I've been looking at making a support oriented wizard (maybe like a magical chef). So I've been looking at the different wizard schools and the transmutation school just seems... really lackluster. I just don't know what it is supposed to do well.
Minor Alchemy might be neat for repairing/crafting items, or making a weapon silver right before a fight. And maybe a shady character can try to pass off fake silver bullion? But it just seems too limited to do much with.
The Transmuter's stone similarly seems too limited to be worth a 6th level ability. Proficiency with Con and resistance to an elemental attack are the only worthwhile options. But it doesn't do anything else worthwhile until level 14. I guess it can be passed to another spellcaster to help them keep focus, but it just feels underwhelming.
Shapechanger seems like a real missed opportunity. It seems like its only purpose is scouting by level 10. And the neither the Transmuter's Stone or any of the other Transmutation school abilities synergize with it to make it better. The first time I looked at it I was at least hoping for something like the conjuration school's 10th level ability to let concentration on conjuration spells be unbreaking unless your wizard goes unconscious.
And the 14th level ability seems kind of sad. The only unambiguously good option is Panacea. Restore Life seems good until you realize you still have to have the material components.
Am I missing something, or is this just an underwhelming subclass?
As with every ability it depends on being creative. Our characters started at level 3 in a prison cell with none of our gear. The rogue was not able smuggle in a lockpick. Having the ability to turn the iron hinges on the door into balsa wood made for a more subtle escape then putting shoulder to iron.
I had a thread a while back that had some good ideas. I do agree some abilities are a little weak. But I feel it can shine in some instances.
The 10th level polymorph ability should have been a free use of the spell, self only, once per day if they thought it would be to powerful on a short rest. The limit to CR1 is dumb. I mean you already had access to the spell since 7th level anyway. One free self only use wouldn’t be game breaking.
Generally speaking, I think it's a bit lackluster. It could be fun in the right campaign, but in the wrong campaign, you might as well have no subclass at all.
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Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
I had a thread a while back that had some good ideas. I do agree some abilities are a little weak. But I feel it can shine in some instances.
The 10th level polymorph ability should have been a free use of the spell, self only, once per day if they thought it would be to powerful on a short rest. The limit to CR1 is dumb. I mean you already had access to the spell since 7th level anyway. One free self only use wouldn’t be game breaking.
Yeah, and even a T-Rex isn't some massive jump in power over a 10th level Wizard.
I would love if the Transmuter's Stone specifically still applied its con bonus while polymorphed. At least then I could see a potential synergy for where they were going with it.
Transmuter's Stone is super useful - buff your concentration saves, get 10ft extra movement, or make yourself resistant to whatever elemental damage you happen to be facing and then give that resistance to your frontline fighter within a single combat round. Swap those perks mid-fight at the cost of a 1st-level spell slot. There's very few scenarios where NONE of those perks would be useful.
Transmuter's Stone is super useful - buff your concentration saves, get 10ft extra movement, or make yourself resistant to whatever elemental damage you happen to be facing and then give that resistance to your frontline fighter within a single combat round. Swap those perks mid-fight at the cost of a 1st-level spell slot. There's very few scenarios where NONE of those perks would be useful.
Agree.
I like it specifically because you can alter it quickly.
TRANSMUTERS STONE: Exploring? Cast Darkvision on an ally and take Darkvision yourself. Ancient Red Dragon drops in - hit it with Catapult and switch to Res Fire. Being chased? Longstrider and Increased movement speed for a base speed of 50ft per round. Need to become a rage beast? Tenser’s Transformation and Advantage on Con checks (to save against the exhaustion effect). There are just so many options here, and these are just when you hold the Stone yourself.
MINOR ALCHEMY: While the Wizard ritual casts Leomund’s Hut, reinforce the door to the room from wood to steel and Arcane Lock it for an extra layer of protection. Or turn iron walls into wood and burn through it. Silver some weapons.
SHAPECHANGER: Give the Stone to someone else while transformed, or drop it and carry it and carry it in a cute little animal vest. Super fast Eagle at 90ft Fly speed. Sneaky Dire Wolf with Darkvision in a cave (disadvantage to detect the Wolf in dim light). Remember, this is an extra 40-60 HP *per short rest* that the Transmuter can soak up damage with.
MASTER TRANSMUTER: Panacea is great for the BBEG battles when they hit you with some really bad stuff and Restore Life is something a Wizard normally can never do so it’s a great alternative to a Cleric. Restore Youth? Perfect! What better way to infiltrate anywhere than to look like a kid up to no good, instead of an old Archmage.
I really love this class for the versatility that comes with it. With some smart play you can really utilize a lot of these abilities quite regularly.
The one that really annoys me is Shapechanger. You get to add polymorph, a 4th level spell, to your spell book. This should be a standard part of your spell selection, especially if you're going thematic since you got 4th level spells at 7th level. Then the ability to shapechange 1/day is ok, but why limit it to CR 1 at 10th level? Why not allow the full range of the polymorph spell since it is already limited to self only?
A lot of the original wizard subclasses are petty lackluster, but you are still a wizard. Take illusion, its probably the weakest unless your campaign is going really late game, as until its 14th level ability its pretty dang bad. Conjuration, well the level 2 if your DM lets you get away with some things it is insane, if they don't its lame, level 6 kind of lame but not terrible, 10 is solid but I'd say worse than the transmutation stone as its just conjuration/damage not all con saves, 14 is good but again its for a level 14 game. Necromancy is only good if your campaign lets you lean into army of undead shenanigans, though again the 14th level ability is solid if you get there and encounter the right undead.
