Pathfinder Wizard

[Azreal]

So I'm playing a Wizard for the first time in Pathfinder and I was looking for some advice.

Not optimization but just general advice on how to know what spells to prepare. Any spells I should attempt to always have prepared. General stuff I should always be attempting to do and so forth.

I'm a level 1 Conjurer right now and we are doing the Curse of the Crimson Throne adventure path.

[LibraryOgre]

The Mod Wonder: Moved. Please put system-specific threads in the appropriate subfolder.

[legomaster00156]

When playing a prepared caster of any kind, have a "standard" spell list or two. I like to keep one general adventuring list and a general downtime list. These are just all-around useful spells for the situation, and I can modify the lists as needed to face specific challenges for the day. For example, if my spell list says to prepare two castings of Summon Monster I, but I know I need to carry a bunch of loot, I'll change one of those castings into a casting of Ant Haul. This system helps to minimize bookkeeping, which is always a frustrating part.

[Odessa333]

I'm playing my first pathfinder wizard as well, only my game started at 15th level. At even at 15th level, some 1st level spells remain useful. Some I can recommend:


Alarm, Endure Elements, Magic Missile, Feather Fall, Silent Image, Enlarge Person, Reduce Person, Ant Haul, Identify, Floating Disk, Obscuring Mist, Shield, Crafter’s Fortune, Liberating Command, Protection from good/evil, mage armor, grease, summon monster 1, charm person, expeditious retreat, Disguise self


Obviously, you can't take all of these to start, so tailor this to your character, what you like, etc. Mage armor is a solid buff to start, grease is a solid control spell for level 1, and so forth. If your group/character do more with social skills and disguises, disguise self is more important. If your DM uses grapples a lot, liberating command is amazing. For me, I have overland flight cast every day, so having 'feather fall' prepared in case of a surprise dispel is worth a slot for me. These spells will let you do a bit of everything, but you need to narrow down your focus.

[Kelb_Panthera]

When playing a prepared caster of any kind, have a "standard" spell list or two. I like to keep one general adventuring list and a general downtime list. These are just all-around useful spells for the situation, and I can modify the lists as needed to face specific challenges for the day. For example, if my spell list says to prepare two castings of Summon Monster I, but I know I need to carry a bunch of loot, I'll change one of those castings into a casting of Ant Haul. This system helps to minimize bookkeeping, which is always a frustrating part.

Adding to this, when you make these lists, don't fill up your entire allotment. One of the advantages a wizard has is the ability to prepare at any time as long as he has open (neither prepared nor spent) slots and 15 minutes, don't let it go to waste by always filling all the way up in the morning.

[Calthropstu]

Well, you have to prepare a conjuring spell.

Summon monster is a great choice in pathfinder. VS 3.5, summoning has been beefed up considerably. And its applications are endless.

Other good spells at 1st level include sleep, magic missile, color spray and burning hands. I believe you can cast 2 or 3 different spells, which means you should have 1 spell for offense and one for utility.

Do that for each spell level, and you should do fairly well. For higher levels, the strongest ability of the wizard is to prepare specific spells for specific occasions. As such, you should leave 1 slot open each time you prepare spells of each spell level starting at around level 8 or 9.

My typical 9th level wizard spell list would go:

5th: Cone of cold, Dominate, OPEN
4th: Improved invisibility, Summon monster 4, Black tentacles, OPEN
3rd: Fireball *2, hold person, Suggestion, OPEN
2nd: Invisibility, alter self, knock, acid arrow, OPEN
1st: magic missile *2, expeditious retreat, mage armor, shield, OPEN

[D.M.Hentchel]

#1 piece of advice:
Damage doesn't matter

Focus on making your party strong and crippiling the enemy, or summoning small armies to tear apart the enemies.

[Pugwampy]

Mage Armour is your lvl 1 must have bread and butter spell .

[Calthropstu]

Mage Armour is your lvl 1 must have bread and butter spell .
lies.

I play sorcerers and never take mage armor. Completely useless.

[legomaster00156]

Snowball is a very effective offensive spell from the Conjuration school.

[Pugwampy]

lies.

I play sorcerers and never take mage armor. Completely useless.


1st: magic missile *2, expeditious retreat, mage armor, shield, OPEN


Ummm kay ......

[Calthropstu]

Ummm kay ......

Lol. My wizards use it. My sorcerers do not. Wizards have to be versatile, which means going near melee range often.

