I'm new and am really getting into DnD and I would appreciate some tips about being a wizard. I have started to create a human wizard in the character creation and I'm struggling with what else would be the best thing to choose for my character like spells, school of magic, or other aspect that would be good for a human wizard specifically. Any advice and feedback would be appreciated! Thank you!
What do you want to be able to do? It’s tough to give advice without a sense of the direction you are going.
But for some general advice. The schools matter, but not very much (except bladesinger, which is very different from the standard wizard). But I’d say check out the different schools, and think about the kind of wizard you want to play. Want to blow things up? Go evoker. Want to mess with peoples mind? Illusion. Summon things to fight for you? Conjuration, etc. But whichever you choose, you’ll still be able to do the other stuff — an evoker can still cast illusion spells freely, they just won’t get quite as much mileage out of them.
For spells at first level, I usually suggest 2 attack cantrips. One that makes an attack roll, like firebolt, and one that forces a saving throw, maybe mind sliver. For the rest, choose utility stuff you think might be fun to play with, prestidigitation is a classic, mending can be very useful, message can be very useful, also minor illusion.
After that, again, try to take a mix of combat and non combat spells. Shield is a great level 1 spell. Also chromatic orb. Pay attention to rituals like detect magic, and comprehend languages. One of the real strengths of wizards is their utility spells. They can often supply a magic solution to many out of combat situations.
Thank you for the general advice and to answer your question I would like to be a necromancer. I would appreciate some advice when it comes to playing a necromancer and if there are some extra benefits to playing a necromancer.
I almost always play wizards, though I have tried every class. I am going to give some necromancer specific advice and then tell you how to keep that wizard alive.
Necromancers work well for campaigns where the townsfolk don't care if you have corpses following you. That means that almost any campaign you play your necromancer will be shunned and feared if people find out what he/she/they/none/ect. is.
Necromancers can raise the dead. I like to use those undead as living/undeath shields for myself. I typically have one or more body blocking me to boost my AC, usually be +2 per corpse though tha depends on the DM. I send the other corpses to fight for me.
One downside to undead that you create is that they only stay 'alive' for a certain amount of time. There is a homebrew necromancer sub-class that I like that lets you theoretically have them for infinate amounts of time though. I personally love using this homebrew. Amassing Necromancer
Ok, some of the tips that I have for keeping our squishies alive are
1. After a long rest cast mage armour and false life on yourself. The higher level false life is the better.
2. Never ever ever ever touch that item your party has been searching for. I have been killed outright by books, rocks, gems, crowns, and all manner of objects. I usually make a fighter of barbarian touch it first. They have hitpoints to spare.
4. Wizards chronically have good perception so you might be tempted to have them at the front or back of your party's traveling order but always have them at the middle. They are less easy to hit that way.
5. Likewise, in combatyou want to try to coordinate you allies so that they engage the enemies whilst you hide behind them and cast spells.
6. Don't anger that powerful NPC you just met!
I hope these help! Let me know if you need more.
-Igglywiv the Wizard
Played every class. Now playing every sub-class.
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- Igglywiv the Wizard
I played every class, now playing every sub-class.
You would not believe how much ADHD helps with creating campaigns!
Something to keep in mind when planning your Wizard is that they are the only class that can cast ritual spells without having them prepared. As long as they are in your spell book, you can cast them as a ritual. Wizards also learn way more spells than they can prepare, so take your most important spells to have prepared, then load up on ritual spells to have in your back pocket. Even for first level spells, there are a lot of great ritual spells you can have on hand - Find Familiar, Detect Magic, and Unseen Servant just to name a few.
Personally, i go with evokers to cast AOE without friendly fire (from fireball, shatter (until you have fireball), vitriolic sphere, sickening radiance, wall of fire, etc). I like defensive spells (absorb elements, shield, silvery barbs, mage armor, etc.) i take toll of the dead and firebolt as offensive cantrips but also like mage hand and presidigitation. I liek combining find famaliar and dragonbreath to give familiars an attack.
Personally, i go with evokers to cast AOE without friendly fire (from fireball, shatter (until you have fireball), vitriolic sphere, sickening radiance, wall of fire, etc). I like defensive spells (absorb elements, shield, silvery barbs, mage armor, etc.) i take toll of the dead and firebolt as offensive cantrips but also like mage hand and presidigitation. I liek combining find famaliar and dragonbreath to give familiars an attack.
Me too, and since this subclass is the only one that can choose which target would be affected & which not by the spell casted, is the best way to go. Plus, if only WotC would take in mind Wizards can DAILY cast the same spell for at least 1 year, then what the rules says about it ??? It becomes permament ??? It counts as a way to get the feat ""SPELL SNIPER"" ???
