Wizard Build for Dummies

[Draconium]

I've always wanted to play a Wizard who is just as powerful as everyone knows they could totally be, but I have one, slight problem - I'm unsure of how to optimize one. :smallannoyed: So, I've come to the Playground for help!

Crunch-wise, my thought is to build one who focuses on battlefield control/debuffing, with a mix of Enchantment thrown in there to help out in more social situations. I would prefer not to lock out any school of magic I could potentially get use from, though. (Also, I prefer to focus on summoning creatures as little as possible - not because it isn't useful, but because summoners have never appealed to me as a playstyle.)

Fluff-wise, I'm thinking a Wizard who works in darker magics, and may-or-may-not be evil in nature, who hides this through both magic and clever acting. Any spells that would fit this fluff while still pertaining to the crunch would be highly appreciated.

Finally, I've read through some of the optimization guides for Wizards, so though links to some are appreciated, I would prefer to hear your own ideas for Wizard builds.

Thanks in advance!

[atemu1234]

How dumb we talking here?

[Draconium]

I'm only familiar with building arcane casters that functioned as blasters before. That's how dumb. :smalltongue:

[erok0809]

Treantmonk's God Wizard Handbook
http://community.wizards.com/forum/previous-editions-character-optimization/threads/1146876

The Logic Ninja's Batman Wizard Handbook
http://http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?104002-3-5e-The-Logic-Ninja-s-Guide-to-Wizards-Being-Batman

I don't know how to do the thing where the words are the links, sorry. Anyway, you said you've read some guides, but if you haven't read them already, give these a read, they should help. Even if you have read them, read them again. They're really good. :smalltongue:

In terms of powerful prestige classes, Archmage, Initiate of the Sevenfold Veil, Incantatrix, and Dweomerkeeper (needs some divine casting too, if that's okay) are all good. Fatespinner (the first 4 levels anyway) is pretty good too. Mage of the Arcane Order gives some free metamagic feats and lots of versatility with the spellpool. Master Specialist is always nice too. I don't have any builds per se, but throwing some combination of these together if you can qualify and they fit your intended fluff can't really be too bad.

[Brova]

So there are a couple of options for making a generally powerful Wizard.

First, the Conjurer. Conjuration is probably the best specialization for a Wizard. You get to cast a bunch of totally sweet battlefield control spells, and you get access to the completely obscene planar binding line. Take the Abrupt Jaunt ACF from the PHBII. Other than that, Conjuration makes few demands on you as a caster (except you should probably take Cloudy Conjuration at 1st). One thing to note is that you are very much not a summoner. If you wanted to summon things, you'd be a Druid because Greenbound Summoning is nuts.

Second, the Elf Generalist. The Elf Generalist is the Wizard for people who can't make up their minds. You get a reasonable approximation of specialization, but you don't give up any schools. Your Hummingbird familiar gives you a +8 bonus to initiative, thanks to your ACF. I recommend picking up good value feats like Uncanny Forethought, Collegiate Wizard, and Improved Initiative.

Third, the Gnome Illusionist. There's exactly one reason to play a Gnome Illusionist, and that is Shadowcraft Mage. Basically, you want to stack all the Gnome based improvements to Illusions, along with a hefty degree of specialization in silent image to emulate huge swaths of Conjuration spells and all Evocation spells.

Fourth, the Enchanter. This option might be closest to what you recommend, but it's generally worse than simply being a Beguiler. If you chose this route, take the Social Proficiency ACF from Unearthed Arcana, which gives you a number of class skills, most important of which is Diplomacy. Take that, get synergy bonuses from Bluff and Sense Motive and you can make the DC 20 check to turn someone under charm person helpful at level 2. That's basically your big trick, but it's good and you get it at second level.

Now, the nitty gritty of making a Wizard.

Specialization and Banned Schools: Generally, you probably want to specialize. You can afford to give up two schools of magic in most games, and the extra spell per day is good. So, some thoughts on schools:

Abjuration: This school has a bunch of downtime spells and some good defensive options. Highlights are protection from evil, magic circle against evil, dispel magic, mindblank, and antimagic field. You could probably rustle up a spell of each level you wouldn't be embarrassed to cast on a daily basis, but in general a bad option for specialization. On the other hand, it has enough utility spells that I wouldn't ban it unless the party Cleric can fill in the gaps.

Conjuration: This school is obscene. Strongly consider specializing in it. Just remember, you are not a summoner. Your pet demons come from the [Calling] subschool, not the subschool.

