Bare minimum spell access for a T1 wizard: a challenge(?)

[ben-zayb]

I was trying to build a specialist caster of sorts, like the T3 spontaneous trio (Warmage, Dread Necro, and Beguiler), when I thought "How can I make a T1 character that is as *specialized* as possible to a certain theme/school? Conjurers and Transmuters seem like they could do this blindfolded with one hand tied behind their back, but is that really the case?"

Disclaimer: Now, for the purpose of this thought exercise, I'll make it a rule that any Gate and Shapechange uses to get an alternative spellcasting/manifesting/etc source don't work.

Another rule: only spells from non-setting-specific 3.5 sources are allowed.

So the challenge/situation/problem for my fellow playgrounders is this:
What are the possible minimal combinations of school access can a Wizard 20 (no Shadowcraft mages pls :D) get while still maintaining its feasibility to become T1? Can a double school-access wizard do it? How about a single school-access? Can a specialized wizard even be T1 at all?

For me, since I've seen and used a focused specialist transmuter before, I could say that someone with Transmutation/Conjuration/Divination/Abjuration/Illusion access can still be very versatile and powerful. T1? Arguable. But I think that's too easy for our resident optimizers... I've heard focused specialist Incantatrices being done, but I've no experience with that.


Bonus Scenario: Can it be done without either one of the Transmutation and Conjuration schools? Can it be done without the both of them?

[bekeleven]

You're going to need an explanation fron JaronK on the Class/Build dichotomy in the tier system. For reference: Tier 2 is defined as "This class can break the game in every way a tier 1 can, but each build can only do so in limited ways." A summoner binder obviously lacks many game breaks accessible to wizards and clerics, yet JaronK lists it as tier 2 despite obviously not meeting his listed criteria.

People generally talk about builds not having tiers, as tiers are a very vague, marginally predictive tool for comparing raw theoretical class power against each other. However, I've also seen enough discussion in this vein that I know people don't hold to that as some sort of gold standard. Plenty of people still refer to "tier 4 builds" or what have you. So I'll just leave this as a caveat and move on. If anyone asks, you're building a custom class through spell-list modification.

[ben-zayb]

You're going to need an explanation fron JaronK on the Class/Build dichotomy in the tier system. For reference: Tier 2 is defined as "This class can break the game in every way a tier 1 can, but each build can only do so in limited ways." A summoner binder obviously lacks many game breaks accessible to wizards and clerics, yet JaronK lists it as tier 2 despite obviously not meeting his listed criteria.

People generally talk about builds not having tiers, as tiers are a very vague, marginally predictive tool for comparing raw theoretical class power against each other. However, I've also seen enough discussion in this vein that I know people don't hold to that as some sort of gold standard. Plenty of people still refer to "tier 4 builds" or what have you. So I'll just leave this as a caveat and move on. If anyone asks, you're building a custom class through spell-list modification.

Yes, what I meant was Beguilers, Dread Necros, and Warmages, are Tier 3/4 because of what limited spells they have access to. A wizard is T1 because of its access to all wizard spells. So the purpose of this is to actually explore the possibility of another caster class being tiered as T1, despite its spell access not fully encompassing the whole wizard spell list.

It's akin to exploring whether a "homebrew class that is dubiously an exact copy of a specialist wizard"(someone who is off-limits to two schools, but has all wizard spells and researching spell ability) still has the tools available to become a T1.

[eggynack]

I'd probably put it at four schools offhand. Conjuration, transmutation, divination, and abjuration, are all strictly necessary. The other four are good, but they're just not on the same level. It might be tricky though, having neither evocation, nor illusion to copy evocation's few good spells. I think that puts the wizard at a spell versatility level to what a druid gets.