[4e] Wizard Build Help

[TheOOB]

We're starting up what we hope to be a long running D&D game and I'm playing the wizard. I was thinking of running a warmage who loads up on plenty of artillery but isn't afraid to step into the fray if needed, and is a zealous follower or Corelleon. The character is also likely to be party leader, so a little social graces is useful. Should be noted I'm also the parties only ritualist, hence the skills.

Avelion Tyraheal
Level 10 Eladrin Wizard

Str 08
Con 16(14 base, 2 level)
Dex 16(14 base, 2 race)
Int 20(16 base, 2 race, 2 level)
Wis 10
Cha 13

Skills: Arcana, Bluff, Diplomacy, Heal, Insight, Nature, Religion

Wand of Accuracy

At-Will: Magic Missile, Scorching Burst
Encounter: Burning Hands, Color Spray, Fireburst
Daily: Flaming Sphere/Sleep, Bigby's Icy Grasp/Strinking Cloud, Mordenkainen's Sword/Wall of Fire
Utility: Jump/Shield, Invisibility/Levitate, Blur/Resistance

Feats: Armor Proficiency(Leather), Astral Fire, Improved Initiative, Skill Training(Heal), Toughness, Warrior of the Wild

I was thinking of either going battle mage or wizard of the spiral tower as my paragon path, and taking staff of defense as my second implement.

At the moment, everything about the character is changeable so long as I get a wizard who is at the very least trained in diplomacy. Some thing's I'm definatly thinking of changing (stat lay out and multiclass comes to mind), but I'd like to see the boards opinions first.

[Charity]

I don't rate MM at all, especially if you are planning to get stuck in, I would go for thunder wave, the push is pretty good, but the other advantage is that it is a close burst and therefore doesn't provoke. Though it is wis based (maybe swap wis for cha) i know cha is a feat req but pushing stuff into the fighters grasp is very handy.

I'd be tempted to get expanded spellbook over astral fire.
If you are looking to multi into striker you could do worse than to look at the warlock as you have good con and int.

[Kurald Galain]

How do you get level bonuses to two stats if you're level one?

[Charity]

Got 0 blindness Kurald?

Avelion Tyraheal
Level 10 Eladrin Wizard.

Just noticed he's edited since...

Nothing to see here move along folks

[TheOOB]

How do you get level bonuses to two stats if you're level one?

Ack, I guess the 0 didn't get typed. Fixed now.

I was thinking of switching cha and wis, it would make thunderwave and such a bit more attractive, and open up more feats then it disables. MM I picked mainly for it's sniping potential, though it could just as easily be swapped with ray of frost, cloud of daggers, or illusory ambush(i need at least one single target at will, as I can't always get a 3x3 square with no allies in it). If I took thunderwave I'd drop flaming burst for it.

As for the multiclass feat, I was more looking for the skill and power, I'm not sure I'm going to be power swapping much, though warlock defiantly has some powers that could be useful.

[Dhavaer]

Illusory Ambush will probably be a better pick than Ray of Frost; Will defence is generally lower than Fort.

[Charity]

2nded. Ray of frost is not great, CoD is good if you are a wis/orb mage and is an instakill for minions, but only 1 at a time... unless you push stuff through the space of course.

[Corrin]

If you're going to go with Wizard of the Spiral Tower, the big advantage a longsword has over a staff is that it can be wielded one-handed. So get light and heavy shield proficiencies as feats. :)

[Oracle_Hunter]

If you're going to go with Wizard of the Spiral Tower, the big advantage a longsword has over a staff is that it can be wielded one-handed. So get light and heavy shield proficiencies as feats. :)

Not with his strength. Need a STR 13 for Light Shield and STR 15 for Heavy Shield.

This Build is not a close-up type - he'll have no OA and there are very few Close powers higher up.

Depending on how your DM fluffs spellcasting, you might want to get a STR 13 if you really want to be up in bad guys' grills. Plus, with a higher strength you can qualify for Hide Armor too.That'll be +4 AC and +1 Reflex, which isn't bad at all.

Ranger is kind of weak, to be honest. If you're really the party's leader, you might want to try Warlord to get a little healing on, and access to some of the Tactical Warlord Powers.

