What Are The 12 Best Wizard/Sorcerer Spells At Each Level?

[jensun]

Hmm, sirwrmholder's list is missing what are some of the most common high level spells used:

Teleport/Greater Teleport
Contingency
Plane Shift
Gate

 

[Evilhalfling]

skip the Evard's Tentacles and Darkness they both have rule problems,
See Invisibility, perhaps fire shield?
you may need some energy resist/protection spells as well.

There was a list of best spells - compiled from polls if anyone wants to find it and link it.

 

[sirwmholder]

Hmm, sirwrmholder's list is missing what are some of the most common high level spells used:

Teleport/Greater Teleport
Contingency
Plane Shift
Gate

Yeah, in our games we don't teleport alot and when we do it's usually handled by NPC's to "speed us on our way". Contingency is a great spell... just not my play style... I suppose too many past DM's using Anti-magic fields thus negating the trigger for my carefully worded Contingencies .

When I play a Wizard I try to have those six spells per level memmed at all times or on backup scrolls... your mileage may very but they have served me well.

Thank you for your response,
William Holder

 

[Notmousse]

4th
Orb of Acid
Orb of Fire
Orb of Force
Orb of Electricity
Orb of Sound

5th
Easy Metamagic Empowered
Orb of Acid
Orb of Fire
Orb of Force
Orb of Electricity
Orb of Sound

6th
Easy Metamagic Empowered, Easy Metamagic Enervated
Orb of Acid
Orb of Fire
Orb of Force
Orb of Electricity
Orb of Sound

7th
Easy Metamagic Empowered, Easy Metamagic Maximized
Orb of Acid
Orb of Fire
Orb of Force
Orb of Electricity
Orb of Sound

8th
Easy Metamagic Enhanced, Easy Metamagic Enervated
Orb of Acid
Orb of Fire
Orb of Force
Orb of Electricity
Orb of Sound

9th
Easy Metamagic Empowered, Easy Metamagic Enhanced, Easy Metamagic Enervated
Orb of Acid
Orb of Fire
Orb of Force
Orb of Electricity
Orb of Sound

[/Joking]

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

4th
Orb of Acid
Orb of Fire
Orb of Force
Orb of Electricity
Orb of Sound

5th
Easy Metamagic Empowered
Orb of Acid
Orb of Fire
Orb of Force
Orb of Electricity
Orb of Sound

6th
Easy Metamagic Empowered, Easy Metamagic Enervated
Orb of Acid
Orb of Fire
Orb of Force
Orb of Electricity
Orb of Sound

7th
Easy Metamagic Empowered, Easy Metamagic Maximized
Orb of Acid
Orb of Fire
Orb of Force
Orb of Electricity
Orb of Sound

8th
Easy Metamagic Enhanced, Easy Metamagic Enervated
Orb of Acid
Orb of Fire
Orb of Force
Orb of Electricity
Orb of Sound

9th
Easy Metamagic Empowered, Easy Metamagic Enhanced, Easy Metamagic Enervated
Orb of Acid
Orb of Fire
Orb of Force
Orb of Electricity
Orb of Sound

[/Joking]

You forgot Orb of Cold! Getting the effect of an entire round invisible against the BBEG for the whole party is huge!

 

[Flynn]

Here's what I have so far, but it's at 20 instead of 12. I still need to pare some of this down. Note that I've replaced many of the specific energy-based spells, such as Fireball, with Psionics-inspired generics for diversity. There may also be a few spells from my personal collection in here, so if you have any questions, please let me know.

Any suggestions or insights into what should be culled from the list below would be muchly appreciated.

With Regards,
Flynn

* * * * *

0th-Level Mage Spells (Cantrips)
1. Arcane Mark
2. Dancing Lights
3. Daze
4. Detect Magic
5. Detect Poison
6. Disrupt Undead
7. Energy Ray, Lesser
8. Energy Slam
9. Flare
10. Ghost Sound
11. Light
12. Mage Hand
13. Mending
14. Message
15. Mystic Circumstances
16. Open/Close
17. Prestidigitation
18. Read Magic
19. Resistance
20. Touch of Fatigue

1st-Level Mage Spells
1. Cause Fear
2. Charm Person
3. Chill Touch
4. Comprehend Languages
5. Disguise Self
6. Endure Elements
7. Enlarge Person
8. Feather Fall
9. Floating Disk
10. Identify
11. Mage Armor
12. Magic Missile
13. Magic Weapon
14. Monster Summoning I
15. Obscuring Mist
16. Protection From Outsiders
17. Shield
18. Silent Image
19. Sleep
20. Unseen Servant

2nd-Level Mage Spells
1. Ability Enhancer
2. Arcane Lock
3. Blur
4. Command Undead
5. Darkness
6. Detect Thoughts
7. Energy Weapon
8. Enhanced Knowledge, Lesser
9. Hideous Laughter
10. Invisibility
11. Knock
12. Levitate
13. Locate Object
14. Mirror Image
15. Monster Summoning II
16. Resist Energy
17. Spectral Hand
18. Spider Climb
19. Touch of Idiocy
20. Web

