MeimuHakurei
2020-03-17, 02:14 PM
Inspired by AnimeTheCat and his post about the Barbarian, I wanted to take a shot at analysing a class on my own. I'm not the most experienced optimizer nor all that well-versed in practical play, but I read enough sources to feel confident to give the rundown.
Like AnimeTheCat, this analysis won't account for things that are universally accessible to all characters, including normal feat progressions and most kinds of equipment (seriously, a Candle of Invocation is all you need to go full TO). However starting gear that the class needs/uses is fair game (such as a Wizard's spellbook, a Fighter's weapons and armor etc.).
For reference, the 10 rating points, each getting a score from 1 to 10, again copied from AnimeTheCat:
Melee Combat – How effective is this character at getting in to melee combat, hitting the enemy, and dealing damage.
Ranged Combat – How effective is this character at hitting and dealing damage from afar?
Defense – How effective is this character at resisting damage of all sorts such as hit point damage, possession, falling rocks, traps, etc.
Stealth – How effective is the class at moving subtly and hiding as well as perform actions undetected.
Scouting – How effective is the class at identifying threats and relaying the information. Scouting and stealth are not necessarily the same function, though they tend to go hand-in-hand, they won’t always.
Socializing – How effective is the class in social situations from getting what you want out of a prisoner or lord, to getting yourself out of a sticky situation without the use of violence.
Battlefield Control – How effective is the class at locking down a battlefield, or at least a part of a battlefield. This can range from shutting down all enemy activity to just making it annoying for the enemy to deal with, and thus they choose another action.
Healing – How effectively does the class restore damage to hit points or ability scores, and how well does the class fare in removing debilitations.
Buffing – How effectively does the class improve the abilities of the party, themselves, and allies. Think of this as a general “team player” category, as most friendly assisting bonuses will be considered here.
Debuffing – How effectively does the class degrade the abilities of the enemy.
A few unintelligible words and fleeting gestures carry more power than a battleaxe, when they are the words and gestures of a wizard. These simple acts make magic seem easy, but they only hint at the time the wizard must spend poring over her spellbook preparing each spell for casting, and the years before that spent in apprenticeship to learn the arts of magic. Wizards depend on intensive study to create their magic. They examine musty old tomes, debate magical theory with their peers, and practice minor magics whenever they can. For a wizard, magic is not a talent but a difficult, rewarding art.
Overview: The Wizard, next to the Sorcerer, is one of the "pure magic" classes of the Player's Handbook. They get access to full casting but don't have any other features whatsoever to rely on, meaning that the spells they learn are 99% of their power. While nominally a Tier 1 class, they do have a number of setbacks Clerics and Druids don't have to deal with. Note: Scribe Scroll makes it easy for the Wizard to load up on utility spells on the side so that they can use broadly applicable spells in their slots.
Most of a Wizard's arsenal is ill-suited for melee, given their bad HD and low BAB. Some spells like the Polymorph line give you staying power up-close but don't expect smashing enemies like an ubercharger. Summoning Monsters is the other way of doing melee as a Wizard but the 1 round casting time is awkward to deal with. At least your varied summons and buffs lets you tag any invisible, ethereal, flying or speedy targets.
No surprise that blasting is something Wizards can do really well. Orbs get around a lot of typical defensive options and classics like Fireball, Cone of Cold and Chain Lightning can fry a large quantity of monsters at once. If you specialize in Evocation, you shouldn't be hard-pressed for blasting slots most of the time. Do note that your blasting needs some serious work to compete with the damage numbers of optimized martials or the action economy of manifesters.
A Wizard, despite its d4 Hit Die and no armor proficiency, is deceptively tanky. The Abrupt Jaunt ACF essentially lets you no-sell most melee attacks and spells like Mage Armor and False Life give a welcome boost to AC and HP, respectively. Still, Wizards have a whole slew of ACFs and different specializations, so as good as Abrupt Jaunt is for surviving early mobs, it restricting you to Conjuration as your specialization means I can't give a higher rating. That said, summoned monsters can also be a form of tankiness, but, again, casting time.
If you spend your bonus feat(s) on Silent Spell, that opens up a world of possibilities for casting spells in the open. Next to that, (Greater) Invisibility and Ethereal Jaunt make it easy for a Wizard to hide, Alter Self is premium for blending in and you can also use Illusions for hiding/distracting.
You have a boatload of divinations to scout whereever or whomever you want at any time, from the comfort of your own mage tower. Contact Other Plane is just unfair.
Sending and Tongues are staple spells for enabling communication with most kind of sapient beings. As for convincing others, you are reliant on landing charms and compulsions. While indeed powerful, you're kinda hosed if your mark has a Protection spell against your alignment (or worse, Mind Blank).
Anyone who read Treantmonk's guide should have seen this coming. Solid Fog, Wall of Stone, Stinking Cloud, Wall of Fire, Major Image, Summon Monster... most spell schools give you options for that. Many of those don't care for Spell Resistance/Immunity, so enemies like these won't be too much of a headscratcher.
