How to play a mage?

[Mrark]

Hi, I'm going to start a new adventure, and I decided to play mage. It actually is the first time I use this class, so I'd like to know a few tips about the best play to play it since level one; like the best spells to use for each level, or the best build I should try to obtain. I know it's a whole lot of stuff, but thanks for the attention :D
P.S. I'd prefer using the base player handbook, so try refering to that one only

[ColorBlindNinja]

What class are you? By mage, do you mean Wizard?

[Reathin]

Hi, I'm going to start a new adventure, and I decided to play mage. It actually is the first time I use this class, so I'd like to know a few tips about the best play to play it since level one; like the best spells to use for each level, or the best build I should try to obtain. I know it's a whole lot of stuff, but thanks for the attention :D
P.S. I'd prefer using the base player handbook, so try refering to that one only

You'll find many better suggestions on here than I'm likely to give you in short order, but I can give you some advice that will help in the broad sense.

First, which kind of mage are you choosing? Wizard (spells from a book), Sorcerer (innate spell casting), Warlock (powers from an eldritch pact)? If you're not familiar with these, Wizards can eventually learn basically any of their spells, but can only prepare so many a day, and you have to say which ones you're going to be able to cast that day ahead of time. Sorcerers can cast whatever spell they have without preparation and can cast more times in a day than a wizard of the same level, but can't learn new spells as quickly, have a very specific number that they can know at any given time (a wizard could have 100+ spells, but a sorcerer will only ever have a set few) and take slightly longer to get their higher level spells (they're 1 level behind wizards in that regard). Warlocks have even fewer abilities than Sorcerers, but can cast them an infinite number of times a day. Their eldritch blast is their long-range (and modifiable with the right powers to short range) attack ability which deals decent damage and their powers can do interesting things like Invisibility whenever you like, or short range teleporting with illusions, or flying at will. I personally find Warlocks to be a nice starting point for casters, since wizards and sorcerers require a lot of paperwork to keep track of everything.

Second, since this is your first time playing them, consider what you want to do. Arcane casters, especially Wizards (who can easily expand their repertoire of spells) can fill a TON of different rolls. Are you going to blast your targets with magic? Disable and control them? Reshape the battlefield? Augment your party? Knowing things through divination? You can choose more than one, but it's best to that you choose ahead of time the general sort of caster you want to play, so people here can give you the best advice AND it'll help play the character better once you get a handle on their purpose.

If you're new to playing arcane casters, you should keep in mind your comparative squishiness, in comparison to whatever else you might have played. You do NOT want to be within an enemy's damaging range. Since you're starting at low level, you will have very few spells per day at first (unless you're a warlock, in which case fire away!). Don't be discouraged, it's just a phase you have to pass through. Rely on your more physical buddies for defense and support, helping out in small ways where you can. Once you have a few levels under your belt (Level 5 [wizard] and 6 [sorcerer] is where a lot of the fun stuff starts up, like Haste and Fireball), you can focus a bit more, but you need to play it safe at first to survive.

So yeah, if you have an idea of what you're going for, builds can be...built!

Also, congratulations on your first mage, whichever you choose to go with. We get all the cool stuff!

[ColorBlindNinja]

For virtually all casters, you should try to put the highest number possible into your primary casting stat.

INT for Wizards, CHA for Sorcerers, WIS for Clerics/Druids, ect.

[Mrark]

I am gonna be a wizard. I like the idea of being able to handle a big group of enemies with my spells, but I would also like to be able to kill an enemy in a 1v1 with the appropriate preparation. What I'd like to know is something like a "mage starter pack", with the best spells I should prepare for being decently prepared against a wide range of enemies...

[ATHATH]

Remember that the average value of a rolled d6 is 3.5. Thus, while Fireball and its ilk look impressive with the bucketloads of dice that they fling around, a Fireball cast by a 10th level caster will only do about 35 points of damage per target on average, half that if your targets make their saves. Thus, blasting tends to be pretty bad- you CAN make it work, but direct damage should be the job of the melee folks. Instead, Wizards should focus on buffing, debuffing, and/or battlefield control.

For information, take a look at this: http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?471542-Treantmonk-s-Guide-to-Wizards-Being-a-God-in-D-amp-D-3-5-(Treantmonklvl20-CantripN-Tsuyoshi)

Are you playing a 3.5 game, a Pathfinder game, or a 3.PF (Pathfinder with 3.5 material allowed) game?

EDIT: Ninja'd. Do whatever you wanna do, man; I thought that you were still in the "character concept" stage.

[Mrark]

You'll find many better suggestions on here than I'm likely to give you in short order, but I can give you some advice that will help in the broad sense.

First, which kind of mage are you choosing? Wizard (spells from a book), Sorcerer (innate spell casting), Warlock (powers from an eldritch pact)? If you're not familiar with these, Wizards can eventually learn basically any of their spells, but can only prepare so many a day, and you have to say which ones you're going to be able to cast that day ahead of time. Sorcerers can cast whatever spell they have without preparation and can cast more times in a day than a wizard of the same level, but can't learn new spells as quickly, have a very specific number that they can know at any given time (a wizard could have 100+ spells, but a sorcerer will only ever have a set few) and take slightly longer to get their higher level spells (they're 1 level behind wizards in that regard). Warlocks have even fewer abilities than Sorcerers, but can cast them an infinite number of times a day. Their eldritch blast is their long-range (and modifiable with the right powers to short range) attack ability which deals decent damage and their powers can do interesting things like Invisibility whenever you like, or short range teleporting with illusions, or flying at will. I personally find Warlocks to be a nice starting point for casters, since wizards and sorcerers require a lot of paperwork to keep track of everything.

Second, since this is your first time playing them, consider what you want to do. Arcane casters, especially Wizards (who can easily expand their repertoire of spells) can fill a TON of different rolls. Are you going to blast your targets with magic? Disable and control them? Reshape the battlefield? Augment your party? Knowing things through divination? You can choose more than one, but it's best to that you choose ahead of time the general sort of caster you want to play, so people here can give you the best advice AND it'll help play the character better once you get a handle on their purpose.

