wizard's favorite prepared spells by level

[remember1]

looking to perceive which spells are more used at each level, in descending order, based on playing experience

starting with wizard level 1 and 2

lets start wizard level 1:

level 1 1st slot: magic missile
level 1 2nd slot: expeditious retreat
level 1 3rd slot: niac's cold ray

wizard level 2:

level 1 1st slot: magic missile
level 1 2nd slot: expeditious retreat
level 1 3rd slot: niac's cold ray
level 1 4th slot: mage armor

own preferences will be updated

[Enoach]

This is what I found

1st Level
1. Sonic Blast <- Stun and Damage - very little is immune to sonic damage - Has a cone effect so can be used as CC.
2. Charm <- Because there are many times you don't have to kill everything, just distract it
3. Masters Touch <- Even with 6 Strength a THW is a good way to crush a skull or two

2nd Level
4. Shield/Night Shield <- avoiding Magic Missile damage is a good thing

- If the wizard has access to 1st Level spell augmentation MM will have more damage but not the bonus stun which also increase damage
- Naic's is good, but not against high reflex mobs. A rookie mistake is attempting to Maximize spam this spell against high reflex mobs, doing almost no damage and draining you fast of SP.

Expeditious Retreat is also a good spell but one that comes on early Clickable items.

[remember1]

1st Level
1. Sonic Blast <- Stun and Damage - very little is immune to sonic damage - Has a cone effect so can be used as CC.
2. Charm <- Because there are many times you don't have to kill everything, just distract it
3. Masters Touch <- Even with 6 Strength a THW is a good way to crush a skull or two

selecting magic missile instead of sonic blast because of higher damage since I picked force enhancements but sonic is a good alternative

y I drop niac's in favor of charm and got master's touch in case of....

1st Level
2nd Level
4. Shield/Night Shield <- avoiding Magic Missile damage is a good thing.....
Expeditious Retreat is also a good spell but one that comes on early Clickable items.

prefer expeditious over shield/nightshield

so after wizard level 3


wizard level 3:

level 1 1st slot: magic missile
level 1 2nd slot: expeditious retreat
level 1 3rd slot: charm
level 1 4th slot: master's touch

level 2 1st slot: scorching ray
level 2 2nd slot: web

[EllisDee37]

Sonic blast is the best barrel-breaker in the entire game. It's so good that all my umd alts carry a stack of 100 sonic blast scrolls. I can't imagine not slotting it on a wizard. (Set to never use any metas, of course.)

Also, nightshield is one of my core buffs on both my cleric and wizard even at level 25.

Magic missile damage is terrible, even with a maxed force line with the best force gear. Just terrible. Only shirardi makes it worthwhile.

In terms of single-target ray-type spells, I much prefer:

Niac's Cold Ray
Scorching Ray (no save!)
Frost Lance (replacing niac's immediately)
Lightning Bolt (not a huge fan of this, but if not cold specced for some reason)
Necrotic Ray (probably best-in-game, but without nullification enhancements it's essentially PM-only)

None of the force damage "ray" spells are worth much at all even if force-specced: Magic Missile, Chain Missiles, Force Missiles.

[remember1]

I've played scarcely wizard in the past but gained a deeper insight in wizard's spells with the comments provided so far

....Niac's Cold Ray
Scorching Ray (no save!)
Frost Lance (replacing niac's immediately)
Lightning Bolt (not a huge fan of this, but if not cold specced for some reason)
Necrotic Ray (probably best-in-game, but without nullification enhancements it's essentially PM-only)....

since wizard is level 4 Frost Lance, Lightning Bolt, Necrotic Ray arent available yet

lets extend to the additional slot prepared at wizard level 4 (talking about the most obvious wizard's prepared spells, ofc in undead's dungeons disrupt undead is a must, etc.)


wizard level 4

level 1 1st slot: magic missile
level 1 2nd slot: expeditious retreat
level 1 3rd slot: charm
level 1 4th slot: master's touch

level 2 1st slot: scorching ray
level 2 2nd slot: web
level 2 2nd slot: false life

[EllisDee37]

lets extend to the additional slot prepared at wizard level 4 (talking about the most obvious wizard's prepared spells, ofc in undead's dungeons disrupt undead is a must, etc.)

I have tried disrupt undead but always found it lacking. For undead heavy quests I prefer scorching ray and scorch, replaced with firewall at level 7.


