[4e] Challenge: Human Wizard

[V'icternus]

Alright, here's what I'm going to do. I'll give you a starting class and race. I'll tell you the stats. Then, you (anyone who wants to) can take this level 1 Human Wizard, and talk about how best to optimize it.

That is to say, there is nothing else set for this character but the thing's I'll describe. Everything else is up to you. Basically, you get a fairly clean slate to practice your 1-30 optimising on.

And before you ask, no, this doesn't have a time limit. This character is not likely to be used soon, and even if I suddenly have to use it tommorrow, I'm ready for that. I just wanted to see what my fellow Playgrounders would do with this character, if they could.

Race: Human (Would prefer to keep as Human, but feel free to change)
Class: Wizard (Locked)
Build: (Possibly War Wizard)
Arcane Implement Mastery: (Possibly Staff of Defense)

Ability scores (All re-assignable, but unchangeable):

STR: 5
CON: 15
DEX: 14
INT: 18 (+2)
WIS: 13
CHA: 14

(Yes, I rolled these scores. No, I'm not happy about that "5" messing up my otherwise decent scores...)

Trained Skills: (Changeable)

History
Diplomacy
Religion
Insight

Feats: (Changeable)

Expanded Spellbook
Toughness

Powers: (All changeable)

At-will:

1. Cloud of Daggers
1. Scorching Burst
1. Thunderwave

Encounter:

1. Force Orb

Daily:

1. Freezing Cloud
1. Acid Arrow
1. Sleep


Asside from that, equipment is all pretty basic (starting at level 1 with five Strength, this Wizard can't carry much...) but suggestions for optimal equipment can be included as well.

Alright then. Anyone who's bored, wants a challenge, or just thinks it'd be fun, feel free to start using the information here to make the best character you can. (Anyone who can plan them from level 1 through to level 30 first without substituting awesomeness wins)

[LOLC2k]

Illusory ambush as an at will is a must, nearly, I find cloud of daggers to suck.
Targetting will is absolute win, especially at low levels, and illusory ambush does this while imposing a -2 on their next to hit... very useful for an at will.

[V'icternus]

Illusory ambush as an at will is a must, nearly, I find cloud of daggers to suck.
Targetting will is absolute win, especially at low levels, and illusory ambush does this while imposing a -2 on their next to hit... very useful for an at will.

Hmm, now that I look that spell up, it's a pretty damn good one. Good thing Human = three At-Wills, so it's not like I'll ever be at a loss.

[Draz74]

Switch Wisdom and Charisma. That's an extra space that your Thunderwave will push. And your Charisma will still be high enough to take feats that require 13 Charisma (e.g. Spell Focus).

Leather Armor Proficiency is widely considered an optimal choice for Level 1 Wizards. Expanded Spellbook seems cool, but I've heard in practice it doesn't really help much. (Haven't tried it myself to know.)

Probably not optimal, but it's amusing to consider spending a feat to train Athletics. (A multiclass feat, obviously, not just Skill Training.) Just so you could pretend your Strength was actually 15 as far as skills are concerned. 'Course, that doesn't actually help with other uses of Strength, like how much you can carry or getting Hide Armor Prof. or when you have to make a basic melee attack for some reason.

Hmmm, actually, maybe you should switch Strength and Dexterity. Does terrible things to your Initiative and Acrobats checks, but at least you could carry a normal set of equipment and possibly get Hide Armor.

[V'icternus]

Switch Wisdom and Charisma. That's an extra space that your Thunderwave will push. And your Charisma will still be high enough to take feats that require 13 Charisma (e.g. Spell Focus).

Leather Armor Proficiency is widely considered an optimal choice for Level 1 Wizards. Expanded Spellbook seems cool, but I've heard in practice it doesn't really help much. (Haven't tried it myself to know.)

Probably not optimal, but it's amusing to consider spending a feat to train Athletics. (A multiclass feat, obviously, not just Skill Training.) Just so you could pretend your Strength was actually 15 as far as skills are concerned. 'Course, that doesn't actually help with other uses of Strength, like how much you can carry or getting Hide Armor Prof. or when you have to make a basic melee attack for some reason.

Hmmm, actually, maybe you should switch Strength and Dexterity. Does terrible things to your Initiative and Acrobats checks, but at least you could carry a normal set of equipment and possibly get Hide Armor.

Well, switching Wisdom and Charisma sounds like a good idea, for starters. And getting some basic armour would probably help survivability, I just wonder which spell I would get rid of if I removed Expanded Spellbook...

And as for training in Athletics, well, that gives me a 2, I think, in that particular skill. (+5 trained, -3 STR)

But I think having such a horrible Dexterity would really hinder the character, as some Wizard Powers use Dexterity, frankly, when's a Wizard gonna need Strength?

[HMS Invincible]

I have a similar wizard built. Go with action surge and implement expertise feats. Choose sleep and flaming sphere as your daily. Your encounter spell should be grasping shadows. You end up with a close combat wizard but you should be fine if defenders are doing their jobs. In addition, consider taking enlarge spell feat so you can hit a larger area in exchange for -2 damage per dice.

The expertise feat lets you hit 5% more often, and targeting will defense will let you hit 5% more often.

[TheEmerged]

/em cracks knuckles

I don't see any prohibitions about what sources can be used, so I'll assume that if it was published with a hard back it's available.

Let's start with your implement mastery. Staff is, in my opinion, the second weakest of the 6 available masteries, but also the one that doesn't tie down your power selection. It's a +1 AC, and the ability to make a power that hit you by a small amount miss once per encounter. That's not a bad thing, mind, but I think four of the remaining choices are better.

The exception? Wand of Accuracy. It's only good for a single attack roll. If it applied to every attack roll from one attack, it'd be good.

Tome of Binding (AP) is a good choice if you take a lot of summoning powers. And if you're not, it's obviously a poor choice.

