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3 years ago Test coment DnD 5e - The Wizard Handbook Last Updated: March 29th, 2021
Disclaimer RPGBOT uses the color coding scheme which has become common among Pathfinder build handbooks, which is simple to understand and easy to read at a glance.
Red: Bad, useless options, or options which are extremely situational. Orange: OK options, or useful options that only apply in rare circumstances. Green: Good options. Blue: Fantastic options, often essential to the function of your character. I will not include 3rd-party content, including content from DMs Guild, even if it is my own, because I can't assume that your game will allow 3rd-party content or homebrew. I also won't cover Unearthed Arcana content because it's not finalized, and I can't guarantee that it will be available to you in your games.
The advice offered below is based on the current State of the Character Optimization Meta as of when the article was last updated. Keep in mind that the state of the meta periodically changes as new source materials are released and this article will be updating accordingly as time allows.
Introduction The Wizard is the iconic arcane spellcaster, capable of doing all manner of fantastic tricks, and generally limited only by their spellbook and their spell slots. A Wizard with a comprehensive spellbook can do essentially anything in the game, often as well as or better than a non-magical character who is built to do that thing. A Wizard with Invisibility is as stealthy as a Rogue. A Wizard with a summoned pet can replace a fighter (at least temporarily). A clever Wizard could even find a way to heal their allies and replace a Cleric.
Because Wizards can do so much so well, their roles are numerous and varied. However, in a typical party the Wizard's primary functions are as a Blaster, Controller, Librarian, Support caster, Striker, and Utility Caster. Depending on your spells and potentially your skills, you can also serve as a Defender, Face, Healer (though it's difficult), and Scout. You may think, "but wait, isn't that every role?". Yes. Yes, it is.
However, with that incredible breadth of capability comes both complexity and risk. Most of this complexity is buried in the Wizard's spellcasting. Wizards get very few actual class/subclass features, but spellcasting fills in the gaps. Managing a spellbook is a complex, and unlike clerics and druids who can select from a vast spell list after every long rest, you need to hoard newly-learned spells to expand your capabilities, sometimes at great expense, so learning new spells may be a gamble, costing precious gold for a spell which you may never use. If you are prone to analysis paralysis, the wizard is a waking nightmare.
Wizards are among the least-durable characters in the game, having no armor proficiencies, poor saving throws, and the lowest hit dice available. Staying alive as a wizard can be very difficult, and in most cases requires a part of sturdy allies willing to protect you from harm. There are exceptions to this rule (bladesingers can achieve some of the highest AC in the game without the aid of magic items), but they are few in number.
I'll tell anyone who asks that the Wizard is my favorite class, and that has been the case since early in my career with Dungeons and Dragons. The Wizard is a class that rewards system mastery, and while you don't need to be an experienced player to succeed as a wizard, improving your familiarity with the game will pay dividends.
After reading this handbook, I encourage you to read my Wizard Subclasses Breakdown and my Wizard Spells Breakdown.
Wizard Class Features Optional Class Features are detailed below under Optional Class Features.
Hit Points: d6 hit points is the lowest in the game. Fortunately Intelligence is the only ability which Wizards strictly need, so you can afford a decent Constitution score.
Saves: Intelligence saves are very rare, and proficiency in Wisdom saves won't help much if your Wisdom is terrible.
Proficiencies: Wizard's weapons are pitiful, but can be easily replaced by cantrips. Wizards also get no armor, so it's either Mage Armor or nothing for the vast majority of wizards. Wizards only get the standard two skills, which is difficult considering that your party will expect you to cover as many knowledge skills as possible, leaving many wizards with little room to diversify.
Spellcasting: Wizards are the king of spellcasters. They can do everything; kill stuff, charm stuff, solve problems, gather information, travel, whatever. If you can imagine doing it with magic, a Wizard can do it. Except healing. They can't really do that.
For help selecting spells, see my Wizard Spell List Breakdown.
