What's the weakest wizard specialty?

[Arrgh! Mark!]

The most powerful class I ever played was a Diviner gnome wizard with spell focus in Necromancy. I dropped Evocation because of it's suckyness.


He was good, too. Fear, Scare, Summon creepy monsters, detecting stuff and so on. Confusing people with illusions was even better; its about being smart enough to use them.

A foolish DM rates divination as a weak school. An average DM rates divination as a highly overpowered, possibly plot-breaking school. A good DM uses divination to his own advantage.


In terms of long term, any evoker will get slaughtered by any half-smart wizard. Wizards are not designed around damage. That's what fighters are for. Any evoker will be ditching two actual neccesary schools for one that isn't very useful, and other people can do better. Hell - Summon something and have it fight for you. So much better.

 

[Nightfall]

Argh...

That's truly the WEIRDEST specialist I've ever seen.

But not in a bad way.


Good job!

 

[The Iron Mark]

All IMO of course.

Two best schools: Transmutation and Conjuration. These two cover almost everything you'd want to do.
Two worst schools: Necromancy and Enchantment. Necromancy is only good for making undead and save or die spells. The first is evil, the second can be done by better schools. Enchantment sucks because a huge amount of things in the game are immune to mind-affecting things by default. It does rock in social/humanoid heavy games.

I don't think Evocation is a good school to get rid of because in the beginning the damage can be nice. Illusion and Divination are potentially the most powerful/game-breaking schools in the game, because they truly rely on player skill and creativity. Sure Illusions can be disbelieved, but that's why you break out the shadow stuff, and suddenly it's a lot more real .

 

[Nightfall]

Iron,

No not always evil. I believe creating non-sentient undead isn't evil no matter what the RAW says. In fact it's just the same as making flesh golems or any other golem for that matter.

But the second one I can understand why people don't like.

 

[paradox42]

My first thought was "Evocation," upon reading the question, but I have to agree that Necromancy and Enchantment are (situational) seconds for the weakest schools to specialize in.

One side note is that IMC, I long ago decided that Conjuration was too good with the Teleportation spells included, as in fact were the schools that had them in earlier editions of the game. So I split off the Teleportation spells- and all similar transport spells- into their own ninth school, and haven't regretted it (though specialist Wizards are pretty rare in my games; Sorcerers and other spontaneous casters have been far more common).

 

[Nightfall]

Paradox,

They can be IF you are in the wrong situation. Which doesn't always happen with Necromancy in my book...

 

[Dougan Axehammer]

IMO, all specialists wizards are weak compared to universal wizard. All specializing does is grant you one extra spell per day for your chosen school and allows you to learn spells from that school a little more easily. It does not increase your ability to cast them, or make your spells more powerful, and on top of that you have to choose a potentially valuable school to not learn spells from. Specialists lack the flexibility that I find to be so powerful. Personally, if you want to "specialize", be a universal wizard (either human, elf, or gnome) and select spell focus (and greater spell focus if human) for you first level feat.

If I had to choose the weakest school (because of a campaign setting or something), I would choose necromancer. It's not because the other schools can mimic necromancy, though. Of all the schools, necromancy benefits the most from knowing spells in other schools. For example, Detect Undead is a divination that can help the necromancer find minions to control. Also imagine the effects to be had by combining a troop of undead with cloudkill or combining a stilled, silent enervation with gaseous form or minor image with fear. But I wouldn't want to choose.

Oh, and the weakest class to multiclass with a wizard is barbarian. While you are raging, all your spellcasting becomes non-existent and you simply become a barbarian of whatever level.

 

[Nightfall]

Bah divination is weak fu compared to the might of TRUE necromancy that can sense undead creatures just like undead can sense living ones.

 

[paradox42]

Paradox,

They can be IF you are in the wrong situation. Which doesn't always happen with Necromancy in my book...

Which is exactly why I called them (situational) seconds-weakest.

I can't help but find it ironic, though, that what was arguably the most powerful specialty in prior editions of the game (Evoker) is now the weakest on so many lists. Food for thought.

 

[Hjorimir]

I'm playing a 12th-level evoker (actually evoker/master specialist) with necromancy and enchantment has his opposed schools. I find that the character is easily the most powerful one of the group. Of course, having access to spells from the Spell Compendium, PHB II, Complete Arcane/Mage sure does help.