Enchantment and Illusion: These two get talked about together because they are very similar. Basically, their nominal purpose is to kill things that fall Will saves and don't have appropriate defenses. As such, you only really need one. Which one you pick depends on how liberal you expect your DM to be with counters. Enchantment can snowball better than any other school in the game, but you can be shut down pretty completely by appropriate defenses. On the other hand Illusion is never quite that good, but shadow conjuration and friends are much better if people show up with true seeing. One thing to note is that you have to put in some effort to avoid being a worse Beguiler if you specialize in either of these schools.

Evocation: Ban this. Don't specialize in this. There are two vaguely useful Evocations (invoke magic and contingency). If the game is going far enough into crazytown that you need them, don't specialize.

Divination: Don't specialize in this. Divination specialists used to be super sweet, but now Spontaneous Divination exists and people are running around stealing their thunder.

Necromancy: Necromancy is interesting. On one level, there is nothing Necromancy does that is unique. Conjuration can get you minions, Enchantment can kill people, and Transmutation does most of what you're trying to do with magic jar. On the other hand, Necromancy does enough random stuff that you can totally justify specializing in it. Basically, both specializing and banning are appropriate choices here. Also remember to avoid being a worse Dread Necromancer. And that Clerics are better at animate dead.

Transmutation: This school has the buffs. Also spells that turn you into other things and break the game. Specializing is fine, because there are a lot of legitimately powerful options. Banning is also kind of okay, because most of those options are some combination of buffs, late game choices, and completely broken.

TL;DR - If you specialize, pick Conjuration, Illusion, Enchantment, Necromancy, and Transmutation. Ban Evocation, either Illusion or Enchantment, and maybe Necromancy.

Alternate Class Features: There are a lot of good choices. Anyway, some highlights:

Combat Wizard: Okay if you plan to go Master Specialist. Otherwise a trap because it stops you from taking Spontaneous Divination.

Domain Wizard: If your DM allows this, take it. All the power of specialization with none of the cost. Take this. Now.

Elf Generalist: You get an extra top level slot, and your familiar gives you twice the bonuses. As mentioned above, this is a good idea.

Focused Specialist: You ban an extra school, but get more spells per day. Sometimes worth it, sometimes not. Okay with Conjuration or Necromancy specialists, otherwise I'd pass.

Gnome Illusionist: You get bonus powers for Illusions (some are lower level, all are Extended). As a Gnome, you are planning to be a Shadowcraft Mage, so you should take this,

Immediate Magic: This is the ACF mentioned in the Conjurer description. Sadly, it's only really god for them. Happily, it's awesome for them.

Spontaneous Divination: Swap any prepared spell for a Divination of the same level or lower. Costs a bonus feat. Take this and never look back. Probably the best ACF after Domain Wizard.

Feats: Uh, feats are good. You should take some. Okay?

Metamagic Feats: Mostly these are only good if you can cheese down the adjustment. Extend is an exception. If you can cheese down the adjustment, Persist is obscene.

Uncanny Forethought: It's like being a Sorcerer but better. You can cast any spell you want as a standard action, including spells that normally take a full-round action or even several hours to cast.

Collegiate Wizard: You learn more spells for free. Highly variable in value. If your DM lets you pull wealth loops or use secret page, don't bother. Otherwise, consider this at first level.

Improved Initiative: You cast spells that make people die. If you go first, they are more likely to die. This makes you go first.

Item Creation Feats: This is like having twice as much money.

Spell Focus: The marginal DC points are okay, but remember you need two of these to become an Archmage.

Improved Familiar: Get a Mirror Mephit. Have it use simulacrum on you. Action economy is fun.

Mark of the Dauntless/That Feat from Lords of Madness: Immunity to daze (celerity dazes you). Action economy is fun.

Cloudy Conjuration: Decent first level option for a Conjurer. You spells come with a free stinking cloud.

Prestige Classes: Your only class features are bonus feats. As long as a PrC is competitive with bonus feats, it's worth taking. Usually. Strong PrCs include:

Archmage: You're here for Arcane Reach (30ft reach on touch spells), [S]Master of Shaping (mostly I think it's funny to trap people in Sculpt Spell prismatic wall), and Spell-like Ability (you get to cheese things with Supernatural Transformation).

Loremaster: For the price of one feat you get a bunch of random stuff, including a feat. Nothing special. Goes up to decent in combination with Divine Oracle as they require the same bonus feat.

Divine Oracle: Some random stuff for the price of a feat. As mentioned above, gets better with Loremaster.

Mage of the Arcane Order: I don't like this for Wizards. It costs you two feats to get in, and you get to cast spells spontaneously. Well, Spell Mastery and Uncanny Forethought are two feats, and they let you cast spells spontaneously.

Incantatrix: This class is cheese. Take it at your own risk.

