Best Wizard feats? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Best Wizard feats? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
LoboTheKhundian
01-30-08, 11:49 AM Hey guys... I'm alittle new to the game... and I decided to make a wizard, and my DM suggested that I get on the forums and ask for advice about feats, I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for some must have feats, I am mostly looking for some that help doing a lot of damage, if you guys could give me the names of the feats and books they're from that would be great....Thanks!
LSMFT
01-30-08, 12:04 PM Lobo, welcome to the game and to the boards.

But, you have to help us so we can help you. Give us information about the character (level, race, stats, etc.) about the campaign if you know, and about what books your DM will allow.
LoboTheKhundian
01-30-08, 12:12 PM Human, Level 6, i rolled really high stats: 18 int, 16 wis, 16 con, 14 dex, 14 str, 14 cha. As far as the campaign goes, its alittle bit like a power campaign. He also said all books are available to use.
LSMFT
01-30-08, 01:24 PM Scribe Scroll, human bonus feat, level 1, 3, & 6 feats, and a wizard bonus feat.

Not bad.

First and foremost, I’d recommend the Collegiate Wizard feat. It is found in Complete Arcane, but it is not in the “Feats” section but rather a sidebar later in the book. This feat basically doubles the number of free spells you get in your spellbook. So good. (Your effectiveness as a wizard is tied directly to the number of spells you get to select from.)

Now, before you consider any other advice, you should remember Prestige Classes. You do not need one, ever, but if you want one you need to consider that. Most have prerequisite feats to enter, and that is something to consider along side any other advice you receive.

Metamagic:
One really nice little metamagic feat for wizards is Extend Spell. Buffs like Mage Armor last one hour/caster-level. Six hours. That’s only half your day many times. You could prepare it twice (don’t) or rely on wands and scrolls to see you through.

But making it last twice as long with a metamagic feat is something to consider.

You said you wanted to do damage. There are feats like Empower Spell and Maximize Spell, and they could help. But a wizard whose role is blaster might look at the Sudden versions of these feats. You can only use them once/day, but you can apply them to your highest level of spells with out cost and apply them “on the fly.”

Silent Spell and Still Spell (or the Sudden versions of them) are really “just in case” type feats. They are great, just in cast you are grappled or trapped in an area of Silence or something. (Plan a way out of these situations. Your plan might include these types of feats, it might not. But not having a plan will assure you a violent death.)

If you have a lot of spells with an energy descriptor (fire, acid, cold, electricity) you might want to have Energy Substitution. Slots filled with Fireballs suck when the dragon is red. But if your scroll case as a few Iceballs, you’re good to go.

Other metamagics like Quicken are really not going to be of use to you now. Other great ones (Fell Drain) might interest you.

Other Magic boosts:
You might want to look at the types of spells you want to cast. Are many of them “save-or-die” type spells? Do a lot of your direct damage spells come from the same school? If so, you can and should consider Spell Focus and Greater Spell Focus to increase the DC of spells and schools you know you will be using a lot.

If you take Spell Focus for a school, look at Complete Mage. There are a number of feats that have it (or Specialized wizard) as a prerequisite. Some of them are really pretty good.

It is a bit early to worry too much about Spell Resistance. Eventually, you will so if you are wondering what to fill an unused feat-slot with and can’t find anything else, look to the future and consider Spell Penetration/Greater Spell Pen/Arcane Mastery.

Item Creation:
It is always nice to be able to make your own stuff. And, you can roll the savings from crafting into other areas and get a nice little power boost.

I would recommend Craft Wondrous Item. “Wondrous item” is sort of a catch all that can with a reasonably flexible DM cover pretty much every type of item you’d want, and even with a strict one, it covers more areas than pretty much any other creation feat.

You could go with Craft Wand, but unless you are going to be using tons and tons of them, you’re probably better off buying them. Don’t touch Brew Potion with a ten-foot ladle.

Other feats:
You really don’t have too many weak areas. Your stats are good, and that means better saves and hit points. So feats to boost those areas are probably not really going to work.

Someone is probably going to say Combat Casting but ignore it. Skill Focus (Concentration) will serve you far better because even though it is only +3 to checks, it is for all checks and not just those for casting defensively. With a 16 Con, I probably wouldn’t worry too much about Concentration checks anyway.