Those are my thoughts, anyhow.

[Kristoss]

For good advice on wizard building i would see Treantmonk's god to playing God over on the gleemax forums.

As far as multiclassing goes try Initiate of faith which gives you The Healing skill for rituals and access to healing word. Also multiclassing into the divine oracle Para' Path is very goo d for your initiative. Oh yeah initiative is very important.

All this suggested by the above mentioned guide.

[Antacid]

To really help, we're going to need to know the composition of the rest of the party. How best to build a character depends a lot on things like how many strikers/defenders there are, etc.

One thing for sure, though: if by "I'm the party leader" you mean there's no one playing a Warlord or Cleric, you effectively have to multiclass to one of those two for the 1/day healing power. Healing is very important - Strikers can't do any damage if they're unconscious.

[TheOOB]

I'm party leader as in I tend to lead the party through situations, we have someone of the leader archtype.

The rest of the part is a warlord, a TWF ranger, and a sword and board fighter.

[erikun]

If you are really crazy enough to take your wizard into melee, then you'll want 13 Str and Wizard of the Spiral Tower. Hide Armor, Small Shield, and a Longsword for spellcasting will boost your AC up to respectable levels. Heck, you could go with 12 Str and just let the global +1 at level 11 increase it to 13 Str - although you'll be spending one feat for Hide and retraining another for the Small shield that way.

I also agree with Thunderwave. Even if you're not going melee frequently, pushing away annoyances is very useful. If you are, it's one of the more reliable up-close wizard spells.

Astral Fire is only a +1 to damage at this point, and will only be a +2 for the next 10 levels. That may be a nice boost to Scorching Blast, but is a bit less impressive compared to your other skills. I would pick it up later in your paragon tier, when you've picked up the really good feats.

What is the reason for the Ranger multiclass?

[TheOOB]

I've read a few of the guides of the gleemax forums, and taken some of the peoples suggestions into account, and completely re-imaged my character concept(fits better with the group, and looking to play someone who is a little manipulative). Here's a new snapshot of what he looks like at level 10.

Level 10 Wizard
Str: 8
Con: 14(13 base, 1 Level)
Dex:16(14 base, 2 Race)
Int: 20(16 Base, 2 Race, 2 Level)
Wis: 14(13 Base, 1 Level)
Cha: 12

Wand of Accuracy

Skills: Arcana, Bluff(Race), Diplomacy, Heal(Feat), Insight, Nature, Religion(Multiclass)

Feats: Armor Proficiency(Leather), Improved Initiative, Initiate of the Faith, Jack of All Trades, Skill Training(Heal), Toughness

At-Will: Illusory Ambush(Dragon 364), Scorching Burst
Lv 1 Encounter: Grasping Shadows(Dragon 364)
Lv 1 Daily: Flaming Sphere/Sleep
Lv 2 Utility: Feather Fall/Shield
Lv 3 Encounter: Icy Rays
Lv 5 Daily: Bigby's Icy Grasp/Phantasmal Assualt(Dragon 364)
Lv 6 Utility: Disguise Self/Invisibility
Lv 7 Encounter: Spectral Ram
Lv 9 Daily: Mordenkainen's Sword/Wall of Fire
Lv 10 Utility: Blur/Illusory Wall

Planning on going divine oracle.

Thoughts? Comments? Suggestions?

[erikun]

Why Divine Oracle?

[TheOOB]

Why Divine Oracle?

Immunity to surprise, higher init rolls, better attacks vs. Will(of which I have quite a few, and I'll take more once I get it), and an awesome action point ability. Not to mention the encounter and utility ability aren't stat based and work very well for me and my party, and the daily power is wis based, but missing doesn't hurt it too much.

[TwystidMynd]

I'm not sure why you have such a high Dex. I'm not intimately familiar with all the feat pre-reqs, but can't you scrape by with a much lower Dex? After all, your AC and Reflex scores are augmented by your already-high Int. You could sacrifice 2 points of Dex to get a 14 Cha, or boost your Wis by 1 (so you could get 16 by level 20). Aside from losing synergy to Dex-based skills, I don't many drawbacks, but you'd become a more leader-like social type with a higher Wis or Cha.