New WF Wiz

[Dietrying]

I just made a WF wiz and I'm trying to set up a build that will carry me well in the lower lvls and still work well at later lvls.

I've read a lot of forum posts and I picked WF since it seemed like the most useful wizard choice.

The things I'm most curious about is Feats and Enhancements.

What's seems to be the most common path? I have a custom build and I have not picked a Focus atm.

I'm fairly new to the DnD community so I'm pretty ignorant to how well some of these Feats explanations translates to functional use. I understand that certain abilities will have certain uses at certain times so if someone has an idea on a Feat and it seems to be a feat that is best used in a certain situation I'd appreciate a description of a good time to use the feat.

The only Feats I have right now is Insightful Reflexes and Maximize.

[VonBek]

Your post seems a little general in nature, to me. So I'll offer some general guildelines:

All characters get feat slots at 1, 3, 6, etc... As a Wizard, you'll always want more spell points than you'll have. Try to work in Mental Toughness, and Improved Mental Toughness earlier in your build. Follow those with Spell Penetration, and Greater Spell Pen. You could put Metamagic Feats in those slots, but...

Wizards get Metamagic feat slots at 1, 5, 10 ,15, 20. Extend is a good one to take at 1 or 3, but you may want to swap it out when your spell durations from leveling are sufficient without that metamagic turned on. Quicken can become useful about 10 or 15. Either Maximize or Empower helps when you need to squeeze out a bit more damage. If you've activated both, you may find you go through SP too quickly. I concentrate less on damage, but when I need it, I prefer maximize.

Similarly, Enhancements that boost Intelligence, and Spell Points make life a bit easier. The same can be said for Spell Pen enhancements. I'd pick only one line of elemental damage enhancements, unless you've got a solid plan requiring you to do otherwise.

Here's a couple of threads that can help with more detail, and give you some insights:
Wizards Handbook
& Shadow Mage 101

[Dietrying]

Thanks for the info. My question was intended to be general. I just needed some info and you hit the nail on the head.

I appreciate the info and I will take a look.

My big concern is coincidently gimping my character for a whole we few lvl by choosing a foolish feat because it sounds cool. As I read though it seems that Wizards are generally gimp until after lvl 7 anyways.

[VonBek]

Not so much gimp as ... requiring careful attention.

Keep an eye on Mana conservation - it's something you'll never get away from. Early on, you can place a couple of Charms to tilt the odds in your favor. Hypno and sleep help you sneak past some sticky points. If grouping, hypno, holds, make more sense.

Damage spells have their place - though not as much as with a Sorceror. As you start out, you can think of your character s an enabler for your party, a saboteur to the mobs, with the ability to knock some HP of the big bosses.

And, you'll never stop learning When you get more questions, bring 'em on.

[malthusian01]

I play with friends all the time, so I pick up extend before any other meta magic feat, and people always prefer max or empower. It all depends on what your situation is. As a Wiz you will be able to get just about if not all of the meta feats, its just the order that fits your style.

As for enhancements, i usually max out the spell points and int of course. After that I max out my fire/cold enhancements as best as it lets me (both the +% dmg and the crit chance). Fire Wall is a pretty big deal, and to have it as best as you can get it as soon as you get it at 7 is pretty awesome. Acid/Electric...I havent found a need to worry about buffing that with enhancement yet...force/repair, yes I try to max that after fire/cold because of magic missles and repair spells (I am usually always a WF, running with WF friends.) Being able to crit with a repair spell for more is always better then flinging a wand.