[4E] Tiefling Wizard help?

[Alejandro]

Hello forumites:

I will soon be playing in my first 4E game, which is going to be a 'try it out' small series of games where we familiarize ourselves with the system and try out various PCs.

I will be playing a Tiefling Wizard. I have and can use PHB 1, 2, and 3. Could those of you with some 4E experience share some insights on building a strong tiefling wizard? I would appreciate it very much.

[devinkowalczyk]

At Wills:
Fire Burst
Thunderwave

Lower levels encounters and dailies:
fireball
burning hands
color spray
firewall (lil higher...(use it all around a medium creature for massive damage)


dont forget to pick your rituals carefully

I would suggest going with the staff implement. that +1 ac is nice, and the +con to any defense saved my bacon a few times


feats
armor prof leather is good (allows you to get up into the fray and not get hit)

[tcrudisi]

Hello forumites:

I will soon be playing in my first 4E game, which is going to be a 'try it out' small series of games where we familiarize ourselves with the system and try out various PCs.

I will be playing a Tiefling Wizard. I have and can use PHB 1, 2, and 3. Could those of you with some 4E experience share some insights on building a strong tiefling wizard? I would appreciate it very much.

Since I do not know what level you are, here's a link:

http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75882/25095865/The_Power_of_Knowledge_-_The_Wizards_Handbook

That is for the 4e character optimization board for Wizards.

Since it's your first game, please don't follow that book religiously. Why not? Because it's probably other people's first game too and you don't want to show up with an optimized character while they are guessing at what to do.

But I'll sum up what you really need to know now --

bigger damage dice does not mean a better power. As a wizard, it is your job to lock down the battlefield, not do the damage. Sure, damage is good, but it's not everything. Status effects are, however. If you want to do lots of damage across several targets, play a Sorcerer. If you want to make your enemies regret life -- play the Wizard.

Use the power descriptions and colors (in the link) to help you make decisions, but most importantly, look at WHY they say to pick those powers, and that will help give you an insight as to which powers are good and which ones are traps.

Best of luck to ya and I hope you and your friends enjoy 4e.

[ImperiousLeader]

1. Do not neglect your attack stat. With a Tiefling, you should have a minimum of an 18 starting Intelligence score.

2. Do not neglect your defenses, your main weakness is AC, but it's not as weak as previous editions. Still, consider either upgrading to leather armor, or get unarmored agility from PH3.

3. Understand your powers. Know the difference between Area, Close Burst and Close blast powers is and what they mean.

4. Try and have spells that target different defenses.

5. Thunderwave is made of awesome, but make sure you've got at least 12 Wisdom or don't bother.

[WinWin]

Tieflings can make good illusionist wizards (stat synergy). Providing you have access to Arcane Power. You can get a few decent powers off DDI.

You probably want effects and area more than damage. Keep that in mind when selecting powers. Focus on Intelligence, then make a decision about what other attributes to boost (if you are using point buy). Con can be useful, especially with a staff wizard. Wisdom used to be good, but Orb of Imposition got nerfed...Still ok. Dex is a waste of time unless you realy need the initiative. Wands are terrible IMO.

Choose interesting low level powers. Heroic tier can be a grind if you are spamming hit/damage at wills. Even a minor effect can be useful at that stage of the game. Once you have a few encounter and daily powers to call on, things get a bit more interesting.

Rituals are so-so. Pick stuff for utility (ie. that you can see yourself using more than once), plus a cool power now and then. Being able to enchant items is a great way to give the party a few low level trinkets. They wont be as good as stuff you find, but it will help you get a few bonuses here and there.

[cupkeyk]

What level are you? What do you imagine the wizard doing?

Tieflings make the best blasters, alongside genasi. But then blasters are the weakest kind of wizards.

They make great stunlockers because they can put a 10 in Cha and still qualify for spell focus at 11.

They don't exactly make good summoners, but they are not a bad choice though. Only the githyanki make good summoners but they are not a PH race, not they have feat support.

They make okay illusionists but gnomes are better.