If you're new to playing arcane casters, you should keep in mind your comparative squishiness, in comparison to whatever else you might have played. You do NOT want to be within an enemy's damaging range. Since you're starting at low level, you will have very few spells per day at first (unless you're a warlock, in which case fire away!). Don't be discouraged, it's just a phase you have to pass through. Rely on your more physical buddies for defense and support, helping out in small ways where you can. Once you have a few levels under your belt (Level 5 [wizard] and 6 [sorcerer] is where a lot of the fun stuff starts up, like Haste and Fireball), you can focus a bit more, but you need to play it safe at first to survive.

So yeah, if you have an idea of what you're going for, builds can be...built!

Also, congratulations on your first mage, whichever you choose to go with. We get all the cool stuff!

Thanks a lot for all the advices!!

[ColorBlindNinja]

I am gonna be a wizard. I like the idea of being able to handle a big group of enemies with my spells, but I would also like to be able to kill an enemy in a 1v1 with the appropriate preparation. What I'd like to know is something like a "mage starter pack", with the best spells I should prepare for being decently prepared against a wide range of enemies...

Some of the best first levels spells are:

- Grease: Forces enemies to make a REF save or fall down.
- Color Spray: Forces WILL saves or fall unconscious (mind-effecting, only works on low HD targets, small 15' cone).
- Sleep: WILL Save VS falling asleep (lasts a long time, but takes 1 round to cast)
- Silent Image: Your imagination is the limit for this one.

I'll post more if I can remember them.

[Mrark]

Some of the best first levels spells are:

- Grease: Forces enemies to make a REF save or fall down.
- Color Spray: Forces WILL saves or fall unconscious (mind-effecting, only works on low HD targets, small 15' cone).
- Sleep: WILL Save VS falling asleep (lasts a long time, but takes 1 round to cast)
- Silent Image: Your imagination is the limit for this one.

I'll post more if I can remember them.
Thanks a lot!

[Mrark]

Remember that the average value of a rolled d6 is 3.5. Thus, while Fireball and its ilk look impressive with the bucketloads of dice that they fling around, a Fireball cast by a 10th level caster will only do about 35 points of damage per target on average, half that if your targets make their saves. Thus, blasting tends to be pretty bad- you CAN make it work, but direct damage should be the job of the melee folks. Instead, Wizards should focus on buffing, debuffing, and/or battlefield control.

For information, take a look at this: http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?471542-Treantmonk-s-Guide-to-Wizards-Being-a-God-in-D-amp-D-3-5-(Treantmonklvl20-CantripN-Tsuyoshi)

Are you playing a 3.5 game, a Pathfinder game, or a 3.PF (Pathfinder with 3.5 material allowed) game?

EDIT: Ninja'd. Do whatever you wanna do, man; I thought that you were still in the "character concept" stage.

3.5 edition!

[ColorBlindNinja]

Thanks a lot!

No problem.

Ghost Sounds is a Cantrip (0 level spell) that's similar to Silent Image in that it has a lot of flexibility. Combining them can make some awesome combos.

[Mrark]

No problem.

Ghost Sounds is a Cantrip (0 level spell) that's similar to Silent Image in that it has a lot of flexibility. Combining them can make some awesome combos.

What do they do?

[ColorBlindNinja]

What do they do?

Ghost Sounds creates phantom noises, and Silent Image creates an image that is incapable of sound.
Combining the two basically removes the only downside to Silent Image, and it's regarded as one of, if not the, best 1st level spell of all time.

[Reathin]

Silent image lets you form a basic hologram of sorts, looking like just about anything. This is incredibly flexible and great for distracting enemies ("oh no, where did that demon come from!") to hiding (form a wall that looks real, and your enemy will have to look elsewhere. Just make sure they don't see you cast, or they might guess illusion). Or make a patch of illusion over a hole and watch your foes run into it, thinking it's solid ground. It's silent, but that's what Ghost Sound is for (you can make illusionary noises to make things more realistic).

For attack spells, Flaming Hands and Magic Missile are good starts. Flaming hands can hit a few things at once and do low damage (but your enemies should be weak), while potentially setting things on fire, which can be handy. Magic Missile does low damage, but doesn't miss (which is a big deal in general). Plus, it's force damage, which very nearly nothing can resist (fire resistance is much more common, once you get to higher levels).

Summoning isn't great at first level, since the time it takes to call them is the time they'll last (ie. you waste a round to get them there, but they only last one round). Once you get a few levels, summon monster I-IX are handy for calling in backup. Rope Trick is a weird spell you get at Wizard 3 that makes a tiny pocket realm for safety. Good for resting and the like with your party.

Mage Armor and Shield are two defensive spells you get at level 1 as well. They both provide +4 AC to your armor, but mage armor lasts MUCH longer (an hour per level), while Shield makes you immune to Magic Missile. You should probably take the Mage Armor.


Also, when you're at low level, consider getting a crossbow. Easy to use, ranged attacks, decent damage at low level. That way, when you're out of spells, you have something to do.

[Mrark]

Silent image lets you form a basic hologram of sorts, looking like just about anything. This is incredibly flexible and great for distracting enemies ("oh no, where did that demon come from!") to hiding (form a wall that looks real, and your enemy will have to look elsewhere. Just make sure they don't see you cast, or they might guess illusion). Or make a patch of illusion over a hole and watch your foes run into it, thinking it's solid ground. It's silent, but that's what Ghost Sound is for (you can make illusionary noises to make things more realistic).

For attack spells, Flaming Hands and Magic Missile are good starts. Flaming hands can hit a few things at once and do low damage (but your enemies should be weak), while potentially setting things on fire, which can be handy. Magic Missile does low damage, but doesn't miss (which is a big deal in general). Plus, it's force damage, which very nearly nothing can resist (fire resistance is much more common, once you get to higher levels).

