Ultimate 10th level Wizard?

[Sinklar]

Rules

Any race out of the PHB. Starting gold equivalent to what is stated in te DMG for a 10th level character.

Nothing specific outside of that yet. Which, as far as I'm concerned, means a spellbook bound in red dragon hide (sorry B.A.D.D.) from Spells R' Us is among my possessions.

Egg, be quiet. I'm trying to "cheat" here by talking to these people on a website that every person in our gaming group has heard of.

 

[Eggman]

All right have it your way.

 

[Malin Genie]

My suggestion:

Transmuter (most versatile; although not many damaging spells, has a lot of very good offensive spells)

Prohibited School: Evocation, Conjuration, or (Enchantment + Illusion)

Feats (in order at levels 1/3/5/6/9/10) Spell Focus (Transmutation), Extend Spell, Chain Spell, Greater Spell Focus (Transmutation), Extra Slot (for an extra Polymorph per day), Persistent Spell

For combat: Your slow spell (assuming a starting IN of 16 and two raises) is DC 21 before magical items. Your blindness/deafness spell is DC 20 or at 5th level Chained can affect up to 10 people (DC 16+) And of course, you have the persistent shield spell running all day for a 5th level slot.

Out of combat: No contest, IMHO Transmutation is the most generally useful school of magic.

 

[Zappo]

My suggestion: get Haste, and cast a lot of Summon Monster, summoning multiple lower-level creatures. Then, demand that each creature's HP and stats are rolled individually. Make sure to choose creatures with many attacks and a good movement rate. Demand that each of the creature's skills is recalculated according to the stat you've rolled, even if the skill is irrelevant. You should waste so much time rolling that the fight will be out of time before the fighter has even reached you. Ten seconds before the end, cast a magic missile at him.

At this point, the time is up and you've got a greater percentage of HP left than the fighter, so you win.

 

[Rashak Mani]

hehe so your "cheating" using outside "consulting" ...

If by Tournament you guys mean Arena Combat (?) just remember that Mages need time... you need defensive spells up and then you can attack... so those boots of speed are very good... they only work 10 rnds a day thou... so if your going to fight more than once a day you´ll have to cast Haste.

Against other players the Slow Spell works wonders... especially fighters with multiple attacks... you should decide on how you intend to finish off your enemies too. Are you going for the failed save your done spell ? Polymorph Other for example... or kill em with damage stuff (fireballs and bolts) ? Also Thieves dont die with Fireballs... in fact they laugh at them in 10th lvl... use Con and Fort saves on them pesky rogues. Fighters have absurd Fort saves... hit em with silly grease and they slip all over the place... Will especially they are very bad... Mages have little Hitpoints... damage spells work wonders... make sure you dont waste spells if they have Shield (MagicMissile stopper) or Minor Globe (3rd level or less spells). Have 4th+ damage spells....

A flying imprv invisibile mage armor and shield spell protected mage is hard to hit... but thats 2 rnds in Haste to cast... not counting one action to activate boots... and a lot of spells. You´ll end up without spells in bigger/longer fights. Remember you might confront Magic using opponents as well... so take Minor Globe and boost your saves with items.

The previous posts are good too... read them all...

 

[Zhure]

Since I replied to "The Fighter" thread, it's only fair I put similar information here.

Buy Wands. They're fairly cheap for their use and can do lots of damage, plus you can concentrate on memorizing spells you might need. Rely on your wands for offense and your spells for defense or to adapt to the changing situation of combat.

Vestment of Faith is probably outside your price range, but worth every penny.

Cast Endurance before the battle. That'll boost your hit points just enough you might withstand a single full attack from a Barbarian or a Fighter. A Monk will just plain toast you without it, as your Fortitude saves will be so low.

Get some curative potions. Keep them handy.

Use your familiar effectively. I recommend a bat. It's maneuverable and can help you in Darkness. Speaking of Darkness. Use it to give yourself concealment. It'll mean 50% miss chance and using your bat to target, launch fireball, fireball, fireball from a wand. Or Lightning Bolt for more efficacious collateral damage.

Magic Missile is your best offensive spell at 10th level against a single target, but it's easily neutralized by a Shield spell or a Brooch of Shielding. I'd only memorize one or two.

If you don't have stoneskin cast in advance, you're dead meat to the melee guys.

Wizards and Sorcerers are more about their spells than their Feats. I would take Improved Initiative and Quicken and then whatever else you want. Quicken a few 1st level spells in your level 5 slots (Magic Missile would be good, as would Shield). Extend will help your buff spells last longer.

Hope that helps,
Greg

 

[dvvega]

One idea is to "surprise" your foes ... go for things like Tenser's Transformation, Mordenkainen's Sword, or Polymorph Self. They wouldn't expect you to go toe to toe with them.

Even better then Poly Self is to buy scrolls with Shapechange ... ooooo now you can become anything big and nasty.

The advantage of a wizard is that you can buy scrolls and use them without much danger of failing the DC to cast a spell higher than your level.

Of course have a familiar prepped with a nasty touch spell to lay on them while they're engaged in melee with you, invisibly of course, or that divebombing owl.

Or how about your flying familiar with beads of force in their claws ... "BOMBS AWAY!!"

 

[Epametheus]

If you're willing to sacrifice 10 HP, go Sun Elf, from the Forgetten Realms -- they get +2 Int, -2 con.

Also take spell focus feats in enchantment and/or transmutation... Except against another wizard (and the sorcerer and the bard, if anyone is playing those), trying to get an a kill by sheer HP damage is impractical -- the rogue and monk can dodge it, the fighter and barbarian can simply take it, the paladin can take it and heal himself on the side, and the cleric and druid can both shield themselves from it, and heal themselves.

As a side note, Protection from Elements (Fire) should be quite useful against both of the priest-types, though the druid can hurt you anyways with Flame Strike.. Though he'd have to figure out where your invisible, flying wizard is, first.

If you start out completely unprepped, then you may well be screwed, though -- a wizard with no prep spells isa lot like a fighter or a barbarian without a weapon -- a threat if you're careless, but otherwise dead meat.

Anyways, one-shot win spells like Hold Monster and Poly Other are probably your best bets. You'll need to use your own discretion in taking who down with what, though... And remember that the cleric and the druid are probably the greatest threats to you, with the sorcerer falling somewhere behind them.

And if the battle is a free-for-all, hide somewhere (200 ft over the battlefield is good), and let someone else kill the cleric and druid for you.

Anyways, I hope that helps.