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-= NEVERWINTER NIGHTS =-
WIZARD GUIDE (V 1.00)
BY: LORD YORIEN DRAGONARD
YORIEN@MAILCITY.COM
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This FAQ has been made by Yorien dragonard (Yorien@mailcity.com)
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INDEX
(see below)
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INDEX
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I-.    HISTORY
II-.   WIZARD CREATION
A) RACE
B) STATS
C) SKILLS
E) FEATS
F) FAMILIAR
III-.  HIRELING
IV-.   SPELLS
V-.    EQUIPMENT
VI-.   MULTICLASSING
VII-.  PVP (PLAYER VS PLAYER) WIZARD
A) MAIN IDEAS
B) DUEL LEVELS
C) VS. CLASS TIPS
VIII-. PLAYING TIPS
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I-. HISTORY
===========
* ALPHA: First version. Very little covered. (Up to Wizard creation process)
* BETA 1: Covered full Wizard creation process
* BETA 2: Added some changes to Familiar part of the wizard creation. Added HIRELING
section
* v 0.7: Added SPELLS section
* v 0.8 Finished up to PLAYING TIPS section
* v 0.9 Added EQUIPMENT section, added more playing tips, changed some other things here
and there...
* v 0.95 Added VS. WIZARD, with tips when fighting one vs. one battles.
* v 0.97 Some minor changes made.
* v 0.99 Added MULTICLASSING section.
* v 1.0  Added some tips from LARRY BUEL (bravehome@cox.net) about making a Dwarven
Wizard.
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====================
II-. WIZARD CREATION
====================
Ok now, so you wanna create a very powerful Magic User to unleash hell to all living
and
death cratures on the NWN modules, aren't U? Well... then stop reading my Wizard guide
and
look 4 a Sorc one...
Many people think Wiz's and Sorc's are practically the same thing, but they're veeery
wrong; Sorc players mostly play and kill from their direct-damage spells (well, if they
only can know 4 or 5 spells per spell-level, there's not much to chose, only defense and
direct damage). Wiz's can memorize less spells than Sorc, but have a wider variety to
chose
from; just find a way to block magic damage and specially elemental damage from an enemy
sorc and it's all done (premonition, mantles... thingies like these come to mind). Till
sorc's are active direct-damage casters, wizards are somewhat combat passive. Just
specialised in spell-countering and enhancing-fuck*** spells.
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A) RACE
-------
* HUMAN: For me, this is maybe the best Wizard race available. No stat con's and two cool
race bonuses: 1 extra skill point per level and 1 extra feat at 1st level
* ELF: Pretty interesting, since the removal of the level-limit cap for non-human races
with the outcoming of 3rd edition rules elves are more wiz balanced than before. You get
some nice bonuses (sleep immunity, a +2 DEX bonus, hardiness vs enchantment spells...)
and
don't forget that Wiz's is Elves favored class (in case u want multiclassing). Ok you
have
a -2 penalty to CON stat (so you'll probably end with a CON 8 (-1) or CON 10 (+0)
starting
char but... hope you're not thinking you're gonna put yourself in melee combat a lot,
isn't it?
* GNOME: Nice race, with lots of spellcasting potential and nice bonuses too (+2 CON can
give little extra HP and - most important - upgrade Fortitude Saving throws, a thing
wiz's and sorc's usually lack of...; small stature will make gnomes harder to hit, and
finally some bonuses against illusion spells - gnomes start automatically with Illusion
Spell focus anc concentration skill bonus). A -2 STR penalty is not a problem for a
Wizard
(again... you're not going to engage melee combat).  Wizard is gnome's favored class.
* Half-Elf: Well, they're not humans and they're not elves. Have not stat CON's/PEN's but
the abilities they gain are more rogue-oriented than Magic User oriented. Have some
spellcasting potential, though.
* HALFLING: Ehmmmmm, think those childies usually prefer toying with spell components
than using them for spellcasting purposes... :)
* DWARF: Dwarven Wizard? no way. Give a lv20 dwarven wizard an axe and surely he will
wield it better than he cast spells...
NOTE: LARRY BUEL (bravehome@cox.net) thinks differently about this... :). With the
Dwarven
CON bonus and natural spell resistance dwarves can stand some hits in close battle while
they
cast their spells and break havoc... maybe INSIDE enemy lines? XD. Their -2 CHArisma CON
can
give them problems while persuading NPC's for extra rewards, but that's not a very big
problem in my real opinion.
He says about wearing some +CHA equipment so CHA bonus helps a little... but I'd prefer
enhancing INT instead (maybe you can get an extra lv2 spell and use it for a permanent
+CHA
buffer). Also, he usually likes to case Eagle's Splendor (+DEX bonus)... should be
interesting
at lower ACTS for upgrading missile to-hit throws; at higher acts an extra +1 to-hit may
not
make a very big difference when one wears a +3 (or higher) X-Bow... also, at those higher
acts
enemies just have soo much life for a X-Bow to ve really effective.
