Planning to go full wizard 20, any suggestions.

[Ghalleon]

I have access to 32 pt builds, and also wanted to make a warforged for the character. Is there any suggestions for a first time caster player to go for on the wizard. Looking over the pale master updates for U5 and it was not sounding great but looked interesting at least. Just trying to figure out a good setup to try and go with, doesn't necessarily have to be a full on build, but a good suggestions for starting points would be something helpful.

[Kriogen]

Do not go Pale Master.

Stats:
- max INT (18), all levelup points into INT
- CON 16 or even more
- STR 14 is nice. You can melee at low levels and you don't get helpless if hit by enfeeble. Plus loot is heavy

Skills:
- Concentration

Feats:
- 1x Toughness. Extra HPs (wizards get only 4 HP/level, not alot) and opens up racial HP enhancements
- Insighfull Reflexes is nice. You use INT and not DEX for reflex saves. Not must, but nice.

Magical feats:
- Maximize for damage. Also works with repair spells
- Extand for long lasting buffs (Displace so mobs cant hit you, Haste so you can kite better)
- Quicken. But at higher levels. You never fail casting and you cast faster. Don't use allways, just sometimes
- Heighten. So you have max DC with lowlevel CC spells

For me this would be basic. There rest is optional.

[LunaCee]

Hmm...

14 STR, 18 CON, 18 INT

01 Insightful Reflexes, Extend
03 Toughness
05 Maximize
06 Spell Focus Necromancy (Can swap to SF: Enchantment later if you want after trying Pale Master)
09 Empower
10 Heighten

Should give you a fair start. Pale Master is actually better at earlier levels than later on sad to say. But it can be great fun to pop out the little arcane before buffing up and rampaging through a quest with a Carnifex or other great low level melee weapon.

Masters Touch (1st level spell) + Bulls Strength (2nd) + Rage (3rd) + Haste (3rd) = Melee capable for the first nine to ten levels. Takes some smart play to not get smacked down hard, but you will have a LOT more fun using your spell points to make yourself melee viable and self repairing as needed.

Upon taking the 1st tier Pale Master PrE at 6th and acquiring the arcane summon you should mostly pop him out before you go into bigger fights. He can deal reasonable damage for quests on normal and hard, and since you are supposedly in melee unless you see an opportunity to swap to a casting set to lay down a couple CC/AoE spells to great effect the fact the arcane skeleton casts hold person can be used to great effect. Wizard self buffed to 20 STR and wielding a decent great axe or pick is death on anything held by their pet skeleton wizard.

Carnifex if you have one is a great choice at that level for this kind of tactic, should be reliably hitting things for over 30-40 damage. The more things you can get away with killing in melee the more spell points you can save to actually nuke down named mobs or particularly large groups with as needed.

Be sure to get, use, and love your Melf's Acid Arrow! Sure the damage sucks per tick... but it can be used as a fire and forget on things perched up on a ledge. Just drop an extended Melf on them and let it do the work of killing them while you go someplace else and don't take damage from them. It also shuts down troll regen and keeps it off, making dancing around and killing trolls in melee easier. It can also be used with maximize on if you don't want to get close to a boss. Maximized + Extended Melf can be used to take orange/red named melee bosses down a peg. A good example would be the ogre in Kobold's New Ringleader on elite while solo. Hopping up onto the box stack before he busts down the door, then drop that on him and get the sweet XP without him smashing you flat in melee.

Good spells to have:
1st: Master's Touch, Expeditious Retreat, Magic Missile, Hypnotism
2nd: Bull's Strength, Melf's Acid Arrow, Scorching Ray, Web, Blur
3rd: Rage, Haste, Fireball (can double for busting open doors), Halt Undead, Suggestion, Displacement
4th: Firewall, Stoneskin, Dimension Door, Enervation, Force Missiles
5th: Cone of Cold, Teleport, Break Enchantment, Cloudkill

That should be enough to get you started I think.

Oh and Kriogen, best to let him try Pale Master and draw his own conclusions I'd say... we get posts every other week asking if Pale Master is any good. Its niche, but can be used somewhat effectively.