So i have a level 5 necromancy wizard about to be level 6 and i love to think ahead on possible build ideas. My inquire is about my next possibility to get a Feat or an ASI at level 8. First let me give a bit of background and thinking/reasoning.

My character sees necromancy as using evil magic to destroy other evil. He tends to see it more as a means to fight his enemy then simply trying to be a evil lich...think of Hell boy or Spawn or someone that uses evil power but for killing bad guys. The briefest of backs stories is about seeking out their revenge while avoiding being found first (i know i know revenge backstory). I AM going to be summing undead but i don't see it as a "have to have" kind of thing. Again keeping it brief but i have a tragic backstory where i meet a lady who i fall in love with and she begins to mend my twisted heart. This greatly affects my character. The enemy are devils that killed my friends and my wife who was a candidate to become an angel, hence why the devils found and killed her. I got permission from my DM to have Spare the Dying as a cantrip  because it strongly ties into my characters backstory plus at the time we had no healing/cleric. However to help balance the party out one of the players then decided to pick a Paladin so now we technically have some healing. (we have a Rouge, Barbarian, Paladin, and me as the Wizard). The Barbarian and Paladin are dating in real life and have decided their characters where seeing each other in the game as well as lovers. This is an important development for my character because i lost the love of my life and all my friends. My character is shady with an Evil book and necromancy tendencies (with the Paladin is rolling playing well against) but holds love very dear to his heart after losing his. My character is now motivated to help protect these two lovers even at the cost of his own life (though they don't know that). So my Character is motivated to get better as a wizard to have his revenge while hiding, but is now intruded to a new party where two of them are deeply in love and have almost gone down a few times..... which added another level of complexity to my characters development/goals. There is more backstory but again trying to keep it brief enough so you get the gist of the direction and a few hooks.

We are currently fighting the cult of the dragon and have had some interactions with some dragons. We know they are messing with necromancy and their ultimate goal is to make an undead dragon. We have seen an adult blue dragon and black dragon eggs along with talks of an evil black dragon. We are heavy themed with dragons.

First off an Ability score improvement is always great. For flavor i actually like that i have such low strength and a higher charisma. Of course it makes it a bit weird but i enjoy a bit of weirdness, though at the same time it CAN suck having a low stat at times lol.... Flavor vs actually getting the job done.

So here is were i would love some other peoples thoughts to add to my own. I was wondering if i should take a Feat or an ASI at level 8. The possible feats I'm considering are Spell Sniper so i can have the range mostly (we haven't been using cover in our game). I like the idea of being able to pick enemies off at range or if they try to run. Plus we are rather melee focused.

However i have also considered about the feat, Gift of the Metallic Dragon (intelligence). The reasoning behind this is mostly flavor but also could help with another party member having some healing in case our Paladin goes down or can't get to them. Something about getting a gift from a good dragon while we are fighting evil dragon and cults seems right. Also i opens up the wizard to his one weak area (healing). ALSO for flavor i would probably have those wings be tied into my deceased wife. something like i can see her smiling or its HER wings that come out to protect me or my friends. It sucks that i have to be in 5 ft of someone but there have already been times where that has happened as we have been ambushed and I'm hiding behind the Barb. It could also help if my wizard breaks character (as a standard wizard that hides in the back) to rush up to a fallen friend to case cure or spare the dying and needs that boost of protect since they are now in the thick of it. All in all I see it could be cool flavor wise and i know if it make sense for your character then grab it but i would still like some outside thoughts to add to my own and just feel "which way the wind is blowing".

I have looked at some other Feats for wizards but they just haven't been talking to me. Sure they are great but just....didn't speak to me.

I would really like to see the thoughts on Gift of the Metallic Dragon but also an another option.