Summoning isn't great at first level, since the time it takes to call them is the time they'll last (ie. you waste a round to get them there, but they only last one round). Once you get a few levels, summon monster I-IX are handy for calling in backup. Rope Trick is a weird spell you get at Wizard 3 that makes a tiny pocket realm for safety. Good for resting and the like with your party.

Mage Armor and Shield are two defensive spells you get at level 1 as well. They both provide +4 AC to your armor, but mage armor lasts MUCH longer (an hour per level), while Shield makes you immune to Magic Missile. You should probably take the Mage Armor.


Also, when you're at low level, consider getting a crossbow. Easy to use, ranged attacks, decent damage at low level. That way, when you're out of spells, you have something to do.

So good, that gave me a lot of ideas! Thanks man:D

[ColorBlindNinja]

For attack spells, Flaming Hands and Magic Missile are good starts. Flaming hands can hit a few things at once and do low damage (but your enemies should be weak), while potentially setting things on fire, which can be handy. Magic Missile does low damage, but doesn't miss (which is a big deal in general). Plus, it's force damage, which very nearly nothing can resist (fire resistance is much more common, once you get to higher levels).

Honestly, attack spells probably aren't worth it at low levels. You're better off letting your melee combatant handle that department, and getting yourself a Light Crossbow if you run out of spells.

Magic Missile does 1d4+1 or about 4 damage on average. The Crossbow is dealing 1d8, or 5 damage (4 if you have an 8 in STR).

[Mrark]

Silent image lets you form a basic hologram of sorts, looking like just about anything. This is incredibly flexible and great for distracting enemies ("oh no, where did that demon come from!") to hiding (form a wall that looks real, and your enemy will have to look elsewhere. Just make sure they don't see you cast, or they might guess illusion). Or make a patch of illusion over a hole and watch your foes run into it, thinking it's solid ground. It's silent, but that's what Ghost Sound is for (you can make illusionary noises to make things more realistic).

For attack spells, Flaming Hands and Magic Missile are good starts. Flaming hands can hit a few things at once and do low damage (but your enemies should be weak), while potentially setting things on fire, which can be handy. Magic Missile does low damage, but doesn't miss (which is a big deal in general). Plus, it's force damage, which very nearly nothing can resist (fire resistance is much more common, once you get to higher levels).

Summoning isn't great at first level, since the time it takes to call them is the time they'll last (ie. you waste a round to get them there, but they only last one round). Once you get a few levels, summon monster I-IX are handy for calling in backup. Rope Trick is a weird spell you get at Wizard 3 that makes a tiny pocket realm for safety. Good for resting and the like with your party.

Mage Armor and Shield are two defensive spells you get at level 1 as well. They both provide +4 AC to your armor, but mage armor lasts MUCH longer (an hour per level), while Shield makes you immune to Magic Missile. You should probably take the Mage Armor.


Also, when you're at low level, consider getting a crossbow. Easy to use, ranged attacks, decent damage at low level. That way, when you're out of spells, you have something to do.
Can't I get both magic armor and shield?

[Reathin]

So good, that gave me a lot of ideas! Thanks man:D

No worries. Another idea: Since you have few spells per day at low level, you might consider using your Scribe Scroll feat to make a few backups once you get some money (the xp cost is very low for simple spells). That gives you much more flexibility and it only gets better the higher you go.

Since you're going to relying on your physical party members early on, make their jobs easier. Enlarge person is good as an early boost. As ColorBlindNinja mentioned earlier, Greese is REALLY good at shutting down enemies at the first few levels, as is sleep. If you can lock your targets down, your fighters and whatnot have a much easier time.

Oh, and pick up Identify when you can. It's not key early on, but later on, being able to learn what a magic item does is a huge advantage. Plus, you're a wizard. Knowing things is half the fun.

Edit: Mage armor and Shield don't stack, as they both provide the same kind of bonus (deflection). Bonuses only stack if they're different types (ie. natural armor and deflection).

[ColorBlindNinja]

Can't I get both magic armor and shield?

You can, but neither last long at level 1 and they chew through your spells per day.

If you specialize in Conjuration, you could probably prepare Mage's Armor as a bonus spell, but it only lasts an hour.

[Mrark]

No worries. Another idea: Since you have few spells per day at low level, you might consider using your Scribe Scroll feat to make a few backups once you get some money (the xp cost is very low for simple spells). That gives you much more flexibility and it only gets better the higher you go.

Since you're going to relying on your physical party members early on, make their jobs easier. Enlarge person is good as an early boost. As ColorBlindNinja mentioned earlier, Greese is REALLY good at shutting down enemies at the first few levels, as is sleep. If you can lock your targets down, your fighters and whatnot have a much easier time.

Oh, and pick up Identify when you can. It's not key early on, but later on, being able to learn what a magic item does is a huge advantage. Plus, you're a wizard. Knowing things is half the fun.

Edit: Mage armor and Shield don't stack, as they both provide the same kind of bonus (deflection). Bonuses only stack if they're different types (ie. natural armor and deflection).

What is the scribe scroll feat? Forgive me, I am really noob ahahah

[ColorBlindNinja]

What is the scribe scroll feat? Forgive me, I am really noob ahahah

Scribe Scroll lets you create scrolls, if you don't mind paying the gold and XP cost, you can create a few scrolls of situational spells so that you have them when you need them.

Wizards get Scribe Scroll for free as a bonus feat at level 1.

[Mrark]

Oh that could be useful yep.. gotta think about it

[Elkad]

Honestly, attack spells probably aren't worth it at low levels. You're better off letting your melee combatant handle that department, and getting yourself a Light Crossbow if you run out of spells.

Magic Missile does 1d4+1 or about 4 damage on average. The Crossbow is dealing 1d8, or 5 damage (4 if you have an 8 in STR).

Of course Magic Missile doesn't miss. But you run out of shots in 1-4 casts (depending how many you memorized that day).
Crossbow will miss roughly half the time (and more often if your enemies are heavily armored, have cover, concealment, etc), but you get as many shots as you have ammunition.

