Best wizard spells?

[Mrark]

We all know there is a ridicoulous amount of sources providing dozens (or even hundreds) of spells. We also know that a lot of them is garbage, and some of them are simply broken. So now, what are the best wizard spells you have ever seen, used or read about? Any level spell, any kind of spell, any source. I am just curious and wanna look for some new interesting spells. Thanks for your time (:

[RedMage125]

Kind of an obvious answer, I suppose, by my vote goes to Shapechange.

Especially when your familiar is within 5 feet of you, and you can BOTH change into something.

[denthor]

Which ever you choose and have fun with.

This game is fun not how do I dominate with other think is best.

[Ramza00]

Dimension Step (3rd level) plus Ready Action. Teleport 2 allies at caster level 6 (including yourself), 3 allies at CL 9, 4 allies at CL 12, and so on.

It is like another form of Haste without being Haste and thus it stacks with Haste. Zoom, Zoom, Zoom you and your allies.


Get up close with move actions that Dimension Step gives for free and full attack the enemies.
Or Zoom, Zoom, Zoom move out or way of your enemies as a defensive move.
Or Zoom, Zoom, Zoom your ally is an Attack of Opportunity expert with Stand Still but the enemy is not in his large threatened range? Well now suddenly due to your ready action Dimension Step he suddenly moves into range and takes that Attack of Opportunity the enemy was not expecting.


Zoom, Zoom, Zoom you are the king of Flash Step both for yourself and your allies. You are like a blue MTG player plus a master of chess all in one, with the ready action and this spell you "interrupt" the flow of battle of your enemies actions and set up the desired combat scenario for Dimension Step gives your party more actions at the cost of losing a 3rd level spell slot and a standard action.

Oh since it is 3rd level it works real well with metamagic rods and other magic items for quickening. :smallwink:

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Oh you also have a Familiar? Well the familiar is going to be casting Benign Transposition from a Wand (1st level spell) or hiding in your Familiar Pocket (1st level) immune to most things for there is no line of effect or line of sight.

But at 6th level (character level 11) you get the Imbue Familiar with Spell Ability as a 6th level spell.

At CL 11 you can transfer up to 3rd level spells and 3 of these 3rd level or lower spell slots with the casting of this 6th level spell.
At CL 12 you can transfer up to 4th level spells and 4 of these 4th level or lower spell slots with the casting of Imbue Familiar with Spell Ability.
At Cl 15 you can transfer up to 5th level spells and 5 of these 5th level or lower spell slots with the casting of this 6th level spell.

Guess what goes well with Benign Transposition (Wand Form), why the Familiar also casting Dimension Step on your allies as both an offensive and defensive move, and you do not care if the familiar is using his ready action or not for it is not your action but the familiar's actions :smallamused:

The familiar can also cast shiny things like Haste, Dispel Magic (3rd), but also Spell Theft (5th level, targeted dispel magic with a max CL of +15 and not 10. Buff spells you dispel transfer to the caster of Spell Theft which in this case is the familiar.)

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Wizards the characters who give your allies more actions, or steal / waste the actions from your enemies with battlefield control. You are your own time and space mage. :smallbiggrin: :smallwink:

[Helluin]

Friendly Fire. Insane for what it does at its level. Remains useful from lvl 7 all the way up to lvl 20 or even Epic.

Before lvl 7, I give it to Alter Self.

[Eldariel]

Is this 3e or PF 1e? Anyways, PHB has almost all of the best spells: Simulacrum, Lesser Planar Binding/Planar Binding/Greater Planar Binding, Shapechange, Polymorph, Animate Dead (if you can access Desecrate), Wish. Magic Jar is pretty high up there too. This is true for both editions though in PF Polymorph and Shapechange are no longer game shatteringly powerful (and Summons are, in turn, ridiculous). Those are all minionmancy/do everything/win the game-spells. For 3.5, out-of-core sources only add Ice Assassin (Frostburn) and Celerity (PHBII).

For combat spells, we're looking at substantially less powerful but still amazing stuff and many more competitive non-core options (Streamers [Shining South] stands out as do things like Wall of Smoke, Ray of Stupidity, etc. [Spell Compendium]): Black Tentacles, Solid Fog [sucks in PF though], Glitterdust, Web, Stinking Cloud, Grease, Pyrotechnics, Slow, Wall of Force, Wall of Stone, Wall of Salt [Sandstorm], Forcecage, etc.

[Malphegor]

Ice Web- 10min PER LEVEL duration version of the Web spell that deals 1d6 frostburn damage per round whilst risking being entangled and suchforth. As long as they lack fire, this can be pretty deadly for its level.

Phantasmal Killer- you just gotta love the classic 'BOO' spell, instantly killing someone if they fail their save.

Clothier's Closet- only the boougiest of wizards perpare this spell each day. (I love it) Summon Wardrobe 1 is what it is basically.

