Combat Wizard Strategies

[DreamOfTheRood]

A little about the concept: the character I've built is specifically for a wizard duel tournament with a 28-point buy at level 8. It is a heavily defensive caster with a few big nukes and a summoning ability. I'm not quite sure if it's viable in the setting, and I thought I'd run it past y'all.

With abjuration as my specialty school, I'll have slightly more powerful defensive abilities, but I'll be relying heavily on my nukes for damage. I'm more worried about my spellbook. I've never played a wizard before, and I'm unsure whether I calculated correctly the number of spells I'm allowed in my spellbook.

The whole idea here is to get touched by spells as little as possible. I've got a decent will save (+6), but I'm the kind of guy that likes to have a bit of an extra defense going on.

Tear it apart, mates.

Level 8 Wizard; Human Male; True Neutral
Ht: 6'2 Wt: 220
Looks: A tall, bald man with his head, chest and arms painted dark blue. Gray pants with many pockets and a belt with many pouches. May appear with boots or barefoot. Appears with a flat affect or terribly sad, unable to look combatants in the eye.

Str 10
Dex 12
Con 15
Int 16
Wis 14
Cha 8

HD: 8d4 (34 hp)
Base Attack Bonus: +4/ Speed 30ft./ Grapple Modifier: 4

Saves: Fort 4, Reflex 3, Will 8
AC 11, Touch 10(?), Flat-footed 10(?)

No Armor, No Shield

Feats: Scribe, Scroll, Combat Casting, Spell Focus (Conjuration), Augment Summoning

Equipment: Pants, Belt, Boots, Scrolls and Various and Sundry Magic Components

Specialty School: Abjuration
Prohibited Schools: Necromancy, Enchantment

All Level 0 Spells
Acid Splash/ Resistance*/ Detect Poison/ Detect Magic/ Read Magic/ Dancing Lights/ Flare/ Light/ Ray of Frost/ Ghost Sound/ Mage Hand/ Mending/ Message/ Open-Close/ Arcane Mark/ Prestidigitation

5 Level 1 Spells
Protection from Chaos-Evil-Good-Law*/ Shield*/ Magic Missile/ Burning Hands/ Expeditious Retreat

4 Level 2 Spells
Protection from Arrows*/ Resist Energy*/ Melf’s Acid Arrow/ Scorching Ray


4 Level 3 Spells
Dispel Magic*/ Protection from Energy*/ Explosive Runes*/ Displacement

3 Level 4 Spells
Globe of Invulnerability, Lesser*/ Invisibility, Greater/ Summon Monster IV

* denotes spells from the Abjuration school, in which I have specialized.

[Indon]

I recommend getting a spell which allows you to see invisible, if other wizards are going to be running around with invisibility spells.

[Jacob Orlove]

Do you get magic items for this? If not, your numbers are probably pretty reasonable. Also, will there be a chance to cast spells before the match starts? If not, you'll want to avoid taking so many buff spells, since you won't have time to cast them all.

Displacement actually gives a worse miss chance than Mirror Image.

Acid Arrow and Burning Hands are both pretty terrible.

Resist Energy and Protection from Energy are both redundant, and it's not clear what energy type you'd want to protect yourself against (well, probably fire).

Protection from Arrows grants DR, which is only effective against physical attacks.

As mentioned, See Invisible is a good idea. You might want a second summon spell, too.

Mage Armor would be good to have, as would Fly. Remember, they can summon too!

[Jasdoif]

5 Level 1 Spells
Protection from Chaos-Evil-Good-Law*/ Shield*/ Magic Missile/ Burning Hands/ Expeditious Retreat

That's 8 level 1 spells. Protection from Chaos, Protection from Evil, Protection from Good and Protection from Law are all different spells; they're listed together like that because their effects are identical except for which alignment they have their effects on.

This is OK, because it looks like you only have 2 spells (above cantrip) for every wizard level; and your first level gives you 3+Int. Assuming you started with 14 Int and bumped it up at 4th and 8th, you should have three more spells then you counted, which will account for the 3 extra protection spells. You should consider switching a couple of them out for different spells though, I don't think you'll really need all four.