As for beginning stats, he chooses S 10 D 14 C 16 I 18 W 8 Ch 6. This gives good STR
(you
may downgrade STR to 8 and add the 2 points to WIS, for evading the -1 CON to Will Save
Throws... may have some encumbrance problems till you find some Bags of Holding, but...),
decent DEX (+2 to missile to-hit rolls, and extra AC) and nice CON (+3 to Fortitude saves
and 3
extra hit points per level). He chooses to Max INT (That's A LOT of points spent on INT,
but
hey, it's an extra +1 to the difficulty of the Save Throws); lowers a little WIS (as said
before, may change those two stats) and nearly forgets CHA.
He also tells about choosing a familiar... he usually picks the Pixie. I haven't had
much
testing with a pixie to try it for yourselves.
So in the end we have a Strong builded wizard with some problems while playing
Cooperative
games but... maybe we can find here a GREAT POTENTIAL at building DUELLERS? :) (just
change
that Pixie with a Panther-Hellhound... XDDD)
* HALF-ORC: Well... in case a Half Orc'd be able to play as a Magic User, -2 to INT and
CHA are penalties i don't wanna see in a Wiz... sorry.
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B) STATS
--------
Well, INT is the most important stat for a wizard, but in most cases you'll not want
to have stat penalties if you can avoid them. I'll not give you exact stat points, but
I'll make some recomendations here:
- STR: Not very important for a Wizard. the only thing you'll use STR is for your maximum
encumbrance, so no matter if you keep STR at 10 (so you'll have no melee penalties in the
veeeery few cases you'll have to get dagger-crazy) or you can even drop the stat to 9
or even 8, so you'll have a -1 penalty. Encumbrance is not a big problem... there are
Bags of Holding, you know.
- DEX: Important. Comes in very handy cuz will allow you to raise your AC a little
against
any lost x-bow bolt or ranged touch attacks. It also helps your main physical attack to
connect (Wizards go crazy on ranged attacks) and also will aid on some interesting
non-class skills you can take. 14-15 DEX for level 1 chara (that's +2) will do pretty
well.
- CON: Hmmm, 1d4 hit points per level is just too low for a Mage surviving solo. There
are usually too many lost bolts, arrows and throwing materials that are somewhat
destinated
to your Mage, and you'll not want to let a lucky hit from one of these to kill you, isn't
it?. A mage should be able to take at least two hits before dying, so drop some points
into CON (14-15, with +2 bonus should do well). But CON not only raises your hit points,
CON also allows you to have some bonuses on Fortitude Saves (a type of saving throw Wiz's
are not very well prepared against). Finally, can help a little in Concentration skill
(the most important for a wizard)
- INT: The MOST important stat a Wizard needs. Throw in plenty of points here. 16-17 is
pretty decent (this'll give a +3 to INT at level 1; that's a +1 lv 1-2-3 spell); the +3
to INT will allow to have even more skill points to invest, so you may even chose some
non
class skills. This should be your main focus for placing extra points at levels
4-8-12-16-20...
- WIS: Well... this should be used mainly for increasing Will saves, but Wiz's have
pretty
decent will saves even without bonuses. Just try not having penalties here.
- CHA: Hum... this stat usually did practically nothing on previous D&D games so usually
was the LOWEST of all stats... but as for NWN there are some interesting uses (you might
have to make some CHA checks, persuade, etc... so try not to lower this a lot will ya? I
think you'd first lower STR than this one
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C) SKILLS
---------
Wizards, with his +INT skill bonus are the most favored class in those terms. They
have
not many class specific skills, but the ones they have serve them pretty well. Excess
points can also be used on any non class specific skills a mage wants to choose.
The most important skills are:
- CONCENTRATION [CON]: Just Max it. This skill allows you to continue casting a spell
even
if you get hit during the casting process. A high concentration skill level will make
archers less annoying (archer were Wiz's bane on D&D 2nd edition, just play an archer on
Baldur's Gate II an set his/her AI to lock on enemy spellcasters).
- HEAL [WIS]: Doesn't have to be maxed, but throw in some points here. This will allow
to heal large ammounts of damage with a single medical kit (even 30+ points per use!)
you'll normally always take 20 with this skill, so with 5 skill points you'll heal 25+
damage on each use. Cost of a medical kit is very cheap.
- LORE [INT]: Two words... MAX it. This skill allows you to freely identify magical
items,
with mage's INT bonus and skill maxed, if an item lasts unidentified when you examine it
this can only mean two things... the item is cursed OR the item is so damn powerful you'd
go at once to one shop to have it identified (well... you to could help yourself with a
lore potion - usually +5 lore - or an Identify spell - 25 + character level lore -)
- SPELLCRAFT [INT]: This is your friend. Wizards are veeery counter-spell oriented, so
better know which spells you'd counter at all costs, or whose should only be an
annoyance.
This skills allows you to know which spell is being cast by an enemy mage AND, per every
5
skill points in this skill, you get a +1 to ALL spell saving throws ... sweet
All right... the skills up here were all class specific skills, and Wiz obtain
4+INT bonus skill points per level... so with a +3 INT bonus you'd have another 3 free
skill points (one more point if your wiz is human) even if you MAXED the skills before.
Where to put extra skill points? obviously, on NON-Class specific skills, some of them
very nice to have (remember that NON-CLASS specific cost twice as much skill points to
increase the skill in one point):
- SEARCH [INT]: Yep... very nice skill to place extra points. You'll be able to look
for traps - not as well as a thief, though... but you'll have an INT bonus on yer
searching... :) - You can leave this to your familiar (if it's a Panther, Fairy...) so
you can concentrate on disarming.
