Questions about creating a Wizard.

[Kalegkos]

Hello all! Happy Holidays. I am new here so this is my first questioning thread.:smallsmile: Anyway, i wanna create a wizard in d&d 3.5 version. I want to make a heavy damage wizard :smallbiggrin: and i am asking for information about race, build, feats, prestige class, anything that can help me get out of the endless maze of dnd 3.5 books :P No prohibited books in our campaign. Thank you very much for your time!:smallcool:

[missmvicious]

So... Blaster build? I'm no optimizer, and I don't build blasters, but here's what I've learned from my other Wizard builds.

The Spell Compendium is your best friend. Dive in... enjoy.

After that, you want a build with high INT, obviously. Then DEX is a very nice add on, since it makes range spells more accurate and improves your AC at the same time. Dump in STR and find a Wizard or Wizard's guild in every freaking settlement you come across so you can scribble a spell or two into your spell book while the rest of your party gets drunk in the tavern. Never stop adding spells to your Spellbook... unless you run out of pages. Then buy another spell book and never stop adding spells to it... unless there are no spells left in the universe. THEN START RESEARCHING NEW SPELLS MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Finally, decide whether or not you want to specialize. Most will argue that specialization is pwns. They're probably right. Most of the really good PrCs require school specialization, and it will give you more spells per day. I, however, take a back door approach and say, "Who needs more spells per day? With the right amount of magic wands, I can outcast any sorcerer, any day." Stock up on some GP or take the Craft Magic Wands Feat and load up on the following:
Wand of Magic Missile
Wand of Fireball (or whichever element you prefer)
Wand of Greater Invisibility

If you stock up on just those three wands, you get 100 blast spells that you can use while being Invisible... by the time you use up the wands (even assuming you go Nova every encounter) you will have either saved up enough GP or spent enough time Crafting to have a whole new set of BAMF wands.

That's my humble opinion. Feel free to pick the meat from the bones. Not all of my ideas are top shelf. Get one of the optimizers in here, and they'll build you a God-killer before you hit L10, but I hope some of what I said helps. :smallredface:

[Tyndmyr]

Hello all! Happy Holidays. I am new here so this is my first questioning thread.:smallsmile: Anyway, i wanna create a wizard in d&d 3.5 version. I want to make a heavy damage wizard :smallbiggrin: and i am asking for information about race, build, feats, prestige class, anything that can help me get out of the endless maze of dnd 3.5 books :P No prohibited books in our campaign. Thank you very much for your time!:smallcool:

Aright, first off, what level for your wizard starting? That'll impact what you have to worry about picking right now...and probably limit the scope of things you have to worry about in the future. Very few campaigns go all the way from level 1 to 20, so if you're level 1 now...no point worrying very much about crazy combos you can unlock at level 20.

Next, do you want to be a specialist or a generalist? The additional spells of the specialist/focused specialist are really handy, but generalist offers you domain wizard and elven generalist as options too, and a bit more spell flexibility.

Thirdly, do you want a familiar, or do you want to swap that out for something else?

Short list of books you want to consider: Phb, Comp Arcane, Comp Mage, Spell Compendium. Other books have good stuff too, but these have a LOT of fun things for wizards.

Good races: Human is always good, grey/fire elf are also solid(esp if generalist). In general, anything that gives you a feat or int is great, con is next most important, dex is third....and you can mostly ignore the rest.

As for damage, you will boost that in a few ways. First, pick good spells(aoes tend to result in more total damage dealt, but some single target spells have higher dice(like d8/cl) or side abilities(like the orbs have). Second, boost CL. Most damage spells do a die of damage for every caster level. So, if you have a higher CL....everything gets better. Third, boost actions via a belt of battle, quicken spell, etc.

Edit: Be aware that wands use the crafted CL, not yours. So, by default a wand of fireball has CL 5. Higher costs more, and your prepared fireballs will usually have a higher CL as well. Try to avoid being too dependent on items for your normal blasty spells.

[Kalegkos]

Thanks for replying. I am starting at 1 st lvl but like to know the options for the future so i start building properly. With feats, skills, RP etc. What feats do you suggest? A friend of mine introduced me to : 6Wizard/5War Mage((3version Age of Mortals book))/5Archmage. - I also think my RP being better as a generalist. I play wizard for the first time so i would like to "meet" as many spells as possible so i know later which path should i choose. I want also to make heavy-weight damage..

[Kalegkos]

Every info is useful, and thank you very much for replying. I already know what you're saying. I think it's common sense about wizards and their "greed" for spells :P I also would like, and see myself, as a generalist. Do you have anything more specific to suggest. The whole wand idea was good too, i just don't know if it's worth taking a feat and spending that kind of money/exp((if there is loss) on creating them. Wands are usable as magic device, right? So a rogue can use them also. If that's so maybe you are right. But i think that creating wands is for kinda higher lvls. I will start as lvl1 wizard. And also i think that Human is the best, one extra feat :smallwink:

[Slipperychicken]

Sorcerers are, AFAIK, considered better blasters, more fun to play, and easier to build. Otherwise, search something like "3.5 generalist blaster wizard".

