Originally posted by Nausicaa:
This handbook is outdated. Please refer to Ruins Fate's Archmage Ascension Wizard handbook.
The Power of Knowledge - The Wizard's Handbook
The Perfect Example of Tiefling Enchanter... She dominates your mind
Good day, pigheaded nonentities. I am here to conduct the impossible exercise of imparting, into your mind, a basic understanding of the arcane. Your tests last week were abysmal. Truly you are all, sincerely, the worst students I have ever had the misfortune to teach and saying anymore would be a waste of breath
So enough chit-chat: we are going to start again with the basics. Arcane forces cannot be contained by weak minds. So here we are, wasting precious time I could use for research, to fortify what passes for your brains.
Architous, the blackboard...
Remember why you are here: you are here to learn how to CAST. Casting is not making some strange pact with absurd entities that will, at best, strip your soul. It is not channelling your spells into the undignified lump of steel some call a sword. You were not born with uncontrolled magic power coursing through your blood and no matter how hard you try you cannot will it to produce even the most random or trivial phenomena.
CASTING is knowing what you are doing! Its effects and its backlashes on both your very body and the very fabric of reality itself. Studying under me, your soul will remain intact and unless I have to get out my cane so will your bodies. Your minds, however, will be elevated to untold levels of intellect and power. That is, if you can pay attention for the five minutes needed to actually master the most basic of cantrips…
Remethos - Wizard
The Wizard is not only One: there are many build opportunities, with many great choices. Illusionists, Evokers, Enchanters, Stunlockers, Gishes, Summoners, Blasters. You can choose your character in a vast range of types and love it
The Wizard is multi-ethnical: you are doing fine with many races. You want to play a dwarf or a thri-keen wizard? There's surely a build for you. You are not being to be stopped by a strange race choice.
You are the Implement Master: you have no limits, you can master nearly any kind of implement used by other casters.
Your Force is Strong with You: you have possibly the best selection of powers in d&d, expecially great dailies. You are one of the few classes, if not the only one, which can use dailies nearly every encounter in the Epic Tier.
This Handbook uses the following system for ratings:
Red: An useless or overshadowed option (from 0/10 to 2/10)
Violet: An option insufficient for most needs but that can be worked, with some difficulty, into something good (from 3/10 to 5/10)
Black: An option sufficient for your needs but nothing more (from 6/10 to 7/10)
Blue: A solid choice which should be always taken into account (from 8/10 to 9/10)
Sky Blue: The best choice in a single spot. These choices are never wrong (10/10)
Gold: A rare rating given to specify that if you make another choice, you are probably doing something wrong (mandatory, without rank)
Unranked: sometimes choices are out of rank. I'm reserving this green hue for this strange need, usually for non combat-related powers.Handbook Content
[sblock]Post 2: Wizard's Races, Skills, Stats & Features(x)
Post 3: Wizard's Heroic Tier Spells(x)
Post 4: Wizard's Paragon Tier Spells(x)
Post 5: Wizard's Epic Tier Spells(x)
Post 6: Wizard's Paragon Paths and Epic Destinies(x)
Post 7: Wizard's Feats(x)
Post 8: Wizard's Items(x)
Post 9: Wizard's Builds(x)
Post 10: Wizard's Multiclass, Hybrid, Skill Powers, Themes and Rituals(x)
Post 11: Wizard's Tactics & Facts(x)
[/sblock]This Handbook will cover the following sources
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AP - Arcane Power
AV - Adventurer's Vault
AV 2 - Adventurer's Vault 2
D XXX - Dragon Magazine, issue XXX
DMA 2009 - Dragon Magazine Annual 2009
DP - Divine Power
DSCS - Dark Sun Campaign Setting
Du XXX - Dungeon Magazine, issue XXX
E1 - Death's Reach (Adventure)
FRPG - Forgotten Realms Player's Guide
HoFL - Heroes of Fallen Lands
HoFK - Heroes of Forgotten Kingdoms
Homm - Village of Hommlet (Adventure)
HoS - Heroes of Shadow
MM - Monster Manual
MM 2 - Monster Manual 2
MOTP - Manual of the Planes
MP - Martial Power
MP2- Martial Power 2
P1 - King of the Trollhaunt Warrens (Adventure)
P2 - Demon Queen Enclave (Adventure)
P3 - Assault on Nightwyrm Fortress (Adventure)
PHB - Player's Handbook
PHB 2 - Player's Handbook 2
PHB 3 - Player's Handbook 3
PHB D - Player's Handbook Races: Dragonborn
PHB T - Player's Handbook Races: Tiefling
PHH 1 - Player's Handbook Heroes: Series 1
PHH 2 - Player's Handbook Heroes: Series 2
PP - Primal Power
PsP - Psionic Power
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Glossary
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AoE: area of effect, a spell that covers more than one square, usually a burst or a blast
BA: Basic Attack (ranged or melee)
Banish: an effect that removes the target from the game
BBEG: big bad evil guy, the "boss"
Blaster: a build that values damage more than pure control
Buff/Debuff: empower an ally/weaken an enemy
CA: combat advantage
DIS: dual implement spellcaster feat
DPR: damage per round, valuable for blaster builds
Dumpstat: a stat that is not important for the build
ED: Epic Destiny
Friendly: usually an area effect that targets only enemies. Very valuable, in my opinion generally this raises the rating of a power by one colour.
Gish: a mix between a pure caster and a melee warrior
Kicker: an extra effect based on your implement specialization, written in the inferior part of the spell. Only few powers, expecially from Arcane Power, actually possess a kicker.
Imposer: orb of imposition user.
MAD: Multiple Attribute Dependency (no, not the case of the wizard, generally)
MBA: Melee Basic Attack (useful for enchanter and gish builds)
MC: multiclass, often shortened with a slash ( "/" )
Nerf: a change in the feature that reduces its power
Nova: when you unleash a great number of powers/damage in a little time
OA: opportunity action
PP: paragon path
Unfriendly: an area effect that targets indiscriminately friends and enemies (creatures). Contrary to common knowledge of the class, this kind of power is the minority of the Wizard power list.
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Special Thanks to:
Ruins Fate in primis, for his constant help
Ytterbium_Dragon, LDB, Paladin Online, Adslahnit and ##4e channel guys.
Special Special Thanks to:
Any poster
Take a look also to...
JoeMama1512 Ligthning thunder Genasi Blaster Wizard guide!(x)
Your power source is Arcane and your role is Controller. You are the first controller ever created in 4e and you are considered one of the best for the large implement selection, the vast support and the huge power array.
You can choose to be an Arcanist (classic wizard): your features will be in PHB and/or AP. Otherwise you can be a Mage Wizard, and your features will be in HoFL/D 391/HoS.
Premise: Arcanist or Mage?
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This won't be a final rating: "Mage is stronger in all cases" or "Arcanist is stronger in all cases, what are you saying??". You should direct your choice towards one of these builds first of all by your own judgement (aka brain); if you are still undecided, take a look to these simple points.
You want to be an arcanist when...
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Simple facts
- You don't want to focus on a particular build, but just being "a wizard". Mages focus on thematic builds and are generally less versatile than arcanist
- Arcanist are better as save debuffers due to orb of imposition. It is an encounter save debuff that mages don't possess
- You want to use a tome: mages aren't proficient
- You want to be a summoner: mage hasn't (yet) a summoner specialization
- You want to take improved tome of readiness: even while mages can become proficient in tome they don't qualify for the second implement feat
- Your campaign focus on heavy use of rituals: arcanists get it for free
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You want to be a mage when...
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Simple facts
- You are not sure on your encounter powers: mages can put all encounter powers in the spellbook.