[ColorBlindNinja]

Of course Magic Missile doesn't miss. But you run out of shots in 1-4 casts (depending how many you memorized that day).
Crossbow will miss roughly half the time (and more often if your enemies are heavily armored, have cover, concealment, etc), but you get as many shots as you have ammunition.

With a +3 DEX mod, you'll be hitting around 14 with each shot. So I guess it depends on what you're fighting. Truth be told, shooting and missing is better than doing nothing.

[Karl Aegis]

Your familiar is a respectable melee combatant at level 1. I prefer the hawk as the base creature. Cast Mage Armor on your hawk familiar and it has a respectable armor class of 22, attack bonus of +5 and deals 1-2 damage every hit. Most enemies won't be able to hit it reliably and most casters can't drop it to -10 hit points before your party can take care of them. They also have a good bonus to spot (+12 plus your ranks in spot) so feel free to invest some skills cross-class into improving that aspect of them. A hawk familiar within arms reach can give a sizable bonus to their master's spot check as well, +3 for having a hawk familiar, +2 from the Alertness ability and another +2 from Aid Another special action. Those are useful numbers to have, especially with a few skill ranks and a racial bonus.

[ColorBlindNinja]

Just make sure your familiar doesn't' die; you'll lose XP if that happens.

[Elkad]

With a +3 DEX mod, you'll be hitting around 14 with each shot. So I guess it depends on what you're fighting. Truth be told, shooting and missing is better than doing nothing.

Which should be roughly 50%. CR1 monsters are going to be in the AC14 range.

Add your bonus because they are stunned/blind from Color Spray and it gets better.

[ColorBlindNinja]

Which should be roughly 50%. CR1 monsters are going to be in the AC14 range.

Better than nothing I guess.


Add your bonus because they are stunned/blind from Color Spray and it gets better.

True.

[Mrark]

Your familiar is a respectable melee combatant at level 1. I prefer the hawk as the base creature. Cast Mage Armor on your hawk familiar and it has a respectable armor class of 22, attack bonus of +5 and deals 1-2 damage every hit. Most enemies won't be able to hit it reliably and most casters can't drop it to -10 hit points before your party can take care of them. They also have a good bonus to spot (+12 plus your ranks in spot) so feel free to invest some skills cross-class into improving that aspect of them. A hawk familiar within arms reach can give a sizable bonus to their master's spot check as well, +3 for having a hawk familiar, +2 from the Alertness ability and another +2 from Aid Another special action. Those are useful numbers to have, especially with a few skill ranks and a racial bonus.

I don't get how this familiar stuff works, could you explain that to me?

[Zanos]

Remember that the average value of a rolled d6 is 3.5. Thus, while Fireball and its ilk look impressive with the bucketloads of dice that they fling around, a Fireball cast by a 10th level caster will only do about 35 points of damage per target on average, half that if your targets make their saves. Thus, blasting tends to be pretty bad- you CAN make it work, but direct damage should be the job of the melee folks. Instead, Wizards should focus on buffing, debuffing, and/or battlefield control.
This is technically true but not as pronounced as it's made out to be.

Consider, for example a level 10 party. They are facing an APL + 2 difficulty encounter, composed of 4 CR 8 creatures. Each creature doubling adds 2 CR, so 8+2+2 = 12 for four CR 8s. The average CR 8 monster has 96 hit points and +7 reflex save. If the wizard is decently built he probably as around 24 intelligence with 2 from levelups and a +4 item at level 10. His fireball save DC is 20. On average, a fireball will do 35*4*.65 + 35*4*.35 damage. Or 144 damage. That's 37.5% of the entire groups hit points, so three of those fireballs is enough to defeat the entire difficult encounter, from third level spell slots. If the wizard uses 5th level slots instead for empowered fireballs, each one does over half the groups hit points.

The real problem with this isn't the damage amounts. It's that until an enemy dies from damage, damage contributes nothing to an encounter. 4 enemies with 1 hp are just as dangerous as 4 enemies with max hp if you don't finish them off.

[Sagetim]

Honestly, attack spells probably aren't worth it at low levels. You're better off letting your melee combatant handle that department, and getting yourself a Light Crossbow if you run out of spells.

Magic Missile does 1d4+1 or about 4 damage on average. The Crossbow is dealing 1d8, or 5 damage (4 if you have an 8 in STR).

Strength has nothing to do with crossbow damage in 3.5, does it? I'm pretty sure it's a ranged weapon, and not a mighty composite longbow or what have you. In fact, if strength applied to crossbow damage, that would make the opposite of sense, since a crossbow's launching power is from it's mechanized system, not from the wielder's arm strength.

That aside, wizards start with a decent number of spells at level 1, so you can afford to grab a few even if they don't scale with your level. Sleep is an example of a spell that caps out early (it has a Hit Dice limit on it, so while you can hit 4 goblins or generic orcs with it, something with 3 hit dice would eat almost the entire spells' effect, while something with 5 or more is just immune to it).

Grease doesn't cap out entirely, but as you go up in level you might wind up using it less because it's saving throw Difficulty Class (DC) starts at 10 + it's spell level (1) + your intelligence modifier. So it's going to have a hard time getting out of the low to mid teens, and as you go up in level, things tend to get better at saving throws in general.

Now, long term potential problems aside, these are still both Very usable spells at low level. They will get you where you are going. But knowing which one to have at the ready is going to be the trick (as you don't have many spells per day at low level). Grease can be deployed against pretty much anyone you're likely to encounter at low level (there is not an abundance of flying enemies, for example). While Sleep Does have potential targets who are immune to it, even if their hit dice are low enough to be affected. Like Elves.

This is where the important part of playing a wizard comes into play: How much do you know about what's going to go on? If you are in a campaign that is strictly about killing elves, then you shouldn't bother taking sleep. It's a very useful spell, but elves are right out immune to it, so you would have problems ever using it on the target of the campaign. Similarly, if you know the game is going to be about killing undead, Sleep is not very useful. Undead don't sleep, they're also immune to the spell. And you would probably want to rely on the cleric to use turn undead anyway (or grease up a patch of ground to buy them time to do that).

