I've never played a Wizard, so I have questions

[Pants]

4. Sooner or later, you will be grappled. You will not have a good enough grapple check to break free except on a very lucky roll. (By 7th level, everyone but a halfling rogue has a grapple check comparable to yours). So, have a plan. Dimension Door, Stilled Gaseous Form, Stilled Blink, contingent blink, something. If you don't you'll be swallowed whole or squeezed to death by a monster some day or at the very least, grappled and incapacitated by a single minion of your foe's, taking you out of the fight just as surely as a Hold Person takes the fighter out.

My sorcerer learned how important Dimension Door is during yesterday's game when he got grappled by a kraken.

Wizards are very nice, but I prefer Sorcerers for their on-the-fly versatility. Metamagic is also much handier in the hands of a Sorcerer.

 

[Abraxas]

OK, here's the top 10 spells per spell level I'll probably want.

1st level
Charm Person, Expeditious Retreat, Grease, Identify, Mage Armor, Magic Missile, Ray of Enfeeblement, Reduce Person, Shield, True Strike

2nd Level
Alter self, Blindness/Deafness, False Life, Glitterdust, Invisibility, Mirror Image, Scorching Ray, See Invisibility, Spectral Hand, Web

3rd Level
Arcane Sight, Dispel Magic, Displacement, Fireball, Fly, Haste, Lightning Bolt, Protection from Energy, Slow, Stinking Cloud

4th Level
Bestow Curse, Black Tentacles, Charm Monster, Dimension Door, Enervation, Greater Invisibility, Polymorph, Scrying, Stoneskin, Wall of Fire

Feats: Collegiate Wizard, Skill Focus: Concentration, Arcane Mastery, Craft Wand. This leaves one feat I haven't selected yet.

Familiar: If I select a familiar it will be a weasel for the +2 to reflex saves.

 

[Victim]

Skill Focus Concentration seems like a poor choice. Granted, it's better than combat casting, but that's not saying much. Checks to cast defensively are usually not too difficult and avoidable. Checks to defeat damage are generally going to be A) very easy (lackeys try to disrupt), or B) nearly impossible (major enemy who hits hard). At higher levels, the feat is pretty much a waste.

The damage from Wall of Fire is low enough that it doesn't really stop anyone you couldn't have killed with a lower level spell. Bestow Curse is touch range, Will negates, and not really more crippling than easier spells to get off. Confusion isn't bad; it can really cripple groups of enemies, especially with low Will saves. Flameshield is a deterent like Wall of Fire, but hurts your enemies on a per attack basis. It also helps to ward off some elemental damage. Still, unless you plan on messing around in melee, probably not the best option. One of the Orb spells from CA might be nice. The damage isn't bad and they pack nice secondary effects.

 

[Abraxas]

I've seen enough failed concentration checks in those choke situations that I think it may be worth it.

If I drop it I'll probably take the point blank shot/precise shot combo or a couple Spell Focus feats. Unless there are some good ones from the various FR books/Complete ?? books/Mini HB/BoED that I haven't thought of.

What about a vow of poverty mage?
Its my understanding that Ray of Enfeeblement and the effects of Bestow Curse (which would be delivered via spectral hand) stack - this could easily completely mess up a fighter types day.

These are just PHB spells - like feats above I haven't gone through every other book allowed - any suggestions?

 

[Elder-Basilisk]

Feats: Arcane Mastery

Be careful with that one and check to see if the DM thinks it lets you take ten in combat. If it doesn't, it's only useful for things like preparing summoning circles, dispelling traps, removing curses, breaking enchantements, etc.

If it does, of course, it's dramatically superior to spell penetration etc (which is why I personally wouldn't allow it as a DM).

 

[Darthjaye]

I say try out the Summoner approach. Your group lost some of it's firepower when your cleric/fighter kicked right? If so make up for that and cover the Arcane part as well. Start by taking some of the summoning buffing feats from various Complete books and whatever else is allowed. Give yourself summon spells of minimum lvl 2 and higher with one every level. Now since your not a cleric don't rule out the fiendish creatures and maybe even evil creatures off the list. As evil as they are, they're summoned and have to grudgingly kill potentialy their own kind. Has a nice irony to it too. You go from being a cleric and using divine magic to battle evil to using evil itself to battle evil. Make sure your Nuetral though as to not have any conflicts of alignment with this theory though. Lastly, the summoner puts lots of creatures between him and the bad guys. Might not hurt to take Extend Spell to keep em around longer.