Shadowcraft Mage: Basically, you stack metamagic on silent image to make it silent but deadly.

Abjurant Champion: Decent at high levels if you really want to cast dispel magic quickly or need BAB. I don't know why you would, but to each his own.

Ultimate Magus: This class exists to get your caster level up to stupid high numbers at very low levels. If that appeals to you, go for it. If not, don't. Also has metamagic synergy.

Spells: It's 2:30 in the morning where I am, so I'm just going to link you some guides. Maybe I'll post more later. Here's (http://tgdmb.com/viewtopic.php?p=31962) a list of spells for killing fools. Here's (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=394) a guide to Wizards with in depth discussions of the schools.

A quick apology if there are any grievous errors. Again, 2:30 in the morning.

[Lerondiel]

Pretty well nailed it for 2:30am!


Yes, a specialist Conjuror with Abrupt Jaunt ACF + a few levels of Master Specialist for the prereqs + Incantantatrix + Archmage with Reach Spell + metamagic (persistent/chain) feats/enhancers out the wazoo = a relatively simple but very powerful mage

[atemu1234]

Treantmonk's God Wizard Handbook
http://community.wizards.com/forum/previous-editions-character-optimization/threads/1146876

The Logic Ninja's Batman Wizard Handbook
http://http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?104002-3-5e-The-Logic-Ninja-s-Guide-to-Wizards-Being-Batman (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?104002-3-5e-The-Logic-Ninja-s-Guide-to-Wizards-Being-Batman)

I don't know how to do the thing where the words are the links, sorry. Anyway, you said you've read some guides, but if you haven't read them already, give these a read, they should help. Even if you have read them, read them again. They're really good. :smalltongue:

In terms of powerful prestige classes, Archmage, Initiate of the Sevenfold Veil, Incantatrix, and Dweomerkeeper (needs some divine casting too, if that's okay) are all good. Fatespinner (the first 4 levels anyway) is pretty good too. Mage of the Arcane Order gives some free metamagic feats and lots of versatility with the spellpool. Master Specialist is always nice too. I don't have any builds per se, but throwing some combination of these together if you can qualify and they fit your intended fluff can't really be too bad.

Highlight the text before hitting the button to add the hyperlink.

Examples, for it if you want to type it up the old fashioned way:
Treantmonk's God Wizard Handbook (http://community.wizards.com/forum/previous-editions-character-optimization/threads/1146876)

The Logic Ninja's Batman Wizard Handbook (http://http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?104002-3-5e-The-Logic-Ninja-s-Guide-to-Wizards-Being-Batman)

[Draconium]

The Batman Wizard link isn't working for me...

[Brova]

The Batman Wizard link isn't working for me...

Here (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=9749) is an alternative link.

[gorfnab]

Check out the Easy Bake Wizard Handbook in my signature. It's a wizard almost built like a sorcerer, no spellbook and partially spontaneous. It's also a generalist, so no barred schools.

[Telonius]

There's a quote floating around somewhere from one poster (can't remember whose quote it was, might have been Tippy or Jaronk): a well-played wizard is godlike, but nobody can screw up quite like a wizard. A Fighter who messes up is just going to die, but a wizard can wind up accidentally teleporting himself to a plane of eternal torment. You can have the best build in the world, but if you don't think like a wizard, you're not going to be able to select the right spells to make you as powerful as you can. A plain old vanilla Wizard 20, played by someone with the right mindset and spell selection, will win out over the fanciest build that's played by someone who can't think strategically.

You job as a Wizard is to arrange things so that your side wins. (That's one of the reasons they get their nickname, "Batman.") Make it so that the enemy has to do what you want them to do. If you control the battlefield, you control the result of the battle. Direct damage is for the other people in your party. While it's possible for you to do it better than they can, you could be doing lots of more important things than that. Instead, you should be trying to force the enemy to play your game. Find out what the battlefield is with your Divination spells. Control where the enemy can go (the "Wall Of..." spells can work for that). Negate his defenses (Dispel and others). Bestow harmful statuses (a variety of spells) to weaken his ability to hurt you and your friends. Sometimes it won't even be about a single spell, but a combination that turns a dangerous spell deadly: for example, Black Tentacles one round to prevent the enemy from moving, Cloudkill the next to kill him where he stands.

Wizard does require some amount of "homework." Study up on your spells, and know what they can do. Think about who they're going to be strong against. If you're going up against a gigantic creature that hits really hard, that enemy is probably something that's going to have a pretty big fortitude save. If you're going against a wispy Rogue, targeting their Fort save might be a better idea. If something's big and hulking, a ranged touch attack might be easy; a dexterous Rouge, maybe not. If it's Undead, don't bother with something that gives a Stunning effect. (Having a clear grasp of your spells is also respectful of your fellow gamers. Nothing slows down combat like a spellcaster player who's leafing through seventeen options, looking up exactly what their spell can do).

