help with building a wizard

[Urist Mcmage]

Hi, i have a build for a wizard that i made. I have read all the handbooks and looked through the guides. is the build viable? what spells should i switch out?

Level 12 Human Wizard (conjurer)

21 Intelligence (+5) + 4 from +4 Circlet of Intellect = 25 (+7)

+4 Circlet of Intellect (16,000 gp)




Immediate Magic (Conjuration)
Spontaneous Divination

Collegiate Wizard
Improved Initiative
Alacritous Cogitation
Faerie Mysteries Initiate
Insightful Reflexes
Craft Contingent Spell

Level One Spells
Instant Search
Scholars Touch
Charm Person
Hypnotism
Sleep
Silent Image
Color Spray
Benign Transposition
Magic Missile


Level Two Spells
Blinding Color Surge
Mirror Image
Baleful Transposition
Dimension Hop
Seeking Ray

Level Three Spells
Suggestion
Miser’s Envy
Phantasmal Strangler
Dimension Step
Slow

Level Four Spells (ok)
Charm Monster
Rebuke, Greater
Greater Mirror Image
Dimension Door
Translocation Trick


Level Five Spells (ok)
Shadow Evocation
Friend to Foe
Persistent Image
Dimension Shuffle
Telekinesis


Level Six Spells
Geas/Quest
Overwhelm
Cloak of Hate
Howling Chain
Teleport

[LordOfCain]

Just seems like a run of the mill wizard, I personally would throw some Loremaster in there for the secrets.

[Mystral]

Hi, i have a build for a wizard that i made. I have read all the handbooks and looked through the guides. is the build viable? what spells should i switch out?

Level 12 Human Wizard (conjurer)

21 Intelligence (+5) + 4 from +4 Circlet of Intellect = 25 (+7)

+4 Circlet of Intellect (16,000 gp)




Immediate Magic (Conjuration)
Spontaneous Divination

Collegiate Wizard
Improved Initiative
Alacritous Cogitation
Faerie Mysteries Initiate
Insightful Reflexes
Craft Contingent Spell

Level One Spells
Instant Search
Scholars Touch
Charm Person
Hypnotism
Sleep
Silent Image
Color Spray
Benign Transposition
Magic Missile


Level Two Spells
Blinding Color Surge
Mirror Image
Baleful Transposition
Dimension Hop
Seeking Ray

Level Three Spells
Suggestion
Miser’s Envy
Phantasmal Strangler
Dimension Step
Slow

Level Four Spells (ok)
Charm Monster
Rebuke, Greater
Greater Mirror Image
Dimension Door
Translocation Trick


Level Five Spells (ok)
Shadow Evocation
Friend to Foe
Persistent Image
Dimension Shuffle
Telekinesis


Level Six Spells
Geas/Quest
Overwhelm
Cloak of Hate
Howling Chain
Teleport

Which schools are banned?
You should get more low level spells that can be very usefull under the right circumstances. You are a wizard, you need those spells to prepare.

[Urist Mcmage]

Which schools are banned?

the banned schools are necromancy and abjuration


You should get more low level spells that can be very usefull under the right circumstances. You are a wizard, you need those spells to prepare.

which spells would you suggest?

[Mystral]

the banned schools are necromancy and abjuration


which spells would you suggest?

It is common wisdom not to ban abjuration. It has many spells that are very usefull, like dispel magic or mind blank. A better school to ban would be evocation. or enchantment.

For multipurpose spells at low levels, just from core:

1: Protection from Evil
Grease
Summon Monster 1 (For checking for traps)
Comprehend Languages
Identify
Floating Disk
Disguise Self
Magic Aura
Expeditious Retreat
Feather Fall

2: Protection from Arrows
Web
Detect Thoughts
See Invisibility
Locate Object
Shatter
False Life
Rope Trick
Knock

Learning Level 1 or 2 spells costs you a neglidible amount of cash at your level, and while you won't need them 95% of the time, when you DO need them, they are super imporant. Remember, you are not a sorcerer, you don't have to constrain yourself to the spells you are likely to need.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Don't stick to Wizard for your whole career, after Wizard 5 take one or more prestige classes that will advance your Wizard spellcasting.

