Gizzard said:
You and Icicle seem to be having a different experience than I am. What level characters are you playing; perhaps this issue disappears at a certain level??
We're playing 12 level; consider this standard Wizard loadout: 1st: MMx2, Mage Armor, Pro Evil. 3rd: Fireball, Lightning Bolt, Dispel Magic, Haste. If this Wizard runs into creatures who are immune to Electricity he ends up throwing a Maximized Fireball and then maybe 2xMaximized MM. Meanwhile, the Sorc throws 3xMaximized Fireball which is clearly a bigger bang for the buck. And because the Sorc has 6 slots instead of just 4 he can still throw 3 more unmaximized Fireballs if he needs to afterwards. The Wizard fell to "Plan B" after one use of his Maximize, the Sorc falls to "Plan B" three spells after the Rod has been used up for the day.
The point is that Sorcs are often optimized towards being artillery, which Maximizes well. Wizards bring the utility spells like Haste and Fly which have zero synergy with Maximize Rods. On top of that, Wizards have less spell slots, which means they have trouble preparing enough spells which are guaranteed to be maximizable.
What I am seeing in my campaign is that the Sorc loves the Maximize Rod while the Wizard is rather "eh" about it, for the reasons listed above.
Of course Sorcerers are optimized to being artillery. I've never said anything to the contrary. But I have pointed out that Sorcerers pay for that with alot of drawbacks. But Wizards also get a huge mileage out of metamagic rods that Sorcerers don't need. Wizards have to normally prepare the metamagic ahead of time when he prepares the spell. This significantly inhibits his flexibility with metamagics. So I can also argue that, in many ways, Wizards benefit more from metamagic rods than Sorcerers do since Sorcerers already have that flexibility. Sorcerers are already the metamagic kings. These rods simply give them a few free per day. The Wizard, on the other hand, benefits from them immensly.
Yeah, your example of the repeated fireballs is a good example of the differences between Wizards and Sorcerers. But, correct me if I'm wrong, it seems to me as though your impression is that Sorcerers are better than Wizards and, as such, should suffer some extra disadvantages. If that is what you think, let me assure you, as one who has played and thoroughly enjoyed both classes, that Sorcerers are
not better than Wizards. They are better at certain things, of course, but the opposite is also true. A Wizard is much less likely to be able to pull off the same spell over and over again as a Sorcerer is. But, the Wizard has a huge, huge, advantage in spell selection.
Let's take a typical 6th level Sorcerer, for example. He will have one 3rd level spell, usually Fireball. With bonus spells, he should be able to cast it 4 times per day or so. The Wizard, on the other hand, can prepare multiple, different 3rd level spells. While such a Wizard won't do as well in a battle where fireball is the best spell to use, he can also win out because of his greater versatility. What if you're fighting in a battle where fireball isn't useful? What if there is a different 3rd level spell that is needed? The Sorcerer is pretty useless if he doesn't have the spell that is needed.
The Wizard, though, may still excel because he had thought to prepare other spells that would be useful. Wizards can also do something that Sorcerers can't. A Wizard who is thoughtful and intelligent enough to gather information about his enemy can prepare a devastating combination of spells that are perfectly designed to exploit that specific enemy's weaknesses. He can also prepare from a wide assortment of spells so that no matter what he runs into, he'll have something to use. And he can scirbe scrolls of spells he has learned, but infrequently prepares, just in case. While the Sorcerer is indeed the most powerful combat caster, he suffers from a severe lack of options due to an extremely small spell selection. Both classes are powerful, just in very different ways.
And, IMHO, Wizards and Sorcerers both get the same amount of "synergy" from metamagic rods, though the way it benefits them is different, much in the way that they use magic differently. Both Wizards and Sorcerers have a drawback when using metamagics. Both casters have to give up a higher level spell slot, that's a given. But Wizards also suffer from preparation and Sorcerers (much less so) from an extended casting time. Both casters have a drawback, but, Quicken aside, Sorcerers are the kings of metamagic. Got grappled? Apply Still spell. Gagged or Silenced? Apply Silent Spell. Too far away? Apply Enlarge Spell. Sorcerers can do this. Wizards can't. And, IMO, the ability to spontaneously apply metamagics in the same way Sorcerers do makes metamagic rods immensly useful to Wizards. Taking that into consideration, I simply don't think it is at all accurate to say Wizards get less synergy from these rods than Sorcerers do. I crave and horde them jealously as either class.
What Thanee and I find extremely unfair is that the Wizard completely gets rid of his metamagic disadvantage with these rods, but Sorcerers do not.