Just a thought though, but if you do decide to go with it update me on how it goes. I've been thinking about trying one myself but never got it off the ground yet.

 

[Elrik_DarkFury]

Become specialist.
Assuming you don't want to be the necromancer guy,or an enchanter, your power is going to be significantly greater than a generalist (i don't think you lose versatility).

The Incantatar (the 3.5 version in Player's Guide to Faerun) may be demanding , but completely worth picking.You have other casters in your party whom spells you can boost with metamagic for free.

You can also try the specialist variants in UA.Specially those demanding giving up your extra feats as a wizard are great if you plan to take levels in a prestige class.

Dont waste your feats in Combat Casting.In higher levels it is a complete waste you propably going to regret picking.

I wouldn't pick precise shot either (i can't see the reason some people choose this when there is a whole bunch of good feats for prestige classes etc.).

That, and my best wishes to another aspiring butt-kicking wizard.




P.S. Listen to what people say but make your own research.Wizards need great effort to shine but it is very rewarding.

Good Luck!!!

___________________
The Wizard

 

[glass]

I say try out the Summoner approach. Your group lost some of it's firepower when your cleric/fighter kicked right? If so make up for that and cover the Arcane part as well. Start by taking some of the summoning buffing feats from various Complete books and whatever else is allowed. Give yourself summon spells of minimum lvl 2 and higher with one every level.

This I agree with. Summoner is a great role for a wizard in combat, not least because you can direct summoned creatures while remaining invisible.

Now since your not a cleric don't rule out the fiendish creatures and maybe even evil creatures off the list. As evil as they are, they're summoned and have to grudgingly kill potentialy their own kind. Has a nice irony to it too. You go from being a cleric and using divine magic to battle evil to using evil itself to battle evil. Make sure your Nuetral though as to not have any conflicts of alignment with this theory though. Lastly, the summoner puts lots of creatures between him and the bad guys. Might not hurt to take Extend Spell to keep em around longer.

This, OTOH, I can't agree with. Summoning fiendish critters is an [Evil] spell. Casting [Evil] spells is an evil act, and if you make a habit of it your character's alignment will slide towards evil quicksmart.


glass.

 

[Shallown]

If your GM allows for magic items outside those listed in the DMG. I would invest in a staff immediately. Use the rules to create a staff with 2-3 1st level spells and you will always be useful in combat. Things like magic missile, shield, any lesser orb, mage armor all rock. You can put 3 1st spells in a staff for like 1650 gp or so. now you have 50 attack spells functioning at your level. also you have a weapon in hand if you need it.

Also lots of the good attack spells from the complete arcane are ranged touch so getting point blank shot and precise shot is not too bad an idea. I just started a 7th level generalist wizard who is biting his nails till 9th to pick up precise shot.

As far as meta magics honestly it is better to pick up rods that will get the job done.

False life is a great spell but consider getting a wand of it. It last a while and everyone in the party can benefit from the buffing. Haste, Stone skin are too great buffing spells for your group. I would not worry so much about defense and trust to your meat wall to help you. So skip the magic items that boost ac. Go for having a mage armor up most the day and casting shield if you have to. I pack cat's grace to help with my spells as well since even ranged touch attacks are tough for a mage to land at times. It also helps my AC.

And last but not least. HAve scrolls of everything. Make a scroll of about every spell in your book. You wouldn't have it in your book if it wasn't useful and having the scroll means you always have it ready. HAving 2-3 scrolls of haste at 5th level (minimum) means you can still light one off on the smaller combats saving your prepared one for the big combats. Keep track of the damage you do indirectly by using haste(that extra attack is your damge not the barbarian's he does it cause you say he can), keeping someone alive with stoneskin (each round after they would have dropped from taking too much damage is once again your damage) and you'll realize how useful those spells are.

Also budget some money to expand your spell book. My 7th spent like 3500 gp on extra spells alone. and It is worth it. Flexibility is a trade mark of a good wizard.

 

[Thanee]

That's actually why I suggested Arcane Mastery, and in fact that single feat may be better than Spell Penetration and Greater Spell Penetration combined. When you can take 10 on all caster level checks, including those to overcome Spell Resistance, that's a lot more reliable than a +2 only for SR.

Well, the feat doesn't say, that it allows to Take 10 in situations, where you could not Take 10 with a skill roll... like combat.

Bye
Thanee