Evoker Wizard is probably the best low-level and high level blaster.

[Deathtongue]

I'm discounting stuff like Sculpt Spell and Arcane Recovery, even though Sculpt Spell in my own opinion is enough of a reason to give Evoker Wizard the title of Best Blaster even if the numbers are lacking. You get to use Gust of Wind, Fireball, Melf's Minute Meteors, Dawn, Wall of Ice, and Whirlwind whenever and wherever you feel like. Case closed.

But the thing is, even without Sculpt Spell, Evoker Wizards can put up numbers comparable to other blasters (Arcana/Light Clerics, Lore Bards, Sorlocks, etc.) for most of the game and even comfortably exceeding them at certain ranges of the game -- certainly from level 14+ onwards, but I'd argue from level 2 - 7 as well. But even at the level 8 - 13 range, where Sorlocks operate at their strongest, Evoker Wizards stay in the running.


0.) They get Find Familiar. A mobile platform for Dragon's Breath, which goes a long way towards closing the damage vs. resource gap at low levels. I've played a lot of low-level campaigns by now, and having a Dragon's Breath + Fire Bolt last you for three or four combats a day is a BFD. A Sorlock (the Evoker wizard's most probable competition) just doesn't have the durability to really improve on this combo until around level 8. A lot of your money will go into recasting this spell at low levels. Past level 5, it's not a big deal, UNLESS your game has magical items. Then it's a very big deal. Other classes can get Find Familiar through multiclassing or Magic Initiate, but at a significant opportunity cost.

1.) Sculpt Spell. Evokers can pull off combos that other blasters straight-up can't. They can simply do sick things with Wall of Ice, Whirlwind, Dawn, and Sickening Radiance other blasters can't.

2.) Contingency. Speed is everything to a blaster and unfortunately you'll be subject to action clog. A Hexblade 1 / Evoker 11+ can on the opening round Hexblade Curse an enemy, Melf's Minute Meteors, and 3rd-level Fireball three enemies for up to 12d6 + 25 damage in the opening round. And the next round, with a -5 damage penalty. And the round after that. Other blasters can exceed that, but not by round one and oftentimes not by round two.

3.) Overchannel. Overchannel and Contingency go together like peanut butter and jelly. But even Overchannel on its own is pretty painful. A Hexblade 1 / Wizard 14 can throw out a Scorching Ray that does 6d6+113 damage if all rays hit.

4.) Simulacrum. Frankly, if you don't have access to simulacrum I strongly question whether you even deserve the title of Top Blaster. Not just for the DPR boost, but because it enables combos that are almost impossible to do on your own. Such as a Simulacrum that Hexes someone's Strength or Intelligence just in time for you to drop a Telekinesis or Major Image.

5.) Crown of Stars. Crown of Stars looks underpowered, with the key differences that it A) doesn't require concentration and B) lasts for 7 attacks. A Sorlock with Quicken Spell + EB + Agonizing Blast but no Hex can do superior damage (CoS's 26 damage versus 31.5 to 43 damage) with their bonus action, yes, but CoS helps to greatly close the gap.

And if an Evoker wizard doesn't mind blowing their 8th level spell slot on CoS as well (or they have a nifty magic item), their durability is greater than that of a Sorlock. Since they get 16 bonus action attacks in a workday while a Sorlock will have to cannibalize most of their non-sorcerer spell slots for that kind of durability or take a butt-ton of short rests.

6.) Wish. Wish for Find Greater Steed. You now have double Crown of Stars action. Or Double Contingency/Overchanneled Melf's Minute Meteors action. Or whatever. You can also wish for more Simulacrums. Or whatever. I'm not your mom.

7.) True Polymorph / Shapechange. See that Simulacrum of yours? Make it an archdruid or a lich or something. Or you can always just True Polymorph a rock into a Diviner or Abjurer. More blasting action.

8.) Prismatic Wall. I'd prefer Wish, but if I wanted actual damage Prismatic Wall beats out anything. Including Meteor Swarm. If only you had a way to trick or force enemies through the wall. Oh, wait, you do; Reverse Gravity with a spherical Prismatic Wall does 200d6 damage. That was fun, what's next?

I really do think the all-around optimal blaster build is a (in order) Hexblade 1 / Evoker 17 / Fighter 2 or Full Spellcaster 2, depending on whether you want more spells or Action Surge.

[Arvin Natsuko]

Life Cleric is probably the best low-level and high level healer.

[Deathtongue]

Life Cleric is probably the best low-level and high level healer.Mmm. Nah. I think the best high-level healer is either a Circle of the Shepherd Druid, an Arcana Cleric, or a (Lore) Bard that picked exactly the right spells. Life Cleric is good out-of-the-box, but if what you want to do is HEAL THE WORLD so hard that Michael Jackson is forced to become a necromancer to undo your efforts out of jealousy, you're better with something else.

[MaxWilson]

Life Cleric is probably the best low-level and high level healer.

Good guess, but wrong. That title goes to a life cleric 1/sorc 3+/druid 3+ multiclass using Extended Healing Spirit. Can heal over two thousand HP per long rest by level ten without even abusing Healing Spirit cheese via readied actions/grappling. Comes online at low levels and stays good forever.

Evoker wizard can benefit massively from creating a bunch of cheap wands of Magic Missile (under Xanathar's rules they are something like 500 go and two weeks' work each). They do not require atonement, and let you blast out around 50 HP of autohit force damage every round until you run out of wands. Put them on a Chewbacca-style bandoleer.

[Snowbluff]

Well, for like half of these points, most blasty classes get wish, so they're irrelevant.

Overchannel seems nice.

[ImproperJustice]

Hmmmmm......

