The more I read about how to round out a wizard and make them less frail the more I like the cleric. Looking at the cleric it's a very easy dip. It only takes 13 wis to get out of (multiclass requirement) and it adds multiple spells from a different spell list and gives you a few extra cantrips. Looking at what get's lost it doesn't really seem that bad aside from having to wait for 1 more level to get a new 'level' of spell slot. I'm making a wizard and am largely tempted to start as a cleric for the medium armor/shield proficiency? Even if your ability scores aren't great you don't need a strength score to use medium armor which makes it accessible. So at level 2 you can be a wizard with 17 AC or so.
What are the downsides of this? I can't really think of any besides a 1 level delay for spell slots/spells for the wizard main drive. Thoughts, wizards?
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Artificer has better synergy. You get the same armor proficiency and access to cure wounds, it also shares your main spellcasting stat.. Also a single level dip lets you remain a full caster.
Artificer has better synergy. You get the same armor proficiency and access to cure wounds, it also shares your main spellcasting stat.. Also a single level dip lets you remain a full caster.
I never looked at artificer and I'm actually kind've upset at how strong this class is. Like legitimately displeased at how good it is. It's a wizard with medium armor and shields. like what is life.
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I like the idea of taking 2 levels in warlock hexblade. you get medium armor (most wizards would have 14 dex anyway), shield, 2 spell slots back on short rest on top of half your level. You'll still get your 9th level spell if you do play that high and you also get 2 invocations. Seeing in magical darkness with and always having 8 extra HP can be pretty useful.
Artificer has better synergy. You get the same armor proficiency and access to cure wounds, it also shares your main spellcasting stat.. Also a single level dip lets you remain a full caster.
okay so after reading some more i realized that you can't do all 3
hold an arcane focus
hold an artisans tool
hold a shield
for this reason, it seems like artificer doesn't go well with wizard unless you are willing to forgo the shield or just simply not cast any of the spells you got from artificer while holding the shield. It's not like with cleric where your holy symbol or emblem can be attached to your shield and you can still use the shield as the somatic & material component to your spell.
For this reason, the artificer is I think a lower tier choice than the cleric.
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Artificer has better synergy. You get the same armor proficiency and access to cure wounds, it also shares your main spellcasting stat.. Also a single level dip lets you remain a full caster.
okay so after reading some more i realized that you can't do all 3
hold an arcane focus
hold an artisans tool
hold a shield
for this reason, it seems like artificer doesn't go well with wizard unless you are willing to forgo the shield or just simply not cast any of the spells you got from artificer while holding the shield. It's not like with cleric where your holy symbol or emblem can be attached to your shield and you can still use the shield as the somatic & material component to your spell.
For this reason, the artificer is I think a lower tier choice than the cleric.
Warforged integrated tools solves this problem. But a knowledge cleric works pretty well with wizard.
A warforged has a tool integrated into its construction. For example a warforged with an integrated smiths tools would be able to mold his fist into a hammer, meeting the requirement of holding a set of artisans tools.
A warforged has a tool integrated into its construction. For example a warforged with an integrated smiths tools would be able to mold his fist into a hammer, meeting the requirement of holding a set of artisans tools.
oh, so it's the race war forged. That makes sense. That would work. I'm personally committed to playing a human for my wizard.
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There are a LOT of good Cleric subclasses that combine well with Wizard
Death and Light are very good choices. Forge works at lower levels, and Life is not bad either.
Death Lets you take Toll the Dead for a d12 cantrip useable on 2 people per use. And you can use martial weapons.
Light gives you Faerie Fire, one of the best spells in the game, plus a great reaction for disadvantage. Both abilities retain usefullness even at 20th level.
Forge lets you start the game with +1 heavy armor or +1 weapon. Searing Smite is a great spell for anyone wearing armor and going toe to toe.