- DISARM TRAPS [INT]: Yesssss!! disabling traps for mages... only half the bonus of a
thief (and you'll not be able to disarm Difficulty level 35+ traps) BUT... you can (and
you should) always EXAMINE a trap before atempting to disarm it so you gain a bonus to
this take 20 action (so let's say at level 1, you have a +3 INT bonus, 2 skill points
here and you always Take 20 on disarming... that's at least a 25 skill check... cool!!).
It's almost sure you'll be able to disarm any ground traps you find; the only ones
that
can oppose some resistance are the big treasure chest ones, wich usually have a DC of
32+... but well... you can always trigger them with your familiar or usually bash the
chest with ranged attacks (those big chests have about 15hp, and a damage reduction of 5,
so find a heavy x-bow - which makes 1-10 damage -; about half the conecting hits will
make some damage to the chest, opening it and destroying the trap at the same time)
- OPEN LOCK [DEX]: Useful for lock-picking if there's no thief in party. You'll have some
decent DEX bonus for pumping this up too. Remember that you can always try to bash the
chest open, but some of these have a damage resistence of 10, 15 and even more. If you
don't wanna open chests with Sorc mode (usually casting a firewall or somewhat damaging
spell) and have not knock spells learned (you shouldn't, just always have one or two
knock
spells on stock and it's OK) this is the skill you want.
- PERSUADE [CHA]: IF there's a rogue in your party and you have excess skill points, THIS
is the place to put them. This skill allows you to have NPC's give you optional quests
(xp) and better rewards for quests completed (money and items); handy.
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D) FEATS
--------
Feats are way important for a Wizard. Many feats allow Wizard to cast their spells
at full power, and some non-magical feats work pretty well on a wizard. Most useful feats
are:
- COMBAT CASTING: This feat enables you to cast a spell at close range (when engaged in
melee combat with an enemy). Without this feat you'd obtain a -4 to all concentration
skill checks AND enemy should obtain an Opportunity Attack against you. Don't leave home
without this feat.
- SPELL FOCUS: Start with Illusion (for countering) or Evocation (for direct damage).
Not only you get +2 bonus against spell saving throws (add the bonus from the spellcraft
skill for more fun) from the chosen schools BUT enemies also get -2 penalty to save
against spells from these schools you cast!. At later levels, when enemies have very
high saving throws, these points can make a big difference. Just look at the schools
you'll be using more and keep them in mind.
- MAXIMIZE SPELL: Gosh this feat can pack really a punch!!. You must learn the spell
empowered with this fest as if it was two (2!!) level higher BUT... this allows your
spell to be cast at maximum power, damage, duration... nice to maximice the direct damage
spells you'll use during your journeys.
- SILENT SPELL: When you get this feat, always - I say ALWAYS - keep a Dispel Magic with
this feat learned. Against clerics and so on you'll never know when they'll cast Silence,
Deafness, etc... so better be ready. You can always use the Dispel Magic for normal
dispelling if you don't battle clerics, though.
- STILL SPELL: Naarly as same as SILENT SPELL, but this not only helps on casting with
armor on, but helps on casting spells WHILE HELD/PARALIZED/SLOWED and the like. This feat
cancels Somatic Components (waving hands,...) required to cast the spell.
- EMPOWER SPELL: Very useful at mid levels for doubling the duration of protective -
enhancing spells you will use. a simple Enhanced Fox Cunning thrown at caster's lv9 will
last 18 hours... enough for the next rest.
- GREATER FORTITUDE: Nice feat because Wiz's are not very fond against Fortitude saves,
an
extra +2 is always welcome.
- THOUGHNESS: Just gives extra hit points (1 per character level) which are always
welcome. You don't need to take this feat at 1st level, but is a good one to choose when
enemies start packing quite a bit...
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F) FAMILIAR
-----------
Now this is a most important choice to make. You'd chose a familiar who compliment
your
abilities and your hireling's, so the familiar you'd chose depends heavily on what
members
your party will consist of. For me, the better choices are these:
- RAVEN: This one will allow you to scout ahead for danger (possess familiar comes to
mind). Can find traps (cannot remove them, though, but you could let your familiar find
the traps so you can disarm them; this'd make a good combination). Let the familiar away
from danger or you'll find yourself recasting him a looot of times.
- SPRITE: In many ways better than the raven. Not only can find traps, but also can
disarm them! Yep, a pretty nice little rogue we have here. Don't take this little thing
near combat or you'll start recasting her lotsa times; between... the fuck*** noise this
thing makes while flying can get annoying... better let the familiar keep distance from
you. She has very low life, so almost any lost hit will kill her automatically. Her high
level abilities are good though, so you'd take a look at her. Taking this as your
familiar
should allow you to forget about traps and lockpicking, allowing you to concentrate on
PERSUADE skill, and having a combat-type henchman.
