War mage is a trap. Definitely don't go with it. Bladesinger is really good but it depends on what you prioritize. For defense and melee damage, bladesinger is king, but if you want a tank, abjuration is the best. For a blaster, evocation reigns supreme. Divination is the most well-rounded option and perfect for control.
I'm not sure I would go so far to as to say War Magic is a trap. It's not as strong as some other picks, however there are some good reasons to take it depending on what you want your character to do.
I'm very fond of Bladesinger and Diviner personally.
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Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
I've been playing an Order of Scribes Wizard, and while he's not really optimised for combat I'm a big fan of the features:
Awakened Spellbook
The flagship feature on this is the ability to swap damage types based on the spells you know; with a good selection of spells you no longer need to prepare extra spells, or worry about your damage type mix, in order to handle immunity/resistance/weakness when you encounter it. It means you can focus on your favourite damage-dealing spells based upon their value and rider effect(s), and simply swap to whatever damage type is best (or funniest*) at the time. *While it's not optimal, I also just love hitting things with an acidic and then burning ray of sickness; apocalyptic acid reflux!
Having chromatic orb in your spellbook gets you every elemental damage type for your 1st-level spells, dragon's breath does the same for 2nd-level etc., there are some awkward levels where you may need to pick up more spells to get a wider selection, but it's not hard to get at least two. The main drawback of this feature is the extra book-keeping required to track which damage types you have for each level you can cast at, but for a more detail oriented player who enjoys handling components and such that can be a benefit.
Being able to use the book as a casting focus, and the once a day express ritual, are both nice bonuses as well, especially if like me you try to pick one spell to prepare and one new ritual every time you level up, so you're absolutely loaded with every ritual in the game at your fingertips. There aren't a lot of rituals with immediate impact on combat, but I've used an instant unseen servant to wreak havoc once or twice (good for grabbing things while you keep the enemies busy).
Wizardly Quill
This one's mostly for flavour really, but I just really like being able to summon a quill and write on things in teacherly red ink whenever I want.
Manifest Mind
This feature is just so useful; you gain a (mostly) indestructible spectral entity for safely scouting with, but the headline feature for combat is the ability to cast magic through it for potentially an extra 300 feet of range – nothing protects a Wizard quite like being nowhere near your enemies to begin with. Since my Scribes Wizard has horrendous AC I've used this a bunch while hiding safely in a rope trick or behind total cover, though of course the limited uses mean you need to use this sparingly (don't just use it to humiliate your hated rival student like I did, though it was still totally worth it 😂).
Master Scrivener
The value of this feature is a bit campaign dependent; in theory this feature is equivalent to an extra 2nd- or 3rd-level spell slot that you can use to cast a chosen 1st- or 2nd-level spell, which is pretty sweet. As with scrolls in general this means you can have to hand a spell you know but wouldn't normally prepare (or would prefer to prepare something else) so it can effectively give you an extra prepared spell.
Even if your knobbly wizard knees are already creaking under the weight of all the scrolls you're carrying this still has the benefit of ensuring you can always have a particular spell handy, without worrying about running out or having to constantly create replacement scrolls. Since the feature also lets you create scrolls faster/cheaper you probably will have a fair few to hand, but you can focus these on spells you use less regularly and work towards building up a stockpile rather than having to constantly replace the one you use most.
The only thing better than a Wizard, is a Wizard who can potentially go an entire adventuring day without using any spell slots. 😉
One With the Word
Advantage on Arcana is nice, but the ability to negate all damage from an effect as a reaction can be pretty clutch. While the cost of this is losing some spells known for 1d6 days, by 14th-level you're going to have a minimum of 32 spells known so unless you find yourself using this feature often you're probably only going to be losing some minor spells you don't usually prepare anyway, such as spells you only picked up for the extra damage types.
In some ways this is the weakest feature as both effects are situational; your DM may or may not ask for many Arcana checks, and you're more likely to use damage negation only if you're in danger of going unconscious, and even then only if you don't have an ally who can bring you back before your next turn. On this basis they're not features you can reliably use often, unlike say a Diviner's Greater Portent, a Chronurgist's Convergent Future etc.
Also one downside is that it's going to be a huge pain in the ass to pick spells to lose mid-battle, though you can mitigate this by drawing up a shortlist of spells in advance so you can quickly pick some up to the required level.
So erm… yeah, wasn't intending to write an essay on Order of Scribes when I started, but while there are a few of sub-classes that have the edge in combat (though it's hard to measure the benefit of effectively having more prepared spells), and certainly some are more straightforward, I still really like the mix of features on the Order of Scribes Wizard, and I use most of them regularly both in and out of combat, which really helps to feel like you're playing a different type of Wizard rather than a Wizard with a slightly different skin on top as some of the more combat-focused ones can feel like.
That said, I'm also a big fan of Abjurer, Blade Singer and Divination; Chronurgy and Graviturgy I haven't really played myself but both seem fun. I want to play Illusion but it has some of the weakest early features which is disappointing when Illusions are some of my favourite spells.
