What Wizard School/Subclass?

[Acavia]

I am making a Wizard. It is level 2 now, but I will rebuild it before level 5.

I want a Wizard that controls battles, does AOE damage and decent single target damage. Also, I do not want it to be squishy.

First level I plan to take Wizard with variant human, starting Str 8 Dex 14, Con 15, Int 16, Wis 12 and Cha 8. For variant human I plan to take Resilient (Con) making its Con go to 16 plus pick up a third proficient save with Con.

For second level it will take fighter for +1 to AC and to be proficient in medium armor. I plan it to wear half plate, so its base AC will be 18. Then it will take wizard every level after 2nd.

On schools right now I am leaning toward Abjuration or War Magic and also considering Divination. Evocation is also interesting but not sure how much damage it really adds since its main damage add can only be done once per long rest without taking a fair amount of damage on my character itself. Also, it provides no defensive boost.

I would like this character's wizard school choice to be as optimal as possible.

Suggestions on school?

[ProsecutorGodot]

I don't think you can really land on all of those points without making a bit of sacrifice in another.

All Wizards have access to strong AoE damage at third level with Fireball, but Evocation can use it the best by sculpting it to not be harmful to your allies. You can also control the field with spells like Web. You lose out on the defensive department though. Having potent cantrips also means that you will almost always have a way to deal damage, pairing fantastically with Toll the Dead.

War Magic gives you a strong defensive option but leaves your damage and control a bit lacking if you use Arcane Deflection often and get stuck casting only cantrips. The level 6 feature isn't very useful since the damage scales slowly and requires you to dedicate spell slots to that small benefit but the level 10 feature can be a game changer, very strong defensively. Tactical Wit also gives you a bonus to initiative, which can make or break an encounter with your spells coming out faster than an enemy can react.

Abjuration is a solid defensive option and a good supporter for your teammates at higher levels. I'd recommend looking in depth on this one since the features can get pretty complex in the pursuit of optimization.

Divination has the chance to increase your damage, survivability and control but only a few times per long rest and with varying degrees of success. Portent is incredibly powerful whether your d20 roll high or low. It's a solid default choice for a wizard who wants to have a little bit of everything.

I would recommend War Magic on the basis that after level 10 you can hold a spell in concentration and have a pretty hefty AC/Save score, a minor but noticeable damage boost and a good chance at going sooner in combat to take out high priority targets before they become an issue. As far as I'm aware any one of those schools could fit to what you want though, the spells you choose are probably going to impact your build more than the school will*.

*Evocation and Abjuration being exceptions since they interact heavily with those schools of magic.

tl;dr - Evocation for damage and minor control, Abjuration for safety and support, War Magic for a mix of damage and safety, Divination for a little bit of everything.

[Acavia]

tl;dr - Evocation for damage and minor control, Abjuration for safety and support, War Magic for a mix of damage and safety, Divination for a little bit of everything.

Thanks for a thorough answer. I am just quoting one part for a question please.

Does Evocation create a noticeable increase in damage? I could imagine it allows a pretty big jump in how often you can cast AOE spells since you can sculpt around teammates - does it in actual game play?

Also, in T4 combat, is casting AOEs important or are most multiple creature encounters just multiple fodder that is just a nuisance versus needing to be brought down fast?

[MaxWilson]

Does Evocation create a noticeable increase in damage?

Yes, at 10th+ level, but only for one spell: Magic Missile, due to the "strike simultaneously" clause it has which means you only roll damage once and multiply it by number of missiles, instead of rolling for each missile. Thus, your damage bonus on one roll applies to every missile, e.g. (1d4+6) x7 for Magic Missile V, average damage 59.5 per cast against anything not Force-immune or -resistant. See https://twitter.com/JeremyECrawford/status/610955844918886400. This gets especially interesting if you use Xanathar's rules to forge a few Wands of Magic Missiles (no attunement requirement and only Uncommon, so cheap and easy to forge) and carry them around with you for extra firepower.

For all other spells, the damage increase isn't significant by the time you get it, but if you're going to go the Wand of Magic Missile route, it does let you do massive damage while still being a full wizard (and thus having access to Rope Trick/Wall of Force/True Polymorph/other fun spells).

Since you're planning on going Fighter anyway for heavier armor, Enchanter may be an attractive option, depending on how often you'd want to use Instinctive Charm and Hypnotic Gaze.

[Acavia]

Yes, at 10th+ level, but only for one spell: Magic Missile, due to the "strike simultaneously" clause it has.

For all other spells, the damage increase isn't significant by the time you get it.

