PHB-Only Build: The Wizard Archer

[Piggy Knowles]

Hey, all,

I'm putting together a bunch of PHB-only builds, to help some friends who are new to the game get an idea of what can be done with just the PHB and a little ingenuity.

In any case, I wanted to make a wizard build that emphasized defense and preparation, but found a way to have something to do every single round of combat. I decided to put together a wizard archer.

Because I'm trying to keep this PHB-only, the build is obvious - just Wizard 20. If it were extended to the core three, then Loremaster or Archmage would be obvious choices to pick up.

Anyhow, I was hoping for some help fine-tuning the feat selection (blargh I hate choosing feats with PHB-only), and looking over my recommended "general spell lists." I'm putting together build stubs for every five levels. Also, I haven't created a "suggested item" list for each level, so thoughts on that would be nice.

I'm also strongly considering changing my banned schools. Enchantment is no great loss (the only spell I'd even really be interested in is Heroism, which is meh). However, Evocation actually does hurt. Floating Disk is a pretty nice spell at low levels, Shatter and Gust of Wind are both utility spells that I miss, but worst of all, I lose Contingency with no decent replacement in a PHB-only game.

That said, I have no idea what else I'd drop. Necromancy seems like the best option, but False Life is pretty essential to survival early on (d4 HD and a Con penalty means one lucky hit ends your career), and those ray debuffs work pretty well with an archer-style build.

Anyhow, here's what I've got so far. Any thoughts?

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ELF (if MM is allowed, use Grey Elf), Wizard 20

Specialize in Transmutation, ban Evocation and Enchantment

STATS: Int -> Dex -> Con -> Cha (for planar binding) -> Wis -> Str

FEATS:
1- Scribe Scroll, Point Blank Shot
3- Precise Shot
5- Extend Spell
6- Rapid Shot
9- Mounted Combat
10- Quicken Spell
12- Mounted Archery
15- Improved Initiative, Craft Wand
18- Spell Penetration
20- Craft Wondrous Item

SAMPLE PREPARED SPELL LISTS:

(Note: This is just a general idea of what a PHB wizard could prepare in a typical day. Obviously a wizard would more specifically tailor this list depending on the campaign, especially once divinations like Contact Other Plane come into play.)

An *asterisk* indicates the spell is cast at the beginning of the adventuring day.

LEVEL 5:
1- Mage Armor*, Ray of Enfeeblement, Grease, Grease, Enlarge Person
2- Protection from Arrows*, False Life*, Mirror Image, Pyrotechnics
3- Extended Alter Self*, Greater Magic Weapon*, Haste

Notes: Decent AC from troglodyte form and mage armor, plus naturally high dex. Prot/Arrows is still pretty decent defense from ranged attacks at this level as well, although it should probably be abandoned soon. GMW doesn't give a huge bonus at level 5, and should be traded out if you have a +1 bow. Fly, Dispel Magic or an additional casting of Haste would all be good alternatives.

LEVEL 10:
1- Mage Armor*, Ray of Enfeeblement, Ray of Enfeeblement, Grease, Silent Image, Silent Image
2- Darkvision*, False Life*, Glitterdust, Glitterdust, Mirror Image, Mirror Image
3- Extended Alter Self*, Greater Magic Weapon*, Extended Resist Energy*, Nondetection*, Dispel Magic
4- Extended Magic Circle Against XXX*, Extended Flame Arrow*, Extended Haste, Dimension Door, Shadow Conjuration
5- Overland Flight*, Extended Stoneskin*, Contact Other Plane, Wall of Stone

Notes: By level 10, you should be shooting for having some sort of nice flying mount via Lesser Planar Binding (the Nightmare is the gold standard, but I suppose there are other options). If you really don't want to use an evil mount, your best option is probably Phantom Steed. Still keep Overland Flight up, though - you don't want your only form of flight to be your mount.

Anyhow, you've got pretty good options in most combats here. Good AC, energy resistance (CoP should help you choose the best type here), damage reduction, protection from many divinations, compulsion/possession effects, etc. (Make sure your Magic Circle matches up with your choice of planar steed - this is the one downside to the Nightmare, as it is always Neutral Evil and therefore you need Magic Circle Against Good to let it touch you, unless your DM allows you to suppress the effect.)