Life means you will be a better healer than a full cleric most of the time, and again heavy armor
There are a LOT of good Cleric subclasses that combine well with Wizard
Death and Light are very good choices. Forge works at lower levels, and Life is not bad either.
Death Lets you take Toll the Dead for a d12 cantrip useable on 2 people per use. And you can use martial weapons.
Light gives you Faerie Fire, one of the best spells in the game, plus a great reaction for disadvantage. Both abilities retain usefullness even at 20th level.
Forge lets you start the game with +1 heavy armor or +1 weapon. Searing Smite is a great spell for anyone wearing armor and going toe to toe.
Life means you will be a better healer than a full cleric most of the time, and again heavy armor
Life - amazing, love the heavy armor and healing option
Light - faerie fire is probably the only reason why I feel like it's good
Knowledge - this is easily the best thematic fit for a wizard and has the easiest transition from a storytelling perspective.
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The more I read about how to round out a wizard and make them less frail the more I like the cleric. Looking at the cleric it's a very easy dip. It only takes 13 wis to get out of (multiclass requirement) and it adds multiple spells from a different spell list and gives you a few extra cantrips. Looking at what get's lost it doesn't really seem that bad aside from having to wait for 1 more level to get a new 'level' of spell slot. I'm making a wizard and am largely tempted to start as a cleric for the medium armor/shield proficiency? Even if your ability scores aren't great you don't need a strength score to use medium armor which makes it accessible. So at level 2 you can be a wizard with 17 AC or so.
What are the downsides of this? I can't really think of any besides a 1 level delay for spell slots/spells for the wizard main drive. Thoughts, wizards?
Mage Armor will work just fine. If you have 14 or 15 Dexterity, it will give you 15 AC. 15 AC is fine for a ranged player. Especially because you can cast Shield and give yourself a +5 boost to AC. Once you get up to level 5 and your cantrips improve, your first level spell slots will mostly be for just casting Mage Armor and Shield.
Putting a 13 in Wisdom will make it a bit harder to put your top score in Intelligence and still have good Dexterity and Constitution scores. This is probably the biggest downside of your idea - having to take one of your best stats and put it in Wisdom.
As for carrying a shield, you will need to get the war caster feat if you want to carry a shield and be able to cast the spells that have both a somatic and material component. It's a great feat to have, and as a human, you'll be able to have that feat at level 1. But keep in mind that you're locking yourself into that feat if your idea is to be a Wizard carrying around a shield.
The more I read about how to round out a wizard and make them less frail the more I like the cleric. Looking at the cleric it's a very easy dip. It only takes 13 wis to get out of (multiclass requirement) and it adds multiple spells from a different spell list and gives you a few extra cantrips. Looking at what get's lost it doesn't really seem that bad aside from having to wait for 1 more level to get a new 'level' of spell slot. I'm making a wizard and am largely tempted to start as a cleric for the medium armor/shield proficiency? Even if your ability scores aren't great you don't need a strength score to use medium armor which makes it accessible. So at level 2 you can be a wizard with 17 AC or so.
What are the downsides of this? I can't really think of any besides a 1 level delay for spell slots/spells for the wizard main drive. Thoughts, wizards?
Mage Armor will work just fine. If you have 14 or 15 Dexterity, it will give you 15 AC. 15 AC is fine for a ranged player. Especially because you can cast Shield and give yourself a +5 boost to AC. Once you get up to level 5 and your cantrips improve, your first level spell slots will mostly be for just casting Mage Armor and Shield.
Putting a 13 in Wisdom will make it a bit harder to put your top score in Intelligence and still have good Dexterity and Constitution scores. This is probably the biggest downside of your idea - having to take one of your best stats and put it in Wisdom.
As for carrying a shield, you will need to get the war caster feat if you want to carry a shield and be able to cast the spells that have both a somatic and material component. It's a great feat to have, and as a human, you'll be able to have that feat at level 1. But keep in mind that you're locking yourself into that feat if your idea is to be a Wizard carrying around a shield.
