Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Elladon 11-15-05, 11:53 AM	Good Day to all that read this. Me and several of my friends have just started playing D&D. We have played one game so far. I have played many other computer games that are based on D&D. Balduars gate I and II, everquest, and several other. So I am semi-familar with the play of the game. My wizard is currently lvl two and eagerly wanting to control of the world :P I am looking for tips/ideas on some good ways to lvl him up. What spells I should use, the different feats. If some of you have specific spells you have designed that might be useful. I have several ideas to alter the plot of the "story," but I don't know if the DM would go for it. Thank you for all your help!!!
Dracspero 11-15-05, 11:57 AM	Scrolls...lots of scolls.
Otherguy 11-15-05, 12:33 PM	Combat Casting. Soon as you can. And a wand of something wicked sweet. Soon as you can.
Elladon 11-15-05, 01:44 PM	Thanks for responding so fast. I currently have 4 scrolls of magic missle. 4 scrolls of shocking grasp (made at lvl 2), 4 scrolls of protection from evil (made at lvl 2). Howerver I do not know what combat casting is? And the wand is hard to come by. We are stuck in a little town of 200 people, that is cut off from he world due to orcs. (our next adventure to kill them). Also if anyone has any thought on possible multiclass later on. I've thought about starting monk multi-class when he turns lvl 8 or 9. Thanks again
Thubby 11-15-05, 01:49 PM	you can litteraly rule the world with focus in enchantment, charm, dominate, etc if you want to be a bit more useful in a fight, evokation, blow away all oposition
Dracspero 11-15-05, 04:15 PM	Use scrolls for the miscellaneous spells that aren't as affected by caster levels and that don't have save DCs. Offensive spells tend to be better cast directly by you.
Puca 11-15-05, 04:50 PM	Combat Casting. Soon as you can.No, please no. Combat casting gives you +4 to your concentration check to cast defensively. You should be doing everything in your power to not have to cast defensively. Skill Focus (concentration) give a +3 to every concentration check you make. Much better choice. Wizard strengths: Skills: you have a good range of skills and because you are doing everything in your power to improve your Int, you are going to have a decent number of points. You should have Spellcraft maxed, Knowledge (arcane) at least five ranks and keep pushing it up, Concentration maxed. After that, things depend a lot on your party; you have to be a team player. Ranks in some other knowledge skills (like the planes so you can tell if you should be using silver or cold iron against that big, horned fiend) is important. But there are other skills you may wish to devote some points to like Escape Artist (people will try to grapple you,) Balance (it is an easy way to make you vulnerable to sneak attacks,) and Tumble (they will try to surround you.) At mid to high levels youre going to have ways out of these situations, but at low to mid levels, ranks in balance to keep an opponent from doing the Grease/Sneak Attack on you can save your butt. Feats: You get bonus feats for metamagic and crafting, so take that into consideration before devoting your regular feats to either of these. Spell Penetration and Greater Spell Penetration are nice, but are mostly useful at higher levels. Spell Focus and Greater Spell Focus are only +1 and +2 to your DC in an area, but sometimes a 5 or 10% advantage is all you need. I have found that these work best for schools like Enchantment and Illusion, where you really have to have them work. Weapon-like spell feats: Weapon Focus, Improved Critical, Point-Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Weapon Finesse – all these will work with spells. Spells that require an attack roll are usually good spells, and your chance of missing is offset by the fact that they often dont allow a save. Something like Precise Shot to let you fire into melee without penalty can be gold for you. Metamagic: Except for Quicken Spell, Im not a huge fan of these for a wizard. Silent and Still can get you out of a jam, but there are Rods for that. Item Creation: You cant memorize every spell in your book, and youre spending a lot of money acquiring new spells and writing them down. Magic items can solve both of those problems. Theoretically, a 50% reduction in the cost of your magic items is twice as much equipment as the other guy. Take advantage of this. Craft Wondrous is the best bet. Avoid Brew Potion and Craft Wand. Spell Selection: Your versatility is determined by the depth of your spell book. Make it deep. Acquiring spells and putting them into your book should be your highest priority. Scribe a lot of scrolls. There are very few things in the multiverse that can stand up to a fully prepared wizard, but being fully prepared takes a lot of knowledge and luck. Having scrolls of the spells you didnt prepare available is how you fill the gap. Also, you cant blast half the day like a sorcerer can, but you can get a wand with a nice little attack spell. If there is a spell that you can see yourself wanting to cast every encounter, multiple times