Need some help for my wizard

[kobold]

Hi!
I play a wizard. my stats are

str 8
dex 14
cons 12
int 18 (lvl 10 = 20)
wis 10
cha 8

I picked up mental toughness on level 1 + enlarge spell.
on level 3 i picked up empower spell

question 1: Was that good choice?

now I am on level 5 and I shall pick up one more metamagic feat, but I dunno what i should choose.

question 2: what do you think should I choose?

my further plans are to pick up "improved mental toughness" on level 6 and on level 9 a spell focus.

question 3: what's ur opinion about that?

so as a summary for the feats:

level 1: extend spell + mental toughness
level 3: empower spell
level 5: metamagic ?
level 6: improved mental toughness
level 9: spell focus: class ?
level 10: metamagic ?

again:
question 1: is my choice till level 3 ok?
question 2: which metamagic feats should I choose?
question 3: do you think that one spell focus + imp mental toughness + 1 metamagic feat (lvl 3) is a good choice for a wizard?

hope that you can give me some suggestions.

thanks and nice greets, kobold

[Kaju]

Your character build seems very solid and nice. Metamagic feats are always nice (all of them, even the escew materials one).

The mental toughness feats will provide you with more spellpoints that you desperately need as wizard so it was a soild choice.

Concerning which metamagic feat to take, just examine them and pick the ones tha compliment your game style best.


Kaju

[kobold]

1) Well, but I have some problems to decide. Maximize spell seems nice at really hard bosses to get them down fast. I don't know any other situation. Enlarge seems to be quite useful to get some big areas down, but is it a must?? Heighten...seems to be something like a focus on all spell classes. So it might be most useful for crowd controlling when for example when there are a lot of shamans to web them (that they do not resist web or sleep or something else). Material...well, don't think there is much need. And quicken...well dunno too. Maybe u can just help me a bit more?

2) and what class seems to be the best to put a spell focus on?

3) is the feat on level 3 where I chose "empower spell" a lost one because I chose a metamagic instead of a real one? (maybe I should have chosen another spell focus?) what du you think?

thanks for ya help!

kobold

[Kaju]

It depends on how you play your character and what kind of spells you cast.

The enlarge spell metamagic feat is going to be a killer when you get a big area spell (like fireball). [Provided you have a room with a lot of opponents of course)

The maximise spell is also a good choice when you are facing an enemy that has low resistances (or using a spell that does not get a saving throw, like magic missile).

Heighten spell is very good against opponents who tend to resist your spells a lot, it gives a better chance of getting the spell to do full damage.

As for Spell focus it really depends on what kind of spells you are casting. If you find your self casting attack spells a lot (like magic missile, burning hands, fireball, and such) you should aim for Spell Focus [Evocation]. If you are using spells like hypnotism, charm person and the like you should aim for Spell Focus [Enchantment], etc etc Take a look at some of the posts here (in the magic forum I mean), a lot contain useful information about spells, saving throws and schools.

As for feats it comes down to how you play. Since I do not know how you play (or how you like to play) I can't really offer you nothing more than pointers. It's up to you to decided, and after all this is your character


Kaju

[kobold]

thanks a lot. think you are right and of course cant know my play style.

metamagic:
But I am just think about if I should take as well empowering as maximizing or if this doesn't make sense.

Originally Posted by Kaju

The maximise spell is also a good choice when you are facing an enemy that has low resistances (or using a spell that does not get a saving throw, like magic missile).

btw: why is it only useful on enemies with low or no resistances?

feats:
maybe I should also take two spell focusses. one for damage spells (evokation) and one to crowed control (echantment or conjuration????)

then I just wanted to say that I prefer to play a pure caster, so I would concentrate on casting/spell points on my further feat choice.

thanks a lot and maybe u can just give me one more help

PS: how much bonus will u get on "heighten spell" to the DC?

[Kaju]

They are usefull for enemies with low resistances because the damage when the spell lands is very high and it will usually take out enemies very fast and without fear of retaliation. If your target fails then your spell points are sort of wasted.
It is similar to mellee. For opponents with high AC you want a lot of attacks (so you will hit eventually) and for opponents with low AC you want a lot of damage.
Might be wrong, this is just how I perceive things.

As for the DC I'm not entirely sure, but I assume it should give you a +1 or +2 bonus to DC (+1 sounds more probable). In the pnp version it takes a spell-slot of a higher level spell but there are no spell slots here.


Kaju

[Talarn]

In essence I agree, but one issue that alot of people forget is that meta magic feats for wizards / sorcs often just deplete their sp faster then is needed. casting a spell two times is often more desirable then enhancing them. At times it will even cost less.

Web for example two of them means two saving trows for the mobs to fail and get either entangled or just rooted.

[Piplof]

Originally Posted by Talarn

In essence I agree, but one issue that alot of people forget is that meta magic feats for wizards / sorcs often just deplete their sp faster then is needed.

Extend Spell feat is great for saving mana. 50% more SP used for double the duration on the spell. It saves my wizard a ton of SP while buffing.

[bidgebod]

One of the best pieces of advice I can offer for creating a wizard is one I have used myself and all my friends who play wizards use as well...
when creating a wizard, concentrate on your int, get some dex and this is the important bit....MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A +2 modifier for your strength. at lower levels it is great, a couple of magic missiles and when they close in on you...which they which they will....you cn beatthem to a greasy smear with your staff this will seriously improve your survival rate in dungeons...

[Aggro]

A tip for you (and all other wizzies) is to take empower spell AND maximize spell, you do totally insane dmg with your spells. Most bosses go down on 1-3 fireballs/cone of cold/ball of lightning. Drains your mana but at end bosses its all worth it

Extend spell is always nice since it gives you 20min buffs at lvl10

btw ecrew materials isnt really worth it, you only need to pay attention to if you got enough materials in your inventory. (personally i try to have about 500 of each spell level at all time)