Wizard Feats

[Shnigda]

Hey guys,
In a follow up to a previous post ( http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?410829-Level-5-Wizard-Help ), I have made a wizard character at level 5, but have a spare feat with which I don't know what to do. The character is going to go into Incantrix at next level.
The character is a Grey Elf who has gone become a dragonborn. He has 20 INT and the current feats are: Collegiate Wizard, Otherworldly, Extend Spell, Iron Will (from Otyugh Hole), Eschew Materials (could be convinced to get change that one) and Firey Burst [Reserve], and 2 flaws: Inattentive and Noncombatant.
We get feats at odd levels 1,3,5,7...
Any help would be much appreciated!

(EDIT: I think there's a feat that chains spells together, but I don't know where to find it or if I can take it at my current level but this is just something that I think is cool and any other better feats would be great. Also, the feat I'm missing is a feat from level 5 and I took Eschew Materials at level 3. Also, to clarify, this is a new character starting at level 5 and I have never played a wizard before, so don't really know what I'm doing :smalleek: :tongue: )

[Twurps]

the feat you're looking for is 'chain spell' from Complete Arcane. requires one other metamagic feat, so you qualify
It's a blasty feat though. Someone wil be along shortly to explain wizards shouldn't blast. I think it's fun, but then at my table incantatrix is a 'no go' so YMMV.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Linked Power in Complete Psionic is a metapsionic feat that turns two powers into one. Otherwise there's the spell Arcane Fusion in Complete Mage which is Sorcerer-only.

Chain Spell is better on a (lesser) metamagic rod due to its limited usefulness, but it's superb with spells like Command Undead that allow no save, or Destruction since its damage on a successful save is halved on secondary targets so the DC isn't reduced for secondary targets.

Consider replacing your Wizard 5 bonus feat with Spontaneous Divination in Complete Champion, or a domain power in that same book such as the Inquisition domain's power which gives you a +4 to all your dispel checks.

[paranoidbox]

In my limited experience, Fiery Burst is a less useful feat. If you're inclined to switch one out, this would be the one I would lose. Sure, if you don't really have any better choices and you just want to have the possibility to do some damage in a minor AoE then yeah, keep it. When I used it though, I was quickly underwhelmed by the sheer lack of potential this thing had. (Like, how much are you doing with it right now? You don't seem to be using the "I use a 9th level slot"-shenanigans with your feats, so 3D6 damage reflex save for half? There are so many more interesting things you could be doing during those rounds.)

[Troacctid]

I had a Warmage who took Fiery Burst. He never really ended up activating it because he always had a ton of spell slots to throw actual spells at the enemies instead. Mostly, he used it when he needed to light something on fire outside of combat--he was roleplaying as something of a pyromaniac. He did end up enjoying the caster level boost, though, especially when it was giving him a whole extra 4d6 damage on his scorching ray.

I imagine as a Wizard, you'd have a different experience, because you have to prepare all your spell slots in advance and you're less likely to devote 100% of them to combat spells, so you won't have an effectively unlimited supply of fireballs up your sleeve. Still, it's not really what you want to be doing with your combat actions. It's essentially a better version of the crossbow that Wizards often end up firing when you run out of spells at level 1.

There are situations where it can be useful, though. If you're in a strong, winning position already, but the enemies are still standing, it's nice to be able to help clean up the stragglers without wasting resources on overkill. If you need to set something on fire or melt some ice or something, you have that option. It's also a supernatural ability, which means it ignores spell resistance, so that can come in handy sometimes. It has no verbal, somatic, or material components, so you can use it if you're grappled or silenced or whatnot. And of course, if you like [Fire] spells, it is also adding an extra d6 to your fireball, an extra d6 to your orb of fire, potentially an extra 4d6 to your scorching ray, and so on, which is not nothing.

All in all, Fiery Burst is reasonable, and you could do worse, but I'm a much bigger fan of Spontaneous Divination as my 5th level Wizard bonus feat. Spontaneous Divination is pretty great.

