Choice of Race for Wizard, Post-Tasha’s

[kbob]

the DM for a new game I’m playing is allowing anything that is in the Forgotten Realms. He is also allowing the ability score redistribution feature for races in tashas. The only restriction is that the redistribution feature only works on PHB races. I’m wanting to play a wizard as I have not done so since 3.5. I’m stuck on which race to go with. Should I just go gnome or, with the above restriction, is there another race I should go with? Looking for optimized, min/maxed.
Thank you all in advance!

[Rusvul]

Half-orc is very solid for a Wizard if you reallocate the +2 to Int. Savage Attacks is useless, but Relentless Endurance is [I]very[I] strong and because TCoE lets you reallocate skills as well, Menacing becomes a free-floating skill proficiency. Half-elf is strong too, just because of how versatile it is--+2/+1/+1, Fey Ancestry, two skills... and of course they both get Darkvision. Post-Tasha's, Half-Orc and Half-Elf are very strong picks regardless of class.

Also, there's the oft-discussed Mountain Dwarf wizard. +2/+2 is good, and medium armor is a big boost to AC for a wizard.

[diplomancer]

If PHB only, best is definitely Mountain Dwarf. Medium armor, 4 floating weapon proficiencies, +2 Int, +2 Con, with Medium armor you can leave your dex at 14.
S 8 D 14 C 17 W 10 I 17, Cha 8. At level 4, raise both Con and Int. If you're ok with only 16 Con, you can be slightly more balanced, S8 D 14 C 16 W 12 I 16, Cha 10

[Verble]

Not sure they fit but I'm a fan of goblin and hobgoblin for wizards. Goblins get a bonus action disengage/hide for stealth and low cost combat escapes. Hobgoblin get an int bonus and light armor(nice feat for them is medium armored granted you better armor and shields).

Gnomes are a solid choice for wizard as well. Did you have a particular subclass you were looking at? Some people dip cleric(knowledge is popular for armor, shields, and expertise in knowledge skills). Any thoughts on a dip? Do you know what level you'll be?

[Gale]

Mountain Dwarf might actually be a better option. You get Medium armor proficiency, which is much better than Mage Armor. And they get +2 to two stats instead of a +2 and a +1 like most other races.

Other than that, Variant Human is still nice due to the free feat, but in my opinion Wizard isn't a class that desperately needs feats. The only exception in my opinion is if you want to play Bladesinger, as I think having something like Mobile will make playing them feel a lot easier.

Gnome is still good too, as Gnome Cunning is hard to beat. It's probably your best option if you think you can forgo medium armor and just want to play a typical wizard.

[bendking]

It's Goblin. Bonus Action Hide is incredibly useful, as is the Disengage.

[Sandeman]

Custom lineage is quite strong for Wizards.
+2 Int, Darkvision and a feat.

[Ir0ns0ul]

Mountain Dwarf might actually be a better option. You get Medium armor proficiency, which is much better than Mage Armor. And they get +2 to two stats instead of a +2 and a +1 like most other races.

Honestly, I don’t think Mountain Dwarf is that good for Wizard. Yes, you get medium armor, but you don’t get shield proficiency. Which means (considering 14 DEX), an AC of 17 with Half-Plate. This is just one point behind a 16 DEX + Mage Armor Wizard (AC 16).

Personally speaking, I’d rather pick Hill Dwarf, the HP bonus is always nice.

Best tank race for Wizard, before and after Tasha’s, will always be Hobgoblin.

However, I must say a nimble Goblin Wizard leveraging Invisibility and Hide bonus action is more durable than most people think.

[N810]

Yuan-Ti have quite a few traits most Wizards would love [oops, i missed the PHB only clause]


Ability Score Increase. Your Charisma score increases by 2, and your Intelligence score increases by 1. (Might as well make int a 2 instead)

Darkvision. You can see in dim light within 60... (usefull)

Innate Spellcasting. (Bonus spells)
You know the Poison Spray cantrip.
You can cast Animal Friendship an unlimited number of times with this trait, but you can target only snakes with it.
Starting at 3rd level, you can also cast Suggestion with this trait. Once you cast it, you can't do so again until you finish a long rest.
Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these spells.

