Wizard feats

[Thrudh]

I'm finally getting a wizard above 8th level... He'll make 9th tonight... but I'm wondering about my current and future feat choices...

My first wizard was a drow, with a low CON, and very few hps... I got him to 8th, but quit playing him because I got one-shotted all the time...

This guy is a dwarf with a decent CON and even a toughness feat and the dwarven toughness enhancements... I can take a quite a few hits now and with a fearsome robe, I usually survive getting the occasional aggro.

I'm trying to figure out what feats to take next...

Currently I have
Toughness
Mental Toughness
Improved Mental Toughness
Extend
Maximize

My question is, should I go with Spell Focus or Spell Penetration feats for 9th and 12th level? I'm leaning towards Spell Focus, but then I wonder if I should focus on a particular school like Necromancy or Enchantment and get both Spell Focus and Greater Spell Focus in one school, or should I maybe get one Spell Focus in two different schools.

Plus which schools offer the most bang for the buck? Note that I have a capped bard... I know how powerful and fun Enchantment can be, but I'd rather be more of a nuker with this character just for a different playstyle.

He has a maxed out Intelligence, and most spells seem to land fairly well even now without any Spell Focus feats or Spell Focus Items.

Or should I just get more meta-magic feats? (I do plan on getting Enlarge for my 10th level bonus feat - forgot to mention that)

Any advice?

[barecm]

I'm finally getting a wizard above 8th level... He'll make 9th tonight... but I'm wondering about my current and future feat choices...

My first wizard was a drow, with a low CON, and very few hps... I got him to 8th, but quit playing him because I got one-shotted all the time...

This guy is a dwarf with a decent CON and even a toughness feat and the dwarven toughness enhancements... I can take a quite a few hits now and with a fearsome robe, I usually survive getting the occasional aggro.

I'm trying to figure out what feats to take next...

Currently I have
Toughness
Mental Toughness
Improved Mental Toughness
Extend
Maximize

My question is, should I go with Spell Focus or Spell Penetration feats for 9th and 12th level? I'm leaning towards Spell Focus, but then I wonder if I should focus on a particular school like Necromancy or Enchantment and get both Spell Focus and Greater Spell Focus in one school, or should I maybe get one Spell Focus in two different schools.

Plus which schools offer the most bang for the buck? Note that I have a capped bard... I know how powerful and fun Enchantment can be, but I'd rather be more of a nuker with this character just for a different playstyle.

He has a maxed out Intelligence, and most spells seem to land fairly well even now without any Spell Focus feats or Spell Focus Items.

Or should I just get more meta-magic feats? (I do plan on getting Enlarge for my 10th level bonus feat - forgot to mention that)

Any advice?

I am not too sure why you took toughness and used enhancements in toughness. At level 14 my wizard has 188 hps (greater false life and the toughness helm from tapestry hand-ins). It wont matter if he had an extra 25 hps when high lvl mobs decide to aggro you. What does matter is how many spell points you have and how powerful your spells are.

A wizard at lvl 14 gets 8 feats. I would suggest taking extend, empower, enlarge, highten, maximize, mental toughness, improved mental toughness and spell penetration. The variable will be if you want enlarge. I find it useful, but others go with quicken or great spell penetration. Whatever, I think you get the idea. For enhancements, I would find the element you enjoy the most and max out to lvl 4. You choose a variety of different enhancements that help cut the spell point costs when casting. However, I would not recommend going with toughness on a wizard. You will eventually get access to the help from tapastry hand-ins that grant that feat for free.

[Sugneto]

If you want to be a nuker, then youd better get empower. Actually, any Wiz w/o empower should just reroll. You can CC just fine without having school focuses.

The previous posters assessment is right on the money. The feats he listed are the exact feats that i have specced on my Wiz. I rage up to 188 HPs and with displacement and stoneskin thats plenty. IMO enlarge is not optional at this point, its a must have. Its just too useful. People tend not to take full advantage of it, however. Imp Mental Toughness is the only feat I see as optional amongst those listed. That said, I wouldnt trade it out for toughness. On a dwarf you should be getting over the 200HP barrier easily which is plenty for a caster.

Also, if your getting 1 shotted all the time, stop taking aggro. Its not that hard to do.

[Dariun]

I know how powerful and fun Enchantment can be, but I'd rather be more of a nuker with this character just for a different playstyle.

Empower.

Empower + Maximize = BOOM!

It also means "hey! where did all my spell points go!". But it sure is fun while they last.


In the interest of full disclosure, my wizard has SF: enchantment -- it's my sorcerer (with many more spell points) who uses Empower + Maximize.

[Thrudh]

Interesting... so Spell Focus feats are not needed for effective PKing, FoDing, or CC (via Hold, Dances, etc) as long as one has a maxed out Int? (Mine will be 32 at cap with the +2 favor tome)

I'll go ahead and get Empower at 9 and play around with that...

