Your Favorite Wizard School?

[NeoSeraphi]

I'm curious about everyone's favorite school, based on both the spells available to wizards themselves and the school features.

I'm a pyromaniac so I LOVE the Evoker's Overchannel ability. The 3.5 warmage (which my phone auto corrects to garbage, lol) is rolling in an early grave with its level 20 Sudden Maximize ability.

I also like the spell slot scaling instead of caster level scaling, and how most of an evocation spell's damage is up front now.

[Eslin]

I'm curious about everyone's favorite school, based on both the spells available to wizards themselves and the school features.

I'm a pyromaniac so I LOVE the Evoker's Overchannel ability. The 3.5 warmage (which my phone auto corrects to garbage, lol) is rolling in an early grave with its level 20 Sudden Maximize ability.

I also like the spell slot scaling instead of caster level scaling, and how most of an evocation spell's damage is up front now.

School wise the spells themselves don't matter, no restrictions or school based boosts any more.

Specialisation wise, I like a bunch so much that I'm annoyed that they're all in seperate trees, there's no specialisation with a good choice at every level.

Divination 2 is incredible, the rest is lackluster. Overchannel is amazing, it lets you maximise one big spell and then all your cantrips for free. Necromancy 6 makes undead armies really good, always fun.

Overall I find abjuration the best specialisation, since it's the only tree with four solid abilities (all others have hits and misses). I like finding each feature useful.

[MaxWilson]

With the caveat that "favorite" is not necessarily "best", I'll vote for Enchantment and Necromancy, with Conjuration as a runner-up.

Enchantment has lots of cool social applications, both evil and otherwise. I like the "instinctive charm" reaction ability you get--it's always nice to have way to use your reaction for defense without expending spell slots. I also like the memory-modification and traceless charming abilities at 14th level. Split Spell isn't spectacular but it is solid: you can twin Suggestion at level 2, or Power Word Kill at level 9.

Necromancy (minion-mancy) is sort of the opposite: it's good for someone who absolutely hates relying on other people and wants to be self-sufficient. If I were playing a solo character it would be some kind of necromancer. It doesn't have many spells but the ones it does have are solid.

Conjuration has a lot of cool spells like Web and Dimension Door, plus the bonus HP at 14th level is solid.

Divination spells are often useful, but not so useful that I want to spend all my spell slots on them. Therefore, Diviner 2 is incredible, but the rest of Diviner is meh. Diviners are like battlemasters in my mind, incredible as a dip, sub-optimal as a full investment.

Abjuration interests a lot of people but it kind of turns me off, since using class abilities for extra HP just screams "suboptimization". It can be fun with a warlock mix-in though (at-will Armor of Shadows).

I find Transmuter and Illusion specialists bland, but a lot of the self-buffs that I like best on Eldritch Knight wind up in the Transmutation and/or Illusion schools, so there's that.

[D.U.P.A.]

MaxWilson, and Evocation?

[MaxWilson]

MaxWilson, and Evocation?

Very boring to me. My least favorite specialist school, and my least favorite casting school. Fighters do damage better. It's nice to have occasional access to 8d6 area damage via Fireball, simply to prevent swarms from bunching up on you, but it doesn't require specializing in Evocation to do so.

[NeoSeraphi]

I've always wondered how one would play a diviner. I'm sure at most tables they just use the standard control conjuration debuff during combat, but if you're trying to play a true fortune teller/crystal ball diviner do you just relax in combat and let the fighter handle it?

[MaxWilson]

I've always wondered how one would play a diviner. I'm sure at most tables they just use the standard control conjuration debuff during combat, but if you're trying to play a true fortune teller/crystal ball diviner do you just relax in combat and let the fighter handle it?

Maybe you ignore the combat entirely and keep concentrating on your Arcane Eye scouting out the rest of the complex.

[McBars]

I am a little biased because I played one through level 15 but:

Divi-****ing-nation

Portent is possibly the single most powerful arcane tradition feature in the game; all those save or suck & save or die spells, just became "suck" & "die". Need to pass a save of your own? No problemo, guaranteed. It turns otherwise complicated and convoluted strategies that would normally depend on a fair bit of luck into solid realities. Take lucky as a feat and you become a master of your own fate.

Expert divination is underrated. You're not forced to choose between useful divination spells And other options because you're getting slots back for free, Effectively increasing your number of spells cast per day....And while the divination spell list is probably the shortest in the game let's look at the type of spells that allow you to regain spell slots: scrying, clairvoyance, arcane eye. All three potentially encounter altering spells.

Third eye isn't great but also isn't a dud like some of the other tradition features in other schools.

That and I like playing wizards as seers RP wise.

[Shining Wrath]

For pure fluff, Conjuration.

For crunch, who else is in my party?

[Regulas]

Best wizard school? Moon Druid with Arcane fluff so as to be a "Transmogrifist". Cause druids are just better at it and much more fun what with the Polymorph changes.


It's possible an "arcane" Land druid would make a better conjurer too.

Trasnmuters in general are so much better when you play a different vclass then wizard and just call yourself a Tansmuter.