Magic Resistance. You have advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects. (Now we are talking)

Poison Immunity. You are immune to poison damage and the poisoned condition. (usefull)

[Ovarwa]

Hi,

Big fan of Mountain Dwarf using these rules. It would be nice to have shields, but even without them, it represents a slight AC bump and an extra level 1 spell slot per day (because you don't have to cast Mage Armor), which should not be forgotten about. A few weapon proficiencies are pretty good if you can swap them out for something else.

Halflings get Lucky, so that's a possibility too.

Custom Lineage plus an Int-boosting Feat lets you start with Int 18. Some Wizards might prefer to open with Resilient Con.

Choices.

Anyway,

Ken

[diplomancer]

OP said that his DM is allowing stat swap only for PHB races. So goblins are out; hobgoblins still ok, but I don't think +2 AC is worth worst Con AND Int.

[Gale]

Honestly, I don’t think Mountain Dwarf is that good for Wizard. Yes, you get medium armor, but you don’t get shield proficiency. Which means (considering 14 DEX), an AC of 17 with Half-Plate. This is just one point behind a 16 DEX + Mage Armor Wizard (AC 16).

Personally speaking, I’d rather pick Hill Dwarf, the HP bonus is always nice.

It depends mostly on how you build your character. If you're using point-buy then you can't have a 16 or higher in any stat without an ability score increase. This means at Level 1 a Dwarf can only have a 16 or higher in two stats at most. Assuming we're starting with a 16 INT then that leaves us with one other 16 to put elsewhere. On my hypothetical Mountain Dwarf I put the 16 into CON, which gives me 1d6 + 3 HP every level. Hill Dwarf needs to put the 16 into DEX so they have a 14 CON instead; combined with their Dwarven Toughness this also gives them 1d6 +3 HP every level.

Therefore, Hill Dwarf and Mountain Dwarf should have equal HP; but Mountain Dwarf has the higher AC meaning they will get hit slightly less. Generally speaking, Mountain Dwarf should still be better barring rolled stats. But if you value DEX more than CON then Hill Dwarf is probably better.

[Ir0ns0ul]

It depends mostly on how you build your character. If you're using point-buy then you can't have a 16 or higher in any stat without an ability score increase. This means at Level 1 a Dwarf can only have a 16 or higher in two stats at most. Assuming we're starting with a 16 INT then that leaves us with one other 16 to put elsewhere. On my hypothetical Mountain Dwarf I put the 16 into CON, which gives me 1d6 + 3 HP every level. Hill Dwarf needs to put the 16 into DEX so they have a 14 CON instead; combined with their Dwarven Toughness this also gives them 1d6 +3 HP every level.

Therefore, Hill Dwarf and Mountain Dwarf should have equal HP; but Mountain Dwarf has the higher AC meaning they will get hit slightly less. Generally speaking, Mountain Dwarf should still be better barring rolled stats. But if you value DEX more than CON then Hill Dwarf is probably better.

I agree with you, it’s all about personal taste. Once again, in my point of view, I think DEX is overall a better stat. For instance:

- You would have a better initiative, therefore generating more opportunities to go act first and position yourself in order to get cover or protection (increasing your AC).
- CON saves are more important, but DEX saves prevents considerable damage
- 16 DEX + Finesse weapon would enable you to make good use of Booming Blade
- Better DEX and no Stealth penalty means even more opportunities to surprise your enemies

I’m not saying Mountain Dwarf is not a good choice, it’s nice, but if you are trying to optimize for real, CON 17, DEX 15, INT 16 Hobgoblin Wizard is definitely better. Get Moderately Armored at 4, Res CON at 8 and be tough as nails.

