What 6th-level spells should any Wizard have?

[dcollins]

Here's a poll I'm using to generate a "baseline" core Wizard's spell list. You can pick as many selections as you like.

Say you have a Wizard of about 15th level -- adventuring, PC or NPC, non-specialized, non-multiclassed, core rules only. He or she can prepare 3, maybe 4, spells of 6th-level. What spells should he or she prepare in those slots?

You can pick as many selections as you'd like -- I would suggest 3 or 4. I've tried to narrow down the full list to about 28; feel free to choose "Other" and post the core-rules must-have selection that you think I left out.

 

[Liquidsabre]

I've always found the 6th level spell selection to be the hardest to consider as a PC. NPCs OTH is a different matter. I would choose a selection completely different as NPC's tend to consider the longterm (i.e. what would be useful in a life filled mostly of nothing and the occasional attack, usually a surprise). But for a good baseline Wizard I chose:

Chain Lightning - For "responsible" evocation damage that a Wiz can differentiate between targets, possibly even targeting a primary threat and several minor threats.

Dispel Magic, Greater - A more powerful Dispel Magic, always good from coutnerspelling to removing buffs from a fo, to dispelling threatening on-going spell effects.

Mage's Lucubration - Recall any 5th level or lower spell, a tactically versatile spell that allows use of another lower level spell a second time when either the first casting failed, on-going effect is countered, or a second casting is beneficial due to foe's vulnerability to the spell. A particular bonus when you may not know what it is you will be fighting.

True Seeing - Pierce through illusions, necessary to avoid confusion or being tricked, possibly resulting in untimely death due to the guile of your attacker, most notably useful when attacked with combinations of illusions: Invisible or Illusory attackers, phantom objects, or misleading images.

I'd also include a single Contingency spell on the baseline Wizard, a spell not found normally prepared as it should already be in effect.

 

[EvilGM]

Greater Dispel Magic, Disintegrate and Antimagic Field are must-haves.

All the divination spells are good to have as well... Analyze Dweomer, Legend Lore, and True Seeing.

Contingency is up there too.

 

[Elder-Basilisk]

Contingency and Greater Dispelling. Everything else is optional.

Contingency is key for any wizard because it enables him to always be prepared. Wizards go down quickly if surprised and having a way to prepare for the unexpected is incredibly useful. It's even more useful for NPC wizards who aren't usually in conflict since they can afford to use broader contingencies. An adventuring wizard probably doesn't want to trigger his contingency for "when I am attacked" because he gets into battles on a regular basis and doesn't want to waste a contingency on a random brigand encounter unless it turns serious. A non-adventuring wizard can afford to trigger a contingency on a trivial encounter because he doesn't have many of them.

Greater Dispelling is also useful because wizards are inevitably faced with the challenge of bringing down magical protections, dispelling charms, etc and Dispel Magic runs out of steam by the time you're 14th level or so.

The rest are gravy.

Planar Binding is probably the closest to a must have but a lot of wizards do just fine without bound servitors.

Disintegrate. It's nice, but there are other ways to deal damage. (Quickened Scorching Ray does 1/2 as much damage but doesn't have a save and doesn't take an action).

Acid Fog is a great way to control the battlefield but Solid Fog is nearly as good and a lot of foes are immune to the acid (which doesn't amount to much anyway).

Chain Lightning is nice for its targetability but it's pretty weak damage except to the primary target--a maximized lightning bolt is often better.

True Seeing is pretty handy too but it only comes up infrequently and the material component is an important deterent to using it. (Summon Monster VII for an Avoral Guardinal who can use True Seeing at will is also a good (cheap) substitute for a lot of its uses).

 

[Thanee]

Lot's of good spells, but my real must-haves include:

Analyze Dweomer (forgot to tag other for that one )
Contingency
Greater Dispel Magic
Mordenkainen's Lucubration

Bye
Thanee

 

[Thanee]

Maybe Antimagic Field should be included as well, that's a real killer spell against opposing wizards.

EDIT: And True Seeing should probably be nominated also.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Li Shenron]

My selection is:

Analyze Dweomer
Chain Lightning (the last one)
Globe of Invulnerability
Repulsion

edit: on which base did you keep ADweomer and Repulsion out of the list?

 

[Olive]

wall of force makes disintergrate crucial.

 

[Oscar carramiñana]

Contingency, Disintegrate,AMF,GMDispel, Chain lighting, True seeing are must have on any spellbook
the others spells varies as wizard type
but Tenser's Transformation are a bad spell I think.
When a wiz must enter in melee the other pc's are dead,teleport to any safe place.

Others spells:
hardening Mof to make your items hard.

 

[Thanee]

True Seeing is also pretty damn good, yeah.

Disintegrate is good, but you can still dimension door or teleport through a wall of force, or (13+) cast limited wish, if it really needs to be removed. And there are plenty other ways to remove a barrier or kill an opponent. Hardly a must-have in my eyes.

And why would chain lightning be a must-have spell?
I'd rate that among the lowest ranking spells in that level, actually.

Tenser's Transformation is fun and can be quite nasty, really!
Of course, not a must-have, but at least a fun spell.

Bye
Thanee