3rd-Level Mage Spells
1. Arcane Sight
2. Clairaudience/Clairvoyance
3. Daylight
4. Dispel Magic
5. Energy Ball
6. Energy Bolt
7. Explosive Runes
8. Heroism
9. Haste
10. Hold Person
11. Magic Circle vs. Outsiders
12. Magic Weapon, Greater
13. Major Image
14. Monster Summoning III
15. Protection From Energy
16. Protection From Outsiders
17. Stinking Cloud
18. Suggestion
19. Telepathic Bond, Lesser
20. Tongues

4th-Level Mage Spells
1. Animate Dead
2. Arcane Eye
3. Bestow Curse
4. Black Tentacles
5. Charm Monster
6. Confusion
7. Contagion
8. Dimension Door
9. Energy Wall
10. Enhanced Knowledge
11. Globe of Invulnerability, Lesser
12. Ice Storm
13. Invisibility, Greater
14. Monster Summoning IV
15. Phantasmal Killer
16. Polymorph
17. Remove Curse
18. Scrying
19. Shadow Conjuration
20. Stoneskin

5th-Level Mage Spells
1. Baleful Polymorph
2. Break Enchantment
3. Contact Other Plane
4. Dismissal
5. Energy Cone
6. Fabricate
7. Feeblemind
8. Hold Monster
9. Magic Jar
10. Monster Summoning V
11. Passwall
12. Permanency
13. Persistent Image
14. Planar Binding, Lesser
15. Sending
16. Shadow Evocation
17. Telekinesis
18. Telepathic Bond
19. Teleport
20. Waves of Fatigue

6th-Level Mage Spells
1. Analyze Dweomer
2. Anti-Magic Field
3. Circle of Death
4. Contingency
5. Create Undead
6. Disintegrate
7. Dispel Magic, Greater
8. Energy Current
9. Flesh to Stone
10. Forceful Hand
11. Geas/Quest
12. Globe of Invulnerability
13. Heroism, Greater
14. Monster Summoning VI
15. Permanent Image
16. Planar Binding
17. Probe Thoughts
18. Programmed Image
19. True Seeing
20. Undeath to Death

7th-Level Mage Spells
1. Arcane Sight, Greater
2. Banishment
3. Control Undead
4. Control Weather
5. Finger of Death
6. Forcecage
7. Grasping Hand
8. Insanity
9. Limited Wish
10. Monster Summoning VII
11. Plane Shift
12. Power Word Blind
13. Prismatic Spray
14. Project Image
15. Reverse Gravity
16. Scrying, Greater
17. Shadow Conjuration, Greater
18. Spell Turning
19. Teleport, Greater
20. Waves of Exhaustion

8th-Level Mage Spells
1. Binding
2. Clenched Fist
3. Clone
4. Dimensional Lock
5. Discern Location
6. Horrid Wilting
7. Incendiary Cloud
8. Maze
9. Mind Blank
10. Moment of Prescience
11. Monster Summoning VIII
12. Planar Binding, Greater
13. Energy Ray, Greater
14. Polymorph Any Object
15. Power Word Stun
16. Prismatic Wall
17. Screen
18. Shadow Evocation, Greater
19. Telekinetic Sphere
20. Temporal Stasis

9th-Level Mage Spells
1. Crushing Hand
2. Disjunction
3. Dominate Monster
4. Energy Drain
5. Foresight
6. Freedom
7. Gate
8. Imprisonment
9. Meteor Swarm
10. Monster Summoning IX
11. Power Word Kill
12. Prismatic Sphere
13. Shades
14. Shapechange
15. Time Stop
16. Wail of the Banshee
17. Weird
18. Wish

 

[shurai]

If you're introducing people to the game, you can probably stop at 3rd level magic. If your campaign gets to 5th/6th character level, then I think you won't have to worry about simplicity very much anymore.

I really don't think you need more than four or five spells per level, anyway, and stick to the simplest rather than the most useful spells; you're the DM so you can make the simpler spells useful more often anyway.

If it were me, I'd do it like this:

0th:
Detect Magic
Light
Read Magic
Prestidigitation

1st:
Magic Missile
Identify
Charm Person
Mage Armor
Unseen Servant

2nd:
Scorching Ray
Resist Energy
Detect Thoughts
Invisibility
Daze Monster
Enhance Ability*

3rd:
Fireball (of course)
Dispel Magic
Fly
Heroism
Suggestion
Clairvoyance/Clairaudience

*copy <Animal>'s <Quality> +4 to abil spells, but let them pick any ability on the fly

This should be sufficient for introducing people to the game, I'd say.

Need a similar hand with cleric spells?