- You want to play a thematic build: illusionist, enchanter, pyromancer, necromancer and stick with it
- You want to play a blaster: evoker, pyromancer and necromancer trumps arcanist (usually the staff build) in every possible way (each in a different way)
- You want to play a non-save-debuffing illusionist: mages are better
- Your campaign will (probably) arrive to the epic tier: in the epic tier mages get for free 2 great features.
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Class Traits
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Hit Points: Baseline for controllers (read: bad). Staff, Summoner, Evoker and Pyromancer wizards will be a little better, since they are all con-secondary.
Surges: same as HP
Weapon and Armor Proficiencies: probably the worst in the game, but unless you are a some kind of a gish you should not care. I feel that an armor feat is needed in many builds, since having only cloth is generally bad.
Implement Proficiency: simply the best in the game. And you can get more very easily with Arcane Implement Proficiency feat. Mages are a bit worse, since they aren't proficient in the tome
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Arcanist Features
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Some features have the "no-rank" colour because their usefulness depends from the use the player makes of the feature itself.
Cantrips: these are little nice spells that are great for roleplaying your class but have little or none combat application. From Class Compendium errata you can take also non-PHB cantrips.
Spellbook: Great if you know what your DM will make you fight. Useless if you don't.
Ritual Casting: a very nice feature for all arcane/divine casters, actually you are the best among all ritualist because you get 3 (instead of the standard 2) baseline rituals and 10 more free rituals when you level up. Plus, you have the skill to make your rituals better than others'.
Arcane Implement Mastery: this is the most important wizard feature, and the hardest to judge. There are features for all four basic wizard implements: orb, staff, tome and wand.
Implements Rating
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Orb of Imposition (PHB): this was recently nerfed to work only on the first saving throw. Before wizards could literally eliminate a single target from the game locking it in impossible save penalties against effects like stun or domination. At the moment it can be done only by expending a good amount of resources and generally isn't a good investment. This feature becomes much better when you are at higher levels and you gain more save-end effects. This feature also enables you to extend the effect of an at-will another round. Orb of imposition wizards need a little investment in Wisdom.
Orb of Deception (AP): this effect is literally an encounter reroll with an attached bonus. It is naturally good if you choose many illusion powers and needs a little investment in charisma to be more effective.
Staff of Defense (PHB): this is basically a feat. +1 to ac is good by itself, but you also can effectively interrupt 1 attack per encounter. This feature requires a little constitution investment.
Tome of Binding (AP): a decent benefit, baseline for summoners. Requires, as staff, constitution investment. Nearly all summoners take this implement mastery because it affects all their summons: you rarely want to have out more than 1 summon at a time.
Tome of Readiness (AP): this is my favourite feature. Not only it adds a lot of versatility to your arsenal but isn't really tied to a secondary stat. Just remember to have 13 or more Wisdom by paragon (not hard) to get Improved Tome of Readiness, because it's one of the best feats in the game.
Wand of Accuracy (PHB): you add your dexterity modifier to a single attack 1/encounter. Not really bad, and dexterity is nice to have anyway for your initiative. Nice, but unfortunately wand selection is pretty poor (unless you are eladrin, since you can apply this bonus also to swords)
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Essential Mage Wizard Features
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Some features have the "no-rank" colour because their usefulness depends from the use the player makes of the feature itself.
The Evoker, the Illusionist and the Enchanter are in Heroes of Fallen Lands. The Pyromancer is in Dragon 391. The Necromancer and the Nethermancer are in Heroes of Shadow.
Features common to all mages:
Magic Missile: you gain MM as feature. I still don't like this power, but it's better than an hit in the eye with a rusty poker.
Cantrips: you gain 3 cantrips chosen among Ghost Sound, Light, Mage Hand, Prestidigitation, Suggestion, Disrupt Undead and Spook. The last 3 are the mechanically stronger, but the others are still nice. Especially Spook and Suggestion are really strong choices, since they are basically at the level of a level 2 utility.
Spellbook: as the wizard one, but you can put there also encounter powers... and this becomes EXTRA nice at level 16 if you go for the Enigmatic Mage PP
Master of Lore: at level 21, a +3 bonus to many skills. While nothing incredible it is very nice in the game overall, for skill challenges, for monster knowledge check and for other many things (for example Sage of Ages ED)
Master of Spells: at level 24, you can drop an higher level daily to recover or prepare another lower level daily in any rest (yes, also a short rest between encounters). This is a very nice feature indeed, that makes the spellbook a very nice weapon in your hands, if you know how to use it.
School of Magic: you can choose to specialize into two of these "subclasses", but you gain the Master feature at level 10 only for one of them. You gain the apprentice features at level 1 and 4, the expert features at level 5 and 8. The most common combinations are Illusionist-Enchanter and Evoker-Pyromancer, but you can combo all of them as you want. You main specialization also sets the features of your Enigmatic Mage paragon path, if you choose it as PP.
Enchanter
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Keys off Charisma, but it can be largely ignored if you don't go Entrancing Mystic or Enigmatic Mage. Charisma is nice to have anyway for the skill boost you get at level 4.
Apprentice: +2 to forced movement effects. Simple and very effective throughout the whole game
Expert: probably the best of all bonus, since you get two cha-secondary very useful skills
Master: when you act as puppeteer, the puppet gets +2 on the attack roll. Naturally very strong.
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Evoker
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Keys off Constitution, which is fairly useful to have anyway.
Apprentice: a decent damage boost, it's not easy to calculate since it's very random. Basically it is a +2.5 damage if you roll only one 1. It gets better once you get multidamaging powers (like chain lightning), since you add the passive multiple times. Tiornys made a table which explains perfectly the feature bonus. Here(x) is the link.
Expert: endurance and intimidate are two very nice skills, expecially the first for an usually very fragile class.
Master: this is great for any class that uses elements as damage (and the wizard does), expecially for a pseudo-striker like the evoker.
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Illusionist
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Technically it keys off wisdom, but it is useful only for the enigmatic 11 AP feature. Since you need charisma to take illusionist feats, raise charisma when you can and be sure to have a positive modifier in wisdom.
Apprentice: a very nice defensive boost: it doesn't have target cap and stacks with psychic lock. Overall the illusionist from paragon tier can be one of the most hard to down controllers.
Expert: decent, since illusion is cha-secondary... stealth is nice thematically
Master: a very strong feature, AoE free combat advantage is always welcomed and gives you an hint of leader effect.
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Necromancer
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Apprentice: its value is good for the first half of the heroic tier, then decreases to useless
Expert: Endurance and Athletics aren't wizard class skills... they are sometimes useful, but nothing more
Master: since you are probably going to cast only necrotic spells, this is obiousvly good for you
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Nethermancer
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Apprentice: AoE concealment is incredible, but is limited and doesn't stack with concealment you may already have. However, it fits thematically with many of your powers
Expert: Stealth and Intimidate are thematically good, but nothing more.
Master: for the same reason Shadow Warlock Armour is good, this ability is incredible. Here's why wizards do all your arcane better THAN YOU! This ability is even better than Illusionist's one.
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Pyromancer
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Keys off Constitution, which is fairly nice to have anyway: it is very useful for the Master ability.
Apprentice: damage bonus and ignore resistance 9 levels before the evoker
Expert: not useful as other skills bonus, since the pyromancer is con-based. Not too shabby, though
Master: creating an area for extra damage is not only fluffy but also very nice mechanically
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Class Stats
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Wizard's class stats are varied: usually you should think about what you need (expecially feats prerequisites) in advance and plan your stat points. Build your array carefully because it is extremely important for feat selection, since wizard spells don't have secondary stat riders. So, basicall, the only fixed point is that intelligence has to get each stat boost... other valuations are left to the player.
