D&D 5E Low Level Wizards Really Do Suck in 5E

[Staffan]

Communication. Either your DM is incredibly generous and lets you learn exotic languages (mine doesn't as part of character creation) or you have to cast tongues for each elemental. Of course, if you just want the elementals to be friendly towards you and defend themselves when attacked, you don't have to worry about being able to talk to them.

Or, you could cast tongues on yourself which will let you be understood by "any creature that knows at least one language."

Though I hadn't thought of how the language barrier could inconvenience a summoner.

 

[Celtavian]

Can you please point me to the 103 page thread on this board about how low-level sorcerers are underpowered? Can you also please point me to the 103 page thread on this board about how low-level warlocks are underpowered? For some reason, I'm having trouble finding them. Thanks.

Does anyone play the sorcerer? Why is the warlock stronger than the sorcerer at low level? What exactly can they do that the wizard can't in the first few levels?

You are confusing one thread made by one player as proof of something. You will notice that very few people agreed. This 103 pages is mostly people telling the OP he was wrong and him arguing that he is right: alone. And quite a few side tangents on other topics.

 

[Celtavian]

The wizard has the biggest selection of spells. Granted, but look at all the other class options and tell me, where the wizard shines with its class options compared to the sorcerer. What can he do better? Not even metamagic (he is a wizard, the magic science guy after all) and most subclass options sound like a sleep spell to the reader.

What can the low level wizard do better? Or you mean period? Because the warlock and sorcerer don't even hold a candle to the high level wizard. It's no contest. Wizard is much more powerful than the sorcerer or warlock. Warlock fires his eldritch blast. Sorcerer does his small number of tricks.

Wizard has the most spells available of any class. He gets all his ritual spells like alarm, detect magic, and Leomund's Tiny Hut with no slots used. He has the widest array of spells he can change daily. As well as the nifty little class abilities like Portent, Philsopher's Stone, and the like.

Wizard is the best caster class in the game at the moment.

 

[Celtavian]

My group will revamp the wizard totally. We will split it into Researcher, Specialist(as a single subclass) and Artificer(worth its name). We believe the problem with the wizard has been the vision of the designers to must have specialists as subclasses. Those are not different enough to justify complete subclasses watering the whole wizard down to a boring excuse with a great spellist. I know I can't convice you, but perhaps some designer get a clou in this thread what went wrong. Well yes, it went wrong or we would not have this discussion.

You don't know what you're talking about. There is no problem with the wizard. Designers did fine. Remove a few of the wizard's limits and you'll take them from moderately more powerful to everyone else to the old days of casters rule all territory.

You didn't spend much time reading this thread did you? Do your house rules. Don't try to sell anyone on the wizard being weak.

My wizard is 16th level. He's more than powerful compared to everyone else in the group. Life is easy as a wizard.

 

[Celtavian]

Communication. Either your DM is incredibly generous and lets you learn exotic languages (mine doesn't as part of character creation) or you have to cast tongues for each elemental. Of course, if you just want the elementals to be friendly towards you and defend themselves when attacked, you don't have to worry about being able to talk to them.

Doesn't the spell say you can command them?

 

[Celtavian]

My PC is a 6th level evoker. Another character in the party is a 5th level sorcerer. The game tends to be fairly combat intensive and his sorcerer makes my wizard look pretty pathetic. I really can't blame your players for choosing not to play the wizard dump class.

I'm not helped by the fact that both the game's designers and my DM think wizards are too powerful - which is bizarre. If the designers wanted to balance out wizards, they would have made scrolls less costly and time-consuming for wizards to produce. As it is, one-shot items such as scrolls are as expensive and long to create as permanent ones. My DM has compounded the problem by ruling that the headband of intellect is a rare item, not an uncommon one, so pretty much impossible for a low- to mid-level wizard to produce.

The problem with wizards is the usual problem. They start off a bit slow (not as bad as previous editions), then end strong. I'm a 16th level evoker. Life as a high level wizard is very easy. You won't be the damage caster a warlock or a sorcerer are at low level. You'll have to wait until higher level when you can maximize spells and get your ability bonus on damage. At low level I would focus on effect spells and let the sorcerer and warlock have their fun until you eclipse them.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

Does anyone play the sorcerer? Why is the warlock stronger than the sorcerer at low level? What exactly can they do that the wizard can't in the first few levels?

You are confusing one thread made by one player as proof of something. You will notice that very few people agreed. This 103 pages is mostly people telling the OP he was wrong and him arguing that he is right: alone. And quite a few side tangents on other topics.

Yeah, it's silly to use thread length discussing a premise as evidence for the truth of that premise as expressed in the thread title. At the very most you could cite the length of the thread as proof there the issue is controversial, although "number of posters on each side" would be a better metric. This thread would have been exactly the same if it were titled "Low-level wizards in 5E rock (nt)" and the first response in the thread had been KarinsDad disagreeing vehemently, instead of KarinsDad opening up the thread with that view. It wouldn't change the content of the thread at all, but apparently some people would then use that as proof that low-level wizards must rock, or there wouldn't be 105 pages discussing it.

Oh well. Some people are wrong, no biggie.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

Doesn't the spell say you can command them?

It says they obey your verbal commands (no action required). Apparently the house rule is that they obey your verbal commands if they understand them. You have to admit that it's a logical tweak. I won't be adopting it, but it sure is interesting.

(GOO Warlock 2/Necromancer X, taking the warlock levels at 10 and 11, is my favorite PC class combo anyway, so it wouldn't affect my own style of wizards anyway. Telepathy rocks. I mean, mechanically it's pretty useless, but it's super-fun. IMO.)

 

[Celtavian]

It says they obey your verbal commands (no action required). Apparently the house rule is that they obey your verbal commands if they understand them. You have to admit that it's a logical tweak. I won't be adopting it, but it sure is interesting.

(GOO Warlock 2/Necromancer X, taking the warlock levels at 10 and 11, is my favorite PC class combo anyway, so it wouldn't affect my own style of wizards anyway. Telepathy rocks. I mean, mechanically it's pretty useless, but it's super-fun. IMO.)

I figure it's part of that magic that they understand you. I can see a DM wanting strict verisimilitude might incorporate such a house rule. It is a logical assumption. I don't use that spell. Concentration too much of a problem. At higher level I like animate objects. So much fun to have my flying darts pincushion an opponent.

 

[Goemoe]

You don't know what you're talking about. There is no problem with the wizard. Designers did fine. Remove a few of the wizard's limits and you'll take them from moderately more powerful to everyone else to the old days of casters rule all territory.

You didn't spend much time reading this thread did you? Do your house rules. Don't try to sell anyone on the wizard being weak.

My wizard is 16th level. He's more than powerful compared to everyone else in the group. Life is easy as a wizard.

Funny, you suggest, I did not read, but do so yourself. Read the title of the thread, read what I wrote. I couldn't care less about your 16th level wizard. Noone will ever reach that level in our group. We care about wizards below level 10 or from 1-6 as did the OP with his first post. I know exactly what I talking about. Perhaps it is not me who rethink his writing here. If the desinger have done fine with the wizard, this thread wouldn't exist especially with this size.