War weaver help

[AkamaruRules]

Hey all, I'm new to d&d 3.5 and I wanted to make a buff build for my group. I've done research (including handbooks). I don't want to use any shortcuts or use things like spellguard of the silverymoon. So far I have wizard 5/war weaver 5/master specialist 3/initiate of the sevenfold veil 7. I've also thought about wizard 5/war weaver 5/incantrix 10 or 3/etc. 7. I dunno how well that will work for me and I'm having a really hard time choosing spells that I should use. Any help is appreciated.

[Fouredged Sword]

Welcome to the game. Warweaver is a really nice class. Here is how I think about it. Basically your buff spells are much better. Take a look at each level's spells and pick out two buffs, one offensive and one defensive. Prep those. Past that forget you are a buff wizard and prep some nice battlefield control spells.

[AkamaruRules]

Woo that makes sense. Any advice about schools to ban? I believe I need abjuration to specialize.

[sleepyphoenixx]

Generally the "to ban" schools are Enchantment, Evocation and Necromancy, in that order. So unless you find a spell from one of those you really want that's what you ban.
Never ban Conjuration or Transmutation.

Keep in mind that you can get most of Evocation from Conjuration (blasting) and the Illusion school via Shadow Evocation and its variants.
A lot of spells from enchantment can be had from summoned monsters if you don't need them often and don't want to focus your build around them.

Necromancy is both the hardest to duplicate and potentially the most useful. Even if you never want to raise undead, the school contains a lot of great debuffs and utility spells like Clone and Astral Projection, so don't ban it unless you need 3 banned schools.

[AkamaruRules]

If I want to use the necromancy debuffs and not drop it, what would you say is the next best one to drop?

Edit: Also, initiate says 5 abjuration spells. This means I don't have to specialize in abjure and could specialize in like divination and still get into initiate?

[sleepyphoenixx]

If I want to use the necromancy debuffs and not drop it, what would you say is the next best one to drop?

Edit: Also, initiate says 5 abjuration spells. This means I don't have to specialize in abjure and could specialize in like divination and still get into initiate?

There's not much left to ban, is there? You never want to ban Transmutation or Conjuration, you can't ban Divination and you need Abjuration for IotSV, so you'll have to ban Illusion if you want Necromancy and need 3 banned schools. Illusion has some pretty neat buffs though, so it's definitely a sacrifice - especially on a War Weaver.

You could specialize in something besides Abjuration, but that means you don't get Greater Spell Focus:Abjuration from your Master Specialist levels and need to spend another feat to qualify for IotSV.

[Goby]

I'm currently playing a Wizard 6 / war weaver 5 / knight of weave 1 / ultimate magus 4.
Using focused specialist (transmuter), banning necro, enchant, and evocation.

Most weave spells are from trans, conj, and abjur. Banning a third school requires some tough choices. I personally wouldn't lose illusion, as one of the best spells I use is Displacement. But there are times when I wish I had access to those banned schools.

The trick to a good buff build, and your spell list, is knowing a lot about the rest of your party. Are there a lot of front line melee, or sneaky characters, or other caster types? How big is the party, remember that your weave is limited by your Int bonus. What buffs do other players have available?

Getting access to healing magic is useful. I have the feat Magic of the Land from RotW, and cure light from Knight of Weave.

Some of my key weave spells are Cat's Grace, Greater Mage armor, Greater resistance, Displacement, Draconic might, Resist energy, and Indomitability.

My other spells focus on battlefield control via short range teleportation spells, Haste, and countering or dispelling enemy casters.
Overall, it's a fun but slightly complicated character, with a lot to keep track of, and sometimes a lack of high powered options, especially against above CR casters.