If you're wanting to optimize a wizard, you're probably best off just not multicasting.
If you're wanting to be a master blaster, consider hexblade 2/sorcerer X. You'll be using mostly Eldritch blast with the agonizing blast invocation. You'll also be able to cast a spell with a bonus action and then another one with your action (one of these will have to be a cantrip). Both of these can be Eldritch blasts. It's basically like action surge except you can do it more often.
The only wizard multi-classes worthwhile I have seen are Artificer 1/Wizard X , Fighter 2/Wizard X (Action Surge), Cleric 1/Wizard X (for the Domain ability).
Fighter 2/ is all about the Action Surge. Take Fighter first to get the better hitpoints, Armor and the Con save. Yes, you give up Arcana Proficiency, but you get Perception. Note, this build has Nova issues, particularly at low levels. You end up burning through your spells quickly, so expect to play fighter till you hit F2/Wiz5
Artificer 1 is all about the extra 1st level spells prepared. Take Artificer 1, again to get the better hitpoints. The key spells you are desiring are Faerie Fire, Cure Wounds and Sanctuary. More importantly, it gives you an EXTRA Int bonus + 1 spells prepared. They must be 1st level Artificer spells, but that also frees up 1st level wizard spells to be used in higher level slots. That is, with an Int of 18, you get an extra 5 spells, which could be Faerie Fire, Cure wounds, Sanct, False Life and Feather Fall. That means once you hit A1/W3, your can memorize Shield and Chromatic Orb, plus 6 second level spells (if you have them).
Cleric 1/Wizard is about the Domain ability. Here, you may prefer to take Wizard 1st, but again the extra hitpoints matter. Here you get the extra spells prepared again. Most have good domain abilties. Grave/Life makes you a better healer than most clerics, Light gives Faerie Fire and a good reaction defense and Tempest a reaction offense. None are worth a 2nd level (with the possible exception of Tempest).
Why not Druid? Because you get the best Druid spells from artificer without needing Wisdom, and no subclass abilities. It takes too many levels to get the good stuff.
Why not other non-casters: Stat Mad and no 1st level cool abilities worth giving up the Spell slots on TOP of giving up the spells known.
Level 2: Sure, seems worth it. I suppose. If you aren't going to progress much further, fine.
Your Cleric (knowledge)/Wizard has 18 armor (Scail Mail, 14 dex, shield). 3 spell slots, access to cleric and wizard spells. Extra cantrips from Cleric. Your max Con is 13, so you have 14 HP. 16 Int.
My Wizard #1 has his Arcane tradition, takes Bladesinger. Using Bladesong (twice per short rest), his AC is 16 from dex and int but can be increased by mage armor to get it to 19. Alternatively, he can use light armor to bring it up to 18 (studded leather). 3 spell slots, access to wizard spells. Max Con is 14, so 14 HP. Also can add Int mod to con saving throws which will be huge. 16 int.
My Wizard #2 is a Mountain dwarf. Takes.. lets say Abjuration as his tradition because you seem to be very interested in defense. He has medium armor, 14 Dex, which brings his AC up to 16. 14 Int. 16 HP. Will also get an arcane ward whenever casting an abjuration spell for another 6 bringing the total to 22. That is almost barbarian level of HP.
Level 3: Starting to regret your choices.
Your Cleric/Wizard gets your cleric stuff + any of my wizard stuffs from level 2 (or whatever Arcane tradition). Will call this your new base. 4 1st level spell slots, 2 2nd level spell slots but cannot learn any level 2 spells. Can upcast level 1 spells to level 2 though. A good spell here is Magic Missile to do good damage and can be upcast to use those 2nd level slots. Upcast damage 4d4 + 4.
My Wizard #1 Has the same spell slots but has access to level 2 spells. A good spell here is Shadow Blade to do a lot of damage. 2d8 + 3 but can be used every round until you lose concentration (or 10 rounds). This can be thrown as well so still useful if you're not using bladesong.
My Wizard #2 Has the same spell slots but has access to level 2 spells. A good spell here is Hold Person to really up your usefulness as a defensive spellcaster.
Level 5: Maybe still good? Level 4 wasn't so bad. Wow, that fireball that other wizard cast just did an asston of damage. This is the point where you could realistically be having mage armor dispelled.
Your guy has level 2 spells by this point so that's good. 3rd level slots to upcast whatever you want. Maybe Shadow Blade or Hold Person. Maybe a heal spell for 4d8+1 damage. Your guy has 29 HP.
Mage #1 is casting Fireball now. 8d6 damage to a big area. He has 32 HP.
Mage #2 is casting Counterspell and Hypnotic Pattern to help his team out. He has 37 and his ward is a bit higher at 14.
Level 6:
Your guy has fireball now too!
Mage #1 is now attacking twice with that upcast Shadow Blade. 3d8 + 3 (maybe 4) * 2. That is basically a single target fireball every Round for just one spell slot. Crazy high damage to fight that big boss guy.
Mage #2 can now use his arcane ward to help his allies. That ward is now 16 extra HP.
I guess my main point here is that you are always going feel less powerful compared to a same level wizard or cleric for relatively small trade-offs. There is no synergy here and your stats are going to suffer for it. Your hit points will always be lower after level 2 because of the lower con score. You will always be casting lower level spells, getting class features late, and all so that you can get a little higher armor when there are better ways of getting high armor or better survivability.