Anyway, so you have...

• 16 cantrips at 1 page each
• 8 level 1 spells at 1 page each
• 4 level 2 spells at 2 pages each
• 4 level 3 spells at 3 pages each
• 3 level 4 spells at 4 pages each.

That's 56 pages. A spellbook has 100 pages, so you're fine.

[ClericofPhwarrr]

Personally, I'd swap those stats around. Str 8, Dex 14, Con 12, Int 18, Wis 10, Cha 8 looks a lot better. Add the 2 bonus ability points at 4 and 8 to Int for an Int of 20 at duel-time (and higher DCs).

If you don't want to get touched, Dex helps you go first, and Int helps make it count. The best defense is a good offense.

Also, read this for general wizard insight: Logic Ninja's guide to wizards.

[Emperor Tippy]

Go Grey elf for the extra 2 Int if you can. And what books are you allowed?

[DreamOfTheRood]

We're running it off of d20srd, so I'm going to have to go through and see what races they have on there. Looks like I'm going to have to rejigger some of these spells.

[HomerHT]

So you're in a duel with other wizards. Do you get rounds to prepare before actually fighting? Or are you just thrown into a pit and told to start throwing spells around? The answer to those questions dictates your strategy, but here's some general pointers for what you seem to want to do.

Since you seem to want to summon for the fight, get some more buffs for what you plan on summoning with Summon Monster IV (Celestial Lion would be nice). Toss away burning hands and expeditious retreat and replace with eh...Mage Armor for your lion or whatever and Grease, maybe. Magic Missile is even iffy because, face it, what mage isn't using Shield?

You'll need to see invisibility somehow. Glitterdust does nicely. Pitch Acid Arrow for it. It's a Wizard's duel, so no one should be shooting arrows at you. So get rid of Protection from Arrows for, I don't know, another damage dealer? Presumably you have to actually kill the guy you're fighting.

I'm really unsure as to why you have Explosive Runes. An enemy wizard isn't going to stop and read some words you scribbled somewhere during the fight. Since you want another damage dealer, I guess Fireball or Lightning. Maybe another Dispel? Those are always good to have in mage duels.

Level 4 looks fine, so let's look at feats. First, you don't have enough of them for your level. Scribe + 2(1st) + 1(3rd) + 1(W 5th) + 1(6th)

Combat Casting is ungood. Go for Skill focus: Concentration.
Spell Focus (Conjuration) does nothing, as none of the conjuration spells you'll be using have saves. Switch it out for Spell Focus (Evocation) to make it a bit more difficult to dodge your hurty spells.
Augment Summoning is fine so long as you summon.

I gotta go grab/eat dinner, but these small suggestions should make you more of a competitor in the duel. Just be sure you grab 3 more feats because you got too few the first time around.

[DreamOfTheRood]

This is why I need you.

I took out Combat Casting, but I need Spell Focus (Conjuration) for the Augment Summoning feat. So, SF(C) stays. I'm thinking about Spell Penetration, Greater Spell Penetration and Maximize Spell.

The new spell book looks like this:

All Level 0 Spells
Acid Splash/ Resistance*/ Detect Poison/ Detect Magic/ Read Magic/ Dancing Lights/ Flare/ Light/ Ray of Frost/ Ghost Sound/ Mage Hand/ Mending/ Message/ Open-Close/ Arcane Mark/ Prestidigitation

5 Level 1 Spells
Protection from Chaos/ Protection from Law*/ Shield*/ Magic Missile/ Glitterdust/ Grease/ Shocking Grasp/ Color Spray

4 Level 2 Spells
Scorching Ray/ Resist Energy*/ Bear’s Endurance/ Bull’s Strength


4 Level 3 Spells
Dispel Magic*/ Protection from Energy*/ Lightning Bolt/ Summon Monster III

3 Level 4 Spells
Globe of Invulnerability, Lesser*/ Invisibility, Greater/ Summon Monster IV

[HomerHT]

Ah, yes, then most certainly do not get rid of Spell Focus: Conjuration. My bad

Got too many 1st level spells again. As for feats, nix Spell Penetration unless someone is going to be summoning something with spell resistance. In which case, your own summon should be able to handle it. There are better feats. Let's have a looksee...*scrolls through the SRD*

Hmm, Improved Counterspell might be pretty good. Lets you save your Dispel Magic to actually dispel your opponent's defenses as opposed to using it to counter his Dispel Magic or whatever. You want to keep your protections on. However, this will come at the cost of a Level 4 spell. If you go this route, swap Greater Invisibility for a random abjuration spell and swap Bull's Strength for Invisibility.

