Rockney has just graduated from wizard, where he attended on a full ride athletic scholarship as a not-quidditch player. His team was full of races similar to him; meaning non-traditional wizard races- from a metagame aspect. Not-quidditch is one of the main ways for these races to get into wizard school. Rockney's team had, half-orcs, goliaths, and dwarves, along with the usual elves, gnomes, and humans. Now he is looking for fame and fortune as an adventurer and professional not-quidditch player.
STR 11
DEX 10
CON 17
INT 15
WIS 10
CHA 10
Level four: Resilience CON
Level eight: STR +1, INT +1
Level twelve: War Caster
Level sixteen: CON +2
Level nineteen: INT +2
The thing I am stumped on now is which spells I want to use. Most of my characters have been pure squishers until now. If I know I can hold a spell, what are the best spells to use?
Really need more information - do you really want to be a tank or are you just looking for a beefy wizard?
What subclass were you thinking?
Spells I would be looking at are Mage Armor and Shield (definitely). Rituals are good to free up slots - still learn them, but don't need to remember them. Your damage is going to be the issues (slightly). Go a ranged cantrip (firebolt, toll the dead etc) and you are good to go. If you want to be front line look into personal buffing spells (mirror image, haste, stoneskin etc).
But really this is all conjecture. How do you envision this PC fitting into a party?
I wanted a character that if he cast Haste, it's not going anywhere. That's what I mean by a tanky Wizard. I don't think I want him to be a front line damage sponge. I just want his support to be stalwart. He is a war wizard. One spell I saw just now absorb elements looks interesting
Abjurist will help you take some damage without having to roll concentration checks if the ward absorbs all the damage.
If you go Conjuration, you could, instead of Hasting allies, just create allies by conjuring them - bunch of explosive mephits, or large elementals. Conjurors cannot lose concentration as a result of taking damage.
If you do go conjuror get Planar Binding, Magic Circle and Wish. You can make a Magic Circle, summon being in it, then use planar binding: it takes a 1k gp gem but you can use wish to replicate planar binding at 8 th level to not need the gem and get the creature bound in service for 180 days without concentration needed. Now remember that you can do this every day...
Hello army.
Currently my conjuror has a Frost Salamander bound for a little under a year and a Shoosuva bound for another 177 days. He would have more but having too many gets cumbersome.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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.
Abjurist will help you take some damage without having to roll concentration checks if the ward absorbs all the damage.
If you go Conjuration, you could, instead of Hasting allies, just create allies by conjuring them - bunch of explosive mephits, or large elementals. Conjurors cannot lose concentration as a result of taking damage.
If you do go conjuror get Planar Binding, Magic Circle and Wish. You can make a Magic Circle, summon being in it, then use planar binding: it takes a 1k gp gem but you can use wish to replicate planar binding at 8 th level to not need the gem and get the creature bound in service for 180 days without concentration needed. Now remember that you can do this every day...
Hello army.
Currently my conjuror has a Frost Salamander bound for a little under a year and a Shoosuva bound for another 177 days. He would have more but having too many gets cumbersome.
This is the third time I will say that he is a War Wizard
Abjurist will help you take some damage without having to roll concentration checks if the ward absorbs all the damage.
If you go Conjuration, you could, instead of Hasting allies, just create allies by conjuring them - bunch of explosive mephits, or large elementals. Conjurors cannot lose concentration as a result of taking damage.
If you do go conjuror get Planar Binding, Magic Circle and Wish. You can make a Magic Circle, summon being in it, then use planar binding: it takes a 1k gp gem but you can use wish to replicate planar binding at 8 th level to not need the gem and get the creature bound in service for 180 days without concentration needed. Now remember that you can do this every day...
Hello army.
Currently my conjuror has a Frost Salamander bound for a little under a year and a Shoosuva bound for another 177 days. He would have more but having too many gets cumbersome.
This is the third time I will say that he is a War Wizard
Then there's nothing we can do to help, you've got your build and there's nothing else.
But, if you do want more tanky/maintain-concentration-better then you need to consider different subclasses which are better at this.
For feats and such you've already chosen everything so there's nothing left to suggest.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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.
I missed the war wizard part - thought it was just flavour text on your part.
There aren't really any must have concentration spells at lower levels. I still fall back on avoidance rather than just taking hits. Just be careful with your reactions. Your main ability uses a reaction, shield (if you decide to use it) takes reaction and so does absorb elements. Won't be using them all for the same attack (most likely) but may well be wanting to use them all in the same round. Mirror image is an action with 1 min duration and no concentration.
OK, I'm going to admit to being completely confused by what you want.