How important will AOE be in T4 - just bring fodder down faster or will it make a game difference. Also, will scultping allow a noticeable increase in being able to use AOE?


Since you're planning on going Fighter anyway for heavier armor, Enchanter may be an attractive option, depending on how often you'd want to use Instinctive Charm and Hypnotic Gaze.

Only one level of fighter for armor and AC. It will be 19 wizard if it reaches 20.

[MaxWilson]

How important will AOE be in T4 - just bring fodder down faster or will it make a game difference.

Well, what's your DM like? Does he use hordes of lesser creatures or small numbers of big bads? You can predict this much better than someone on the Internet can.

FWIW, if your DM goes to Kobold.club to roll up a bunch of Medium encounters, AoE spells will be modestly useful (3+ targets) around 70% of the time and quite useful (6+ targets) around 30% of the time.

Also FWIW, hordes of creatures are actually more dangerous by 5E rules than big solos, so having at least one PC that can kill them is useful. But you don't need to take a wizard school specialty to accomplish that--just have someone prepared to Shapechange into an Ancient White Dragon or something.


Also, will scultping allow a noticeable increase in being able to use AOE?

Depends on how melee-heavy your party is, but in general I'd guesstimate: not by that much. It may let you use Cone of Cold or Lightning Bolt from the bank ranks instead of Fireball, but it's not like regular wizards don't have plenty of AoE options when they want it.


Only one level of fighter for armor and AC. It will be 19 wizard if it reaches 20.

Noted. Normally you'd probably go Fighter 1 and then Wizard X, but you're going Wizard 1 then Fighter 1, I suppose because you'd rather have +Initiative rather than an extra +1 AC. Either way you'd pretty non-squishy so you can afford to get up front and cast spells like Fear. You'll have lots of fun.

[ThatDrowPlayer]

Divination is probably the most "controllery" tradition, namely for Portent/Greater Portent. You replace a total of two (three with GP) d20s per long rest with results you roll. Enemies can fail their saves against your spells, allies can succeed on theirs. You will probably also want the Lucky feat for more probability manipulation. Lastly, consider multiclassing into Bard for three levels for Cutting Words from the School of Lore, again, for more probability manipulation :elan:

[Ovarwa]

I am making a Wizard. It is level 2 now, but I will rebuild it before level 5.

I want a Wizard that controls battles, does AOE damage and decent single target damage. Also, I do not want it to be squishy.

First level I plan to take Wizard with variant human, starting Str 8 Dex 14, Con 15, Int 16, Wis 12 and Cha 8. For variant human I plan to take Resilient (Con) making its Con go to 16 plus pick up a third proficient save with Con.

For second level it will take fighter for +1 to AC and to be proficient in medium armor. I plan it to wear half plate, so its base AC will be 18. Then it will take wizard every level after 2nd.

On schools right now I am leaning toward Abjuration or War Magic and also considering Divination. Evocation is also interesting but not sure how much damage it really adds since its main damage add can only be done once per long rest without taking a fair amount of damage on my character itself. Also, it provides no defensive boost.

I would like this character's wizard school choice to be as optimal as possible.

Suggestions on school?

Abjuration is a fine school for this, but taking W1 and then F1 rather than the opposite is not as good as the opposite.

Starting F1 gives you Con proficiency and heavy armor. You might end up Str rather than Dex based, but you can also take Heavy Armor Mastery, which stacks wonderfully with Abjuration thp. And, of course, you are wearing heavy armor. You also get a few more hp.

If you cannot adjust your stats, then this is less than helpful.

[bid]

I want a Wizard that controls battles, does AOE damage and decent single target damage. Also, I do not want it to be squishy.

First level I plan to take Wizard with variant human, starting Str 8 Dex 14, Con 15, Int 16, Wis 12 and Cha 8. For variant human I plan to take Resilient (Con) making its Con go to 16 plus pick up a third proficient save with Con.

For second level it will take fighter for +1 to AC and to be proficient in medium armor. I plan it to wear half plate, so its base AC will be 18. Then it will take wizard every level after 2nd.
You should start fighter to get Con save. That would eliminate the need for vuman feat. You can delay resilient(Wis) to a later level.

For godhood, read Treantmonk's Guide to Wizards 5e. Squishy doesn't matter if nothing reaches you.

[bid]

I suppose because you'd rather have +Initiative rather than an extra +1 AC.
Huh? :smallconfused:

[Joe dirt]

Abjuration/ fighter is an awesome combo with a focus on reaction spells but I would take the warcaster feat as ur start feat otherwise holding a shield is impossible.