Abjuration/enchanting/divinatgion all really good.
Evocation, its not bad but its not really good either.
All the non core book subclasses are at least good if not too good in a couple cases.
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I've been looking at making a support oriented wizard (maybe like a magical chef). So I've been looking at the different wizard schools and the transmutation school just seems... really lackluster. I just don't know what it is supposed to do well.
Minor Alchemy might be neat for repairing/crafting items, or making a weapon silver right before a fight. And maybe a shady character can try to pass off fake silver bullion? But it just seems too limited to do much with.
The Transmuter's stone similarly seems too limited to be worth a 6th level ability. Proficiency with Con and resistance to an elemental attack are the only worthwhile options. But it doesn't do anything else worthwhile until level 14. I guess it can be passed to another spellcaster to help them keep focus, but it just feels underwhelming.
Shapechanger seems like a real missed opportunity. It seems like its only purpose is scouting by level 10. And the neither the Transmuter's Stone or any of the other Transmutation school abilities synergize with it to make it better. The first time I looked at it I was at least hoping for something like the conjuration school's 10th level ability to let concentration on conjuration spells be unbreaking unless your wizard goes unconscious.
And the 14th level ability seems kind of sad. The only unambiguously good option is Panacea. Restore Life seems good until you realize you still have to have the material components.
Am I missing something, or is this just an underwhelming subclass?
It’s really underwhelming, indeed. I dare to say it’s the worst one.
As with every ability it depends on being creative. Our characters started at level 3 in a prison cell with none of our gear. The rogue was not able smuggle in a lockpick. Having the ability to turn the iron hinges on the door into balsa wood made for a more subtle escape then putting shoulder to iron.
I had a thread a while back that had some good ideas. I do agree some abilities are a little weak. But I feel it can shine in some instances.
The 10th level polymorph ability should have been a free use of the spell, self only, once per day if they thought it would be to powerful on a short rest. The limit to CR1 is dumb. I mean you already had access to the spell since 7th level anyway. One free self only use wouldn’t be game breaking.
Generally speaking, I think it's a bit lackluster. It could be fun in the right campaign, but in the wrong campaign, you might as well have no subclass at all.
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Tasha
Yeah, and even a T-Rex isn't some massive jump in power over a 10th level Wizard.
I would love if the Transmuter's Stone specifically still applied its con bonus while polymorphed. At least then I could see a potential synergy for where they were going with it.
Transmuter's Stone is super useful - buff your concentration saves, get 10ft extra movement, or make yourself resistant to whatever elemental damage you happen to be facing and then give that resistance to your frontline fighter within a single combat round. Swap those perks mid-fight at the cost of a 1st-level spell slot. There's very few scenarios where NONE of those perks would be useful.
Agree.
I like it specifically because you can alter it quickly.
TRANSMUTERS STONE: Exploring? Cast Darkvision on an ally and take Darkvision yourself. Ancient Red Dragon drops in - hit it with Catapult and switch to Res Fire. Being chased? Longstrider and Increased movement speed for a base speed of 50ft per round. Need to become a rage beast? Tenser’s Transformation and Advantage on Con checks (to save against the exhaustion effect). There are just so many options here, and these are just when you hold the Stone yourself.
MINOR ALCHEMY: While the Wizard ritual casts Leomund’s Hut, reinforce the door to the room from wood to steel and Arcane Lock it for an extra layer of protection. Or turn iron walls into wood and burn through it. Silver some weapons.
SHAPECHANGER: Give the Stone to someone else while transformed, or drop it and carry it and carry it in a cute little animal vest. Super fast Eagle at 90ft Fly speed. Sneaky Dire Wolf with Darkvision in a cave (disadvantage to detect the Wolf in dim light). Remember, this is an extra 40-60 HP *per short rest* that the Transmuter can soak up damage with.
MASTER TRANSMUTER: Panacea is great for the BBEG battles when they hit you with some really bad stuff and Restore Life is something a Wizard normally can never do so it’s a great alternative to a Cleric. Restore Youth? Perfect! What better way to infiltrate anywhere than to look like a kid up to no good, instead of an old Archmage.
I really love this class for the versatility that comes with it. With some smart play you can really utilize a lot of these abilities quite regularly.
The one that really annoys me is Shapechanger. You get to add polymorph, a 4th level spell, to your spell book. This should be a standard part of your spell selection, especially if you're going thematic since you got 4th level spells at 7th level. Then the ability to shapechange 1/day is ok, but why limit it to CR 1 at 10th level? Why not allow the full range of the polymorph spell since it is already limited to self only?
A lot of the original wizard subclasses are petty lackluster, but you are still a wizard. Take illusion, its probably the weakest unless your campaign is going really late game, as until its 14th level ability its pretty dang bad. Conjuration, well the level 2 if your DM lets you get away with some things it is insane, if they don't its lame, level 6 kind of lame but not terrible, 10 is solid but I'd say worse than the transmutation stone as its just conjuration/damage not all con saves, 14 is good but again its for a level 14 game. Necromancy is only good if your campaign lets you lean into army of undead shenanigans, though again the 14th level ability is solid if you get there and encounter the right undead.
Abjuration/enchanting/divinatgion all really good.
Evocation, its not bad but its not really good either.
All the non core book subclasses are at least good if not too good in a couple cases.