[Kalegkos]

AFAIK? I don't like sorcerers. I find it kinda silly they way they work. It's like when you lvl up and DING automatically learn somehow new spells. Anyway, my way of seeing the world of fantasy :P Thnx for the info though.

[Tyndmyr]

Yeah, Wands are not viable at level 1...you don't yet have the money for that.

At level 1, probably pack a crossbow or heavy crossbow for if you're short on spells, since you don't have a lot yet. After all, you don't want to be up front, but if you're conserving spells, you want to at least do something.

I'm not familiar with Age of Mortals, and thus, I presume it's a third party book. What does the class do?

Generalist works. Your two basic interesting variants on generalist are as follows.

1. Domain wizard (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/variantCharacterClasses.htm). You can never specialize, but you now know the spells in a specific domain. You get a bonus spell slot per level, but it can ONLY be used with the domain spells. Not a bad option, if allowed. I'm a fan of Storm domain myself, but choices vary depending on preference.

2. Elven Generalist. Must be a generalist, must be an elf, so a little harder(can be comboed with the above if DM allows it). It's from Races of the Wild. Get one more slot at the highest level, and a fair amount of extra spells known. Good for portraying the collectionist types. On the down side, elves tend toward being squishy.

If human is your choice, I'd look into option 1.

If you want to be blasty, I'd focus on feats that boost CL or saves on your preferred school(evocation or conjuration, most likely). An extra CL or two at first level is often immensely helpful.

If traits are allowed, the Spellgifted trait might be desirable. It helps your CL with one school, but hurts CL elsewhere. So, for the heavily blasty type, this might be a good option.

Edit: Wizards also make perfectly good blasters. Getting spells a level earlier is awesome, and bonus feats are also great.

[Kalegkos]

Age of Mortals is the book. Dragonlance book, 3rd edition. She can wear armor, she can make her charisma and her allies to count for AC and gets bonuses on combat spells. How does the domain works? Exactly as the clerics'? If it's so it is a lots of bonuses! Btw the storm domain remembers me of druidic spell :P Anyway, do you have any specific build to suggest me? I find myself thinking that almost everything is cool xD That's why i would like something specific to suggest. A build for example. Or feats.. What 1st lvl feats do you suggest? Once i get 2 as human.

[Tyndmyr]

Age of Mortals is the book. Dragonlance book, 3rd edition. She can wear armor, she can make her charisma and her allies to count for AC and gets bonuses on combat spells. How does the domain works? Exactly as the clerics'? If it's so it is a lots of bonuses! Btw the storm domain remembers me of druidic spell :P Anyway, do you have any specific build to suggest me? I find myself thinking that almost everything is cool xD That's why i would like something specific to suggest. A build for example. Or feats.. What 1st lvl feats do you suggest? Once i get 2 as human.

Ah, dragonlance, yes. Third party, but still official.

Honestly, wearing armor is highly overrated for wizards.

The domains work similarly to wizards, but they don't have domain granted powers, and you only get one of them. Some of them, however, include spells not normally on the wizard list, so for collectionists like me, that's fantastic.

I'd probably go Human Human Paragon 1/Wizard 1/HP 2/Wiz x(either 2 or 3, depending on PrC, possibly a bit more), then into a good generalist PrC.

The first four levels of fatespinner are good, loremaster is solid. Later on, archmage is excellent. The reason for the initial build I suggested is giant piles of skills, a few extra hp, a bonus feat, and some extra stats.

Trait: Spellgifted(Evocation)

Feats: Collegiate Wizard(extra spells known, bonus to spellcraft), Able Learner(In conjunction with HP, effectively all skills are class skills forever now). After a bit, I'd likely invest in Fiery Burst and other reserve feat/CL boosters. Extra minor blasting for the slow times, and a boost to my heavy spells when needed.

Alternatively, a fun trick for blasters is to grab Wild Mage and take Practiced Spellcaster, negating the downside. You now add +1d6 to your CL, so you mostly wreck people's day when you blast them.

[Kalegkos]

I'd probably go Human Human Paragon 1/Wizard 1/HP 2/Wiz x(either 2 or 3, depending on PrC, possibly a bit more), then into a good generalist PrC.

HP and PrC stand for...? I don't really like the trait. You gain bonus on one school and minus on all the others. Does it really worth it? As comes to WIld Mage? I LOVE IT :P Hahahaha. It's just perfect. Love in-game gambling :P

[missmvicious]

HP and PrC stand for...?