Tome of Readiness (AP) is something of a playstyle choice. It allows you to keep a situational encounter power you can use instead of your normal one. This can be a huge advantage, letting you keep an area-affecting attack power like Force Orb as your normal encounter attack power while having a situational one (like Phantom Bolt) available if needed. It's not going to come up as often as the remaining choices, though.

Orb of Imposition, like Tome of Binding, is best if you choose your powers around it. In fact, I'd argue that if you take this mastery it pretty-much decides your at-wills for you.

Orb of Deception (AP), like Tome of Binding, is best if you choose your powers around it. When I theory-tested an illusion-minded wizard through a couple of encounters in Dungeon Delve, I found that its "second chance" ability is quite useful in practice. I think it's safe to say you're going to miss at least once per battle

Leather Armor Proficiency is widely considered an optimal choice for Level 1 Wizards. Expanded Spellbook seems cool, but I've heard in practice it doesn't really help much. (Haven't tried it myself to know.)

Yeah, "Expanded Spellbook" is one of those things that looks neat on paper but means little in practice. It got dropped from all of my theorycraft builds once the Arcane Power supplement came out and filled out the list of desirable feats nicely (if you just have PHB, it's a little short on feat selection for wizards). To really be worth a feat, you'd need to be able to make the swap decision as an in-combat action (reference Tome of Readiness).

Leather Armor Proficiency is not as big a deal as it may look like. You're burning a feat to gain +2 AC. I'm not saying to avoid it, I'm saying you probably don't have to look too hard to find one you're going to use/benefit from more often -- and that for a human, there is definitely a better choice.

Since this IS a human character, your first feat is Action Surge. Period. The +3 untyped bonus to attack rolls once every other encounter (roughly) is hard to argue with. Since this applies to *every* attack roll you make with an blast or burst power, it adds up quickly. Nearly every human or half-elf build I see/theory-build takes this at some point.

After that? Human Preserverance is not the huge boon it may appear. You have a 55% chance of making a save roll, is a +5% to that really worth a feat? Arcane Reserves (AP) is a better feat at lower levels than at higher levels, so if you take it at 1st you'll probably end up retraining it to something else. Implement Expertise (PHB2) should definitely be on your list of Heroic feats, but may be something you want at 2nd level rather than immediately (no later than 4th).

Bizarre as it might sound, with a Cha 13 you might want to take a good long look at Bardic Dilettante (PHB2) feat. The healing power as a daily is gravy -- you're looking at that lengthy list of available and desirable skills. It also qualifies you for the Bardic Knowledge (PHB2) feat later on -- a +2 feat bonus to Arcana, Dungeoneering, History, Nature, Religion, AND Streetwise.

EDIT: I knew there was a feat I was forgetting -- Destructive Wizardry (AP) gives you a +2 damage if you hit two or more creatures. If you didn't know this, your job as a Wizard is to hit two or more creatures every chance you get

Another one for the list of feats you will want eventually but not at 1st level is Dual Implement Spellcaster. It won't matter until you have two +1 implements, and it won't really be worth a feat until you have two +2 implements. There are a lot of others (Enlarge Spell), but I think this rounds out the ones you might be thinking about at 1st level.

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Someone mentioned swapping your Charisma & Wisdom. Based on your skill selection (which is decent), it doesn't look like you're going to be the party's mouthpiece, so I would agree with this statement.

You may also want to look at swapping your Dex & Con, but that's not the no-brainer the Cha/Wis swap is. There are decent arguments both ways, so it'll depend on what you prefer. If you leave it like you have it, you'll get 1 extra HP now, plus 1 more HP and an additional healing surge when you increase Con to 16, and a +1 to Fort when you increase Con to 16. Switch the 15 to Dex and you'll +1 initiative when you increase Dex to 16 (you're Ref nor AC will benefit from it). On paper that looks like a no-brainer for the Con, but I personally would rather have the +1 initiative.

------------------------

For the level one dailies, definitely keep Sleep. What you choose to occasionally swap it out for is a matter of taste. I prefer Flaming Sphere over Acid Arrow myself but both have their charms. If you have a rogue in your party take a long look at Phantom Chasm (AP). I haven't had a chance to test Summon Fire Warrior yet but it looks good.

For the level one encounter power, Force Orb is a good choice. So is Grasping Shadows (AP). If you take "Tome of Readiness" as your mastery option (AP), both Chill Strike and Astral Warp (AP) have charms as the prepared encounter power -- most of the time you'll want the area-effect power as your encounter, but against a boss-style encounter you may want to switch to the single-target debuff.

On the subject of your 3 at-wills -- much debate this way goes What follows is my opinion based on my experience, and it in no way invalidates the opinions of others.

1> Cloud of Daggers: too situational, which might make it an okay choice for a human wizard's third at-will but probably shouldn't be the first or second for other races. Definitely switch your 14 from Cha to Wis if you keep this one.
2>Magic Missile is a decent choice -- that isn't really in keeping with what you're supposed to be bringing to the party. Like the Leather Armor Proficiency feat, it's not a bad choice but you can probably find better ones.
3>Ray of Frost, however, IS a bad choice. "Slowed" is not all that desirable of a condition to put on enemies.
4>Scorching Burst, on the other hand, is so good that any wizard with an implement mastery other than Orb of Imposition should take it.
5>Thunderwave is a bit of an odd one. I personally don't like it because of its Close range -- I don't like for wizards to get that close to enemies. Now, at Paragon level it can become a good choice if you have Dex 15 and the Arcane Reach feat. Truth is, I see more Fighters with Thunderwave than mages (especially Half Elf Fighters).
6>Illusory Ambush (AP) is a decent debuff, and a good choice if you choose Orb of Imposition to make it affect an opponent for two turns instead of one.
7>Phantom Bolt (AP), like Cloud of Daggers, is a bit situational and therefore makes a good choice for that 3rd at-will humans get. In fact it makes a better one, in my opinion.
8>Storm Pillar (AP) is a good choice if you chose Orb of Imposition, a bit iffy otherwise. Unless there's an errata I missed, notice that it doesn't affect anyone that starts next to it or moves out of the affected squares -- it affects people that move into the squares. On the other hand, it's a MUCH better area-denial power than Cloud of Daggers (denying the square it is in until they kill it, and making the squares around it painful).

