What spells should every wizard have mem'd?

[Cairo]

Title says it all.

What spells should every wizard be carrying for end-game questing and raiding?
I dont mean ones you switch out for situational quests, I mean "These spells never leave your spellbook ever no matter what never ever ever never ever"?

Level 1:
Level 2:
Level 3:
Level 4:
Level 5:
Level 6:
Level 7:
Level 8:
Level 9:

[Anneliese]

Haste

[Tanka]

Haste, Rage, Displacement, Stoneskin, Resist Energy

[bogart99]

1st magic missile jump
2nd resist energy web blur
3rd rage haste displacement chain missiles
4th wall of fire Fire shield enervation come update 8 ice storm.
5th hold monster cloud kill
6th Greater heroism Disintegrate flesh to stone Reconstruct
7th Otto's Sphere of dancing Finger of death Mass Energy Protection
8 Otto's irresistible dance
9th Hold monster mass Wail of the Banshee Energy drain

[Pape_27]

Grease
Firewall

[Rubiconn]

Waves of fatigue

[voodoogroves]

1st magic missile jump
2nd resist energy web blur
3rd rage haste displacement chain missiles
4th wall of fire Fire shield enervation come update 8 ice storm.
5th hold monster cloud kill
6th Greater heroism Disintegrate flesh to stone Reconstruct
7th Otto's Sphere of dancing Finger of death Mass Energy Protection
8 Otto's irresistible dance
9th Hold monster mass Wail of the Banshee Energy drain

Good start; for end game I'd drop magic missile, hold monster & reconstruct ... add waves of fatigue.

[PopeJual]

Haste
Resist Energy
Wall of Fire
Blur and/or Displacement
level appropriate crowd control
Jump
Reconstruct (unless you're one of those fleshy types for some strange reason...)

[bogart99]

Good start; for end game I'd drop magic missile, hold monster & reconstruct ... add waves of fatigue.

MM is just their because really by the point you can cast 9th level spells it doesn't much matter other than jump what you slot in your first level spells The same can be said of Chain Missiles once you have Disintigrate force spells are pointless. Hold monster is excellent for picking up spares where mass has missed. Reconstruct I keep because I pug a lot and people who play wf never think to say anything which puts more pressure on the party cleric also there are not many 6th level spells worth slotting in my experience. Waves of fatigue has been nerf so it no longer slows boss mob encounters so not bothering with it anymore not that it was a good spell in the first place.

[knightgf]

Title says it all.

What spells should every wizard be carrying for end-game questing and raiding?
I dont mean ones you switch out for situational quests, I mean "These spells never leave your spellbook ever no matter what never ever ever never ever"?

Level 1: Grease, Jump
Level 2: Knock, Resist Energy, False Life.
Level 3: Haste, Displacement, Rage, Sleet Storm(Only if you can spare the slot, otherwise, idk.)
Level 4: Wall of Fire, Ice Storm, Death Aura(Only if you are a pale master)
Level 5: ???
Level 6: Reconstruct
Level 7: Mass protection from elements, delayed blast fireball.
Level 8: Polar Ray
Level 9: Summon Monster IX, Meteor Swarm, Wail of the Banshee, Mass Hold Person

Answers in red. Hopefully it helped a little(And hopefully I didn't get the spell categories mixed up...)

[RTN]

Fire Shield is something you should mem. I'd personally cast True Seeing off a scroll (or let the clerics cast it).

[winsom]

1st: Jump, Shield/Nightshield, Summon Monster I or II
2nd: Web, Knock, Resist Energy, Summon Monster I or II
3rd: Displacement, Haste, Rage, Chain or Force Missile
4th: Chill Shield, Wall of Fire
5th: Break Enchantment, Cloudkill, Cone of Cold
6th: Chain Lightning (if no Force spells), Disintegrate, Mass/Symbol Suggestion, Reconstruct
7th: Protection Elements Mass, Finger of Death, Otto's Dancing Sphere, Waves of Exhaustion
8th: Otto's Irresistible Dance, Polar Ray, Summon Monster VIII
9th: Energy Drain, Hold Monster Mass, Meteor Swarm (if Phoenix Regalia), Summon Monster IX

My Commentary:

Shield/Nightshield, Displacement, Energy Resist and Protection, and Fire shield are invaluable defenses to have at your finger tips. Wands use is OK (i.e. stone skin) when you have time. You might have a couple charges of 15th level stone skin from Green steel clothing, otherwise you can prepare Stone skin in memory. Pale-Masters will not always have the open slot for it.

