Best spells for wizards to learn off-list?

[Zanos]

I have a necromancer who will eventually gain the ability to learn one spell at every level from 1-6 from any spell list. Curious what some good options might be, I had some ideas but wondered if anyone had some better ones. I'd like to avoid 'discounted' spells that are on other lists at lower levels. So no trapsmith haste or summon giants.

Some ideas:
1: Improvisation, Wings of Swift Flying
2: Wings of Cover
3: Primal Instinct
4: Favor of the Martyr, Wings of Flurry, Consumptive Field
5: Surge of Fortune, Heal(Adept)
6: Harm

Better ideas and/or scathing criticisms?

[Maat Mons]

Some things that come to mind.

1: Entangle, Snowsight, Wieldskill
2: Cloud Wings, Divine Insight, Lion's Charge
3: Glibness
4: Death Ward, Divine Power, Favor of the Martyr, Freedom of Movement

[Jervis]

Some things that come to mind.

1: Entangle, Snowsight, Wieldskill
2: Cloud Wings, Divine Insight, Lion's Charge
3: Glibness
4: Death Ward, Divine Power, Favor of the Martyr, Freedom of Movement

Divine power shows up at 3rd level on the runescared berserker list. Also Olidammara’s bard spell is a 2nd level spell that lets you instantly prepare 3 levels of spells of that bard list

Edit; nvm the divine power, he’s not using discounts

[Biggus]

1: Sign, Conviction
2:
3: Mass Conviction
4: Recitation, Lesser Holy/Infernal Transformation
5: Divine Agility

[Anthrowhale]

Surge of fortune cries out for Sense Weakness, and Snowsight cries out for Obscuring Snow.

And of course Arcane Fusion is potentially shockingly good.

[RandomPeasant]

What does "eventually" mean? Picking entangle is great at low levels, but might not be worth it if you're getting it at 10th level. I second glibness, because that spell is totally nuts regardless of when you get it. I would recommend against divine power unless you are for some reason running a dedicated melee build, as a 1 round/level buff (even a very good one) is not enough to make a gish on its own. Who else is in your party is also relevant, as if you don't have access to a Cleric-type, you might want to pick up spells like restoration or raise dead as a precaution.

[Gruftzwerg]

I have a necromancer who will eventually gain the ability to learn one spell at every level from 1-6 from any spell list

May I ask which specific class and ability this is? Or is this homebrew?

The sole thing that comes to my mind is dread necromancer and those only can pick necromancy spells from cleric/wizard lists (no sorcerer).

[Ramza00]

That bard spell Improvisation is versatile and stacks with most things since it is a Luck spell, 1st level Bard Spell Compendium.

Likewise some of the other spells that boost skills.

[Zanos]

Some things that come to mind.

1: Entangle, Snowsight, Wieldskill
2: Cloud Wings, Divine Insight, Lion's Charge
3: Glibness
4: Death Ward, Divine Power, Favor of the Martyr, Freedom of Movement

Divine Power and Lion's Charge are nice, but I won't be doing any melee. I have zombies and party members for that. Wieldskill has a better duration but I have Loresong already, and they don't stack. The others are all very applicable, thank you.

Divine power shows up at 3rd level on the runescared berserker list. Also Olidammara’s bard spell is a 2nd level spell that lets you instantly prepare 3 levels of spells of that bard list

Edit; nvm the divine power, he’s not using discounts

Discounts are okay, I meant I want to avoid spells that are already on the Wizard list. Olidamaara's bard spell looks like it's listed as a 4th, and it says you prepare and cast bard spells from the PHB as cleric spells. I'll have to ask my DM how that interaction would work since I'm a wizard. Very nice recommendation.

1: Sign, Conviction
2:
3: Mass Conviction
4: Recitation, Lesser Holy/Infernal Transformation
5: Divine Agility

(Mass) Conviction is okay, especially at higher levels. Recitation is a little low duration for my tastes, spending a combat action on a buff that isn't haste is a hard sell. I think I'm missing something with the Lesser Transformation spells? They don't seem very useful to me. Divine agility gives a large bonus but again is short duration, and also targets a Living Creature which is...problematic for me.

I can't argue with Sign, though. +4 untyped to initiative is hard to complain about.

Surge of fortune cries out for Sense Weakness, and Snowsight cries out for Obscuring Snow.

And of course Arcane Fusion is potentially shockingly good.

Yeah, those are some great combos. Snowsight + Obscuring Snow is potentially shockingly cheesy since it makes anything without special senses nearly harmless with no save. It's definitely very very powerful, but I don't know that I want to make my DM suffer that much.

I don't think Arcane Fusion works, because it calls out that it pulls from sorcerer spells known.

What does "eventually" mean? Picking entangle is great at low levels, but might not be worth it if you're getting it at 10th level. I second glibness, because that spell is totally nuts regardless of when you get it. I would recommend against divine power unless you are for some reason running a dedicated melee build, as a 1 round/level buff (even a very good one) is not enough to make a gish on its own. Who else is in your party is also relevant, as if you don't have access to a Cleric-type, you might want to pick up spells like restoration or raise dead as a precaution.