- PANTHER: THIS is the one for me, and the one I use most. Not only this overgrown kittie
is fast and has pretty good stats (+3 STR bonus, +4 DEX bonus...) but also has decent
life so he makes a decent minion and trap-triggerer. He's like the RAVEN on the way that
has good search and spot abilities, but cannot disarm traps (well, leave your familiar
spot the traps so you can concentrate on the disarm skill)... ah, something more I forgot
to tell about this one... It's a ROGUE type!!!!!.
So... what does rogue type mean? well... this kittie's so damn good at hiding in
shadows that you can explore (possess familiar) nearly full zones ahead and see what
you may encounter, so you can prepare against wathever is waiting for ya; you can also
(and you should) use the panther as a minion. Yep, you thing panther only hits per 1-3 +3
damage isn't it? Wrooong!!, You'll shortly find this kittie hits SO DAMN HARD because
HE/SHE CAN FLANK enemies thus making sneak attacks. This familiar is always 1 level AHEAD
of you, so if you are lv7 the panther will probably be lv8, will have two hits per
round (at +10/+5) and a sneack attack of 1-3 +3 +4d6 damage.... that's 8-30 damage PER
HIT while flanking.
OK, now you think... "well... rogues only sneak attack WHILE opponent is attacking or
being attacked by ANOTHER char, minion, etc at the same time... and Wiz's don't engage
melee combat so... what's the point in flanking?". And reply is... your familiar
shouldn't
be alone on attacking. You should always have an hireling (usually a combat type one) AND
a summoned helper all times (or you could just play in a multiplayer party), so now you
have 3 fighters (familiar, minion and henchman) against one enemy; on most times sneak
attacking is a sure thing.
Ops I forgot... look at panther's rogue feats (uncanny dodge, improved evasion...
maybe
even *ouch* defensive roll...) and the reflex save bonus this kittie has. This familiar
is
the PERFECT trap triggerer if none on your party can disarm traps. And, with the decent
ammount of life this familiar has, there's 9/10 chances that will survive if the familiar
fails his reflex throw. And if this familiar gets injured just talk to him, choose the
"Feed familiar" option and... voila!! full life again!!
Be nice... think of cats; even on big ones.
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-
===============
III-. HIRELINGS
===============
Here we must find a henchman that compliments our skills. The best idea is to find a
decent combat-type one... but there are other posibilities:
- COMBAT TYPE (BARBARIAN, WARRIOR...) This could be probably the most used one. With very
high hit points and damn powerful critical hits (have seen 50+ damage on criticals) these
are tanks you must beware of. Take one combat type, any minion and your pretty panther
familiar and you'll shred enemies onto pieces in no time. Find one with knockdown and
cleave and enjoy tons of damage per round.
* PROS:
- Heavy damage per round obtained. A Combat Fighter is a tank.
- Any enemy attacking your tank will be really open for unlimited sneak attacks from
your familiar unless decides to change target. Combat type have soooo much life so
they can take quite a buch of hits
* CONS:
- No more special abilities than the combat-oriented ones.
- Be warned of Will saves... combat types are not very good at they. Any mind
control spell can turn relatively easy your henchman against you.
- ROGUE TYPE (ROGUE): Yep... another rogue in the party. This one finds traps, removes
them, open locks,... and sneak attacks too. Having this one allows you to concentrate in
PERSUASION and other skills than the rogue-type ones. Remember this rogue will always be
helped by your minion and your familiar, so if a BOSS enemy is so damn stupid that
he/she/it attacks your minion instead one of yer rogue-type helpers... well... it's
flanking party, man.
* PROS:
- Thi's a Jack of all Trades... I'm sorry he/she can't make the laundry for me... :)
you can forget about traps and closed doors.
- Two flankers if you take the panther familiar. Enemy will have to choose which one
wants to leave flanking him.
* CONS:
- Not very much life. You can aid by having minions attacking at the same time, but
if an oponent choses to make him target he'll not last long alone
- CASTER TYPE (CLERIC, SORCERER): Not as useful as the other two hireling types but you'd
take a look onto. A cleric will be useful as half-warrior, but this one usually keeps
casting bless an heals on you and your minion/familiar instead of hitting the enemy.
Well,
a bless helps somewhat... but I'd prefer just ONE bless (and maybe a hold person) and
then
start hitting so my familiar can flank. You could pray for the cleric to cast a summon
spell too... XDDDD
On the other side I'd take a sorc (not other wiz) and hope he has most direct damage
spells he can. This will weaken enemies a lot while the minion and familiar do the rest.
* PROS
- You have a secondary spellcaster either offensive or defensive. If you don't mind
resting a lot both of you can unleash a whole barrack of fuck*** spells against all
who opose yourselves.
* CONS
- Again, you'll have to deal by yourself with traps and the like.
- Low HP. Two affortunate hits from a lucky enemy and you'll have to find another
henchman/resurrect the dead one...
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===========
IV-. SPELLS
===========
All right, now let's see the most useful spells a Wizard can use to annoy enemies and
to help allies:
==============
LEVEL 0 SPELLS
==============
* LIGHT: If you don't want to keep carrying a torch, or waste a ring slot with a light
ring, you'd use this spell. There aren't more interesting spells here, though.
* RESISTANCE: A +1 to all saving throws is always welcome.