Break Enchantment and Summon I or II are conveniences. You can remove most persistent enemy spell effects, such as those that obscure vision. Downgrade your Summon 8 or 9 into something harmless by casting Summon I or II. Low level monsters are also fun to surprise people with after they have been beating down CR 18s for a long time.

Cloudkill, Dancing Sphere, Rage, Waves of Exhaustion, and Suggestions are usually only utility-use spells at high level rather than the game-changers they used to be. Very competent teams do not need these spells, but you casting them at appropriate times can make adventures go a little easier. You appear to be trying to help your team and most people will appreciate that.

Chain Missile or Ball/Chain Lightning to have a non-fire/ice source of damage. Chain Lightning can hit really hard. At very high level you are often not needed to deal this kind of damage, but it can be nice to have available at times.

Two of your best high level control spells are Summon VIII (Air Elemental) and Otto's Irresistible Dance. These are more useful in the adventures than the raids, but many raid monsters will be vulnerable too.

Summon IX is a utility damage-over-time spell. It's damage does not seem impressive, but it adds up over time for the few spell points you spent on it. The utility comes from having an AI presence that can react/attack very fast and thus warn you if you do not see the monster yet. Teleporting Hezrous can be a good diversion.

Meteor Swarm is the highest "damage" spell in DDO if you have an item to boost its potency by +50%. If I hit a fire-immune boss with the Swarm he still takes bludgeon damage that is about equal to my Polar Ray spell.

Energy Drain can potentially "remove" a very large amount of Hit Points if you cast it when the monster is still very healthy. This is because the lost levels lower the monster's hit point total rather than doing actual damage. If you cast Drain at something with a lot of damage already on it then your Drain will apply it's negative level de-buff but not remove any of the monster's health. Drain works very well on monsters with huge hit point totals with lots of levels/CR. Also works great to instant-kill things with 4 levels or less, but why bother unless you are feeling very cruel ?

[Entelech]

Must Haves:

Level 1: Jump, Detect Secret Doors, Shield or Nightshield (you choose)
Level 2: Blur, Resist Energy, Invisibility
Level 3: Haste
Level 4: Wall of Fire, Death Aura (if Pale Master)
Level 5: Teleport, Break Enchantment, Cone of Cold
Level 6: Disintegrate, Reconstruct (if Warforged), Greater Heroism, Acid Fog
Level 7: Finger of Death, (unless Epic) Greater Teleport
Level 8: Polar Ray, Otto's irresistable Dance
Level 9: Wail of the Banshee (unless Epic)


Situational:

Level 1: Summon Monster 1
Level 2: Knock
Level 3: Displacement, Frost Lance, Rage (now that it has been fixed)
Level 4: Negative Energy Burst (if Pale Master), Dimension Door
Level 5:
Level 6: Mass Suggestion
Level 7: Otto's Dancing Sphere, Waves of Exhaustion
Level 8: Summon Monster VIII, Sunburst
Level 9: Summon Monster IX, Energy Drain, Meteor Swarm, Mass Hold Monster

[sephiroth1084]

I keep seeing people advocating preparing Invisibility. Why? Scrolls are just as good in nearly any situation and don't burn SP.

[Entelech]

I keep seeing people advocating preparing Invisibility. Why? Scrolls are just as good in nearly any situation and don't burn SP.

Second-level spell slots are not generally in tight supply. And it's just handy to have available at a moment's notice. Generally, about the time Scorching Ray becomes less-than-impressive is when you prep it.

Mass Invisibility, however, is competing against a number of excellent spells for a spot. And a big use of Invisibility is on yourself before the party kicks off a fight, so those 12 Ogres don't charge right past the fighter, ranger, and cleric to make a beeline for the Wizard as soon as they see the party. Invising the party may be more expensive without Mass Invis, but the screwdriver on a Swiss Army Knife isn't as good as a real screwdriver, either. It's still handy.

