Beginner Wizard Build, Any Guidance Appreciated

[Cuth]

-- Updated Draft in Post 11 --

Hi,

I'm a newish player and I've never played a Wizard before. I have read a bunch of posts and hopefully didn't mess this up too much.

I'd appreciate any feedback on this ... it's really just a generalist Wizard with a little Necro Focus because I like trying to FoD and Banshee things. I went half-elf because I really wanted Arcanum b/c I don't have any past lives and I figure the extra Spell Penetration would be very useful.

Would I be better off splashing FvS or something of that nature? Did I miss some huge basic Wizard protocols I wasn't aware of?

Any advice is appreciated.

____________

Test Wiz
Wizard 20
True Neutral Half-Elf


Stats
. . . . . . . .32pt . . Tome . . Level Up
. . . . . . . .---- . . ---- . . --------
Strength. . . . .8. . . .+5. . . .4: INT
Dexterity . . . .9. . . .+5. . . .8: INT
Constitution. . 16. . . .+5. . . 12: INT
Intelligence. . 18. . . .+5. . . 16: INT
Wisdom. . . . . .8. . . .+5. . . 20: INT
Charisma. . . . 13. . . .+5. . .


Skills
. . . . . 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
. . . . .------------------------------------------------------------
Concent . 4. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 23
Spellcr . 4. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 23
Heal. . . 2. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. 11½
Perform . 2. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. . .11
Search. . 2. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. . .11
Spot. . . . . . . . . . .½ .½ .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .½ .½ .½ .½ .½ .½ .1 .11
Balance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .½ .½ .1 .1 .1½ 1½ 1½ 1½ 2 .11
UMD . . . 2. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. . .11
Swim. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 . 1
Tumble. . . . . . .½ .½ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
. . . . .------------------------------------------------------------
. . . . .24. 6. 6. 7. 7. 7. 7. 8. 8. 8. 8. 9. 9. 9. 9 10 10 10 10 11


Feats

.1. . . . : Empower Spell
.1 HalfElf: Half-Elf Dilettante: Paladin
.1 Wizard : Maximize Spell
.3. . . . : Spell Penetration
.5 Wizard : Mental Toughness
.6. . . . : Improved Mental Toughness
.9. . . . : Combat Casting
10 Wizard : Spell Focus: Necromancy
12. . . . : Greater Spell Focus: Necromancy
15. . . . : Mobile Spellcasting
15 Wizard : Quicken Spell
18. . . . : Greater Spell Penetration
20 Wizard : Heighten Spell


Enhancements (80 AP)

Archmage (45 AP)

• Magic Missile, Gust of Wind, Chain Missile, Fire Shield, Cyclonic Blast, Master of Magic
  
  1. Subtle Spellcasting I, Energy of the Scholar III, Traditionalist Caster III, Spell Critical
  2. Spell Critical
  3. Arcane Bolt III, Spell Penetration III, Spell Critical, Intelligence
  4. Spell Critical, Intelligence
  5. Arcane Blast III, Arcane Supremacy

Pale Master (22 AP)

• Dark Reaping, Zombie Form, Vampire Form, Wraith Form
  
  1. Deathless Vigor III, Spell Critical, Negative Energy Conduit III
  2. Efficient Maximize I, Bone Armor III
  3. Intelligence

Half-Elf (13 AP)

• Versatile Nature, Human Intelligence
  
  1. Improved Dilettante: Paladin
  2. Improved Dilettante: Paladin, Arcanum III

[C-Dog]

There're some good tips here: https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthrea...=1#post4716319

(If going pure Wiz, ignore the "trapper" part of the guide, obviously.)


I'm no expert on Wiz's, but I'm not sure 11 Balance will make any diff at end-game. Might be better to put into Jump, which ~is~ something a mage will often find themselves doing?

[Hobgoblin]

i like human better, but its all up to you of course

[EllisDee37]

Combat Casting and Mobile Spellcasting sound nice on paper, but you still slow down a bit while casting. Even if you didn't, it's not worth two feats on a real build. (As opposed to a specialty speed build.)