==============
LEVEL 1 SPELLS
==============
* CHARM PERSON: Pretty useful on the first levels, warriors an fighter-type enemies
always
have a low will save throws so this spell connects damn well. Can turn the tides of early
battles.
* COLOR SPRAY: Not only hits an area, but deals a lot of helpful ailments. Only blinded
enemies can do something... and with a 50% failure chance.
* MAGIC MISSILE: some people prefers Burning Hands than this and it's OK for the first
few
levels... but i prefer my Wizard not keep so close at later levels just for covering a
wider area. The nearer you're the more chances an enemy will chose to use you as a
punchin' bag. Also look at maximum damages:
Burning Hands:  5-20 with reflex save for half damage or even no damage (rogues)
Magic Missile: 10-25 with no saving throw
Well... I personally prefer something that never misses, specially against enemy
mages.
* IDENTIFY: You'd have one or two id scrolls at hand always, don't memorize. Remember
that
identify an item does cost 100gp... and an identify spell just 42gp (and you can identify
more than one item with this).
* SLEEP: Nice for crowd control. Wide area. Now you can take out lesser minions so you
can
concentrate on BOSSES first
* SUMMON CREATURE I: No way a Wizard can live without this. Always have a minion present;
of course, replace with a higher summon when available. The badger's stats are poor, but
you can use it as a meat shield for your familiar to flank
==============
LEVEL 2 SPELLS
==============
* BULL'S STR & the like: These are pretty decent spells. All of them increase one of the
main stats during a lot of time. Having one or two at most casted at all times can be
really beneficial. Special mention to FOX's CUNNING (a + bonus to INT can really help on
making your spells harder to avoid, help your concentration and your spellcraft skills).
* GHOSTLY VISAGE: ten points of damage resistance against weapons lesser than +2, plus
full immunity against spells of lv0 and lv1. duration's pretty good too.
* LESSER DISPEL: Your first Jack-of-all-Trades counter. Remember you can always use
Dispel
type spells as universal counters.
* RESIST ELEMENTS: Nice 20 damage reduction against all elemental types. Specially useful
of big multiplayer arena-type games where Fireballs are commonly the first attack from
both
sides.
* SUMMON CREATURE II: As same as level one, but now you summon a dire boar; more powerful
than the badger.
* WEB: Good crowd control spell. Hold enemies and Coup-de-Grace them.
==============
LEVEL 3 SPELLS
==============
* DISPEL MAGIC: Your main dispeller for a long time
* FIREBALL: Powerful crowd control spell. Up to 60 damage with a lv10 fireball. Be
warned of rules used in your current game (you don't want to toast your own allies, don't
you?)
* HASTE: Haste is your friend. Haste kicks @$$. Haste your allies at all times (well, not
at all times but every time you face a boss). Chop-suey guaranteed.
* PROTECTION FROM ELEMENTS: Now we have 30 damage resistance against elements. Will last
an average level fireball.
* STINKING CLOUD: Another crowd control spell. Again, daze'em all and start killin'
* SUMMON CREATURE III: This one's much better than the previous, nice HP, good attack...
and knockdown for wolvie. Just wanted him to use knockdown more frecuently... any oponent
down is ready for tearing-time.
==============
LEVEL 4 SPELLS
==============
* CHARM MONSTER: Here you have the same charm spell of level 1... but now you can use on
nearly every living creature you find. Look for combat types.
* ELEMENTAL SHIELD: 50% damage reduction to cold & fire. Combine with any resist spells
* ENERVATION: gosh!. Much better in many ways than curse spells. Target loses 1d4 points
of nearly everything!! (to-hit, damage, defense...) target even loses memorized spells
(higher spell levels the first ones disapearing)
* IMPROVED INVISIBILITY: specially useful thrown on a combat-type hireling. Try it
* LESSER SPELL BREACH: Your first anti-magic user spells. have one always at hand.
* POLYMORPH SELF: U wanna help your allies/henchman/minion/familiar? just cast this and
chose Troll or Umberhulk. Happy hunting. Be warned that your life is not very high...
* STONESKIN: Ouch. First full damage resistance spell (10/+5). The first 10 points of ANY
kind of damage target recives are blocked. SO... who wants to take 10 less damage points
on any hit?.
* SUMMON CREATURE IV: Now you have spidey helping you. You lose knockback but gain free
poison attacks at all times. DC26 in order to save from poison, so any Spidey hit is
almost a guaranteed poison hit too (usually enemies don't last long so they can take
secondary poison damage).
==============
LEVEL 5 SPELLS
==============
* CONE OF COLD: A most powerful ice version of the fireball; limited to 120 max damage.
* DOMINATE PERSON: Thi's not a charm. You take FULL CONTROL of the target. Just make
him/her suicidal (trap triggering comes to mind) when don't need him/her anymore
* ENERGY BUFFER: Now you get 40 point damage resistance against elements
* FEEBLEMIND: Ouch!!!, Spellcaster's bane. You must be at least lv9 to cast this spell...
and target loses 'x'd4 INT where 'x' is your level. So, at least you make your target
lose 9d4 INT points (leaving him at INT 1 at most). The first mage succesfully casting
this wins, remember.
* LESSER PLANAR BINDING:  Now you start summoning outsiders to help you, must chose what
you prefer... this or Creature summoning. Outsiders are more powerful, but last a very
short time.