Strength: For most wizards this is THE dumpstat. Grab a 10 or an 11 if you want to take hide armor forward in your chareer, but it is not really needed. However Genasi wizards, for the feat Elemental Empowerment, need a good investment in this stat.
Constitution: Needed by Staff, Tome, Evoker and Pyromancer wizards, this is a very nice stat to have anyway. It should be your secondary or tertiary highest stat.
Dexterity: Needed only for the Dual Implement Spellcaster and some other nice feats. Wand wizard needs a good dexterity modifier. Don't put your negative modifier in this stat because initiative is extremely important for controllers (a bit less for blasters, though)
Intelligence: simply your focus. An 18 after racial modifiers is your best bet for good controlling but you can even for for an 18 pre-racial if your race allows a bonus to charisma, wisdom or dexterity. Someone prefer an 18 pre-racial even for all builds: you have to pay a bit of attention to your wanted feats prerequisites, but is more than workable (for example for non-multiclassing enchanters)
Wisdom: Needed really only by Orb of Imposition wizards (the more, the better), and if you want a decent thunderwave. Also needed for Enlarge Spell, but only 13. Mage illusionists are keyed of Wisdom, even if they rarely use it as secondary stat (only for the Enigmatic Mage level 11 feature). Nice for some skills, though.
Charisma: Needed, again, only for the Spell Focus feat in paragon tier. If you don't want this feat you may dump it completely and use wisdom for will defense. Orb of deception users need a good investment in this stat (a 14-16 minimum). Enchanter may want a bit of positive charisma modifier for their improved skills and for fluff reasons.
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Races
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Player's Handbook 1, HoFL and HoFK
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Dragonborn: At first glance: bonus to two secondary stats = not more than decent (con and cha). You need huge investment to be good, but you have a lovely support for your race, expecially for your breath feature, and you can be a pretty decent blaster.
Dwarf: bonus to constitution and wisdom, you are tough and it's hard to move you where you don't want to go. Not a terrible pick (Mul from Dark Sun is better, though). Heroes of Fallen Lands didn't change the race.
Eladrin: They were good before, now with the advent of HoFL they are in the olympus. With the advent of dual implement spellcaster most wizards will need dexterity anyway and a teleport is a nice addition. If you don't use a wand dexterity will have probably little use and you can use charisma for multiple purposes (better defenses, spell focus, skills). Thematically they make great enchanters and illusionists now: enchanter spell names are usually taken from Eladrin Lore. Bonus to arcana and decent support are the icing on the cake.
Elf: HoFL changed the race to one of the best for wizards. They are now 4e Eladrins (dex-int) with an even better feat support. A great pick.
Half-Elf: constitution is nice in any case, charisma is nice for spell focus, wisdom instead for mage illusionists and imposers. A workable summoner, illusionist or imposer: not the best, though.
Halfling: worse than dragonborn. HoFL didn't change the race. Go play a sorcerer or a warlock, please.
Human: The HoFL book changed human in better. Now they have a racial power as most other races. You can still choose to take a third at will if you want: this is particularly good in heroic tier, when at wills are much more important. You can choose, instead, to take the racial power Heroic Effort, which is a "wand" feature: an encounter bonus to hit (but can also be used to save, and a +4 bonus to save is nearly an auto-success) that is very welcomed. Overall the race remains one of the best for every class. Extra feat, skill and decent feat support bring this race to a very high level of competitiviness. Probably it remains the best in the heroic tier, but now it is decisely better even in higher ones.
Tiefling: with the advent of new fire-based feats and player's handbook races: tiefling they make top controllers, not only great fire blasters. The charisma is welcomed for spell focus and for enchanters and they have huge feat support. Overall probably the best race for wizards (take a look to builds: most are tieflings), expecially in higher tiers: they are probably the best paragon and epic tier wizards, simply because they get another free +1 to hit with Secrets of Belial. HoFK didn't change race rating, since we want Intellect anyway.
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Player's Handbook 2
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Deva: great support for orb of imposition build. Memory of Thousand Lifetimes is very nice, as astral majesty for controllers. A top pick, with a very nice racial epic destiny and some support
Gnome: they are like completely geared towards an illusion build, even if the feat support is somewhat lacking. A very nice race, though, with a really shining race encounter power.
Goliath: strength is useless but con (or wis) is nice. You may make a very tough staff blaster wizard due to your decent feat support, but it will require great attention.
Half-orc (HoFK): dex and strength or dex and con... there are better choices.
Longtooth Shifter: if you want to have fear of silver, be at least razorclaw.
Razorclaw Shifter: dex and wis are decent. No feat support, though. At the level of the Dwarf, less sturdy.
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Player's Handbook 3
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Githzerai: at deva level for orb of imposition builds. Other features are, though, a little worse.
Minotaur: strength is uselee, goring charge is USELESS... overall not the best pick sincerely.
Shardmind: all race features scream "CONTROLLER" (they scream "psion", but we hear "wizard"). Top level race, but ugly as hell
Wilden: at dwarf-elf level, voyage of the ancients is very nice.
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Monster Manual, Dragon, Dark Sun, Eberron, Forgotten Realms, HoS and other sources races
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Changeling/Doppelganger (EPG-MM): like tiefling and gnome, but without the feat support.
Drow (FRPG-HoFK): overall a decent race. They get bonus to two decent stats (dex and wis/cha), and they have a couple of nice tricks in their sleeve. They're still better as sorcerer or clerics, though.
Genasi (FRPG): Genasi are the best non-fire blasters, due to great racial feats and racial skills. With the extra racial bump to constitution they are also great generalist wizards.
Githyanki (MM): A decent int-con option, but they share the same problems warforged has: no feat support for wizards. The racial power is possibily even worse than forged one.
Kalashtar (EPG): bonus to wisdom and intellect and synergy with psychic damage and bad conditions make them premiere illusionists.
Mul (DSCS): better than dwarf, maybe so better to get blue rating. Incredible Toughness, is really a strong encounter power and they have a great feat support (human, dwarf or the great mul feat Bred for Battle)
Revenant (D 376-HoS): overall nice. You are not assassin but this race is decent for the wizard. The feat support isn't that great for you, but it's workable.
Shadar-Kai (D 372): nice race with death-themed abilities
Shade (HoS): this race technically is perfect for Wizards. The problem is that it possess that little bit of feature which decreases your (already low) healing surges. Darkvision, +Arcana, stealth training... all good, except that feature.
Thri-Kreen (DSCS): a race that probably suprises: the ability to store and retrieve an item as free action is really good for wizard juggling with orbs or staffs. Dex and Wis bonus is pretty nice. The only thing keeping them relatively low rating is that the encounter power is useless unless you stack dexterity, and this is generally a bad idea.
Vryloka (HoS): bonus to offstats, good racial, good necrotic resistance and speed. The blood dependency feature is quite bad and they have quite pointless skill bonus, though. This puts them in the middle of the bunch.
Warforged (EPG): stats right at their place but they have basically no feat support for the wizard class.
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Skills
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You automatically get Arcana (Int), which is also very nice for rituals. I also like some of its skill powers like Insightful Warning.
Diplomacy (Cha) is the black sheep of your list, unless you are an illusionist or an enchanter
Dungeoneering (Wis) is nice to know what aberrants do bad.
History (Int) has a great level 2 power (Strategist Epiphany) if you don't want to invest too much in initiative.
Insight (Wis) has great play application and is incredibly useful
Nature (Wis) is another ritual-staple skill. The power Nature Sense is very nice again for initiative.
Religion (Int) is the last skill you need for mastering rituals. It has some leader powers but nothing exceptional, but a good half of the rituals is religion-based
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At Wills Advice: a bit too many things to consider, try to choose the ones which fits better your character choice.