LEVEL 15:
1- Mage Armor*, Ray of Enfeeblement, Ray of Enfeeblement, Grease, Silent Image, Silent Image
2- Darkvision*, False Life*, Glitterdust, Glitterdust, Mirror Image, Blur
3- Extended Alter Self*, Greater Magic Weapon*, Extended Resist Energy*, Nondetection*, Haste, Dispel Magic
4- Extended Magic Circle Against XXX*, Extended Flame Arrow*, Dimension Door, Dimension Door, Polymorph, Minor Creation
5- Overland Flight*, Extended Stoneskin*, Contact Other Plane, Teleport, Wall of Stone, Cloudkill
6- Quickened Mirror Image, Acid Fog, Disintegrate, Greater Dispel Magic, Summon Monster VI
7- Quickened Haste, Quickened Haste, Reverse Gravity, Greater Shadow Conjuration
8- Mind Blank*, Moment of Prescience*, Polymorph Any Object

Notes: Quickened spells make these levels pretty powerful. By now you probably have superior options to just pinging someone with an arrow every combat, but whatever, it's still a solid back-up plan. Honestly, it's sort of hard to screw up a level 15 wizard, as there are so many excellent options for spell selection.

LEVEL 20:
1- Mage Armor*, Ray of Enfeeblement, Ray of Enfeeblement, Grease, Silent Image, Silent Image
2- Darkvision*, False Life*, Misdirection*, Glitterdust, Glitterdust, Blur
3- Extended Alter Self*, Greater Magic Weapon*, Extended Resist Energy*, Extended Resist Energy*, Nondetection*, Dispel Magic
4- Extended Magic Circle Against Evil*, Extended Flame Arrow*, Dimension Door, Dimension Door, Polymorph, Minor Creation
5- Overland Flight*, Extended Stoneskin*, Contact Other Plane, Teleport, Wall of Stone, Cloudkill
6- Quickened Mirror Image, Quickened Mirror Image, Acid Fog, Disintegrate, Greater Dispel Magic, Greater Dispel Magic
7- Quickened Haste, Quickened Haste, Quickened Haste, Quickened Haste, Reverse Gravity, Greater Shadow Conjuration
8- Mind Blank*, Moment of Prescience*, Polymorph Any Object, Quickened Solid Fog, Quickened Enervation
9- Time Stop, Time Stop, Shapechange, Shapechange, Quickened Dismissal, Foresight

Notes: ...yeah, not much to say.

[vhfforever]

At higher levels, since you're picking up the Mounted Archery feat anyway, you might want to think about taking Phantom Steed as opposed to Overland Flight. It will free up a 5th level spell slot, and give you a 'mount' and flight to work off of.

[Piggy Knowles]

At higher levels, since you're picking up the Mounted Archery feat anyway, you might want to think about taking Phantom Steed as opposed to Overland Flight. It will free up a 5th level spell slot, and give you a 'mount' and flight to work off of.

I think it's a good plan to have some sort of flying steed as early as level 9, thanks to Lesser Planar Binding or Animate Dead. That said, while freeing up a 5th-level slot is nice, I don't like the idea of flying around on a mount without a back-up plan, since mounts are going to be pretty vulnerable. My ride check won't be good enough to negate most direct hits with Mounted Combat, and a well-timed Dismissal or Dispel could ground me pretty quickly...

[vhfforever]

A well-timed Dispel can ground your Overland Flight just as well as it could Phantom Steed. :) But yes, LPB is a better way, but then grounded by Dismissal as well. So, it's 6 of one, Half Dozen of the other.

[Manateee]

This thing's expected damage looks really dire, unless you're abusing polymorph (losing you your bow proficiency) or cross-classing UMD for Cleric spells (which raises the question of why you don't just go cleric).

You could have a nifty controller or shapeshifter build going on here, but you have a ton of resources going to waste. Leave the archery to the Clerics.

[Mystify]

Your BAB will suck, and there goes your accuracy. You either focus on dex or int. If you focus on int, your accuracy plummets even further. If you focus on dex ,you have less spells, and anything with a save is going to be weak. You listed str as your lowest stat, which means you aren't even getting composite bow bonuses.
I don't see many spells there that help your archery. You have flame arrow, but that is a +1 enchantment anyways. Alter self is the only place I could see you getting a decent bonus to archery from, but that still leaves you BaB poor, and you can't get any bonuses from a str increase since that has to be pre-baked into the weapon.

