Relearning 4th Edition

[AbdulAlhazred]

Yeah, I don't know. I wasn't impressed with the blaster wizard until you had AP and PHB2 to give you some added options. It certainly gets better at higher levels. I think it is a weak option at 1-10. It isn't that some of the direct damage powers aren't decent powers, you just NEED a lot of little control effects so you have the right one for the right time and can keep wrong-footing the enemy consistently. Personally I put AoE type stuff pretty much on the control side, but yeah now and then you WILL do good damage with it, and the implied threat is nice. The thing that was tough was you had things like Scorching Burst that didn't do ANY control. It was a nice theory, but when you are using at-wills 3 times a fight and you aren't doing any control with it, that hurts.

 

[Tony Vargas]

Yeah, I don't know. I wasn't impressed with the blaster wizard until you had AP and PHB2 to give you some added options. It certainly gets better at higher levels.

Oh, yeah. That character went from fun to broken post-AP at 11th level.

I think it is a weak option at 1-10. It isn't that some of the direct damage powers aren't decent powers, you just NEED a lot of little control effects so you have the right one for the right time and can keep wrong-footing the enemy consistently.

Nod. I had a few. Ray of Frost, because that was the other only at-will the previous wizard didn't take (darn humans), Color Spray, and the various dailies, of course (oh, I /took/ Fireball, but didn't prep it often - used it /once/, albeit well).

Personally I put AoE type stuff pretty much on the control side, but yeah now and then you WILL do good damage with it, and the implied threat is nice. The thing that was tough was you had things like Scorching Burst that didn't do ANY control.

Except that AoE control, of course. Someone - not sure if it was in this thread - mentioned the Goblin Hexer and his nasty vexing cloud. That group went up against it 3 times. The first, in the first campaign, it was pretty aweful, Hobgoblins formed up in a tight phalanx inside the cloud, very hard to hit. In order to Thunder Wave them, our wizard would have had to go into the cloud (not to mention risk being beaten on by soldiers), after using Icy Terrain and Shock Sphere she was out of 'punish them for being grouped up' powers. Second time, second campaign, similar scenario, Scorching Burst damage added up pretty fast (compared to melee types missing on a 15) on the phalanxing hobgoblins, who's AC bonus and concealment & attack penalty from the cloud meant nothing to the wizard standing 10 squares away, pounding on REF.

 

[AbdulAlhazred]

Yeah, SB would pan out quite well now and then. It really needs some kind of minor effect though. OTOH nothing is going to make it look good compared to the new at-wills, which are getting kind of ridiculous. Mostly the old PHB1 wizard just required a decent amount of expertise to play. Nowadays you just take Beguiling Strands and spam it around...

 

[Tony Vargas]

Yeah, SB would pan out quite well now and then. It really needs some kind of minor effect though. OTOH nothing is going to make it look good compared to the new at-wills, which are getting kind of ridiculous. Mostly the old PHB1 wizard just required a decent amount of expertise to play. Nowadays you just take Beguiling Strands and spam it around...

Oh yeah. It took me almost 2 seasons of encounters to get bored with that.

 

[Crazy Jerome]

The effectiveness of a caster with lots of area of effect spells that hurt all creatures in the area is directly proportional to how much the group works to give that caster a shot to use those effects. This is true in all versions of D&D, and for that matter just about any fantasy RPG I have ever played.

So you will see a huge variance in effectiveness with wizards in PHB1-only groups. When we first played under those limits, since we had a large group (8 PCs) there were lots of monsters. The players are very experienced with this issue and work well together. When they could, they'd go for a strategy used by many armies from ancient times until well into the 1800's:

The left flank was weak and meant to harass; the center was tough and meant to engage and endure; the right was aggressive and meant to punish the enemy. Not infrequently, they would put the wizard on the left side by herself. Every round, she would retreat and blast, with no concern about allies because there weren't any.

We had one fight on a stream that played out almost exactly like the First Battle of Manassas. The party was spread out over a wide line on a stream, and she had retreated almost in a perfect wheel with the ranger and rogue advancing on the far right.

 

[Jacob Marley]

Thanks for all the advice given. We played our first session over this past weekend. It was... interesting.

I opted for a PHB 1 Wizard rather than the Essentials' Mage. (Mostly because I didn't want to spend any money on a new book.) Mechanically, the character seemed to play fine; I am not sure how much less potent the Wizard is compared to the Mage - the class seemed to play well enough for me.

Tactically, I am not sure I am playing with very strong players. There were a few moments where it seemed the players missed opportunities to eliminate threats or put themselves into awkward positions that would require the whole team to change focus. This may be due to a new group coming together. Only time will tell.

Thanks for all the help.

 

[Rechan]

But did you have fun?

 

[Kzach]

Tactically, I am not sure I am playing with very strong players.

Missed opportunity; should've played a warlord and told everyone what to do

 

[malraux]

Tactically, I am not sure I am playing with very strong players. There were a few moments where it seemed the players missed opportunities to eliminate threats or put themselves into awkward positions that would require the whole team to change focus. This may be due to a new group coming together. Only time will tell.

IME, 4e takes a bit for a party to gel, usually a few sessions. The best option for the party isn't as obvious as it used to be, plus everyone has to learn how their character's various bits interact within the character, then figure out how those bits relate to the rest of the party.

 

[Jacob Marley]

But did you have fun?

The game was enjoyable. A couple of the personalities I'll need to warm up to, but overall it was entertaining.