Building an Abjuration Wizard Half-Elf with S8 D16 C12 I17 W8 CH14 and Elf Weapon Training with Longbow, whip, scimitar and shortsword

This will be a 1-20 campaign.  This will be a front-line Wizard, but not necessarily a heavy melee character.  I have played a lot of bladesingers, but this is the first time I am trying to do a "durable" wizard as an Abjuration.

I want to pick up Armor of Agathys and am trying to figure the best way to do that.  The idea is cast mage armor to put up my ward, once I get hit recharge it with an upcast Armor of Agathys.

I can either go warlock(1) or Clockwork Sorcerer(4) for this and can advantages of both.

With Warlock I can do it on a 1-level dip and I would probably go Marid Genie as well.  This means I am only 1-level behind on getting high-level spells.

With Sorcerer I would do 4 levels, but I could get most of my abjuraton spells on my sorc spells (AOA, PEG, Mage Armor, Absorb Elements, shield) leaving more wizard spells for offense.  I could also pick up quicken spell which would be nice to use if my AOA got discharged - quicken another AOA, get the temp hps and recharge the ward without losing an action.   I would not lose any spell progression but I would be two levels lower on spells but maybe that is not a big deal since I plan to use high level slots for AOA anyway?  Also my ward would be 6 hpe lower than with the Warlock dip.

 Edit - I talked to my DM about Armor of Shadows and he said I can play it one of two ways - either it is the base level of the spell or it is based on the slot I use but I can't do both.  So if I want AOS to recharge my ward as a "1st level spell" when I use no slot, then AOA will only recharge the ward as a "1st level spell" even if I use a 6th level slot.  Given that I told him I would rather it was based on the slot level since I envision recharging in combat with AOA.

Mark of Warding Dwarf (free Mage Armor cast, access to Armor of Agathys)

Strixhaven Background - Witherbloom. Adds healing spells like Cure Wounds, Lesser Restoration etc.

Metamagic Adept feat - Quicken Spell, Subtle Spell. To quicken AoA or Suble a Counterspell.

Eldritch Adept feat - for infinite casting Mage Armor. This will retroactively make the free cast from race useless, but this is something you can take much later, say 8th level, as the metamagic one is better for 4th. So for those 8 levels the free cast is still incredibly useful. And from 8th level onwards it'll be easier to fully replenish your ward for free. 

Avoid multiclassing. - Because your 18th level feature can grant you infinite use of Shield spell, making the most important, basically vital, component of a front-line wizard for endgame. Anything else, any other possible choice in official D&D 5th edition, is a downgrade and works against your motive. The 20th level feature can be used to give you free casting of Dispel Magic and Counterspell every short rest, if desired, and never needing to prepare these. Again, any other choice you make will work against you if your intention is a front-line wizard. Also, 17th level means access to 9th level spells for things like immunity to all damage or Wish - and any wizard not taking Wish is a blasphemous heretic deserving to burn for eternity for the utter travesty they've committed to all magedom. The 20th level 2nd 7th level spell slot is also just a super sweet bonus too.

So, can't really help with multiclassing options for your build given that every possible multiclass option that officially exists would make your intended build worse, not better.

Quote from Cyb3rM1nd >>

Mark of Warding Dwarf (free Mage Armor cast, access to Armor of Agathys)

Strixhaven Background - Witherbloom. Adds healing spells like Cure Wounds, Lesser Restoration etc.

Metamagic Adept feat - Quicken Spell, Subtle Spell. To quicken AoA or Suble a Counterspell.

Eldritch Adept feat - for infinite casting Mage Armor. This will retroactively make the free cast from race useless, but this is something you can take much later, say 8th level, as the metamagic one is better for 4th. So for those 8 levels the free cast is still incredibly useful. And from 8th level onwards it'll be easier to fully replenish your ward for free. 

Avoid multiclassing. - Because your 18th level feature can grant you infinite use of Shield spell, making the most important, basically vital, component of a front-line wizard for endgame. Anything else, any other possible choice in official D&D 5th edition, is a downgrade and works against your motive. The 20th level feature can be used to give you free casting of Dispel Magic and Counterspell every short rest, if desired, and never needing to prepare these. Again, any other choice you make will work against you if your intention is a front-line wizard. Also, 17th level means access to 9th level spells for things like immunity to all damage or Wish - and any wizard not taking Wish is a blasphemous heretic deserving to burn for eternity for the utter travesty they've committed to all magedom. The 20th level 2nd 7th level spell slot is also just a super sweet bonus too.