Basically, you are a horrible archer, and core wizard doesn't help that at all.

[Piggy Knowles]

Yeah, the idea was for archery to be a way to stretch his spell slots, since he's dedicating so much to defense (and he doesn't have persistent spell tricks or Focused Specialist to fall back on as a way to expand those slots).

Tossing together some sample builds, he actually does alright at low levels - the difference in BAB is only a point or two, and while the damage is low, he makes up for it with extra attacks from Haste, rapid shot, etc.

I guess I can switch it to a controller pretty easily, drop out GMW and Extended Flame Arrow for Sleet Storm and Black Tentacles, etc. If that's the case, it would probably look something like this:


Human, Specialize in Conj, ban Evocation/Enchantment

FEATS:
1- Improved Initiative, Spell Focus (Conjuration), Scribe Scroll
3- Mounted Combat
5- Extend Spell
6- Greater Spell Focus (Conjuration)
9- Spell Penetration
10- Quicken Spell
12- Greater Spell Penetration
15- Craft Wand, Silent Spell
18- Great Fortitude
20- Craft Wondrous Item


LEVEL 5:
1- Mage Armor*, Ray of Enfeeblement, Grease, Grease, Enlarge Person
2- Protection from Arrows*, False Life*, Mirror Image, Glitterdust
3- Extended Alter Self*, Sleet Storm, Haste


LEVEL 10:
1- Mage Armor*, Ray of Enfeeblement, Ray of Enfeeblement, Grease, Silent Image, Silent Image
2- Darkvision*, False Life*, Glitterdust, Glitterdust, Mirror Image, Mirror Image
3- Extended Alter Self*, Extended Resist Energy*, Nondetection*, Haste, Dispel Magic
4- Extended Magic Circle Against XXX*, Solid Fog, Black Tentacles, Dimension Door, Shadow Conjuration
5- Overland Flight*, Extended Stoneskin*, Contact Other Plane, Wall of Stone


LEVEL 15:
1- Mage Armor*, Ray of Enfeeblement, Ray of Enfeeblement, Grease, Silent Image, Silent Image
2- Darkvision*, Rope Trick, Glitterdust, Glitterdust, Mirror Image, Blur
3- Extended Alter Self*, Extended Resist Energy*, Nondetection*, Sleet Storm, Haste, Dispel Magic
4- Extended Magic Circle Against XXX*, Black Tentacles, Dimension Door, Dimension Door, Polymorph, Minor Creation
5- Overland Flight*, Extended Stoneskin*, Contact Other Plane, Teleport, Wall of Stone, Cloudkill
6- Quickened Mirror Image, Acid Fog, Disintegrate, Greater Dispel Magic, Summon Monster VI
7- Quickened Dispel Magic, Greater Teleport, Reverse Gravity, Greater Shadow Conjuration
8- Mind Blank*, Moment of Prescience*, Quickened Solid Fog


LEVEL 20:
1- Mage Armor*, Ray of Enfeeblement, Ray of Enfeeblement, Grease, Silent Image, Silent Image
2- Darkvision*, Rope Trick, Misdirection*, Glitterdust, Glitterdust, Blur
3- Extended Alter Self*, Extended Resist Energy*, Extended Resist Energy*, Nondetection*, Haste, Dispel Magic
4- Extended Magic Circle Against Evil*, Extended Tongues*, Dimension Door, Dimension Door, Polymorph, Minor Creation
5- Overland Flight*, Extended Stoneskin*, Contact Other Plane, Teleport, Wall of Stone, Cloudkill
6- Quickened Mirror Image, Quickened Mirror Image, Acid Fog, Disintegrate, Greater Dispel Magic, Greater Dispel Magic
7- Quickened Haste, Greater Teleport, Quickened Dispel Magic, Quickened Dispel Magic, Reverse Gravity, Greater Shadow Conjuration
8- Mind Blank*, Moment of Prescience*, Polymorph Any Object, Quickened Solid Fog, Quickened Enervation
9- Time Stop, Time Stop, Shapechange, Gate, Quickened Dismissal, Foresight


...which would actually be a little bit sturdier, as I could prioritize Con more, while still being useful.