Former D&D Beyond Customer of six years: With the axing of piecemeal purchasing, lack of meaningful development, and toxic moderation the site isn't worth paying for anymore. I remain a free user only until my groups are done migrating from DDB, and if necessary D&D, after which I'm done. There are better systems owned by better companies out there.
I have unsubscribed from all topics and will not reply to messages. My homebrew is now 100% unsupported.
Bladesinger is great fun to play and possibly the most powerful gish in the game but mechanically I don't think it is as quite a few other subclasses.
War Magic is not a trap. Making Saves is really important, if you fail a save for hold person you wont be casting any spells next turn (levelled or not) but that is the least of your problems. If that save causes you to lose concentration you might be recasting the spell next turn, arcane deflection might allow you to save the spell slot and cast a cantrip instead. The average D&D battle is 3-4 rounds so getting a significant boost to initiative is a big feature and by the time you ht level 10 you will be concentrating pretty much all the time you are in combat so the +2 to AC is almost permanent.
A agree with scribes be powerful, as long as you have access to the money and spells to have significantly more spells in your spellbook than those you get from levelling, providing that is the case I would put it up woth War Magic and Divinatipon as the most powerful classes. Other than that I pretty much agree with Treantmonk
Evokers do a lot of damage but any class can do damage the best wizards are those that control the battlefield to maximis the dsamage the whole party dishes out and minimises the damage it gets.
War mage is a trap. Definitely don't go with it. Bladesinger is really good but it depends on what you prioritize. For defense and melee damage, bladesinger is king, but if you want a tank, abjuration is the best. For a blaster, evocation reigns supreme. Divination is the most well-rounded option and perfect for control.
Bladesinger is a better tank than abjuration if you choose the right spells. You need to pick defensive combat spells though, not offensive or control spells:
False Life (upcast), Shield , PEG, Absorb Elements, and Blur are the core spells you want and at higher levels Tasha's otherwordly guise and Contingency-5th level fasle life.
If you are using Shadow Blade or using concentraton for an offensive spell like slow or Hypnotic Pattern Bladesinger is not a great tank, but if you use the spells above and have concentration on PEG, Blur or TOG it is probably the best tank of any class in the game.
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War magic is good, but it weakens your magic which is the whole point of a wizard.
How so? They have the same spell mechanics as all Wizards.
I guess you'd have to be referring to Arcane Deflection's restriction on using leveled spells on the turn that you use it.
My thing is, I'm still always gonna use the shield spell to avoid attack rolls, not this feature. It's a +5 and there's no restriction.
I'm only ever going to use this ability to pass a saving throw I failed and I'm probably only gonna use it on an extremely important one.
And unless that happens before my turn (War Magic get a +INT to initiative) then I may be casting a cantrip anyway
War mage is a trap. Definitely don't go with it. Bladesinger is really good but it depends on what you prioritize. For defense and melee damage, bladesinger is king, but if you want a tank, abjuration is the best. For a blaster, evocation reigns supreme. Divination is the most well-rounded option and perfect for control.
Check these out:
Bladesinger: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8g869Lju5Ws
Abjuration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiZI5u6I2YA
Evocation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDq8NGZ46o4
Divination: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7C96QaIgAY (You can remove the cleric levels).
Wizards Overall: https://docs.google.com/document/u/0/d/1IeOXWvbkmQ3nEyM2P3lS8TU4rsK6QJP0oH7HE_v67QY/mobilebasic
The melee sorlock is superior. Argue with me.
I'm not sure I would go so far to as to say War Magic is a trap. It's not as strong as some other picks, however there are some good reasons to take it depending on what you want your character to do.
I'm very fond of Bladesinger and Diviner personally.
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Tasha
I've been playing an Order of Scribes Wizard, and while he's not really optimised for combat I'm a big fan of the features:
Awakened Spellbook
The flagship feature on this is the ability to swap damage types based on the spells you know; with a good selection of spells you no longer need to prepare extra spells, or worry about your damage type mix, in order to handle immunity/resistance/weakness when you encounter it. It means you can focus on your favourite damage-dealing spells based upon their value and rider effect(s), and simply swap to whatever damage type is best (or funniest*) at the time. *While it's not optimal, I also just love hitting things with an acidic and then burning ray of sickness; apocalyptic acid reflux!
Having chromatic orb in your spellbook gets you every elemental damage type for your 1st-level spells, dragon's breath does the same for 2nd-level etc., there are some awkward levels where you may need to pick up more spells to get a wider selection, but it's not hard to get at least two. The main drawback of this feature is the extra book-keeping required to track which damage types you have for each level you can cast at, but for a more detail oriented player who enjoys handling components and such that can be a benefit.
Being able to use the book as a casting focus, and the once a day express ritual, are both nice bonuses as well, especially if like me you try to pick one spell to prepare and one new ritual every time you level up, so you're absolutely loaded with every ritual in the game at your fingertips. There aren't a lot of rituals with immediate impact on combat, but I've used an instant unseen servant to wreak havoc once or twice (good for grabbing things while you keep the enemies busy).