[Witty Username]

Wood elf and Drow are interesting options. You can switch the weapon proficiency to things like rapiers, crossbows, and tools. Wood elf magic is a good selection of spells. and 35 ft move speed is nice, and you have more options for stealth which can come in handy. Drow gets a nice selection of spells and better darkvison. I would recommend rapier and heavy crossbow for weapons. Toss on green-flame/booming blade and you got a nice backup melee option. Or swap to a bunch of tools if you go bladesinger. I would say high elf is still good too, it just didn't gain as much as wood elf and drow.
Mountain dwarves can get similar things with the weapons but can that 25 move speed could get frustrating. And they don't get perception(a skill). But the armor is solid enough if that is what you want.
Halflings were already decent but now can get that +1 int, Halfling nimbleness can get you out of messes you have no business in and can sometimes outweigh that lack of movement speed. And nat 1's having advantage is fun too.

[Mitchellnotes]

If PHB only, best is definitely Mountain Dwarf. Medium armor, 4 floating weapon proficiencies, +2 Int, +2 Con, with Medium armor you can leave your dex at 14.
S 8 D 14 C 17 W 10 I 17, Cha 8. At level 4, raise both Con and Int. If you're ok with only 16 Con, you can be slightly more balanced, S8 D 14 C 16 W 12 I 16, Cha 10

I'd start with the S 8 D 14 C 17 W 10 I 17 and Cha 8 array and grab feytouched, resilient con, and int +2 as my first three ASIs (order really being a matter of preference)

edit: this would result in 18 con, 20 int, prof to con, misty step for your spell list and some free uses of it as well as another 1st level spell with medium armor

[Keravath]

Since you can now "optimize" any class to be a wizard with +2 int ... the only difference is racial features.

The best options have been mentioned.
- gnome - standard race for wizards but the resistance to mental spells is a significant feature, darkvision
- 1/2 elf - +1 to two stats in addition to +2 to int, darkvision, fey ancestry, 2 skills
- mountain dwarf - +2 to two stats, medium armor, a bunch of weapon and tool proficiencies, darkvision, poison resistance - the only downside is the 25' base movement rate.

Volo's races also have some good possibilities but they aren't an option in this case.

However, from an optimization viewpoint, I lean towards starting with one level of cleric for armor+shield, first level cleric spells etc which can be very synergistic (You gain spell casting options and some skills - if you start knowledge cleric - expertise in arcana and another knowledge skill is nice - while retaining full spell slot progression).

In this case, the dwarf loses some of its value since you pick up the weapon and armor proficiencies from the cleric side of things (you could even go heavy armor if you wanted). It does delay your spells by one level which is a significant consideration but the flip side are the healing and support spells which can also be very useful to the party.

Feat wise you will want resilient con and/or warcaster. Fey touched is also a good feat. Warcaster is only really needed if you plan to hold both a shield and a weapon while casting spells which could occur if you have a magical staff with spell capabilities and want to be able to cast other spells while holding both.

[mistajames]

Yeah, "point buy redistribution on PHB races only" doesn't make it better when the best race to redistribute stats with for a Wizard is Mountain Dwarf.

Mountain Dwarf Wizard. +2 Int, +2 Con. 1 tool proficiency (probably Smith's Tools, 4 (!) tool/martial weapon proficiencies (I recommend Heavy Crossbow, Thieves' Tools, Rapier, Alchemist's supplies, and 1 more). Medium Armor Proficiency. Plus all the usual dwarven goodies. Busted.

[MrCharlie]

It depends mostly on how you build your character. If you're using point-buy then you can't have a 16 or higher in any stat without an ability score increase. This means at Level 1 a Dwarf can only have a 16 or higher in two stats at most. Assuming we're starting with a 16 INT then that leaves us with one other 16 to put elsewhere. On my hypothetical Mountain Dwarf I put the 16 into CON, which gives me 1d6 + 3 HP every level. Hill Dwarf needs to put the 16 into DEX so they have a 14 CON instead; combined with their Dwarven Toughness this also gives them 1d6 +3 HP every level.

Therefore, Hill Dwarf and Mountain Dwarf should have equal HP; but Mountain Dwarf has the higher AC meaning they will get hit slightly less. Generally speaking, Mountain Dwarf should still be better barring rolled stats. But if you value DEX more than CON then Hill Dwarf is probably better.
To add to this, Mountain dwarf can also buy two 15's and at level 4 put +1 into both of them. It's the classic Mountain Dwarf Barbarian/Fighter move but with INT-18 STR and CON at level 4 becomes 18 INT and CON at level 4.