Power description: Name (book reference)
Defense Targeted, Keywords (Arcane and Implement keywords aren't written)
At Will Spells
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Arc Lightning (HoFL)
Reflex, Lightning, Evocation: targeting freely a couple of creatures is decent, probably is the way to go
for blasters. Damage is everything for them, so it is probably one of the best powers for them, since this power is also easy to use in most cases and gets also evocation school extra brutal roll.
Beguiling Strands (HoFL)
Will, Charm, Psychic, Enchantment: damage is low, but it is the only drawback. Heavy pushing from level 1 is great, the area is huge and it is friendly. Overall one of the best level 1 at wills, and it can be further enhanced by psychic lock in paragon tier
Chilling Cloud (PHBH1)
Fortitude, Cold: a nice at will. AoE at wills are rare, Friendly aoe at will much rarer. This comes out also with an effect tied. A great, lovely power. The negative things that stops it from being a top tier power are: it targets fort and can't be enlarged, and that the damage is pityful. Frankly those are little issues. This power remains very good.
Cloud of Daggers (PHB)
Reflex, Force, Zone, Evocation: a nice power that was created at the start of 4e for orb of imposition users. A good power for blasters, if they have at least decent wisdom, since the damage isn't restricted to 1/turn.
Erupting Flare (D 388) Fortitude, Fire: this is not made for a controller. The effect makes people stay far from the target. It may have some tactical uses for fire blasters, but generally is a bad idea, also because it makes the target effectively possess a damage aura.
Freezing Burst (HoFL) Reflex, Cold, Evocation, E: an area spell like scorching burst: the element is less resistable (useful until level 10 for mages) and the slide adds a lot of control. Overall very nice, expecially for blasters. For non-fire blasters imho this spell is a nearly a must have
Hypnotism (HoFL)
Will, Charm, Enchantment: very nice power, subtly level scaling, nice in all occasions to force marks and to make elites implode ally enemies, and to slide into dangerous things (in this case beguiling strands works better, unless you want to slide only 1 enemy or pull enemies towards your defender). This power is great for the number of options it has, but suffer of a little hitting problems (for non-enchanter that is really an issue). Enchanters get many way to improve accuracy and for them is a really really really good spell.
Illusory Ambush (AP) Will, Illusion, Psychic: a decent power, that becomes better if you are a paragon-tier illusionist. If you do, this is probably your second at-will, even if a bit outshined by phantasmal assault. Usually the choice for early illusionists is to choose this at-will or phantom bolt: overall these powers are quite similar in power. If you find that you are attacked a lot, or you are in a small party, choose this power.
Magic Missile (PHB) Autohit, Force: the july update completely ruined this power. It scales horribly and in my opinion is the worst power of the list, but many players like it anyway for the long range. In the heroic tier is it situationally usable. In the paragon and epic tiers it scales so badly that its damage becomes pityful. A little better if you have, again, an enabling leader. Mages get it for Free, so it's a nice weapon in their hands. Alcestis pointed out effects that doesn't work with this kind of power (this is true for all autohitting powers in Dragon 381 and autohitting damaging powers in HoFL, for example the Kelgore's Undeniable Fire in the Evoker's Enigmatic Mage PP).
Show
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Technically it is an auto damage power. It does not hit. The distinction is huge. And MM is garbage now because the following does not work with it.
Psychic Lock
Permafrost
WLR
WLMR
Siberys Shards
Academy Master
Critical Effects of any kind
Destructive Wizardry (granted, was only possible with a Magic Missile Wand)
Elemental Echoes
Dual Implement Spellcaster
Item Bonuses (you get the idea, any bonus that only applies to damage rolls)
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Nightmare Eruption (D 380) Will, Illusion, Psychic: at the level of cloud of daggers, but it targets will and has an hint of friendly targeting. Not a too shabby power.
Phantasmal Assault (HoFL)
Will, Illusion, Psychic: a lot better than winged horde but only single target. Getting free CA is good for every party, expecially if your leader is a decent buffer. Remember that not being able to make OAs doesn't block grabbing and flanking anymore.
Phantom Bolt (AP) Will, Illusion, Psychic: sliding at-will can be very strong but probably most of you will use thunderwave for this. It has its uses, though, expecially in the hand of high level illusionists with Psychic lock. Usually the choice for early illusionists is to choose this at-will or phantom bolt: overall these powers are quite similar in power. If you find that you aren't attacked a lot and you like that occasional (little) forced movement, take this power.
Phantom Cage (HoFL)
Will, Illusion, Psychic: surely underwhelming compared to other at wills, it works decently in the first level... then the rider becomes too little to be significant.
Ray of Frost (PHB)
Fortitude, Evocation, Cold: another old power that is still good. Cold blasters have served their 3 at wills without having to use a specific implement.
Restless Dead (HoS)
Reflex, Necromancy, Shadow, Zone : basically it's a vanilla attack but that could be exploited with terrain advantage to get constant CA. Overall, nothing great.
Rotting Doom (HoS) Fortitude, Necromancy Necrotic Shadow: blah... situational at best. The damage is decent, but the control is basically non-existant and is good only against undeads.
Scare (HoS)
Will, Fear, Nethermancy, Psychic, Shadow: unfriendly blast 3, little control. A vanilla version of Winged Horde, not so synergic with Nethermancer features.
Scorching Burst (PHB)
Reflex, Evocation, Fire, E: Pretty much overshadowed by freezing burst for anyone except Pyromancers and Fire blasters. Freezing Burst does exactly the same things but better. For "fire users" it is still a must in the lower-heroic tier, since it is the only decent fire at will spell (I don't consider Erupting Flare a viable choice). After, in late heroic-early paragon, when you possibly get your weapon or summer or admixture Freezing Burst (or other ways to add fire damage), you can pretty much forget about its existance and retrain it. If you don't have access to essential books, it is still viable.
Stone Blood (Red Box) Fortitude, Transmutation, E: aoe slowing is very strong at first level. Fortitude isn't often the best defense to target but it can be workable. Overall a nice spell, at the level of other aoe at wills. At the moment this spell isn't legal in LFR.
Storm Pillar (AP)
Conjuration, Lightning: this power was nerfed sometimes ago. It is still nice in the blockades and narrow passages. It can also be useful to immobilize a single target, even if the damage isn't so great (but it can be really dangerous): you can place it over a foe to make him choose between immobilization and getting damage. There are many ways, though, to exploit this power. If your party has sliding effects on OA, or you like to have sliding powers like Hypnotic Pattern or Grease, then the power of this spell increases to incredibly strong.
Thunderwave (PHB) Fortitude, Evocation, Thunder, E: this power was a staple in nearly all wizard builds. At the moment it shares many things with beguiling strands: the latter is friendly, this is enlargeable (2 times with Resounding Thunder). Beguiling Strands usually pushes more, this is more damaging. Overall they are fairly similar, except that this spell requires more investment and is a little less easy to use overall. For Blasters it's better than Beguiling Strands, usually, since it has the evocation keyword.
Unraveling Dart (HoS)
Fortitude, Nethermancy, Shadow: exploiting vulnerabilities is good, actually. It's only damage, but it can be a lot of damage for blasters. Zero control, though. Basically this is the vulnerability version of arc lightning, which rocks also a +wis modifier: the un-vunerability version of the power can often be more damaging than Arc Lightning, but without elements (unusable by Genasi Blasters, for instance)
Winged Horde (D 381) Will, Psychic, E: this is so good that is nearly a must for any wizard. Friendly AOE and free movement in the burst. And you can even enlarge it? This is probably one of the best at wills in the game. Changed to sky-blue because it doesn't stop anymore grabbing and flanking (check the FAQ Here), but in my opinion it is still the best at will, not mandatory for everyone, but a little step above the other ones.
