Forget offense. You have assistive spells that can remain useful until 20th level, some of them even usable any number of times like Mage Hand.
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D&D 5E Low Level Wizards Really Do Suck in 5E
- Thread starter KarinsDad
- Start date
I'm finding wizards to be effective, but not very fun. That is worse as far as I'm concerned. The combination of concentration and legendary resistance/magic resistance/immunity have reduced me to buff bot/cantrip launcher.
Some examples:
1. Fight 1 against white dragon at level 7: Dragon flies in and hits with breath weapon. Hammers party for a ton of damage. I cast fly spell. I can cast nothing else with concentration after this. I launch fireball. Dragon saves. 15 points (30 rolled) for 3rd level slot compared to 10 for fire bolt. I don't have scorching ray memorized. I pretty much have next to nothing else useful to use against the dragon due to a combination due to spells memorized, concentration limitation, and legendary resistance/good saves. Three party members die, lucky chromatic orb from bard saves the day.
2. Fight 2 against another white dragon at level 8: Cast fly. I now can't cast anything with concentration. I cast Fire Shield on fighter. I start launching fire bolt and an occasional scorching ray. I've given up on casting save spells because of the auto-save from legendary resistance. Fighter and Paladin do enough damage to take the dragon down this time. All the casters barely do any other than the occasional fire bolt because all of our quality damage spells are either save spells or concentration.
This is happening more and more as I level, not less. The opponents have stronger capabilities. If I don't buff the party, we get hammered. Once they are buffed, my best no save attack spells are concentration[based or scorching ray.
Just not fun. I'm going to ride this to level 20. If things keep on going as they are going, I don't think I'll touch another caster in this game.
Some examples:
1. Fight 1 against white dragon at level 7: Dragon flies in and hits with breath weapon. Hammers party for a ton of damage. I cast fly spell. I can cast nothing else with concentration after this. I launch fireball. Dragon saves. 15 points (30 rolled) for 3rd level slot compared to 10 for fire bolt. I don't have scorching ray memorized. I pretty much have next to nothing else useful to use against the dragon due to a combination due to spells memorized, concentration limitation, and legendary resistance/good saves. Three party members die, lucky chromatic orb from bard saves the day.
2. Fight 2 against another white dragon at level 8: Cast fly. I now can't cast anything with concentration. I cast Fire Shield on fighter. I start launching fire bolt and an occasional scorching ray. I've given up on casting save spells because of the auto-save from legendary resistance. Fighter and Paladin do enough damage to take the dragon down this time. All the casters barely do any other than the occasional fire bolt because all of our quality damage spells are either save spells or concentration.
This is happening more and more as I level, not less. The opponents have stronger capabilities. If I don't buff the party, we get hammered. Once they are buffed, my best no save attack spells are concentration[based or scorching ray.
Just not fun. I'm going to ride this to level 20. If things keep on going as they are going, I don't think I'll touch another caster in this game.
I would say that it is not only "not fun", but also "not very effective".
Our 5th level Rogue, Paladin, and Fighter all average around 20 points of damage on rounds that they hit.
Bard and Wizards? A lot less effective.
And so many people made fun of my ideas when I started this thread and when I started the Concentration thread. The combination of a) nerfing the utility of spells, b) adding concentration to so many spells and hence, limiting what can typically be cast in the same encounter, and c) the number of spells that allow save every single round, has made the Wizard the red headed stepchild of 5E.
My solution is to allow multiple concentration spells at a penalty, but I suspect that some of the spell casting classes (wizard, bard, and sorcerer) will start becoming less and less popular in polls a year from now.
FormerlyHemlock
Hero
Sounds like a party weakness: they have zero ranged capability so you're stuck casting Fly instead of Conjure Minor Elemental.
Best thing you can do is at least keep a small squad of skeletal archers on hand (no concentration requirements) then spam Blindness during battles.
BTW you can't cast Fire Shield on someone else.
Last edited:
Gecko85
Explorer
If you're a Lore bard, at 6th level you get 3rd level or lower spells from any class. Valor bards have to wait until 10th level to get 5th level or lower.
Also I want to note that scorching ray is not a really a top tier spell to begin with. Compare it to shatter on same level, which wrecks both enemies and their furniture to smithereens. shatter can also open doors, break down wooden fences and the like.
also to me, abjurationists seems to be actually built for half-melee, such as they at the beginning of the day cast mage armor and get their ward up that grants "temp hp", so that they may survival a strike or two.
be patient, and think your spells through. Imagine the situations they'd be useful in. is there a spell that does the same? compare spells against each other. as an abjurationist, grab abjuration spells. Buff your friends, yourself and their weapons.
also to me, abjurationists seems to be actually built for half-melee, such as they at the beginning of the day cast mage armor and get their ward up that grants "temp hp", so that they may survival a strike or two.
be patient, and think your spells through. Imagine the situations they'd be useful in. is there a spell that does the same? compare spells against each other. as an abjurationist, grab abjuration spells. Buff your friends, yourself and their weapons.
ppaladin123
Adventurer
it actually does add another dimension of optimization, yeah.....wizards (and especially sorcerers and bards) need to stick with a handful of concentration spells and look for a good mix of instant and (semi) permanent magic to round out their list.
So every party needs to have strong ranged capability for magic users to have fun? What if they don't have fun playing ranged attackers?
You shouldn't need heavy ranged attacks on a martial for the casters to enjoy themselves. If a guy wants to make a sword or axe swinger, he should be able to do it. The wizard shouldn't have to expend his single concentration slot to allow that player to enter battle limiting himself from other effective attacks. Those limitations aren't fun for either player.
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