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Treantmonk's Guide to Wizards 5e
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<blockquote data-quote="BlivetWidget" data-source="post: 7461322" data-attributes="member: 6912801"><p>As you say, it really depends on the group. A number of DMs fall into the metagaming line of thought that, "nobody hurt the wizard in the last fight, so I need to make sure my monsters are hitting him in this one while ignoring the barbarian who's all up in their grill" in a misguided but very human attempt to keep the game "fair." To demonstrate the situationality (if I may coin a term!), in the last campaign I played, occasional application of Shield and Absorb Elements was usually enough to convince the DM he was wasting his time targeting my wizard when the barbarian was smashing people's faces in. YMMV.</p><p></p><p>"Geek the mage" tactics can also be (but aren't always) metagaming based on the combat utility of casters in previous editions, whereas in 5e, unless you're allowed constant rest breaks, a wizard simply can't sustain the same damage output as a melee class. So smart opponents should not jump to the assumption that they need to geek the mage, unless the mage is well-rested and this is the "big encounter" of the day (metagaming).</p><p></p><p>That said, I do like the Abjuration school, I just don't think it's head and shoulders above the rest. In a straight wizard duel, probably they are the best, but that describes a very very small percentage of games you'll encounter. As for dealing with other casters in more common scenarios, Watery Sphere is incredibly effective vs the classes where strength is a dump stat (most casters).</p><p></p><p>But my favorite abjuration ability goes to the Evocation wizard: sculpt spells. Again, arguably dependent on your game, but in the aforementioned one we were usually up against large groups of fragile enemies like skeletons. They would also usually swarm out of a secret door in the dungeon and surround our fighters. Being able to drop fireballs on top of your friends without hurting them is incredibly satisfying and it would take some convincing for me to give that up willingly.</p><p></p><p></p><p>So to summarize: all wizards are awesome, and there exists a game/DM for which each school will outshine the others.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="BlivetWidget, post: 7461322, member: 6912801"] As you say, it really depends on the group. A number of DMs fall into the metagaming line of thought that, "nobody hurt the wizard in the last fight, so I need to make sure my monsters are hitting him in this one while ignoring the barbarian who's all up in their grill" in a misguided but very human attempt to keep the game "fair." To demonstrate the situationality (if I may coin a term!), in the last campaign I played, occasional application of Shield and Absorb Elements was usually enough to convince the DM he was wasting his time targeting my wizard when the barbarian was smashing people's faces in. YMMV. "Geek the mage" tactics can also be (but aren't always) metagaming based on the combat utility of casters in previous editions, whereas in 5e, unless you're allowed constant rest breaks, a wizard simply can't sustain the same damage output as a melee class. So smart opponents should not jump to the assumption that they need to geek the mage, unless the mage is well-rested and this is the "big encounter" of the day (metagaming). That said, I do like the Abjuration school, I just don't think it's head and shoulders above the rest. In a straight wizard duel, probably they are the best, but that describes a very very small percentage of games you'll encounter. As for dealing with other casters in more common scenarios, Watery Sphere is incredibly effective vs the classes where strength is a dump stat (most casters). But my favorite abjuration ability goes to the Evocation wizard: sculpt spells. Again, arguably dependent on your game, but in the aforementioned one we were usually up against large groups of fragile enemies like skeletons. They would also usually swarm out of a secret door in the dungeon and surround our fighters. Being able to drop fireballs on top of your friends without hurting them is incredibly satisfying and it would take some convincing for me to give that up willingly. So to summarize: all wizards are awesome, and there exists a game/DM for which each school will outshine the others. [/QUOTE]
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