There are also times when Grease might be less useful or wanted. For example, if you're in a city (or if the campaign is based almost entirely in a city) dropping a Grease spell in the street may well get you in trouble with the local authority for causing a traffic hazard, where a sleep spell may be perfectly fine because of it's limited area and lack of long term side effects. Of course, you'll have other problems to deal with if your game is set in a city, like inner city wizards. This is where having skill points in knowledge (local) would come in handy, to navigate your way around potential gang warfare and keep yourself from becoming embroiled in some kind of jets vs sharks but with magic show down.

Also, Fireball can be very handy as a problem solving tool. The solution to your orc problem may not be 'how can I kill them all on my own' but rather 'this should soften them up for the rest of the party to tear them down in a round or two'. You can also use it to just set things on fire. Like forests. Smokey the Bear can't stop you now, he's been defunded.


Edit: Mage Armor provides an ARMOR bonus to ac, which, because it is a force effect, also applies against ghosts and stuff. Shield provides a SHIELD bonus to AC. These stack because their bonus types are different. Generally, only dodge bonuses stack when it comes to 'same type of bonus'. However, there are exceptions to this when it comes to specific wording. So, if a spell increases a natural armor bonus on a target by +3, and the target already had a +6 natural armor bonus, then they would wind up with a +9. However, most spells, items and so on do not use wording like that. So, for example, you can't put on a ring of protection +1 and a ring of protection +2 and get a +3 deflection modifier to your ac, they don't stack with each other.

[Endarire]

Mage armor (+4 armor bonus to AC) and shield (+4 shield bonus to AC) do stack unless your GM says otherwise.

Also, please read and study the Treantmonk Wizard Guide for 3.5 (http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?471542-Treantmonk-s-Guide-to-Wizards-Being-a-God-in-D-amp-D-3-5-(Treantmonklvl20-CantripN-Tsuyoshi)) and Wizard (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/classes/sorcererWizard.htm#wizard) class and the Wizard spell list (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spellLists/sorcererWizardSpells.htm#zeroLevelSorcererWizardSp ells).

It took me years to realize this, but spells are generally an expensive resource. They're special effect buttons. They're kinda like a 'super meter' in a fighting game. They're good to use, but generally there are cheaper ways to accomplish similar effects. With that stated, it helps tremendously to focus on spells that support the rest of your party, but normally don't try to replace your party (unless your group and GM are OK with that).

The 'standard' Wizard build is Wizard (or specialist Wizard like Conjurer)5/Incantatrix10 (from Player's Guide to Faerun, NOT Magic of Faerun)/Archmage5 (from Dungeon Master's Guide). Typical race is normally Grey Elf (+2 INT/DEX, -2 STR/CON) or Human (bonus feat). There are plenty of other Wizard builds, but this has remained the standard for over a decade now because it's somewhat simple, powerful, and effective - if you do it right. Extend Spell and Persistent Spell are your friends if you go Incantatrix due to allowing your party, at Incantatrix2 or 3, to make a lot of buffs last 24 to 48 hours when normally they'd last only a brief time.

Consider what your teammates are doing and help them to do it better. If you have someone specialized in damage, don't try to outdamage them. Instead, give them bull's strength or polymorph or girallon's blessing or somesuch to boost their damage.

And, if you aren't sure what something is/does, Google, "D&D 3.5 <SEARCH TERM>" like "D&D 3.5 Abrupt Jaunt" or "D&D 3.5 Reserves of Strength" or "D&D 3.5 Invisible Spell" or "D&D 3.5 Wizard Handbook."

[Eldariel]

Couple of things to remember:

On 1st level you have 0th and 1st level spells available. 0th level has general utility like Detect Magic, Prestidigitation (see here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?352981-Prestidigitation-why-all-the-hype) for various uses), etc. or Daze for combat use. On 1st level, pick up the actual big combat spells like Sleep, Color Spray, Grease, Enlarge Person, Ray of Enfeeblement, Silent Image. Charm Person is a great non-combat spell and Protection from Evil at least stops a million things (it stops possession among others).
Cast sparingly, use your weapon and alchemical items for most of the time. 1st level Wizards lack the slots to burn so cast when it really helps the party, just settle for attacking when the enemy is weak enough that your spells are not needed.
Prepare offensive spells and do either take Elf Generalist [Races of the Wild] or specialize (generally ban two of evocation, enchantment, necromancy: enchantment shines on low levels though, while necromancy and evocation get some cool stuff later on). Try to get 20 Int (Gray Elf from Monster Manual 1 has +2 Int) for +2 first level spells - extremely useful.
Mage Armor and such are nice later on but on 1st level you lack the slots. Defend yourself with Hide-skill, mount, staying in cover, etc. Avoid getting hit and just shoot as often as possible, cast as necessary.
Read Treantmonk's Guide. It's a great general analysis.
If you do go summoner (the most efficient means of personally killing enemies before minionmancy like Animate Dead, Simulacrum and Planar Binding comes online), pick Spell Focus: Conjuration now and use Grease, Glitterdust and Web over the first levels; some of the best spells in the game targeting various saves are Conjuration so the feat is nice even before Augment Summoning. Start summoning with level 3 spells; earlier ones last too little and the summons are too weak. Check out the Summoner's Desk Reference (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?255219-The-Summoner-s-Desk-Reference-D-amp-D-3-5) for a good analysis of the various summons and remember versatility: pick for the scenario.



Grease doesn't cap out entirely, but as you go up in level you might wind up using it less because it's saving throw Difficulty Class (DC) starts at 10 + it's spell level (1) + your intelligence modifier. So it's going to have a hard time getting out of the low to mid teens, and as you go up in level, things tend to get better at saving throws in general.