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This handbook is outdated. Please refer to Ruins Fate's Archmage Ascension Wizard handbook.
The Power of Knowledge - The Wizard's Handbook
The Perfect Example of Tiefling Enchanter... She dominates your mind
Good day, pigheaded nonentities. I am here to conduct the impossible exercise of imparting, into your mind, a basic understanding of the arcane. Your tests last week were abysmal. Truly you are all, sincerely, the worst students I have ever had the misfortune to teach and saying anymore would be a waste of breath
So enough chit-chat: we are going to start again with the basics. Arcane forces cannot be contained by weak minds. So here we are, wasting precious time I could use for research, to fortify what passes for your brains.
Architous, the blackboard...
Remember why you are here: you are here to learn how to CAST. Casting is not making some strange pact with absurd entities that will, at best, strip your soul. It is not channelling your spells into the undignified lump of steel some call a sword. You were not born with uncontrolled magic power coursing through your blood and no matter how hard you try you cannot will it to produce even the most random or trivial phenomena.
CASTING is knowing what you are doing! Its effects and its backlashes on both your very body and the very fabric of reality itself. Studying under me, your soul will remain intact and unless I have to get out my cane so will your bodies. Your minds, however, will be elevated to untold levels of intellect and power. That is, if you can pay attention for the five minutes needed to actually master the most basic of cantrips…
Remethos - Wizard
Selling Points: Why would you want to play a Wizard
The Wizard is not only One: there are many build opportunities, with many great choices. Illusionists, Evokers, Enchanters, Stunlockers, Gishes, Summoners, Blasters. You can choose your character in a vast range of types and love it
The Wizard is multi-ethnical: you are doing fine with many races. You want to play a dwarf or a thri-keen wizard? There's surely a build for you. You are not being to be stopped by a strange race choice.
You are the Implement Master: you have no limits, you can master nearly any kind of implement used by other casters.
Your Force is Strong with You: you have possibly the best selection of powers in d&d, expecially great dailies. You are one of the few classes, if not the only one, which can use dailies nearly every encounter in the Epic Tier.
This Handbook uses the following system for ratings:
Red: An useless or overshadowed option (from 0/10 to 2/10)
Violet: An option insufficient for most needs but that can be worked, with some difficulty, into something good (from 3/10 to 5/10)
Black: An option sufficient for your needs but nothing more (from 6/10 to 7/10)
Blue: A solid choice which should be always taken into account (from 8/10 to 9/10)
Sky Blue: The best choice in a single spot. These choices are never wrong (10/10)
Gold: A rare rating given to specify that if you make another choice, you are probably doing something wrong (mandatory, without rank)
Unranked: sometimes choices are out of rank. I'm reserving this green hue for this strange need, usually for non combat-related powers.Handbook Content
[sblock]Post 2: Wizard's Races, Skills, Stats & Features(x)
Post 3: Wizard's Heroic Tier Spells(x)
Post 4: Wizard's Paragon Tier Spells(x)
Post 5: Wizard's Epic Tier Spells(x)
Post 6: Wizard's Paragon Paths and Epic Destinies(x)
Post 7: Wizard's Feats(x)
Post 8: Wizard's Items(x)
Post 9: Wizard's Builds(x)
Post 10: Wizard's Multiclass, Hybrid, Skill Powers, Themes and Rituals(x)
Post 11: Wizard's Tactics & Facts(x)
[/sblock]This Handbook will cover the following sources
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AP - Arcane Power
AV - Adventurer's Vault
AV 2 - Adventurer's Vault 2
D XXX - Dragon Magazine, issue XXX
DMA 2009 - Dragon Magazine Annual 2009
DP - Divine Power
DSCS - Dark Sun Campaign Setting
Du XXX - Dungeon Magazine, issue XXX
E1 - Death's Reach (Adventure)
FRPG - Forgotten Realms Player's Guide
HoFL - Heroes of Fallen Lands
HoFK - Heroes of Forgotten Kingdoms
Homm - Village of Hommlet (Adventure)
HoS - Heroes of Shadow
MM - Monster Manual
MM 2 - Monster Manual 2
MOTP - Manual of the Planes
MP - Martial Power
MP2- Martial Power 2
P1 - King of the Trollhaunt Warrens (Adventure)
P2 - Demon Queen Enclave (Adventure)
P3 - Assault on Nightwyrm Fortress (Adventure)
PHB - Player's Handbook
PHB 2 - Player's Handbook 2
PHB 3 - Player's Handbook 3
PHB D - Player's Handbook Races: Dragonborn
PHB T - Player's Handbook Races: Tiefling
PHH 1 - Player's Handbook Heroes: Series 1
PHH 2 - Player's Handbook Heroes: Series 2
PP - Primal Power
PsP - Psionic Power
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Glossary
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AoE: area of effect, a spell that covers more than one square, usually a burst or a blast
BA: Basic Attack (ranged or melee)
Banish: an effect that removes the target from the game
BBEG: big bad evil guy, the "boss"
Blaster: a build that values damage more than pure control
Buff/Debuff: empower an ally/weaken an enemy
CA: combat advantage
DIS: dual implement spellcaster feat
DPR: damage per round, valuable for blaster builds
Dumpstat: a stat that is not important for the build
ED: Epic Destiny
Friendly: usually an area effect that targets only enemies. Very valuable, in my opinion generally this raises the rating of a power by one colour.
Gish: a mix between a pure caster and a melee warrior
Kicker: an extra effect based on your implement specialization, written in the inferior part of the spell. Only few powers, expecially from Arcane Power, actually possess a kicker.
Imposer: orb of imposition user.
MAD: Multiple Attribute Dependency (no, not the case of the wizard, generally)
MBA: Melee Basic Attack (useful for enchanter and gish builds)
MC: multiclass, often shortened with a slash ( "/" )
Nerf: a change in the feature that reduces its power
Nova: when you unleash a great number of powers/damage in a little time
OA: opportunity action
PP: paragon path
Unfriendly: an area effect that targets indiscriminately friends and enemies (creatures). Contrary to common knowledge of the class, this kind of power is the minority of the Wizard power list.
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Special Thanks to:
Ruins Fate in primis, for his constant help
Ytterbium_Dragon, LDB, Paladin Online, Adslahnit and ##4e channel guys.
Special Special Thanks to:
Any poster
Take a look also to...
JoeMama1512 Ligthning thunder Genasi Blaster Wizard guide!(x)
The Basics of the Wizard: Features, Skills, Races and At-Wills
Your power source is Arcane and your role is Controller. You are the first controller ever created in 4e and you are considered one of the best for the large implement selection, the vast support and the huge power array.
You can choose to be an Arcanist (classic wizard): your features will be in PHB and/or AP. Otherwise you can be a Mage Wizard, and your features will be in HoFL/D 391/HoS.
Premise: Arcanist or Mage?
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This won't be a final rating: "Mage is stronger in all cases" or "Arcanist is stronger in all cases, what are you saying??". You should direct your choice towards one of these builds first of all by your own judgement (aka brain); if you are still undecided, take a look to these simple points.
You want to be an arcanist when...
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Simple facts
- You don't want to focus on a particular build, but just being "a wizard". Mages focus on thematic builds and are generally less versatile than arcanist
- Arcanist are better as save debuffers due to orb of imposition. It is an encounter save debuff that mages don't possess
- You want to use a tome: mages aren't proficient
- You want to be a summoner: mage hasn't (yet) a summoner specialization
- You want to take improved tome of readiness: even while mages can become proficient in tome they don't qualify for the second implement feat
- Your campaign focus on heavy use of rituals: arcanists get it for free
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You want to be a mage when...
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Simple facts
- You are not sure on your encounter powers: mages can put all encounter powers in the spellbook.