[ocato]

Seems similar to a character I play (who is now L7): The Cowardly Wizard.

STR: 5
CON: 15
DEX: 14
INT: 18 (+2)
WIS: 14
CHA: 13

As has been said, Wis 14, Cha 13 instead of vice versa. Good dex means you have Dual Implement Caster as a feat later when you're richer and happier, which is good news. Charisma is just fine for spell focus.

Staff of Defense is great for Heroic, just feat into a second implement in Paragon. Most people will scream ORBZZZ but I intend to go Tome of Readiness, personally. I miss the days of Wizardly versatility and super-uber things are usually bad news for a real game. Tome of Readiness (and it's improved version via paragon feat, both found in Arcane Power) lets you swap out an encounter (and daily, if you got the feat) on the fly. Very useful, I think. Especially if your DM has a nose for cheese and likes to fight fire with fire.

Feats:
Implement Expertise: Yes, please.
Leather Proficiency: +2 AC amirite? Choosing magical armor may be interesting with this later.


Powers: (All changeable)

At-will:

1. Illusory Ambush (AP)
1. Scorching Burst
1. Thunderwave

Congratulations, you can attack any defense and any (reasonable) range.

Encounter:
1. Grasping Shadows (AP)

It's like if Icy Terrain and Force Orb had a sexy hybrid damage-control baby.

Daily:
1. I personally like Grease (AP), mostly because my DM rolls saves like a mad man and he ruled that moving through it counts as moving into it (ie, stand up from prone and then never ever risk moving again). Sleep is a safer choice.

1. I went Rolling Thunder (AP) instead of Flaming Sphere because of action economy and a melee heavy party. Flaming Sphere is nice, except you burn half or more of your actions sustaining, moving, and attacking with it and if you're like me, you've got Paladins and Fighters and Warlords and the like who are already fighting to position. I'd rather just tap one or two and then slap em when they try to move. Optimized? Maybe not, but easy to use. When it comes to wizarding, I only want to force my enemies to behave a certain way. Let those rubes on my team do whatever they like.

Items:
Repulsion Armor (AV) is about 520g for +1 (cloth or leather) and gives you a daily power where you can keep people back for an entire encounter. Definitely has its uses, especially against high fort enemies who resist Thunderwave.

Defensive Staff (AV) is also 520g, and gives you +1 to all defenses (including AC as a Staff Wizard). A human with leather and this staff has decent defenses. Infact, your character (level 1) with this staff and nonmagical leather has:

AC: 10 (base) +4 (int) +2 (Leather) +1 (staffizard) +1 (staff)= 18
Fort: 10 (base) +2 (con) +1 (Human) +1 (staff)= 14
Reflex: 10 (base) +4 (int) +1 (human) +1 (staff) = 16
Will: 10 (base) +2 (wis) +1 (human) +1 (staff) +2 (wizard) = 16

18 AC for a level 1 Wizard is pretty good.

Other Heroic feats:
Enlarge Spell: Bigger can be better, damage penalty isn't as rough as it sounds.
Dual Implement Caster: Tome/orb/whatever +Staff of Ruin= a damage boost
Destructive Wizardry: Hit 2+ enemies, get damage
Arcane reserves: out of encounter powers? +2 damage
Action Surge: Yes. I love it. Slap them with an at-will before you break out that must hit spell.
Improved Initiative: Go first, make them fight on your terms. Your team will adapt.
Coordinated Explosion: They give defenders a lot of surges for a reason, +1 to hit if an ally is in the burst is worth considering, especially if you reeeeeeaaally need to hit. Also, your defender isn't going to sweat being slowed/immobilized/etc if the thing(s) it wants to fight are slowed/immobilized/etc right next to it.

NOTE: You are not a striker, but that doesn't mean you can not or should not do damage. If you have the feats laying around, up your damage. But grab the other stuff first. This goes for powers as well.

[NPCMook]

Dual Implement Caster: Tome/orb/whatever +Staff of Ruin= a damage boost

Except a Staff requires 2 hands to wield, thus not allowing you to dual Wield

[Alteran]

The general consensus is that you need two hands to wield a quarterstaff as a weapon, and one hand to hold a staff as an implement. Otherwise staff wizards would be at a huge disadvantage, and the dual implement feat would only have worked for getting the wand of accuracy and orb of imposition (well, before AP).

Technically, staff implements don't even need to be quarterstaves.

[NPCMook]

The Staffs themselves are listed as Two-Handed Items, so by RAW yes you must use both hands to cast with a Staff

[Alteran]

Staves are listed as two handed weapons. There is a distinction. This has been answered (IIRC) by the FAQ, and it has become the generally accepted answer. Anything else wouldn't make sense.

[Saph]

My contribution: Go with the Staff for your Implement Mastery. Don't bother with the Orb until Paragon at the earliest. Orb of Imposition is mediocre in Heroic tier, and only gets really powerful in Epic.

Why? Because the main use of Orb of Imposition is to boost your (Save Ends) powers. And with a few exceptions, the only Wizard powers that work on a Save Ends are Dailies. So at level 1, all that Orb of Imposition does is give a -2 penalty to the saves of one creature once a day, when you cast your Sleep. Most likely, it won't make any difference at all.

