5th level wizard/master specialist

[Somensjev]

okay, so i'm making a character for a campaign, there'll be quite a few players involved, a new-ish DM, a few new-ish players, and two or three players who have never played D&D before, and then there's me, i've got a few years of experience, and i've spent quite some time on these forums, so i've got a basic understanding of optimization (though i'm not any good)

so, i'm the most experienced, and knowledgeable player but i don't want to overshadow the party, so i'm trying to design an extremely specialized transmutation god wizard, that way i can make everyone else feel more awesome


so, i was looking at treantmonk's god wizard guide (http://community.wizards.com/forum/previous-editions-character-optimization/threads/1146876) and was looking at different specialization options, including normal specialization from the PHB, the focused specialist from complete mage, and, after finding it, the master specialist PrC

so i was wondering how the playground would make a character like this?

the basic build is human wizard 3/master specialist 2, specializing in transmutation, with the focused specialisation ACF (and possibly the domain wizard ACF, obviously taking the transmutation domain) and i get to take up to three flaws (i want to take knowledge devotion as my third level feat, since it fits my character concept. but i'm willing to change it if a better alternative is proposed)

(if anyone needs stats i'm happy to post them. I got great rolls for my stats :smallbiggrin:)

any and all replies are appreciated :smallbiggrin: thanks in advanced

TL;DR help me make a wizard 3/master specialist 2 god-wizard, based on transmutation, using a couple of ACF's, up to 3 flaws, knowledge devotion is preferable

[Diarmuid]

How is knowledge devotion going to help make the other characters more awesome?

[Dalebert]

How is knowledge devotion going to help make the other characters more awesome?

Because he knows that he is completely devoted to making the other characters awesome.

[thethird]

you can't take domain wizard and specialize.

Personally if you want to make your party better (and be a castr) I would try to get into war weaver, which is a fun and cool prc. It is found in heroes of horror, pg. 112. It's main focus is to buff the party with several one target buffs at the same time. You can also keep the build more or less simple, without a strong focus on optimization.

Depending on how your party evolves, and improves, I would supplement the build with spellguard of silverymoon, to allow personal buffs to be shared with the whole party.

---

On the wizard/master specialist, master specialist isn't really great for transmutation, unless your dm allows you to use expanded spellbook to add spells not in the wizard list. The main target of a transmuter is going to be spell selection, look for spells that have more than one target, and/or have long duration times. Haste is the greatest example, in fact at 5th level I mostly only cast haste and use a bow and arrows.

Feats that you might want to consider, ability enhancer (you will meet the prereqs, and is good specially if you jump into war weaver), toughening transmutation (again you already meet prereqs), minor shapeshift (you will be able to get this at 9th level), extend spell (it is specially useful for some transmutation spells), enlarge spell (requisite for war weaver), combat casting (prereq to spellguard)

[Gabrosin]

Transmuter ACFs aren't all that hot; you would be better off considering being a Conjurer for Abrupt Jaunt. I suppose you could take Ability Enhancer, if Dragon Magazine is allowed.

I second the notion of going into War Weaver if your main role is party buffer. Otherwise you will probably find that you just don't have enough spell slots to go around (for things other than Haste). If you want to be a high-DC Transmuter, you should focus on debuffing the enemy with spells like Slow.

[Rebel7284]

+1 War Weaver for a buffing focused wizard.

[Somensjev]

you can't take domain wizard and specialize.

i must be missing something, i can't find this anywhere (i'm away from book, so i'm using the SRD (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/variantCharacterClasses.htm), so it might not mention it, i just assumed it would)
nevermind, i found it. how did i miss that?

and my character isn't just meant to make the party stronger, but also make the enemy weaker, so war weaver probably would be nice (anyone able to tell me where i can find it?), but it doesn't have debuffs, does it?

i can't take war weaver yet, you need to be at least level 6 for your first level, since you need the ability to cast 3rd level spells

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

War Weaver is in Heroes of Battle, these lists (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/arch/lists) can help you out on where to find just about anything. It's a good idea to make sure you meet its prerequisites at 5th level if you plan to start taking it at 6th.

Definitely get the feat Ability Enhancer from Dragon Compendium. It requires Spell Focus: Transmutation, and makes it so any transmutation spell you cast that enhances an ability score has its bonus increased by two points. So your Bull's Strength would give +6, or you can cast Animalistic Power (PH2) to give someone +4 Str, +4 Dex, and +4 Con.

Toughening Transmutation in Complete Mage is also pretty good in the early levels. Whenever you cast a transmutation spell you can give yourself or one creature targeted by it DR 5/magic for one round, or increase their existing DR by five points for one round.

Obligatory link to Treantmonk's Guide to Wizards: Being a God (http://community.wizards.com/forum/previous-editions-character-optimization/threads/1146876).