Improved Initiative is fantastic. One of the save booster feats helps versus wizards. And Spell Focus (Evocation) can't hurt too much for what you're going to be doing.

[Jasdoif]

Got too many 1st level spells again.

Looks like he just forgot to update the count; the total spells are right for a wizard starting with 14 Int.

Hmm, Improved Counterspell might be pretty good.

The problem with Improved Counterspell is that you still have to ready an action for the counterspell. That means you aren't casting, for the hopes of cancelling the other guy's spells. Which has uses in a party, but in a duel you don't have many actions to spare.

[ClericofPhwarrr]

the total spells are right for a wizard starting with 14 Int.

Again, this is a bad idea. Int is THE score you need, then Dex (for initiative), then Wis or Con for saves and HP (but as a wizard, getting hit means you're failing). Bump that Int up.

[Dausuul]

This is why I need you.

I took out Combat Casting, but I need Spell Focus (Conjuration) for the Augment Summoning feat. So, SF(C) stays. I'm thinking about Spell Penetration, Greater Spell Penetration and Maximize Spell.

The new spell book looks like this:

For duelling another wizard, you are very unlikely to need Spell Penetration. Wizards don't normally have spell resistance, unless they're drow, in which case they gave up two caster levels to get it and you pwn them anyway.

If you're going to be summoning heavily, you may wish to consider switching your specialty school to Conjuration. Then you can take the Rapid Summoning variant, which will dramatically improve your chances of successfully casting your summon spells. Otherwise, you have to spend an entire round (start of your turn, through the other guy's turn, all the way to the start of your next turn) casting, and the other guy can just zap you with a direct-damage spell and ruin your concentration. Under the circumstances, I don't think you really need a familiar.

It's a good idea to pick one strategy and specialize in it, rather than going all over the map. Augmented summons are okay (and have the advantage that you can cast them while invisible), but there is always the danger of the other guy dispelling your summons. Give some thought to black tentacles. This spell makes a wizard's life very unpleasant. Your caster level plus 8 versus a wizard's BAB plus Strength? Yes please.

Prep an extra one in case he has dimension door, and you may be able to win the duel right there.

(By the same token, it's not a bad idea to have your own dimension door ready, lest the other guy do the same thing to you...)

[Jasdoif]

Again, this is a bad idea. Int is THE score you need, then Dex (for initiative), then Wis or Con for saves and HP (but as a wizard, getting hit means you're failing). Bump that Int up.

I second the motion. Get that starting Int of 18 with your point-buy, and bump it up twice to get 20. The increased save DCs and extra spell slots will do you good. This'll also get you two more 1st-level spells.

As for your existing spell list, let me make a few notes/suggestions here.

Level 1 Spells
Protection from Chaos/ Protection from Law*

For the sake of a duel, I would suggest Protection from Good and Protection from Evil instead. None of summon monster lists (from I to IV at least) have CN or LN creatures, while they do have NG and NE.

Don't forget, the spells prevent physical contact (like natural weapon attacks) from summoned creatures of the matching alignment.

Level 1 Spells
Glitterdust

Glitterdust is a 2nd level spell. A very handy one, but you need to put it in the 2nd level list.

Level 1 Spell
Shocking Grasp

...why do you have a melee range spell?

Level 2 Spells
Bear’s Endurance/ Bull’s Strength

Be advised that these spells don't stack with Augment Summoning, since they both provide a +4 enhancement bonus. You likely won't have much use for Bull's Strength yourself.

Level 3 Spells
Dispel Magic*/ Protection from Energy*/ Lightning Bolt/ Summon Monster III

While all OK, you might consider that having both Resist Energy and Protection from Energy is a little redundant. Personally, I'd prefer to have stinking cloud available. Enemy fails the Fort Save and they're pretty much at your mercy.