Sorcerers need to focus on things and do them really well. My sorcerers tend to never get anywhere near the front line, and will dimension door away if something engages.

Instead of beefing AC, which has diminishing returns and ultimately becomes meaningless,, they beef hit points.

My summoner sorcerer is very difficult to catch.

[Coidzor]

Crafter's Fortune (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/c/crafter-s-fortune) is a spell you can probably sell during downtime to local craftsmen or use yourself or on the party mundane crafter. Can't remember how much downtime you can make or be afforded on this particular AP, though.

Bestow Insight (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/b/bestow-insight) can buff basically any of your skills and let you make sure that you get a Knowledge check by rolling twice and taking the better result if you know that knowing if you know something is going to be critical. It can even let other PCs attempt to roll on trained only skills, opening up Aid Another options for other skills.

Investigative Mind (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/i/investigative-mind) has a longer duration than Bestow Insight, but without the bonus to the skill, just a number of rerolls for information skills.

Unseen Engineers (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/u/unseen-engineers) can let you cut down on the crafting time for mechanical traps well before Fabricate. The traps made can help defend a base (camp) or potentially be sold to interested parties. Might be able to even make multiple traps at once, making things even more lulzy compared to mundane crafting. Also, you can use Crafter's Fortune in conjunction with it.

Just lost half my post that was longer, so I'll leave these for now.

[Mordaedil]

Lol. My wizards use it. My sorcerers do not. Wizards have to be versatile, which means going near melee range often.

Sorcerers need to focus on things and do them really well. My sorcerers tend to never get anywhere near the front line, and will dimension door away if something engages.

Instead of beefing AC, which has diminishing returns and ultimately becomes meaningless,, they beef hit points.

My summoner sorcerer is very difficult to catch.

Aren't your legs tired from backpedaling so much? Stay on topic, people.

I'll add that enlarge person is a great spell if you didn't bar transmutation.

[weckar]

#1 piece of advice:
Damage doesn't matter
Patently false. If you can bring down an enemy on your turn rather than buff an ally so they can do it on their (later) turn, you should be able and willing to deal the damage.

[Pugwampy]

Instead of beefing AC, which has diminishing returns and ultimately becomes meaningless,, they beef hit points.

A stackable +4 AC field of force that lasts for hours for you or your buddies is the best dang 1st level spell you can cast regardless of your level .

[Azreal]

Patently false. If you can bring down an enemy on your turn rather than buff an ally so they can do it on their (later) turn, you should be able and willing to deal the damage.

I agree that dead is the best debuff of all but I'm more then content to have summons do my damage for me or my party. Most of them are building primarily for damage so I'd rather be utility.

[Ualaa]

As a wizard, your strength is your flexibility.

Divination spells, whether yours of an ally's, along with effective scouting are essential.
If you know what is around the corner, and can come back tomorrow (or have enough slots open/available) you can prepare to be resistant/immune to their stuff and possess options that hurt them a lot.

Adding spells (options) to your book, to cover a variety of situations is going to be key.
Spells are your number one most desired treasure.
Or if you have an option to buy stuff, scrolls will let you learn spells to add to your repertoire.
More spells is more flexibility.

Scrolls add a massive amount of flexibility too.
Certain spells are the perfect fit for a situation, but very rarely are they required.
Scribe Scroll is a bonus feat, for a Wizard at level 1.
So you can create a lot of these contingency items, and have them on hand for when they're required.

A 'Handy Haversack' is like a 'Bag of Holding' except it automatically produces the desired item when you want something -- so if you were to scribe scrolls regularly, and happened to have 63 scrolls in your Haversack, when you want Feather Fall or Energy Resistance you get it on the first try without needing to fumble about.
The Haversack is flexibility too.

As a Wizard, your key stat is Intelligence.
This is tied to the number of skills known.
And this is the key stat for monster knowledge rolls.
There are five knowledges that cover most of the monster types in the game: Arcana, Dungeoneering, Nature, the Planes, and Religion.
While you might not have all of these covered, being able to cover some will be an advantage.
Most animals don't have special resistances to energy types, but many of the other types will... so if I were picking which to take I'd prioritize Arcana and the Planes, then Dungeoneering and Religion, and finally Nature.
Knowing that an opponent takes no damage from your Cold attacks or that it is immune to Mind-Affecting effects, saves you from wasting a spell; or if it is vulnerable to an effect, that makes the damage spell a slightly better option.



Damage is always an option, even if it isn't always the best option.
Still a dead opponent does win the fight for you.