However, once you start to build up a respectable list of Daily (save ends) powers, and boost up your Wisdom, and tack on Spell Focus as well, then Orb of Imposition gets pretty nice. Once you reach Epic and add in some of the items from Adventurer's Vault, it actually reaches broken levels, as it's possible to boost your save penalty so high that it's impossible for a creature to make it.

As for powers, everyone else has pretty much nailed it IMO:

At-will 1: Scorching Burst (ranged bursts at will are a good thing)
At-will 2: Illusionary Ambush (targeting will is a good thing)
At-will 3: Thunderwave (you won't use it much, but it's great when you do)

Encounter : Grasping Shadows (silly good, there's just no reason not to take it)

Beyond that it depends on preference. My personal favourite is Flaming Sphere for the guaranteed damage - more and more dead minions every turn.

- Saph

[V'icternus]

Well, this thread seems to be getting along nicely. It's making me wish I could get my hands on that Arcane Power book... (It's the only one that's avoided me.)

Anyway, keep 'em coming, guys. High AC looks good, level 1 powers look good. Now, what does this character do at level 2+?

[Kurald Galain]

Okay.

For implement, consider Tome of Readiness (from AP) which lets you select an alternative encounter power (so every encounter, you can use that in place of an equal-or-higher level power). At level 1, it admittedly doesn't do much, but starting from level 3 you'll have both Color Spray and Fire Shroud.

Ability scores. You'll definitely want 14 or 15 wis. Cha only needs to be 12 (because it'll automatically go to 13 at paragon, when you need it). Dex needn't be more than 13 (to qualify for a few feats). Str 5 is probably too low to carry your equipment, but looks like you're stuck with that; invest in a Muleback Harness item, it's cheap. So we get: wis 15, con 14, cha 13. You can boost your wisdom at level 4, which will do a lot for your skills, orb of imposition (if any) and thunderwave.

Skills are fine, but you forgot Arcana.

Feats. Toughness is nice at level 1, but you'll probably want to train it out around level 3 or 4. Expanded spellbook is a very bad feat that you really shouldn't take; instead, pick Enlarge Spell from Arcane Power, which increases all your bursts and blasts by one size! Yes, it is awesome.

Powers. Replace Cloud of Daggers by Thunder Pillar (AP again) which is simply better.

Replace Force Orb by Grasping Shadows, because that is simply the best one, hands down. If AP is not allowed, use Icy Terrain. Force Orb is actually pretty bad.

Daily. Sleep is without doubt the best level-1 daily; a close second is Flaming Sphere. Pick those two and you won't need any others. In particular, acid arrow is pretty bad.

Level 2. The best powers are probably Shield (if you want to defend yourself) or Jump (if you like moving your allies into position). Both are encounter powers. Plus you get another feat; since you're human, I recommend Action Surge, because landing your daily powers is always good.

Level 3. Color Spray or Fire Shroud.

HTH!

[Kurald Galain]

On the matter of items, check the guide in my sig.


Also, some reactions.

Illusory ambush as an at will is a must, nearly, I find cloud of daggers to suck.

Cloud of daggers is pretty bad, but all the wizard's area effects are almost always better than illusory ambush. Note that there's also an area effect that gives a -2.

Leather Armor Proficiency is widely considered an optimal choice for Level 1 Wizards. Expanded Spellbook seems cool, but I've heard in practice it doesn't really help much.

Leather armor is indeed good, although far from "optimal" (in that Imp Init, Implement Exp, and Enlarge Spell are all better). Expanded spellbook is really bad.

Probably not optimal, but it's amusing to consider spending a feat to train Athletics.

I'd recommend against that. Instead, take the jump spell at level 2, which gives huge bonuses to your own movement should you need it. Also, either become an Eladrin or invest in teleport powers by the time you're level 6.

other uses of Strength, like how much you can carry or getting Hide Armor Prof. or when you have to make a basic melee attack for some reason.

You don't need hide armor, +1 to AC for one feat isn't worth it. Also, wizards don't make basic melee attacks anyway. Your carrying limit is rather bothersome, but there's also bags of holding. And, for that matter, mules.

But I think having such a horrible Dexterity would really hinder the character, as some Wizard Powers use Dexterity, frankly, when's a Wizard gonna need Strength?

A wizard never needs strength. That said, a wizard doesn't need much dexterity either, except for a handful of feats that you might consider, and for your initiative. If your campaign is expected to hit epic, then you'll want a 15 dex by the time you're level 21. Speaking of initiative, put Improved Initiative on your list of "feats to take at some point".

The exception? Wand of Accuracy. It's only good for a single attack roll. If it applied to every attack roll from one attack, it'd be good.

WOA is good since you can use it retroactively. Usually, after a round or two, you have a pretty good idea what a monster's defenses are, so if you hit Reflex 18 and your DM says that's a miss, you can make it Reflex 20 instead. Just don't use it when you hit Reflex 9 :)

Bizarre as it might sound, with a Cha 13 you might want to take a good long look at Bardic Dilettante (PHB2) feat.

Not particularly, unless your party is short on healers. Spending a lot of feats on your skills simply isn't worth it, and bardic knowledge is not all that great for a wizard (who already has a huge int modifier)

EDIT: I knew there was a feat I was forgetting -- Destructive Wizardry (AP) gives you a +2 damage if you hit two or more creatures.

That's nice if you care about damage (but if you do, Dual Implement Spellcaster is better). If you instead focus on status effects, it's irrelevant.

both Chill Strike and Astral Warp (AP) have charms as the prepared encounter power

Er, no. Astral wasp is probably the worst level-1 encounter power wizards get. Avoid it.

2>Magic Missile is a decent choice

Not any more. It was average with just the PHB, but downright mediocre with AP out. Except if you make a build that invests lots of feats in boosting Magic Missile, that is.

5>Thunderwave is a bit of an odd one. I personally don't like it because of its Close range -- I don't like for wizards to get that close to enemies.