Level 4 Spells
Globe of Invulnerability, Lesser*/ Invisibility, Greater/ Summon Monster IV

Hmm, tough one...having Dimension Door would be a really good idea, never know when you'll need to escape the otherwise-inescapable. You could have 4 level-4 spells in your book, I'm guessing you have one in a 1st-level spell instead of 4th; so scratch "shocking grasp" off your list and write "dimension door" here.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Too bad you can't qualify for Abjurant Champion before 8th level (without taking enough melee levels to nerf your casting ability completely), because that's right up your alley.

I second Swift Summoning... your familiar is a liability not a benefit.

Here's a cheezy tactic... target the other guy's familiar. If it dies, he looses a level.

I'd suggest switching out Displacement and Improved Invisibility for Mirror Image. Displacement and Invisible both have 50% chance of missing you (and invisibility is easily negated). Mirror Image, on the other hand, creates 1d4+2 images. That's anywhere from a 25% chance (3 images created, for a total of one in four being the real you) to a 14% chance (6 images for a 1 in 7 odds). Mirror Image is the clear winner. Slap a Dimension Door in place of the Improved Invis.

How about this for a line-up...

Round 1: Mirror Image. You don't want to be hit
Round 2: Summon obnoxious critter.
Round 3: If opponent mage is invisible, cast See Invisible... on your summoned critter. Or cast Glitterdust on the last known location. Otherwise, hit him with something obnoxious like a Scorching Ray. At level 8, this is 8d6 damage if both rays hit. Unless he's gone Displacement or mirror Image, you're probably gonna hit and he's probably gonna die.

[JaronK]

I'm not sure what all is on the d20 SRD... is PHBII allowed? If so, I'd actually switch to a conjuration specialist, and then drop the familiar, granting you the ability to make immediate action teleports. These can be great for dodging enemy attacks. If you can get out of the way of your opponent's kill spells, that's a few more rounds to kill them back. With an Int of 18, you can dodge 4 times, which should be plenty of time to land a killing blow.

If you're not doing that, there's something to be said for Improved Familiar. Get something that can grapple if you can.

JaronK

[Ikkitosen]

Bear in mind that if you rely on summons you must have some way to get rid of your opponent's protection from X spell or you're SOL.

If you have access to more books there's a feat in CM (I think) that allows you to summon things and expend a spell to have them affected by said spell - See Invisibility might be good since you can't tell your lion where he is

Remember though, you need another way to do the guy in since PF* will screww all your summons.

[Sabattus]

Unfortunately, he only has access to SRD... which doesn't have Complete Mage or PHBII info on it. Hell, if it did I'd consider pointing him towards the Master Specialist PrC.

Here's what I'd likely go for, were I an abjuration specialist.

Assuming a start of 16 INT...

Level 1 (8 spells):
> shield*, color spray, magic missile, mage armor, protection from evil, expeditious retreat, obscuring mist, grease
Level 2 (4 spells):
> protection from arrows*, mirror image, glitterdust, scorching ray
Level 3 (4 spells):
> dispel magic*, summon monster III, lightning bolt, stinking cloud
Level 4 (4 spells):
> lesser globe of invulnerability*, Evard's black tentacles, summon monster IV, dimension door

Memorized (assuming you get to 18 INT):

4 (+1) (+1 abj) 1st
> shield*, magic missile, expeditious retreat, grease, obscuring mist, protection from evil*
3 (+1) (+1 abj) 2nd
> protection from arrows*, mirror image, glitterdust, scorching ray (x2)
3 (+1) (+1 abj) 3rd
> dispel magic*, lightning bolt, stinking cloud, summon monster III (x2)
2 (+1) (+1 abj) 4th
> lesser globe of invulnerability*, (Evard's) black tentacles, summon monster IV, dimension door

20 INT gives you an additional 1st level spell in spellbook and memorized. That gives you a solid grouping of spells to work from. If the fight was against something other than another wizard, or if it was against someone without access to evocation, I'd recommend invisibility and conjuring up nasties to go harass them -- but most likely any wizard with fireball would see you disappear and simply blast the area you were last in.

