What 5th-level spells should any Wizard prepare?
- Thread starter dcollins
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Inconsequenti-AL
Breaks Games
Teleport's the only one I'd say is an essential...
Wall of Force/Stone got touched on as really useful. Stone is scultable - which I've found very useful.
Telepathic Bond can be a very nice spell! Good for exploration and in a lot of social interaction stuff - no need for that pesky talking.
Telekinisis is really useful and versatile spell. The combat maneuvers can be nice. Violent thrust for high SR/save bad guys (funnier with a flame arrow spell). Another plus, you can even use it to move stuff around at a push.
But wouldn't class them as essential.
Wall of Force/Stone got touched on as really useful. Stone is scultable - which I've found very useful.
Telepathic Bond can be a very nice spell! Good for exploration and in a lot of social interaction stuff - no need for that pesky talking.
Telekinisis is really useful and versatile spell. The combat maneuvers can be nice. Violent thrust for high SR/save bad guys (funnier with a flame arrow spell). Another plus, you can even use it to move stuff around at a push.
But wouldn't class them as essential.
Plane Sailing
Astral Admin - Mwahahaha!
I voted telekinesis as the most essential. It has so much variety and it must be one of the best anti-caster spells in existence! Grapple check at 800ft+ range where I'm using level+INT bonus and you're using BAB+Str? wizardly opponents are in for a world of hurt. The telekinetic thrust is also excellent if you have a prepared position (Oh look, I've got 12 greatswords sitting around here. Whoosh 
)
It is one of the (very few) spells with more than one use that hasn't been split up.
My secondary picks were teleport (get out of jail free, tactical repositioning), Magic Jar (gain some wonderful physical fighting characteristics at almost no risk), Cloudkill (no save, no spell resistance... it's going to hurt a bit at least and is great against mooks too. Who needs circle of death?) and a toss up between wall of force and sending.
)It is one of the (very few) spells with more than one use that hasn't been split up.
My secondary picks were teleport (get out of jail free, tactical repositioning), Magic Jar (gain some wonderful physical fighting characteristics at almost no risk), Cloudkill (no save, no spell resistance... it's going to hurt a bit at least and is great against mooks too. Who needs circle of death?) and a toss up between wall of force and sending.
Li Shenron
Legend
Difficult level... I'm going to suggest something probably not very popular, but which I have find surprisingly useful.
Mind Fog
This spell does no harm directly, but the huge -10 penalty to Will saves makes the target an easy prey for your next spells. As such, it is always used first for a deadly combination, or to make high-will casters easier targets for spells with will ST.
The drawback of this spell is that... it actually give a Will ST itself!
So again the casters are still having the edge against it. However, it's an AREA spell and as such if you catch 3-4 enemies inside you're pretty sure that at least some will be affected.
Prying Eyes
It's only a scouting spell, but it really helps a lot. If you have darkvision or can afford improving your visual capacity with other spells, it can be enhanced a lot. The long duration, relatively long range and multiple eyes let you use this spell both for scouting an open surrounding area or a dungeon.
Drawback: the biggest limitation is that it cannot open doors or bypass physical barriers. Also it takes time to send the eyes around, so it's not for emergency use. The eyes can also be noticed, but typically it's not easy.
Wall of Force
It works only as a short-duration defensive emergency spell, but basically it's unbeatable (Disintegrate is the only common mean to destroy a Wall of Force). If you are surprised and you need time to buff up, or if you just want to run.
The drawback is that most of the time you rather prefer to smash your enemies
. If you could shape the wall - but you can't - it would be more versatile but not very, unless the duration was also much longer.
There are many spells at this level also which are very useful. Most commonly seen IMXP are not the ones I proposed but rather Feeblemind (anti-caster spell), Baleful Polymorph (actually better than the previous 99% of the times) and Teleport (which may be required less often but also achieves game-breaking results). These however depend a lot of which spells of other levels you have prepared, because their effects (insta-kill the first 2, teleportation the other) are done by many spells in the list.
Mind Fog
This spell does no harm directly, but the huge -10 penalty to Will saves makes the target an easy prey for your next spells. As such, it is always used first for a deadly combination, or to make high-will casters easier targets for spells with will ST.
The drawback of this spell is that... it actually give a Will ST itself!
So again the casters are still having the edge against it. However, it's an AREA spell and as such if you catch 3-4 enemies inside you're pretty sure that at least some will be affected.Prying Eyes
It's only a scouting spell, but it really helps a lot. If you have darkvision or can afford improving your visual capacity with other spells, it can be enhanced a lot. The long duration, relatively long range and multiple eyes let you use this spell both for scouting an open surrounding area or a dungeon.
Drawback: the biggest limitation is that it cannot open doors or bypass physical barriers. Also it takes time to send the eyes around, so it's not for emergency use. The eyes can also be noticed, but typically it's not easy.
Wall of Force
It works only as a short-duration defensive emergency spell, but basically it's unbeatable (Disintegrate is the only common mean to destroy a Wall of Force). If you are surprised and you need time to buff up, or if you just want to run.