* LESSER SPELL MANTLE: Now you don't block damage, but full spell levels. Have in mind
that a fireball thrown at your feet - without having you as the target - still will
damage you.
* SUMMON CREATURE V: Now it's a Bear (yep, a bear, not a Tiger) the helper. Lotsa fun,
but
must chose this or Planar Binding
==============
LEVEL 6 SPELLS
==============
* CHAIN LIGHTNING: Just don't waste time repositioning yourself for a well placed cone of
cold. You lose a little damage to secondary targets but gain auto targeting ability.
* CIRCLE OF DEATH: Awesome crowd control spell. Most BOSS accompanying minions will fall
to this leaving yourself and your allies to deal with the BOSS itself.
* GREATER DISPELLING: Now we start talking of real counter power
* GREATER SPELL BREACH: Twice as powerful as lesser breach.
* GREATER STONESKIN: ... and this twice as powerful as stoneskin... 20/+5 damage
reduction.
* MASS HASTE: One spell, all allies (yourself included) hasted. Gotta go wild!! just cast
and see your allies start doing major damage. Better than casting haste four times, next
three rounds you should do something better than casting more hastes...
* PLANAR BINDING: More powerful outsider come to aid. Remember chosing between this or
Summon Creature.
* SUMMON CREATURE VI: Paper Tiger comes to help. So damn strong. Nice tank.
==============
LEVEL 7 SPELLS
==============
* DELAYED BLAST FIREBALL: You've had to wait a lot till obtained this, but it's so damn
killer; place some of these near an unaware enemy an lure him to the trap (posess
familiar
anyone?). When target enters the area... BAOUM!!
* FINGER OF DEATH: Not very good (saving throws are just very high at those levels) but
some creatures can fall to this.
* MORDENKAINEN'S SWORD: Summons a pretty looking creature with a big sword to chop-chop
for you. Chose between this and elementals.
* PRISMATIC SPRAY: Damn powerful for crowd control. Any creature in the area of effect
must save against one of two saving throws (type depends of the color that touches them)
or
will get damaged, fucked, crushed, petrified, banished... sweet!!. Too bad you cannot
chose
all seven effects to converge on a single creature...
* SHADOW SHIELD: Nice combination of Stoneskin, Mage armor and some immunities. All in
one.
* SPELL MANTLE: More spell block-level than the lesser mantle
* SUMMON CREATURE VII: Now you start summoning elementals rather than creatures. Be
warned
that the elemental called is random, so you might summon a Fire Elemental in a fire-based
dungeon or something like this...
==============
LEVEL 8 SPELLS
==============
* GREATER PLANAR BINDING: Celestial Fury!!... Celestial Powa!!... Celestial avenger comes
to chop enemies!!.
* MASS CHARM: You'll like this against large armies of enemies. Charm 25-50% of enemy
creatures then sit and watch enemies killing themselves for you. Then take care of the
rest.
* MIND BLANK: No charming-dominating your allies with this spell
* PREMONITION: Mega stone skin... 30/+5 damage reduction.
* SUMMON CREATURE VIII: Bigger elemental comes to aid here... beware of the elemental
type.
==============
LEVEL 9 SPELLS
==============
* GATE: Death incarnate comes to your plane to play a little with your enemies. You need
to
be protected against EVIL (A protection from Alignment should do the job) or the Balor
summoned will be able to attack you too.
* MORDENKAINEN'S DISJUNCTION: Most powerful dispel magic in the game
* POWER WORD O' KILL: No save throw. kill enemy mages with this. The first one casting
this succesfully is the one who wins. Hope your initiative roll is better than enemy
Mage's...
* SHAPECHANGE: If one Balor isn't enough, then shapechange into another one...
* TIME STOP: When you cast this the rest of the world gets stopped for some rounds, just
do what you want in that time (cast meteor swarms, cones of cold, power words o' kill,
summonings...) this is THE SPELL.
* WAIL OF THE BANSHEE: Nice caster-killing spell. All enemies in the area must success in
a fortitude save or they AUTOMATICALLY die. Remember that fortitude saves are wizard's
bane.
* WEIRD: Pretty much like Wail of the Banshee... kills all in an area but now the save
throw is a will one. Combat types oriented.
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-
=============
V-. EQUIPMENT
=============
Now that we have our Wizard already created, it's time to place the best equipment we
can afford/find on him/her. These are my own equipment ideas, so feel free to change your
Wiz's equipment so it will fit your playing style.
* HEAD: At first levels you'll not have level prequisites/won't be able to afford a
magical
helmet, so just a plain one will do. It'll look kinda weird on a Wizard (specially on a
female one...) but gives concentration skill +1 and no penalizations; at higher levels
you
should start looking for a Thieves Cap or similar.
Bonuses you should look in a HELMET/CAP:
+ Bonus to spells. There are very nice caps with (usually low level) spell bonuses.
+ Bonus to skills (specially Concentration, Persuade, Search...)
