To Feat or Not To Homebrew Feat for Wizard?

[Avista]

Party leveled up, and there is a homebrewed feat (DM allowed) that I have been looking at for my Wizard. But I want to get advice from other adventurers:


Feat: You can expend 1 action to instantly prepare any unprepared spell, replacing one of your prepared spells of equal or higher level. This feat can be used once every short/long rest.

We play a pretty gritty campaign, and my High Elf wizard is only level 4 with 16 intelligence. I'll either take this feat or go for stat increase to get that sweet 18 intelligence.

We've already had a few encounters where I've gone, "Huh. Wish I had THAT spell prepared instead of this." So the feat is pretty tempting. But I am also looking at the '1 action' cost and wondering if it's better 'action economy' to actually use attacks/controls with the +2 intelligence. The feat sounds nice, but it also sounds like a cousin of the worst cantrip in D&D, True Strike. Sounds deceptively good, but is actually useless. Even if it's useful now, I also don't want a feat that will just become useless as I progress in levels.

So is this a good feat to take, or am I better off with +2 intelligence?

[KRSW]

Well the feat definitely makes it easier to play a wizard. I am assuming the wording means you cannot prepare spells this way that you do not have in your spellbook.

But in my opinion a lot of the fun of playing a wizard is more or less guessing or planning ahead what spells you want beforehand. And also, 20 Int is pretty much mandatory as it makes your spells better anyways. I would take the ASI.

Up to you, maybe if the feat was a half feat and could give you +1 int or something I would take it then, but even still maybe not since it would only make your int 17 anyways.

Edit: I forgot about the gritty portion, definitely just take +2 Int IMO, you want the base cantrip power and also your very limited spell slots to become that much more powerful.

[BloodSnake'sCha]

Party leveled up, and there is a homebrewed feat (DM allowed) that I have been looking at for my Wizard. But I want to get advice from other adventurers:



We play a pretty gritty campaign, and my High Elf wizard is only level 4 with 16 intelligence. I'll either take this feat or go for stat increase to get that sweet 18 intelligence.

We've already had a few encounters where I've gone, "Huh. Wish I had THAT spell prepared instead of this." So the feat is pretty tempting. But I am also looking at the '1 action' cost and wondering if it's better 'action economy' to actually use attacks/controls with the +2 intelligence. The feat sounds nice, but it also sounds like a cousin of the worst cantrip in D&D, True Strike. Sounds deceptively good, but is actually useless. Even if it's useful now, I also don't want a feat that will just become useless as I progress in levels.

So is this a good feat to take, or am I better off with +2 intelligence?

Isn't a +2 int an extra spells prepared?
I think it is level+mod bit I am AFB.

The feat is more versatile, it is better for out of combat encounters IMO(an action is a lot to pay).

Like when you wish you had suggestion ready for the guard.(for some reasons I can't find a good example).

[dragoeniex]

Both are solid options. You'd be hard-pressed to see that Mercer feat falling off in high levels, as wizards have an increasing number of spells they cannot daily prepare as they grow. If anything, it should get more useful; the wider array of situational spells you acquire, the more satisfying it's going to be to have a "utility belt" option to pull out the perfect tool.

Because of that increasing value over time, however, I'd lean toward ASI this level, then revisit the decision at lv 8. Upping your int does give you an extra prepared spell per day, which will help a bit, and will also enhance the efficiency of all your casting. 18 intelligence is pretty solid. It's a matter of preference, but after achieving that, I would be more comfortable looking at a feat between ASIs.

Note: It can be worth taking now if you find yourself pining for another spell often enough that it's detracting from your fun as a wizard.

[Gignere]

I agree with previous posters int to 20 first but that feat is great at higher levels when scry and die comes into play. This way you can find out what’s coming up then pick the exact spell you need to ezmode the encounter and win.

[Avista]

Thanks for all the advice! I'll go for the ASI for now, but I'll take a look at the feat again at level 8.