Do you specialize?

[Tragic_Comedian]

I was reading the Complete Arcane yesterday, and there is a section in it with advice on roepaying different specialized wizards (which I really liked, this is a book with lots of good flavor). This got me wondering, how many players decided to specialize their wizards, and why.

When I first started getting into 3.5, my character was a wizard. I wanted to be an Evoker with Abjuration and Necromancy as my barred schools, until some people I'd asked about it online assured me that this was one of the worst ways to play a wizard. So that character ended up being specialized as a Conjurer instead.

I don't specialize anymore when I play a wizard though. The benefits of specialization really only make much of a difference at low levels, when you don't have very many spells at your disposal, but when you get into higher levels, every school has something good to offer. That said, specialist wizards can be a lot of fun to roleplay with and develop as a character. I'm just curious as to whether or not you guys specialize, and the reasoning behind it.

[eggs]

Always. For the same reason I always go Spontaneous on Clerics and Druids: every member of a class casting the same spells or pulling the same tricks is boring.

Plus, when your class abilities list is still a few thousand pages long and mis-schooled spells all over the place, specialization is rarely even a noticeable loss.

[Devmaar]

I prefer not to specialise. Every school has at least some spells I love.

[jaybird]

All the time in Pathfinder, where specialized Wizards get class features that are useful at low levels. For example, my Conjuration specialist at level 1 with 20 Int can make a 1d6+1 acid ranged touch attack 8 times a day :smallbiggrin: who said I was limited to 4 spells per day again?

[Hylas]

Always. Wizards are already super awesome and flexible, so it's really no harm. It can also help lead to more back story when you ask the question why you have certain schools prohibited.

My favorite is a wizard who believes that manipulating the minds of other sentient life is infringing on their free will, which every being should have. So he refuses to use enchanting and necromancy, and instead focuses on transmutation and manipulating non-living matter.

I also really dig the Thassilonian Specialists (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/wizard/arcane-schools/paizo---arcane-schools/classic-arcane-schools/thassilonian-specialist) in Pathfinder. More spells and harsher restrictions!

[Eldariel]

Often. I like Generalists too but in low level play, I just find lacking that extra slot restrictive so unless I'm playing Elven Generalist, I tend to be a Conjurer, a Transmuter, an Illusionist, an Abjurer or a Diviner. In PF the choice is excarberated since Universalist Level 8 is so good but...

[umbergod]

Depends on if the concept I have in mind would benefit from specializing. If not I tend to stick with generalist wizardry, but my wizard toolbox tends to stay limited (I play in low op campaigns)

[Togo]

I prefer to play wizards with a definite theme. Often that means specialising. My last one, for example, was a specialist summoner alienist who spent a lot of time and effort buffing his familiar.

[Kelb_Panthera]

Sometimes. If I want a certain acf or to enter master specialist for some reason, I'll specialize to get that. If the character is only going to be using spells from a couple of schools, for the most part, I'll specialize in whichever he'll use most.

If I'm actually building a wizard that I intend to use as a general spellcaster rather than part of a more complicated build, probably not. The loss in versatility irks me when I'm trying to do a little of everything. Yeah, I could get blasts from conjuration or the shadow evocation spell, but if I'm gonna do more than a little blasting, I'd just as soon have evocations available.

[Azoth]

I generally don't like to specialize much at all. I prefer to leave things open and if I want to have a specialty, and I can, I will take the Domain Wizard ACF. It is kind of fun to have everything available and still have a little extra oomf with a select school. Though, I do occassionally specialize. Abrupt Jaunt ACF is tastey in oh so many ways it isn't funny.

[Mithril Leaf]

I do unless I'm going elven domain generalist.

[jaybird]

I also really dig the Thassilonian Specialists (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/wizard/arcane-schools/paizo---arcane-schools/classic-arcane-schools/thassilonian-specialist) in Pathfinder. More spells and harsher restrictions!

Holy crap, how have I not encountered THIS before? Sloth to get 2 extra Conjuration slots of every level in exchange for losing Evocation (meh) and Illusion (hurts, but I can live with it)? Sign me up. It's not like there's going to be a level where I don't memorize Conjuration spells...

[LordBlades]

I generally do. Focused Specialist too.

I find Evocation and Enchantment easy to drop as I rarely feel I need any spells from said schools (and utility Evocations like Contingency can be duplicated with Shadow Evocation) and although Necromancy has some good debuffs, I value extra spell slots more than access to it.

There's also the issue of specialist wizard ACFs, especially Conjuration, which are just that good.

[sonofzeal]

I specialize. It helps give the Wizard a flavour of sorts. Wizards by themselves are pretty hopelessly generic. A good personality makes up for that, but a specialized array of powers helps too.

[chaos_redefined]

Let's say you are a 10th level wizard with 24 int. That means you have 16 spells from your class and 8 from your int score, so 24 total. If you were to write a spell list for this caster that used spells from all schools, and distribute things to maximize your use of the least-used schools, you would lose 6 of the spells on that list to specialization, and you then replace it with nearly double that many spells from the unbanned schools, although the majority have to be the same school.

Furthermore, a lot of spells are semi-duplicated in other schools. Evocation's blasts and battlefield control can also be found in conjuration. Transmutation gets Voice of the Dragon in SpC, which allows you to cast suggestion, even if it is at a higher level. Mage Armor is a conjuration spell that a lot of people think is Abjuration. Etc...