This is probably the bust summation I've read so far. Attribute distribution is also why artificer is still better IMHO if you're going to go this route.
The more I read about how to round out a wizard and make them less frail the more I like the cleric. Looking at the cleric it's a very easy dip. It only takes 13 wis to get out of (multiclass requirement) and it adds multiple spells from a different spell list and gives you a few extra cantrips. Looking at what get's lost it doesn't really seem that bad aside from having to wait for 1 more level to get a new 'level' of spell slot. I'm making a wizard and am largely tempted to start as a cleric for the medium armor/shield proficiency? Even if your ability scores aren't great you don't need a strength score to use medium armor which makes it accessible. So at level 2 you can be a wizard with 17 AC or so.
What are the downsides of this? I can't really think of any besides a 1 level delay for spell slots/spells for the wizard main drive. Thoughts, wizards?
Mage Armor will work just fine. If you have 14 or 15 Dexterity, it will give you 15 AC. 15 AC is fine for a ranged player. Especially because you can cast Shield and give yourself a +5 boost to AC. Once you get up to level 5 and your cantrips improve, your first level spell slots will mostly be for just casting Mage Armor and Shield.
Putting a 13 in Wisdom will make it a bit harder to put your top score in Intelligence and still have good Dexterity and Constitution scores. This is probably the biggest downside of your idea - having to take one of your best stats and put it in Wisdom.
As for carrying a shield, you will need to get the war caster feat if you want to carry a shield and be able to cast the spells that have both a somatic and material component. It's a great feat to have, and as a human, you'll be able to have that feat at level 1. But keep in mind that you're locking yourself into that feat if your idea is to be a Wizard carrying around a shield.
I'm pretty sure that you can do somatic+material in the same hand as in this stack exchange question that references 2017 errata.
So carrying a shield in one hand is fine because you can somatic+material because your holy symbol is on your shield. and you can use your arcane focus+somatic in your other hand for the same reason.
Here jeremy crawford says shields with holy symbols on them can be used to cast spells. so that's somatic+material.
"Spellcasting Material (M) (p. 203). The final paragraph now reads as follows: “A spellcaster must have a hand free to access a spell’s material components—or to hold a spellcasting focus—but it can be the same hand that he or she uses to perform somatic components.”https://media.wizards.com/2017/dnd/downloads/PH-Errata.pdf
The artificer can't do this unless you're warforged I think. and 13 isn't a big ask for an ability score. so you'll be proficient with shields but can't use one since you need artisan(artificer focus) and arcane focus(wizard). Cleric doesn't have this problem. Mage armor can yield 16 AC, yes that's true.
But the things I like about armor is this
Armor can't be dispelled
medium armor also benefits from dex, so you can choose either.
It's not worth it from a mechanics standpoint. If you want to RP it, then go for it. But if you're looking to be more powerful, this is not a good way to go.
If you really want medium armor, just make a mountain dwarf wizard. You'd be way better off doing that. Your starting intelligence will be lower but it's a much more mechanically sound way to go. Either that or make a Bladesinger. They get light armor and some other good defensive abilities. You'd also get second attack so if you're looking to fulfill that melee wizard fantasy, this is a great way to go. Shadow Blade is fantastic spell for a bladesinger.
Also, I am almost positive you can't use a cleric holy symbol as your wizard spell casting focus. It would be pretty silly. Meaning you couldn't use a shield and weapon while also casting your wizard spells without the warcaster feat.
It's not worth it from a mechanics standpoint. If you want to RP it, then go for it. But if you're looking to be more powerful, this is not a good way to go.
If you really want medium armor, just make a mountain dwarf wizard. You'd be way better off doing that. Your starting intelligence will be lower but it's a much more mechanically sound way to go. Either that or make a Bladesinger. They get light armor and some other good defensive abilities. You'd also get second attack so if you're looking to fulfill that melee wizard fantasy, this is a great way to go. Shadow Blade is fantastic spell for a bladesinger.