Here's the spells my wizards use when they have 4 wizard levels:

wizard level 4

level 1 1st slot: expeditious retreat
level 1 2nd slot: nightshield
level 1 3rd slot: sonic blast
level 1 4th slot: niac's cold ray

level 2 1st slot: scorching ray
level 2 2nd slot: web
level 2 3rd slot: scorch (or blur)

Next level you get 2 level 3 spells, which for me would be:

level 3 1st slot: frost lance
level 3 2nd slot: buff of some kind (displace, haste, rage, magic circle vs evil)
level 1 4th slot: protection from evil replaces niac's cold ray

[Aashrym]

Another common tactic is to alternate acid burst and burning hands at those levels. They can carry you up to your 4th level spell list when things get really interesting.

I have to add my vote for sonic blast too. The damage has no save, AoE's, and has a save or daze effect, plus breaks boxes. The way it's damage is set up it does 3 dice instead of 2 for magic missile and almost as much as burning hands or acid burst but at range with the daze. It's a top notch spell at 4th level.

I also don't use disrupt undead. Web works on them and there are other damage spells that are more universal.

[Sokól]

Sonic Blast is is a good spell and it works well with Electric Loop if you can fit him in.

[remember1]

....wizard level 4

level 1 1st slot: expeditious retreat
level 1 2nd slot: nightshield
level 1 3rd slot: sonic blast
level 1 4th slot: niac's cold ray

level 2 1st slot: scorching ray
level 2 2nd slot: web
level 2 3rd slot: scorch (or blur)....

without master's touch you gave up melee option, but melee could be useful at least at low levels

same argument for charm

owning doubts if web is useful so early in the game, feeling any of scorching ray, blur and false life are more helpful

Another common tactic is to alternate acid burst and burning hands at those levels.....

wouldnt the wizard take noticeable melee damage ?

Sonic Blast is is a good spell and it works well with Electric Loop if you can fit him in

good point

[EllisDee37]

without master's touch you gave up melee option, but melee could be useful at least at low levels

I never use melee on a wizard, and have never needed to. I have now done 3 wizard lives, two on my wizard and one on my cleric. All 3 lives I never used melee.

same argument for charm

I do like charm when soloing, but it's not a priority. I much prefer dominate, to be honest, because charmed mobs stay behind and contribute to dungeon alert. Dominated mobs come with you and eventually die.

owning doubts if web is useful so early in the game, feeling any of scorching ray, blur and false life are more helpful

False life has always struck me as particularly useless. Scorching ray is full of win, but web is the best level 2 spell there is, bar none. Nothing is quite as satisfying as kiting a bunch of mobs into a web and then cooking them up with scorch. Blur is good, but can be delayed.

[remember1]

I never use melee on a wizard, and have never needed to. I have now done 3 wizard lives, two on my wizard and one on my cleric. All 3 lives I never used melee....

useful insight

....web is the best level 2 spell....

may be.... my point was its usefulness at level 4

[remember1]

after the help below

wizard level 4

level 1 1st slot: expeditious retreat
level 1 2nd slot: niac's cold ray
level 1 3rd slot: charm
level 1 4th slot: nightshield

level 2 1st slot: scorching ray
level 2 2nd slot: blur
level 2 3rd slot: melf's acid arrow

[Aashrym]

wouldnt the wizard take noticeable melee damage ?

Not anymore than with master's touch and mêlée. A person can potion heal well enough at that level. Or practice moving more.

Mêlée used to be a common method until the U9 spell pass. Cheaper direct damage changed that.

[EllisDee37]

may be.... my point was its usefulness at level 4

Web is useful at level 4.

[AbyssalMage]

What are we talking about here?

• Solo? Molo (mercenary solo'ing)? Group?
• Normal, Hard, or Elite?
• Role Playing or Min/Max?
• I assume pure?

I molo, its cheaper than buying healing potions and they contribute to the goal of finishing faster I usually do Normal/Hard (premium player) and even on Elite (for favor) I can use the same strategies except on WW/Ironstone Inlet(sp?)

Level 1:

• Expeditious Retreat
• Master's Touch
• Burning Hands

I just swing a big stick and conserve SP's. Once I get sufficiently surrounded I use a maximized burning hands.
*If RP, drop ER for Niac's and Master's for Charm.

Level 2

• Above +
• Niac's

Same strategy as above but now I have range DPS.
*If RP, Slot Shield for +4 AC and immunity to MM as you will already have Niac's slotted. And the saves from Nightshield can be slotted with gear at this level.