The drawback is that most of the time you rather prefer to smash your enemies
. If you could shape the wall - but you can't - it would be more versatile but not very, unless the duration was also much longer.There are many spells at this level also which are very useful. Most commonly seen IMXP are not the ones I proposed but rather Feeblemind (anti-caster spell), Baleful Polymorph (actually better than the previous 99% of the times) and Teleport (which may be required less often but also achieves game-breaking results). These however depend a lot of which spells of other levels you have prepared, because their effects (insta-kill the first 2, teleportation the other) are done by many spells in the list.
Thanee
First Post
That's one pretty huge drawback, however. I'd rather use a spell, that has an immediate effect. If the only point of the spell is, that my other spell is going to work more easily, then I really could just have used that other spell in the first place and the failed saving throw would have given me the desired result already.Li Shenron said:The drawback of this spell is that... it actually give a Will ST itself!
This spell should give a flat -4 modifier to the saving throw or something at least, otherwise I just cannot see how this could be useful.
Bye
Thanee
Li Shenron
Legend
Thanee said:That's one pretty huge drawback, however. I'd rather use a spell, that has an immediate effect. If the only point of the spell is, that my other spell is going to work more easily, then I really could just have used that other spell in the first place and the failed saving throw would have given me the desired result already.
This spell should give a flat -4 modifier to the saving throw or something at least, otherwise I just cannot see how this could be useful.
Bye
Thanee
If it affects more creatures, or if the second spell has a lower DC, it is useful IMO.
Patryn of Elvenshae
First Post
Thanee, others:
Mind Fog isn't all that great if you're a standard Wizard.
*However*, it is *freakin* amazing if you're an Enchantment-focused Wizard who also happens to be a team player.
Why?
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.
So you don't cast Mind Fog to make your own spells more likely to stick - although that's an added bonus - you cast Mind Fod to allow the spells of the less specialized members of your team to stick.
Mind Fog isn't all that great if you're a standard Wizard.
*However*, it is *freakin* amazing if you're an Enchantment-focused Wizard who also happens to be a team player.
Why?
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.
So you don't cast Mind Fog to make your own spells more likely to stick - although that's an added bonus - you cast Mind Fod to allow the spells of the less specialized members of your team to stick.
Altamont Ravenard
Explorer
Wall of Force and Teleport, of course.
I voted for Hold Monster as well... a good spell that can affect many a creature. It's great when you're not sure what you'll be facing.
AR
I voted for Hold Monster as well... a good spell that can affect many a creature. It's great when you're not sure what you'll be facing.
AR
Darmanicus
I'm Ray...of Enfeeblement
Teleport - A no brainer but I wouldn't go as far to say it was essential.
Wall of Force - Battlefield control at its finest.
Summon Monster 5 - The monsters get really good at this point IMO. Take Augment Summons and you get Griffons who can take a huge beating before being chopped up. Hound Archons are pretty grand as well what with that aura they generate, (can be a bit much paperwork at times though).
Wall of Force - Battlefield control at its finest.
Summon Monster 5 - The monsters get really good at this point IMO. Take Augment Summons and you get Griffons who can take a huge beating before being chopped up. Hound Archons are pretty grand as well what with that aura they generate, (can be a bit much paperwork at times though).
Elder-Basilisk
First Post
5th level doesn't have a lot of standout spells like 3rd level. For the most part, I think of 5th level as the slot for metamagicked lower level spells. Still, if I had to pick four to prepare, they'd be:
Feeblemind: The ulitmate anti-wizard and anti-sorceror spell. A big part of your role as a wizard or sorcerer is taking out the other side's artillery. Feeblemind does that and then some.
Wall of Force: The large area and unbreakable nature of the wall of force make it a key spell for shaping and manipulating the battlefield. Even in an open field, it will generally buy a round or two of freedom from half of your foes--and that's often enough to entirely defeat their allies.
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.
There are a few spells that didn't make the list, despite being incredible spells. Teleport is an amazing spell but it's not a spell I would have a wizard prepare every day. Instead, I'd leave an open slot and prep a teleport if I needed it. For short range mobility, Dimension Door is more reliable and has less opportunity cost. 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. But it's not a spell you'd prepare every day unless you were trying to drive particular guilds out of business or ruin local economies by running skilled workers out of business and then exiting the business yourself, leaving whole sections of the economy missing. Wall of Stone is a similar spell. If you want to do large scale construction quickly, you can't do better than Wall of Stone. Even so, it's not something you'd prepare every day.
Feeblemind: The ulitmate anti-wizard and anti-sorceror spell. A big part of your role as a wizard or sorcerer is taking out the other side's artillery. Feeblemind does that and then some.
Wall of Force: The large area and unbreakable nature of the wall of force make it a key spell for shaping and manipulating the battlefield. Even in an open field, it will generally buy a round or two of freedom from half of your foes--and that's often enough to entirely defeat their allies.
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.
There are a few spells that didn't make the list, despite being incredible spells. Teleport is an amazing spell but it's not a spell I would have a wizard prepare every day. Instead, I'd leave an open slot and prep a teleport if I needed it. For short range mobility, Dimension Door is more reliable and has less opportunity cost. 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. But it's not a spell you'd prepare every day unless you were trying to drive particular guilds out of business or ruin local economies by running skilled workers out of business and then exiting the business yourself, leaving whole sections of the economy missing. Wall of Stone is a similar spell. If you want to do large scale construction quickly, you can't do better than Wall of Stone. Even so, it's not something you'd prepare every day.
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