You know what's a nice feat? Improved Familiar. You should take Improved Familiar. Get yourself a familiar with some nice special abilities, like an imp, or a lantern archon. Okay, you don't get access to the best ones until 7th level, so it might seem like you should wait until 7th level to take the feat. However, that would mean you're not taking one of the really sweet reserve feats like Summon Elemental or Minor Shapeshift at 7th level, which would be a waste, don't you think? Well, I think so.

[Shnigda]

My plan with firey burst was to use it (as you say) as a better crossbow bolt by having a fireball at one of the higher spell slots and then only use the fireball as something when a creature and an ally are both 1 hit away from death to try to save an ally. (Also, side note, having 20 int at level 5 (CL3), does that mean I get 1 lvl 4 spell slot and 1 lvl 5 slot, as per the PHB extra spells table? (table 1-1))

[morkendi]

Improved initiative..... Going first as a caster can make a huge difference.

[Troacctid]

If you want Fiery Burst, I would probably take it as a normal feat rather than a bonus feat, and grab Spontaneous Divination at 5th level. Spontaneous Divination is too good to pass up, especially when you're getting so many extra spells known from Collegiate Wizard.

Also, you might consider Storm Bolt or Acidic Splatter instead of Fiery Burst, as fire is more commonly resisted than electricity or acid. There are pros and cons for each: Storm Bolt is better at hitting multiple enemies and rewards you for positioning yourself well on the battlefield, but you need 3rd level spells for it, so you can't take it until level 5; Acidic Splatter has a short range and deals no damage on a miss (where the others do half damage even on a failed save) but it's still very accurate, and acid is hardly ever resisted, plus it's good at bypassing hardness if you need to melt through an object; and Fiery Burst is easy to aim and can light things on fire, but it's the most commonly resisted element, and it doesn't work underwater (although to be fair, you probably won't ever need to use it underwater).

[Story]

You only get bonus slots for spell levels you're able to cast.

P.S. Are you sure fire spells don't work underwater? I could have sworn the rules said they did.

[Troacctid]

The relevant rule (emphasis added):


Nonmagical fire (including alchemist’s fire) does not burn underwater. Spells or spell-like effects with the fire descriptor are ineffective underwater unless the caster makes a Spellcraft check (DC 20 + spell level). If the check succeeds, the spell creates a bubble of steam instead of its usual fiery effect, but otherwise the spell works as described. A supernatural fire effect is ineffective underwater unless its description states otherwise. The surface of a body of water blocks line of effect for any fire spell. If the caster has made a Spellcraft check to make the fire spell usable underwater, the surface still blocks the spell’s line of effect.

Reserve feats are supernatural abilities, and Fiery Burst doesn't specifically say it works underwater, so it doesn't work underwater. Since it's neither spell-like nor a spell, you can't make a Spellcraft check for it, either.

[Sith_Happens]

current feats are: Collegiate Wizard, Otherworldly, Extend Spell, Iron Will (from Otyugh Hole), Eschew Materials (could be convinced to get change that one) and Firey Burst [Reserve], and 2 flaws: Inattentive and Noncombatant.
We get feats at odd levels 1,3,5,7...

So, give or take which of the three feats at 1st level are which, so far the following feats slots have been spent:

Flaw: Collegiate Wizard
Flaw: Otherworldly
1: Eschew Materials
Wizard 1: Scribe Scroll
3: Fiery Burst
5: Extend Spell
Otyugh Hole: Iron Will

Which means the Wizard 5 bonus feat is the one you're asking what to use on. The answer, as a few people have said already (some multiple times), is Spontaneous Divination, which does exactly what it sounds like. Namely, you can expend any spell you've prepared to cast any divination spell in your spellbook of the same level or lower. Learn every divination you think could ever be useful and have them all at your fingertips whenever you need them.