In general terms, damage spells come in one of two varieties, for the most part.

Either you make a Ranged Attack, against their Touch AC (typically in the 8-12 range, across the board -- but there are dodge based monsters or rogue/monk like opponents with much higher Touch AC).
The touch based attack is going to rely on a combination of your DEX modifier and your BAB; while you have the slowest BAB progression, touch is also the easiest defense to regularly hit, as armor, natural armor, shield and numerous other defensive benefits just does not apply.
Weapon Focus (Ray) can slightly help, if you're going for a lot of Range-Touch type spells.
DEX is a good second stat, and this is the top stat for Touch spells, but worth less to you than your INT.
Generally, if you hit them, they're affected by your spell.
True Strike is also an option... cast it this round, and the +20 bonus to hit virtually guarantees your next range-touch cast will land.

Or you cast your spell, and the opponent has to make a Saving Throw to resist your nasty effect.
In this case, having Spell Focus (+1 DC) and then Greater Spell Focus (+1 DC, stacks with Spell Focus) for a given school of magic, is going to make it harder for them to make that saving throw.
You'll need to plan your spells, to know which is a good school to focus on.
You can double down on the Spell Focus idea, by further focusing on an Energy type.
Elemental Focus (+1 DC) and Greater Elemental Focus (+1 DC, again stacks) can apply to one of Acid, Cold, Electricity, or Fire.
Your Intelligence modifier is the other factor that goes into saving throws.

It is worth noting, there are three saving throws.
Generally speaking, the guys in heavy armor will make their Fortitude save often, but will regularly fail their Will save.
And the guys without armor (who are not kung-fu, in your face), are going to make their Will saves, but fail on their Fortitude saves.
Reflex saves are generally only damage; a lot of classes in light armor or no armor have Evasion making them especially poor targets for a Reflex Save spell.
Many save or lose spells require either a Fortitude or Will save.
Having a variety of these, whether Charm/Hold/Dominate or the like is an excellent strategy.
And casting a Fortitude save on the opponent who is likely to have the poor Fortitude save is also a good strategy; the same as casting the Will save spells on those who likely have poor Will saving throws.

A few of your spells automatically hit, without requiring an attack roll on your part or granting a saving throw for the opponent to resist.
The quintessential spell in this line is Magic Missile.
Generally speaking, this is the lowest damage option, but also the most sure... if you're not focusing heavily on either Range Touch or High saving throw DCs.



Somewhere around the early teen levels, say 10-13 give or take, spell resistance becomes more prevalent.
Generally speaking, an Elf should take Spell Penetration (as they get a +2 racial bonus), while a non-Elf should take both Spell Penetration (+2 vs Spell Resistance) and Greater Spell Penetration (another +2 bonus, and stacks for +4 total vs SR).
If your spells don't land, they're not doing any good.



Control is a great option to go for too.

Spell Focus: Conjuration, then Augment Summoning, and Superior Summoning greatly helps your summons.
Summoning monsters is already a good option.
Conjuration is a fairly good choice for Spell Focus to begin with.
Augment Summoning gets your summons a +4 to STR and CON, so they hit harder and last longer.
Superior Summoning gets you an extra creature, whenever the summons calls more than one creature.
Your Monster Summoning III spell can call a single level 3 monster, d3 Monster Summoning II creatures, or d4+1 Monster Summoning I creatures.
More often than not, the sweet spot is going to be d3 (+1 with Superior Summoning).

A conjuration can block a choke point, or give your melee friend (or especially the rogue) a flank.
Placed next to their healer, if they have one, it is an extra thing to worry about and makes them consider defensive casting which can cost them their spell.
If they don't see your Rogue sneaking up, suddenly he has a flank because the Summoned Monster which was low enough to seemingly be no threat (but still either got a free attack, or forced them to either cast low spells (with easier Defensive Casting DCs) or risk losing their higher spells (with more challenging Defensive Casting DCs))...

Haste might be the single best level three spell out there.
It drastically increases the effectiveness of all your melee types -- they close quicker, and their full attack gains an extra attack, at their highest bonus.
The one cast, also hits multiple (eventually everyone) targets.
If you add up the extra damage dealt by your 2-3 melee allies (just the extra swing for each of them), over the course of six rounds of combat, that's going to make a Fireball look very pathetic.
The added benefit is that if you lob fireballs, you become a threat, but if your melee guys are hitting more often they're the threat not you.
And you're relatively squishy, as a wizard.
Haste lets you run away faster, or position yourself into a better spot quicker with the added movement.