Use the Fighter feat variant (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/variantCharacterClasses.htm#wizard) in UA to get Improved Initiative instead of Scribe Scroll, so you don't have to spend a feat on it. You'll still get a Wizard 5 bonus feat that can be exchanged for Spontaneous Divination.

Collegiate Wizard must be taken at 1st level, so you don't have anywhere near enough spells known. At 1st level you started with 6+Int (what your Int bonus was a 1st level) 1st level spells, at your 2nd level you gained four new 1st level spells known, at 3rd level you gained four 2nd level spells known, at 4th level you gained four more 2nd level spells known, etc. Your number of 1st level spells known should be at least 10+Int, and your number of 2nd-6th level spells should be eight of each level. This isn't even counting spells you could have acquired during your adventures, which cost either the price of a scroll of that spell or 50 gp per spell level (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicOverview/arcaneSpells.htm#addingSpellstoaWizardsSpellbook), whichever is lower, plus an additional 100 gp per spell level for writing it into your spellbook (unless you have a Blessed Book (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#blessedBook)).

You don't have Enchantment prohibited, so if you're not good aligned, dip a single level of Mindbender and take Mindsight (LoM p126). Also be sure to pick up Ray of Stupidity (SC), and consider taking Split Ray (CA) and getting a Lesser Rod of Maximize so you can reliably disable any opponent with Int 10 or lower in a single shot.

If you don't want to spend any feats on prerequisites for prestige classes, say you visited the Frog God's Fane in Complete Scoundrel to get Skill Focus: Knowledge: Religion without spending a feat on it, and take 4+ levels of Divine Oracle (CD). Paragnostic Apostle (CC) and Ruathar (RotW) are also superb choices. Just don't keep taking Wizard levels.

The strongest prestige class out there for a Wizard is Incantatrix in Player's Guide to Faerun, you can get its Iron Will prerequisite from the Otyugh Hole in CS without spending a feat on it. That gives you bonus metamagic feats, and it enables you to make a Spellcraft check to add Persistent Spell to your buffs without paying the normal metamagic cost. Take Item Familiar (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/magic/itemFamiliars.htm) because it's a spectacular feat and invest every skill rank you can into it to get the greatest return possible toward Spellcraft, so you can always take ten on those checks and succeed at making even your highest level spells persistent. You can upgrade your item familiar yourself, "A creator can add new magical abilities to a magic item with no restrictions (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/creatingMagicItems.htm#addingNewAbilities)," so you can add intelligent item abilities and even a special purpose and dedicated power for the standard item creation costs. An item familiar is an intelligent item which is regarded as a construct, and constructs cannot be disabled or destroyed by dispelling or disjoining and they continue to function in antimagic and dead magic areas, though such effects may temporarily suppress the benefits you gain from it. The item familiar gets actions in combat, which it can use to activate its own abilities, so it can shoot a 10d6 fireball every round while you're doing your thing if you give it that power.

Get a Circlet of Rapid Casting (MIC) and you can add a +4 Enhancement bonus to Int to it for 16,000 gp (MIC p234). Consider taking Kung-Fu Genius or Carmendine Monk and get a Monk's Belt to add your Int bonus to your AC. Metamagic rods are superb, don't forget about the ones in CA. Be sure you have all the necessary item effects (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?187851-3-5-Lists-of-Necessary-Magic-Items) covered, though many you can get from spell buffs (Overland Flight, Heart of Water, etc.).

[Mystral]

Another thing you should consider: With the advice given to you on this board, your character will be very powerfull. Very, very powerfull. So powerfull, in fact, that he makes just about everyone else obsolete. If the other players in your game don't optimise as hard as you do, and if your DM isn't able to keep up with it, you may wish to dial it down a bit. After all, when you destroy the game with a ridiculously awesome wizard, there won't be any game left.

In a relaxed game where everyone plays whatever, nearly any kind of wizard is viable. Perhaps you should tell us a bit about your teammates?