Spell Penatration is actually recommended by some? How many things have Spell Resistance?

What spells do you all use Heighten on?

Thanks for the responses (I'm keeping the toughness feat for now... I like having lots of hit points)

[Dariun]

I have SF and GSF enchantment and that definitely helps for CC, but I'm giving serious thought to giving them up (I'd miss them, but I could live without them) and getting the Halfling dragonmarks instead.

Many things have Spell Resistance, but Spell Resistance doesn't help them against empowered, maximized firewalls or cones of cold. If you are elemental nuking for most of your attacks, spell resistance isn't a big deal (and as a Wiz, you can prepare elemental nuking spells v. enemies with spell resistance and other spells v. enemies w/out spell resistance).

I use Heighten on low level crowd control spells (hypnotism, ottos, web).

Wizards get a lot of feats. I don't see a problem with using one for Toughness, esp. with the dwarf enhancements to add value to it. It's nice to know if the party is in trouble you can wade in and start blowing things up, take a couple of hits, and keep right on nuking.

Interesting... so Spell Focus feats are not needed for effective PKing, FoDing, or CC (via Hold, Dances, etc) as long as one has a maxed out Int? (Mine will be 32 at cap with the +2 favor tome)

I'll go ahead and get Empower at 9 and play around with that...

Spell Penatration is actually recommended by some? How many things have Spell Resistance?

What spells do you all use Heighten on?

Thanks for the responses (I'm keeping the toughness feat for now... I like having lots of hit points)

[Ironwind]

Is the combat casting feat worth taking?

[Aspenor]

Is the combat casting feat worth taking?

Nope

[Laith]

the only spell that i heighten on these days is web. Even then, i'm not really sure if it justifies the feat.
Most low-level CC spells have higher-level counterparts that automatically have harder saves & better effects. Wizards can use their massive spell list to pick them up.

Heighten was incredibly useful before GH & Necropolis. I used to consider it necessary. In the age of firewall & FoD though, things have changed.

I'd recommend quicken spell myself. at +10 SP (unenhanced), you get to ignore concentration checks on top of casting quicker. Empower is a good choice as well, though i don't think it's as necessary to stack empower & maximize as many others do.

No, spell focus isn't really all that necessary. Helpful, but not required. If you use PK alot though, i'd advise Illusion Focus simply because PK has 2 saves. Spell Penetration would be more useful than a focus feat IMO.

Toughness is a wonderful choice for a dwarven arcane.

[Dariun]

Is the combat casting feat worth taking?

Not really. It's +4 Concentration which isn't worth a feat, imo.

[Ironwind]

I didn't know there was a feat that let you ignore casting interruptions (quicken spell).
Ah the ignorance of newbies.

[Laith]

I didn't know there was a feat that let you ignore casting interruptions (quicken spell).
Ah the ignorance of newbies.

Also, since casting is faster, it's easier to keep line-of-sight & facing during cast.

longer spells such as bladebarrier or symbols can still be interrupted by trip, stuns, or what have you as they still take some time.

quicken spell wasn't really worth it when it was +50% SP cost, but with the new system it's pretty sweet. The problem is that when you start using it, you'll probably become hooked...

I really recommend it for multiclassed caster/rogues that don't necessarily have the extra skillpoints to spare for concentration. Since i do turn quicken off fairly often still, i can't say that every caster should go and reroll without points in concentration though...

[Talon_Moonshadow]

My first Wiz (now14) was a drow with a high Int and a semi-high dex. She used to be squishy but I know longer consider her that way.
Con item, Greater false life item, Shield spell (sometimes +5 mithral buckler), Blur, Stoneskin, and applicable resists, high drow spell resistance, a few AP in an agro reducing enhancement, plus displacement on a hot key, and all I fear is a failed disintegrate save.

[Galapas]

I would go all-or-nothing on spell penetration.

If you take the feat, take the enhancements and get an item too. Most creatures with SR have it at about their HD+10. They use that compared to your level+d20+SP. Since they have more HD than you have levels, you either want a high SP, or you cast spells that can't be resisted. The middle ground isn't worth while.

I would only take SP if you are a hard core crowd controller, or a hard core death-spell caster. If you can confidently fall back on damaging spells, you can forgo spell penetration.

[Gratch]

the only spell that i heighten on these days is web. Even then, i'm not really sure if it justifies the feat.
Most low-level CC spells have higher-level counterparts that automatically have harder saves & better effects. Wizards can use their massive spell list to pick them up.

Heighten was incredibly useful before GH & Necropolis. I used to consider it necessary. In the age of firewall & FoD though, things have changed.

With Mod5 things changed again... Heightened level 1 Chill Touch. It means running Ghosts or Perdition for shield fragments without wipes. Makes for quick Orchard chest runs too.

[Corvid7]

I would certainly agree with the empower. Nothing says power like an extended-empowered-maximized firewall.