On the other hand, enemies do like to get close to wizards, and it helps having something to do against them when they do. Thunderwave is awesome because pushing things into pits (or next to the fighter, or simply away from you) is very useful.

1. I personally like Grease (AP),

It is certainly a fun power. Plus it doesn't affect your friends. Sleep and FlSp are better, but this one is arguably funnier.

Flaming Sphere is nice, except you burn half or more of your actions sustaining, moving, and attacking with it

Here's a tip: don't attack with flaming sphere. Just move it and let it deal its automatic damage, while you cast whatever at-wills you pick. Also, does your party contain any tieflings, sorcerers, or other people with fire resistance?

Arcane reserves: out of encounter powers? +2 damage

Only useful at really low level. You'll get too many encounter powers later.

Coordinated Explosion: They give defenders a lot of surges for a reason, +1 to hit if an ally is in the burst is worth considering,

Not particularly; at low levels you'll want to avoid hitting your allies. Which is easy with a bit of teamwork, actually.

Except a Staff requires 2 hands to wield, thus not allowing you to dual Wield

No, it doesn't. A quarterstaff takes two hands, an implement takes one. Page 13, player's handbook.

Why? Because the main use of Orb of Imposition is to boost your (Save Ends) powers.

Yes, but you can get fire shroud at level 3, and until then it can keep your Thunder Pillar around for another turn. I agree that it's situational, though.

The funny thing is that by the time you hit paragon, you don't really need orb of imposition any more, because you can take Spell Focus and a bunch of items that give all your enemies -5 to saves or more.

[V'icternus]

Skills are fine, but you forgot Arcana.

Arcana is automatically trained if you're a Wizard, so I left that out.

Other than that, a hell of a lot of useful information. (And yet more reasons for me to try and get that damn Arcane Power book...)

[Charity]

Cloud of daggers is pretty bad, but all the wizard's area effects are almost always better than illusory ambush. Note that there's also an area effect that gives a -2.

Targeting will is a big bonus

That's nice if you care about damage (but if you do, Dual Implement Spellcaster is better). If you instead focus on status effects, it's irrelevant.

my emphasis
Not until you reach paragon to be fair

...sage advice...

On all the other points ,try as I might I can find no fault Kur

[V'icternus]

Alright everyone, what about powers? All powers? Some, obviously, only work with certain feats/build choices, and others are always great, and others just aren't good at all.

So, who feels up to the challenge of listing their top two Wizard powers for each level?

Looks like our level one's are all chosen, so we can leave them out. But how about level two? What utility powers do you think are inherintly better than others?

Remember to mention if your chosen powers are only good when used with a certain feat/build/whatever, and remember, all books are acceptable sources.

[Charity]

Top 4 is too many
E1 - Grasping Shadows, Icy Terrain
D1 - Flaming Sphere, sleep
U2 - expeditious retreat, shield
E3 - color spray, Icy Rays
D5 - phantasmal assailant, web
U6 - dimension door, wall of fog
E7 - Winter's Wrath,
D9 - Wall of Fire
U10 - Blur
E13 - Prismatic Burst, Thunderlance (with arcane reach)
D15 - Bigby’s Grasping Hands, Wall of Ice
U16 - Displacement, Stoneskin
E17 - Crushing Titan's Fist, Phantasmal Horror
... etc

[Arbitrarity]

My favorite trick at first level now is to grab Orbmasters Incendiary Detonation (AP), and the orb implement.
Using the 1/enc orb power to "extend" incendiary detonation, which it is explicitly allowed to do (despite detonation being an encounter power), increase the area to Burst 3 in 10 (!), not affecting allies, and dealing 1d6+int + knocks prone. Also, the entire area bursts into flame for 2 rounds, dealing 2 fire damage to enemies entering or starting their turns inside.
This pretty much auto-kills ALL minions in the area. It's huge. It knocks prone. It doesn't affect allies.
Definitely my favorite power choice for orb wizards.

Also, is it just me, or is level 6 utility Fire Shield ridiculously over the top (AV)?
Encounter power, lasts until the end of the encounter (!) provides resist 10 fire and cold, and does serious damage to enemies attacking you in melee. Whaaat.

[Kurald Galain]

Top 4 is too many

Indeed. There are many spells that aren't all that good, or that would be decent but are simply upstaged by the others. Unfortunately that includes pretty much all the heroic-tier summon spells.

E1 - Grasping Shadows, Icy Terrain
D1 - Flaming Sphere, Sleep
U2 - Jump, shield (Exp retreat may be worth it if you're not an eladrin, but should be retrained once you get better movement powers; Jump is the most versatile/creative power here)
E3 - Color spray, Fire shroud
D5 - Stinking cloud and Grasp of the Grave!!! (these are probably the two best L5 dailies in the game, not just for wizards)
U6 - Wizard's escape, Dispel magic
E7 - Twist of space (and that's it, the L3 spells are generally better than these. Winter's wrath gives concealment to your enemies, which is pretty bad)
D9 - Wall of Fire, Vision of Ruin
U10 - Illusory wall, Mass resistance (these two protect the entire party, whereas Blur protects yourself only).

Also, is it just me, or is level 6 utility Fire Shield ridiculously over the top (AV)?

It's one of the many typoes in character builder - it's intended to be a daily power. So, incidentally, is illusory wall.

[V'icternus]

Sorry, that "top 4" was a typo... I'll go ahead and fix that now.

And, I suppose while we're at it with all these powers, we need to pick a paragon path... (And maybe even Epic Destiny, but that's not too important just yet)

[Arbitrarity]

It's one of the many typoes in character builder - it's intended to be a daily power. So, incidentally, is illusory wall.

*Picks up Wizard's escape*

Ah, this all makes more sense now. I have to admit, Compendium is a very attractive resource, but that sorta stuff needs to be fixed.