I wish I could say, but the feature is tied to a template progression that I don't have full control over. I am level 6 right now, though, with access to 1st and 2nd level picks. For the moment I'm taking animate dead from the death master list, which I will later retrain. Breaking my own rules, but I really want animate dead. Theoretically I could have this ability fully unlocked by level 9, but it's also tied towards appealing to a social organization which will be difficult due to some RP choices I have made.

The party is my character, who is Wizard 5/Dweomerkeeper 1, a Wizard 4/Rogue 1/Unseen Seer 1, an Artificer 6, and a Crusader 6. Uh, more or less. Various deific interference means all of the party members have some level of weirdness going on. We all got a Gestalt druid level for helping out a god, for example.

If we need something in a serious emergency the artificer can whip it out, I think. I like Glibness but my character is a "word is my bond" type of guy, which shockingly has worked out just fine because I only have +4 diplomacy but seem to be incapable of rolling below a 16 on the die when important diplomacy checks come up.

May I ask which specific class and ability this is? Or is this homebrew?

The sole thing that comes to my mind is dread necromancer and those only can pick necromancy spells from cleric/wizard lists (no sorcerer).

It's obscure 3rd party, I figured nobody would know what it was. But my character is an Arcane Lich from Lords of the Night: Liches. It lets you progress through a series of templates to evolve across various Lich Stages, letting you spend points to pick different powers in addition to base features. This one is called Spell Mastery and lets you spend a long term resource(like, you might get 6 points a day and have a cap of 40) to prepare the spells you learn from it. The features are gated by your lich state. On paper I could unlock this by level 9, but the ability is also tied to joining a lich clan, so it might be later than that depending on how various RP stuff goes.

My DM is kind enough that he waives LA for templates that are acquired in game. It's pretty worthless otherwise because it gives you an unplayable amount of level adjustment.

That bard spell Improvisation is versatile and stacks with most things since it is a Luck spell, 1st level Bard Spell Compendium.

I know, that's why I listed it in my OP.

[Biggus]

Divine Power and Lion's Charge are nice, but I won't be doing any melee.

Divine Power is also very handy if you use (ranged) touch attack spells regularly, at higher levels it makes them into pretty much a guaranteed hit against most opponents.

Recitation is a little low duration for my tastes, spending a combat action on a buff that isn't haste is a hard sell. I think I'm missing something with the Lesser Transformation spells? They don't seem very useful to me. Divine agility gives a large bonus but again is short duration, and also targets a Living Creature which is...problematic for me.

How viable recitation and similar spells are depends on how often you have advance warning of combat. If you have a good scout and/or diviner they're really powerful, less so if not.

The main draw with the Lesser Transformation spells for a wizard is the stacks-with-everything bonus to your Con score, but if you don't have one...

[MaxiDuRaritry]

Could you take a converted psion power, and are any 3rd party sources available? The psianimate dead power from Hyperconscious (which was written by the author of the Expanded Psionics Handbook) is a surprisingly badass power, since creatures undeadified by it retain their minds, even if they lose some of their class abilities (namely supernaturals and spell-likes, although spells should be fine, since they're neither). You'd technically need some source of power points for it to function, unless you convert the pp mentioned in the power to spell slots.

A few of the psionic spells are pretty fantastic, namely dweomer of transference and mental pinnacle.

[Zanos]

Could you take a converted psion power, and are any 3rd party sources available? The psianimate dead power from Hyperconscious (which was written by the author of the Expanded Psionics Handbook) is a surprisingly badass power, since creatures undeadified by it retain their minds, even if they lose some of their class abilities (namely supernaturals and spell-likes, although spells should be fine, since they're neither). You'd technically need some source of power points for it to function, unless you convert the pp mentioned in the power to spell slots.

3rd party is fine with review, but probably not psi powers. I can also just wait a level and take create undead, which has juju zombies. Psianimate is nice though. I'm gonna guess no but I'll ask him for a ruling on converting psi powers.

A few of the psionic spells are pretty fantastic, namely dweomer of transference and mental pinnacle.

Those are both on the wizard list already, yeah?

Weirdly enough I do have 2 PP because of another godly boon that gave me hidden talent as a bonus feat. I took Call to Mind.

[MaxiDuRaritry]

3rd party is fine with review, but probably not psi powers. I can also just wait a level and take create undead, which has juju zombies. Psianimate is nice though. I'm gonna guess no but I'll ask him for a ruling on converting psi powers.

It's totally fair if powers aren't allowed, but as you said, psianimate dead really is definitely a nice power, if you can swing it.

Those are both on the wizard list already, yeah?

Most people don't really think about them, so I figured I'd bring them up.

Weirdly enough I do have 2 PP because of another godly boon that gave me hidden talent as a bonus feat. I took Call to Mind.

I wonder if you could swing taking a psicrystal instead of a familiar. Psicrystals are very, very nice to have, as well.

