How to play a mid level wizard?

[Renen]

Hello. Just looking for some feedback playing my level 11 Bladesinger wizard.

I am currently playing online with a bunch of folks in a formal somewhat similar to west marshes. They have some homebrew, but it's a pretty fun place to play and I don't mind the extra additions they made.

I hope to get some advice on how to utilise my skills better both in a party and solo. Below I list some spells as well as various items I have which might factor in. One of the biggest changes is that most adventure days only have 1 combat, but that combat is made to be quite difficult (thus not needing one to really concerve spells and such).

Most interesting item I have is a fancy spell book that has 2 main things:
1) As a bonus action I can gain an advantage on ranged attacks vs enemy
2) I can "load" up to 10 spell levels worth of spells into it (not lvl 9 spells tho), and when I cast them from there I can choose one target to get disadvantage on a save one time (no cheesing spells with repeated saves).

I have 23 AC with blade song active, which let's me do melee well enough with Tenser's transformation. I also have a rapier of quickness that let's me do a 3rd attack a turn.

When supporting, I can take out some important enemies with resilient sphere or hold person (using the disadvantage I can impose via my book).

Here's my spell list so far: https://i.imgur.com/RsIiWcw.jpg

Can anyone give any additional tips/advice for how you'd run a lvl 11ish wizard? Most dnd games I played were lower level, and while I enjoy high level options I haven't as much experience with them, and could use some feedback.

[Man_Over_Game]

Disadvantage on a saving throw is incredibly powerful and rarely available anywhere in the game. The only options I can think of that provide the same thing is 3 levels of Exhaustion (hard to do) and a level 9 Arcane Trickster feature (which means your spells can only hit spell level 6 by character level 20).

So it's REALLY powerful. Does this recharge once per day, or once you use one of these 10 uses, you don't get it back?

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Beyond things specific to the magic item, it's important to have about 1/3 to 1/2 of your spells to be Concentration spells, preference on those that use your Bonus Action since you don't have too many good uses for it as a Bladesinger.

Consider damage types as being into two categories: Common and Exotic. Common damage types are Fire, Cold, Thunder, Lightning, Poison, etc. Exotic damage types are Psychic, Radiant, Necrotic and Force. You'll start to find that many creatures have resistances towards one category or the other, so make sure to try to pack them evenly. Flame Sphere is a good option, but also have Synaptic Shock.

As a Wizard, your unique benefit that others don't generally have is your ability to deal AoE damage, so focus on that. Everyone else can participate just fine at taking down a boss, but dealing with swarms of enemies is generally something only a Wizard can do.

[Renen]

Effectively every day I get 10 spell levels worth of that. Aka loading in a resilient sphere leaves me with 6 levels to spend somewhere else.

And I know it's pretty powerful, though other players have their own toys, and we are matched by some hard hitting enemies. So I hope you guys can suggest some stuff I can do to maximise my impact.

[ImproperJustice]

Our level 11 Wizard just asked this exact same question to our group.

Out Party leader, who has a great way with words and currently playing a veteran fighter said, while pointing to a dead Fire Giant War Captain that was laid low by the Wizard’s prior use of Tasha’s Laughter:

“That. I need you to do that. More clearly, I need you to do stuff so that we can hit the enemy, and they can’t hit us back. Keep doing that, and no more can be asked of you.”

Followed by a hearty and friendly slap on the shoulder.

His most utilized spells are, Eyebite, Wall of Force, Synaptic Static, Hypnotic Pattern, Evard’s Tentacles, and Tasha’s Laughter.

[Man_Over_Game]

Our level 11 Wizard just asked this exact same question to our group.

Out Party leader, who has a great way with words and currently playing a veteran fighter said, while pointing to a dead Fire Giant War Captain that was laid low by the Wizard’s prior use of Tasha’s Laughter:

“That. I need you to do that. More clearly, I need you to do stuff so that we can hit the enemy, and they can’t hit us back. Keep doing that, and no more can be asked of you.”

Followed by a hearty and friendly slap on the shoulder.

His most utilized spells are, Eyebite, Wall of Force, Synaptic Static, Hypnotic Pattern, Evard’s Tentacles, and Tasha’s Laughter.

Solid choices. Every one of those is heralded for being ridiculously effective (maybe not Synaptic Static or Tentacles, but still valuable in their own right).

For the OP, Tasha's Laughter, Hypnotic Pattern, or other low level spells that cripple enemies, would be a very efficient use of your magic item. A Tasha's is enough to end almost any boss or force it to burn a Legendary Resistance, which is good value for a level 1 spell.

[Wildarm]

I find the best way to treat a bladesinger is not melee gish but instead as just a wizard with great defenses. Tensers Transformation has some fundamental mechanics issues with it so I don't recommend going that way. Losing your ability to cast spells is too big a penalty to turn your self into a OK fighter. You can easily summon better things or buff your allies to be more effective.

With bladesong activated, I'd simply recommend you get the best use out of your concentration:

- Animate objects is fantastic and will deal way more damage than TT. Only costs you concentration and a bonus action so you're still free to sling spells
- Upcast Hold Person or Hold Monster - Forcing disadvantage on the first save of this is key. It can buy your team an entire round and give all your melee friends advantage on the attack and auto-crits!
- Hypnotic Pattern - Single save at disadvantage, this can be a straight up encounter ending spell
- Mass Suggestion - Single save at disadvantage and takes up to 12 targets out of it for 24 hours. Also NO CONCENTRATION!
- Banishment - Single save at disadvantage - Take one or more enemies out of the fight for a minute. Great for dealing with BBEG minions. Banish the BBEG, clear minions and ready actions for when BBEG pops back.

Honorable Mention:

Disintegrate: Excellent single target damage but it's an all or nothing spell. Being able to force disadvantage on the save makes it a solid choice for when you just need something to die.

[Vekon]

Prioritize spells that control and debuff enemies. The people above me give excellent suggestions. That is where wizards shine. After control comes AoE damage, if it is required. Also important, if there are enemy spellcasters you may be responsible for dealing with them, or helping your allies to deal with them. Spells like thunder step or dimension door can bring your beefy melee friends directly to the target, and your bladesong means you're able to survive there yourself.

Use that disadvantage perk on things like hold person/monster, hypnotic pattern, Evard's black tentacles, and other various AoE control or strong single target debuffs.

[Aaron Underhand]

Disadvantage on a saving throw is incredibly powerful and rarely available anywhere in the game. The only options I can think of that provide the same thing is 3 levels of Exhaustion (hard to do) and a level 9 Arcane Trickster feature (which means your spells can only hit spell level 6 by character level 20).



Instrument of the bards provides disadvantage on hypnotic pattern... And yes it can be encounter ending...

[HappyDaze]

Instrument of the bards provides disadvantage on hypnotic pattern... And yes it can be encounter ending...

Well, it might force the enemy to go full Taylor Swift...
'Cause the players gonna play, play, play, play, play
And the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate
Baby, I'm just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake
I shake it off, I shake it off
Heartbreakers gonna break, break, break, break, break
And the fakers gonna fake, fake, fake, fake, fake
Baby, I'm just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake
I shake it off, I shake it off