[ocato]

Here are the ones I like (or the ones I feel merit a mention for whatever the heck reason I feel like mentioning them). This is neither a comprehensive guide to heroic powers nor frightfully optimized. It is, however, my opinions based on having played a wizard through these levels. Take it with a grain of salt.

Level 2 Utility

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Shield: +4 AC or Reflex comes up reasonably often. This is my default utility because it tends to come in handy and it fits my 'Cowardly Wizard' motif.

Expeditious Retreat: If this was a little weaker and an encounter power, I'd love it to pieces. As it sits, I don't like it. I tend not to like daily utility powers (with some exceptions). Some daily utility powers have nova or 'practically a normal daily" written all over them. This is just 'overpriced', in my opinion.

Phantasmal Terrain (AP): Mix with difficult terrain, enjoy. So far as I can tell, the "hazards and traps" addendum refers to the Hermetic Saboteur Paragon Path. There may be other things that apply, and on that subject I am ears a'plenty. Standard Action to modify existing effects hurts, but it gives you something to do before that Action Surge'd Daily. I don't use it, but it may have uses. I mostly mentioned it hoping someone would accidentally give me some insight on the hazards bit while telling me how dumb I am :). Standard Action for a Daily Utility? I'll just wait right here for someone to tell me the part I'm missing.

Jump: Enjoy your move, ally! Usually more of a leader thing, but it never hurts to branch out.

Level 3 Encounters

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Color Spray is the popular choice, but it's awfully big. Dazing something tends to just make it charge you. Good spell, rare source of radiant damage, and a throw-back to the old days. Like sleep or flaming sphere, I won't deny it as a good choice. Just not the choice I personally made.

Fire shroud: Damage! Not my bag, but a good source of it if you want to do some.

Hypnotic Pattern (AP): Wow, all of the enemies have mystically ended up in a tight, burst 1 pattern. How convenient.

Maze of Mirrors (AP): Youse guys ain't goin' no where and you ain't hittin nobody. Consider yourselves controlled. Does absolutely no damage, which might be a deterrent.

Icy Rays: Okay, I use this. No one talks about it, no one else seems to like it, but I adore this spell. Immobilization? Nice. Versatile? Any one or two targets within 10 squares of you. I like to keep an encounter spell around for those situations where a burst or blast just isn't gonna cut it (either due to enemies spreading out or a close knit situation) and -2 to attack isn't enough control.

Level 5 Dailies

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Acid Mire (AP): Hilarious when mixed with grease, add Benny Hill theme to taste. Serves 9 (or more if enlarged). Targets Fort, but the main point is difficult terrain that does damage when you move through it or stand in it. Want to deter and detour? Not a bad spell for it.

Visions of Avarice (AP): Hypnotic Pattern that is sustainable and has an immobilization effect tacked on. Requires 2 minor actions per turn, 1 to maintain and 1 to use the ability, but if you place it right, your enemies won't want to risk moving too close to it to come get you.

Bigsby's Icy Grasp: This spell saved my life once, but I retrained out of it since. I think that the one time it helped me was the only circumstance it is really good at, which is when fighting a solo monster that desperately wants your wizardy blood and forgets to try to break out of it half the time. Probably worth skipping.

Stinking Cloud: Create a zone that you can't see in or out of and that does damage per round. Great for getting artillery off your back for a little while (chase them with the cloud until they're in melee, profit). If your DM makes the enemies inside move randomly (due to having no line of sight, which I often see interpreted the same as blindness), then you might have a more permanent solution on hand then you thought as enemies stagger around inside or come out in less than ideal places.

Web: A nice deterrent, especially if your enemies have no ranged abilities. I've seen defenders leap willingly into these to bask in the glory of ultimate stickiness. I find that it can cause a lot of trouble with melee heavy parties unless your guys all coordinate and leap in at precisely the best place to do so.

Level 6 Utility

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Wizard's Escape (AP): What we have here is an encounter power interrupt teleport. I use it religiously (cowardly wizard motif demands it). If it worked on things other than melee attacks, it would be undeniable.

Summon Iron Cohort (AP) A daily that creates a movable creature that takes attacks for you. Soaks up a healing surge's worth of damage (not that much) and costs you a surge when it goes down. I don't really like summons all that much, to be honest. They're probably better than I give them credit for in general, but this one strikes me as forgettable.

Wall of Fog: Blocks line of sight, but no movement penalty for crossing through it. Crop it up close to your party when faced with artillery to force them into melee. It also grants concealment, so some members of your party may enjoy lounging around inside for CA (and can slip in and out without movement penalty). An example of a daily utility that I like. Walls are good controlling.

Dimension Door: See Expeditious Retreat.

Level 7 Encounter

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Twist of Space (AP): Burst 1 (screams to be enlarged) vs will. Grabs up everyone and teleports them 3 squares and slows them. Does piddly damage (1d6), so enlarge the crap out of it and hit your allies too. Reshape the entire battlefield the way you think it ought to be. Be sure to acquire the consent of your party, some folk get irritated when you deal 4 damage to them and then give them ideal positioning.

Tomebound Ooze: Are you looking to deal damage? Do you have the Tome of Binding feature? enjoy your 4d8 +con if it tries to attack (+con to enemies within 2 squares of it if you have the Tome of Binding feature). Think of this as akin to Rolling Thunder. You're doing some damage and hay look, a slap on the wrist if they do something you kinda don't want them to do.

Spectral Ram: Single target push and prone. If you can hit their fort, you've just given them incentive to charge something. Twist of Space made this kind of obsolete.

Level 9 Daily

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Ice Storm: Burst 3 that targets fort. If you hit, they are immobilized, if you miss, they're slowed. Either way, a massive 7x7 area (unless enlarged) is difficult terrain for the rest of the encounter. Slowed and marooned in a giant patch of difficult terrain, Grognok the Orc was never heard from again...