[rrwoods]

Um, does the archmage sculpt/shape prismatic wall thing work? Master of shaping mentions five specific shapes you can alter (and besides doesn't allow you to change the shape, only to exclude 5-ft squares arbitrarily), and sculpt spell says it can effect area spells (but prismatic wall isn't an area spell).

[Story]

Specialization and Banned Schools: Generally, you probably want to specialize. You can afford to give up two schools of magic in most games, and the extra spell per day is good.


Note: This is only true if Domain Wizard is banned. If Domain Wizard is allowed, it's almost strictly better than specializing (especially when combined with Elven Wizard substitution levels). The only reason to specialize is if you want something that specifically requires it, like Abrupt Jaunt.

[Brova]

Note: This is only true if Domain Wizard is banned. If Domain Wizard is allowed, it's almost strictly better than specializing (especially when combined with Elven Wizard substitution levels). The only reason to specialize is if you want something that specifically requires it, like Abrupt Jaunt.

Yep. I mention that in the ACFs section, though a little obliquely. It probably deserves a section with things like "Being an Incantatrix" or "Casting planar binding" or "Taking Leadership" which are very good, but you should absolutely do if your DM lets you.


Um, does the archmage sculpt/shape prismatic wall thing work? Master of shaping mentions five specific shapes you can alter (and besides doesn't allow you to change the shape, only to exclude 5-ft squares arbitrarily), and sculpt spell says it can effect area spells (but prismatic wall isn't an area spell).

It looks like it doesn't. I had assumed the wall spells were written as an area. That's disappointing. It doesn't actually make Archmage much worse though, as it's a pretty marginal strategy. But my bad on that one.

Anyhow, here's some more stuff for people who want to build Wizards:

Prestige Classes: There are a lot of these. Here are more. Italics are classes I don't recommend. They aren't necessarily bad, but they are often better in the hands of other classes.

Anima Mage: This is one of the better theurges. You can get in with only one level of Binder, and you can get in at 5th level. The zero Binder levels build (take Bind Vestige and Improved Bind Vestige) and the 4th level entry build (Wizard 2/Binder 1 with Sanctum Spell shenanigans) are kind of marginal. Particularly, the 4th level entry doesn't actually get you much - you're still a level behind on casting. Anyhow, the big advantage is that you get free metamagic (for Persisting stuff) and a nice stable of utility options. The big hit though is that there are only ten levels of this class. You get to keep up a vaguely level appropriate secondary shtick, but only for a while. This is a core problem with theurges, by the way.

Geometer: You get minor powers that interact with the glyph spells. But the real meat here is that you get to scribe any spell to your spellbook in one page. Another one of those things that isn't good if you get to abuse various wealth and spell acquisition tricks, but is gold if you don't.

Rainbow Servant: This class is very good, but it takes a while to come on line and is much better off in the hands of a Beguiler, Dread Necromancer, or Warmage.

Dweomerkeeper: This class is kind of like a theurge, except it only advances one kind of casting. Clearly, you are supposed to get in with some kind of Wizard 1/Cleric 4 or Wizard 4/Cleric 1 build. Unfortunately, that sucks. Instead, you're going to take five levels of your base class, and figure out some way to grab the prerequisites you're supposed to get from the other class (Scribe Scroll and Arcane casting for a Cleric, Magic Domain and Divine casting for a Wizard). That's doable for a Wizard, but it involves grabbing some obscure feats (Southern Magician, Alternate Spell Source) and convincing your DM that substitute domain for Magic qualifies you for the class. If you're heart-set on being one, get in as a Cleric.

Unseen Seer: You've got to grab some random skills you probably don't have, but other than that the entry is easy. Anyway, you get some additional sneak attack (assuming you have sneak attack), extra power for Divinations, and some advanced learning. It's okay, but generally worse than walking around with Spontaneous Divination and simply casting whatever Divinations you want to use.

Ur-Priest: Another way to make theurges work. Also very cheesy. I would probably avoid it, but it is very powerful.

Malconvoker: This is not a good class for two reasons. First of all, it's a summoner class and if you wanted to be a summoner you would have played a Cleric or a Druid. Second of all, it drops you a level of casting. That's never good, but it's especially bad for summoners, who are summoning pretty weak creatures anyway. The big draw is that you get to summon more creatures, but half the time a non-Malconvoker could get the same deal by simply opting to summon lower level creatures.

