new optimized abjuration wizard

[Sol0botmate]

Indeed. I'm just questioning how effective that really is.

I don't see how it's not clear.

1 Forge Cleric/5 Abjuration Wizard, Mark of Warding Dwarf. 17 INT, 16 CON. Let's say you didn't take Eldricht Adept: Shadow Armor, so you took one of half-feats to get 18 INT.

With 16 CON you have 46 HP. You cast Armor of Agathys from 3rd level - you get extra 15 Temp. HP. Your Ward gives you extra 14 HP on top. That is extra 29 HP, giving you total of 75 HP.

To compare level 6 Barbarian with 18 CON will have 71 HP.

But you also have 21 AC (26 with Shield) and you are Wizard. If enemies hit you in melee they will receive 15 cold damage. Since ward protects your AoA - at this level if you are hit 4 times during encounter - you will deal 60 dmg. And bear in mind that you can have left even only 2 temp HP from AoA after one of encounters - but if you recharge that Ward before next one - you will still deal 15 cold dmg to anyone that will hit you because Ward has to go down first again.

It gets better and better at higher levels. Once you have Contingency, you put AoA there to trigger then you current AoA goes down. Giving you Effectively (1/11) 86 extra HP during encounter before enemies will get to your HP bar. At the same time anything that will hit you will get 30 cold dmg. Add to that resistance to spell damage later + super high AC (26) + advantage vs saves + bonus to counterspell and it's very effective at being a tank. You can face tank an enemy and if he hits you 3 times in a row - he will get 90 cold dmg. Without you doing anything else if you want.

Now as if Eldricht Adept: Shadow Armor is necessary- depends. If your table plays more around 2-4 encounters per day - then Ritual Alarm should be enough to recharge Ward. If you have play tons of encounters during day like 6-9: it's better to have Shadow Armor to make sure that Ward is fuly charged before next combat.