- You want to play a thematic build: illusionist, enchanter, pyromancer, necromancer and stick with it
- You want to play a blaster: evoker, pyromancer and necromancer trumps arcanist (usually the staff build) in every possible way (each in a different way)
- You want to play a non-save-debuffing illusionist: mages are better
- Your campaign will (probably) arrive to the epic tier: in the epic tier mages get for free 2 great features.
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Class Traits
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Hit Points: Baseline for controllers (read: bad). Staff, Summoner, Evoker and Pyromancer wizards will be a little better, since they are all con-secondary.
Surges: same as HP
Weapon and Armor Proficiencies: probably the worst in the game, but unless you are a some kind of a gish you should not care. I feel that an armor feat is needed in many builds, since having only cloth is generally bad.
Implement Proficiency: simply the best in the game. And you can get more very easily with Arcane Implement Proficiency feat. Mages are a bit worse, since they aren't proficient in the tome
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Arcanist Features
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Some features have the "no-rank" colour because their usefulness depends from the use the player makes of the feature itself.
Cantrips: these are little nice spells that are great for roleplaying your class but have little or none combat application. From Class Compendium errata you can take also non-PHB cantrips.
Spellbook: Great if you know what your DM will make you fight. Useless if you don't.
Ritual Casting: a very nice feature for all arcane/divine casters, actually you are the best among all ritualist because you get 3 (instead of the standard 2) baseline rituals and 10 more free rituals when you level up. Plus, you have the skill to make your rituals better than others'.
Arcane Implement Mastery: this is the most important wizard feature, and the hardest to judge. There are features for all four basic wizard implements: orb, staff, tome and wand.
Implements Rating
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Orb of Imposition (PHB): this was recently nerfed to work only on the first saving throw. Before wizards could literally eliminate a single target from the game locking it in impossible save penalties against effects like stun or domination. At the moment it can be done only by expending a good amount of resources and generally isn't a good investment. This feature becomes much better when you are at higher levels and you gain more save-end effects. This feature also enables you to extend the effect of an at-will another round. Orb of imposition wizards need a little investment in Wisdom.
Orb of Deception (AP): this effect is literally an encounter reroll with an attached bonus. It is naturally good if you choose many illusion powers and needs a little investment in charisma to be more effective.
Staff of Defense (PHB): this is basically a feat. +1 to ac is good by itself, but you also can effectively interrupt 1 attack per encounter. This feature requires a little constitution investment.
Tome of Binding (AP): a decent benefit, baseline for summoners. Requires, as staff, constitution investment. Nearly all summoners take this implement mastery because it affects all their summons: you rarely want to have out more than 1 summon at a time.
Tome of Readiness (AP): this is my favourite feature. Not only it adds a lot of versatility to your arsenal but isn't really tied to a secondary stat. Just remember to have 13 or more Wisdom by paragon (not hard) to get Improved Tome of Readiness, because it's one of the best feats in the game.
Wand of Accuracy (PHB): you add your dexterity modifier to a single attack 1/encounter. Not really bad, and dexterity is nice to have anyway for your initiative. Nice, but unfortunately wand selection is pretty poor (unless you are eladrin, since you can apply this bonus also to swords)
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Essential Mage Wizard Features
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Some features have the "no-rank" colour because their usefulness depends from the use the player makes of the feature itself.
The Evoker, the Illusionist and the Enchanter are in Heroes of Fallen Lands. The Pyromancer is in Dragon 391. The Necromancer and the Nethermancer are in Heroes of Shadow.
Features common to all mages:
Magic Missile: you gain MM as feature. I still don't like this power, but it's better than an hit in the eye with a rusty poker.
Cantrips: you gain 3 cantrips chosen among Ghost Sound, Light, Mage Hand, Prestidigitation, Suggestion, Disrupt Undead and Spook. The last 3 are the mechanically stronger, but the others are still nice. Especially Spook and Suggestion are really strong choices, since they are basically at the level of a level 2 utility.
Spellbook: as the wizard one, but you can put there also encounter powers... and this becomes EXTRA nice at level 16 if you go for the Enigmatic Mage PP
Master of Lore: at level 21, a +3 bonus to many skills. While nothing incredible it is very nice in the game overall, for skill challenges, for monster knowledge check and for other many things (for example Sage of Ages ED)
Master of Spells: at level 24, you can drop an higher level daily to recover or prepare another lower level daily in any rest (yes, also a short rest between encounters). This is a very nice feature indeed, that makes the spellbook a very nice weapon in your hands, if you know how to use it.
School of Magic: you can choose to specialize into two of these "subclasses", but you gain the Master feature at level 10 only for one of them. You gain the apprentice features at level 1 and 4, the expert features at level 5 and 8. The most common combinations are Illusionist-Enchanter and Evoker-Pyromancer, but you can combo all of them as you want. You main specialization also sets the features of your Enigmatic Mage paragon path, if you choose it as PP.
Enchanter
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Keys off Charisma, but it can be largely ignored if you don't go Entrancing Mystic or Enigmatic Mage. Charisma is nice to have anyway for the skill boost you get at level 4.
Apprentice: +2 to forced movement effects. Simple and very effective throughout the whole game
Expert: probably the best of all bonus, since you get two cha-secondary very useful skills
Master: when you act as puppeteer, the puppet gets +2 on the attack roll. Naturally very strong.
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Evoker
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Keys off Constitution, which is fairly useful to have anyway.
Apprentice: a decent damage boost, it's not easy to calculate since it's very random. Basically it is a +2.5 damage if you roll only one 1. It gets better once you get multidamaging powers (like chain lightning), since you add the passive multiple times. Tiornys made a table which explains perfectly the feature bonus. Here(x) is the link.
Expert: endurance and intimidate are two very nice skills, expecially the first for an usually very fragile class.
Master: this is great for any class that uses elements as damage (and the wizard does), expecially for a pseudo-striker like the evoker.
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Illusionist
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Technically it keys off wisdom, but it is useful only for the enigmatic 11 AP feature. Since you need charisma to take illusionist feats, raise charisma when you can and be sure to have a positive modifier in wisdom.
Apprentice: a very nice defensive boost: it doesn't have target cap and stacks with psychic lock. Overall the illusionist from paragon tier can be one of the most hard to down controllers.
Expert: decent, since illusion is cha-secondary... stealth is nice thematically
Master: a very strong feature, AoE free combat advantage is always welcomed and gives you an hint of leader effect.
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Necromancer
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Apprentice: its value is good for the first half of the heroic tier, then decreases to useless
Expert: Endurance and Athletics aren't wizard class skills... they are sometimes useful, but nothing more
Master: since you are probably going to cast only necrotic spells, this is obiousvly good for you
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Nethermancer
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Apprentice: AoE concealment is incredible, but is limited and doesn't stack with concealment you may already have. However, it fits thematically with many of your powers
Expert: Stealth and Intimidate are thematically good, but nothing more.
Master: for the same reason Shadow Warlock Armour is good, this ability is incredible. Here's why wizards do all your arcane better THAN YOU! This ability is even better than Illusionist's one.
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Pyromancer
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Keys off Constitution, which is fairly nice to have anyway: it is very useful for the Master ability.
Apprentice: damage bonus and ignore resistance 9 levels before the evoker
Expert: not useful as other skills bonus, since the pyromancer is con-based. Not too shabby, though
Master: creating an area for extra damage is not only fluffy but also very nice mechanically
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Class Stats
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Wizard's class stats are varied: usually you should think about what you need (expecially feats prerequisites) in advance and plan your stat points. Build your array carefully because it is extremely important for feat selection, since wizard spells don't have secondary stat riders. So, basicall, the only fixed point is that intelligence has to get each stat boost... other valuations are left to the player.
