What 5th-level spells should any Wizard prepare?

[Shard O'Glase]

I went with wall of stone, baleful polymorph, and fabricate.

Wall of stone is a weaker wall of force bit its instantaneous duration gives it some utility beyong being a combat spell. It IMX does a decent enough job at the herding and corwd control that its extra benefits make it more worthwhile than wall of force.

Baleful polymorph: really any of the save or dies would work here and it really depends on your foes(basically which save do you want to target will or fort) but I think this is the cooler one and don't bother with making them trout and giving a +4 save make them a turtle or a sloth so there not getting away and there easy meat.

Fabricate: probably best saved for an open slot but this is the ultimate swiss army knife spell until poly any object. Its so good and I use it so often that I had to put it on the list.

Tons of other great spells though I find this level kind of an akward mix of an odd and even level'd style spells. I'm really expecting to see some improved fireball spell but it doesn't show up until chain lighitng at 6th.

 

[Scion]

I am really on the wall about what to pick for this one.

By this point in the wizards carear they have a good number of spell slots open. Effectively what is best depends entirely on what else is going on in their life. General usefulness? Way more than 4 fit into that section. Plus, one could be useing metamagics in order to fill these slots up with lower level spells to fill in other gaps or to help with some other general situation.

Overall, especially for a character in a party, it is just so dependant on too many other things for an overall generalness. The party composition, or allies, what type of environment one is in, what you expect might happen, what are in your other slots, etc. Now one has the versitility to make so many choices that it is just too up in the air (not to mention that useing a metamagiced spell from lower level isnt even an option ).

At this point I am actually thinking just fill in all 4 slots with summon monster 5. Lower level slots can do almost all of the same versitility stuff in some way and those guys will be the most overall generally useful for nearly any situation that arises.

 

[Kershek]

Fabricate is an INCREDIBLE spell for wizards who have invested in craft skills. There's nothing like being able to take a tree and a lump of pig iron and churn out a few thousand masterwork arrows in one day or churning out masterwork swords for an entire army and barrels full of alchemist's fire for the catapults.

I hadn't thought of this. How many alchemists fires could a 9th level wizard make in a day? How many equates to 90 cu/ft?

 

[Nail]

I picked the obvious ones (Wall of Force, Teleport), but I have to say, I'm awfully partial to Summon Monster V.

It's a great utility and attack spell, all rolled into one. Celestial Brown Bear rocks -- that Imp. Grab has made my PC's life much easier. The Huge fiendish shark helped us box-in a swimming black dragon, flying opponents hate celestial griffons, and being able to summon 1d3 fiendish large spiders (that throw Webs!) has been golden. What's not to like about this spell?

 

[Nail]

I hadn't thought of this. How many alchemists fires could a 9th level wizard make in a day? How many equates to 90 cu/ft?

Assume the density of alchemist's fire is twice that of water. (2 g/mL)

If you can make 90 cubic feet of alchemists fire, and each alchemist's fire weighs 1 pound, then you can make ~11,239 alchemist's fires.

Per casting. As a 9th level wizard.

 

[Kershek]

Ok, I think I figured it out. About 4,000 - 4,500 alchemists fires will likely fit in 90 cu/ft depending on the shape and thickness of the flasks. To make all these, it would cost between 26k - 30k. Then again, the market price is three times that

 

[Ridley's Cohort]

The only truly must have spells for me are Wall of Force and Silent Dimension Door.

Wall of Force shapes the battlefield like no other spell. My favorite wizard spell, period.

I always want to have a Silent Dimension Door or Silent Teleport handy. I most often use it to pull an injured or fallen comrade out of harms way.

 

[shilsen]

I always want to have a Silent Dimension Door or Silent Teleport handy. I most often use it to pull an injured or fallen comrade out of harms way.

Not to mention getting one's own ass out of harm's way when grappled, entangled, pinned, swallowed, or the like.

 

[Saeviomagy]

*However*, it is *freakin* amazing if you're an Enchantment-focused Wizard who also happens to be a team player.

To me, team player means being effective. I don't see mind fog as being effective except in very, very restricted situations.

Because, when specializing in Enchantment, you've probably taken the requisite Spell Focus and Greater Spell Focus feats and have a decent Int bonus, meaning your Enchantment save DCs are pretty respectable.

Compare this to the save DC of the party cleric's Hold Monster spell, or any of the other Wizards' various Will-based spells. You're likely to be much, much better at such spells than they are.

Which is why you're probably better off just using your own spells. Had you cast (say) fear or confusion, both lower-level spells, then your opponents would have been basically out of the fight for the next minute.

Anyway, back on topic.

Teleport. Memorised. It is THE saviour for the party from a TPK. Set up a maneuver where the party grabs fallen and gathers round and you teleport out. Dimension door simply can't fill this one.

Overland flight. All day flight is just great. Combine with the cheap boots of levitation for hover mode.

Major creation - produce yourself a boatload of healing salve (A&EG) and use it before the spell wears off.

 

[fujaiwei]

Magic Jar: It's one of those spells that needs some finesse in order to work, but when it works, it has an exponential effect. Taking over a large, high HD creature like a giant and walking through the rest of the mod in that creature's body has a domino effect upon later encounters.

Waves of Fatigue: It's a battlefield altering spell that alters the battlefield by altering your opponents. If they can't run or charge, they can't manuever, and foes that can't manuever are meat for the picking. The -2 to strength and dex can also have a domino effect upon foes who suddenly become encumbered and this is especially noticable for lightly armored foes with middling strength scores.

More great ideas . . . *scribbles notes* Thanks.