A wall spell can funnel the baddies to your melee types.
Or perhaps divide too many monsters into a manageable number.
It can create a choke point, so your team is not swarmed.

You can use pits to do the same.
Clouds or Darkness can make opposing ranged types (casters or archers) a lot less effective if they cannot see the melee at all, and are say 200 ft. away.
A fly spell can make you immune to the attacks of sixty wolves.

[Katrina]

As others have mentioned, the power of Wizard is versatility. The other two keys are adaptability and Creativity. For example, I normally don't actually prepare Mage Armor at low level either. You need another effect that can end a fight or negate a problem rather than a +4 ac. If you're taking attacks, you're either not staying in cover or the front line has failed; in my opinion.

At low level, your spell slots are limited. You don't have a lot of magic per day. Focus on spells that can end fights or make others able to do so. Sleep, Enlarge Person (giving your fighters Reach is handy), and shield are all good things to have. Sleep can end a low level encounter in one failed save. Enlarge Person can allow your fighters to kill things before they can get close to fight back (prioritize targets with Combat Reflexes or Two Weapon Fighting for maximum use). Shield is a Shield Bonus, and thus can be used to buff a tank who is already wearing armor. Summon Monster isn't really great at first level, but gets better. Tenser's Floating disk is a surprisingly useful loot haul spell that often gets overlooked. Snowball is a Conjuration that deals quite a bit of damage and will be useful going up as a low level damage causing Conjuration. Important note: Mage Armor actually does become much more useful if you have a Monk in the party. It's Creature Touched, not Personal. This can make your Monk an untouchable monster of death for an hour.

As you get higher level (4th to 5th), you start to get more spell slots. Mage Armor now becomes something you can run around with (and it actually lasts 4 hours now, which doesn't suck.) Windy Escape is a great low level spell for keeping your wizard alive if you find yourself targeted. The main thing is as your higher level spell slots become available, you can start being "selfish" with your lower level slots.

Summon Monster will become immensely more useful for you as you level. As a Conjurer, this is where most of your awesomeness will come in. The right Summon for the right job can change entire fights. I've seen it too much with that other Summoning class. See previous very well written post about Summon Monster tactics, flanking and shutting down the enemy wizard or cleric by Ualaa.

To that I will add, if the enemy has a spellcaster, consider "Readying" an action to interrupt that spellcaster with a Magic missile or Scorching ray. ^.^

Of course, all of this is my opinion. Your milage may vary.

[Korahir]

Since your are already a conjurer, I'll keep it short:
A unique PF option is elementalist wizard: instead of chosing a regular school you choose one favoured element and have one forbidden element. After reaching level 9 and picking the oppostion research arcane discover (feat) you have no forbidden element anymore. I currently play a level 7 Earth Element Wizard focussing on conjuration spells and summons.
My staples are: Grease (lvl 1) against grapplers and to disarm, glitterdust (lvl 2) save or suck or anti invisibility, the summon monster line (I have augmeneted summoning and superior summoning), Silent Image (lvl1) because it is simply limited by your creativity, Invisibility to cast summon monster or non damaging spells without revealing myself or turn a party member into a scout.

Generally good spells in early levels are: enlarge person (more weapon damage for your big fighter friends), vanish if you are in trouble, magic missile because sometimes reliable damage is very relevant.

Most important thing when playing a wizard is: do not stand in the frontline. Never be within 30 feet of anything other than your friends, not even when you are invisible. And: plan ahead: use knowledge to find weaknesses of monsters and come back to the fight with the right spells prepared.

[Mordaedil]

One of the previous sessions I was standing 85-90 feet away from a bear and I shot it in the ass with a crossbow and it proceeded to turn around, charge and maul my face, dealing 12 damage. I had 10.

Don't provoke bears and sometimes it is better to delay or ready an action instead of going in first and scoring first blood. That bear was ****ing savage.

[Stealth Marmot]

Mage armor is more useful than Shield for two reasons. One, it lasts much longer, and two, you can cast it on other people, including monks and animal companions who might have a hard time getting armor otherwise. Also it is Conjuration (for some reason) so it can go in your extra slot. All Shield has that is an advantage is it stops magic missles, which is a surprisingly useless bonus.

Sleep and color spray are effective first level spells for taking out low level baddies.

Summon Monster is a lot better in Pathfinder than in 3.5, with better creatures you can summon, but I would get Grease. Creativity can make it a great spell.