Hi, everyone.
Firstly, I'd like to say I'm a total noob. I've only played a few Table Top RPG sessions and I'm really new. Not that it really matters, I just wanted something to fall back on if I looked like a complete dolt 
So, I have a really basic question on how At-Will wizard powers work, as I'm not 100% sure on limitations. I've played a bit of Pathfinder previous to D&D (but only the beginner's box set), and in it, it claims that a wizard can only cast a certain amount of spells each day, depending on what his Intelligence score is. Of course, Pathfinder is a completely different game to D&D, but at the end of the day, it's heavily inspired by D&D and other table top games.
However, in D&D 4e, it (seemingly) claims that At-Will spells can be cast as many times as the wizard wants. But I can't help but feel that being able to cast spells with no limit (other than once per encounter/ day spells) seems extremely over-powered, and I can't find out whether I've read it completely wrong and if there are any limits on At-Will wizard powers.
At-will powers are just that - at-will. They can be cast as the action cost listed (usually if not always standard action) as many times as you like. Encounter powers can be cast once per encounter and are regained after a short rest. Daily powers can be cast once per day and are regained after an extended rest.
It's not overpowered. In fact, it's balanced very well against the powers and abilities of other classes, especially within the Controller role.
AngryBritishAce wrote:
iserith wrote:
AngryBritishAce wrote:
Yeah, I was just going to chime in ...
The reason you're allowed to cast those particular spells At-Will is because they're the least powerful of your spells. Encounter spells are more powerful, so you can only cast them once per encounter, and Dailies of course are the most powerful or all, which is why you can only cast them once per day. The power level of the spells are balanced quite well for their frequency in almost all cases.
The same design holds true for At-Will, Encounter and Daily powers for all other classes too.
So no, At-Will Wizard spells are not overpowered, and a hell of a lot more Wizardly than running out of Daily slots and then throwing daggers, shooting a crossbow, or cowering behind the Cleric. ;)
cowering behind the Cleric sounds wizardly to me, but then that reflects more on the kind of wizards I hang around