Is the plan to run in wraith form? If so, you'd be better off as a lich and going tier 5 pale master for the improved shrouding. (+2 int to lich form, on top of the +2 int lich form gives by default.) And further, as a lich you don't really care about will saves, just reflex.

Speaking of reflex saves, you should consider taking Insightful Reflexes. Preferably early, like level 3-ish.

I'm a bit confused by the build, as all the feats point to a DC caster but all the enhancements point to a nuker. Which were you envisioning?

[EllisDee37]

You might consider something like my epic challenge farmer. It's a pure wizard, drow, with maxed skeleton pet. The pet in particular can help take the edge off things as mobs get distracted by it instead of beating on you, giving you time to kill them.

You can always redo your enhancements if you find the pet isn't holding up his end of the deal.

[slarden]

Hi,

I'm a newish player and I've never played a Wizard before. I have read a bunch of posts and hopefully didn't mess this up too much.

I'd appreciate any feedback on this ... it's really just a generalist Wizard with a little Necro Focus because I like trying to FoD and Banshee things. I went half-elf because I really wanted Arcanum b/c I don't have any past lives and I figure the extra Spell Penetration would be very useful.

Would I be better off splashing FvS or something of that nature? Did I miss some huge basic Wizard protocols I wasn't aware of?

It is possible to get enough spell pen at end game with no past lifes now.

Wizard Levels: 20
Magister Core: 5
Magister Spell Penetration: 3
Spell Penetration Feat:2
Greater Spell Penetration Feat: 2
Epic Spell Penetration Feat: 4
Item: 7
Insightful Item: 4
Ship Buff: 1
Echoes of the Ancestor Arcane Twist: 2
Draconic Spell Penetration Twist: 3
Archmage Tree: 3
Elf Arcanum (Elf, Half Elf, Sun Elf): 3
Total: 59 (you can get to 62 with magister master of necromancy tier 5, but it's generally not worth giving up the int).

Wizards typically make better specialists than generalists. What this means is that if you want to focus on finger of death you need to go all-in on your necromancy DC. This means spending more points in the PM tree to go into shroud of the lich form which gives +4 int when fully maxed and also +1 necro DC. This means going tier 5 in PM tree for the +1 necromancy focus in tier 5. That is +4 difference to necromancy DC. If you chose the necromancy line in archmage instead of evocation for another +1 necromancy DC. You are behind 2 DC by not being completionist or having past life wizard. So we are already up to a 7 DC necromancy difference vs. a maxed necromancy DC build. You will also want a +7 store tome which is worth 3-4 DC. The chances of having one drop is close to 0. That is up to a 10-11 DC difference if you don't do those things.

The other option is to give up that DC and use finger of death only on enemies with a low fort save - mainly casters and archers. That is probably what I would do in your case is focus on the dps and use finger of death to pick off casters and archers.

If you aren't going all-in for necromancy I wouldn't bother with spell penetration. It's only really needed against drows and devils/fiendish. To hit the needed spell pen you need 3 feats, an elf racial choice, perfect and epic destiny/twist sacrifices.

I would fit in insightful reflexes since you will have a high int. With the wizard's low MRR this effectively reduces incoming damage by 50% (anything subject to a reflex save) which is worth 100 MRR. Wizards are capped at 50 MRR, but between the insightful reflexes and 50 MRR you will have good survivability against traps and incoming caster damage.

The reason to splash favored soul is for more crits with your magic missle type spells and spell point regeneration. The main reason is the spell point regeneration with just reward. You can also lower the cost of your spells with metamagic by double dipping and reducing spellpower in both the archmage and angel of vengeance trees. Splashing 2 favored soul lowers your spell pen by 2, but you are less likely to run out of spell points which is a major problem casters run into - esp when they are playing a caster for the first time.

[SirValentine]

It is possible to get enough spell pen at end game with no past lifes now.
...
Ship Buff: 1

Ship Buffs: 2

For an hour, or until you die, anyway.

[Rawrargh]

I would advice against combat casting and mobile spell casting, it's a 2-feat tax for some concentration and an effect that can be achieve by jumping while casting.

