damage roll, and instead automatically does a fixed amount of damage. I have no idea what you're calculating with the ranger, as you seem to be letting Nimble Strike hit twice; you should be using Twin Strike instead, because it's the best at-will in the game precisely because it does hit twice, but it doesn't add Dex damage. Furthermore, it looks like both characters have a 16 in their primary attack stat, which is horribly low. After racial bonuses, you should go for an 18 or 20.

 

[Lancelot]

As noted, 4E wizards are controllers, not strikers. Their purpose is to to control the battlefield, not dish out huge amounts of damage.

Having said that, though, consider that the ranger above is doing 20 average damage to a single target. If the wizard above chooses an area-effect at-will power (say, thunderwave), they could be dishing out an average 7-8 damage per opponent within the area. If they hit more than 2 opponents, they're actually doing more damage than the ranger. Wizards have access to many burst and blast powers, which means they can (in aggregate) be amongst the most damaging members of the party.

If you're looking for "single target" elimination, you want to look at effects rather than raw damage. The 1st level Daily Power sleep is an example of this. Any enemy you hit that fails it's initial save becomes helpless, which means automatic critical hit from your allies when they coup de grace it. Your wizard might not be the character that deals the killing blow, but he's effectively the one that eliminated the opponent.

...but again, the main purpose of the wizard is to prevent the enemy from making the best possible use of their own attacks against your party. You have walls and zones to shape the battlefield... you have effects that move, slow and daze enemies... you have summoned creatures that can get in the way of enemy attacks, and fight back... the ranger, for all his damage, has very little of any of this.

Some final notes, purely in regards to the examples given above...

• both characters would have benefitted from a higher Int/Dex (start with an 18 at least, after racial adjustments)
• the wizard would probably have been better off with a wand rather than a staff, if their focus was on damage (more accuracy, rather than more defense).
• magic missile, while a good power, dishes out less aggregate damage than an at-will area attack like thunderwave, assuming you're fighting multiple opponents each fight and can position yourself well.
• you definitely want to look at the post-errata magic missile, which hits automatically (especially as it sounds like your attack bonus is on the low-side for a wizard - many wizards will have a +5 Int after racial adjustment, implement expertise for +1 attack, and the wand of accuracy class feature).
• look at other sources for feats. PH2, PH3, Arcane Power, and the new Essentials releases all have good feats for improving wizard damage and accuracy. At a minimum, take Implement Expertise (+1 attack with implements). It's more important for a wizard to hit, than to do damage... as they usually have cool effects triggering off their powers.
• check the WotC website for errata, or pick up Heroes of the Fallen Lands. Wizards in particular received a do-over in Essentials. Several of their powers have been revised or improved. The most significant change is that msot wizard encounter powers now do damage even if they miss, which is a big improvement.

 

[Prestidigitalis]

I suspect that the OP meant to say Twin Strike rather than Nimble Strike. Perhaps being unfamiliar with the classes, Nimble Strike is simply the one that stuck in memory after the session?

 

[UngeheuerLich]

And still twin strike does no dex modifier damage...

and without the dex modifier and without quarry twin strike does not that much damage...

having a high chance to apply quarry damage and the chance for two hits and an increased crit chance is what lets it stick out.

 

[AbdulAlhazred]

If you are running a pure PHB1 Wizard then you have a bit of a tricky task. Focusing on damage output using just PHB1 is going to lead to frustration. Staff of Defense is a good solid implement choice. You will definitely want to have 18 or even 20 INT and probably a WIS secondary, and maybe decent CON. One of the best uses for staff wizards being 'in your face' tactics. You could for instance use Thunderwave for one at-will and maybe CoD or Scorching Burst for the other. MM is OK, but the damage is anemic and 20 range doesn't really compensate. CoD actually has excellent overall damage output, kills minions automatically, and deters the enemy from entering the square it targets.

Level 1 encounter powers that can work well would include Chill Strike (awesome control effect), Icy Terrain (nice control effect and the difficult terrain can be pretty handy). Ray of Enfeeblement isn't bad either, weakness is not super strong, but damage reduction is always nice and the damage is not bad (worthless against undead though).

Basically in general Flaming Sphere is far and away the best choice for level 1 daily powers in PHB1. Sleep is a great power, but usually requires a bit of support to take best advantage of, though in the right situation it can be awesome.

Basically level 2 Utility power choice is Shield. Expeditious Retreat is not bad, but with Fey Step you don't really need it.

Going on to level 3 you have 2 solid choices, Color Spray, and Icy Rays. If you don't mind getting right in the enemy's face CS is probably better, but Icy Rays is pretty solid.

Level 5 is pretty much Stinking Cloud. Web is pretty solid but Big Stinky can usually accomplish the same task plus nasty damage output. Bigby's can do nice single-target damage over time, but the grabbing effect is easy to escape and overall it is a bit weak compared to the other good choices. Fireball is totally worthless.

What you really want to accomplish is dropping effects on the enemy. Concentrate on that. Just say no to stuff like Force Orb and Fire Shroud that do just raw damage. Let the ranger take care of that, he's got it handled. Your job is to slow down the enemy, improve your team's chances of hitting, and to reshape the battlefield so that the party can gain the advantage. You won't get lots of kills and your direct contribution to winning can seem a bit limited at times, but the DM will learn to hate you.

 

[Ahrimon]

If you don't want to buy any more books, many of the spell changes can be found in the errata on wizards site.