Fighter 1 / Wizard X

[jeanquilt]

I want a Wizard character who is also strong and good at fighting (mostly for story reasons).

Here are the following stipulations:
-Character is Fighter 1 / Wizard X, we are currently at Fighter 1 / Wizard 5.
-I get to choose a feat to start out with. This free feat will be War Caster.
-Stats can total to 80 not including race bonuses, but each must be at least 8.
-All Wizards material including UA is allowed.
-The other party members are a beastmaster Ranger and lore Bard.

Please optimize this character for me!

[UrielAwakened]

I want a Wizard character who is also strong and good at fighting (mostly for story reasons).

Here are the following stipulations:
-Character is Fighter 1 / Wizard X, we are currently at Fighter 1 / Wizard 5.
-I get to choose a feat to start out with. This free feat will be War Caster.
-Stats can total to 90 not including race bonuses, but each must be at least 8.
-All Wizards material including UA is allowed.
-The other party members are a beastmaster Ranger and lore Bard.

Please optimize this character for me!

...90? Wow. Are...you sure about that? That's enough to max like 5 stats to 16 at level 1.

[PhantomSoul]

...90? Wow. Are...you sure about that? That's enough to max like 5 stats to 16 at level 1.

That's incredible if so. Or all 15s. Or 20/20/20/14/8/8. Yes, three 20s on top of a 14!

[jeanquilt]

...90? Wow. Are...you sure about that? That's enough to max like 5 stats to 16 at level 1.

Nope! Just double checked and it's 80. We rolled for stats and our bard got lucky. Her current stat total is 85, so my DM said I got start with 80 points to spend.

[Matrix_Walker]

Unless your GM waives the requirement, Warcaster has a prerequisite of being able to cast at least one spell. As a 1st level fighter, you'd have to have a racial cantrip at the minimum by the RAW.

--

Is the Feat an extra, or bacause you are playing vhuman?

[Ovarwa]

Hi,

Are you allowed to use your 80 points to take Int 40 and leave the other 5 stats each at 8? :)/2 (Technically no, since you need Str or Dex of 13 or greater.)

I'll assume the usual restrictions.

Since you're not using point buy, stats are mostly stats. You don't need a race with Int to get an Int bonus. So you can consider Dwarves or other races not associated with wizards. Cha is a splendid dump stat, so those aren't your races. After race and maybe an ASI, you'll want Int 20, Str 20 (Dex is better, but you're going Str), Con as high as possible, Cha 8 and then whatever you can throw at Dex and Wis. Mountain Dwarf lets you do Str 20, Int 20, Con 16, Dex 10, Wis 10, Cha 8 with an ASI to spare, but there might be a better choice, depending on racial abilities.

If UA is allowed, clearly you want Lore Wizard. :) Otherwise, Abjurer can add toughness. (Deep Gnome feat might be helpful for that.)

Of course, with the high Str, being a grapple wizard could be a thing. Artificer is good for that, and some races help too.

Fighter provides a choice of fighting style. Since you're taking Warcaster, you have probably decided not to use a 2H weapon. +1 AC? +2 damage? Choices.

Of course, this assumes you want a wizardly wizard. It's possible to dump Int as low as 13 and then take spells that don't involve Int. Probably not the best idea, but it's workable.

The major point of optimization that differs from normal play is that as long as you choose a race that doesn't boost Cha, you can have the stats you want, by and large. (Normally, it's not possible to boost a stat beyond 15 without ASI, Feat or racial bonuses.)

Anyway,

Ken

[Matrix_Walker]

Eladrin Elf
Fighter 1 / Bladesinger 5

8 STR
20 DEX (+2 Elf)
16 CON
20 INT (+1 Eladrin, +1 Observant)
10 WIS
10 CHR

Free Feat: Warcaster
Wizard 4 Feat: Observant (+1 to INT)
Defensive Style + Bladesong

Observant will keep you from being flatfooted (so you can start your bladesong in an ambush) and round out your INT.
With bladesong up you're rocking AC 23 in studded leather, and you can misty step away once per short rest when things get too hot for your wizard HP.
If you feel defense is overkill, dueling is a nice style for a bladesinger as well... AC 22 and +2 to those 1 handed attacks isn't bad at all.

Edit...

Oops, I'm sorry, did you mean physically strong? Like a beefy wizard? maybe I went the wrong way...

[jeanquilt]

Unless your GM waives the requirement, Warcaster has a prerequisite of being able to cast at least one spell. As a 1st level fighter, you'd have to have a racial cantrip at the minimum by the RAW.

--

Is the Feat an extra, or bacause you are playing vhuman?

GM says I can ignore that since I'm only taking 1 fighter level. My GM is a very nice person.



Since you're not using point buy, stats are mostly stats. You don't need a race with Int to get an Int bonus. So you can consider Dwarves or other races not associated with wizards. Cha is a splendid dump stat, so those aren't your races. After race and maybe an ASI, you'll want Int 20, Str 20 (Dex is better, but you're going Str), Con as high as possible, Cha 8 and then whatever you can throw at Dex and Wis. Mountain Dwarf lets you do Str 20, Int 20, Con 16, Dex 10, Wis 10, Cha 8 with an ASI to spare, but there might be a better choice, depending on racial abilities.

I was looking at either a Dwarf or Halfling due to story reasons, this really helps! Glad to know I can do that and still optimize my good-at-punching wizard.



Oops, I'm sorry, did you mean physically strong? Like a beefy wizard? maybe I went the wrong way...
I appreciate the build but yes I did mean a wizard with a high STR stat and heavy armor :)

[sithlordnergal]

So, I am currently playing a Fighter: 1 / Wizard: X, and I actually just reached Fighter: 1 / Wizard: 5.

I went with a Dex based Fighter with the Defense fighting style, War Caster, Booming Blade and Firebolt as my offensive cantrips, and Portent Wizard as my main class. Despite being a Dex fighter, I use Plate Armor and a Shield, so my AC is 21, and can be increases to 26 with Shield.

I highly recomend this, as the only penalty you take is your speed being lowered by ten. In exchange you get one of the highest AC's in the game without using any enchanted armor, letting you tank if need be.

Also, I really, really recomend going with the Divination Wizard and taking Fear and Tasha's Hideous Laughter. Provided you rolled low on your Portent, you can guarantee that at least one target fails their save, and you can decide which target fails. This is especially nice when dealing with DMs that like to fake the rolls of certain threatening enemies that would have been completly crippled by spells like Fear.

Also, don't be concerned about your physical stats. Put a 16 in Dex, an 8-10 in Strength, and max out your Int. 16 Dex gives you a decent +3 Dex mod, which will work perfectly fine for your adventuring carrier. You may not hit as hard as a Barbarian, but your Proficency Bonus will let you get past most ACs, and your cantrips can potentially deal just as much damage as said Barbarian. Especially at higher levels when Booming Blade and Green Flame Blade does multiple d8's on the initial hitm