Wall of Fire: It's a Wall. It blocks line of sight. There is a movement penalty for getting through it. If you start your turn next to it, you get slapped. If you try to go through it, you get slapped harder. Toss it infront of Artillery to make them take damage just to contribute to the fight. Weave it through the battlefield so that your pushy allies can take advantage of it. It has a thousand uses, and all of them are fun. Combines control with damage.

Faces of Death (AP): There is no escape, there is only suffering. Hit: Immobilized. Fail your first save? Helpless (why hello Coup de grace). Make your save? Slowed. Missed? Immobilized anyway. Make your save? Slowed anyway. A great spell for orb of imposition wizards to spank a tough monster with.

Visions of Ruin (AP): So wait... they can't voluntarily leave the zone. They can't see out of the zone. We can enter the zone and see into it fine. So... they want to stay all bunched up. They are forced to stay all bunched up, in a tight burst 1. Level 9 has too many awesome choices...

Level 10 Utility

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Illusory Wall (AP): A Wall spell that uses a will attack to prevent them from getting through it and blocks their line of sight, but not the party's line of sight. Oh yeah, also it's an encounter power. Even if you can't think of a good use of this in your current situation, you can always just wrap it around yourself like a delightfully warm blanket. It'll prevent people from singling you out for ranged attacks and if any tough guys swing by, you're attacking their will. A L10 Ettin has a will defense of 18, compared to a L10 wizard who is packing +14 or so to your attack roll. This spell will keep brutes out of places they don't need to be, and since enemies have to move adjacent to it to get through, it'll frustrate artillery to no end.

Summon Hammerfist Crusher (AP): So far as I can tell, the only difference between this and a Daily summon is that this one moves a little slower and doesn't have an OA. It also does 5d6 damage. If you like summons, this one won't cost you a daily power (but it will cost you Illusory Wall).

Mirror Image: A classy classic. Lasts 1 hour, or until you are missed 3 times, whichever happens first. Beats Illusory wall in that it'll cover surprise attacks/traps, but lacks versatility, reliability (+6/4/2 AC vs Brutes can't get in unless I roll like absolute crap), and reusability.

Arcane Gate: I often imagine preparing an action to use this, then having an enemy charge into the suddenly appearing gate and then getting dump off a cliff or into lava or something. The giggling keeps me up at night. Also good for getting to difficult places, getting out of tight spots, or waving at yourself.

[Douglas]

Staves are listed as two handed weapons. There is a distinction. This has been answered (IIRC) by the FAQ, and it has become the generally accepted answer. Anything else wouldn't make sense.

It is also the answer currently implemented in the Character Builder, and the fact that the CB didn't allow wielding a staff implement one-handed before a recent update was on the official known bugs list.

[V'icternus]

It is also the answer currently implemented in the Character Builder, and the fact that the CB didn't allow wielding a staff implement one-handed before a recent update was on the official known bugs list.

Yeah, we know. Stuff like that happens...

Of course a Wizard can use a staff one-handed. Otherwise how could Gandalf hold that fancy orc-killin' sword of his?

[TheEmerged]

Kurald Galain, I think you and I may have differing definitions of "decent". I use it to say that something isn't strictly a mistake but probably isn't your best choice. I notice you left the qualifier off there (that Magic Missile doesn't suit what a wizard is supposed to be doing).

As for Astral Warp, I'll admit to having run only one test with it and could be misreading it. I'm seeing a power that does 1d10+Int damage to the target -- with an additional Int damage if it moves out of the square, and then an additional Int damage if it ends up more than 2 squares away. That's a strong encouragement to stay in that square. Am I misreading it, or missing something else obvious? Keep in mind that I'm not recommending it as your main E1 power, but as the 'extra' one to use with Tome of Readiness.

With regards to the Bard feat, pay closer attention to what I said -- the bonus healing power is gravy, a side benefit. The "meal" is that wonderful skill list and one of the feats it gives you access to. And I can't answer for all DM's, but with me you want your skill bonuses

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My opinion on the top two bit. I'll stick only to the power slots I've tested enough to feel justified in opening my mouth

E1 = Force Orb and Grasping Shadows are the two best. Force Orb has longer range, but does not have the area denial function and cannot be affected by Enlarge Spell (but could technically affect more targets anyway). Just remember that Grasping Shadows denies that area to your allies as well (otherwise it would be clearly better). If you take Tome of Readiness, take one of these and then a better anti-boss power.
D1 = Sleep as #1, no question. I haven't tested all the new AP dailies at this level yet, but currently Flaming Sphere still takes slot 2.
U2 = Expeditious Retreat and Shield. I have stated my disappointment with the AP 2nd level utility powers before.
E3 = There's a lot of competition here. I'd vote for Shock Sphere and Hypnotic Pattern, but it's a thin margain (note that Fire Shroud doesn't hit allies, for example). I'd take Chill Claws over Icy Rays -- it's a better debuff.
d5 = Stinking Cloud I agree with. I'm not familiar with Grasp of the Grave, where was it published?
U6 = The problem here is that the same as E3 -- there are a lot of good choices. Fire Shield from AP and Dispel Magic would be my two choices.

[V'icternus]

Kurald Galain, I think you and I may have differing definitions of "decent". I use it to say that something isn't strictly a mistake but probably isn't your best choice. I notice you left the qualifier off there (that Magic Missile doesn't suit what a wizard is supposed to be doing).

As for Astral Warp, I'll admit to having run only one test with it and could be misreading it. I'm seeing a power that does 1d10+Int damage to the target -- with an additional Int damage if it moves out of the square, and then an additional Int damage if it ends up more than 2 squares away. That's a strong encouragement to stay in that square. Am I misreading it, or missing something else obvious? Keep in mind that I'm not recommending it as your main E1 power, but as the 'extra' one to use with Tome of Readiness.

