Help with wizard please

[gungin_garbonzo]

Hay guys I just started a week ago and love the game so far. I have a few questions about wizard. My first toon was a rogue but I ditched him after a few levels and remade the wizard and customized his points. I believe I did 18 into INT, 10 STR, 10 DEX, and used WIS and CHA as dump stats. I also chose human species and I am currently level 5.

1) What are the main benefits of being a wizard? I see sorcerors nuking mobs while they have twice the mana pool that I have, but I have a greater variety of spells to choose from if I'm not mistaken. Is my role a backup caster to the Sorc and have some buff spells?

2) Currently I use most of the time the following spells: Level1: Shield, Mage Armor, Charm, Nightshield. Level 2: Lightnign attack (forget the name), Bull Strength, Heroism. Level 3: False Life, Acid bomb. So you can see I have a couple electric/acid attacks which I got feats to boost the damage on, and also a lot of buffs. Is this a good path to go? I see lots of people liking Fire/Cold but I want to go Acid/Electric path.

3) What weapons should I be using in combat, if any? I have a +2 Light crossbow, but it seems to do terrible damage to mobs, if any at all. I also have a Scepter that helps spell damage for level 3 and below, which i equip when I use my damage spells. I also have lots of wands, but some of them are probably only good at lower levels, i.e. shocking grasp. I am pretty squishy if the mob hits me so the only reason I would want a melee weapon is for the bonus it grants me like to spells for example, right?

4) What do I do when I run out of mana? I feel so useless half the time because I can't do much damage with any weapon nor can I take many hits so I really become a burden if I burn through my spells too quickly. Maybe a better question is how do I pace myself? I tend to save the acid blast for rooms with 3+ mobs, or a red boss. The rest of the time I usually hang back and shoot my wand of fire finger.

Thank you for any help you can provide.

[Club'in]

Drop the false life spell. You can buy a wand of that in the marketplace.

Shield and Mage Armor are of minimal use, especially if you aren't meleeing that much. Consider other 1st level spells, such as Burning Hands or Magic Missile. You may even consider picking up the Master's Touch spell, and jumping into combat with a high + great axe (you can use a +3 weapon at this point). Do this when you're low on mana, or trying to extend your mana pool. Always be beating on the same monster that your main melee companion is beating on, and you will seldom have agro, you'll just be helping them kill the monster faster. Hypnotism is also a great 1st level spell, as long as you explain to your fellow adventurers that they need to watch for the purple balls above mesmerized monster's heads.

I would keep one of Bulls Strength and Heroism. Instead consider picking up something like Web, or Glitterdust (when you have more than one rogue in the party), or Resist Energy for some dungeons, Command Undead works well in certain dungeons. Scorching Ray is excellent to pick up once you get to 7th level wizard (you'll gain another ray, the number of rays goes up with level).

Heroism is a good 3rd level spell, but False Life is pretty much a waste. Have you tried Hold Person?

The value of the wizard over the sorcerer is that you can swap in a Web and Command Undead for a series like Delera's Tomb, and then change out Command Undead for Resist Energy if you go into Taming the Flames, etc.

[7-day_Trial_Monkey]

1) Wizards can play the same roll as a sorc. And realy, neither should look to spam damage spells (as you would on a caster in any other mmo). Both should have some buffs for the party, both should use some cc.

2) Haste is a very beneficial buff for your party. Most go fire/cold because the #1 spell for wiz/sorc for doing damage is firewall. No other damage spell even comes close.

3) If you are going to use a wep look for one with some special effect instead of looking to do damage. A cursespewing is a fair choice, or a destruction. Your +to hit will lag so far behind that soon enough you will only hit on a 20, so don't worry about weapon damage too much.

4) Early on running out of spell points is very easy. Later it will get better and you will be able to make it shrine to shrine. You can try and pace the dropping of your mana bar by watching the cleric's mana bar. Idealy you each run out just as you get to the next shrine.

Holding a wep for + to spell damage is the right way to go. Although, don't hesitate to dual wield. In the other hand you want an item that gives + to crit chance and crit multiplier for your prefered damage type (acid/elec).

[wamjratl1]

Hay guys I just started a week ago and love the game so far. I have a few questions about wizard. My first toon was a rogue but I ditched him after a few levels and remade the wizard and customized his points. I believe I did 18 into INT, 10 STR, 10 DEX, and used WIS and CHA as dump stats. I also chose human species and I am currently level 5.

1) What are the main benefits of being a wizard? I see sorcerors nuking mobs while they have twice the mana pool that I have, but I have a greater variety of spells to choose from if I'm not mistaken. Is my role a backup caster to the Sorc and have some buff spells? a sorc (esp lower lvls) pretty much has to focus ion one thing while a wiz can do many things well - crowd-control, damage, charming, buffing. wizards are tough at low levels and you'll find you will run out of sp pretty fast. until lvl 8 or so, focus on buffing the party and crowd control (hypnotize, glitterdust, stuff like that).

2) Currently I use most of the time the following spells: Level1: Shield, Mage Armor, Charm, Nightshield. Level 2: Lightnign attack (forget the name), Bull Strength, Heroism. Level 3: False Life, Acid bomb. So you can see I have a couple electric/acid attacks which I got feats to boost the damage on, and also a lot of buffs. Is this a good path to go? I see lots of people liking Fire/Cold but I want to go Acid/Electric path.I don't think you need shield and nightshield. swap one for magic missle. looks like you have a lot of buffs, which is fine, but I hope you aren't trying to buff yourself and melee. you shouldn't with your build.

3) What weapons should I be using in combat, if any? you really shouldn't be meleeing or even ranging unless it is a life or death situation.I have a +2 Light crossbow, but it seems to do terrible damage to mobs, if any at all. I also have a Scepter that helps spell damage for level 3 and below, which i equip when I use my damage spells. I also have lots of wands, but some of them are probably only good at lower levels, i.e. shocking grasp. I am pretty squishy if the mob hits me so the only reason I would want a melee weapon is for the bonus it grants me like to spells for example, right? exactly right. carry one in each hand (you get better effects this way). like the highest lvl potency weapon and the highest level spell penetration weapon you can use.

4) What do I do when I run out of mana? wands, scrolls, maybe a ranged weapon at this point but only fire it at a mob that someone else is attacking. you want to draw as little aggro as possible. I feel so useless half the time because I can't do much damage with any weapon nor can I take many hits so I really become a burden if I burn through my spells too quickly. if you have buffed the party and used some crowd control on the enemy, you are not a burden. you'll be a burden if you try to fight like a fighter and die a lot.Maybe a better question is how do I pace myself? I tend to save the acid blast for rooms with 3+ mobs, or a red boss. The rest of the time I usually hang back and shoot my wand of fire finger.

Thank you for any help you can provide.

Until you hit level 8 or so, you will never lead the kill count as a wiz. Don't sweat it. Focus on buffs and crowd control and do damage when you can. nothing worse than a squishy caster who tries to nuke with some aoe damage spell and aggors a roomful mobs and dies in 2 seconds (take it from me, i was one lol).

Hypnotism is a great spell cuz it stops a whole bunch of badies at once. but if they get hit, they wake up so make sure the melees just go after one at a time. You are also coming up on a level where you will fight a lot of undead. Use Halt Undead a lot. It's like hypno for undead exceot they don't wake up when hit.

Have fun, you'll figure it all out. Let folks know you are new and they'll give you pointers.