Feats for weapons are often applicable to weapon-like spells. Casters can benefit from Weapon Focus (touch) or (ranged touch), Point-Blank Shot, Precise Shot, and others like that. But, you should compare those feats to the types of spells you’ll be using. If you use a lot of rays, maybe. If you are tossing about Fireballs and hitting fellows with Cones of Cold, not really much help.

Flavor:
Should have had this first. Guess that tells you my priorities. :)
Look around at the feats for flavor ideas. Be a mechanically sound character, especially if it is a high-powered campaign like yours looks to be, but you might see something that just screams “COOL” to you.

Like the benefits of Black Lore of the Moil is kind lame, but the concept of collecting humanoid finger bones at the end of battles and using them as spell-components later to increase damage might hit just the right cord with you and help make the dark, creepy flavor you wanted come to life.

Imbue Summoning is not as good as you’d hope, but it is undeniably cooler to summon a flying boa constrictor than an earthbound one. If you think it sounds cool, try it. Feats are precious but devoting one to something more “cool” than “powerful” isn’t going to gimp you.
Cartigan
01-30-08, 02:04 PM Note on Combat Casting, while it is situational, it is assumed by the game more useful than Skill Focus(Concentration) and is a pre-req for certain feats and prestige classes.
LSMFT
01-30-08, 02:30 PM Regarding its use as a prereq for something else, Combat Casting is exactly as valuable as whatever it is you are trying to qualify for. So it can be very valuable.

Regarding the "assumptions of the game" on its general usefulness independently of perquisites for other things, the facts speak for themselves.

Combat Casting: +4 on checks to cast defensively.
Skill Focus (concentration): +3 on checks to cast defensively, and +3 to every other concentration check you make as well.

Seems pretty obvious which is better. Especially considering that checks to cast defensively are among the more easily avoidable checks when you have a 5' step available and try to keep your squishy butt away from melee as much as possible already. :)

If "the game" assumes Combat Casting is better, let "the game" use one of its feat slots on it. I'm going to spend mine on something that will help me a bit more often. :)