While you'd think this is true, Reflex-saves of big clumsy things tend to be awful even on high levels - e.g. CR 7 Hill Giant (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/giant.htm#hillGiant) has grant +3 Reflex and CR 11 Cloud Giant (www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/giant.htm#cloudGiant) has +6 where a level 1 Wizard (20 Int, Spell Focus: Conj) might have DC 17 Grease, where even Cloud Giant fail 50% of the time - and even if it succeeds, the Reflex-save for using the weapon and the Balance-roll for moving (basically no monsters have ranks in Balance) needs to be rolled each time they move anyways making it efficient even on a successful save. A CR10 Clay Golem (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/golem.htm#clayGolem) has a grand total of Ref +2. It remains a very efficient spell against even high level brutes, their weapons and their feet, and it also has anti-Grapple properties. Overall, it's one of the best-scaling level 1 spells and your Int scaling tends to suffice for keeping the DC relevant, and you also gain a small edge if you pick Spell Focus: Conjuration in preparation for some prestige classes or as a prerequisite for e.g. Augment Summoning.

And seriously, big monster Reflexes are awful as a rule. Even Nightcrawler (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/nightshade.htm#nightcrawler), a CR 18 creature, has mere +10 so if it surprises, you can cause it to fall. A level 10 Wizard might have 26 Int making for a DC20 Grease, something Nightcrawler fails 45% of the time (and the Balance-consideration applies; it's flat-footed on Grease and has +0 to Balance making it hard for it to move while standing). Level 20 Wizard could get 36 Int for DC25, making e.g. Nightcrawler fail 70% of the time with the same considerations. From a 1st level or a Quickened 5th level slot. It's just Outsiders and Dragons that are resistant to everything. And even Great Wyrms have their worst save in Reflex so if you can catch them landbound, it can be a fine spell as it also ignores SR.

[Firest Kathon]

I don't get how this familiar stuff works, could you explain that to me?

What exactly do you not understand? The rules are here (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/classes/sorcererWizard.htm#familiars).

A familiar is an enhanced animal (turns into a magical beast) from the given list (further rulebooks may give more options). Its stats do not change with the following exceptions (check the table):

Its Int rises dependent of your level
It gets a bonus to its natural armor
It gets some special abilities
Its hit points change to 1/2 your own hit points.
They can use all skills you have ranks in, using your ranks + their attribute modifiers and bonus

As long as the familiar is within 1 mile of you, it also gives you a certain bonus dependent on the kind of animal you chose, usually a +3 bonus on a certain skill. If it is within arm's reach (so adjacent to you), you also gain the Alertness (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#alertness) feat.


Your familiar is a respectable melee combatant at level 1. I prefer the hawk as the base creature.
Hawk base creature. (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/hawk.htm)

Cast Mage Armor on your hawk familiar and it has a respectable armor class of 22,
Armor class would be 10 (base) +4 (armor, from mage armor) +2 (size, as base creature) +3 (Dex, as base creature) +3 (+2 natural armor from base creature + 1 for 1st-level wizard) = 22

attack bonus of +5 and deals 1-2 damage every hit.
Same as the base creature.

Most enemies won't be able to hit it reliably and most casters can't drop it to -10 hit points before your party can take care of them.
AC22 is quire respectable at low levels. It would have 2 hp at first level (assuming no Con bonus on the wizard), so an enemy would have to do 12 points of samage to kill it outright.

They also have a good bonus to spot (+12 plus your ranks in spot) so feel free to invest some skills cross-class into improving that aspect of them.
At low levels, that would not be an improvement. However, assuming level 10 with full cross-class ranks in Spot on the Wizard, they would have a Spot bonus of 5 (ranks) + 2 (Hawk's Wis bonus) + 8 (racial bonus) + 2 (Hawk's Alertness feat) = +17, which is not bad.

A hawk familiar within arms reach can give a sizable bonus to their master's spot check as well, +3 for having a hawk familiar, +2 from the Alertness ability and another +2 from Aid Another special action. Those are useful numbers to have, especially with a few skill ranks and a racial bonus.
The hawk grants a +3 bonus on Spot, per the table I linked above, when it is within 1 mile of you. It also grants the Alertness feat (as all familiars) when within arm's reach, giving an additional +2 bonus. As an intelligent creature, it could use the Aid Another (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/skills/usingSkills.htm#aidAnother) action to help your spot skill check, giving an additional +2. The same level 10 Wizard would then have 5 (ranks) + 1 (assuming 12 Wisdom), +4 (familiar bonus) +2 (alertness feat) +2 (aid another) = +14. Even more efficient would be when you use Aid Another to help the Hawk's Spot check, giving it another +2 for a total of +19. In either case, you only have to hit DC 10 to aid another, so you will always succeed even on a rolled 1.

[ColorBlindNinja]

Strength has nothing to do with crossbow damage in 3.5, does it? I'm pretty sure it's a ranged weapon, and not a mighty composite longbow or what have you. In fact, if strength applied to crossbow damage, that would make the opposite of sense, since a crossbow's launching power is from it's mechanized system, not from the wielder's arm strength.

As illogical as it might seem:



If the character has a penalty for low Strength, apply it to damage rolls when he or she uses a bow or a sling.

That would include Crossbows, if I'm not mistaken.

[Rhyltran]

As illogical as it might seem:



That would include Crossbows, if I'm not mistaken.

From my understanding a bow is not a crossbow and it specifically states bows and slings. Bows are their own category of weapons just as crossbows are.

[ColorBlindNinja]

From my understanding a bow is not a crossbow and it specifically states bows and slings. Bows are their own category of weapons just as crossbows are.

Can you provide citation for that? Because crossbows, slings, and bows are all listed under the projectile weapons header, which is where I quoted that text from.

[Sagetim]

Can you provide citation for that? Because crossbows, slings, and bows are all listed under the projectile weapons header, which is where I quoted that text from.

This is where you need to read it in the context of the entire paragraph:



Projectile Weapons

Light crossbows, slings, heavy crossbows, shortbows, composite shortbows, longbows, composite longbows, hand crossbows, and repeating crossbows are projectile weapons. Most projectile weapons require two hands to use (see specific weapon descriptions). A character gets no Strength bonus on damage rolls with a projectile weapon unless it’s a specially built composite shortbow, specially built composite longbow, or sling. If the character has a penalty for low Strength, apply it to damage rolls when he or she uses a bow or a sling.