Have you considered the awaken spell? Use it with polymorph (into an animal or treant) and lots of metamagic to grant permaboosts to your mental stats. (Sudden Maximize is great for this.) Plus, you could awaken a bunch of animals that you could then turn into intelligent undead to use as minions. Imagine having an army of talking undead birds you can use as spies, for instance.

[Venger]

So useful non-melee/gish spells which aren't on the wizard list from levels 1-6, correct? (and where you don't already have something better from the wizard list, e.g. I'm not gonna recommend ice slick since you already have grease) Though I suppose this could change if your advanced learnings allow you to add nonwizard spells from your banned schools.

Did you specialize in necromancy? If so, what are your banned schools? Or are you using the term more colloquially in terms of your overall role and are mechanically a generalist?

1
sandblast

2
black sand
briar web
kelpstrand
master air
wither limb

3
crumble
delay death
venomfire

4
last breath
moon bolt
murderous mist
panacea
ruin delver's fortune

5
control winds
door of decay
heal

[Gruftzwerg]

funny that no one did mentioned (Greater) Anyspell so far^^.

[Venger]

Are domains allowed?

[MaxiDuRaritry]

funny that no one did mentioned (Greater) Anyspell so far^^.

Why would a wizard want to waste resources on a spell that allows him to memorize another of his lower level spells in a higher level slot, which he can do anyway?

[GoodbyeSoberDay]

Lots of good suggestions already. In addition to straightforwardly powerful options like Wings of Cover and Control Winds, I second Snowsight, which is great to combine with spells like Sleet Storm to create a no-save area of blindness for your enemies which doesn't affect your allies. Some more suggestions:

1. Swift Invisibility (Bard), Linked Perception (Ranger, or Druid 2 I guess), Lay of the Land (if you're okay with getting it via Ranger)
2. Mass Camouflage (Druid), Magic Savant (Bard) if you have UMD ranks
3. Magic Vestment (Cleric)
4. Modify Memory (Bard), Imbue With Spell Ability (Cleric)
5. Unhallow (Cleric), Revivify (Cleric)
6. Nixie's Grace (Bard), Empyreal Ecstasy (Bard), Heroes' Feast (Cleric/Bard)

The list also changes if you can persist cheaply. Then you probably just want to stack buffs on your permanent minions.

[Fero]

Divine insight (2), guidance of the avatar (2), and improvisation (1) all give Giant skill bonuses that can open up many gameplay options such as using umd with cleric items (prayer bead karma, etc.).

Glibness (3) gives +30 on bluff checks. With MM Rods, Extend and a few pearls of power 3 you can keep it on all day (no officer, these aren't undead, I am a doctor and these are my patients).

Slime Hurl (5) is an amazing offensively spell and can take out most living targets in one casting, no save (read the dmg rules on green slime).

Fire Seeds (6) is also amazing. Put them on undead minions to use as walking bombs.

Wings of Cover (2) is a great defensive spell.

Dispell (1) and greater dispell (3) from the trapsmith are great options if you counterspell or optimize Dispelling.

Anyspell (3) and Anyspell Greater (6?) Open up a lot of possibilities if your dm lets them work with non domain spell slots.

Substitute Domain (2) lets you back door to most of the lerix spell list if you can get domain (Divine Oracle etc.).

Spell Phylactery (5) lets you use a scroll as a pseudo Chain Contingency and is amazingly good.

The Spirit Binding (various levels) Wu Jen spells and/or the 3.0 Spirit Ally (various levels) let you Summon almost any incorporeal undead, amongst other things.

Dreaming Puppet (5) is an infinite range Dominate monster.

Control Winds (5) and Stonehold (6) are both amazing BC spells.

Desecrate (2) buffs undead.

Please let me know if you want any more suggestions. I played a recaster recently and spent a lot of time weighing options before going with Inspiration and Divone Insight. Ultimately, opening new options was better than any specific offensive or defensive spell.

[Mordante]

What are list or off-list spells?

[Gruftzwerg]

What are list or off-list spells?

class-"list"-spells and off-class-"list" spells

Zanos is playing a class with access to the wizard spell list and that has the special ability to learn a few spells from other classes spell list.

[Blindy]

Some Unseen Seer tech is Hunters Eye from the ranger spell list. It gives you sneak attack dice per three caster levels. Very good for scorching ray type spells with multiple attacks. It is a level two spell.

[Gusmo]

Consumptive field (Spell Compendium) is an interesting and potentially overpowered option if you want to boost your caster level. It pairs nicely with any buff spells with uncapped bonus, and minimally can give a good duration boost as well. Warning that the spell is tagged as evil, and will require you to kill things to fuel it. Be prepared to slaughter livestock or something like that as your most civilized option to power it.

Speaking of uncapped buffs, algid enhancement (Frostburn) increases attack rolls and AC, and grants temporary HP. It requires the target be of the cold subtype, and that can be granted by mantle of the icy soul, which has different versions in both Frostburn and the Spell Compendium.