Also, I am almost positive you can't use a cleric holy symbol as your wizard spell casting focus. It would be pretty silly. Meaning you couldn't use a shield and weapon while also casting your wizard spells without the warcaster feat.
I think you got my post mixed up.
Please explain why it's not worth it. because saying it's not worth it isn't compelling or interesting. why isn't it worth it. what makes it not worth it?
Secondly, I didn't suggest that a wizard could use a shield as a spellcasting focus. a cleric can use a shield with a holy symbol as a spellcasting focus and a wizard can use an arcane focus in the other hand as a spellcasting focus. There's nothing inconsistent about this.
To be painfully clear
Clerics can use their shield to cast spells, I literally already gave citations for this with Jeremy Crawford who literally designed the game. Because we have a hand free we can put another arcane focus in the other hand.
So
Staff & Shield
Staff = wizard spellcasting focus somatic and material
Shield+ Holy Symbol = a totally legal sage advice verified way to somatic+material cast cleric spells.
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That's interesting, I didn't know that the hand holding the shield is a free hand. I guess my Trickery Cleric could have held a weapon while casting spells even though he didn't have the war caster feat. Hopefully his shield hand doesn't count as a free hand for loading a hand crossbow, that weapon is already overpowered enough.
Your worry about Mage Armor being dispelled is rather odd. Mage Armor is a first level buff spell, and you're worried that an enemy is going to use a third level spell to dispel your first level buff? They could cast Fireball on you and your party, but instead they're going to cast Dispel Magic against your Mage Armor? Or maybe you're worried that it will be dispelled if you run into an enemy with eighth level spell slots that cast Antimagic Field? Your fears about Mage Armor being dispelled are misplaced.
I guess you rolled really well, because a 13 is a big ask for an ability score. But if it's your fourth best score, and you can still have your Intelligence, Constitution, and Dexterity that high as well as having your Wisdom that high, then go ahead. Wisdom is a better stat for Wizards than Strength or Charisma. I've rolled for stats five times, and I've never had four 13s. My fourth best score has been a 11, 11, 12, 10, and 11. Mathematically, it should happen about 1/3rd of the time, though, so I have gotten a bit unlucky I guess.
That's interesting, I didn't know that the hand holding the shield is a free hand. I guess my Trickery Cleric could have held a weapon while casting spells even though he didn't have the war caster feat. Hopefully his shield hand doesn't count as a free hand for loading a hand crossbow, that weapon is already overpowered enough.
Your worry about Mage Armor being dispelled is rather odd. Mage Armor is a first level buff spell, and you're worried that an enemy is going to use a third level spell to dispel your first level buff? They could cast Fireball on you and your party, but instead they're going to cast Dispel Magic against your Mage Armor? Or maybe you're worried that it will be dispelled if you run into an enemy with eighth level spell slots that cast Antimagic Field? Your fears about Mage Armor being dispelled are misplaced.
I guess you rolled really well, because a 13 is a big ask for an ability score. But if it's your fourth best score, and you can still have your Intelligence, Constitution, and Dexterity that high as well as having your Wisdom that high, then go ahead. Wisdom is a better stat for Wizards than Strength or Charisma. I've rolled for stats five times, and I've never had four 13s. My fourth best score has been a 11, 11, 12, 10, and 11. Mathematically, it should happen about 1/3rd of the time, though, so I have gotten a bit unlucky I guess.
I think we may have a misunderstanding.
I never said I was 'afraid' that mage armor would be dispelled. and I don't understand why you're harping on this so hard.
Not using a spell slot > using a spell slot
permanent > limited duration
Things that can be +1/2/3 > things that can't be +1/+2/+3
Another awesome thing about wearing real armor is, if you suddenly realize you dont want to wear it, you can just take it off and use mage armor.