Wizard is kind of an all-or-nothing case here... Either you focus on your DC's meaning all-in on either enchantment or necromancy (or illusion in some cases) in AM and PM or you go for a shiradi-type build, since wizards don't really have the enhancements or the SP to support a nuking type playstyle.
Also, since you seem to be going the AM SLA-blasting route, the FvS splash might be the way to go. 4 FvS levels allows you to pick up 8% spell crit, efficient metamagic, just reward (to make your SP pool last longer) and scourge, while only loosing a single caster level (+3 from intense faith). You do lose out on meteor swarm, mass hold monster and wail, but you can't have it all.

If you DO want to go the way of the finger (DC casting), you're probably gonna want to pick the necro line in AM, switch some points to the PM tree.

If not, then you probably shouldn't invest in the necro focus feats or the spell pen and would probably be better off with defensive feats or possibly some more meta's like enlarge.

On a side note, if you go for the DC's, I recommend going for two schools, necro/enchantment is always a good combo.


Just my 2cents, hope it helps.

[unbongwah]

Don't bother with paladin dilettante feat; unless they bugfixed it recently and forgot to update the Notice Board, it's still not giving its full bonus. Although even if it was, +5 to saves is pretty weaksauce considering the AP & stat investment.

[Hipparan]

With the Charisma that you have, I recommend the Warlock Half-Elf Dilly. Not sure if it's working as intended, but it does more damage with spells than the description states.

[Cuth]

Hi All,

Thank you all for the great feedback. I really appreciate.

Here's my new plan ... adding Insightful Reflexes, and focused more on Necro spells and DCs. This means I switched points into Pale Master and took them out of Archmage.

How's this look? (I pondered taking the points out of Archmage that gets me Enervation SLA and getting the Tier 5 Necro Focus in Pale Master for 1 more to my DCs, but it seemed better spent the other way.)

_____________


Test Wiz
Wizard 20
True Neutral Half-Elf


Stats
. . . . . . . .32pt . . Tome . . Level Up
. . . . . . . .---- . . ---- . . --------
Strength. . . . .8. . . .+5. . . .4: INT
Dexterity . . . .8. . . .+5. . . .8: INT
Constitution. . 16. . . .+5. . . 12: INT
Intelligence. . 18. . . .+5. . . 16: INT
Wisdom. . . . . .8. . . .+5. . . 20: INT
Charisma. . . . 14. . . .+5. . .


Skills
. . . . . 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
. . . . .------------------------------------------------------------
Concent . 4. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 23
Spellcr . 4. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 23
Heal. . . 2. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. 11½
Perform . 2. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. . .11
Search. . 2. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. . .11
Spot. . . . . . . . . . .½ .½ .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .1 .½ .½ .½ .½ .½ .½ .1 .11
Jump . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .½ .½ .1 .1 .1½ 1½ 1½ 1½ 2 .11
UMD . . . 2. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. . .11
Swim. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 . 1
Tumble. . . . . . .½ .½ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
. . . . .------------------------------------------------------------
. . . . .24. 6. 6. 7. 7. 7. 7. 8. 8. 8. 8. 9. 9. 9. 9 10 10 10 10 11


Feats

.1. . . . : Empower Spell
.1 HalfElf: Half-Elf Dilettante: Paladin
.1 Wizard : Maximize Spell
.3. . . . : Insightful Reflexes
.5 Wizard : Mental Toughness
.6. . . . : Improved Mental Toughness
.9. . . . : Spell Penetration
10 Wizard : Spell Focus: Necromancy
12. . . . : Greater Spell Focus: Necromancy
15. . . . : Extend Spell
15 Wizard : Quicken Spell
18. . . . : Greater Spell Penetration
20 Wizard : Heighten Spell


Enhancements (80 AP)

Pale Master (38 AP)

• Dark Reaping, Zombie Form, Vampire Form, Wraith Form, Lich Form
  
  1. Deathless Vigor III, Spell Critical, Skeletal Knight III, Negative Energy Conduit III
  2. Spell Critical, Corpsecrafter I, Bone Armor III
  3. Spell Critical, Intelligence
  4. Spell Critical, Intelligence
  5. Improved Shrouding