With regards to the Bard feat, pay closer attention to what I said -- the bonus healing power is gravy, a side benefit. The "meal" is that wonderful skill list and one of the feats it gives you access to. And I can't answer for all DM's, but with me you want your skill bonuses

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My opinion on the top two bit. I'll stick only to the power slots I've tested enough to feel justified in opening my mouth

E1 = Force Orb and Grasping Shadows are the two best. Force Orb has longer range, but does not have the area denial function and cannot be affected by Enlarge Spell (but could technically affect more targets anyway). Just remember that Grasping Shadows denies that area to your allies as well (otherwise it would be clearly better). If you take Tome of Readiness, take one of these and then a better anti-boss power.
D1 = Sleep as #1, no question. I haven't tested all the new AP dailies at this level yet, but currently Flaming Sphere still takes slot 2.
U2 = Expeditious Retreat and Shield. I have stated my disappointment with the AP 2nd level utility powers before.
E3 = There's a lot of competition here. I'd vote for Shock Sphere and Hypnotic Pattern, but it's a thin margain (note that Fire Shroud doesn't hit allies, for example). I'd take Chill Claws over Icy Rays -- it's a better debuff.
d5 = Stinking Cloud I agree with. I'm not familiar with Grasp of the Grave, where was it published?
U6 = The problem here is that the same as E3 -- there are a lot of good choices. Fire Shield from AP and Dispel Magic would be my two choices.

Thanks for yet more valuable info contributing to the optimization of this build. (I just wish that A) I had AP, and B) I didn't have that "5" screwing up the overall decentness of the build)

I wonder what Paragon Path would be the most optimal... (Remember, everyone's free to come up with specific builds here.)

(Also, prerequisits (if any) should be mentioned if they may be hard to obtain)

[TheEmerged]

I wonder what Paragon Path would be the most optimal... (Remember, everyone's free to come up with specific builds here.)

(Also, prerequisits (if any) should be mentioned if they may be hard to obtain)

Prereqs are generally pretty simple in 4th Edition so far. A lot of the paragon paths & epic destinies have prereq like "Any Arcane Class", if you see what I mean.

Now, I generally don't like to comment too much on things I haven't seen in an actual in-play session. However, here's what I've seen from theory-running some builds through the encounters in Dungeon Delve.

The human racial paragon (Adroit Explorer, from PHB2, prereq = Be Human) was more effective for a wizard than I expected. The "Ambitious Effort" feature allows an extra encounter attack power per encounter, allowing you to use a lower-leveled encounter power twice or to have a second encounter attack power at that level. The other features aren't mage-specific but are still useful.

Battle Mage & Blood Mage (PHB, prereq = Wizard) are straightforward additions. I like that both of their attack powers target only enemies (especially given Closing Spell's area). Battle Mage has better features (especially that +4 bonus to attack rolls when spending an action point) but Blood Mage has a better utility (daily, spend a healing surge to regain one encounter attack power already used).

Spellstorm Mage (PHB, prereq = Wizard) didn't measure up to those two the one time I tested it, but that might be luck related. I love the potential of the Storm Spell feature, but dislike the way Storm Cage denies the area to allies as well.

Wizard of the Spiral Tower (PHB, prereq = Wizard) was what our party's wizard was aiming for before Arcane Power came out. I've seen one fighter build that took this paragon path but haven't been able to test it. For most wizards, I don't like the way several of this path's powers require the wizard to be in melee range. On the other hand, "The One Sword" power speaks for itself.

Silverstar (FRPG, prereq = Any arcane or divine class that can use an implement and worships Selune) can be taken by wizards, but doesn't really suit them.

Simbarch of Aglarond (FRPG, prereq = Wizard) left me scratching my head a bit, to be honest. I'm not sure the person making this paragon path realized he was supposed to be making a wizard path -- except for the level 20 daily attack power, which does 5d10 force damage in burst 3 within 20, and only targets enemies. For levels 11 thru 19 though, I'd rather be something else...

Spellguard Wizard (FRPG, prereq = Wizard) is better. I'm particularly fond of the encounter attack power (once per encounter, when a creature moves within three squares of you, you can hit it for 1d10+int damage and knock it prone). The features are a little lackluster however.

Steelsky Liberator (FRPG, prereq = dragonborn, genasi, half-orc, or human), like Silverstar, fits into the "technically you'd qualify but neither the features nor powers suit you" category.

War Wizard of Cormyr (FRPG, prereq = wizard and affiliated with Cormyr) is a bit of a mixed bag -- when reading through it the first time I kept saying "that would be cool but...", and in practice many of its features/powers don't seem to come up often enough. The ability to turn one of your at-wills or encounter powers into a Basic attack isn't nearly as cool as it might sound. Similarly, the feature that your ranged/area powers don't provoke opportunity isn't as good as it looks because it only applies when spending an action point to make that attack.

Arcane Wayfarer (AP, prereq = wizard) is what our party's wizard is planning on now. What this class (Hammerfall Step) lacks in raw firepower or combat features (Hammerfall Step), it makes up for (Hammerfall Step) with a particularly good encounter attack power (Hammerfall Step) -- it's proper name is Hammerfall Step, but I suspect we're going to be calling it "Rearrange Board". The only problem with its utility power (which should be named "Neener Neener", really) is that it's a daily not an encounter power. The daily attack power brings to mind the one for Spiral Tower (above), except that it's ranged and dazes victims on a miss.

I haven't had a chance to run any of the other paragon paths from AP through a proper test yet though. Heremetic Saboteur has a particularly potent 11th level feature (once per encounter, when using a blast/burst/wall, choose one square within 20 as the origin point). Unseen Mage has a frightening-looking utility power (I can already see my players calling it "Peekaboo Party"). Weaver of Chance has an interesting mechanic I'd like to try in practice.