4th class question

[Alricstorm]

First of all me and my family members are not looking to "own" this game. That being said we also would like to be able to kick a little butt and have some fun in it.

So far they have all decided on there classes. We have so far: Dwarf paladin, Human cleric, and halfling rogue. I will be the forth. We have all played D&D since shortly after it was invented. I am very open to what class I play. Right now I am thinking mostly about a wizard, ranger, or bard. I will say that I do not care much for the sorcerer but I would be open to other suggestions. The main thing I want is the class that will help our little four man group the most.

So the burning question. What would YOU suggest for a fourth?

[MageLL]

Think you're right on with the Wizard. If you never played a caster I strongly suggest playing a wizard first.

Sorcs are a tad more challenging.

The biggest benefit to the Wizard is you have access to every arcane spell in the game. Therefor you can learn what they do and how they work for you, without the penalties sorcs and bards take for switching spells.

A tank, cleric, caster, and rogue is a solid group for most any quest. Some quest its helps to have more of 1 particular class, but having at least 1 of each you'll do fine.

[Uska]

Wizard will do your group a lot of good a bard wouldnt be bad but they are a little bit harder to play in ddo for someone new.

[Thrudh]

FYI

The BEST way to play this game is with a static group of friends... Make a pact to try to do all (most) quests together for the first time (you're allowed to repeat any quest you've already done with other groups). That way, you all get to experience each quest without knowing what to expect and without being told what to do...

The game really is a lot like PnP when played this way... very very fun...

As for your fourth class... wizard for sure... very good balanced group to have melee, cleric, rogue, wizard...

Good luck to you!

[hydra_ex]

Think you're right on with the Wizard. If you never played a caster I strongly suggest playing a wizard first.

Sorcs are a tad more challenging.

The biggest benefit to the Wizard is you have access to every arcane spell in the game. Therefor you can learn what they do and how they work for you, without the penalties sorcs and bards take for switching spells.

A tank, cleric, caster, and rogue is a solid group for most any quest. Some quest its helps to have more of 1 particular class, but having at least 1 of each you'll do fine.

Wizards are more challenging, as you can't nuke everything if you have a sorc. In DDO, however, You'll have enough spell selection anyways (besides maybe lvl 9 spells, which arent out yet). Wizards have more feats though. I'd reccomened playing a wiz first to learn mana conservation, but if you really want to be a nuker, be a maxed cha and con human sorc. Make sure your CHA and your CON are as high as you can get them, balance IS NOT important in DDO, and is the number 1 biggest mistake new players make.

[MrWizard]

First of all me and my family members are not looking to "own" this game. That being said we also would like to be able to kick a little butt and have some fun in it.

So far they have all decided on there classes. We have so far: Dwarf paladin, Human cleric, and halfling rogue. I will be the forth. We have all played D&D since shortly after it was invented. I am very open to what class I play. Right now I am thinking mostly about a wizard, ranger, or bard. I will say that I do not care much for the sorcerer but I would be open to other suggestions. The main thing I want is the class that will help our little four man group the most.

So the burning question. What would YOU suggest for a fourth?

wizard....you would like to round out the group with a caster to control mobs and help with buffs.
Wizard gets more spell slots, yet less mana. It will be beneficial since you are not knowledagle about all the spells in DDO and how they work.
A wizard allows switching them out at a shrine..a sorc can only switch one spell every 3 days.

Go wizard...straight...

[wrinyn]

wizard....you would like to round out the group with a caster to control mobs and help with buffs.
Wizard gets more spell slots, yet less mana. It will be beneficial since you are not knowledagle about all the spells in DDO and how they work.
A wizard allows switching them out at a shrine..a sorc can only switch one spell every 3 days.

Go wizard...straight...

I've only ever played wizards in any RPG or MMO that is fantasy based. I think you will thoroughly enjoy the arcane journey of the wizard. Being a wizard you will change your perception of yourself multiple times and it is very fluid. All I can say is have fun....Journey on little Neophye....May your chill touches connect and your magic missiles never miss....

[Vyctor]

The biggest benefit to the Wizard is you have access to every arcane spell in the game. Therefor you can learn what they do and how they work for you, without the penalties sorcs and bards take for switching spells.

This is somewhat incorrect, if wizards could cast any arcane spell, you would think they would be able to scribe the various cure spells that are available to bards, as bards cast arcane spells.

[Naso24]

I am assuming you don't have drow (450 favor) or 32 pt (1750 favor) unlocked yet.