That said. The best implement in my opinion is Tome of Readiness but YOU WILL NOT WEILD A TOME. You will carry around a mundane tome for the rest of your career, maybe magic it up for dual implement spellcaster if you decide to go blaster. You will want to opt for a wand, preferably an accurate master's wand of thunderwave.

Your second at will is winged horde. Feats that you must take: Versatile Expertise (Wand/Staff); Superior Implement Proficiency (Accurate Wand).

Choosing Rituals at level one is easy: Its only ever comrade's succor and Tenser's floating disc.

[dsmiles]

Three words:

"Thunderwave, thunderwave, thunderwave."

The best wizard At-Will. Hands down.

[Sipex]

Is Thunderwave in the PHB1?

Either way, as a Wizard your job is to control the battlefield. You want to throw status effects down to keep problem enemies locked down while throwing burst attacks to hit groups of enemies. Your strength isn't in high damage so don't get dissapointed when your damage is dwarfed by almost everyone.

Good feats to go with are feats which increase your to-hit bonus (because if you can't hit then you're not going to be nearly as useful as you want to be), and feats which increase the effectiveness of your spells in different ways (burst/blast area, extra effects or damage, better range, combat advantage at range, etc). Try not to focus on defensive feats because in the end your defenses will suck anyways (except probably Will).

You'll want to have a high INT score, 18 if you're doing point buy and possibly high charisma or wisdom (take your pick).

Check with your DM if you can take a different at-will than magic missle so you know your options (Wizards, by default, are supposed to start with Magic Missile plus one other attack).

Vary your spells as well, have different spells that do different things. Some burst, some blast, some ranged. Different effects, different elements, different defenses targeted.

[Kurald Galain]

Well, it's too bad you don't have access to Arcane Power - it offers some very good wizard spells. Also, the PHB Races Tiefling book gives some good options.

Anyway, some general tips,
(1) Start with 18 int, because you'll use this score more than all the other five combined. Consider starting with a 19 or 20.
(2) Focus on the biggest area effects you can find. It is perfectly feasible and effective to play a wizard with zero single-target spells.
(3) The best wizard spells are debuffs, forced movement, and other afflictions; avoid spells that only do damage.
(4) Statistically, giving enemies -2 to hit is not a good debuff, and neither is slowing people, and neither is getting +2 to your AC a good feat.
(5) Fire is the most commonly resisted element; don't rely on fire damage except if you can use the PHB Tieflings handbook.
(6) Take a multiclass feat of your choice, they are among the best feats in the game.
(7) Orb of Imposition is also underwhelming until paragon level. Staff, Wand, and Tome of Readiness are all solid.
(8) Almost all of your powers will also hit allies in the area, but with decent party tactics this is only rarely a problem.
(9) As soon as you can afford them, carry a bagfull of utility orbs and staffs, and get some way of drawing them as a free action.
(10) Thunderwave is one of the best at-wills in the game, and combos well with the many zone effects wizards get.

Fireball, Burning Hands, and Leather Armor are some pretty mediocre choices, in practice. Also, you can't actually use Wall of Fire "all around a medium creature for massive damage" because the spell doesn't stack with itself that way (but it's still a very good power).


Try not to focus on defensive feats because in the end your defenses will suck anyways (except probably Will).
This is incorrect: wizards have a very good AC and reflex even without defensive feats, because of their int bonus and some excellent defensive utilities (and they tend not to need AC much since they're not frontliners).


(Wizards, by default, are supposed to start with Magic Missile plus one other attack).
This is also incorrect. 4.0 wizards start with two at-will attacks of their choice, one of which can be Magic Missile; 4.4 wizards start with two at-wills plus Magic Missile.

[dsmiles]

(7) Orb of Imposition is also underwhelming until paragon level. Staff, Wand, and Tome of Readiness are all solid.

Tome is in the PHB1, 2, or 3? I need to read that as I'm writing my campaign.

[Kurald Galain]

Tome is in the PHB1, 2, or 3? I need to read that as I'm writing my campaign.
Oh sorry, Tome of Readiness is in Arcane Power. PHB2 and 3 do not have anything to offer that really stands out for a wizard, except of course the Expertise feats. (edit) oh yeah, and superior implements, of course, which are nice but not essential.