Archmage (29 AP)

• Chill Touch, Command Undead, Halt Undead, Enervation
  
  1. Subtle Spellcasting III, Energy of the Scholar III, Spell Critical
  2. Spell Critical
  3. Spell Penetration III, Intelligence
  4. School Mastery: Necromancy, Intelligence

Half-Elf (13 AP)

• Versatile Nature, Human Intelligence
  
  1. Improved Dilettante: Paladin
  2. Improved Dilettante: Paladin, Arcanum III

[AbyssalMage]

I would recommend switching to Drow, and placing points into Palemaster, Archmage, and Harper. There is considerable more content where DC is more important than spell penetration. If Spell Penetration is that great of a concern for you, I would suggest Elf and lose out on 4 DC to FoD/Wail. Wizard is unfortunately relies heavily on Past Lives, which means you get stronger the more often you TR.

The linked Challenge Farmer is a solid first life build. The Skeleton pet is actually very useful for Normal/Hard Content. Not so useful in Elite or Epic content (from my play experience) but it is easy to reset and place them in Archmage/Harper once you have reached level 21+ content.

[slarden]

I think what you have is solid. I would recommend taking it to 30, doing an etr followed by a heroic tr. You might as well get the past lifes while working on filling your destinies. Fvs isn't as critical, but getting 6 spell pen and 1 dc from wizard past life is really nice.

The experience of playing PM for a life will help you tweak the build.

[Cuth]

Hi All,

I'm going to go with this updated version and if I run into issues along the way I'll come back and ask for more assistance.

Thanks for the great advice everyone!

[Careall]

I know a number of folks are going to disagree with me, but paying attention to the fact that you are new player, this may be worth consideration.

Shoot for about 30 HP average per level, which may require taking the Toughness Feat. Experienced players are extremely good at avoiding damage in real-time. Plus they have equipment and other tricks to reduce damage. As a result, HPs are less of a concern and the Toughness Feat is often (always?) considered a wasted Feat. For an experienced player it is. For a newer player, maybe not so much. By the time your wizard hits 20+ or 2nd/3rd+ life, you won't be so green anymore and can trade HP out for cooler stuff.

[EllisDee37]

Classic new-player tip for managing spell points:

1) Purchase multiple different hirelings that have Divine Vitality. They just cost plat. (Don't actually use them for healing, though.)
2) Take the Dimension Door spell. (Spell level 4.)

Now, when you're running low on spell points in the middle of a quest, dimension door back to the beginning. Call the first hireling, use all his DVs, dismiss it. Call the next hireling, use his DVs, dismiss. etc...

You can generate around 1000 spell points this way, and it's available once every 5 minutes. Of course this is total cheese, and you'll want to break this habit, but while you're starting out it's nice to have a cushion. It's a massive help psychologically, if nothing else.

Note that after you get fairly good at your wizarding, this technique feels like such a major PITA that you end up managing your spell points better just to avoid the hassle.

[unbongwah]

Shoot for about 30 HP average per level, which may require taking the Toughness Feat. Experienced players are extremely good at avoiding damage in real-time. Plus they have equipment and other tricks to reduce damage. As a result, HPs are less of a concern and the Toughness Feat is often (always?) considered a wasted Feat. For an experienced player it is. For a newer player, maybe not so much. By the time your wizard hits 20+ or 2nd/3rd+ life, you won't be so green anymore and can trade HP out for cooler stuff.

Toughness feat adds 2 + <char lvl> HPs to your character, for a max of 32 HPs at lvl 30. That's a pretty low ROI for a feat slot; there's almost always something else you're better off taking, even on a pure wiz who might seem flush with feats. E.g., investing in armor + ASF reduction for some extra PRR is more useful in the long term.

[Zachski]

The biggest reason people used to take the Toughness feat before was so that they could take the HP-boosting enhancements, which required the Toughness feat.

Said enhancements haven't required Toughness for years now.