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
LoboTheKhundian 01-30-08, 11:49 AM	Hey guys... I'm alittle new to the game... and I decided to make a wizard, and my DM suggested that I get on the forums and ask for advice about feats, I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for some must have feats, I am mostly looking for some that help doing a lot of damage, if you guys could give me the names of the feats and books they're from that would be great....Thanks!
LSMFT 01-30-08, 12:04 PM	Lobo, welcome to the game and to the boards. But, you have to help us so we can help you. Give us information about the character (level, race, stats, etc.) about the campaign if you know, and about what books your DM will allow.
LoboTheKhundian 01-30-08, 12:12 PM	Human, Level 6, i rolled really high stats: 18 int, 16 wis, 16 con, 14 dex, 14 str, 14 cha. As far as the campaign goes, its alittle bit like a power campaign. He also said all books are available to use.
LSMFT 01-30-08, 01:24 PM	Scribe Scroll, human bonus feat, level 1, 3, & 6 feats, and a wizard bonus feat. Not bad. First and foremost, I’d recommend the Collegiate Wizard feat. It is found in Complete Arcane, but it is not in the “Feats” section but rather a sidebar later in the book. This feat basically doubles the number of free spells you get in your spellbook. So good. (Your effectiveness as a wizard is tied directly to the number of spells you get to select from.) Now, before you consider any other advice, you should remember Prestige Classes. You do not need one, ever, but if you want one you need to consider that. Most have prerequisite feats to enter, and that is something to consider along side any other advice you receive. Metamagic: One really nice little metamagic feat for wizards is Extend Spell. Buffs like Mage Armor last one hour/caster-level. Six hours. That’s only half your day many times. You could prepare it twice (don’t) or rely on wands and scrolls to see you through. But making it last twice as long with a metamagic feat is something to consider. You said you wanted to do damage. There are feats like Empower Spell and Maximize Spell, and they could help. But a wizard whose role is blaster might look at the Sudden versions of these feats. You can only use them once/day, but you can apply them to your highest level of spells with out cost and apply them “on the fly.” Silent Spell and Still Spell (or the Sudden versions of them) are really “just in case” type feats. They are great, just in cast you are grappled or trapped in an area of Silence or something. (Plan a way out of these situations. Your plan might include these types of feats, it might not. But not having a plan will assure you a violent death.) If you have a lot of spells with an energy descriptor (fire, acid, cold, electricity) you might want to have Energy Substitution. Slots filled with Fireballs suck when the dragon is red. But if your scroll case as a few Iceballs, you’re good to go. Other metamagics like Quicken are really not going to be of use to you now. Other great ones (Fell Drain) might interest you. Other Magic boosts: You might want to look at the types of spells you want to cast. Are many of them “save-or-die” type spells? Do a lot of your direct damage spells come from the same school? If so, you can and should consider Spell Focus and Greater Spell Focus to increase the DC of spells and schools you know you will be using a lot. If you take Spell Focus for a school, look at Complete Mage. There are a number of feats that have it (or Specialized wizard) as a prerequisite. Some of them are really pretty good. It is a bit early to worry too much about Spell Resistance. Eventually, you will so if you are wondering what to fill an unused feat-slot with and can’t find anything else, look to the future and consider Spell Penetration/Greater Spell Pen/Arcane Mastery. Item Creation: It is always nice to be able to make your own stuff. And, you can roll the savings from crafting into other areas and get a nice little power boost. I would recommend Craft Wondrous Item. “Wondrous item” is sort of a catch all that can with a reasonably flexible DM cover pretty much every type of item you’d want, and even with a strict one, it covers more areas than pretty much any other creation feat. You could go with Craft Wand, but unless you are going to be using tons and tons of them, you’re probably better off buying them. Don’t touch Brew Potion with a ten-foot ladle. Other feats: You really don’t have too many weak areas. Your stats are good, and that means better saves and hit points. So feats to boost those areas are probably not really going to work. Someone is probably going to say Combat Casting but ignore it. Skill Focus (Concentration) will serve you far better because even though it is only +3 to checks, it is for all checks and not just those for casting defensively. With a 16 Con, I probably wouldn’t worry too much about Concentration checks anyway. Feats for weapons are often applicable to weapon-like spells. Casters can benefit from Weapon Focus (touch) or (ranged touch), Point-Blank Shot, Precise Shot, and others like that. But, you should compare those feats to the types of spells you’ll be using. If you use a lot of rays, maybe. If you are tossing about Fireballs and hitting fellows with Cones of Cold, not really much help. Flavor: Should have had this first. Guess that tells you my priorities. :) Look around at the feats for flavor ideas. Be a mechanically sound character, especially if it is a high-powered campaign like yours looks to be, but you might see something that just screams “COOL” to you. Like the benefits of Black Lore of the Moil is kind lame, but the concept of collecting humanoid finger bones at the end of battles and using them as spell-components later to increase damage might hit just the right cord with you and help make the dark, creepy flavor you wanted come to life. Imbue Summoning is not as good as you’d hope, but it is undeniably cooler to summon a flying boa constrictor than an earthbound one. If you think it sounds cool, try it. Feats are precious but devoting one to something more “cool” than “powerful” isn’t going to gimp you.
Cartigan 01-30-08, 02:04 PM	Note on Combat Casting, while it is situational, it is assumed by the game more useful than Skill Focus(Concentration) and is a pre-req for certain feats and prestige classes.
LSMFT 01-30-08, 02:30 PM	Regarding its use as a prereq for something else, Combat Casting is exactly as valuable as whatever it is you are trying to qualify for. So it can be very valuable. Regarding the "assumptions of the game" on its general usefulness independently of perquisites for other things, the facts speak for themselves. Combat Casting: +4 on checks to cast defensively. Skill Focus (concentration): +3 on checks to cast defensively, and +3 to every other concentration check you make as well. Seems pretty obvious which is better. Especially considering that checks to cast defensively are among the more easily avoidable checks when you have a 5' step available and try to keep your squishy butt away from melee as much as possible already. :) If "the game" assumes Combat Casting is better, let "the game" use one of its feat slots on it. I'm going to spend mine on something that will help me a bit more often. :)