Free 17 AC(Medium armor + shield) > 13 AC + Dex you may or may not have
as far as 13 being a high score, if you roll an array with 4d6 drop lowest which is incredibly common for rolling, you have roughly a 48% of getting a 13 or higher. to me that says everyone probably has 3 >13 scores. Regardless, even if I didn't Dex becomes less valuable as an ability when you have medium armor and a shield. With medium armor and a shield (mundane) you can have 17 AC. to do this with mage armor you need an 18 in dexterity. That's statistically super unlikely for you to have a 2nd or 3rd highest roll be an 18. (INT -> CON -> DEX) So I think my math for AC holds up pretty well.
And yes, you absolutely can use a shield with a holy symbol as an arcane focus and somatic component. The hand isn't free, it's holding a shield so I don't follow what you're saying.
"Spellcasting Material (M) (p. 203). The final paragraph now reads as follows: “A spellcaster must have a hand free to access a spell’s material components—or to hold a spellcasting focus—but it can be the same hand that he or she uses to perform somatic components.”https://media.wizards.com/2017/dnd/downloads/PH-Errata.pdf
I think if you reread this a few times you'll understand that it states that you can use your hand for somatic and material at the same time, which is why a shield with a holy symbol completely works. I got the distinct impression from the comment about the crossbow that you might be trolling and if you are- please stop I don't want anything to do with it.
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The more I read about how to round out a wizard and make them less frail the more I like the cleric. Looking at the cleric it's a very easy dip. It only takes 13 wis to get out of (multiclass requirement) and it adds multiple spells from a different spell list and gives you a few extra cantrips. Looking at what get's lost it doesn't really seem that bad aside from having to wait for 1 more level to get a new 'level' of spell slot. I'm making a wizard and am largely tempted to start as a cleric for the medium armor/shield proficiency? Even if your ability scores aren't great you don't need a strength score to use medium armor which makes it accessible. So at level 2 you can be a wizard with 17 AC or so.
What are the downsides of this? I can't really think of any besides a 1 level delay for spell slots/spells for the wizard main drive. Thoughts, wizards?
It doesn't matter how smart you think are you. No one will want to work with you if you're an *******.
Sounds reasonable enough to me!
Artificer has better synergy. You get the same armor proficiency and access to cure wounds, it also shares your main spellcasting stat.. Also a single level dip lets you remain a full caster.
I never looked at artificer and I'm actually kind've upset at how strong this class is. Like legitimately displeased at how good it is. It's a wizard with medium armor and shields. like what is life.
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I like the idea of taking 2 levels in warlock hexblade. you get medium armor (most wizards would have 14 dex anyway), shield, 2 spell slots back on short rest on top of half your level. You'll still get your 9th level spell if you do play that high and you also get 2 invocations. Seeing in magical darkness with and always having 8 extra HP can be pretty useful.
okay so after reading some more i realized that you can't do all 3
for this reason, it seems like artificer doesn't go well with wizard unless you are willing to forgo the shield or just simply not cast any of the spells you got from artificer while holding the shield. It's not like with cleric where your holy symbol or emblem can be attached to your shield and you can still use the shield as the somatic & material component to your spell.
For this reason, the artificer is I think a lower tier choice than the cleric.
It doesn't matter how smart you think are you. No one will want to work with you if you're an *******.
Warforged integrated tools solves this problem. But a knowledge cleric works pretty well with wizard.
What's warforged integrated tools?
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A warforged has a tool integrated into its construction. For example a warforged with an integrated smiths tools would be able to mold his fist into a hammer, meeting the requirement of holding a set of artisans tools.
oh, so it's the race war forged. That makes sense. That would work. I'm personally committed to playing a human for my wizard.
It doesn't matter how smart you think are you. No one will want to work with you if you're an *******.
There are a LOT of good Cleric subclasses that combine well with Wizard
Death and Light are very good choices. Forge works at lower levels, and Life is not bad either.
