Who's the greatest specialist of them all?

[lukelightning]

Omnimancer. They specialize in all schools of magic at once!

 

[Psion]

Abjurers all the way. Mostly because they're probably the only specialization that seems to have a "Good guy" feel to it - Evil Abjurers aren't nearly as common as, say, Evil Enchanters or Evil Conjurers.

The idea of protecting your butt with magic is always fun, but Abjuration is also about expelling demons and creating all sorts of fun wards and whatnot. Play an Abjurer, and you are in effect telling the GM what sort of baddies you think it'd be fun to fight. Plus, there's that whole "You shall not pass!" element. Gandalf was totally an Abjurer.

Yup.

I totally think abjurers are great fun to play. I was just answering the question from a "what's more powerful" standpoint.

 

[boerngrim]

I have a soft spot for evokers. Early in my 2e days I played and evoker name Romar Oakenshield. I had a blast playing that character. He was a wizard who didn't understand that wizards weren't supposed to lead the charge! He hit the ground a whole bunch, but man was it fun to blast a door down with a lightning bolt and rush into danger. Of course Romar's wrecklesness cost him. He was covered with burn scars over like 90% of his body.

 

[Thanee]

Conjurer.

Perhaps only slightly if going core, but by leaps and bounds if you include the energy orb spells un-nerfed. Ever since 3.5 moved the teleportation school of spells to conjuration, it's king of the hill.

But everyone can cast those spells.

That's why I voted Diviner, since they only lose one school for the same benefit (and it's hardly a liability to have to prepare some divination spells, since most wizards do so, anyways), thus they are clearly the best.

Of course, once you enter UA, there are more factors to consider, and Conjurers have some great options there...

Bye
Thanee

 

[Psion]

But everyone can cast those spells.

My criteria here run roughly along the lines of "what school has spells that I would want to be able to cast at every level?" (i.e., to occupy that bonus slot)

Divination doesn't shine there, I'm afraid.

 

[Aus_Snow]

Diviner.

 

[Thanee]

Divination doesn't shine there, I'm afraid.

It's out of question, that Conjuration has the better spells, but Divination has plenty of spells you want to have prepared every day, like Detect Magic, See Invisibility, Assay Resistance, and so on. You only need one for each level. There might be a specific spell level or two, where the spell choice is sometimes slightly sub-optimal (3rd for example), but as a balancing factor you have one whole school of extra spells available. I at least think that this is the bigger benefit.

Bye
Thanee

 

[drothgery]

Evocation.

Power wise, they're really not so hot anymore, but darn it, D&D wizards are all about the fireballs.

 

[Felix]

Nine Mind-Affecting Illusion spells. Nine.

Yeah, but what spells!

Color Spray, arguably the best choice for a 1st level caster.
Hypnotic Pattern to make guards drool.
Illusory Script to make a days-long Suggestion vector.
Phantasmal Killer, the game's first Save-or-die.
Rainbow Pattern to lead folks by the nose.
Dream, a great communication spell with some of the best flavor in the game.
Nightmare to plauge your enemies from afar.
Scintillating Pattern for your close-combat needs.
Wierd, for when fearful deaths all around are called for.

Power wise, they're really not so hot anymore, but darn it, D&D wizards are all about the fireballs.

Aparrently WotC would have us believe that D&D wizards are all about Orbs of Lame.

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

Voted transmutation, because spells like baleful polymorph, disintegrate, slow, fly, and time stop, etc... are just too fun! Even so, I'm no fool. I realize conjurors are the best power-wise, especially with the orb spells. For barred schools, I'd say enchantment and illusion. Too saving throw dependent for me, and conjuration and necromancy offer better synergy and cover some of those bases. Although, losing invisibility would hurt... Maybe evocation, depends what style I'm going for.