So, can't really help with multiclassing options for your build given that every possible multiclass option that officially exists would make your intended build worse, not better.

Unfortunately Mark of Warding Dwarf is not allowed in the campaign, and neither is Strixhaven.  From a story point of view a half-elf makes a lot more sense too.

Also, as I noted above I can't replenish the ward without using a spell slot, so armor of shadows won't work.

Welp, no solution to a pointlessly restrictive DM. If you're OK with that then so be it (I'm judging you, though).

Also, this "Also, as I noted above I can't replenish the ward without using a spell slot, so armor of shadows won't work" load of codswallop breaks my brain.

Armor of Shadows lets you cast Mage Armor at base level without a spell slot. That's the feature. Why would you accept a useless version of this? The entire point of the invocation is to cast it without spell slots. What is the point of taking this invocation of you're going to completely ignore it -- you.. you know you don't need this invocation to cast Mage Armor with spell slots, right? You can just take the spell normally and cast it using any spell slot you have. This is literally your basic spellcasting. 

The point of Armor of Shadows for an Abjuration wizard is using it to fully recharge your ward outside of combat. Not in combat. Its useless to rely on in combat. This is because you can cast it every 6 seconds for 2 points of recharge to the Ward which, at 20th, would be max of 45 HP. This means 23 castings, or 2 minutes 18 seconds. So, basically a few mins after every encounter/battle you go back to full ward.

In Combat - you can just use other spells. There's abjuration spells at every level except 5th and 7th, and you can always upcast. Like casting Prismatic Wall, 9th level spell, protects you and your party, can hurt the enemies (especially using Prismatic Doom tactic of putting it in the air and then casting Reverse Gravity - coz that shit hurts like the dickens) and restores 18 ward points.

If you *must* multiclass and your DM's maintaining their utter wackadoodleness then a single dip into Warlock for Armor of Agathys is acceptable, I guess. If you feel that throwing away free 3rd level castings of 2 spells and 2 more preps is worth it for the cold shoulder spell. I mean, you'd be wrong - AoA is cool [geddit?] an' all, but the free 12 ward points an hour is far superior an option for your build. But that be up to you.

Just going to note you can upcast spells like Shield. The bonus remains +5 AC, but you can still use higher slots. Somebody goes to hit you with your ward low, you cast shield at 5th level. this means it bumps your AC - AND - provides 10 points to your ward, BEFORE the attack would hit. You don't need AoS/AoA to recharge your ward in combat. 

Or with metamagic adept, Quicken an upcast Mirror Image or Blur and then cast Blade Ward. Your ward gets recharged, you're much harder to hit, you have resistance to physical damages AND you're still free to use Shield spell to recharge the ward even more and be even more difficult to hit. All in one round. 

Quote from Cyb3rM1nd>>

Also, this "Also, as I noted above I can't replenish the ward without using a spell slot, so armor of shadows won't work" load of codswallop breaks my brain.

Armor of Shadows lets you cast Mage Armor at base level without a spell slot. That's the feature. Why would you accept a useless version of this? The entire point of the invocation is to cast it without spell slots. What is the point of taking this invocation of you're going to completely ignore it 

I can still get armor of shadows but it will not recharge my arcane ward.  I think his point is it is not a "1st level" spell when cast this way.

Just like you mention that you can upcast shield - Is shield cast with a 5th level slot a "5th level spell" or a "1st level spell"?  2 points on the ward or 10?  If the answer to that is Shield is a "5th level spell" when cast with a 5th level slot, then Mage Armor cast without using any spell slot is not a "spell of 1st level or higher". 

I guess. If you feel that throwing away free 3rd level castings of 2 spells and 2 more preps is worth it for the cold shoulder spell. I mean, you'd be wrong - AoA is cool [geddit?] an' all, but the free 12 ward points an hour is far superior an option for your build.

Not for 95% of the game. T his is great at 20th level, which is probably only 1 fight and meaningless at 1-19th level.

Quote from Cyb3rM1nd >>

Or with metamagic adept, Quicken an upcast Mirror Image or Blur and then cast Blade Ward. Your ward gets recharged, you're much harder to hit, you have resistance to physical damages AND you're still free to use Shield spell to recharge the ward even more and be even more difficult to hit. All in one round. 