Strength: For most wizards this is THE dumpstat. Grab a 10 or an 11 if you want to take hide armor forward in your chareer, but it is not really needed. However Genasi wizards, for the feat Elemental Empowerment, need a good investment in this stat.
Constitution: Needed by Staff, Tome, Evoker and Pyromancer wizards, this is a very nice stat to have anyway. It should be your secondary or tertiary highest stat.
Dexterity: Needed only for the Dual Implement Spellcaster and some other nice feats. Wand wizard needs a good dexterity modifier. Don't put your negative modifier in this stat because initiative is extremely important for controllers (a bit less for blasters, though)
Intelligence: simply your focus. An 18 after racial modifiers is your best bet for good controlling but you can even for for an 18 pre-racial if your race allows a bonus to charisma, wisdom or dexterity. Someone prefer an 18 pre-racial even for all builds: you have to pay a bit of attention to your wanted feats prerequisites, but is more than workable (for example for non-multiclassing enchanters)
Wisdom: Needed really only by Orb of Imposition wizards (the more, the better), and if you want a decent thunderwave. Also needed for Enlarge Spell, but only 13. Mage illusionists are keyed of Wisdom, even if they rarely use it as secondary stat (only for the Enigmatic Mage level 11 feature). Nice for some skills, though.
Charisma: Needed, again, only for the Spell Focus feat in paragon tier. If you don't want this feat you may dump it completely and use wisdom for will defense. Orb of deception users need a good investment in this stat (a 14-16 minimum). Enchanter may want a bit of positive charisma modifier for their improved skills and for fluff reasons.
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Races
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Player's Handbook 1, HoFL and HoFK
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Dragonborn: At first glance: bonus to two secondary stats = not more than decent (con and cha). You need huge investment to be good, but you have a lovely support for your race, expecially for your breath feature, and you can be a pretty decent blaster.
Dwarf: bonus to constitution and wisdom, you are tough and it's hard to move you where you don't want to go. Not a terrible pick (Mul from Dark Sun is better, though). Heroes of Fallen Lands didn't change the race.
Eladrin: They were good before, now with the advent of HoFL they are in the olympus. With the advent of dual implement spellcaster most wizards will need dexterity anyway and a teleport is a nice addition. If you don't use a wand dexterity will have probably little use and you can use charisma for multiple purposes (better defenses, spell focus, skills). Thematically they make great enchanters and illusionists now: enchanter spell names are usually taken from Eladrin Lore. Bonus to arcana and decent support are the icing on the cake.
Elf: HoFL changed the race to one of the best for wizards. They are now 4e Eladrins (dex-int) with an even better feat support. A great pick.
Half-Elf: constitution is nice in any case, charisma is nice for spell focus, wisdom instead for mage illusionists and imposers. A workable summoner, illusionist or imposer: not the best, though.
Halfling: worse than dragonborn. HoFL didn't change the race. Go play a sorcerer or a warlock, please.
Human: The HoFL book changed human in better. Now they have a racial power as most other races. You can still choose to take a third at will if you want: this is particularly good in heroic tier, when at wills are much more important. You can choose, instead, to take the racial power Heroic Effort, which is a "wand" feature: an encounter bonus to hit (but can also be used to save, and a +4 bonus to save is nearly an auto-success) that is very welcomed. Overall the race remains one of the best for every class. Extra feat, skill and decent feat support bring this race to a very high level of competitiviness. Probably it remains the best in the heroic tier, but now it is decisely better even in higher ones.
Tiefling: with the advent of new fire-based feats and player's handbook races: tiefling they make top controllers, not only great fire blasters. The charisma is welcomed for spell focus and for enchanters and they have huge feat support. Overall probably the best race for wizards (take a look to builds: most are tieflings), expecially in higher tiers: they are probably the best paragon and epic tier wizards, simply because they get another free +1 to hit with Secrets of Belial. HoFK didn't change race rating, since we want Intellect anyway.
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Player's Handbook 2
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Deva: great support for orb of imposition build. Memory of Thousand Lifetimes is very nice, as astral majesty for controllers. A top pick, with a very nice racial epic destiny and some support
Gnome: they are like completely geared towards an illusion build, even if the feat support is somewhat lacking. A very nice race, though, with a really shining race encounter power.
Goliath: strength is useless but con (or wis) is nice. You may make a very tough staff blaster wizard due to your decent feat support, but it will require great attention.
Half-orc (HoFK): dex and strength or dex and con... there are better choices.
Longtooth Shifter: if you want to have fear of silver, be at least razorclaw.
Razorclaw Shifter: dex and wis are decent. No feat support, though. At the level of the Dwarf, less sturdy.
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Player's Handbook 3
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Githzerai: at deva level for orb of imposition builds. Other features are, though, a little worse.
Minotaur: strength is uselee, goring charge is USELESS... overall not the best pick sincerely.
Shardmind: all race features scream "CONTROLLER" (they scream "psion", but we hear "wizard"). Top level race, but ugly as hell
Wilden: at dwarf-elf level, voyage of the ancients is very nice.
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Monster Manual, Dragon, Dark Sun, Eberron, Forgotten Realms, HoS and other sources races
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Changeling/Doppelganger (EPG-MM): like tiefling and gnome, but without the feat support.
Drow (FRPG-HoFK): overall a decent race. They get bonus to two decent stats (dex and wis/cha), and they have a couple of nice tricks in their sleeve. They're still better as sorcerer or clerics, though.
Genasi (FRPG): Genasi are the best non-fire blasters, due to great racial feats and racial skills. With the extra racial bump to constitution they are also great generalist wizards.
Githyanki (MM): A decent int-con option, but they share the same problems warforged has: no feat support for wizards. The racial power is possibily even worse than forged one.
Kalashtar (EPG): bonus to wisdom and intellect and synergy with psychic damage and bad conditions make them premiere illusionists.
Mul (DSCS): better than dwarf, maybe so better to get blue rating. Incredible Toughness, is really a strong encounter power and they have a great feat support (human, dwarf or the great mul feat Bred for Battle)
Revenant (D 376-HoS): overall nice. You are not assassin but this race is decent for the wizard. The feat support isn't that great for you, but it's workable.
Shadar-Kai (D 372): nice race with death-themed abilities
Shade (HoS): this race technically is perfect for Wizards. The problem is that it possess that little bit of feature which decreases your (already low) healing surges. Darkvision, +Arcana, stealth training... all good, except that feature.
Thri-Kreen (DSCS): a race that probably suprises: the ability to store and retrieve an item as free action is really good for wizard juggling with orbs or staffs. Dex and Wis bonus is pretty nice. The only thing keeping them relatively low rating is that the encounter power is useless unless you stack dexterity, and this is generally a bad idea.
Vryloka (HoS): bonus to offstats, good racial, good necrotic resistance and speed. The blood dependency feature is quite bad and they have quite pointless skill bonus, though. This puts them in the middle of the bunch.
Warforged (EPG): stats right at their place but they have basically no feat support for the wizard class.
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Skills
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You automatically get Arcana (Int), which is also very nice for rituals. I also like some of its skill powers like Insightful Warning.
Diplomacy (Cha) is the black sheep of your list, unless you are an illusionist or an enchanter
Dungeoneering (Wis) is nice to know what aberrants do bad.
History (Int) has a great level 2 power (Strategist Epiphany) if you don't want to invest too much in initiative.
Insight (Wis) has great play application and is incredibly useful
Nature (Wis) is another ritual-staple skill. The power Nature Sense is very nice again for initiative.
Religion (Int) is the last skill you need for mastering rituals. It has some leader powers but nothing exceptional, but a good half of the rituals is religion-based
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At Wills Advice: a bit too many things to consider, try to choose the ones which fits better your character choice.
