Wiz/Cleric?

[Khurse]

Hi all

Having great fun running around with Cow, my (now) lvl 8 Sorc
However having difficulty finding groups, and my lack of hitpoints is proving an issue when I try and solo-even dungeons at lvl 4 can be tough.
(Probably just an incompetence thing)

Now that I've unlocked Drow I'm thinking of starting up a Wizard, was wondering if anyone knows anything that I may screw up if I splash a level of cleric (figure it'll help me use wands for soling and if needed for Groups)
Figured I'd go 1 Wiz,2 Cleric, 3-14 Wiz, but curious as I haven't seen many Cleric/Wiz mixes.
Assuming Wizards have enough spells that hitting 13 and not 14 (or 15,not 16 etc) won't matter as much as wit a sorcerer.
(Yes I probably should have UMD the sorc from the start, but..)

[Vinos]

Well having 2 clr won't help you get into groups. The only real advantage in going clr is wand use(which is meh. just use pots) and some armor/weps profiencies. Best to go a level or 2 of rogue if you feel the need to multi. You'll get UMD which will work for wands and with a high INT you'll have alot of skill points.

[Seneca_Windforge]

I have a level of Cleric on my Wizard. I am pretty happy with it; for personal healing, potions are fine, but taking the level of Cleric opens up a whole slew of wands (healing, Remove Disease, Neutralize Poison, even Recitation and others). I've found that it is extremely convenient to be able to use those wands with 100% success, particularly when running with an incomplete group.

As a sidenote, for the investment of one action point I have three DVs. That's around 45-55 SP for 1 AP, which isn't bad.

Basically, if you want to support the group with wands, take the level of Cleric. If all of this is for personal use, stick with a pure wizard and potions.

[sigtrent]

You can certainly splash a level of nearly anything with wizard and it won't have a huge impact. Basicaly you get spells a bit later than everyone else and lose a bit of spell penetration.

If you want to heal you have a few choices...

Class
1 level of cleric (wide range of wands, cure light wounds spell, decent mana requires 11 wisdom)
1 level of ranger (healing wands, bow str, martial weapons, little or no mana)
1 level of bard (healing wands, cure light wounds, UMD access, trivial song use, decent mana, requires 11 charisma)
1 level of rogue (UMD access, rogue skill access, no mana)

Race
halfling with dragon marks (requires up to 3 feats, develops slow, eventualy get powerful Heal spell, no wand use, can stay pure wizard)
Warforged (Pure wizard, immunities, powerful self healing)

[oberon131313]

I have a marked halfling wizard, and am currently running a level 3 wf wiz/fighter.

My halfling wizard, with empower on, can keep up with most clerics I run with. There are times when I've been grouped with bad clerics that I've saved some party member's bacon, and it's usually noticed. If you are worried about cleric to keep yourself alive as a caster...while it might only take 2 uses of CLW to get you to full, it only takes 1-2 swings to take that all the way out. Best defense as a solo caster is take it out before it can get to you.

[Arnya]

1clr/13sorc FTW

-SP bonus for wisdom

-DV (10 @ 15-25sp each)

-Free wand use including CSW, Disease, Curse, Fear, Mass SoF

-Empower/Max CLW Spell

-Remove fear and bless spells for backup

-Lvl7 caster level check on res scrolls = DC15 (25% is better than UMD >21 at this level)

-Heavy Armour Proficiency

Run with Torche and I will show you that missing FoD is no biggie

EDIT: The benefits are felt most at low to mid levels. Still, no regrets at level 14 for me

[Vinos]

You can't use DV's on yourself so why are you guys even mentioning them? Doesn't help your SP pool at all. It's a nice bonus to help out the other casters but hardly worth factoring in taking a clr level or not.

[Seneca_Windforge]

You can certainly splash a level of nearly anything with wizard and it won't have a huge impact. Basicaly you get spells a bit later than everyone else and lose a bit of spell penetration.

If you want to heal you have a few choices...

Class
1 level of cleric (wide range of wands, cure light wounds spell, decent mana requires 11 wisdom)
1 level of ranger (healing wands, bow str, martial weapons, little or no mana)
1 level of bard (healing wands, cure light wounds, UMD access, trivial song use, decent mana, requires 11 charisma)
1 level of rogue (UMD access, rogue skill access, no mana)

Race
halfling with dragon marks (requires up to 3 feats, develops slow, eventualy get powerful Heal spell, no wand use, can stay pure wizard)
Warforged (Pure wizard, immunities, powerful self healing)

Actually, splashing cleric doesn't require 11 Wisdom. I did it with 10, and equip and item if I want to cast my 1st level cleric spells. You could leave Wisdom at 8, if you really wanted to (and still use wands, regardless of current Wisdom) and equip a +3 item.

[Seneca_Windforge]

You can't use DV's on yourself so why are you guys even mentioning them? Doesn't help your SP pool at all. It's a nice bonus to help out the other casters but hardly worth factoring in taking a clr level or not.

Most players don't solo.

It may not be SP that you can use, but it is SP nonetheless, and it helps out the party. In Seneca's case, I see absolutely no reason not to drop 1 AP to use my three otherwise useless turns to provide ~50 SP for the party.

[Mad_Bombardier]

1clr/13sorc FTW

-DV (10 @ 15-25sp each)

Nothing like a Sorc who gets 15 DV1s for 1 AP.

[teddok]

Go with Bard. You get UMD, a couple of songs a few more spells a a decent amount of mana.

[Veers]

1 level of Cleric is a fun splash for a Wiz. Free wand usage so no UMD required, an extra 2 points on your Will save, and a few first level Cleric spells that can help in a pinch.

[spifflove]

You can certainly splash a level of nearly anything with wizard and it won't have a huge impact. Basicaly you get spells a bit later than everyone else and lose a bit of spell penetration.

If you want to heal you have a few choices...

Class
1 level of cleric (wide range of wands, cure light wounds spell, decent mana requires 11 wisdom)
1 level of ranger (healing wands, bow str, martial weapons, little or no mana)
1 level of bard (healing wands, cure light wounds, UMD access, trivial song use, decent mana, requires 11 charisma)
1 level of rogue (UMD access, rogue skill access, no mana)

Race
halfling with dragon marks (requires up to 3 feats, develops slow, eventualy get powerful Heal spell, no wand use, can stay pure wizard)
Warforged (Pure wizard, immunities, powerful self healing)

Oh no, the song use is not trivial.

[Dariun]

I would probably go with 1 lvl of bard for a wizard w/healing who can solo (you should be able to get a pretty good UMD this way), but I have a friend who took one level of ranger on his wizard and is quite happy with it.

He wears a mithril chain shirt and can buff himself up enough to melee a bit on low and mid level quests (but for higher level quests he's a wizard and backup healer). He's got a little arcane spell failure to worry about, but he's drow and took the arcane fluidity enhancements so it's not that bad.