HP = Hit Points
PrC = Prestige Class

Go here to understand more terms used on this Forum:
http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18512

I'm glad you're getting the help you need! :smallbiggrin:

[Kalegkos]

Thnx a lot :D:smallredface:

[Kalegkos]

Btw the HP i was mentioning it's not the Hit Points:P Is something like a class. Check the comment above mine :P

[Demon of Death]

Btw the HP i was mentioning it's not the Hit Points:P Is something like a class. Check the comment above mine :P

That HP is Human Paragon

[Slipperychicken]

AFAIK= As Far As I Know. IMO= In My Opinion. ACF= Alternate Class Feature. AFB= Away From Books. OP= OverPowered or Original Post.

If you feel scared for your spellbook's safety, you could try Eidetic Spellcaster ACF from Dragon Mag #357. Basically makes your brain into your "spellbook" in exchange for your familiar (you copy more spells via incenses, and its much harder for enemies take your brain if you get captured). You can get your familiar back with the Obtain Familiar feat.

[killem2]

I would have to say I am royally enjoying the focused specialist: evocation I have started.

Getting 5 arcane bolt/magic missile at level 1 is pretty funny. hehe. (18 int score that is)

[Rubik]

One of the best things to do with blaster-types is to have damaging spells that act as battlefield control or as status-effect inducers (whether those be inherently part of the spell or through metamagic). If you can throw out an Acid Fog to deal damage, you also have the benefits of trapping your enemies in a Solid Fog effect (meaning you just cut down their ability to move to 5' at best), and you just blinded them as well (meaning they're screwed while you Fireball them). And adding the Fell Drain feat (from Libris Mortis) is awesome, since draining levels from enemies with Magic Missiles screws caster-types (and basically everyone else) really hard.

Also, conjuror-specialists make awesome blasters, since they completely ignore spell resistance and can do tons of other things as well.

[dextercorvia]

I would have to say I am royally enjoying the focused specialist: evocation I have started.

Getting 5 arcane bolt/magic missile at level 1 is pretty funny. hehe. (18 int score that is)

You would need a 20 Int to get 5 1st level spells as a 1st level Focused Specialist -- don't forget you have to give up one of your general slots to get the extra two specialist slots.

[HMS Invincible]

http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=394
One guide for making a wizard, enjoy =)

[Kalegkos]

Thnx all for the answers. I am checking each one of them :P And i am getting even more confused as i get more info xD Anyway all are helpful.

[Killer Angel]

Metamagic feats and rods are your friend. The best blasters work with metamagic (and metamagic reducers).

Quicken, empower, maximize, twin, repeat are all golden.
Energy substitution can be nice: I used to replace fire with sonic, but with complete arcane, the sonic type was removed.

[Kalegkos]

Useful, true..

[Kalegkos]

True it is.. I am fine about the metamagic feats. The normal ones i can't easily decide :P

[Tyndmyr]

True it is.. I am fine about the metamagic feats. The normal ones i can't easily decide :P

You can never really go wrong with Improved Init.

I also reccomend Iron Will if you're undecided as to your PrC(s). It's a meh feat, but it's a really common prereq, and you'll want those out of the way in advance.

[Wings of Peace]

Ah, dragonlance, yes. Third party, but still official.



In fairness isn't the campaign setting book first party (unlike the subsequent setting books)?

Edit: Nevermind. I failed to see that he said Age of Mortals.

[killem2]

You would need a 20 Int to get 5 1st level spells as a 1st level Focused Specialist -- don't forget you have to give up one of your general slots to get the extra two specialist slots.

Whoops sorry I completely forgot my wizard got to level 2 last session >_<!

[Greenish]

http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=394
One guide for making a wizard, enjoy =)Wrong one, though. He doesn't want god-style wiz. This one (http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75882/19868534/The_Mailman:_A_Direct_Damage_Sorcerer) is for sorcerers, but large parts of it should be applicable.

[jaybird]

True it is.. I am fine about the metamagic feats. The normal ones i can't easily decide :P

Might I suggest Arcane Thesis on your go-to blast? +2 CL and -1 on every metamagic you apply to it, can't go below its original spell level.

Also, if Pathfinder material is permitted, get Spell Perfection and Intensify Spell as soon as you can. Intensify Spell adds 5d6 to your damage cap, while Spell Perfection not only lets you apply a metamagic for free (free Quicken Spell, anyone?), it also doubles "any numerical bonuses granted by feats". That means Fiery Spell, which gives +1/dice for all [Fire] spells, now grants +2/dice. Scorching Spell, which gave +3/dice, similarly now gives you +6/dice. Yeah.

[Endarire]

If you want to learn Wizards, snuggle up with Treantmonk (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=394.0).

If you want to make foes asplode with your arcane abilities, check your Mailman (http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75882/19868534/The_Mailman:_A_Direct_Damage_Sorcerer?pg=1).