[ClericofPhwarrr]

Why stop at 20 Int? Go with Tippy's suggestion and be a Gray Elf (in the SRD). It's the perfect core wizard class. +2 to Int and Dex for -2 to Str and Con--can it get any better?

22 Int means that saving against your higher-level spells will be a rather daunting task. Against a 4th level save-or-suck/lose spell, your opponent now has to make a 20, instead of a 17 (which is the case with your current Int of 16). And it's so easy to get! 18 from point buy, +2 from Gray Elf, +2 from level bonuses. Done.

Heck, with that Int, you've got buckets of skill points (so cross-class the Tumble skill as much as possible for a slight precaution against anything summoned next to you.)

[Greyen]

OK..brain fart but an idea...I don't have any books near me ATM but...Wizards suck at Fort save right?

Ok If I remember right split ray is a +2 Level Adjust. With a 20 int DC for a Split Ray of Enfeeblement (-1d6+? STR twice) thats an 18 Fort, yes you need to hit with your dex of 16 and BAB of 8th wiz (+4?) thats easy. Suddenly your opponent loses? Correct me if I am wrong.

[Dausuul]

OK..brain fart but an idea...I don't have any books near me ATM but...Wizards suck at Fort save right?

Ok If I remember right split ray is a +2 Level Adjust. With a 20 int DC for a Split Ray of Enfeeblement (-1d6+? STR twice) thats an 18 Fort, yes you need to hit with your dex of 16 and BAB of 8th wiz (+4?) thats easy. Suddenly your opponent loses? Correct me if I am wrong.

You're wrong, I'm afraid.

Ray of enfeeblement is a Strength penalty, not Strength damage. That means multiple rays of enfeeblement do not stack. Moreover, the spell specifically says it can't take your Strength below 1.

It's great for crippling fighter-types, but all it will do to a wizard is raise said wizard's encumbrance level.

(Also, there's no saving throw.)

[Sabattus]

Additionally, he's a specialist in abjuration, and his banned schools are enchantment and necromancy. That takes a great many of the save-or-suck spells out of the equation right there -- no Confusion, no Fear, no Enervation, no Ray of Enfeeblement, and so forth and so on.

There's Slow, maybe, out of Transmutation.

[Greyen]

Doh, thought it might be too good to be true but that's what posting without research does for me.

[Arbitrarity]

Ray of enfeeblement and ray of exhaustion... there's cheese.


EDIT: True. He has conjuration, which is good. Black tentacles, glitterdust, web, all OK.

Mind you, on the list of UberCheese in my book is old grey elf at level 8 with base 18 INT and a +2 headband, as well as spellcasting prodigy. 28 INT anyone?

[Abstruse]

Ray of enfeeblement and ray of exhaustion... there's cheese.

Both necromancy, unfortunately -- one of his banned schools.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Stinking Cloud. Save or loose. Fort save or become nausiated. What does nausiated do?

Nauseated
Experiencing stomach distress. Nauseated creatures are unable to attack, cast spells, concentrate on spells, or do anything else requiring attention. The only action such a character can take is a single move action per turn.

In other words, loose.

When he fails his fort save, hit him with a Black Tentacles to keep him in the stinking cloud. He can't DimDoor out because he is nausiated. This keeps him from taking a move action to get out.

Then just blast away with Scorching Ray until he falls over

Edit: Grab Improved Initiative so you can go first. He who casts the first spell wins in a mage duel

[Rincewind]

Learn to cast teleport...

[ClericofPhwarrr]

Speaking of which, if you're allowed to change it, get rid of evocation rather than enchantment or necromancy. I mean, direct damage? Yeesh.

[akira72703]

I would also throw Blindness into the second level list (Dont know if its in the SRD). Alot of the stuff hes going to be able to affect you with is going to require him to know where you are. I also agree with the tentacles stinking cloud combo.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Learn to cast teleport...

Which is a 5th level spell. He's 8th level, won't be able to cast 5th level spells yet. Best you can do is Dimension Door.