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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Celtavian" data-source="post: 6840168" data-attributes="member: 5834">I've only run one wizard so far. One other member that also enjoys casters has run a few. He's testing a bladesginer paladin. It is a surprisingly potent combination. Biggest weakness is low hit points. AC is really high and can do quite a bit of damage smiting.As far as staples of a wizard spell list:cantrips: chill touch: Extremely powerful for a cantrip. Shuts down healing of any kind. Regeneration, heal spells, whatever. Shuts them down for a turn.shocking grasp: If some enemy has powerful reaction abilities, take them away.1st: shield: Obvious quality defensive spell that uses a reaction.sleep: No save unconscious. Get a creature low enough, you can set up a crit. Let some power melee class maximize a smite or spell hit.2nd: misty step: Escape spells are always useful.flaming sphere: Another crowd control spell that can help you narrow attack avenues.3rd: fly: Not always needed, but is really needed when it is.fireball: Good quality AoE for clearing things like winter wolves or lower CR creatures.hypnotic pattern: Crowd control that doesn't give a save every round.counterspell: Another situational spell that can be very good. 4th: banishment: Lots of creatures have weak Charisma saves. Can completely eliminate fiends if save is missed. Can banish things like frost giants.polymorph: This spell operates on a few levels. It's best in pure brute fights that don't require complex strategies, which is most fights. It reduces the mental stats, so you have to be prepared for a PC a lot like an attack dog. It allows a PC to do solid offense and provides a huge hit point buffer which preserves PC hit points putting less pressure on healing and resting. 5E polymorph is a great spell. You do have to do a little research if your DM is a stickle to observe a giant ape or T-rex. Two of the best choices.5th: wall of force: No save crowd control against creatures that can't teleport or aren't too large. 6th: disintegrate: Make sure you have a way to get your group out of a forcecage or wall of force.9th: foresight: Extremely powerful long lasting buff. Only downside of all 9th level spells is anyone with dispel magic or counterspell can defeat them with a lucky roll. You only get one, so it's done.Not many people enjoy playing pure casters. Casters have been heavily neutered in 5E. I thought differently at first. Now that I've seen the mechanics in action, arcane casters are just ok against the environment. The biggest problem is how useless arcane casters are against Legendary Creatures that can auto-save. It does no good to have a nifty lvl 8 or 9 spell if it isn't going to work in the most important combat. Not sure why the designers chose to neuter arcane magic to the extent they did, but it has put a huge damper on playing arcane casters. You can have fun, but you won't be a power class in the most important fights. You'll be support unless there are lots of small, weak things to kill.A spell I had good fun with was animate objects. I had a bunch of small metal darts made in packs of 10. I would use animate objects to turn them into vicious attackers while casting spells. Not so great against things with magical resistance, but fun and can do a lot of damage in the right circumstances.I had fun playing a gnome wizard. He was extremely helpful in a support role quite often and was able to clear some rooms quickly. But he was nearly useless in Legendary Creature fights and that isn't fun.</blockquote>

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