Like an Elemental Monk could be a "Wizard Transmuter" who specializes in self enhancement. All you physical abilities are the result of self enchantments (flurry of blows would be like using a "haste" effect), plus you get limited other casting including other Transmutation spells like fly/gaseous form etc.

[Vogonjeltz]

Divination 2 is incredible, the rest is lackluster.

I actually rather like Divination 6 (it's potentially adding 90 divination spell slots!), 10 (free, always on, see invisibility?!), and 14 (like Div 2, but more!...I'm actually not sure why you would call this one lackluster if you liked 2) abilities.

My favorites are that and the School of Enchantment, it's very Disney villain. "Yes Jafaar, very good..."

[Rallicus]

Take lucky as a feat and you become a master of your own fate.

The thought of a Halfling divination wizard with the Lucky feat chills me to the core.

Anyway, my favorite has always been Illusion. In this edition it pales in comparison to some of the others, but like always it really emphasizes creativity. The ability to adjust your illusions and to make part of them real can be really useful in the right circumstances. Being able to auto-dodge an attack as a reaction once per long rest is pretty useful too.

Nothing compared to something like Portent, though.

[Eslin]

I actually rather like Divination 6 (it's potentially adding 90 divination spell slots!), 10 (free, always on, see invisibility?!), and 14 (like Div 2, but more!...I'm actually not sure why you would call this one lackluster if you liked 2) abilities.

My favorites are that and the School of Enchantment, it's very Disney villain. "Yes Jafaar, very good..."

Because divination 14 is 1 more portent. Portent's great at 2 and remains good, but an increase of 1 as your level 14 is underwhelming.

[Vogonjeltz]

Because divination 14 is 1 more portent. Portent's great at 2 and remains good, but an increase of 1 as your level 14 is underwhelming.

So that's a 3rd chance to get a 20 or 1, both being almost equally useful as they can be substituted for someone else's roll. That's freaking amazing! (Goes from a 19% chance to a 27% chance)

[Safety Sword]

My favourite is the one that fits my character concept at the time.

The fact that there are several "effective" choices is giving min/maxers pause for thought, and that make me happy.

[Morukai]

I favor the enchantment, abjuration and conjuration schools.

Besides the fact that the specialists get great abilities (both for fluff and mechanically, IMO), I like the spell schools themselves.

Abjuration for the "oh no you don't" factor, and the whole "don't call up what you can't put down" thing.

Conjuration for the summoning concept, the transportation spells, and the idea of creation/construction.

Enchantment for the whole "mess with their minds" gig. I also like the idea of the Power Word series.

My least favorites are necromancy and divination. Although I freely admit the diviner's Portent ability is top notch, divination spells seem marginally useful, with noted exceptions. I'm not a fan of necromancy because of what I term the "cheese" factor... creating an undead army and walking around with it. Necromancers are awesome for solo concepts, but in my experience, they just don't jive well with most PC groups (and most NPCs, for that matter). Necromancy as a school has some powerful effects, though.

[Yagyujubei]

since I love the idea of a beefy battle wizard I really enjoy the abjuration school..

another build I think would be cool would be a halfling bard/divination wizard with lucky as a feat. you would be altering rolls like a madman with that build

[MaxWilson]

another build I think would be cool would be a halfling bard/divination wizard with lucky as a feat. you would be altering rolls like a madman with that build

Let's go all-out on this. Halfling Diviner 2 (Portent)/Wild Sorcerer 6 (Bend Luck)/Warlock 6 (Dark One's Luck)/Lore Bard 6 (Font of Inspiration) with Lucky feat and Inspired Leadership for good measure. Use Magical Secrets to steal Bless from the cleric list, and take Bane. I'm AFB but I believe that lets you grant 1d6 (Bardic Inspiration) + 1d4 (Bless) + 1d4 (Bend Luck) to your allies as needed, or 1d10 (Dark One's Luck) + 1d4 (Bless) + 1d4 (Bend Luck) to yourself. You can impose 1d4 (Bend Luck) + 1d4 (Bane) on your enemies' saving throws, although Bane grants a Cha save first. If you ever fail one of your saving throws (average +10 bonus) you can always spend one of your three Lucky uses to get another try, and if that fails too you can fiat the die roll with Diviner.

[Giant2005]

Enchantment is absolutely amazing.
The level 2 ability can be a real fight winner - if you are facing more than one powerful enemy, locking one down with your Enchanter shifts the odds in your team's favour. Having your 3 party members fight 1 powerful enemy has a higher chance of success than having all 4 of you fight 2 powerful enemies.
The level 6 ability is absolutely amazing although nothing too unique. There are many ways of getting that same ability in the game but it is the only one of the options that isn't limited in uses per day and an unlimited use ability that powerful is OP imo. It among other abilities is why the Wizard is the best tank in the game.
The level 14 ability is pretty good too and really makes the Friends Cantrip shine. You can essentially mind control people on a whim without consequence or cost.

It says a lot about the spell school when the least powerful ability they get is the ability to target double the usual amount of victims considering that same feature is often heralded as the most powerful ability of the Sorcerer.

