Group friendly wizard suggestions?

[HanzelC]

I am not wrong. I try and play a wizard smart (with intellegence) so that the character doesn't take a lot of damage. Imagine that a smart wizard that tries to help without grabbing all the aggro.
I choose to take the enchantments for spell amplifications and prestige, rather than fixing a bad choice of race (just getting you fired up with that crack).
Anyway, again, your choices should reflect how you play the game, not how I would or my vocal WF freind above would play.

Oldguy

[Velexia]

There's a group of 4-6 of us that game together and we're diving into DDO as a bunch of newbs. We're making characters to form a well balanced group.

In looking through these forums it sounds like there are a LOT of wizards going the Warforged route. And so many posts sound like people focus on creating solo characters. If we have a Cleric in the group, is that still a wise idea? Nobody else will be Warforged in the group.

This wizard won't be soloing, or very rarely will be. Our group will have a tank, a cleric, and a trap-monkey (that the latest slang now? lol) for sure.

What race/class/build would everyone suggest to be a good addition to a balanced group? We were thinking some Wizard variant so that we'd have high Int character for those "Your Intelligence is too low!" rune things.

I have access to 32-point build, Monk, Favored Soul, Warforged, Drow, and Veteran (lvl 4) starting. I can also buy other stuff if needed.

Thanks!

Elf Wizard with Intelligence, Constitution, and Strength.

With:
Extend Spell
Jump
Sleep
Blur
Resist Energy
Haste

[Sarisa]

In a lot of cases, it's FAR better for the wizard (or sorcerer) to have aggro than the melees.

Things die faster, you need less healing, and you don't always put yourself in a great deal of risk. You do have to be able to take a hit or two, and building a 150hp (or even 250hp...) at level 20 caster is a seriously bad idea.

And like said before, there is a lot of unavoidable damage. You WILL get devils teleporting on top of you. You WILL have areas where you have to bunch up with the melees and get cleaved. You WILL take fireballs to the face. You WILL take 250 point disintegrates in elite and 400 point disintegrates in epic. HP and CON are important.

I also strongly agree with some of the other posters in that STR is also not a dump stat. I'm appalled at just how many level 20 casters I see in epics or high level raids that get incapacitated with a SINGLE Ray of Enfeeblement. You will first see a lot of strength drain and penalties in the desert, level 11ish; or in the Necro 2 series at around level 8-10.

[Lycurgus]

I am not wrong. I try and play a wizard smart (with intellegence) so that the character doesn't take a lot of damage.

I'd really like to see a video of how this is done in elite VoD and Amrath.

[Velexia]

There's a group of 4-6 of us that game together and we're diving into DDO as a bunch of newbs. We're making characters to form a well balanced group.

In looking through these forums it sounds like there are a LOT of wizards going the Warforged route. And so many posts sound like people focus on creating solo characters. If we have a Cleric in the group, is that still a wise idea? Nobody else will be Warforged in the group.

This wizard won't be soloing, or very rarely will be. Our group will have a tank, a cleric, and a trap-monkey (that the latest slang now? lol) for sure.

What race/class/build would everyone suggest to be a good addition to a balanced group? We were thinking some Wizard variant so that we'd have high Int character for those "Your Intelligence is too low!" rune things.

I have access to 32-point build, Monk, Favored Soul, Warforged, Drow, and Veteran (lvl 4) starting. I can also buy other stuff if needed.

Thanks!

Elf Wizard with Intelligence, Constitution, and Strength.

With:
Extend Spell
Jump
Sleep
Blur
Resist Energy
Haste

[LordMond63]

As I see it, if you have a party member who is going to be your dedicated trap finder/disabler, lock picker, etc., then you don't necessarily need another character with Rogue skills. You'd be better off playing a single-class Wizard for the Prestige Feat as well as having the maximum number and diversity of spells possible. It's also because of the Wizard's superior diversity that I recommend it over a Sorceror.

Now, that said, you can still go Warforged for the self-healing capability, as that will take a bit of pressure off of your 'overworked' (they all say this...and are often right!) healer. Also, for even more survivability, you could take the next step and splash a couple of Rogue levels, getting Evasion and Insightful Reflexes in the process. Both enable you to survive things that go boom (or zap or thud or whatever) more easily, which will also lessen the pressure on your healer.

Bottom line is that I just do not think you can go wrong with either choice.

[Thrudh]

The purpose of recommending a WF sorcerer over a wizard is mainly due to the mana pool you have access to as a sorcerer.

As a new player you will find yourself running out of mana fairly quickly. it will take some time before you have a good grasp on mana management , thus my recommendation.

As far as having every arcane spell at your fingertip, you will see as you progress through levels, you do not use a great majority of those spells.

That being said, you will find as you experience this game and find your own play style, you will create and try many different characters builds.

Remember to have fun!

First time players should almost always chose wizard over sorceror, so they can easily try out and play with all the spells.

[andreascott89]

I would go warforged 18 wiz / 2 rogue
max int / con
archmage
insightful reflexes

This gives you high survivability and flexibility. You will have a blast with this one.

If you later decide the capstone is the be all end all, go ahead and reincarnate. No reason not to level one build and later switch to more of a min/max.

J

[aristarchus1000]

I find having high reflex save with Insightful Reflexes to be very helpful whether you have evasion or not. Especially if you pick warforged, you will won't have problems self-healing if you are hit with little spells here and there... it's the big BOOMs from failed saves that can be a problem, and evasion doesn't help you against failed saves....

Warforged is a great option, with Insightful Reflexes and high hitpoints, you get a chance to learn to play, since you have a lot more room to for error.

You can also experiment with different tactics, like when you intentionally grab all the aggro and control/kite it while the group picks off one at a time. Perhaps not all the time, but there is certain content where having the Arcane kite the aggro is the preferred strategy.

Personally, I preferred leveling my wizard pure rather than with rogue splash, but I think that has more to do with playstyle. I found with many levels from 1 to 15 or so, that not having access to the highest level spell for that level's content made things more difficult than they needed to be.

[ProdigalGuru]

WF Pure Wizard Enchantment Archmage with secondary Necromancy would be my advice.

Make sure to pick up the 1st tier of Healer's Friend and Arcane Casting Dexterity.

Enchantments are going to generally disable foes so your group can easily dispatch them.

Necromancy is going to allow you to drop single targets in one shot.

Concentrate on controlling the crowds and snuffing out dangerous targets and your group will love you for it.