+ Bonus to INT (or even CHA, so you'll be able to raise Persuade skill)
+ Immunity against Critical Hits (Think of a lv13 Half-Orc fighter With Boots of
Speed,
speciallization on Greatswords and Enhanced Critical on Greatswords... ouch)
* ARMOR: Well... don't even think of wearing leather armor or something. At first levels
try to find a robe of resistance (any kind will do, but you'll find that at first levels
the Fire resistance ones are better. Next you should find Mage's Battlerobes to put on.
Think that AC is SECONDARY. At lower levels you'll have too low life to engage melee,
and at higher levels any fighter type opponent will have too high to-hit bonuses so your
AC will not be usefull (they'll just have to roll a 2+ to hit you, no matter which AC you
have...) a well crafted Fighter could have a +19/+14/+9 to hit at lv13 or even more - at
least I have this on my Greatsword Half-Orc fighter - ; so, your defense will mainly
consist of Damage Reduction spells.
Bonuses you should look in an OUTFIT:
+ Elemental resistance (better +10 to all than +15 to just one type, you don't know
what you'll find ahead... UNLESS you know what you'll find ahead)
+ Physical Damage Reduction (even +5 will help... but think that here usually will
come
some penalties to any of the three kinds, so you can find 5/- to slashing and crushing
but +25% damage received with piercing... but, well... +25% damage received only is
added to the BASE damage of the weapon)
+ Bonuses to skills (usually you'll find here bonuses to mage skills, that's handy)
* WEAPON: At low levels we'll need some kind of support weapon for helping our minions
do their job, so find out a ranged weapon (Crossbows are best). At higher levels you'll
find you're not able to hit in a decent rate, so search for a weapon with nice bonuses
rather than damage.
Bonuses you should look in a WEAPON:
+ To-hit bonus (look FIRST for to-hit bonuses, damage is secondary. Remember that
x-bows
don't add STR bonus to their damage, so it's way better a +1 light x-bow than a normal
heavy x-bow). Remember that you'll only use this weapon for the first levels, where
enemies are somewhat easy to hit.
+ Extra spell bonus. When you have a higher level and you find that enemies have too
high AC for you hit them in a decent rate, start looking for other bonuses instead
to-hit ones. At these levels you'll bang with low-level spells, so having +1 or +2
bonus to spells (usually you'll find +1 to lv1 spells, +1 to lv2 spells,...) will
allow
you to damage a little more.
+ AC bonus. Yep, some weapons come as DEFENDER types, so better gain some AC here
either
than a non-useful anymore +2 x-bow.
* MANTLES/ROBES: At low levels you'll not be able to afford even the lesser of the cloaks
(usually there are not normal cloaks out there) so you'll have some decent level when
you'll be able to afford one.
Bonuses you should look in a CLOAK/MANTLE:
+ Bonus to save throws. This is MOST important for a wizard. The only save throw
wizards
can succeed without problems are the WILL ones... but you have to find a way to help
you
succeed against FORTITUDE (Instant Death spells come to mind here, Wail of the Banshee
requires AT LEAST a Fortitude against DC 23 - Base DC 10, +9 (lv9 spell), +4 (at least
a
Wizard must have INT 19 to cast Banshee's... that's a +4 bonus -) and REFLEX (Enhanced
Fireballs, Dragon Beath, trap damage...) ones.
+ Spell Resistance. Even only 10 spell resistance is good, look for this
+ STAT Bonuses (INT and CHA are the most common here)
* GLOVES: At low levels you should find some lesser gloves of somewhat (Concentration and
Spellcraft are most useful), and at higher levels llok for Greater versions of the same
or
somewhat else.
Bonuses you should look in a GLOVE:
+ Bonus to skills. You'll find Concentrations and Spellcraft ones most useful; these
usually come on two kinds: Lesser (+3) version and Greater (+6) version.
+ Bonus to DEX (You can find too Gauntlets of Ogre Power too but... you're not going
to
find them useful unless you want to acrry A LOT of equipment); +DEX bonuses can help
you
raise AC a little, raise to-hit bonus with ranged attacks, and raise some thieving
skills you may have.
+ AC Bonuses (If all else fails, look for some of these... but only if ALL else fails)
* BELT: As usual.. belts are only magical, and somewhat hard to find... unless you find a
light one quickly. Later find any kind of protection type girdle.
Bonuses you should look in a BELT
+ Spell Resistance. Somewhat common in belts, even the lesser of these can give you a
nice 12 spell ressitance.
+ Physical Damage Reduction (as same as in ARMOR, look there for more information)
* BOOTS: You can find nice bonuses in boots. There are no non-magical boots, so'll have
to
wait a little to obtain magical ones (but the lesser ones are cheap, you'll be able to
afford them shortly)
Bonuses you should look in BOOTS:
+ Save Throws bonuses. These will be the first boots you'll find/buy. Look for
Fortitude
or Reflex ones.
+ CON bonus. Nice for some extra fortitude saves bonuses.
+ Haste. The universal known Boots of Speed. The +1 extra attack per round is not
useful, but being always hasted allows you to escape difficult situations. Also,
getting
an extra spell cast per round can prove useful.... ^_^
* RINGS: Now here we can find a lot of useful MODs for our mage. At low leves we'll only
be
able to afford the Light ones (which we shouldn't buy unless we find one, but then we'll
start finding Save Throw ones and more.