Wizardly Quill
This one's mostly for flavour really, but I just really like being able to summon a quill and write on things in teacherly red ink whenever I want.
Manifest Mind
This feature is just so useful; you gain a (mostly) indestructible spectral entity for safely scouting with, but the headline feature for combat is the ability to cast magic through it for potentially an extra 300 feet of range – nothing protects a Wizard quite like being nowhere near your enemies to begin with. Since my Scribes Wizard has horrendous AC I've used this a bunch while hiding safely in a rope trick or behind total cover, though of course the limited uses mean you need to use this sparingly (don't just use it to humiliate your hated rival student like I did, though it was still totally worth it 😂).
Master Scrivener
The value of this feature is a bit campaign dependent; in theory this feature is equivalent to an extra 2nd- or 3rd-level spell slot that you can use to cast a chosen 1st- or 2nd-level spell, which is pretty sweet. As with scrolls in general this means you can have to hand a spell you know but wouldn't normally prepare (or would prefer to prepare something else) so it can effectively give you an extra prepared spell.
Even if your knobbly wizard knees are already creaking under the weight of all the scrolls you're carrying this still has the benefit of ensuring you can always have a particular spell handy, without worrying about running out or having to constantly create replacement scrolls. Since the feature also lets you create scrolls faster/cheaper you probably will have a fair few to hand, but you can focus these on spells you use less regularly and work towards building up a stockpile rather than having to constantly replace the one you use most.
The only thing better than a Wizard, is a Wizard who can potentially go an entire adventuring day without using any spell slots. 😉
One With the Word
Advantage on Arcana is nice, but the ability to negate all damage from an effect as a reaction can be pretty clutch. While the cost of this is losing some spells known for 1d6 days, by 14th-level you're going to have a minimum of 32 spells known so unless you find yourself using this feature often you're probably only going to be losing some minor spells you don't usually prepare anyway, such as spells you only picked up for the extra damage types.
In some ways this is the weakest feature as both effects are situational; your DM may or may not ask for many Arcana checks, and you're more likely to use damage negation only if you're in danger of going unconscious, and even then only if you don't have an ally who can bring you back before your next turn. On this basis they're not features you can reliably use often, unlike say a Diviner's Greater Portent, a Chronurgist's Convergent Future etc.
Also one downside is that it's going to be a huge pain in the ass to pick spells to lose mid-battle, though you can mitigate this by drawing up a shortlist of spells in advance so you can quickly pick some up to the required level.
So erm… yeah, wasn't intending to write an essay on Order of Scribes when I started, but while there are a few of sub-classes that have the edge in combat (though it's hard to measure the benefit of effectively having more prepared spells), and certainly some are more straightforward, I still really like the mix of features on the Order of Scribes Wizard, and I use most of them regularly both in and out of combat, which really helps to feel like you're playing a different type of Wizard rather than a Wizard with a slightly different skin on top as some of the more combat-focused ones can feel like.
That said, I'm also a big fan of Abjurer, Blade Singer and Divination; Chronurgy and Graviturgy I haven't really played myself but both seem fun. I want to play Illusion but it has some of the weakest early features which is disappointing when Illusions are some of my favourite spells.
Former D&D Beyond Customer of six years: With the axing of piecemeal purchasing, lack of meaningful development, and toxic moderation the site isn't worth paying for anymore. I remain a free user only until my groups are done migrating from DDB, and if necessary D&D, after which I'm done. There are better systems owned by better companies out there.
I have unsubscribed from all topics and will not reply to messages. My homebrew is now 100% unsupported.
Bladesinger is great fun to play and possibly the most powerful gish in the game but mechanically I don't think it is as quite a few other subclasses.
War Magic is not a trap. Making Saves is really important, if you fail a save for hold person you wont be casting any spells next turn (levelled or not) but that is the least of your problems. If that save causes you to lose concentration you might be recasting the spell next turn, arcane deflection might allow you to save the spell slot and cast a cantrip instead. The average D&D battle is 3-4 rounds so getting a significant boost to initiative is a big feature and by the time you ht level 10 you will be concentrating pretty much all the time you are in combat so the +2 to AC is almost permanent.
A agree with scribes be powerful, as long as you have access to the money and spells to have significantly more spells in your spellbook than those you get from levelling, providing that is the case I would put it up woth War Magic and Divinatipon as the most powerful classes. Other than that I pretty much agree with Treantmonk
Evokers do a lot of damage but any class can do damage the best wizards are those that control the battlefield to maximis the dsamage the whole party dishes out and minimises the damage it gets.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZO_JiG7oLw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slsgHqp1WVQ
Bladesinger is a better tank than abjuration if you choose the right spells. You need to pick defensive combat spells though, not offensive or control spells:
False Life (upcast), Shield , PEG, Absorb Elements, and Blur are the core spells you want and at higher levels Tasha's otherwordly guise and Contingency-5th level fasle life.
If you are using Shadow Blade or using concentraton for an offensive spell like slow or Hypnotic Pattern Bladesinger is not a great tank, but if you use the spells above and have concentration on PEG, Blur or TOG it is probably the best tank of any class in the game.