[MaxWilson]

The level 14 ability is pretty good too and really makes the Friends Cantrip shine. You can essentially mind control people on a whim without consequence or cost.

It says a lot about the spell school when the least powerful ability they get is the ability to target double the usual amount of victims considering that same feature is often heralded as the most powerful ability of the Sorcerer.

Counterpoint: Friends cantrip from an enchanter is no better than Enhance Ability (Charisma) cast by a Bard/Cleric/Sorcerer/Druid, and a Bard is in a better position to exploit Charisma advantage. Sure, it's nice that an Enchanter can cast Friends on a whim (and can also mind-wipe a minute's worth of memories on a whim), but in most social situations it wouldn't be a big deal to cast Enhance Ability first. Net-net, the Enchanter/Friends combo is less amazing than it seems given alternative methods of doing the same thing, better.

Sorcerers can Twin spells that Enchanters can't, such as Haste and Polymorph. Enchanters get twinning of enchantment spells for free, so they have their own advantages, but the two abilities aren't really equivalent, especially when it comes to maximizing the Concentration economy. Sorcerer twinning is more versatile.

[McBars]

Enchantment is absolutely amazing.
The level 2 ability can be a real fight winner - if you are facing more than one powerful enemy, locking one down with your Enchanter shifts the odds in your team's favour. Having your 3 party members fight 1 powerful enemy has a higher chance of success than having all 4 of you fight 2 powerful enemies.
The level 6 ability is absolutely amazing although nothing too unique. There are many ways of getting that same ability in the game but it is the only one of the options that isn't limited in uses per day and an unlimited use ability that powerful is OP imo. It among other abilities is why the Wizard is the best tank in the game.
The level 14 ability is pretty good too and really makes the Friends Cantrip shine. You can essentially mind control people on a whim without consequence or cost.

It says a lot about the spell school when the least powerful ability they get is the ability to target double the usual amount of victims considering that same feature is often heralded as the most powerful ability of the Sorcerer.

I like enchantment too but there are some serious flaws to those features I think you're overlooking:

Hypnotic gaze, 5' is too close for my frail sweet little wheelchair body to feel safe. Just too much risk there.

Instinctive Charm, a lot of contingencies to fulfill (range < 30' AND another creature in range of the attack AND you have a reaction available AND attacker not immune to charm) quite a lot of hoops to jump through. That and I would just rather have at will abilities rather than reactionary ones

[Giant2005]

I like enchantment too but there are some serious flaws to those features I think you're overlooking:

Hypnotic gaze, 5' is too close for my frail sweet little wheelchair body to feel safe. Just too much risk there.

Instinctive Charm, a lot of contingencies to fulfill (range < 30' AND another creature in range of the attack AND you have a reaction available AND attacker not immune to charm) quite a lot of hoops to jump through. That and I would just rather have at will abilities rather than reactionary ones

Fair enough. My Wizard took a level of Fighter as his first level so he is tankier than most. A straight Wizard might not be so willing to get that close to the fight.
Although regarding Instinctive Charm, I think I more under-sold it than over-sold it. When you are forcing your enemies to hit each other instead of you, it usually doesn't take very long until you don't have to use the power at all due to them being so pissed off at each other that the animosity is coming much more naturally.

[McBars]

When you are forcing your enemies to hit each other instead of you, it usually doesn't take very long until you don't have to use the power at all due to them being so pissed off at each other that the animosity is coming much more naturally.

God that could make for some ridiculously entertaining combats, especially if you couple a redirected hit with a clever use of illusions/ventriloquism/taunts.

[Freelance GM]

Changes on a whim.

Right now? Necromancy is pretty cool. My Organized Play characters' a Human Wizard with the Hermit background and the Healer feat. Fluff-wise, he's a recluse who occasionally can be distracted from his research to work as a doctor, surgeon, forensic scientist, or mortician. Not evil, but has a creepy fascination with dark magic.

But I just saw that the Abjuration specialist basically gets Halo-style energy shields from their Arcane Ward ability, and now I'm contemplating an Eldritch Knight/Abjurer just for the flavor.

[Yagyujubei]

Let's go all-out on this. Halfling Diviner 2 (Portent)/Wild Sorcerer 6 (Bend Luck)/Warlock 6 (Dark One's Luck)/Lore Bard 6 (Font of Inspiration) with Lucky feat and Inspired Leadership for good measure. Use Magical Secrets to steal Bless from the cleric list, and take Bane. I'm AFB but I believe that lets you grant 1d6 (Bardic Inspiration) + 1d4 (Bless) + 1d4 (Bend Luck) to your allies as needed, or 1d10 (Dark One's Luck) + 1d4 (Bless) + 1d4 (Bend Luck) to yourself. You can impose 1d4 (Bend Luck) + 1d4 (Bane) on your enemies' saving throws, although Bane grants a Cha save first. If you ever fail one of your saving throws (average +10 bonus) you can always spend one of your three Lucky uses to get another try, and if that fails too you can fiat the die roll with Diviner.

man that actually sounds pretty fun, although you wouldn't get higher level spells, you would still get the slots so you could just take a couple amazing scaling spells to still get use out of them