For this run I'm thinking of staying straight wizard BUT..... I'm not competently opposed to multi-classing. As strange and counter to my previous thoughts as it is i could only see my character either going for 3 levels in either Warlock or Artificer. My question here would be around Artificer. I could get cure wounds which fits in with getting something to help the party but, man those wings (not that mechanically great) add some juice flavor that this spell just lacks. It also works for my Int build and it could make me more tanky. I could see myself spinning it in with my necromancy. Some wizard who is bring creations alive whether they be flesh or iron. Again this is another option but just wanting to have other weigh in and see what you all think. I love DnD and could see myself going all sorts of ways but for some reason felt like asking the community their thoughts on this one.

I will give my stats below but i have a evil rare/wondrous items book that is altering my stats so if they seem weird that is why. My current (level 5) stats are

Im a Tiefling

AC is 11

Hp is 37

Profficiencies in Arcana and Investigation

Strength 6 (-2)

Dexterity 10 (0)

Constitution 16 (+3)

Intelligence 20 (+5)

Wisdom 10 (0)

Charisma 14 (+2)

The book is Book of Vile Darkness and in our campaign it generally does the following (i have a pretty easy going DM so not sure stringent he will be with some of the fine print but so far it hasn't been an issue)

My evil book stats are ALREADY included in my stats above. My evil book gave me some negative and some positives. it altered my stats by increasing two stats of my choice by +2 each. I picked Intelligence and Constitution. However it decreased two stats of my choice by -2. I picked Strength and Wisdom. It also lets me add my proficiency bonus to checks about evil information along with the ability to touch someone who isn't evil aligned and is compelled to tell the truth. However they will not necessarily tell me what i want to know, they simply start spilling their dark secrets (which could be meaningless to me or super valuable up to the DM) and once i'm not touching them they will know what happened.

The spells i got from it are (don't use spell slots)

Dominate monster on a evil monster (once per long rest)

Dark speech (i take psychic damage 1d12 and other non-evil around me take 3d6 within 15 feet)

False life ( once per long rest)

It also increased my AC by 1

Once i'm level 6 i will grab Animate dead for free per my sublass. I will then learn Bestow Curse and either Dispel magic or Fly.  As a wizard its important to see what spells i have in my spell book. So my list so far is as follows.

Cantrips

Chill Touch

Mage hand

Spare the Dying

Toll the Dead

Thaumaturgy

1st level spells

Cause Fear

Chromatic Orb

Comprehend Languages

Detect Magic

Disguise Self

Feather Fall

Identify

Magic Missile

Ray of Sickness

Shield

Witch Bolt

2nd level spells

Mirror Image

Misty step

Suggestion

Tasha's Mind whip

Web

3rd level spells

Counterspell

Fireball

Racial spells/traits/features

Arcane Recover (of course)

Grim Harvest

Darkvision

Hellish Resistance (fire resistance)

Thaumaturgy

Hellish Rebuke spell / once per long rest

Darkness spell /once per long rest

Some 4th level spells I'm considering about getting once I'm there, that also fit my character and what i think is just cool would be Banishment (against those devils) and Blight for my Necromancy tendency. I really don't want polymorph, yea its good but i want something else. I have other ideas like Evards Black Tentacles or maybe dimension door but you get the idea.

Our Dm is pretty lax but he still will throw in some punches.....that made some close calls lol. I'm not going to write about his style but i hope that little bit enlightens anything for you. Anyways thank you for reading this far and i hope that gave you enough info and then some (plus fun to share). I would love some of your thoughts (non-toxic of course).

He sounds like a great character. Are you playing Tyranny of Dragons?

I would take an ASI in Charisma.

Btw the Book of Vile Darkness can do all kinds of weird negative stuff to you if you’re not careful.

I believe we are playing Tyranny of Dragons but haven't gotten the confirmation from the DM. However i don't want to research it and ruin any surprises. Thank you btw for the complement. Yea i was reading up on the book and it definitely has some finer details. Could i possibly get you to expand on why an ASI in Charisma. Just curious. Thanks.

You mentioned that you liked your character having a high Charisma. Your Charisma isn’t as high as it could be, while your Intelligence is. And I think in general an ASI is more broadly useful than a Feat.