Arcane Recovery: This provides a bit of sustainability to the Wizard which was missing in previous editions. Wizards were the biggest cause of the "five minute day", in which the Wizard would burn their biggest spells in the first encounter, then would be essentially useless unless the party immediately took a lon
Body~!@#$%^&*()_+<>? DnD 5e - The Wizard Handbook Last Updated: March 29th, 2021
Disclaimer RPGBOT uses the color coding scheme which has become common among Pathfinder build handbooks, which is simple to understand and easy to read at a glance.
Red: Bad, useless options, or options which are extremely situational. Orange: OK options, or useful options that only apply in rare circumstances. Green: Good options. Blue: Fantastic options, often essential to the function of your character. I will not include 3rd-party content, including content from DMs Guild, even if it is my own, because I can't assume that your game will allow 3rd-party content or homebrew. I also won't cover Unearthed Arcana content because it's not finalized, and I can't guarantee that it will be available to you in your games.
The advice offered below is based on the current State of the Character Optimization Meta as of when the article was last updated. Keep in mind that the state of the meta periodically changes as new source materials are released and this article will be updating accordingly as time allows.
Introduction The Wizard is the iconic arcane spellcaster, capable of doing all manner of fantastic tricks, and generally limited only by their spellbook and their spell slots. A Wizard with a comprehensive spellbook can do essentially anything in the game, often as well as or better than a non-magical character who is built to do that thing. A Wizard with Invisibility is as stealthy as a Rogue. A Wizard with a summoned pet can replace a fighter (at least temporarily). A clever Wizard could even find a way to heal their allies and replace a Cleric.
Because Wizards can do so much so well, their roles are numerous and varied. However, in a typical party the Wizard's primary functions are as a Blaster, Controller, Librarian, Support caster, Striker, and Utility Caster. Depending on your spells and potentially your skills, you can also serve as a Defender, Face, Healer (though it's difficult), and Scout. You may think, "but wait, isn't that every role?". Yes. Yes, it is.
However, with that incredible breadth of capability comes both complexity and risk. Most of this complexity is buried in the Wizard's spellcasting. Wizards get very few actual class/subclass features, but spellcasting fills in the gaps. Managing a spellbook is a complex, and unlike clerics and druids who can select from a vast spell list after every long rest, you need to hoard newly-learned spells to expand your capabilities, sometimes at great expense, so learning new spells may be a gamble, costing precious gold for a spell which you may never use. If you are prone to analysis paralysis, the wizard is a waking nightmare.
Wizards are among the least-durable characters in the game, having no armor proficiencies, poor saving throws, and the lowest hit dice available. Staying alive as a wizard can be very difficult, and in most cases requires a part of sturdy allies willing to protect you from harm. There are exceptions to this rule (bladesingers can achieve some of the highest AC in the game without the aid of magic items), but they are few in number.
I'll tell anyone who asks that the Wizard is my favorite class, and that has been the case since early in my career with Dungeons and Dragons. The Wizard is a class that rewards system mastery, and while you don't need to be an experienced player to succeed as a wizard, improving your familiarity with the game will pay dividends.
After reading this handbook, I encourage you to read my Wizard Subclasses Breakdown and my Wizard Spells Breakdown.
Wizard Class Features Optional Class Features are detailed below under Optional Class Features.
Hit Points: d6 hit points is the lowest in the game. Fortunately Intelligence is the only ability which Wizards strictly need, so you can afford a decent Constitution score.
Saves: Intelligence saves are very rare, and proficiency in Wisdom saves won't help much if your Wisdom is terrible.
Proficiencies: Wizard's weapons are pitiful, but can be easily replaced by cantrips. Wizards also get no armor, so it's either Mage Armor or nothing for the vast majority of wizards. Wizards only get the standard two skills, which is difficult considering that your party will expect you to cover as many knowledge skills as possible, leaving many wizards with little room to diversify.
Spellcasting: Wizards are the king of spellcasters. They can do everything; kill stuff, charm stuff, solve problems, gather information, travel, whatever. If you can imagine doing it with magic, a Wizard can do it. Except healing. They can't really do that.
For help selecting spells, see my Wizard Spell List Breakdown.
Arcane Recovery: This provides a bit of sustainability to the Wizard which was missing in previous editions. Wizards were the biggest cause of the "five minute day", in which the Wizard would burn their biggest spells in the first encounter, then would be essentially useless unless the party immediately took a lon