Death Lets you take Toll the Dead for a d12 cantrip useable on 2 people per use. And you can use martial weapons.
Light gives you Faerie Fire, one of the best spells in the game, plus a great reaction for disadvantage. Both abilities retain usefullness even at 20th level.
Forge lets you start the game with +1 heavy armor or +1 weapon. Searing Smite is a great spell for anyone wearing armor and going toe to toe.
Life means you will be a better healer than a full cleric most of the time, and again heavy armor
Life - amazing, love the heavy armor and healing option
Light - faerie fire is probably the only reason why I feel like it's good
Knowledge - this is easily the best thematic fit for a wizard and has the easiest transition from a storytelling perspective.
It doesn't matter how smart you think are you. No one will want to work with you if you're an *******.
Mage Armor will work just fine. If you have 14 or 15 Dexterity, it will give you 15 AC. 15 AC is fine for a ranged player. Especially because you can cast Shield and give yourself a +5 boost to AC. Once you get up to level 5 and your cantrips improve, your first level spell slots will mostly be for just casting Mage Armor and Shield.
Putting a 13 in Wisdom will make it a bit harder to put your top score in Intelligence and still have good Dexterity and Constitution scores. This is probably the biggest downside of your idea - having to take one of your best stats and put it in Wisdom.
As for carrying a shield, you will need to get the war caster feat if you want to carry a shield and be able to cast the spells that have both a somatic and material component. It's a great feat to have, and as a human, you'll be able to have that feat at level 1. But keep in mind that you're locking yourself into that feat if your idea is to be a Wizard carrying around a shield.
This is probably the bust summation I've read so far. Attribute distribution is also why artificer is still better IMHO if you're going to go this route.
https://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/46201/how-do-foci-and-somaticmaterial-components-interact-when-it-comes-to-occupying
I'm pretty sure that you can do somatic+material in the same hand as in this stack exchange question that references 2017 errata.
So carrying a shield in one hand is fine because you can somatic+material because your holy symbol is on your shield. and you can use your arcane focus+somatic in your other hand for the same reason.
https://www.sageadvice.eu/2015/01/04/holy-symbol-on-shield/
Here jeremy crawford says shields with holy symbols on them can be used to cast spells. so that's somatic+material.
"Spellcasting Material (M) (p. 203). The final paragraph now reads as follows: “A spellcaster must have a hand free to access a spell’s material components—or to hold a spellcasting focus—but it can be the same hand that he or she uses to perform somatic components.”https://media.wizards.com/2017/dnd/downloads/PH-Errata.pdf
The artificer can't do this unless you're warforged I think. and 13 isn't a big ask for an ability score. so you'll be proficient with shields but can't use one since you need artisan(artificer focus) and arcane focus(wizard). Cleric doesn't have this problem.
Mage armor can yield 16 AC, yes that's true.
But the things I like about armor is this
It doesn't matter how smart you think are you. No one will want to work with you if you're an *******.
It's not worth it from a mechanics standpoint. If you want to RP it, then go for it. But if you're looking to be more powerful, this is not a good way to go.
If you really want medium armor, just make a mountain dwarf wizard. You'd be way better off doing that. Your starting intelligence will be lower but it's a much more mechanically sound way to go. Either that or make a Bladesinger. They get light armor and some other good defensive abilities. You'd also get second attack so if you're looking to fulfill that melee wizard fantasy, this is a great way to go. Shadow Blade is fantastic spell for a bladesinger.
Also, I am almost positive you can't use a cleric holy symbol as your wizard spell casting focus. It would be pretty silly. Meaning you couldn't use a shield and weapon while also casting your wizard spells without the warcaster feat.
I think you got my post mixed up.
Please explain why it's not worth it. because saying it's not worth it isn't compelling or interesting. why isn't it worth it. what makes it not worth it?