[Bullet06320]

the banned schools are necromancy and abjuration


banning abjuration is bad for a conjuror, you need magic circle and dimensional anchor spells to better cast Planar Binding spells
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/planarBindingLesser.htm
both of which are abjuration

for a conjuror my go to schools to ban are enchantment and illusion, and then necromancy if you gonna use the Focused Specialist CM pg 34

I also like Rapid Summoning and Enhanced Summoning
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/specialistWizardVariants.htm#conjurerVariants

master specialist is also a good PRC to go into early for a few levels, Malconvoker is good for conjuror and thaumaturgist too

[Urist Mcmage]

Another thing you should consider: With the advice given to you on this board, your character will be very powerfull. Very, very powerfull. So powerfull, in fact, that he makes just about everyone else obsolete. If the other players in your game don't optimise as hard as you do, and if your DM isn't able to keep up with it, you may wish to dial it down a bit. After all, when you destroy the game with a ridiculously awesome wizard, there won't be any game left.

In a relaxed game where everyone plays whatever, nearly any kind of wizard is viable. Perhaps you should tell us a bit about your teammates?


my team-mates are a totemist/warshaper, a warmage/rainbow servant, a artificer and a swordsage/wizard/jade pheonix mage. i realize that i could get cheesy really quickly, and i would rather not overtake other players in their respective roles, my character has been voted the party face, as well as the person who finds out information for the party(hence spontaneous divination and all the enchantment spells in my spell list) in addition, our DM has a penchant for pulling no punches and being somewhat of a killer DM


banning abjuration is bad for a conjuror, you need magic circle and dimensional anchor spells to better cast Planar Binding spells
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/pla...dingLesser.htm
both of which are abjuration

for a conjuror my go to schools to ban are enchantment and illusion, and then necromancy if you gonna use the Focused Specialist CM pg 34

I also like Rapid Summoning and Enhanced Summoning
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/cl...njurerVariants

master specialist is also a good PRC to go into early for a few levels, Malconvoker is good for conjuror and thaumaturgist too

i would rather not take many summoning spells, the reason i took conjuration as a specialization was for Immediate Magic (Abrupt Jaunt) and for teleportation spells. you are right though, i will ban evocation instead of abjuration.

[jiriku]

If you are party face, I can recommend:

friendly face, mask of the ideal, message, voice of the dragon, serene visage, tongues

These spells either expand your ability to communicate or enhance your social skill rolls. Good stuff.

[DrMartin]

Unless i'm missing something you are lacking things to fly and/or let your allies fly, as well as walls or similar things to create barriers and shape the battlefield. Also you listed teleport under 6th level spells, it should be 5th (barring house rules).

[ryu]

my team-mates are a totemist/warshaper, a warmage/rainbow servant, a artificer and a swordsage/wizard/jade pheonix mage. i realize that i could get cheesy really quickly, and i would rather not overtake other players in their respective roles, my character has been voted the party face, as well as the person who finds out information for the party(hence spontaneous divination and all the enchantment spells in my spell list) in addition, our DM has a penchant for pulling no punches and being somewhat of a killer DM



i would rather not take many summoning spells, the reason i took conjuration as a specialization was for Immediate Magic (Abrupt Jaunt) and for teleportation spells. you are right though, i will ban evocation instead of abjuration.

Why wouldn't you want the summoning spells? As a whole that subset is literally almost half the reason conjuration is so terrifying if not more.

[Bullet06320]

Why wouldn't you want the summoning spells? As a whole that subset is literally almost half the reason conjuration is so terrifying if not more.

with the proper summons, there is almost nothing you cant accomplish
http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?255219-The-Summoner-s-Desk-Reference-D-amp-D-3-5

[Urist Mcmage]

it is mostly for roleplaying reasons. my character believes that letting others do your work for you is a sign of weakness. in addition, i would feel uncomfortable taking the spotlight away from the melee characters by summoning monsters to do their job.

[ryu]

it is mostly for roleplaying reasons. my character believes that letting others do your work for you is a sign of weakness. in addition, i would feel uncomfortable taking the spotlight away from the melee characters by summoning monsters to do their job.

Ah purposeful limitation. Carry on.