The only form of healing you can provide is by summoning monsters with healing spells. These only come online at a high level, where healing isn't as much of a necessity anymore. So you kind of need to bend over backwards to provide it, and even then it's not very good. Spells to repair constructs exist, but since most PCs won't be constructs and golemancy is pretty expensive, it's not impactful on the rating.
Haste is a fantastic buff for your melees, your switchhitters, your mounts - everyone loves it. In general, the Transmutation school in particular has loads and loads of buffs that can enhance allies in a fight, assist in social situations or help your party get into places.
Glitterdust, Ray of Enfeeblement, Hideous Laughter, Hypnotic Pattern... it's mainly Enchantment and Necromancy who have lots of ways to weaken your opponents, with you being able to vary your saves to make sure your spells can land.
Total Score: 81/100 - No doubt the Wizard is one of the strongest classes in D&D, having near-unmatched versatility with their massive spell list, plus Scribe Scroll to get around some of the daily limitations. These guys are the reason why DMs want to bludgeon you into powering through dungeons back-to-back - they can easily turn downtime into more spell slots and "counter pick" any given locale with the proper loadout with just a single day of prep time. However, their weak chassis can be a liability at lower levels, a problem the divine casters tend not to have.
Notable Feats: Although Feats are not part of this analysis, there's some notable ones you can pick up that will greatly enhance your Wizard:
Arcane Thesis: There's a few spells like Enervation that are worth spamming in most encounters. And there's little that gives you this much metamagic reduction at once.
Chain Spell: It's not actually worth spreading a damage spell like that for the high cost, since using an AoE spell will generally be much better. The reason it's here is because you can use it with potent single-target buffs like Polymorph.
Craft Wand: If you need a certain utility spell a whole lot of, grab this feat. It's essentially a 40% discount over scrolls.
Faerie Mysteries Initiate: Among the number of benefits, the most notable one is the ability to gain extra hit points off of your Intelligence rather than Constitution. This extra buffer further decreases the already little need to invest into other stats, while also providing significant longevity at early levels.
Heighten Spell: Allows your low-level control options to remain solid higher up by scaling their DCs. Easily one of the staple metamagics.
Quicken Spell: Quicken Spell allows you to throw out two spells per turn, and it is absolutely worth the high slot adjustment.
Reserves of Strength: The caster level boost can sometimes be helpful for pre-buffing where the 3 turn daze isn't a big deal. But the real kicker (although I'm dubious that it's intended this way) is the ability to break the level cap of your spells - aside from damaging spells, notable targets are including but not limited to Ray of Enfeeblement, Alter Self and Dispel Magic.
Like AnimeTheCat, this analysis won't account for things that are universally accessible to all characters, including normal feat progressions and most kinds of equipment (seriously, a Candle of Invocation is all you need to go full TO). However starting gear that the class needs/uses is fair game (such as a Wizard's spellbook, a Fighter's weapons and armor etc.).
For reference, the 10 rating points, each getting a score from 1 to 10, again copied from AnimeTheCat:
Melee Combat – How effective is this character at getting in to melee combat, hitting the enemy, and dealing damage.
Ranged Combat – How effective is this character at hitting and dealing damage from afar?
Defense – How effective is this character at resisting damage of all sorts such as hit point damage, possession, falling rocks, traps, etc.
Stealth – How effective is the class at moving subtly and hiding as well as perform actions undetected.
Scouting – How effective is the class at identifying threats and relaying the information. Scouting and stealth are not necessarily the same function, though they tend to go hand-in-hand, they won’t always.
Socializing – How effective is the class in social situations from getting what you want out of a prisoner or lord, to getting yourself out of a sticky situation without the use of violence.
Battlefield Control – How effective is the class at locking down a battlefield, or at least a part of a battlefield. This can range from shutting down all enemy activity to just making it annoying for the enemy to deal with, and thus they choose another action.
Healing – How effectively does the class restore damage to hit points or ability scores, and how well does the class fare in removing debilitations.
Buffing – How effectively does the class improve the abilities of the party, themselves, and allies. Think of this as a general “team player” category, as most friendly assisting bonuses will be considered here.
Debuffing – How effectively does the class degrade the abilities of the enemy.
A few unintelligible words and fleeting gestures carry more power than a battleaxe, when they are the words and gestures of a wizard. These simple acts make magic seem easy, but they only hint at the time the wizard must spend poring over her spellbook preparing each spell for casting, and the years before that spent in apprenticeship to learn the arts of magic. Wizards depend on intensive study to create their magic. They examine musty old tomes, debate magical theory with their peers, and practice minor magics whenever they can. For a wizard, magic is not a talent but a difficult, rewarding art.
Overview: The Wizard, next to the Sorcerer, is one of the "pure magic" classes of the Player's Handbook. They get access to full casting but don't have any other features whatsoever to rely on, meaning that the spells they learn are 99% of their power. While nominally a Tier 1 class, they do have a number of setbacks Clerics and Druids don't have to deal with. Note: Scribe Scroll makes it easy for the Wizard to load up on utility spells on the side so that they can use broadly applicable spells in their slots.