And your 14 DEX gives you the same AC because of medium armor, if not better AC. The negative is initiative and saving throws, but +1 isn't a huge deal for most of those rolls, and +1 HP per level (or even +2 as you point out) is.

Technically, Hill Dwarves can run the same game with a 15 CON and a 17 INT to get a 16/18, but at that point you've literally only gained +1 to DEX saves and initiative at the expense of -1 to CON saves.

Hence Hill Dwarf is actually running both an AC and HP deficit with "optimal" min-max point buy by level 4, and an AC deficit and HP equality with slightly less min-maxed stats. This assumes you literally only care about DEX, CON, and INT, but if you go with a less min-maxey build you can build for the other stats better on a mountain than hill dwarf and maintain parity in either HP or AC over a hill dwarf.

In other words, a hill dwarves +1 HP only matters once your build maxes CON, which is kinduve tough to do with a "typical" wizard. Or if you care about initiative. But if you care about initiative that much, play a custom race or a human and pick up alert-you will be glad you did when a real initiative boost slams you above the leaderboard consistently.

[ff7hero]

Yeah, "point buy redistribution on PHB races only" doesn't make it better when the best race to redistribute stats with for a Wizard is Mountain Dwarf.

Winged Tiefling, Aarakroa and Yuan Ti are all really solid post-Tasha's Wizard races. If you want armor, you can dip for it. You can't get flight or MR+poison immunity from a one level dip.

[Witty Username]

Winged tiefling and yuan-ti are good without Tasha's. Which is important given they aren't phb for this conversation.
There is the kill joy that winged races are the most likely banned official content.

[ezekielraiden]

Custom lineage is quite strong for Wizards.
+2 Int, Darkvision and a feat.

Yeah, I was gonna say this. It lacks for flavor and special features, but it's really hard to argue with +2 Int, Darkvision, and Resilient (Con). Half-elf is probably the only one I'd grant as truly an improvement, since you can get +2 Int, +1 Con, +1 Dex, Darkvision, two skills, and minor incidental bonuses. Compared to the Custom Lineage standard, you're a full ASI-equivalent ahead. Which, given how good the Custom Lineage baseline is, should show you just how powerful the half-elf really is.

I also feel like Satyr should get some love if we're allowed to mention stuff outside the PHB. Not sure if the fey type is good or bad (does it prevent buffs from affecting you?), but having magic resistance and two flexible skills is pretty dang good, and the extra +5 feet movement isn't bad. You can also swap out the musical instrument proficiency for a tool of some kind.

[rlc]

What kind of Wizard? A lot of these suggestions are good in general, but a halfling will make a better diviner, for example.
I’d basically just stay away from races that give spells using ability scores that aren’t intelligence, for obvious reasons.

[diplomancer]

What kind of Wizard? A lot of these suggestions are good in general, but a halfling will make a better diviner, for example.
I’d basically just stay away from races that give spells using ability scores that aren’t intelligence, for obvious reasons.
Halfling makes a more fun diviner, as you get to manipulate more dice, but the Halfling lucky ability does not work well with Portent at all. You will never want to reroll a 1 you get with your Portents.

[Wildarm]

I personally like custom linage with Telekinetic Feat. Gives you 18 starting Int and a really great bonus action shove. Shove is super versatile, can be used to break grapples, push foes into hazardous effects(Bonfire for example), Disengage for yourself or a friend, or generally put a bit more distance between yourself and a foe.

Wizards have very few bonus action uses and this one synergies well as an at will control option for wizards.

[Eldariel]

Vuman or Custom Lineage is pretty much the best, barring either a flight race or something where you need a lot of skill proficiencies. Reallocation doesn't really change that; getting your Alert or Lucky or Res: Con on level 1 instead of 4 and getting to max Int out earlier is just great.

If you look solely at power, it's hard to beat 8/16/15/16/8/8 Vuman Wizard picking up Res: Con in due schedule.

[Blood of Gaea]

One particular option of note is a Custom Lineage who takes a +1 Int half-feat, starting with 18 Int is a pretty big deal.

Besides that, I will double up with everyone suggesting strong defensive race.