And until they create a container for scrolls, Invisibility scrolls aren't going to be among those clogging my inventory.


I didn't list Feather Fall or Expeditious Retreat in my list because they depend on your gear. Expeditious Retreat is the more convenient of the two, because it's a 'fire and forget' spell that effectively eliminates the need for Striding Boots. But my Wizard recently obtained a pair of raid boots with 30% striding and other goodness on them, so I swapped Exp Retreat for Feather Fall when I lost Feather Falling on my shoes.

[RTN]

I keep seeing people advocating preparing Invisibility. Why? Scrolls are just as good in nearly any situation and don't burn SP.

Agreed. Anything that can be cast off a scroll with minimum loss of function should be cast from a scroll. This will be a little different for new players without much cash, but for a capped character, this shouldn't be an issue.

I never mem the following because I have them on scrolls:
Mass Invis (or Invis--end game gear has clickies or just scroll Mass since it lasts longer)
Teleport
Mass Teleport
True Seeing

I'll sometimes carry Stoneskin, but the wands out of the Twelve are almost as good (remember that it only covers up to 10 pts of damage per hit, so lower level versions simply don't last as long). Most end game melee will also have a Min II with x2 clicky for it.

For my WF Wiz, I mem and carry scrolls of Reconstruction. I only cast it from memory when I need them desperately. Otherwise I use the scroll to conserve sp (unless I know I'll have more than enough until completion or the next shrine). When I'm called on to keep a WF tank up, those scrolls get a lot of use.

[FluffyCalico]

What spells should every wizard be carrying for end-game questing and raiding?
:

The whole point of a wizard is you can take a custom set of spells to every quest.

If you are truely looking for a list of end game spells to "always have" then you should be playing a sorc.

[sephiroth1084]

The whole point of a wizard is you can take a custom set of spells to every quest.

If you are truely looking for a list of end game spells to "always have" then you should be playing a sorc.

I disagree. You don't ever get annoyed at a wizard who doesn't have a particular spell prepared?

Yes, wizards are supremely flexible, and sometimes you just do really need all over you level 7 spell slots devoted to non-standard spells at end game, but that's certainly the exception. Otherwise, there are definitely spells that every wizard should be carrying at all times at lvl 20. The ones I listed are the ones that are almost always called upon and that can make the quest much more difficult if you've forgotten them.

[FluffyCalico]

I disagree. You don't ever get annoyed at a wizard who doesn't have a particular spell prepared?

.

Nope because before I enter an epic with a pug wizard I let them know which spells I want them to have before entering. Although sometime I do get annoyed when they don't have an important spell scribed.

The most important thing a wiz can do at endgame is make sure they have every single arcane spell scribed. If you are new to a quest on epic setting ask the leader what spells he wants you to have.

The simple fact that the people in this thread can't agree on what spells you should have memed proves that there is no list that is going to make every group happy and thus the benifit of being a wiz.

However if you are dead set on a list you can try this one


1) Expeditious Retreat-Protection from evil- Jump
2) Resist Energy-Knock-invis-Web
3) Displacement-Force Missles- Rage- Haste
4) Wall of Fire -Ice storm- Demision Door- Fire shield
5) Break enchantment- Cloudkill- Cyclone -Teleport
6) Reconstruct- Symbol of persuasion- Greater Heroism
7) Finger of Death- danceball- Reconstruct-Hold Person, Mass
8) Polar Ray-Summon 8-Ottos Irresitable Dance
9) Meteor Sawrm- Energy Drain-Hold Monster, Mass

[ddoer]

The whole point of a wizard is you can take a custom set of spells to every quest.

If you are truely looking for a list of end game spells to "always have" then you should be playing a sorc.

agree.

I keep seeing people advocating preparing Invisibility. Why? Scrolls are just as good in nearly any situation and don't burn SP.

For me, there are several reasons:

• inv costs just 15sp. it is nothing to me. Getting shot by one or two arrows will recover that amount of SP.
• most quest, esp those new epic quests, have too many rest shrines that even a low mana wiz will have enough mana to spend. The main scenario that you may not have enough mana is when nuking bosses, that you won't need to go inv.
• For me, i have too many clickies and gears to keep in inventory and usually do not have enough space.