Wizard build please help

[Konun]

Hi I'm playing a wizard in a campaign where getting hold of new spells is going to be a pain.

The idea behind my char is that I was a street urchin that learned a few spells form a spell book he stole when he was young . He then went on to use that magic to swindle his way to a better station in life . He was found out and got killed.

The campaign basically has us working for a Davy Jones type entity doing short modular adventures in varying settings.

We have hit level 2 and am wondering what to do with my char. I beleive I have the following options.

1) I stick another level in wizard and get enchanter spec

2) I stick a level in to sorcerer to increase my AC (which is 12) and to expand my spell list. But I only have 14 cha so I'm not sure my spells will be up to too much. But still/silent spell would be great to have .

3) go for arcane trickster and get a few levels of rogue and then go back to wizard a bit later.

Any help would be great as I haven't ever played a wizard before or a caster that hasn't been a blaster. Most of my spells are based around enchantments and miss direction .

[Sans.]

More wizard!

[Safety Sword]

More wizard!

This. It's always the right answer.

[Prince_Vorrel]

Honestly, there is no reason to multiclass outta wizard into another caster class (save maybe starting as a cleric for some gimmick builds). You really only have two equally good options.

1. Continue to go wizard and not lose any spell progression.

2. Drop one and ONLY one level in fighter. Throw on some medium armor and a shield and take the defense fighting style. you are now way more durable AC wise and as long as you keep a free hand open you can cast spells with no problems. This DOES however slow down spell/power progression by a bit.

and trust me...when everyone hits level 5 and gets their cool next tier **** and your still stuck with second level spells...it sucks hard

[Specter]

It's hard to help without knowing your stats for multiclass. But the way I see it, there are two ways:

1) More Wizard (grabbing Mage Armor ASAP for a decent AC)

2) Going Rogue for Arcane Trickster

The second path requires you to know exactly what you want. One level of rogue gives you weapon damage and more skills, which lets you cover striker and skillman roles but does not improve your maguc at all. Two levels give you Cunning Action, which is good for anyone but still no magic cigar. Finally at the third level you get more spells, cantrips and slots.

[Chugger]

Why not mage armor and have ac 15, if your dex gives you plus 2? Did you not pick Mage Armor? Pick it next time you level up maybe, which at this level should be soon. Yes you'd be down a slot, but MA lasts 8 hours - and your party needs you keeping up with them and casting killer lvl 3 spells when they hit lvl 5 and take on harder CR monsters. Mage Armor would get you AC.

Or play a sorcerer instead. You've picked Wiz, why not make the most of it? Multi-classing comes with a steep price.

[Konun]

My spells were 50/50 rolled and picked . I have

Cantrips
Prestig
Firebolt
Chill touch

1st
Shield
Tashas hideous laughter
Magic missile
Grease

Also yeah more wizard is probably the best route especially since it does keep me out of melee as I'm very frail.

[Citan]

Hi I'm playing a wizard in a campaign where getting hold of new spells is going to be a pain.

The idea behind my char is that I was a street urchin that learned a few spells form a spell book he stole when he was young . He then went on to use that magic to swindle his way to a better station in life . He was found out and got killed.

The campaign basically has us working for a Davy Jones type entity doing short modular adventures in varying settings.

We have hit level 2 and am wondering what to do with my char. I beleive I have the following options.

1) I stick another level in wizard and get enchanter spec

2) I stick a level in to sorcerer to increase my AC (which is 12) and to expand my spell list. But I only have 14 cha so I'm not sure my spells will be up to too much. But still/silent spell would be great to have .

3) go for arcane trickster and get a few levels of rogue and then go back to wizard a bit later.

Any help would be great as I haven't ever played a wizard before or a caster that hasn't been a blaster. Most of my spells are based around enchantments and miss direction .
Hi!
Well...
If you really want to get the Subtle Metamagic (from what I understood), then not only dip but multiclass Sorcerer and don't look back. You would only be one level behind on spell progression, still manageable (you'd have to pump CHA though).

Otherwise, just stay with Wizard and make that small sacrifice of learning Mage Armor, it will be really worthwhile in the long run (even if you should stick true to your current tactic which is to avoid contact at all costs).

[Chugger]

My spells were 50/50 rolled and picked . I have

Cantrips
Prestig
Firebolt
Chill touch

1st
Shield
Tashas hideous laughter
Magic missile
Grease

Also yeah more wizard is probably the best route especially since it does keep me out of melee as I'm very frail.

That helps us. I might have gone Abjuration if surviving was such a big deal. That damage ward is very nice. I understand if you wanted to be a Div instead, but oh well. Can you replace Grease with Mage Armor? Maybe I'm not very smart about how to use Grease, but I find it incredibly limited. It has to be timed just right to "work well" in many cases. I.e. if the monsters win initiative they often spread out, go through any chokepoint that might be on the battlefield (where you would have cast it) - and it just doesn't work so well cast on a monster that's already moved up and gotten into the party's face. It can help, but you're not really "controlling" it with grease - you're just inconveniencing it - and you could have done a Firebolt and hurt it, instead.

Grease is great if there's a narrow tunnel and it actually slows the arrival of charging monsters and/or maybe makes some go prone for your meleers to get an adv swipe at. If you're often in dungeons and getting such use of it happens a lot and you really like it, fine. Not saying it's worthless, saying it's a good one to keep in the spellbook maybe and learn Mage Armor asap.

At lvl 3 you have the option of Misty Step if you're getting attacked a lot. And other great spells. Just think through what will happen if you multi sorc - wiz/sorc is kind of weird. It can work but be sure you understand what you give up.

[Citan]

That helps us. I might have gone Abjuration if surviving was such a big deal. That damage ward is very nice. I understand if you wanted to be a Div instead, but oh well. Can you replace Grease with Mage Armor? Maybe I'm not very smart about how to use Grease, but I find it incredibly limited. It has to be timed just right to "work well" in many cases. I.e. if the monsters win initiative they often spread out, go through any chokepoint that might be on the battlefield (where you would have cast it) - and it just doesn't work so well cast on a monster that's already moved up and gotten into the party's face.
Certainly the fact that Grease is a "static one-shot" obstacle does make it hard to use well. It's much easier when you have a tanky Dex Fighter or Barbarian which can both stand ground long enough to attract targets and have high enough chance to avoid Grease effect if taken in the area of effect. ;)