Most of a Wizard's arsenal is ill-suited for melee, given their bad HD and low BAB. Some spells like the Polymorph line give you staying power up-close but don't expect smashing enemies like an ubercharger. Summoning Monsters is the other way of doing melee as a Wizard but the 1 round casting time is awkward to deal with. At least your varied summons and buffs lets you tag any invisible, ethereal, flying or speedy targets.
No surprise that blasting is something Wizards can do really well. Orbs get around a lot of typical defensive options and classics like Fireball, Cone of Cold and Chain Lightning can fry a large quantity of monsters at once. If you specialize in Evocation, you shouldn't be hard-pressed for blasting slots most of the time. Do note that your blasting needs some serious work to compete with the damage numbers of optimized martials or the action economy of manifesters.
A Wizard, despite its d4 Hit Die and no armor proficiency, is deceptively tanky. The Abrupt Jaunt ACF essentially lets you no-sell most melee attacks and spells like Mage Armor and False Life give a welcome boost to AC and HP, respectively. Still, Wizards have a whole slew of ACFs and different specializations, so as good as Abrupt Jaunt is for surviving early mobs, it restricting you to Conjuration as your specialization means I can't give a higher rating. That said, summoned monsters can also be a form of tankiness, but, again, casting time.
If you spend your bonus feat(s) on Silent Spell, that opens up a world of possibilities for casting spells in the open. Next to that, (Greater) Invisibility and Ethereal Jaunt make it easy for a Wizard to hide, Alter Self is premium for blending in and you can also use Illusions for hiding/distracting.
You have a boatload of divinations to scout whereever or whomever you want at any time, from the comfort of your own mage tower. Contact Other Plane is just unfair.
Sending and Tongues are staple spells for enabling communication with most kind of sapient beings. As for convincing others, you are reliant on landing charms and compulsions. While indeed powerful, you're kinda hosed if your mark has a Protection spell against your alignment (or worse, Mind Blank).
Anyone who read Treantmonk's guide should have seen this coming. Solid Fog, Wall of Stone, Stinking Cloud, Wall of Fire, Major Image, Summon Monster... most spell schools give you options for that. Many of those don't care for Spell Resistance/Immunity, so enemies like these won't be too much of a headscratcher.
The only form of healing you can provide is by summoning monsters with healing spells. These only come online at a high level, where healing isn't as much of a necessity anymore. So you kind of need to bend over backwards to provide it, and even then it's not very good. Spells to repair constructs exist, but since most PCs won't be constructs and golemancy is pretty expensive, it's not impactful on the rating.
Haste is a fantastic buff for your melees, your switchhitters, your mounts - everyone loves it. In general, the Transmutation school in particular has loads and loads of buffs that can enhance allies in a fight, assist in social situations or help your party get into places.
Glitterdust, Ray of Enfeeblement, Hideous Laughter, Hypnotic Pattern... it's mainly Enchantment and Necromancy who have lots of ways to weaken your opponents, with you being able to vary your saves to make sure your spells can land.
Total Score: 81/100 - No doubt the Wizard is one of the strongest classes in D&D, having near-unmatched versatility with their massive spell list, plus Scribe Scroll to get around some of the daily limitations. These guys are the reason why DMs want to bludgeon you into powering through dungeons back-to-back - they can easily turn downtime into more spell slots and "counter pick" any given locale with the proper loadout with just a single day of prep time. However, their weak chassis can be a liability at lower levels, a problem the divine casters tend not to have.
Notable Feats: Although Feats are not part of this analysis, there's some notable ones you can pick up that will greatly enhance your Wizard:
Arcane Thesis: There's a few spells like Enervation that are worth spamming in most encounters. And there's little that gives you this much metamagic reduction at once.
Chain Spell: It's not actually worth spreading a damage spell like that for the high cost, since using an AoE spell will generally be much better. The reason it's here is because you can use it with potent single-target buffs like Polymorph.
Craft Wand: If you need a certain utility spell a whole lot of, grab this feat. It's essentially a 40% discount over scrolls.
Faerie Mysteries Initiate: Among the number of benefits, the most notable one is the ability to gain extra hit points off of your Intelligence rather than Constitution. This extra buffer further decreases the already little need to invest into other stats, while also providing significant longevity at early levels.
Heighten Spell: Allows your low-level control options to remain solid higher up by scaling their DCs. Easily one of the staple metamagics.
Quicken Spell: Quicken Spell allows you to throw out two spells per turn, and it is absolutely worth the high slot adjustment.
Reserves of Strength: The caster level boost can sometimes be helpful for pre-buffing where the 3 turn daze isn't a big deal. But the real kicker (although I'm dubious that it's intended this way) is the ability to break the level cap of your spells - aside from damaging spells, notable targets are including but not limited to Ray of Enfeeblement, Alter Self and Dispel Magic.