Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Bortus 02-01-08, 03:53 PM	Ok I haven't played a Wizard since 2nd edition and now I have the opportunity to be involved in a 3.5 game playing one. I am familiar with 3.5 rules but as already said I haven't played a wizard since 2nd edition so what I need to know what are some things I should think about during character development? Should I muti-class and what are some of the better schools of magic to choose from? Just to let you know I have decided to play him as a human (for the skill points) and I would prefer to play him as a sort of non-melee type character, you know like I don't want to cast spells then use a sword when I'm out that is unless this would be a valid choice towards possibly creating a great character. I am open to any and all responses and look forward to what everyone has to say. I have considered going mage/thief maybe but that remains to be seen. I really like the idea of putting all my abilities into being the most powerful wizard I can be. Also I should ask what are the better feats and skills you would recommened? Are metamagic feats worth it? Thanks all for posting, can't wait to hear what you have to say. Cheers! :D
kelcimer 02-01-08, 04:49 PM	I found that taking my first level in rogue was very helpful for running my halfing wizard. Having all those skills meant I didn't have to resort first to spells to do anything. This was also a small party so the skills were not redundant. In a larger group I played a dwarf wizard. I made a point to give him a high constitution. I dumped the extra ability point at 4th level into my constitution to bump him up to a +5 modifier. The whole point was that if I was going to be hit, it wouldn't be scary. Funny thing was I kept rolling 4's for his hit points. He had more hit points then most of the party! I was also keen to make sure that if he cast a spell that it would always make a difference. If it wasn't going to make a difference then he'd just shoot crossbow bolts. In both cases I found it a very wise thing to create scroll banks.
Lincoln Hills 02-01-08, 04:52 PM	Consult the Character Optimization boards. No, on second thought let's not go to the Character Optimization boards: it is a silly place. OK: Intelligence is even more critical to a 3.5 wizard than it was to a 2nd Ed wizard. Not only does it cap the highest level of spells you can cast - it also determines how hard it is for enemies to make their saving throw against your spells. The only good news is that 3.5 allows you to add +1 to a stat every 4 levels - as a wizard, you should keep dumping those points in Intelligence til at least Intelligence 19 is reached (20 is better.) If your stats don't suggest that you'll ever reach that (for instance, if your starting Intelligence is only 14 or so), then yes - multiclassing is the best option. A quirk in the 3.5 rules makes it much better to start as a rogue, then start learning wizardry, than it is to start as an apprentice wizard and then start learning thief-arts - otherwise I'd suggest that combo. No, the best second-class options for a melee-averse wizard are ranger (archer), bard, or cleric. Ranger will help boost your poor "to-hit" as a wizard and give you access to bows: bardic music and knowledge allow you to help the party out without getting near the front line: and even one level in cleric gives you access to healing magic and Domains (certain domain powers help out a wizard quite a bit.) There are later prestige class options that a Ranger/Wizard or Cleric/Wizard can get into, but I don't know much about the Eldritch Knight or Mystic Theurge prestige classes. Consult the 3.5 DMG.
CrimsonDeath 02-01-08, 06:17 PM	Consult the Character Optimization boards. No, on second thought let's not go to the Character Optimization boards: it is a silly place. In that case, I'll just bring a bit of the CharOp boards to you! ;) Like Lincoln said, Intelligence is your most important ability score. As kelcimer implied, Constitution is the second most important; it can give you more HP per level than you'd get from your hit die, and it's the key ability score for Concentration checks (needed to cast spells under duress). Dexterity is probably your third priority, and you can pretty much forget everything else. If you want to spend most of your time casting spells, I'd suggest straight Wizard, or take Wizard into a prestiege class. (The "optimized Core Wizard" is Wizard 7/Loremaster 10/Archmage 3, for example, although Wizard 20 is great on its own.) The main thing is that you want to get higher-level spells as soon as possible, because each level of spells is a significant improvement in capability over the previous level. Direct damage spells like Fireball aren't as good as they might appear, since HP scale faster than the damage they do. The general consensus is that you can end an encounter fastest with "save or lose" spells like Color Spray, Web, Hold Person, etc, with the next tier of usefulness taken up by buffs (like Haste) and debuffs (like Ray of Enfeeblement). Probably the most versatile school is Conjuration, thanks to the wide variety of effects it can produce (which only gets wider as you add splat-books), with Transmutation as a close second; if you plan to specialize, you're probably best off with one of those. The easiest school to live without is probably Evocation, since most of it involves direct damage. I don't think there's really an objectively optimal choice for the second school to drop if you specialize; it's largely a matter of personal taste. Necromancy and Enchantment are prime candidates because of how many creatures are immune to them, but both also have some very nice effects for creatures that are subject to them. The usefulness of Illusion depends largely on your creativity and what your DM will allow, although some of the Wizard's most effective defensive spells (Invisibility, Blur/Blink, Mirror Image) are Illusions. You'll probably want Abjuration just for (Greater) Dispel Magic and Break Enchantment. At lower levels, you'll probably want a Light Crossbow so you'll have something to do on rounds when you don't feel like wasting a spell. You'll also want to carry an assortment of scrolls, which you can scribe yourself. Before very long, you should have enough spells that you can probably cast one every round of combat and still have a few left over for solving other problems. In the late game, you'll want to use your top few spell levels mostly for offense and your bottom spell levels mostly for defense and utility magic (e.g. Fly, Knock, etc).
Bortus 02-01-08, 07:41 PM	Hey thanks for everything so far everyone. Please keep the ideas comming. You've provided me with much to think about. I really don't want to multi-class so a straight wizzie is better for me. Oh and what is a scroll bank and again metamagic feats or not?
Kamin_Majere 02-01-08, 07:53 PM	If your just going Straight Wizard than you dont really need anything. I would pick up a few Metamagic feats, and a few crafting feats, and then just be a generalist mage. Its all really how simple or how complex you want to make it, and what all you have access to when building a character. A scroll bank is where you use your scribe scroll feat (given as a class feature to wizards) to make scrolls of just about everything. It lets you always have those really useful, but rarely cast, spell available to you with out actually wasting a slot to memorize them.
Gotar_MicLeah 02-01-08, 08:14 PM	This may have been said already. But I have a wizard as well. I didn't duel calss him, I just prestige with Archmage and went for metamagic feats. My wizard can cast 4 spells a turn (with 3 multi-spell) using Polar Ray with maxamize damage feat and the one that allows me to double the dice rolls if my caster level meets it, so he does 35d6 of 3 Polar Rays, 1 35d6 Polar Ray as a spell-like ability, then 1 35d6 Polar ray as a spell. Then I'll change the elemetal damage to fit the situation. ^,^
happy_fuzzy 02-01-08, 08:24 PM	Another option for replacing a weapon after spells run out are reserve feats from complete mage if you have it.