What spells to use while leveling?

[SirValentine]

One line I don't see mentioned here is charm/suggestion/dominate. These spells are *excellent* for both preventing damage to you and causing damage to a group of enemies.

Hmmm...I never used them when I was a Wiz, mostly just because I was Necro/Conj specced, not Enchant at all. But now that I think about it, what I'm remembering is all the times I'd get ticked off because someone charmed something, and we'd be standing around waiting for them to dismiss the charm. Was more of a waste of time than a useful tactic, it seemed. Maybe better solo than in a party.

[Psiandron]

To be honest, I've never found Magic Missile to be that useful. Sure, it's assured damage, but the way the damage scales makes it so that at caster level 2, 4, and 6, you're better off casting a different spell. Unless you guys use metamagics on it at low levels?

MM is a great kill spell. Its really cheap, does force damage, doesn't miss (if you keep target in view) and, if you have it as an SLA, you can maximize and empower it for free.

And Archivist's Necklace is still a must-have for anyone that relies on SP, right?

I don't know about 'must have', but it's sure nice to have one when the sp is running low.

[Psiandron]

I notice a lot of people are still suggesting Wall of Fire, but I've also heard that Acid Rain is now superior to Wall of Fire.

FW did get nerfed and DoT spells like Acid Rain are the darling spells of the day, but they didn't nerf FW as much as they intended and it still rocks.

Okay, so Jump is a must have at tier 1. Is it a good idea to make it one of the first spells I pick when creating the wizard then?

I like Jump a lot. It's the easiest, cheapest way for a wizzy/sorc to get a good jump skill. Being able to hop over and out of trouble is sweet. It doesn't have to be one of your first spells though. I generally want attack spells first and wizzy dps doesn't exactly start out great.

What are spells that are a must to inscribe? I don't necessarily need ALL arcane magic, just the stuff that's useful.

Charm spells seem like a good idea...

That was kind of the point of my previous post, its all up to you. However you want to make your wizzy, that's the real determining factor. Like I said before, I like to inscribe all spells for maximum flexibility and since my AM is a millionaire that's not a problem. You could always do what Lithic said and use 3 (FB, FW, DBF) spells to propel you through content. Who am I to argue with a man who has put Star through 33 of 37 lives?

What are some good ways to get my DC up at low levels?

SF and GSF are useful. Items are always good. The Cunning Trinket from CC and the Abashai Set from Chronoscope are both good ways to increase your DC, at least for some schools of magic. The Cunning Trinket does Evocation and Necro and the Abashai Set does Evocation and Conjuration. Just a couple of examples. You don't really have to vault forward with plusses to your DC right out of the gate.
BTW, CT is an awesome pickup for any caster. I hope you have one. The being able to have 2 items which boost SP is nice for a wizard.

[gloopygloop]

Fireball!

In most quests on Normal all the way up through Gianthold, you can wipe out most enemies with a single Fireball if you have Maximise + Empower + Superior Inferno III or better running (along with a couple of AP spent on Fire).

People love Wall of Fire because it kills things effectively for a modest spell point investment. But it takes several ticks to kill enemies with a Wall of Fire. If you can kill those same enemies with a single Fireball, then you can move on to more enemies and kill them faster.

Acid Blast does the job on fire resistant/immune enemies very nicely with a Superior Erosion III clicky and a single AP spent on Acid.



Charm spells are also very useful while soloing. If you can Charm one enemy through a doorway before his buddies aggro onto you and they'll all aggro on your new minion. You can either kill them all in relative safety now or just run past them since they'll now ignore you in favor of ripping apart their former teammate. Charms tend to be annoying when you're running with a party if there is some quest-related reason for you to kill everyone in a group of enemies.


Even more important than spell selection when you're setting up your character is spell selection when you're in a quest. Target the ogres with charms/hold person/other will save spells. Target casters and melee enemies with Reflex save spells like Web. Target low fortfication enemies with instakill spells like Circle of Death, Finger of Death and Wail. Don't waste your spells by targeting enemies that are resistant to your spells (like Web on high reflex enemies or will save spells on casters).

[Carpone]

People love Wall of Fire because it kills things effectively for a modest spell point investment. But it takes several ticks to kill enemies with a Wall of Fire. If you can kill those same enemies with a single Fireball, then you can move on to more enemies and kill them faster.

Wall of Fire is mostly for annoying phasing mobs, like the spiders and wraiths in Shadow Crypt. I also use it in VON3 before pulling the three named right before the marut. Aside from that, Fireball/DBF is the way to go for my playstyle.

[kilagan800]

At Level 1 I always choose - Expiditious Retreat, Shield, then whatever spell my focus is on.

Level 2 - Resist Energy, Web, Knock, Blur

Level 3 - Heroism, Haste, Frost Lance, a splash spell like fire ball or acid splash.

Level 4 - Dimension Door, Wall of Fire, Remove Curse

Level 5 - Teleport

Level 6 - Greater Heroism

Level 7 - Greater Teleport

Level 8 - depends on your build

Level 9 - Meteor Swarm, Wail of the Banshee

[Cardtrick]

Level 5 - Teleport

Level 6 - Greater Heroism

Level 7 - Greater Teleport

On my pale master, I never memorize Teleport/Greater Teleport, and rarely memorize GH. They're all available on scrolls from vendors, and TP/GTP have exactly the same effect when cast from a scroll. GH's duration from a scroll is 11 minutes, which is plenty for me when soloing; I'll usually memorize it when in a party, though, just to keep people happy.

On a non-warforged archmage, I would probably memorize GH all the time, since they have little use for Necrotic Ray (pale master) or Reconstruct (warforged), freeing up a 6th level spot.

[Zachski]

Huh... alrighty then.

I think for this character, I'm going to want to roll him as an elf, due to the ability to have better spell penetration. (And the extra SP doesn't hurt early on)

I'm still torn between Archmage and Pale Master, though. Archmage seems like the idealization of the flexibility of the Wizard class, whereas Pale Master is more of a specific archetype, the necromancer archetype. That being said, Pale Master has innate self-healing, which is beneficial.

In essence, I'm being torn between flavor and efficiency :\

[gloopygloop]

Huh... alrighty then.

I think for this character, I'm going to want to roll him as an elf, due to the ability to have better spell penetration. (And the extra SP doesn't hurt early on)

I'm still torn between Archmage and Pale Master, though. Archmage seems like the idealization of the flexibility of the Wizard class, whereas Pale Master is more of a specific archetype, the necromancer archetype. That being said, Pale Master has innate self-healing, which is beneficial.

In essence, I'm being torn between flavor and efficiency :\

Pale Master.

The self healing is ENORMOUS. Even considering how good everyone says it is, the reality is even better than the advertisements.

Also, Pale Masters can get outstanding DCs in schools other than Necromancy. Lich form gives +2 Int which gives a +1 DC and you can get the +1 DC from Yugo potions without having to worry about the -50% fortification because you'll have 200% fortification in Lich form.

[Zachski]

Pale Master.

The self healing is ENORMOUS. Even considering how good everyone says it is, the reality is even better than the advertisements.

Also, Pale Masters can get outstanding DCs in schools other than Necromancy. Lich form gives +2 Int which gives a +1 DC and you can get the +1 DC from Yugo potions without having to worry about the -50% fortification because you'll have 200% fortification in Lich form.

Alright. I guess it really is no contest then.

Well, I'll reroll my Elf since one of the first feats I took is SF: Conjuration XD And he's not even level 2 yet, so really, respeccing is stupid, lol.