Personally, i go with evokers to cast AOE without friendly fire (from fireball, shatter (until you have fireball), vitriolic sphere, sickening radiance, wall of fire, etc). I like defensive spells (absorb elements, shield, silvery barbs, mage armor, etc.) i take toll of the dead and firebolt as offensive cantrips but also like mage hand and presidigitation. I liek combining find famaliar and dragonbreath to give familiars an attack.
Me too, and since this subclass is the only one that can choose which target would be affected & which not by the spell casted, is the best way to go. Plus, if only WotC would take in mind Wizards can DAILY cast the same spell for at least 1 year, then what the rules says about it ??? It becomes permament ??? It counts as a way to get the feat ""SPELL SNIPER"" ???
Am I right ???
No, you're not.
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Click ✨ HERE ✨ For My Youtube Videos featuring Guides, Tips & Tricks for using D&D Beyond. Need help with Homebrew? Check out ✨ thisFAQ/Guide thread ✨ by IamSposta.
"Necromancers work well for campaigns where the townsfolk don't care if you have corpses following you. That means that almost any campaign you play your necromancer will be shunned and feared if people find out what he/she/they/none/ect. is."
Ask your DM if you can have an Entertainer background that has proficiency in disguise kit instead of a musical instrument. Still with the musician origin feat though, so you start proficient with 3 instruments rather than 4 but able to disguise (create costumes and makeup for actors etc), which is also a great way to "disguise" your growing zombie horde ...
Not sure how effective it would be, but it might add some great RP moments.
The best advice if starting at 1st level. Make sure you are in a group with balance. Healer who wants to play a supporting role and heal. Also some meat shields besides (shield spell) staying alive is the most importance. At higher levels you can explode (pun intended).
Prep burning hands. Always. It’s really good for self defense.
Decent at low levels...falls off in usefulness fairly fast. By the time you reach level 5, I would prep something else. I would say even Thunderwave is better for defense since you can push the enemies away then run for dear life.
I have never used burning hands in 5E. I usually just use attack cantrips rather than level 1 damaging spells although sometimes I'll take magic missile. I have gotten good use out of tasha's hideous laughter a few times, but usually I concentrate on the level 1 defensive spells like shield, absorb elements, silvery barbs (defensive and offensive), mage armor, etc. plus I take level 1 ritual spells like find familiar, detect magic, identify (depends on how the DM runs things), etc.
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Food, Scifi/fantasy, anime, DND 5E and OSR geek.
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I'm new and am really getting into DnD and I would appreciate some tips about being a wizard. I have started to create a human wizard in the character creation and I'm struggling with what else would be the best thing to choose for my character like spells, school of magic, or other aspect that would be good for a human wizard specifically. Any advice and feedback would be appreciated! Thank you!
Humans are the most generic race. You can make literally any type of wizard with one.
What do you want to be able to do? It’s tough to give advice without a sense of the direction you are going.
But for some general advice. The schools matter, but not very much (except bladesinger, which is very different from the standard wizard). But I’d say check out the different schools, and think about the kind of wizard you want to play. Want to blow things up? Go evoker. Want to mess with peoples mind? Illusion. Summon things to fight for you? Conjuration, etc. But whichever you choose, you’ll still be able to do the other stuff — an evoker can still cast illusion spells freely, they just won’t get quite as much mileage out of them.
For spells at first level, I usually suggest 2 attack cantrips. One that makes an attack roll, like firebolt, and one that forces a saving throw, maybe mind sliver. For the rest, choose utility stuff you think might be fun to play with, prestidigitation is a classic, mending can be very useful, message can be very useful, also minor illusion.
After that, again, try to take a mix of combat and non combat spells. Shield is a great level 1 spell. Also chromatic orb. Pay attention to rituals like detect magic, and comprehend languages. One of the real strengths of wizards is their utility spells. They can often supply a magic solution to many out of combat situations.
Thank you for the general advice and to answer your question I would like to be a necromancer. I would appreciate some advice when it comes to playing a necromancer and if there are some extra benefits to playing a necromancer.
I almost always play wizards, though I have tried every class. I am going to give some necromancer specific advice and then tell you how to keep that wizard alive.
Necromancers work well for campaigns where the townsfolk don't care if you have corpses following you. That means that almost any campaign you play your necromancer will be shunned and feared if people find out what he/she/they/none/ect. is.
