[3.5] supporting npc wizard

[Raezeman]

so, my players consist out of a fighter/barbarian, paladin, rogue, druid and blasty sorcerer. They have an NPC wizard friend. There will be occasions that said wizard will help them in battle. He is completely support based. Now, for the fighter, paladin and rogue, i know how to buff them: ranging from bull's strength to cat's grace with the accessional greater magic weapon ect…
But for the druid and sorcerer, i only know the +4 wisdom and charisma spells to aid them. So my question: could you suggest good wizard spells to aid a druid and blasty sorcerer?

This depends of course on level, they will probably be around level 6 or 7 when such a fight occurs next, but will also on later levels, so any spell level advice is welcome. (The npc wizard will always be a few levels above the group)

[Zweisteine]

At those levels, Bull's Strength, Owl's Wisdom, and the like will be next to useless, as the bonuses from the spells do not stack with the bonuses from ability-boosting items, which are some of the most standard items to get.

Here's (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=255.0) a (pretty bad) guide to buffing.

I would say that a Wizard is not the ideal buffer at all. That job is generally the cleric's. A support wizard would probably be more useful doing battlefield control, though there are a few powerful buffs they can caste (fly/invisibility/haste).

[Raezeman]

not all my players have a stat-boosting item yet, though this might change before that fight happens. And yes, haste and invisibility is also what the npc wizard used last time in the battle.

[Diarmuid]

There's not a whole lot the Wiz can do for the blasty Sorc from a buff perspective. If the Sorc doesnt have a +Cha item, then that would help with the DC's. But that only comes into play if the Sorc is using DC based spells. The other options for the Sorc would be defensive in nature. AC buffs, energy resistance in some form or another, etc.

For the druid, it depends on the druid's playstyle. If heavy casting, then the same options as above, but swap out +Wis for +Cha. If the druid is more of a wildshape melee type, then all kinds of things open up.

Dont forget about things like movement adjustments (adding more movement, adding new movement types) and then other sorts of battlefield control like benign transposition, regroup, etc.

If the buffing just isnt working out, then debuffing the bad guys is just as effective, and often moreso and helps the other members of the team without simply ending the encounter with save or die/lose spells.