Mindbender: This is a one level dip for people who really want Mindsight. Otherwise, it drops you by five levels of casting in exchange for the ability to do something you could already do.

Arcane Hierophant: This is one another one of the good theurges. Unfortunately, it's aimed at someone leaning more towards the Druid side of things. Compounding that misfortune, it requires you to pull shenanigans with getting arcane spells as a divine caster. The class features are okay, and you end up with Druid 19/Wizard 15 casting, but it's nothing spectacular.

War Weaver: It drops you a caster level, but it makes you the best damn buff-bot in the game. Not insane, but quite solid if the party is set up right to benefit from all your buffs. Can benefit from Reach Spell and some Incantatrix levels.

Fatespinner: This is very good for any build that was planning to take a couple of dead Wizard levels. You spend some skills to get in, and in exchange you get minor but useful bonuses to DCs and the ability to force rerolls. I wish you could justify taking the last level, but losing the caster level isn't quite good enough.

Hathran: The prerequisites are quite extensive. You have to be female, be human, be from a specific region in a specific campaign setting, take a crappy regional feat, and worship one of three gods. Fortunately one of those gods is Mystra, so it's not a total loss. The benefits you get are totally huge though. You get to cast spells spontaneously (and do it everywhere thanks to acorn of far travel), and you get circle magic. Circle magic is totally nuts. You grab a couple of caster minions, generally simulacra or ones you get from Leadership (did I mention this class requires you to take Leadership?), they pump you full of magic, and your caster level is 40 for the rest of the day.

Red Wizard: It's like Hathran but easier to get into, though you still have to be human. Also, you get circle magic at 10th instead of 12th. Also, you don't get spontaneous casting. Finally, you have to be a specialist and you get some minor benefits for your specialty school.

Jade Phoenix Mage: I don't like this particularly for a Wizard. You give up a bunch of caster levels and in exchange you get some minor Tome of Battle powers. If you were planning to gish, go Incantatrix or (for less cheesy builds) Abjurant Champion.

Recaster: Changeling only, and it costs you a caster level. On the other hand, you get some metamagic shenanigans and you get two spells from any list in the game. It's minor, but it does unique stuff.

In summary: Metamagic shenanigans are good, caster level boosts are good, losing casting is bad.

On Strategy: The first thing you should do when building a Wizard, as Telonius suggests, is figure out how you fit into the party. Ideally, this involves the party taking some time before they build characters to plan a grand strategy. Basically, the party needs to figure out how they plan to defeat enemies, then you need to figure out how you fit in. Here are a couple of examples for four man parties:

1. Tripstar Fighter, Flask Rogue, Blaster Sorcerer, Battlefield Control Wizard. Here we have a party that plans to lock down enemies then hit them with big damage from range. The Wizard is probably a Conjuration specialist, spec'd out with spells like grease, black tentacles, as well as various fogs and walls. The Wizard is also likely to be packing utility spells, as none of the other characters are really built for it.
2. Frenzied Berserker Ubercharger, Bruiser Cleric, Beast Druid, War Weaver Wizard. This party is comprised of a lot of people who are very good at breaking things in melee. As such, the Wizard's job is to make them better at it with spells like greater magic weapon and to let them close with spells like fly. This Wizard will go a little lighter on the utility, because he's in a party with a pair of other fullcasters.

Those are pretty simple cases, with obvious solutions. Other simple parties exist (for example, the minions party with a Summoner Druid, an animate dead Cleric, and a Beguiler), but most parties are more complex than that. A Wizard has to be able to fit multiple roles, particularly in a party with Clerics, Druids, or other characters who can adapt dramatically from session to session.

At some point I should do some work on broken stuff, specific spells, and a look at how the Wizard builds in my first post look at various levels. Hopefully I will get around to that eventually.

[Draconium]

First off, thanks to everyone for their replies. They've been very helpful!

Now, like I said, I prefer not to specialize, as I don't really like losing access to any spells, even if I have no need for them. However, a Domain Wizard sounds kind of fun. I might have to try that out - probably with Conjuration.

Prestige classes, now, that's a problem. I don't have any that are absolutely screaming at me to take them. I recognize that a lot of the ones you listed are good, but the only one that really appeals to me in any way is Archmage, for whatever reason... However, I do think having more classes than that is a solid idea. I might just have to look into the others more.

In-combat, I think I'd like to focus primarily on battlefield control, with some debuffs on the side to help out. (I can save Enchantment for another day.) Conjuration seems like hat way to go, with spells like Grease, Web, and Black Tentacle. (By the way, I thought I saw a thread a while back that mentioned other spells similar to BT, but maintained usefulness at higher levels, any ideas on what those are?) Wall spells will help out too. Any other spells I should look at?

