Long Term Feasibility of a Non-blaster Wizard

[Dannyalcatraz]

Personally, I rarely use the poster-children for "Iconic" or "Overpowered" spells- in 30 years playing D&D, I've rarely had a spellcaster use Sleep or Magic Missile...and only one used Fireball (I prefer Lighting Bolt).

In fact, if you looked at my spell selections in PCs of past editions and put them in 3.X terms, most of my PCs would be Specialist mages of the Transmutation, Illusion, or Divination schools.

And yes, some are quite high level.

Find your theme and stick with it, but play the PC like he's intelligent- he does have a high Int, right? He'll be aware of the holes in his arcane prowess and take steps to mitigate them. That may mean doing a little multiclassing (divine spellcasting? fighting ability?) or spending money on magic items.

He may also accentuate his non-arcane strengths- a high-dex spellcaster may find proficiency with a ranged weapon allows him to hoard his spellpower for maximum effect and contribute even when his spells would be utterly useless. He's also going to have a good initiative roll- if his ranged attacks help soften up enemies before they get to his fighters, so much the better. (And, FYI, the Quiver of Ehlonna is cheap !)

 

[jasin]

My group is starting the Savage Tide tomorrow (no spoilers please!) and I'll be playing a wizard who specializes in battlefield control using such spells as webs, walls, and stat-sapping necromancy spells. I've also decided to use little if any direct damage spells. Has anyone tried this? How well did it work? Any tips?

I agree with the people who said that this is, in fact, among the more useful roles a wizard can fill.

However, unless you're really out to make a point ("I'm a pacifist, I never hurt people directly") you should consider having a wand of a realiable, cheap attack spell such as scorching ray or magic missile as something to fall back on when your walls and webs are already in place or when it's impractical to use them. Even at 10th-level, even 1d4+1 is better than "I do nothing", and it will give you something to do, removing the temptation to drop another web when it's not really needed (and might be needed later).

 

[WhatGravitas]

Direct damage spells are rather iffy, if you want to get the most out of a wizard's spells... for further advice, look into this list: Spells KILL people".

While I'm not a fan of the list, the usefulness is very high

 

[Jefe Bergenstein]

I agree with the people who said that this is, in fact, among the more useful roles a wizard can fill.

However, unless you're really out to make a point ("I'm a pacifist, I never hurt people directly") you should consider having a wand of a realiable, cheap attack spell such as scorching ray or magic missile as something to fall back on when your walls and webs are already in place or when it's impractical to use them. Even at 10th-level, even 1d4+1 is better than "I do nothing", and it will give you something to do, removing the temptation to drop another web when it's not really needed (and might be needed later).

Reserve feats are a better option that tossing a single magic missile.

 

[helium3]

Uh, make you sure you focus on spells that help you and your party members to deal with an aquatic environment. I hope that's not too much of a spoiler . . .

 

[resscane]

My group is almost finished the Shackled City adv. path. And I play a wizard currently 10 wiz/ 5loremaster/4 archmage. Worked up from 1st level.

The thing about this adventure path is there is bo down time. No time to study new spells, no time to make magic items. No time. You are on a brutal schedule to save the Oearth. Is Savage Tide the same in regards to deadlines.., I dont know.

We fight a lot of demons devils etc. They are all buffed w. high spell resistance and immunities to spell damage (fire, cold, etc.) A lot of times its a waste of time for the wiz to cast a fireball, as an example, unless he has feats that allow him to change the damage from fire to acid or the Archmage ability Master of Elements (allows you to change any elemental descriptor on any spell you cast at no charge.., gotta get this if you fight devils, demons. etc).

With that said, you need a lot of flexability at higher levels. BAttle field control, buffs, debuffs, travelling, summoning, and massive damage dealing spells too. You need to have a little of all of it, IMHO. Occasionally the bad guys all line up for the kill spell, and you have to be able to hit em. At higher levels you can die so easy and so fast, you have to be able to deal damage.

 

[Gregor]

The thing about this adventure path is there is bo down time. No time to study new spells, no time to make magic items. No time. You are on a brutal schedule to save the Oearth. Is Savage Tide the same in regards to deadlines.., I dont know.

The Savage Tide AP can go as fast or as slow as the DM wants it to. That being said, at the conclusion of most modules, there is usually some text about allowing the PCs to have some downtime for item crafting, research, side quests, etc.

We fight a lot of demons devils etc. They are all buffed w. high spell resistance and immunities to spell damage (fire, cold, etc.)

Without spoiling too much, I would say that this applies to Savage Tide in some respects. Wizards will benefit from having a more diverse spell list that does not focus completely on direct damage - battlefield control will help alot in instances involving the above-mentioned monsters.