The context clue in the preceding sentence leaves you with the impression that they are talking about short bows, longbows, and slings. The only time crossbows are mentioned in this paragraph is at the start, and the only statement involving them is that they are projectile weapons. As projectile weapons they do not add strength bonus to their damage, which makes sense given how a crossbow works.

It has a set point that you draw the string back to and a little nob that the string is held by. Unlike a bow, you do not need to just use your arms to draw the string, you can put the ring on the front through your foot and use your entire body to draw the string. This makes it easier to people who are much, much weaker, to still effectively draw the crossbow and load it. Your strength score has little to nothing to do with the operation of the crossbow. The writers of Dungeons and Dragons would know that. It is safe to assume that crossbows do not get a strength penalty to damage, because if they did, they would not properly model how a crossbow works. By comparison, a bow (such as a short bow or long bow) has varying degrees to which you can pull the string back, depending on your raw physical might. The only thing holding the arrow in place before launch is your arms (and I suppose back muscles). So if you are physically weaker, you have trouble pulling the string to it's minimum distance to fire it. It's not the way I would have written the rules to model the operation of bows and crossbows, but it's seems to be the underlying logic behind the game's rules.

[ColorBlindNinja]

The context clue in the preceding sentence leaves you with the impression that they are talking about short bows, longbows, and slings. The only time crossbows are mentioned in this paragraph is at the start, and the only statement involving them is that they are projectile weapons. As projectile weapons they do not add strength bonus to their damage, which makes sense given how a crossbow works.

No it doesn't, it only mentions composite bows and slings as an exception to this rule, nothing implies that Crossbows aren't among the other weapons.


It has a set point that you draw the string back to and a little nob that the string is held by. Unlike a bow, you do not need to just use your arms to draw the string, you can put the ring on the front through your foot and use your entire body to draw the string. This makes it easier to people who are much, much weaker, to still effectively draw the crossbow and load it. Your strength score has little to nothing to do with the operation of the crossbow. The writers of Dungeons and Dragons would know that. It is safe to assume that crossbows do not get a strength penalty to damage, because if they did, they would not properly model how a crossbow works. By comparison, a bow (such as a short bow or long bow) has varying degrees to which you can pull the string back, depending on your raw physical might. The only thing holding the arrow in place before launch is your arms (and I suppose back muscles). So if you are physically weaker, you have trouble pulling the string to it's minimum distance to fire it. It's not the way I would have written the rules to model the operation of bows and crossbows, but it's seems to be the underlying logic behind the game's rules.

It wouldn't be the first time that RAW didn't make sense.

[Rhyltran]

Can you provide citation for that? Because crossbows, slings, and bows are all listed under the projectile weapons header, which is where I quoted that text from.

They're all listed under the same projectile weapons header but it specifically says bows and slings. Crossbow is not included.

[ColorBlindNinja]

They're all listed under the same projectile weapons header but it specifically says bows and slings. Crossbow is not included.

And a crossbow isn't a bow?

[Kayblis]

I am gonna be a wizard. I like the idea of being able to handle a big group of enemies with my spells, but I would also like to be able to kill an enemy in a 1v1 with the appropriate preparation. What I'd like to know is something like a "mage starter pack", with the best spells I should prepare for being decently prepared against a wide range of enemies...

Low lvs, pick a Crossbow. You'll have bad accuracy, but the disparity between "good to-hit" and "bad to-hit" by level 1 is about 3 points, so it's not that bad. Shoot to deal damage, as 1d8 is the same damage most of your spells will deal by the first few levels. When choosing spells, focus on ones that aren't all-or-nothing like "Will/Fort negates". Buffs and "[Save] partial" effects give you reliability, you won't waste a spell on nothing if the enemy saves. If its effects are negated by a save, it better affect more than one target to make up for it. By 1st level this means Color Spray, Sleep, Enlarge Person and Obscuring Mist are great spells. The first two hit many enemies, the 3rd one is a good melee buff and the last one blocks all ranged attacks from inside and into the mist zone. Cast it around your allies when they're already in melee with enemies AND there are archers farther away. All of them are either "Instantaneous" or "Duration: 1 min/level", which means the first two don't care about duration and the other two will last the entire combat from level 1 onwards.

By level 5 you can start picking up stuff that depends on Caster Level, as you'll have enough of a CL for them to be relevant. Damage spells by and large suck unless you can hit a lot of enemies with them, so don't pick "1d6/lv and 1 target" spells. For most of the game you'll be a force multiplier, ie your buffs will make your allies better at killing stuff. Your options to beat 1v1 fights are usually not making it a 1v1 fight, either by forcing saves that end the combat or by summoning monsters and having THEM beat up the enemy. If you must play like a fighter, Steeldance is a 3rd level spell and Fire Whip is a 4th level one. Look them up.

[Zanos]

They're all listed under the same projectile weapons header but it specifically says bows and slings. Crossbow is not included.
3.5 doesn't have anything called a "Bow". There's (composite) longbows, (composite) shortbows, and crossbows.

[Rhyltran]

3.5 doesn't have anything called a "Bow". There's (composite) longbows, (composite) shortbows, and crossbows.

Fair enough.

[TotallyNotEvil]

Precocious Apprentice for your flavor of damaging second level spell, such as Scorching Ray, could me more your speed in order to allow a reserve feat.

Breakdown is, Precocious Apprentice lets you cast a single second level spell even if you are level 1. A reserve feat gives you an ability with infinite uses that deals damage of the same type as a spell of level X or higher, as long as you still have one of those spells prepared.

So at level 1, you could pick Precocious Apprentice for Scorching Ray, which is a good damage spell of the second level that shoots fire rays, and Fiery Burst, the reserve feat associated with Fire.