That is not at all true of many of the builds I have seen. I would never go for Cleric Knowledge 1/Wizard 1 because Knowledge (1) is all about the skills, which no wizard wants.
But compare a Level 5 Wizard - with fireball, and counter spell to a Level 1 Artificer / Wizard 4
You are sitting pretty with a much better AC, 2 more hitpoints and a ton of extra 1st level spells prepared. Yeah the show off does the fireball routine. You pull out a gun and shoot the bastard, just like Indiana Jones.
Every even level you get EXACTLY everything he has, plus things he does not. Yes there is a tiny bit of jealousy on the odd levels - but it goes away when you heal or faerie fire or get the +1 half-plate from the fighter.
That is not at all true of many of the builds I have seen. I would never go for Cleric Knowledge 1/Wizard 1 because Knowledge (1) is all about the skills, which no wizard wants.
But compare a Level 5 Wizard - with fireball, and counter spell to a Level 1 Artificer / Wizard 4
You are sitting pretty with a much better AC, 2 more hitpoints and a ton of extra 1st level spells prepared. Yeah the show off does the fireball routine. You pull out a gun and shoot the bastard, just like Indiana Jones.
Every even level you get EXACTLY everything he has, plus things he does not. Yes there is a tiny bit of jealousy on the odd levels - but it goes away when you heal or faerie fire or get the +1 half-plate from the fighter.
Well that last part isn't true. Every single wizard class feature is on an even level with the exception of 1 ASI.
Cleric 1/Wizard is about the Domain ability. Here, you may prefer to take Wizard 1st, but again the extra hitpoints matter. Here you get the extra spells prepared again. Most have good domain abilties. Grave/Life makes you a better healer than most clerics, Light gives Faerie Fire and a good reaction defense and Tempest a reaction offense. None are worth a 2nd level (with the possible exception of Tempest).
I actually like Grave level 2 Cleric for Path to the Grave. Picture giving someone with low dex vulnerability to Force, with a Disintegrate spell next turn. (10d6+40)x 2 damage. But It would be only worth it if you were going for an all or nothing type attack.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Trying to build an evoker. Don't know the best combination.
If you're wanting to optimize a wizard, you're probably best off just not multicasting.
If you're wanting to be a master blaster, consider hexblade 2/sorcerer X. You'll be using mostly Eldritch blast with the agonizing blast invocation. You'll also be able to cast a spell with a bonus action and then another one with your action (one of these will have to be a cantrip). Both of these can be Eldritch blasts. It's basically like action surge except you can do it more often.
The only wizard multi-classes worthwhile I have seen are Artificer 1/Wizard X , Fighter 2/Wizard X (Action Surge), Cleric 1/Wizard X (for the Domain ability).
Fighter 2/ is all about the Action Surge. Take Fighter first to get the better hitpoints, Armor and the Con save. Yes, you give up Arcana Proficiency, but you get Perception. Note, this build has Nova issues, particularly at low levels. You end up burning through your spells quickly, so expect to play fighter till you hit F2/Wiz5
Artificer 1 is all about the extra 1st level spells prepared. Take Artificer 1, again to get the better hitpoints. The key spells you are desiring are Faerie Fire, Cure Wounds and Sanctuary. More importantly, it gives you an EXTRA Int bonus + 1 spells prepared. They must be 1st level Artificer spells, but that also frees up 1st level wizard spells to be used in higher level slots. That is, with an Int of 18, you get an extra 5 spells, which could be Faerie Fire, Cure wounds, Sanct, False Life and Feather Fall. That means once you hit A1/W3, your can memorize Shield and Chromatic Orb, plus 6 second level spells (if you have them).
Cleric 1/Wizard is about the Domain ability. Here, you may prefer to take Wizard 1st, but again the extra hitpoints matter. Here you get the extra spells prepared again. Most have good domain abilties. Grave/Life makes you a better healer than most clerics, Light gives Faerie Fire and a good reaction defense and Tempest a reaction offense. None are worth a 2nd level (with the possible exception of Tempest).
Why not Druid? Because you get the best Druid spells from artificer without needing Wisdom, and no subclass abilities. It takes too many levels to get the good stuff.
Why not other non-casters: Stat Mad and no 1st level cool abilities worth giving up the Spell slots on TOP of giving up the spells known.
The best Wizard/X combination is Wizard. Read through the thread https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/class-forums/wizard/66678-1-level-cleric-dip-is-it-worth-it.
In case you don't want to read through the entire post I'll just quote the most relevant one here
That is not at all true of many of the builds I have seen. I would never go for Cleric Knowledge 1/Wizard 1 because Knowledge (1) is all about the skills, which no wizard wants.
But compare a Level 5 Wizard - with fireball, and counter spell to a Level 1 Artificer / Wizard 4
You are sitting pretty with a much better AC, 2 more hitpoints and a ton of extra 1st level spells prepared. Yeah the show off does the fireball routine. You pull out a gun and shoot the bastard, just like Indiana Jones.
Every even level you get EXACTLY everything he has, plus things he does not. Yes there is a tiny bit of jealousy on the odd levels - but it goes away when you heal or faerie fire or get the +1 half-plate from the fighter.
Well that last part isn't true. Every single wizard class feature is on an even level with the exception of 1 ASI.
I actually like Grave level 2 Cleric for Path to the Grave. Picture giving someone with low dex vulnerability to Force, with a Disintegrate spell next turn. (10d6+40)x 2 damage. But It would be only worth it if you were going for an all or nothing type attack.