[Somensjev]

meeting the prerequisites is pretty simple, swap out one of my knowledge skills with craft (weaving), then change one of my metamagic feats for enlarge spell. i will miss out on progressing my spells for level 6, but i can deal with that

i could swap out knowledge devotion for ability enhancer, since it's more helpful

toughening transmutation would probably have to wait for either 6th level or 9th level, if i'm going to take it

and i do have a link to that guide in the original post

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

At War Weaver 1 you can cast a single spell and have it affect your whole party, so losing a spell level is typically considered to be worthwhile. Cast a spell once to put it on the whole party, such as Nerveskitter, Protection from Evil, Endure Elements, etc. At the second level of the class you can use Animalistic Power on the whole party with a single spell, to give everyone +4 to all their physical stats, as well as Resist Energy, Invisibility, etc. There are great spells at every level (http://dndtools.eu/spells/?name=&range=&spell_resistance=&area=&duration=&saving_throw=harmless&casting_time=&school__slug=&sub_school__slug=&descriptors__slug=&verbal_component=1&somatic_component=1&material_component=1&arcane_focus_component=1&divine_focus_component=1&xp_component=1&rulebook__slug=&description=&class_levels__slug=wizard&spellclasslevel__level=2&domain_levels__slug=&_filter=Filter) to buff the whole party with, and the harmless save category keeps personal-range spells off that list.

[Somensjev]

i think i'll go wizard 5, and when i level up i'll start taking war weaver levels

i think i'm also going to keep my wizard as a generalist, to keep my options open, are there any good ACF's out there?

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

i think i'll go wizard 5, and when i level up i'll start taking war weaver levels

i think i'm also going to keep my wizard as a generalist, to keep my options open, are there any good ACF's out there?

As a generalist, you can use the Domain Wizard variant to gain an extra spell per day of each spell level from your domain list. You can also get the Elf Wizard 1 substitution level in Races of the Wild to add additional spells to your spellbook for free each time you level up, and to gain yet another spell slot each day of your highest spell level available.

Keep in mind that you still need Spell Focus: Transmutation to get Ability Enhancer.

Also consider using this variant (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/variantCharacterClasses.htm#wizard) from UA to get Improved Initiative instead of Scribe Scroll, and you can still trade your Wizard 5 bonus feat for Spontaneous Divination or a domain power per the Complete Champion ACFs. The Inquisition domain power is amazing for dispelling, Planning gets you Extend Spell, and Travel is decent if you don't plan on using Heart of Water often. If you were going with a (focused) specialist you could get the Magic domain power at 5th to still be able to use wands and staffs of spells from your prohibited schools. Spontaneous Divination is still a very strong choice regardless.

[thethird]

I would recommend that you consider Spellguard of Silverymoon, too.

It's Spellguard ability is incredibly useful: "Spellguard of Silverymoon may cast any personal-range defensive arcane spell on another character with a touch." if you want it is easy to make any spell count as defensive if you use "magic of the land" (races of the wild) so consider it for down the line. The spellguard gives two metamagic feats, so it returns the feats you needed to invest into it.

I'm partial to domain elven generalist wizard, consider getting the 3rd level substitution too, doubling the bonuses of your familiar. Although most people suggest hummingbird it has 2 problems, it is from a dragon magazine and the list of things the elven generalist doubles does not include initiative. Still it is a great option, alternatively I found that lemmings make great familiars. If you keep them in your pocket you will get a +8 to listen and spot, (4 from the familiar, 2 from alertness and 2 from being an elf) considering how useful those skills are and the fact that you aren't likely to have a high wisdom nor ranks in them I think it is a good investment.

Spontaneous Divination is awesome and you should always take it (unless there is a domain that you really want). It allows you to not prepare the divination spells, period.

On other domains that I like, but haven't been mentioned: I'm a sucker for pride domain, it allows you to reroll 1s on saves, it is specially useful at high levels.

[Somensjev]

I would recommend that you consider Spellguard of Silverymoon, too.

It's Spellguard ability is incredibly useful: "Spellguard of Silverymoon may cast any personal-range defensive arcane spell on another character with a touch." if you want it is easy to make any spell count as defensive if you use "magic of the land" (races of the wild) so consider it for down the line. The spellguard gives two metamagic feats, so it returns the feats you needed to invest into it.

well, i do need something to do once war weaver is over, and it looks good


I'm partial to domain elven generalist wizard, consider getting the 3rd level substitution too, doubling the bonuses of your familiar. Although most people suggest hummingbird it has 2 problems, it is from a dragon magazine and the list of things the elven generalist doubles does not include initiative. Still it is a great option, alternatively I found that lemmings make great familiars. If you keep them in your pocket you will get a +8 to listen and spot, (4 from the familiar, 2 from alertness and 2 from being an elf) considering how useful those skills are and the fact that you aren't likely to have a high wisdom nor ranks in them I think it is a good investment.

i think i'm going to be a domain elven generalist wizard, and i'm not sure what familiar i'm going to choose yet, i'm considering swapping my familiar for an ACF, but i'm having trouble finding good ones. if i do end up deciding to keep my familiar then i'll take the third level as well


Spontaneous Divination is awesome and you should always take it (unless there is a domain that you really want). It allows you to not prepare the divination spells, period.

On other domains that I like, but haven't been mentioned: I'm a sucker for pride domain, it allows you to reroll 1s on saves, it is specially useful at high levels.

i think i'll end up taking spontaneous divination over a domain