You give us a build of stats and background with feats and ASIs to Level 20, which we only see in "build" discussions, since it has absolutely zero relevance to spell choices.
You name the character Tanky but dont want a tank.
You don't want the character to tank damage, but want a wizard that is more stalwart about keeping buff spells active - which is only done by being able to tank damage.
You ask for "spells" but if you don't want damage-tanking spells that leaves absolutely nothing to suggest. Because the only spells that can help with concentration are spells designed to keep you safe from damage - i.e. tanking damage.
Tanking is being able to take / mitigate / avoid damage to stay in the fight, providing damage to enemies or aid to allies. This can be spells to increase AC, give bonuses/advantage to saving throws, grant temp HP, reduce chance to hit you, etc etc. But these will be about making a tanky wizard, which you don't want. You don't want a wizard who can tank damage but want to maintain concentration which, aside from the tanky spells, cannot be done by spells.
So, since spells don't seem to actually be what you're after (maintaining concentration but not be able to take/mitigate damage) the only thing is "build", which your first post, which posts a build plan, seems to invite suggestions for - but you've chosen everything that's relevant already. That leaves suggestions about different choices, oh but you don't want those.
You post a build, but don't want build suggestions. You want spells for helping concentration but don't want the defensive/tanky spells that actually do that.
Can you clarify, please, what it is you actually want because your posts are coming across like "I want to drink warm water, but it cannot be liquid".
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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.
I missed the war wizard part - thought it was just flavour text on your part.
There aren't really any must have concentration spells at lower levels. I still fall back on avoidance rather than just taking hits. Just be careful with your reactions. Your main ability uses a reaction, shield (if you decide to use it) takes reaction and so does absorb elements. Won't be using them all for the same attack (most likely) but may well be wanting to use them all in the same round. Mirror image is an action with 1 min duration and no concentration.
Good luck with whatever you decide.
Thank you for actually reading my posts, your suggestions have been great. I apologize for being snippy with you earlier. I just get triggered by people not reading what I write. Your cool though.
I'm sorry, where did I say I didn't want the spells you suggested? I was simply clarifying the things you missed in my original post
You stated you don't want a front line damage sponge.
You also said nevermind about absorb elements, which for purposes of being better at maintaining concentration is the second-best spell in D&D 5th Edition.
--
So let's restart, you want a damage-sponging spells, so let's discuss making a defensive wizard via spells.
Absorb Elements - This spell is great for reducing damage and maintaining concentration and is 2nd best. Let's say a red dragon breathed fire worth 80 fire damage. You can use reaction to immediately reduce this to 40, and if you succeed the dex save this becomes 20 damage. Concentration Check DC is half dmage or 10 whichever is greater, so if you succeed the DC is 10, and if you failed the dex save it's DC 20 which is still doable. If you had not used Absorb elements you'd get DC 20 even if you saved and then DC 40 if you failed that dex save!
Charm Person - Charmed targets cannot attack you. As long as you and your friends do not harm the target, this target will not attack you.
Color Spray - Blind enemies so you can get away - blind enemies cannot take opportunity attacks.
These are just some 1st levels.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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.
Rockney Stonegranite AKA Tanky
Mountain Dwarf War Wizard
Entertainer background: Gladiator veriant
Rockney has just graduated from wizard, where he attended on a full ride athletic scholarship as a not-quidditch player. His team was full of races similar to him; meaning non-traditional wizard races- from a metagame aspect. Not-quidditch is one of the main ways for these races to get into wizard school. Rockney's team had, half-orcs, goliaths, and dwarves, along with the usual elves, gnomes, and humans. Now he is looking for fame and fortune as an adventurer and professional not-quidditch player.
STR 11
DEX 10
CON 17
INT 15
WIS 10
CHA 10
Level four: Resilience CON
Level eight: STR +1, INT +1
Level twelve: War Caster
Level sixteen: CON +2
Level nineteen: INT +2
The thing I am stumped on now is which spells I want to use. Most of my characters have been pure squishers until now. If I know I can hold a spell, what are the best spells to use?
What system did you use for stats?
Really need more information - do you really want to be a tank or are you just looking for a beefy wizard?
What subclass were you thinking?
Spells I would be looking at are Mage Armor and Shield (definitely). Rituals are good to free up slots - still learn them, but don't need to remember them. Your damage is going to be the issues (slightly). Go a ranged cantrip (firebolt, toll the dead etc) and you are good to go. If you want to be front line look into personal buffing spells (mirror image, haste, stoneskin etc).
But really this is all conjecture. How do you envision this PC fitting into a party?