per encounter, get it on a wand. Like Dracspero said though, watch the DC. Something that has no save is best for an attack spell, but utilities free you up to prepare those attack spells yourself to greater effect. Weaknesses: Hit points: they suck. Armor Class: It sucks. Youre going to get hit and you cant take it. False Life is a good way to deal with this. Mage Armor and Shield at low levels are good. I also favor having a high Dex (usually the choice is between Dex and Con.) Do everything you can to not get hit. Stay out of combat. Use cover and concealment. Attacks: You BAB sucks, and your selection of weapons sucks. This is another reason I recommend Dex., you are going to have to roll to hit stuff, and Dex works for this. Weapons are really only going to come into play at low levels, but they can be crucial then. This is the time when you are going to run out of spells and cant really afford to fire a wand of Magic Missile every round if you do have one. I like a reach weapon. No, you arent proficient, but you can help out friends and stay safely away, you can set many of them against a charge, which is a good deterrent to chargers, and guys trying to close in on you take an AoO. Strength: You are going to be weak. Strength is a dump stat, right there with Charisma, but be careful. As soon as you cross to a medium load, you get max dex restrictions and check penalties and reduced speed. As soon as you can, get a Handy Haversack, and until then, watch your load. Familiar: This is a trade off. You lose xp if it dies, but they can help you. I personally prefer to use my familiar to shore up a weak save, like fort or something. Then leave it in my pack forever. As a scout or spy, remember: your hit points suck, and you have twice as many as your pet.
nordyboy 11-15-05, 05:44 PM	My favorate path for spellcasters has been a Gish-type fighter/mage. You can pick the best stategy for the situation, and you are capable of taking on many types of opponents. very good for ruling the world... As for spells... I always liked Ray of Enfeeblement. 1d6+1 strength damage is hardly ever a waste, if used correctly. Better at higher levels, where you are more likely to hit, do more damage, and more often. Your party may frown on the use of negative energy, (mine did :( ), but the usefullness of it will likely convince them otherwise. Once you can Maximize your spells, Scorching Ray is your best friend. 12d6 maximized = 72-no save-damage. :mage: What books are you allowed to use?
Endarire 11-15-05, 06:00 PM	This post is better suited for the character optimization board (http://boards1.wizards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=21), not only because of important threads such as the Optimization Library (http://www.wizards.com/leaving.asp?url=http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=213480&origin=) and Wizard Handbook (http://www.wizards.com/leaving.asp?url=http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=165134&origin=), but also because you want mechanical help for being the best possible. The threads are not totally updated with all of WotC's new books, but they mostly hold true. If your questions and concerns remain unaddressed after reading those, make a new thread. -EE
Nate Jones 11-16-05, 12:37 AM	I must reaffirm what has aleady been glossed over by some. Don't make scrolls of spells you plan using frequently. Not only does does it force you to memorize situationaly useful spells, it could potentially be a waste of resources if you tend to hold on to them for the unlikely event that you run out of spells and need access to the '5 damage' magic missile. Scrolls should complement your memorized repertoire, filling gaps in utility spells that could prove advantageous should the specific need arise. If your campaign does not focus heavily around 'evil' creatures, protection from evil is nice scroll to have handy. As a side note, I would not recommend multiclassing to monk from wizard until you are very familar with the mechanics of DnD 3.5. Without sufficient understanding, you stand to severely hamper both the spell casting abilities of your wizards levels and the combat support abilities of your monk (3rd edition multiclassing doesn't work quite like it did in Baldur's Gate II). And finally, don't try and mess with your DM. It's bad politics.
Bounces 11-16-05, 01:32 AM	I concur with the previous poster...not to mention that Sorcs are better suited for multiclassing to monk with...what with the Aescetic Mage in CompAd and all... If you absoluetly have to multiclass to monk then pick up the Complete Arcane Book and look up the Enlightened Fist...it's really the only viable way of multiclassing monk and an arcane caster and still being able to use a decent range of both classes abilities. The prereqs have you entering the class after 6th level...With a Wizard5/Monk1 build. It is absolutely neccessary for you to be a race with favored class of either Wizard (only core race is elf), Monk (there are no core races with monk as favored class), or any (human or half-elf)... If you are a different race then I would definetly say not to multiclassing into monk...the exp penalty would kill you.