[Gauntlet]

0:
Launch Item, Prestidigitation, Detect Magic

1:
Grease, Benign Transposition, Nerveskitter, Silent Image

2:
Alter Self, Invisibility, Mirror Image, Glitterdust, Rope Trick

3:
Heart of Water, Haste, Slow, Dispel Magic, Shrink Item, Magic Circle Against X, Stinking Cloud, Dimension Step

4:
Greater Mirror Image, Celerity, Polymorph, Shadow Conjuration, Dimension Door, Black Tentacles, Solid Fog, Friendly Fire

5:
Lesser Planar Binding, Teleport, Telekinesis, Greater Blink, Wall of Stone

6:
Planar Binding, Contingency, True Seeing

7:
Greater Teleport, Reverse Gravity, Control Weather, Limited Wish, Simulacrum

8:
Moment of Prescience, Polymorph Any Object, Greater Planar Binding, Greater Plane Shift

9:
Shapechange, Time Stop, Gate, Ice Assassin, Shades

[Psyren]

3.5 or Pathfinder?

Either way, handbooks are the answer, someone has done most of the legwork for you already. There's several wizard ones in my sig and on the google.

[Quertus]

Best? Mindrape. Hands down. Get yourself a pet anything, who can do… whatever you want a spell to do.

Most used? Kauper's Skittish Nerves / Nerveskitter. +5 initiative, very important.

Favorite? Animate Dead. Having fun is what matters, so, for me, this spell is best.

Honorable mention: Animal Friendship. With a Ring of Spell Storing, everyone gets an animal companion.

[Khedrac]

And don't forget heart of earth - one of the main issues with stoneskin is the cost of all the diamonds; well, heart of earth gives you a stack of temporary hit points for hours, fortification in conjunction with the other heart of... spells, and can be expended for a stoneskin effect as a swift action. OK, the stoneskin effect is rounds not tens of minutes, but the spell is also a level lower than stoneskin! (Don't forget that just because the temp hp are gone does not mean that the spell is gone - it's still there for the fortification or for expending until it actually expires...)

[St Fan]

For a question like this, quantifying what you mean by "best" is important.

Most powerful? Most useful for its level?

Quite often, the favored spells are those in the "most versatile" category. That's why alter self or shapechange are frequently mentioned, because you can do lots of things, depending on the situation.

Now, a personal favorite would be smoky confinement from Complete Mage.

This spell can pretty much replace a whole load of summoning spells, without some of their drawbacks: use it to capture a whole load of varied monsters, preferably while they are pissed off, and then release among your enemies. Please note that there is absolutely no size or HD limitation: all you need is for the monster to fail a Fortitude check.

Sure, the focus are expensive, but unless you break them they are reusable. A unseen servant spell work very well to open one safely at a distance. Of course, you need to carefully label the bottles for their content, to not get the wrong monster at the wrong time.

Can also be included in a mechanical trap, with sole role to open the focus and let out the monster. Cheaper than many magical traps, and safer since you're not around.

Or they can be traps just by themselves... mislabel a bottle as containing some useful magical fluid or being another magic item, and when the thief open it, an angry monster smokes out and attack.

The spell has various other uses, too. Used on party members or followers, it can serve to sneak a whole party past guards or defenses, as long as you have one fellow to carry the bottles.

You can also "bottle up" a party member that's wounded, dying or intransportable, and she'll be perfectly safe until released, as the subject of the spell is stuck in time. In face, the spell being "instantaneous", it can be used as long-term hibernation for a lot of peoples (risky for a whole party if whoever must open the bottle can't do it; you could be waking up centuries later...).

Heck, I have even this particular scam envisioned: dress a member of the party like a stereotypical genie, smoky confine him in an expensive, decorated bottle, have the bottle advertised as a genie prison, lure some greedy bastard into stealing it, and when he frees the "genie" in exchange of three wishes... arrest him on the ground of attempted slavery and ransoming.

[unseenmage]

Wish tops the charts... except that there are spells that give you multiple Wishes.

I nominate Mindrape as most useful, vile though it may be.

And my fav spell for utility is Greater Humanoid Essence.
Followed by Minor Servitor and/or Awaken Sand.

[Malphegor]

This is the list I usually consult for reliable spells that just murder- http://tgdmb.com/viewtopic.php?p=31962

Obviously I tend to prefer utility spells because I adore the ability to conjure up a wardrobe or a magic carriage (in my heart I've always envied the fairy godmother...) or make myself gizmos to play with, but I try to have at least one solid murderspell per day just in case.

(Optimally I should be all murder and have scrolls of utility but FEH! FEH I say. It's more fun to be a wizard with trash spells you use creatively in combat than to be a competent wizard using the old reliable bullet spells that insta-kill.)