My only counterpoint would be how the Sorceror can get there with some slightly different options.

Elemental Affinity vs. Spell Bombardment vs. Empowered Evokation provide some similar results
but have some great differences due to flexibility.

Empowered Spell is less messy than Overchannel and can be used longer throughout the day, while having less impact than Overchannel.

Sculpt Spell is generally superior to Careful Spell except that careful spell is not just bound to damage effects.

Then there are Sorceror leftovers like Twin, subtle, Quicken, or Heighten that can all help with blasting.

I have generally found flexible casting to be more useful than arcane recovery. So much so, that I feel handicapped when using a non-sorceror caster.

I definitely support the claim that the Evoker is very good at what they do, but I think there is room at the top for some others that can stand so close while doing slightly different things that it may be too narrow minded to declare the Evoker as the only true path to blasting Nirvana.

[Deathtongue]

Well, for like half of these points, most blasty classes get wish, so they're irrelevant.A) Getting Wish at level 19 versus getting it at level 17 is a concern. It (and delayed spell access in general) the biggest reason not to splash a level of Hexblade into Evoker for blaster, honestly. I mostly put it on my current AL wizard for durability reasons rather than instant blasting gratification.

B) Speaking of speed, even when using Wish to substitute for other spells, there's still the issue of getting back in the saddle. A Warlock 2 / Sorcerer 17 using Wish to tag in the other parts of the combo needs 3 days of preparation (For a Wish Simulacrum, for a Wish Find Greater Steed, for a Wish Contingency). The Evoker Wizard just needs one day (Simulacrum, Contingency, Wish: Find Greater Steed). And of course the major downfall of a Wish-Simulacrum is that the Wish-Simulacrum won't be able to cast Wish themselves.

[Sigreid]

Nothing says get the hell away from me plebs like dropping a fireball at your own feet and remaining unscathed.

[sophontteks]

Sculpt spell isn't enough to make wizard the best blaster. Its enough to make it a good blaster, but best is personal preferance.

Both sorcerers and tempest clerics alpha strike far, far harder. And they have better innate defenses. They can do an equivilent amount of damage turn 1 and use the other turns doing other things. The wizard has to be blasting every turn to both keep up and to take advantage of sculpt spell, but that in itself means losing out on the wizards main strength, which is their large pool of utility and control spells.

When it comes to blasting. I'd rather do it all at once, in one turn. A good player can avoid friendly fire with positioning and care anyway.

[Deathtongue]

Sculpt spell isn't enough to make wizard the best blaster. Its enough to make it a good blaster, but best is personal preferance.

Both sorcerers and tempest clerics alpha strike far, far harder. And they have better innate defenses. They can do an equivilent amount of damage turn 1 and use the other turns doing other things. The wizard has to be blasting every turn to both keep up and to take advantage of sculpt spell, but that in itself means losing out on the wizards main strength, which is their large pool of utility and control spells..
Yes. Sorlocks, Tempest/Light/Arcana, and even orthodox Sorcerers can squeak ahead of Evokers for the level 8 - 13 range in the blasting department. That's the range in which all of these classes have enough resources to not only nova, but also sustain themselves through challenging-but-not-punishing combats. A Hexblade 2 / Sorcerer 5 can certainly crush a single BBEG super-hard in a Nova Strike, but sustaining themselves for five or even three combats? Dicey. A Hexblade 2 / Sorcerer 9, though? They have the juice for it.

Before that, Arcane Recovery and Dragon's Breath + Find Familiar gives the blaster some badly-needed durability. Afterwards, Contingency + Overchannel + Simulacrum is just too strong.

[Snowbluff]

I wonder what the over/under on mindspike diviner for damage over time. :p


A) Getting Wish at level 19 versus getting it at level 17 is a concern. It (and delayed spell access in general) the biggest reason not to splash a level of Hexblade into Evoker for blaster, honestly. I mostly put it on my current AL wizard for durability reasons rather than instant blasting gratification.

B) Speaking of speed, even when using Wish to substitute for other spells, there's still the issue of getting back in the saddle. A Warlock 2 / Sorcerer 17 using Wish to tag in the other parts of the combo needs 3 days of preparation (For a Wish Simulacrum, for a Wish Find Greater Steed, for a Wish Contingency). The Evoker Wizard just needs one day (Simulacrum, Contingency, Wish: Find Greater Steed). And of course the major downfall of a Wish-Simulacrum is that the Wish-Simulacrum won't be able to cast Wish themselves. I don't think that anyone gets it later than anyone else, other than bard. I don't think prepping a few days before hand is too bad.

I will give props for the idea of making CR20 critters out of Simulacra of yourself. This is a really potent combo, but I don't think I would qualify it as "blasting," but generally caster cheese. :p

Can you explain the reasoning of splashing hexblade? Mostly for the curse and medium armor?

[KorvinStarmast]

What I like about the low level evoker is that she can stand behind our two front liners and thunderwave the enemy without hurting our front line. At low levels that's very handy.

[Wakarusa]

Regarding 8. How is the poster getting 200d6 from prismatic wall and reverse gravity?

[iTreeby]

Regarding 8. How is the poster getting 200d6 from prismatic wall and reverse gravity?

The first 5 layers deal 10d6 each on a failed throw, so that's 50d6.

Because the wall is a sphere, they pass through all the layers going out for another 50d6.

After they make it all the way through, the wizard cancels the reverse gravity and the target falls all the way back through again.

It does less damage in practice because anything failing all the saves will be plane shifted at layer 7, and anything making all the saves is going to take half as much, but I think that's how they got the number.

[Peelee]

The Mod on the Silver Mountain: Even Evoker Wizards cannot raise threads.