Secondly, I didn't suggest that a wizard could use a shield as a spellcasting focus. a cleric can use a shield with a holy symbol as a spellcasting focus and a wizard can use an arcane focus in the other hand as a spellcasting focus. There's nothing inconsistent about this.
To be painfully clear
Clerics can use their shield to cast spells, I literally already gave citations for this with Jeremy Crawford who literally designed the game. Because we have a hand free we can put another arcane focus in the other hand.
So
Staff & Shield
Staff = wizard spellcasting focus somatic and material
Shield+ Holy Symbol = a totally legal sage advice verified way to somatic+material cast cleric spells.
It doesn't matter how smart you think are you. No one will want to work with you if you're an *******.
That's interesting, I didn't know that the hand holding the shield is a free hand. I guess my Trickery Cleric could have held a weapon while casting spells even though he didn't have the war caster feat. Hopefully his shield hand doesn't count as a free hand for loading a hand crossbow, that weapon is already overpowered enough.
Your worry about Mage Armor being dispelled is rather odd. Mage Armor is a first level buff spell, and you're worried that an enemy is going to use a third level spell to dispel your first level buff? They could cast Fireball on you and your party, but instead they're going to cast Dispel Magic against your Mage Armor? Or maybe you're worried that it will be dispelled if you run into an enemy with eighth level spell slots that cast Antimagic Field? Your fears about Mage Armor being dispelled are misplaced.
I guess you rolled really well, because a 13 is a big ask for an ability score. But if it's your fourth best score, and you can still have your Intelligence, Constitution, and Dexterity that high as well as having your Wisdom that high, then go ahead. Wisdom is a better stat for Wizards than Strength or Charisma. I've rolled for stats five times, and I've never had four 13s. My fourth best score has been a 11, 11, 12, 10, and 11. Mathematically, it should happen about 1/3rd of the time, though, so I have gotten a bit unlucky I guess.
I think we may have a misunderstanding.
I never said I was 'afraid' that mage armor would be dispelled. and I don't understand why you're harping on this so hard.
Not using a spell slot > using a spell slot
permanent > limited duration
Things that can be +1/2/3 > things that can't be +1/+2/+3
Another awesome thing about wearing real armor is, if you suddenly realize you dont want to wear it, you can just take it off and use mage armor.
Free 17 AC(Medium armor + shield) > 13 AC + Dex you may or may not have
as far as 13 being a high score, if you roll an array with 4d6 drop lowest which is incredibly common for rolling, you have roughly a 48% of getting a 13 or higher. to me that says everyone probably has 3 >13 scores. Regardless, even if I didn't Dex becomes less valuable as an ability when you have medium armor and a shield. With medium armor and a shield (mundane) you can have 17 AC. to do this with mage armor you need an 18 in dexterity. That's statistically super unlikely for you to have a 2nd or 3rd highest roll be an 18. (INT -> CON -> DEX) So I think my math for AC holds up pretty well.
And yes, you absolutely can use a shield with a holy symbol as an arcane focus and somatic component. The hand isn't free, it's holding a shield so I don't follow what you're saying.
"Spellcasting Material (M) (p. 203). The final paragraph now reads as follows: “A spellcaster must have a hand free to access a spell’s material components—or to hold a spellcasting focus—but it can be the same hand that he or she uses to perform somatic components.”https://media.wizards.com/2017/dnd/downloads/PH-Errata.pdf
I think if you reread this a few times you'll understand that it states that you can use your hand for somatic and material at the same time, which is why a shield with a holy symbol completely works. I got the distinct impression from the comment about the crossbow that you might be trolling and if you are- please stop I don't want anything to do with it.
It doesn't matter how smart you think are you. No one will want to work with you if you're an *******.
Free 17 AC, aside from needing 750 gold?
You have just under a 50% chance to roll a 13, so you think that means that everyone got a 13 at least 3 times out of 6? [REDACTED]