So I’m very new to the game(about 7 sessions in total) and I chose a wizard as my first character as I thought the group could use a controller character. anyways, I am trying to make my wizard the status effect inflicting king but I’m having trouble, he is a lvl 8 high elf, with 18 intelligence. I thought at this level I’d take the fear magic initiate to give him the first level spell from the warlock list Hex. however, I found out that hex along with almost all status affecting spells are both concentration spells. I am struggling to find a way to make my character’s status effects hit, even with a saving throw difficulty of 15. Any advice on how to build a better status Inflicting/controller wizard l would be greatly appreciated.
Level 1 Find Familiar so you can use your familiar to deliver touch attacks.
Level 3 Blink can help keep you safe if you go in to deliver touch attacks yourself as it gives you 50/50 chance to blink into the ethereal plane safe from harm at the end of your turns until the start of your turn. It's a gamble but if you get decent rolls the enemy cannot target you, especially when distracted by your party. 1 minute duration and no concentration required.
Level 1 Mirror Image is also a decent defensive spell to get you close and give you a nice chance of not getting hit. 1 minute duration and no concentration required.
And the reason I'm mentioning touch attacks?
Level 4 Bestow Curse targets wisdom and at level 8 you will have 2 chances. It's 1 minute and requires concentration but during that time you can impose disadvantage on a saving throw of your choice or you can force it to make wisdom saves at start of it's turn to avoid wasting the turn doing nothing - keeping them locked out. Works on any creature too. It would be best if an ally had this targeting disadvantage to saving throws and you can use spells requiring the same saves to greatly increase your chance of succeeding.
However, truthfully, you don't have any non-concentration spells that would impose disadvantages on saving throws.
If you have a bard or cleric with Bane or if you had taken Magic Initiate: Cleric instead of Warlock you could use this 1st level spell but really it is best for an ally to use it. For the duration of 1 minute, yes it's concentration, whenever the target makes a saving throw it must roll 1d4 and subtract this from their roll. When you have somebody using this in the party it will really help with your ability as a controller role.
Only other advice is choose spells that target saving throws the enemy is less likely to have good resistances to. Try to spread out your spells so if one day you face big hulking slows things you can target its Dex saves since, being big and slow, it probably has low Dex (but high Str). Facing a spellcaster? They probably have low Str so a nice Maximilian’s Earthen Grasp can work beautifully. Very few enemies, particularly monsters, have much in the way of a Charisma so try Banishment so you can focus on the other enemies or make preparations for it.
A controller by themselves is not that effective - to be truly effective requires teamwork with a party who can support and assist you.
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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.
This has been actually amazingly helpful. I never even thought about giving him bestow curse with that I could use it at a 5th level and no longer requiring concentration that would make a great substitute for hex and the familiar idea is also great. You don’t know it but you just saved 3 weeks of planning that went down the drain by realizing hex was concentration. thank you
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So I’m very new to the game(about 7 sessions in total) and I chose a wizard as my first character as I thought the group could use a controller character. anyways, I am trying to make my wizard the status effect inflicting king but I’m having trouble, he is a lvl 8 high elf, with 18 intelligence. I thought at this level I’d take the fear magic initiate to give him the first level spell from the warlock list Hex. however, I found out that hex along with almost all status affecting spells are both concentration spells. I am struggling to find a way to make my character’s status effects hit, even with a saving throw difficulty of 15. Any advice on how to build a better status Inflicting/controller wizard l would be greatly appreciated.
Level 1 Find Familiar so you can use your familiar to deliver touch attacks.
Level 3 Blink can help keep you safe if you go in to deliver touch attacks yourself as it gives you 50/50 chance to blink into the ethereal plane safe from harm at the end of your turns until the start of your turn. It's a gamble but if you get decent rolls the enemy cannot target you, especially when distracted by your party. 1 minute duration and no concentration required.
Level 1 Mirror Image is also a decent defensive spell to get you close and give you a nice chance of not getting hit. 1 minute duration and no concentration required.
And the reason I'm mentioning touch attacks?
Level 4 Bestow Curse targets wisdom and at level 8 you will have 2 chances. It's 1 minute and requires concentration but during that time you can impose disadvantage on a saving throw of your choice or you can force it to make wisdom saves at start of it's turn to avoid wasting the turn doing nothing - keeping them locked out. Works on any creature too. It would be best if an ally had this targeting disadvantage to saving throws and you can use spells requiring the same saves to greatly increase your chance of succeeding.
However, truthfully, you don't have any non-concentration spells that would impose disadvantages on saving throws.
If you have a bard or cleric with Bane or if you had taken Magic Initiate: Cleric instead of Warlock you could use this 1st level spell but really it is best for an ally to use it. For the duration of 1 minute, yes it's concentration, whenever the target makes a saving throw it must roll 1d4 and subtract this from their roll. When you have somebody using this in the party it will really help with your ability as a controller role.
Only other advice is choose spells that target saving throws the enemy is less likely to have good resistances to. Try to spread out your spells so if one day you face big hulking slows things you can target its Dex saves since, being big and slow, it probably has low Dex (but high Str). Facing a spellcaster? They probably have low Str so a nice Maximilian’s Earthen Grasp can work beautifully. Very few enemies, particularly monsters, have much in the way of a Charisma so try Banishment so you can focus on the other enemies or make preparations for it.
A controller by themselves is not that effective - to be truly effective requires teamwork with a party who can support and assist you.
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 has been actually amazingly helpful. I never even thought about giving him bestow curse with that I could use it at a 5th level and no longer requiring concentration that would make a great substitute for hex and the familiar idea is also great. You don’t know it but you just saved 3 weeks of planning that went down the drain by realizing hex was concentration. thank you