Now, I'm not sure how my current DM feels about cheese. Offhand, I would guess that a bit of cheese would be fine to use, as long as I don't go completely overboard. So, are there any slightly cheesy tricks I could use to help myself out with this character?

Finally, and this may apply to what I said above, are there any tricks I could use to reduce the cost of metamagic? I know Incantatrix lowers the cost eventually, but I'd like to know other ways around it as well - it would come in handy.

[Brova]

Now, like I said, I prefer not to specialize, as I don't really like losing access to any spells, even if I have no need for them. However, a Domain Wizard sounds kind of fun. I might have to try that out - probably with Conjuration.

That's a pretty good plan. As mentioned above, Domain Wizard is something you should absolutely take if your DM allows it. It's like specialization, but better. Conjuration is probably the best choice. Getting mage armor at first level isn't ideal (you would much rather have color spray, wall of smoke, or sleep), and the limits of Domain Wizardry prevent you from Frank Cheating it. But the rest of the spells are pretty nuts. web, stinking cloud, wall of stone, and gate? Every single one of those spells is totally sweet.


Prestige classes, now, that's a problem. I don't have any that are absolutely screaming at me to take them. I recognize that a lot of the ones you listed are good, but the only one that really appeals to me in any way is Archmage, for whatever reason... However, I do think having more classes than that is a solid idea. I might just have to look into the others more.

Honestly, there's nothing wrong with just going Wizard 15/Archmage 5 or even Wizard 20. The whole "casting spells" deal Wizards get is very good. That build will never be optimal, but you aren't going to be crying over having to cast wall of fire and cloudkill instead of Persisting polymorph or wraithstrike. That said, there are several low to no cost PrCs you might pick up like Abjurant Champion, Loremaster, or Divine Oracle. They aren't as good as the top tier stuff like Incantatrix or Shadowcraft Mage, but they are reasonable options.


In-combat, I think I'd like to focus primarily on battlefield control, with some debuffs on the side to help out. (I can save Enchantment for another day.) Conjuration seems like hat way to go, with spells like Grease, Web, and Black Tentacle. (By the way, I thought I saw a thread a while back that mentioned other spells similar to BT, but maintained usefulness at higher levels, any ideas on what those are?) Wall spells will help out too. Any other spells I should look at?

Battlefield control is a solid specialty, but bear in mind that it has a distinct anti-synergy with the "charge in screaming" style of play many people favor. It doesn't do a whole lot of good to lock down melee threats if people insist on closing to melee with them.


Finally, and this may apply to what I said above, are there any tricks I could use to reduce the cost of metamagic? I know Incantatrix lowers the cost eventually, but I'd like to know other ways around it as well - it would come in handy.

There are various methods of reducing the costs of metamagic. A handbook on the issue can be found here (brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=9876.0). Some general notes:

1. Incantatrix's metamagic effect is at it's best with Persist. Other metamagics are either useless after the fact (Quicken) or fairly cheap already (Extend).
2. Arcane Thesis is only really go if you're planning to stack a bunch of metamagics on one spell. Otherwise it takes too much investment for a marginal effect. Use it with orbs, scorching ray, or enervation.
3. Ultimate Magus actually has a second use (other than stupid huge caster levels). It lets you get some metamagic at reasonably effective rates.

It now becomes time to consider your build. There are two vaguely reasonable options here, given what you want to do. First is a "pure" Wizard build that goes for a bunch of reasonably good PrCs, culminating in Archmage. The second is an Ultimate Magus build, with somewhat weaker casting but metamagic and a much higher caster level. That build also gets to play around with some Enchantment options.

"Pure" Wizard
Grey Elf Wizard 6/Divine Oracle 4/Abjurant Champion 5/Archmage 5
Notable Feats: Skill Focus (Knowledge [Religion], Spellcraft), Combat Reflexes, Spell Focus (Any Two)

I'm not going to lie, those are bad feats. Fortunately, you get some reasonable-ish class features. Divine Oracle nabs you Evasion and Uncanny Doge Dodge, which are pretty nice defenses to have. Abjurant Champion takes shield from "niche defense" to "reasonable AC boost". And of course, Archmage lets you do a bunch of shenanigans with SLAs and gives you Reach Spell.

Note that you qualify for the "proficient with one martial weapon" part of Abjurant Champion because you are an Elf.

Level One: You play a lot like any other Wizard at this point. Prepare a combination of color spray, sleep, and wall of smoke. Then hit people with them. You're very squishy, and you have a somewhat limited number of spells.

Take the Elf Generalist substitution level at this point, and select a Hummingbird Familiar (Dragon Magazine, grants +4 to Initiative).