Necromancers can raise the dead. I like to use those undead as living/undeath shields for myself. I typically have one or more body blocking me to boost my AC, usually be +2 per corpse though tha depends on the DM. I send the other corpses to fight for me.
One downside to undead that you create is that they only stay 'alive' for a certain amount of time. There is a homebrew necromancer sub-class that I like that lets you theoretically have them for infinate amounts of time though. I personally love using this homebrew. Amassing Necromancer
Ok, some of the tips that I have for keeping our squishies alive are
1. After a long rest cast mage armour and false life on yourself. The higher level false life is the better.
2. Never ever ever ever touch that item your party has been searching for. I have been killed outright by books, rocks, gems, crowns, and all manner of objects. I usually make a fighter of barbarian touch it first. They have hitpoints to spare.
3. Always have spells like dimension door and misty step prepared for a quick getaway.
4. Wizards chronically have good perception so you might be tempted to have them at the front or back of your party's traveling order but always have them at the middle. They are less easy to hit that way.
5. Likewise, in combatyou want to try to coordinate you allies so that they engage the enemies whilst you hide behind them and cast spells.
6. Don't anger that powerful NPC you just met!
I hope these help! Let me know if you need more.
-Igglywiv the Wizard
Played every class. Now playing every sub-class.
- Igglywiv the Wizard
I played every class, now playing every sub-class.
You would not believe how much ADHD helps with creating campaigns!
Happy Pride Month!
Something to keep in mind when planning your Wizard is that they are the only class that can cast ritual spells without having them prepared. As long as they are in your spell book, you can cast them as a ritual. Wizards also learn way more spells than they can prepare, so take your most important spells to have prepared, then load up on ritual spells to have in your back pocket. Even for first level spells, there are a lot of great ritual spells you can have on hand - Find Familiar, Detect Magic, and Unseen Servant just to name a few.
Personally, i go with evokers to cast AOE without friendly fire (from fireball, shatter (until you have fireball), vitriolic sphere, sickening radiance, wall of fire, etc). I like defensive spells (absorb elements, shield, silvery barbs, mage armor, etc.) i take toll of the dead and firebolt as offensive cantrips but also like mage hand and presidigitation. I liek combining find famaliar and dragonbreath to give familiars an attack.
Food, Scifi/fantasy, anime, DND 5E and OSR geek.
Me too, and since this subclass is the only one that can choose which target would be affected & which not by the spell casted, is the best way to go. Plus, if only WotC would take in mind Wizards can DAILY cast the same spell for at least 1 year, then what the rules says about it ??? It becomes permament ??? It counts as a way to get the feat ""SPELL SNIPER"" ???
Am I right ???
My Ready-to-rock&roll chars:
Dertinus Tristany // Amilcar Barca // Vicenç Sacrarius // Oriol Deulofeu // Grovtuk
No, you're not.
Click ✨ HERE ✨ For My Youtube Videos featuring Guides, Tips & Tricks for using D&D Beyond.
Need help with Homebrew? Check out ✨ this FAQ/Guide thread ✨ by IamSposta.
"Necromancers work well for campaigns where the townsfolk don't care if you have corpses following you. That means that almost any campaign you play your necromancer will be shunned and feared if people find out what he/she/they/none/ect. is."
Ask your DM if you can have an Entertainer background that has proficiency in disguise kit instead of a musical instrument. Still with the musician origin feat though, so you start proficient with 3 instruments rather than 4 but able to disguise (create costumes and makeup for actors etc), which is also a great way to "disguise" your growing zombie horde ...
Not sure how effective it would be, but it might add some great RP moments.
Life's hard - get a helmet!
The best advice if starting at 1st level. Make sure you are in a group with balance. Healer who wants to play a supporting role and heal. Also some meat shields besides (shield spell) staying alive is the most importance. At higher levels you can explode (pun intended).
Prep burning hands. Always. It’s really good for self defense.
Respectfully,
Nanra
Decent at low levels...falls off in usefulness fairly fast. By the time you reach level 5, I would prep something else. I would say even Thunderwave is better for defense since you can push the enemies away then run for dear life.
I have never used burning hands in 5E. I usually just use attack cantrips rather than level 1 damaging spells although sometimes I'll take magic missile. I have gotten good use out of tasha's hideous laughter a few times, but usually I concentrate on the level 1 defensive spells like shield, absorb elements, silvery barbs (defensive and offensive), mage armor, etc. plus I take level 1 ritual spells like find familiar, detect magic, identify (depends on how the DM runs things), etc.
Food, Scifi/fantasy, anime, DND 5E and OSR geek.