I wanted a character that if he cast Haste, it's not going anywhere. That's what I mean by a tanky Wizard. I don't think I want him to be a front line damage sponge. I just want his support to be stalwart. He is a war wizard. One spell I saw just now absorb elements looks interesting
Nvm on ae
Abjurist will help you take some damage without having to roll concentration checks if the ward absorbs all the damage.
If you go Conjuration, you could, instead of Hasting allies, just create allies by conjuring them - bunch of explosive mephits, or large elementals. Conjurors cannot lose concentration as a result of taking damage.
If you do go conjuror get Planar Binding, Magic Circle and Wish. You can make a Magic Circle, summon being in it, then use planar binding: it takes a 1k gp gem but you can use wish to replicate planar binding at 8 th level to not need the gem and get the creature bound in service for 180 days without concentration needed. Now remember that you can do this every day...
Hello army.
Currently my conjuror has a Frost Salamander bound for a little under a year and a Shoosuva bound for another 177 days. He would have more but having too many gets cumbersome.
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.
This is the third time I will say that he is a War Wizard
Then there's nothing we can do to help, you've got your build and there's nothing else.
But, if you do want more tanky/maintain-concentration-better then you need to consider different subclasses which are better at this.
For feats and such you've already chosen everything so there's nothing left to suggest.
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.
I asked about spells, not suggestions in the build.
I missed the war wizard part - thought it was just flavour text on your part.
There aren't really any must have concentration spells at lower levels. I still fall back on avoidance rather than just taking hits. Just be careful with your reactions. Your main ability uses a reaction, shield (if you decide to use it) takes reaction and so does absorb elements. Won't be using them all for the same attack (most likely) but may well be wanting to use them all in the same round. Mirror image is an action with 1 min duration and no concentration.
Good luck with whatever you decide.
OK, I'm going to admit to being completely confused by what you want.
You give us a build of stats and background with feats and ASIs to Level 20, which we only see in "build" discussions, since it has absolutely zero relevance to spell choices.
You name the character Tanky but dont want a tank.
You don't want the character to tank damage, but want a wizard that is more stalwart about keeping buff spells active - which is only done by being able to tank damage.
You ask for "spells" but if you don't want damage-tanking spells that leaves absolutely nothing to suggest. Because the only spells that can help with concentration are spells designed to keep you safe from damage - i.e. tanking damage.
Tanking is being able to take / mitigate / avoid damage to stay in the fight, providing damage to enemies or aid to allies. This can be spells to increase AC, give bonuses/advantage to saving throws, grant temp HP, reduce chance to hit you, etc etc. But these will be about making a tanky wizard, which you don't want. You don't want a wizard who can tank damage but want to maintain concentration which, aside from the tanky spells, cannot be done by spells.
So, since spells don't seem to actually be what you're after (maintaining concentration but not be able to take/mitigate damage) the only thing is "build", which your first post, which posts a build plan, seems to invite suggestions for - but you've chosen everything that's relevant already. That leaves suggestions about different choices, oh but you don't want those.
You post a build, but don't want build suggestions.
You want spells for helping concentration but don't want the defensive/tanky spells that actually do that.
Can you clarify, please, what it is you actually want because your posts are coming across like "I want to drink warm water, but it cannot be liquid".
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.
I'm sorry, where did I say I didn't want the spells you suggested? I was simply clarifying the things you missed in my original post
Thank you for actually reading my posts, your suggestions have been great. I apologize for being snippy with you earlier. I just get triggered by people not reading what I write. Your cool though.
You stated you don't want a front line damage sponge.
You also said nevermind about absorb elements, which for purposes of being better at maintaining concentration is the second-best spell in D&D 5th Edition.
--
So let's restart, you want a damage-sponging spells, so let's discuss making a defensive wizard via spells.
Absorb Elements - This spell is great for reducing damage and maintaining concentration and is 2nd best. Let's say a red dragon breathed fire worth 80 fire damage. You can use reaction to immediately reduce this to 40, and if you succeed the dex save this becomes 20 damage. Concentration Check DC is half dmage or 10 whichever is greater, so if you succeed the DC is 10, and if you failed the dex save it's DC 20 which is still doable. If you had not used Absorb elements you'd get DC 20 even if you saved and then DC 40 if you failed that dex save!
Mage Armor and Shield - Higher AC - obvious.
Charm Person - Charmed targets cannot attack you. As long as you and your friends do not harm the target, this target will not attack you.
Color Spray - Blind enemies so you can get away - blind enemies cannot take opportunity attacks.
These are just some 1st levels.
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.
Those are all great suggestions, I'm sorry about getting crunchy earlier. I think I'm developing a pet peeve.
I had discounted Absorb Elements at first because of the second effect. That was a mistake.