Level Three: You get second level spells. These are very good. Prepare web, glitterdust, or cloud of bewilderment. Also, your Elf Generalist substitution level doubles your familiar's boost enjoy that +8 to initiative.

Level Five: Take Spontaneous Divination. Also, third level spells. stinking cloud is good.

After that it's just following the build and casting good spells. I recommend black tentacles, cloudkill, various wall spells, various fog spells, and maybe the occasion planar binding.

Ultimate Magus
Grey Elf Wizard 4/Beguiler 1/Trickster Spellthief 1/Ultimate Magus 10

You'll notice that this build only goes up to 16th level. That's because it's not super clear what you want to do after that point. Honestly, you would be totally justified in taking a level of Rainbow Servant, learning holy word, and blowing people up. You could also go War Weaver or Incantatrix to buff some of the builds strong points. It's really up to you what you do with the extra levels. The strongest choice is probably Incantatrix 4.

Notable Feats: Practiced Spellcaster (Beguiler, Trickster Spellthief), Master Spellthief, Various Metamagics

Note: You have to be a human or take a flaw to get into Ultimate Magus with the listed build. Trickster Spellthief is a variant Spellthief that has casting from level 1.

Basically, you have a huge caster level. At 6th it's 14 and it goes up from there. You get to burn Beguiler spells for metamagic (Quicken, Sculpt, Empower, and Extend are all good). By 16th level your caster level is (IIRC) 43. You drop a level of casting, but you should be able to find something to do with that.

Level 1: Your first level is Beguiler. You run around hitting people with sleep and color spray. Also, you have the skills that bay the bills. In this case, the hospital bills, because you can disable traps.

Level 2: You take a level of Trickster Spellthief. The notable thing here is that you can hit the DC 20 to make friendly (charm person makes people friendly) people helpful.

Level 3: You are now a Wizard. You get some more 1st level spells, and a Hummingbird. That kind of sucks, because other people get 2nd level spells. Whatever.

Level 6: Thanks to Master Spellthief, your caster level goes up to 14. Consider using that with alter self.

Level 9: You gain augmented casting. You can now burn Beguiler casting to metamagic up low level spells. Unfortunately, this is just 1st level spells for now.

Honestly, the first build is probably better. I certainly like the second, but doing stuff with caster levels is probably not as effective as casting higher level spells. If you could get in as Wizard 4/Beguiler 1 without losing a second caster level, I'd be all over it as a metamagic engine, but as is I'm not super sold.

Anyway, you had one more question.


Now, I'm not sure how my current DM feels about cheese. Offhand, I would guess that a bit of cheese would be fine to use, as long as I don't go completely overboard. So, are there any slightly cheesy tricks I could use to help myself out with this character?

I am personally obliged to mention that you can take Improved Familiar (Mirror Mephit) to get a creature which will follow you around casting simulacrum on you once per day. This is very good.

You could also use alter self to get flight, natural attacks, and other goodies.

At mid levels planar binding is a solid option for absolutely insane utility. Almost anything you can imagine is on some outsider as an SLA.

Leadership is a thing that exists. Take it for a cohort, perhaps a well built martial ranged attacker for synergy with battlefield control.

Taking Incantatrix levels is an effective form of cheese. Good breakpoints are 3rd (metamagic effect), 4th (bonus feat), 5th (wanded metamagic), and whenever you get the spontaneous metamagic application (7th maybe?).

[Gnorman]

Malconvoker: This is not a good class for two reasons. First of all, it's a summoner class and if you wanted to be a summoner you would have played a Cleric or a Druid. Second of all, it drops you a level of casting. That's never good, but it's especially bad for summoners, who are summoning pretty weak creatures anyway. The big draw is that you get to summon more creatures, but half the time a non-Malconvoker could get the same deal by simply opting to summon lower level creatures.

I could not (http://community.wizards.com/forum/previous-editions-character-optimization/threads/1131936) disagree more (http://www.minmaxboards.com/index.php?topic=6320.0).

[Brova]

I could not (http://community.wizards.com/forum/previous-editions-character-optimization/threads/1131936) disagree more (http://www.minmaxboards.com/index.php?topic=6320.0).

Okay, let's think about those abilities for a second. You want to be a summoner. Malconvoker gives you:

1. Free Extend at 1st. For evil creatures, if you succeed on a bluff check.

2. Some combat bonuses at 4th. For evil creatures, if you succeed on a bluff check.

3. Two creatures for one casting at 5th. For evil creatures. No bluff check for this one.

But what are the costs? Well, you lose a level of casting. That means that at 7th, 9th, 11th, and so on you are a level behind. So the straight Wizard is casting a higher level summon monster than you are at odd levels. Which means that if he wanted to, he could be summoning 1d3 lower level creatures, giving your 5th level ability for free. So half the time, the straight Wizard gets your best class ability for free. And you can get the other boosts via Shadowcraft Mage. The 5th Gnome Illusionist level extends your Illusions, and Shadowcraft Mage turns them into summon monster spells. And makes them more real than reality, which presumably means a combat boost.