You would, as long as you don't spend your Scorching Ray (which makes for a nice panic buttom!), you'd be able to manifest mini-Fireballs that deal 2d6 damage, that can even hit four squares, from 30ft away!

[stanprollyright]

Some of the best first levels spells are:

- Grease: Forces enemies to make a REF save or fall down.
- Color Spray: Forces WILL saves or fall unconscious (mind-effecting, only works on low HD targets, small 15' cone).
- Sleep: WILL Save VS falling asleep (lasts a long time, but takes 1 round to cast)
- Silent Image: Your imagination is the limit for this one.

I'll post more if I can remember them.

To add to this list:
-Mage Armor: for long-duration AC (can't wear armor while casting)
-Enlarge Person: to turn your friendly Fighter or Barbarian into a monster
-Charm Person: for social encounters
-Unseen Servant: utility

[Eldariel]

3.5 doesn't have anything called a "Bow". There's (composite) longbows, (composite) shortbows, and crossbows.

Various bows spell out the Str penalty in their descriptions though. Crossbows do not.

There's also some inconsistency in how various bows are referred to in prerequisites; occasionally they use 'Bows (not crossbows)' and occasionally 'Bows (including Crossbows)'. AFB right now, so I can't give you exact citations, but perusing the various sources should land at this conclusion.

[Firest Kathon]

3.5 doesn't have anything called a "Bow". There's (composite) longbows, (composite) shortbows, and crossbows.
The section right after "Projectile Weapons", titled "Ammunition", makes it quite clear that D&D 3.5 differentiates between bows, crossbows, and slings (emphasis mine):

Projectile weapons use ammunition: arrows (for bows), bolts (for crossbows), or sling bullets (for slings).

[Fouredged Sword]

Take a look at pearls of power. They are very useful items that refill a spent spelm slot (of a specific spell level). You can't change the spell in it, but you can cast it a second time. By level 2 or 3 you can loom at buying a 1st level pearl or power or two.

At 3rd level consider craft wonderous item as a feat. It makes +int headbands and pearls of power much cheaper. Sell items to the rest of the party at 75% list price and they will love you AND you get extra money for more items.

Scrolls are for once pre adventure spells that can't wait a day. Spell slots are for things you will need immediately. If you think a spell can normally wait 24 hours, dont bother with a scroll. Just use a spell slot and cast it the next day.

[ColorBlindNinja]

The section right after "Projectile Weapons", titled "Ammunition", makes it quite clear that D&D 3.5 differentiates between bows, crossbows, and slings (emphasis mine):

That's clearly talking about ammo, though. Crossbows may have different ammo from shortbows/longbows, but they're still bows.

[Sagetim]

Take a look at pearls of power. They are very useful items that refill a spent spelm slot (of a specific spell level). You can't change the spell in it, but you can cast it a second time. By level 2 or 3 you can loom at buying a 1st level pearl or power or two.

At 3rd level consider craft wonderous item as a feat. It makes +int headbands and pearls of power much cheaper. Sell items to the rest of the party at 75% list price and they will love you AND you get extra money for more items.

Scrolls are for once pre adventure spells that can't wait a day. Spell slots are for things you will need immediately. If you think a spell can normally wait 24 hours, dont bother with a scroll. Just use a spell slot and cast it the next day.

Pearls of Power don't have specific spells in them. They restore a spent spell slot of the appropriate level, and you get to choose which spell it restores when you use it. For example, if you have a 1st level pearl of power and you cast magic missile, grease, and mage armor, you can pick which of those three you get back when you use the pearl of power. In a pathfinder game, where I managed to get cure light wounds on a wizard, I had a few pearls of power for 1st level so that I could cast cure light wounds, restore it, cast it, restore it, etc for between battle healing.

[Fouredged Sword]

Pearls of Power don't have specific spells in them. They restore a spent spell slot of the appropriate level, and you get to choose which spell it restores when you use it. For example, if you have a 1st level pearl of power and you cast magic missile, grease, and mage armor, you can pick which of those three you get back when you use the pearl of power. In a pathfinder game, where I managed to get cure light wounds on a wizard, I had a few pearls of power for 1st level so that I could cast cure light wounds, restore it, cast it, restore it, etc for between battle healing.

Yes. I was unclear. You cannot change the spell in the spell slot, you recover the slot with the spell it had in it before.

[Kayblis]

Take a look at pearls of power. They are very useful items that refill a spent spelm slot (of a specific spell level). You can't change the spell in it, but you can cast it a second time. By level 2 or 3 you can loom at buying a 1st level pearl or power or two.

At 3rd level consider craft wonderous item as a feat. It makes +int headbands and pearls of power much cheaper. Sell items to the rest of the party at 75% list price and they will love you AND you get extra money for more items.

That's a great point too: one rule variant lets you trade XP costs for GP, at a rate of 5gp per XP point. This makes Craft feats take no XP and make the item at 70% base price. The only cost added is crafting time, which is basically free in many campaigns. If your DM does leveling by story completion or you want to craft a lot and still be at the same level as everyone else, this variant has you covered. With that, each 1st level Pearl of Power goes for 700gp, which you have no real limit to. With some investment you can basically call your selected 1st level spells "at-will slots", replenishing them after combat ends.

[Fouredged Sword]

Eh, I would just spend the EXP. Once you fall exactly one level behind the party you will soon catch up because lower level characters gain EXP faster than higher level characters. A CR 8 encounter gives a level 7 character more exp than a level 8 character. Being a wizard who is just a level behind isn't going to slow you down for very long before you catch right back up again. (assuming your DM is using the RAW exp rules)

Because you still need half the cost in gold anyway, you will almost NEVER craft faster than your EXP refills. You will be at most an encounter behind the party.

[Kayblis]

That's why I mentioned non conventional progression methods. If you go by RAW, multiclass penalties are a thing, and no one really uses that. Many GMs go like "for this session, you all got [amount] XP" or "the kingdom is saved from the evil sewer rats, everyone levels up". XP costs as gold covers pretty much all bases, as it lets you craft with only the one key resource directly related to item progression: gold.