A wizard is a fine choice. My suggestion is do not short yourself on CON. Hit points are important, and will be the one thing you regret not having more of later on - wizards are squishy. That said, my suggestion for a 28 pt wizard are dwarf, warforged, and halfling. You can make a variety of builds with these races that will be very survivable. Don't start with less than 14 CON (16 for Dwarf and Warforged, since you get +2 to CON).

[Electric_Pulses]

I dont care what anyone says wizards r more versatile therefore better n u can nuke regardless of being sorc or wizard, as long as u play smart not a butt load of mana or hp is needed, it makes things much much easier and building a good character is important but just cuz ur build is good wont mean u will be good. important things to know are that wizards/sorcs shld rarely grab agro of the enemies, dont be 1 trick ponies (ex. only nuke or only crow control), starting at lvl 5 always have haste. having a high con is nice but isnt needed, an amazing sorc named trayne at lvl 14 had a base con of 6 n 54 health, never saw em die in quests.

[Saragon]

This is somewhat incorrect, if wizards could cast any arcane spell, you would think they would be able to scribe the various cure spells that are available to bards, as bards cast arcane spells.

No, it's not incorrect at all. Bards are not arcane casters. Bards have limited access to spells that fall into both divine and arcane catagories. They can not be labelled as either divine or arcane casters.

[Astria]

No, it's not incorrect at all. Bards are not arcane casters. Bards have limited access to spells that fall into both divine and arcane catagories. They can not be labelled as either divine or arcane casters.

As per the player's handbook, "Bards cast arcane spells (the same type as wizards and sorcerers), which are drawn from the bard spell list."

Meaning, the bard does cast spells that have divine equivalents, however, he/she casts them as arcane spells. It is the same thing as a cleric casting dispel magic ( which would be divine) vs. a wizard or sorcerer casting it, which would be an arcane spell.

[Astria]

And to the OP.

I would suggest going with wizard. Your group looks pretty well-rounded otherwise, and a wizard's versatility can make things run smoothly. I've played a sorcerer to cap, and and currently working on a wizard. A lot of people seem to think that wizards are gimped due to a lack of spell selection, and while I would like to see more spells in the game, I'm enjoying leveling my wizard just as much as I liked my sorcerer. They are both fun to play, but I find that my wizard is able to add more to a larger variety of grouping situations. My sorcerer shines where there needs to be more DPS, because he can fling fingers of death, phantasmal killers, fire walls, and polar rays willy-nilly without caring too much about SP ( I haven't turned empower/maximize off in quite some time, and I hardly ever run out). While it can be fun to just throw spells around, in some groups, it is completely unnecessary because they already have plenty of DPS. A wizard is fairly nice because it can meet a variety of needs. You'll have the option of multiple damage spells if you need them, and/or some more buffs if your party is taking care of most things. A bard would be a good idea too, but more difficult for a newer player, and less crowd control than a wizard has. Of course, my opinion is bias because I tend to lean towards casters anyway... :-)

[Solmage]

As a human wizard, you can get the same INT at end-game than a drow could, so I recommend that path.

As for stats, 18 int is a must. 14 con is a good number (You can live with 12 mind you, but I wouldn't go any lower than 14). You don't need points into dex since you can use a feat (for example, your human bonus feat) to use your intelligence for reflex saves (insightful reflexes). You also don't need any points into strength.

That leaves wisdom and charisma. I suggest putting all the remaining points into either charisma or wisdom, but not both. Charisma helps you with skills such as diplomacy, bluff, and the big one, use magic device, which is one of the best skills in the game. Wisdom really only helps you with your will save. But since will is your strong save, and if you really wanted, you could dump a feat into using charisma for your will save (force of personality), chances are charisma will be better for a 4-man team, but wisdom will also be useful.

(Note that some dialog options require diplomacy or bluff, depending on the quest, to make a quest easier or to gain an additional reward)

[Saragon]

As per the player's handbook, "Bards cast arcane spells (the same type as wizards and sorcerers), which are drawn from the bard spell list."

Meaning, the bard does cast spells that have divine equivalents, however, he/she casts them as arcane spells. It is the same thing as a cleric casting dispel magic ( which would be divine) vs. a wizard or sorcerer casting it, which would be an arcane spell.

From a pnp perspective, that's absolutely right when defining a bard's magic as being arcane because it doesn't come from a divine source. I was talking about it in the context of this thread in which Vyctor used the argument that since bards cast arcane spells and cast cure spells, the cure spells are arcane and should therefore be scribable by wizards. My point was that bard have different spell lists from that of of wizards and sorcs who share the same arcane spell list. Defining bards as arcane casters who share those spell lists would be wrong.