Elladon 11-16-05, 12:17 PM	Thanks to all who have posted on this thread. It has a great help. I have several new ideas that I'm sure will help my lawful/evil wizard to conqure the world :). My apologise if I did post this on the wrong board, I saw class and figured it would be the best one, on future postings I will look at the boards more closely. I will read the different feats I can get more closely and pick which ones i'll want. To answer nordyboy's question. If you mean books as in D&D books, pretty much any of them that we want. As I said in first post all of us are new to the D&D game, even our DM. We are willing to explore diffferent books and different ways of playing. Once again I would just like to say thanks to everyone that has posted and if there are any more post after this thanks in advance. I hope to beable to become an active member on these message boards. Elladon Luinwe "The World Will be Mine!"
Dracspero 11-16-05, 01:25 PM	One other thing you may want to consider. A usually significant motivation of Lawful Evil is the desire to control others and use them as your tools. You MAY want to consider focussing on Enchantments or Summonings for making others do your bidding. For example, a specialist conjurer with Focus: Conjuration and Augment Summoning could be an effective, not to mention cool, Lawful Evil character, though most people frown on specialist wizards.
Elladon 11-16-05, 01:47 PM	Thanks for the info. I don't think i'm wanting to go into specialist wizard, I think in the long run it would be to limiting. But the control aspect I am playing into my character maybe not so much through spells, even though I will be using the charm spells and others to a great deal, but more in RP. His character style is semi-based off of Eiago from Athelo, if that gives you any idea as to how I will be playing this wizard.
Nephlite 11-16-05, 03:57 PM	Good Day to all that read this. Me and several of my friends have just started playing D&D. We have played one game so far. I have played many other computer games that are based on D&D. Balduars gate I and II, everquest, and several other. So I am semi-familar with the play of the game. My wizard is currently lvl two and eagerly wanting to control of the world :P I am looking for tips/ideas on some good ways to lvl him up. What spells I should use, the different feats. If some of you have specific spells you have designed that might be useful. I have several ideas to alter the plot of the "story," but I don't know if the DM would go for it. Thank you for all your help!!! Fests: Skill Focus (Concentration): Combat Casting gives +4 in one area, byt Skill focus (Concentration )is +3 any time. It is much better to get Skill Focus Conc really. Spells; I perfer debuffs and buffs over damage dealing. I'll go from 1-3rd. Level 1 spells: 1) Grease (if you have a rogue) is deadly assisance spell. Enemies that are balancing lose dex to Ac unless have 5 ranks in tumble. (Sneak attack works when enemy denied Dex to AC) Otherwise they fall prone, making it easier to hit them. 2) Ray of Enfeeblement (weakens one target's effective strength with a str penalty. Penalties don't stack so don't use it twice on same target). This is a good spell for a scroll or wand. Most effective against a big strong enemy (not multiple weaks ones). 3) Unseen Servany: Useful in and out of battle if you are creative. Its power is mostly unseen and unrecognized. Like it could load your light crossbow after you shoot it for example. 4) Identify: best as a scroll since it only works after battles. 5) Color Spray: Best level 1 knock out spell. Works at any level unlike sleep which stops at 4 HD. 6) Enlarge Person: sometimes useful to beef up a warrior type (weapon's increase in size too). 7) Reduce Person: Useful for throwing and shooting people. This is because the weapon will resize back to normal after leaving the person before it hits. So a person reduced to small throws his weapon (reducedf to small) which turns back meduim before it hits enemy. Best of all: you still get the bonus to hit from your (new) size. Level 2 spells: 1) Rope Trick: It has much useage if your creative. 2) Fox's Cunning: Increases your spells DC by 2. 3) Alter Self: Useful if creative. Turning into a Kobold gives you +1 Natural armor for example. 4) Mirror Image: Good protective spell. 5) Shatter: Shatters stuff like non-magical weapons, locks, etc. 6) Hideous Laughter: They lose action if fail save for a few rounds. (good for sneak attacks) Level 3 spells: 1) Rage: cast on enemy spellcasters and they can't cast spells. ;) 2) Haste: Speed up and improve allies. 3) Slow: Slows enemies 4) Ray of Exhaustion: Enemy can't run and str and dex drop. 5) Heroism: Boost an ally. Just a few ideas.