But that's not the only cost. By choosing to be a Wizard at all, you gave up on being a Druid. And that means your combat summons are about half a level late (the animals come a full level late, but they come with a minor template). And that you can't take Greenbound summoning. And that you can't take levels of Half-Orc Druid for free Augment Summoning. And you can't prepare a bevy of non-summon spells, either combat or utility options, then swap them to summon nature's ally. And you don't get all the other Druid special abilities, like turning into a Dire Bear.

[Draconium]

Like Brova said, though, I wouldn't be making a Wizard if I wanted to be a summoner. Malconvoker is an interesting class, regardless of how good it actually is, but it's not what I wanted to make anyways.

[Gnorman]

Okay, let's think about those abilities for a second. You want to be a summoner. Malconvoker gives you:

1. Free Extend at 1st. For evil creatures, if you succeed on a bluff check.

2. Some combat bonuses at 4th. For evil creatures, if you succeed on a bluff check.

3. Two creatures for one casting at 5th. For evil creatures. No bluff check for this one.

But what are the costs? Well, you lose a level of casting. That means that at 7th, 9th, 11th, and so on you are a level behind. So the straight Wizard is casting a higher level summon monster than you are at odd levels. Which means that if he wanted to, he could be summoning 1d3 lower level creatures, giving your 5th level ability for free. So half the time, the straight Wizard gets your best class ability for free. And you can get the other boosts via Shadowcraft Mage. The 5th Gnome Illusionist level extends your Illusions, and Shadowcraft Mage turns them into summon monster spells. And makes them more real than reality, which presumably means a combat boost.

But that's not the only cost. By choosing to be a Wizard at all, you gave up on being a Druid. And that means your combat summons are about half a level late (the animals come a full level late, but they come with a minor template). And that you can't take Greenbound summoning. And that you can't take levels of Half-Orc Druid for free Augment Summoning. And you can't prepare a bevy of non-summon spells, either combat or utility options, then swap them to summon nature's ally. And you don't get all the other Druid special abilities, like turning into a Dire Bear.

Yes, there are ways of constructing a summoner that perform better than the Malconvoker. But just because something isn't the best possible option at a thing does not make it a bad option for that thing. Half the time, the Malconvoker is performing better than a straight Wizard, both in terms of quality and quantity.

As for your second argument: while true, I don't think that the best response, in a thread about how to play a wizard, is "play a druid."

But in any case, as Draconium has expressed a lack of interest in the Malconvoker, I shall slink back into the abyss.

[Brova]

Yes, there are ways of constructing a summoner that perform better than the Malconvoker. But just because something isn't the best possible option at a thing does not make it a bad option for that thing. Half the time, the Malconvoker is performing better than a straight Wizard, both in terms of quality and quantity.

I'm going to cut right to the point. If you are playing a Malconvoker Wizard, how is that better than play a Malconvoker Cleric? You cast all the same spells, but you get turning, and domains, and spontaneous casting, and a more forgiving spellcasting mechanic, and to wear armor, and easy access to a few random things like planar ally. Malconvoker in this context isn't just a bad Wizard, it's a bad Malconvoker.

The question of what qualifies a "bad" option is an open one. I think the minimum is that you should never give up power if giving it up doesn't help your character concept*. Given that you can make a better summoner without Malconvoker, why would you not do that?

*: Obviously, an exception has to be made for power above whatever level your table considers game breaking.


As for your second argument: while true, I don't think that the best response, in a thread about how to play a wizard, is "play a druid."

Why? I mean, if you asked how to play a Necromancer, no one would be wrong to say you should play a Dread Necromancer instead of a Warlock. Classes have specific strengths and weaknesses. The weakness of the Wizard is that it has the worst saves, the worst BAB, the worst hit points, the worst skills, and the least (base) spells per day of any full casting class. And it gets a pretty bad spellcasting mechanic. But it makes up for that by having the best spells in the game. As such, any time you cast a spell another caster could cast as a Wizard, you suck. Now, sometimes that will be necessary, and that's fine - you don't need to chase sunk costs. But if you specialize in those spells, why didn't you play a Cleric for higher BAB, better saves, Domains, turning, and casting in armor? Or a Druid, for a pet wolf, wild shape, and spontaneous casting?