Level 3

• Above +
  Second level spells
• Scorch
• Web/Scorching Ray/Invisibility

Web and Scorching Ray I switch between. But I am liking Web more and more and I don't switch out as often.
Web + Door way = lots of things lined up for you to swing at without fear of damage. If there are casters, you have Niac's (Unless its an undead/skeleton heavy adventure in which case you want to switch out your spells anyways because Niac's is worthless)

Level 4

• Same as above +
• Web (now permanent)

Above

The one thing I like about Wizards is that they have plenty of versatility at lower/mid levels. This set-up just works best for my play style. I have done the RP thing, it was fun, but I found myself bored half way through the adventure. In groups (thanks to dungeon scaling), I tend to use Web, Niac's, and Scorching Ray (Long range DPS) and hang out in the rear so I don't cause an undue burden on the Cleric's SP. If the melee are really good, I'll drop Web for Blur, and try to make myself useful in some other way. Level 5 my spell book goes through a minor revamp and again at level 7 and 8.

[EllisDee37]

Level 3

• Above +
  Second level spells
• Scorch
• Web/Scorching Ray/Invisibility

Invisibility can be scrolled, and the scrolls are sold at vendors and dirt cheap.

[Lanhelin]

I'm quite impressed by the power of Sonic Blast. Since it's a Level 1 Spell and one can find Items with DC increase for level 1 spells quite early (note: the Apprentice Robe at the end of the grotto in the chest adds +1 DC to spells of all levels, the reason why I weared it until I got the Robe at the end of the Catacombs questline). I took sf:evocation and the storm enhancements too, and there were only a few enemies that are immune to daze like Oozes or Undead so far, but even hostile shamans or clerics that are supposed to have high will saves get dazed very often. And yet I've not met a single one which was immune to sonic damage.

It works similar to Web with a few advantages: It has double range like a ray, it follows running enemies (even if you do not hit the mob directly it gets damaged and dazed on failed will save because of AoE effect; this is also perfect to make hidden enemies appear on e.g. platforms far away), it costs no materials, it does AoE Damage, it destroys entire destructable barricades/blocked doorways/crates in its range, it has a low cooldown and low mana cost (4 Pt.), the dazing effect works like an interrupt and in best case a group of mobs can remain dazed until they die at range, never getting into melee range to the wiz. It can easily be combined with other AoE spells like Fireball or Touch of Idiocy against single targets.

At least at early levels this spell is one of the most powerful a sorc/wiz/bard can cast imo. I'd never slot MM or Niacs instead. Yet I don't have the experience to tell about its effectivity as heightened spell in higher levels, but I'll definitely try.

[FuzzyDuck81]

..... Yet I don't have the experience to tell about its effectivity as heightened spell in higher levels, but I'll definitely try.

The extra cost for heightening makes it terribly inefficient so higher level spells will be better by then - your best bet is just to use it completely un-meta'ed, it still sticks from time to time & as you noticed, very few things are actually immune to sonic damage (and the save is ONLY for the daze, no reflex for half damage so it's not subject to evasion!) so though its low damage, its at least reliable. Great for spotting invisible things too, use it as a literal sonar "ping" to find things

[Inoukchuk]

The extra cost for heightening makes it terribly inefficient so higher level spells will be better by then - your best bet is just to use it completely un-meta'ed, it still sticks from time to time & as you noticed, very few things are actually immune to sonic damage (and the save is ONLY for the daze, no reflex for half damage so it's not subject to evasion!) so though its low damage, its at least reliable. Great for spotting invisible things too, use it as a literal sonar "ping" to find things

I'm shocked nobody has mentioned mesmerize. There are some early quests where crowd control becomes important (protection quests), and grouping them up then hitting with acid spray (better than fire since it affects almost all oozes and undead) works very nicely. Those 2 spells were a staple for me. With an invulnerability item and good maneuvering you can kill a lot of stuff for cheap with acid spray.

[Plantman81]

This is what I found

1st Level
1. Sonic Blast <- Stun and Damage - very little is immune to sonic damage - Has a cone effect so can be used as CC.
2. Charm <- Because there are many times you don't have to kill everything, just distract it
3. Masters Touch <- Even with 6 Strength a THW is a good way to crush a skull or two

2nd Level
4. Shield/Night Shield <- avoiding Magic Missile damage is a good thing

- If the wizard has access to 1st Level spell augmentation MM will have more damage but not the bonus stun which also increase damage
- Naic's is good, but not against high reflex mobs. A rookie mistake is attempting to Maximize spam this spell against high reflex mobs, doing almost no damage and draining you fast of SP.

Expeditious Retreat is also a good spell but one that comes on early Clickable items.

I highly agree. Master's Touch and Shield for early levels work well. A THW like the Nicked Great Sword from the Sharn chain is awesome, for example. As far as Exp Retreat goes, there ARE many clickies available at low level that have multiple charges/rest. My lvl 1 wizzie spells are Sonic Blast and the two above mentioned spells. Sonic for initial damage and stun. Go beat on one w/ your big stick and move to the next. Repeat Sonic if the stun wears off.