Gworraent 11-16-05, 04:03 PM	get Vampiric touch asap touch attack d6 damage/level. you then gain that much health. it's a great way for you to be self sufficient hp-wise. also, if you have a really tough ally, or someone who has extra hp that everyone knows they wont need cos of a high AC you can always get permission from that ally to transfer some of his/her health to ur health.
oxbear 11-17-05, 01:23 AM	If you have the ability, Mongoose Publishing put out a series of books called "The Quintessential <nearly every race and class>". Check out the Quint Wizard and Quint Wizard II. If you don't have a comic store near you, you can probably find them on ebay or from the publisher directly. They have a lot of tips in terms of sets of spell selections, creative ways to use spells, multiclassing possibilities, and so forth. "The Complete Arcane" by Wizards of the Coast is a great resource as well. I personally love playing an arcanist, and (apparently unusually) relish playing a specialist wizard. I've played a completely insane necromancer (rather like a Batman-esque character) that tried to rid the world of undead. The last one I played was an illusionist that was multiclassed as a barbarian (only 1 level). That campaign was actually inturrupted for a couple years since my DM moved for work for a few years. That character is borderline split personality, an artist with a terrible dark side. He's working on keeping his more base impulses in check, but finds it a difficult proposition. He'll be taking several levels in the Rage Mage class from "The Complete Warrior". Anyway, what I'm getting at is that the wizard and sorcerer have a very wide variety of back story possibilities, which is really where the fun lies (in my opinion at least). My necromancer, for instance, was a half grey elf child who witnessed his parents' death at the hands of a lich that conquered his city. He was drawn into a portal, clutching one of the lich's spellbooks. From this, he learned necromancy and became a hunter (2 levels of ranger) of undead, specifically liches. Along the way, he lost his already fragile psyche. My illusionist was from a barbaric tribe where the rage was a celebrated part of life. But he couldn't control himself. His temper would take him over and he would be destructive toward the village. He was eventually banished to a nearby city to live with his uncle (an ambassador). While there, he raged on a group of teenagers hassling a pair of kids. The teens happened to be nobility, and he was spared death because his uncle interceded. Instead he was sentenced to a mental facility where he underwent all manner of unspeakable tortures (all kept secret from society at large). Eventually, the head of the asylum died and he managed to get released. From there, he fell in with a group of adventurers and started a campaign (all this was back story, prior to level 1). The advantage of the wizard vs the sorcerer is the spell selection and the feat progression. These two aspects are the bread and butter of the wizard. Use them to tailor your caster to fit what you'd like to play. Have fun!
Perun 11-17-05, 02:01 AM	I agree qith most of what other posters said. I also highly recommend sticking to the three core books (Player's Handbook [for players, of course], and Dungeon Master's Guide and Monster Manual [for DM]) till you get to know the system. Various accessories have rules expansions, additions and options thta can easily confuse novice players. I'd also suggest avoiding mixing 3.0 and 3.5 rules, till you're more comfortable with the rules. Since you said wands aren't available, I suggest making a couple of scrolls of mage armour. It's cheap (12 gp and 5 sp, plus 1 XP to create), and it'll give you a +4 armour bonus for a whole hour, which may well last through several encounters (with wand, for 750 gp you get 50 hours of mage armour, which is well worth it). Direct offensive spells (such as magic missile or burning hands) are generally not the best option, since you get to be about as effective as a fighter for one round, but you expend 1/3 of your daily spell recources (I assume that at level 2, you have 3 first level slots available). However, this all depends on the other characters in your party. If you lack a good fighter-type, you might have to load up on offensive spells. Some good options (IMO) include: Charm person: Since you're going against orcs (who, generally, have low will saves), this can make one orc your ally for 2 hours. If you want to prolong the duration, prepare a couple of scrolls of charm person, and when one is about to expire, cast another one. However, before casting, you should "explain" to your orc bestest friend that you're about to cast a boosting spell of some sort on him, so he could willingly fail his save. Colour spray Burning hands: If you absolutely have to fight, or if you have a high Con score, this one is good because it deals 2d4 points of fire damage to multiple opponents (magic missile does only 1d4+1 and affects a single opponent, but is ranged). Silent image, if you're creative. Enlarge and reduce person. Expeditious retreat in cases you have to retreat. This one is better on a scroll, though (1 minute is plenty of time for you to get away). At low levels, cantrips such as resistance can prove valuable (especially if orcs have shamans). Detect magic and prestidigitation are obligatory ;) Regards.