These won't recharge the ward.  Blur and Mirror Image are illusions and Blade Ward is not 1st level or higher.  It is still a good tactic though.

I don't know why you think Armor of Shadows will not recharge your Ward.  This is what it says:

Arcane Ward

Starting at 2nd level, you can weave magic around yourself for protection. When you cast an abjuration spell of 1st level or higher, you can simultaneously use a strand of the spell's magic to create a magical ward on yourself that lasts until you finish a long rest. The ward has hit points equal to twice your wizard level + your Intelligence modifier. Whenever you take damage, the ward takes the damage instead. If this damage reduces the ward to 0 hit points, you take any remaining damage.

While the ward has 0 hit points, it can't absorb damage, but its magic remains. Whenever you cast an abjuration spell of 1st level or higher, the ward regains a number of hit points equal to twice the level of the spell.

Once you create the ward, you can't create it again until you finish a long rest.

Nowhere does it state you have to spend a spell slot for the Ward to recharge unless there is some errata I am missing from somewhere.

Quote from ThelonelyMagi >>

I don't know why you think Armor of Shadows will not recharge your Ward.  This is what it says:

Arcane Ward

Starting at 2nd level, you can weave magic around yourself for protection. When you cast an abjuration spell of 1st level or higher, you can simultaneously use a strand of the spell's magic to create a magical ward on yourself that lasts until you finish a long rest. The ward has hit points equal to twice your wizard level + your Intelligence modifier. Whenever you take damage, the ward takes the damage instead. If this damage reduces the ward to 0 hit points, you take any remaining damage.

While the ward has 0 hit points, it can't absorb damage, but its magic remains. Whenever you cast an abjuration spell of 1st level or higher, the ward regains a number of hit points equal to twice the level of the spell.

Once you create the ward, you can't create it again until you finish a long rest.

 Nowhere does it state you have to spend a spell slot for the Ward to recharge unless there is some errata I am missing from somewhere.

Because it is not a "spell of 1st level or higher" if it does not use a slot of 1st level or higher.  If I am to assume I can use it for this, how many hit points does the ward regain when he casts it using armor of shadows ..... 2, 10, 18?  

2.

Armor of shadows lets you cast mage armor without a slot. It is still a first level spell.

Quote from ECMO3 >>

Quote from ThelonelyMagi >>

I don't know why you think Armor of Shadows will not recharge your Ward.  This is what it says:

Arcane Ward

Starting at 2nd level, you can weave magic around yourself for protection. When you cast an abjuration spell of 1st level or higher, you can simultaneously use a strand of the spell's magic to create a magical ward on yourself that lasts until you finish a long rest. The ward has hit points equal to twice your wizard level + your Intelligence modifier. Whenever you take damage, the ward takes the damage instead. If this damage reduces the ward to 0 hit points, you take any remaining damage.

While the ward has 0 hit points, it can't absorb damage, but its magic remains. Whenever you cast an abjuration spell of 1st level or higher, the ward regains a number of hit points equal to twice the level of the spell.

Once you create the ward, you can't create it again until you finish a long rest.

 Nowhere does it state you have to spend a spell slot for the Ward to recharge unless there is some errata I am missing from somewhere.

 

Because it is not a "spell of 1st level or higher" if it does not use a slot of 1st level or higher.  If I am to assume I can use it for this, how many hit points does the ward regain when he casts it using armor of shadows ..... 2, 10, 18?  

 Last time I looked Mage Armor is a 1st level spell and Armor of Shadows lets you cast it at its base level (level 1) for free.  Therefore it would restore 2 points to the ward per cast.

I think you need to check the Spellcasting chapter again in Basic Rules / PHB.

With exception of cantrips, which work differently, spells have a level from 1st to 9th level. This is the base level. If a feature or item lets you cast without a spell slot, it is cast at base level unless stated otherwise.

So Armor of Shadows lets you cast Mage Armor without a spell slot as much as you want. Since you are not using a spell slot, it is cast at the base level, which is 1st level, so it recharges the ward 2 points each time. 

Casting a spell using a spell slot higher than the spell's base level results in the spell becoming the spell slot level for that casting. If you cast Mage Armor using a 3rd level slot then for that casting the spell is 3rd level, and would recharge the ward by 6 points. Some spells have greater effects when cast at a higher level.