Power description: Name (book reference)
Defense Targeted, Keywords (Arcane and Implement keywords aren't written)
At Will Spells
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Arc Lightning (HoFL)
Reflex, Lightning, Evocation: targeting freely a couple of creatures is decent, probably is the way to go
for blasters. Damage is everything for them, so it is probably one of the best powers for them, since this power is also easy to use in most cases and gets also evocation school extra brutal roll.
Beguiling Strands (HoFL)
Will, Charm, Psychic, Enchantment: damage is low, but it is the only drawback. Heavy pushing from level 1 is great, the area is huge and it is friendly. Overall one of the best level 1 at wills, and it can be further enhanced by psychic lock in paragon tier
Chilling Cloud (PHBH1)
Fortitude, Cold: a nice at will. AoE at wills are rare, Friendly aoe at will much rarer. This comes out also with an effect tied. A great, lovely power. The negative things that stops it from being a top tier power are: it targets fort and can't be enlarged, and that the damage is pityful. Frankly those are little issues. This power remains very good.
Cloud of Daggers (PHB)
Reflex, Force, Zone, Evocation: a nice power that was created at the start of 4e for orb of imposition users. A good power for blasters, if they have at least decent wisdom, since the damage isn't restricted to 1/turn.
Erupting Flare (D 388) Fortitude, Fire: this is not made for a controller. The effect makes people stay far from the target. It may have some tactical uses for fire blasters, but generally is a bad idea, also because it makes the target effectively possess a damage aura.
Freezing Burst (HoFL) Reflex, Cold, Evocation, E: an area spell like scorching burst: the element is less resistable (useful until level 10 for mages) and the slide adds a lot of control. Overall very nice, expecially for blasters. For non-fire blasters imho this spell is a nearly a must have
Hypnotism (HoFL)
Will, Charm, Enchantment: very nice power, subtly level scaling, nice in all occasions to force marks and to make elites implode ally enemies, and to slide into dangerous things (in this case beguiling strands works better, unless you want to slide only 1 enemy or pull enemies towards your defender). This power is great for the number of options it has, but suffer of a little hitting problems (for non-enchanter that is really an issue). Enchanters get many way to improve accuracy and for them is a really really really good spell.
Illusory Ambush (AP) Will, Illusion, Psychic: a decent power, that becomes better if you are a paragon-tier illusionist. If you do, this is probably your second at-will, even if a bit outshined by phantasmal assault. Usually the choice for early illusionists is to choose this at-will or phantom bolt: overall these powers are quite similar in power. If you find that you are attacked a lot, or you are in a small party, choose this power.
Magic Missile (PHB) Autohit, Force: the july update completely ruined this power. It scales horribly and in my opinion is the worst power of the list, but many players like it anyway for the long range. In the heroic tier is it situationally usable. In the paragon and epic tiers it scales so badly that its damage becomes pityful. A little better if you have, again, an enabling leader. Mages get it for Free, so it's a nice weapon in their hands. Alcestis pointed out effects that doesn't work with this kind of power (this is true for all autohitting powers in Dragon 381 and autohitting damaging powers in HoFL, for example the Kelgore's Undeniable Fire in the Evoker's Enigmatic Mage PP).
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Technically it is an auto damage power. It does not hit. The distinction is huge. And MM is garbage now because the following does not work with it.
Psychic Lock
Permafrost
WLR
WLMR
Siberys Shards
Academy Master
Critical Effects of any kind
Destructive Wizardry (granted, was only possible with a Magic Missile Wand)
Elemental Echoes
Dual Implement Spellcaster
Item Bonuses (you get the idea, any bonus that only applies to damage rolls)
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Nightmare Eruption (D 380) Will, Illusion, Psychic: at the level of cloud of daggers, but it targets will and has an hint of friendly targeting. Not a too shabby power.
Phantasmal Assault (HoFL)
Will, Illusion, Psychic: a lot better than winged horde but only single target. Getting free CA is good for every party, expecially if your leader is a decent buffer. Remember that not being able to make OAs doesn't block grabbing and flanking anymore.
Phantom Bolt (AP) Will, Illusion, Psychic: sliding at-will can be very strong but probably most of you will use thunderwave for this. It has its uses, though, expecially in the hand of high level illusionists with Psychic lock. Usually the choice for early illusionists is to choose this at-will or phantom bolt: overall these powers are quite similar in power. If you find that you aren't attacked a lot and you like that occasional (little) forced movement, take this power.
Phantom Cage (HoFL)
Will, Illusion, Psychic: surely underwhelming compared to other at wills, it works decently in the first level... then the rider becomes too little to be significant.
Ray of Frost (PHB)
Fortitude, Evocation, Cold: another old power that is still good. Cold blasters have served their 3 at wills without having to use a specific implement.
Restless Dead (HoS)
Reflex, Necromancy, Shadow, Zone : basically it's a vanilla attack but that could be exploited with terrain advantage to get constant CA. Overall, nothing great.
Rotting Doom (HoS) Fortitude, Necromancy Necrotic Shadow: blah... situational at best. The damage is decent, but the control is basically non-existant and is good only against undeads.
Scare (HoS)
Will, Fear, Nethermancy, Psychic, Shadow: unfriendly blast 3, little control. A vanilla version of Winged Horde, not so synergic with Nethermancer features.
Scorching Burst (PHB)
Reflex, Evocation, Fire, E: Pretty much overshadowed by freezing burst for anyone except Pyromancers and Fire blasters. Freezing Burst does exactly the same things but better. For "fire users" it is still a must in the lower-heroic tier, since it is the only decent fire at will spell (I don't consider Erupting Flare a viable choice). After, in late heroic-early paragon, when you possibly get your weapon or summer or admixture Freezing Burst (or other ways to add fire damage), you can pretty much forget about its existance and retrain it. If you don't have access to essential books, it is still viable.
Stone Blood (Red Box) Fortitude, Transmutation, E: aoe slowing is very strong at first level. Fortitude isn't often the best defense to target but it can be workable. Overall a nice spell, at the level of other aoe at wills. At the moment this spell isn't legal in LFR.
Storm Pillar (AP)
Conjuration, Lightning: this power was nerfed sometimes ago. It is still nice in the blockades and narrow passages. It can also be useful to immobilize a single target, even if the damage isn't so great (but it can be really dangerous): you can place it over a foe to make him choose between immobilization and getting damage. There are many ways, though, to exploit this power. If your party has sliding effects on OA, or you like to have sliding powers like Hypnotic Pattern or Grease, then the power of this spell increases to incredibly strong.
Thunderwave (PHB) Fortitude, Evocation, Thunder, E: this power was a staple in nearly all wizard builds. At the moment it shares many things with beguiling strands: the latter is friendly, this is enlargeable (2 times with Resounding Thunder). Beguiling Strands usually pushes more, this is more damaging. Overall they are fairly similar, except that this spell requires more investment and is a little less easy to use overall. For Blasters it's better than Beguiling Strands, usually, since it has the evocation keyword.
Unraveling Dart (HoS)
Fortitude, Nethermancy, Shadow: exploiting vulnerabilities is good, actually. It's only damage, but it can be a lot of damage for blasters. Zero control, though. Basically this is the vulnerability version of arc lightning, which rocks also a +wis modifier: the un-vunerability version of the power can often be more damaging than Arc Lightning, but without elements (unusable by Genasi Blasters, for instance)
Winged Horde (D 381) Will, Psychic, E: this is so good that is nearly a must for any wizard. Friendly AOE and free movement in the burst. And you can even enlarge it? This is probably one of the best at wills in the game. Changed to sky-blue because it doesn't stop anymore grabbing and flanking (check the FAQ Here), but in my opinion it is still the best at will, not mandatory for everyone, but a little step above the other ones.
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