Bonuses you should look in a RING:
NOTE: There are lots of useful mods in a ring, so I'll list the most important ones for
low, medium and high end equipment
LOW END EQUIPMENT:
+ Save Throw bonuses (single). You'll quickly find rings giving you a +1 to ONE type
of
save throw. Useful at low levels. As usual, look for REFLEX/FORTITUDE ones
* Light (15 radius). Look for a Cyan one and AVOID as Hell a Crimson type. The type
of ring will change the color of the light it generates (so, Cyan will make a Blue 15
light radius... and Crimson will make a RED 15 light radius... red... yep, red... SAME
COLOR as found traps. This ring only makes found traps harder to see, beware)
MID END EQUIPMENT:
+ +INT bonuses. Usually the main INT upgrader is a ring item, so look for them.
+ Saving Throws bonuses (All - Ring of Protection) Better than the single type, gives
a bonus to all saving throws. Remember that save throws are UNIVERSAL, so will not
stack
with other save throw bonuses from other equipment - as the bonuses given by a Cloak
of
Protection -  so choose if you want the cloak, necklace or a ring to give you the
bonus.
HIGH END EQUIPMENT
+ Stat bonuses (DEX and INT most recomended) As same as other + STAT equipment.
Remember
that + STAT bonuses DO STACK.
+ Spell bonuses. As same as other spell bonus equipment
+ Elemental Resistance (Usually come in form of 15/- resistance to all but Negative
Energy. Nice)
* NECKLACES: Less bonuses than in rings, but you'll surelly find something that suits you
Bonuses you should look in a NECKLACE:
+ Stat Bonus (Usually WIS) You'll find mainly Wisdom enhancements here, but there are
other stat bonuses on Necklaces
+ Save Throws. As usual, choose which item you want to give U the bonus. Usually
you'll
want the robe to give you the bonus, but can hose also to place the save bonus here so
you free the robe and/or a ring slot.
+ Spell bonuses. As same as other spell bonus equipment
+ Skill bonuses (usually somewhat rogue oriented)
+ AC bonus. Usually a Natural Armor modifier, so will stack very nicely with other AC
bonuses
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-
==================
VI-. MULTICLASSING
==================
All right, so you're interested on multiclassing your wizard and get some extra
abilities, ?aren't you?. Here you'll find some tips about the best multiclassing options
I've found so far.
First, I hereby recommend you not to multiclass unless you really want to do it. The
main power of any spellcaster comes from their higher level spells, and if you
multiclass,
you can even forbid access to the higher spell levels. So, if you really want to
multiclass
think that Slv8 (spell level 8) requires at least Wiz. lv15, and for Slv9 you need Wiz.
lv17. That only leaves 3-5 levels to multiclass if you want to keep some of the most
powerful spells.
* WIZARD / FIGHTER: I haven't found any armor wearing classes very useful for
multiclassing. As a fighter you'll usually wear a heavy armor, that can net you at
least 30%+ spell failure rate. Sure you can put off your armor, cast the spell and
place
your armor on... but that's not the way; as a warrior you'll be a frontline fighter
and
cannot afford lose time changing armor in mid-combat...
Of course, if you want to wear a shield, forget about multiclassing.
The best two multiclassing combinations here are to take W4/F16, or W9/F11. This
way
you get the +1 attack per round bonuses of the fighter and some spells. In case you
take
W4/F16 you'll end with a damn strong lv 16 fighter with 4 attacks per round, a lot
of
fighting feats and some spells (Slv1 and Slv2) that you'll use mostly to enhance
your
fighter (Bull's Strenght, Endurance, Ghostly Visage and Resist Elements) and whose
you
can cast without armor before going adventuring. In W9/F11 case, you'll end with a
good
fighter with 3 attacks per round and decent hit bonuses. With very good protective
spells added (Lesser Spell Mantle, Energy Buffer and Stoneskin), enhancing spells
(Bull's...) and some dispellers in case they're needed.
* WIZARD / BARBARIAN: Slightly better than fighter's multiclass since Barb's rely
more
on dexterity and light/medium armor than fighters, still, as a barbarian you'll end
wearing at least medium armor and in the frontline, so your wizard part of the
multiclass will mainly act as a support role, casting enhancing spells pre-combat.
I'd
recommend same multiclass levels as like Fighter/Wizard (that's W4/B16, or W9/B11.)
* WIZARD / RANGER: By far the best wiz/fighter type multiclass. As a ranger you'll
mainly focus either on ranged attacks, or going two-feapon fighting, with light
armor
as protection (20% arcane spell failure at most) and focusing mainly on DEX bonus to
upgrade AC. Acting as a ranger allows you to get get some divine spells (if level is
sufficiently high) and to be a decent frontline fighter if something nasty gets near
you. Also, you get only little penalties from your armor (look from Leather rather
than studded leather (you may lose 1 AC from armor , but can get +2 extra AC from
DEX,
since Leather usually allow a max DEX bonus of +6, while Studded limits that to +4.
With that good DEX bonus you'll get very nice chances sniping while your henchman,
familiar and minion rush. the main problem you'll find is to chose between FEATS
(since you'll have two classes to worry about) Also, you'll have to worry of having
some WIS bonus, because some spells you'll obtain will come from that way.
As for levels, I'd take W9/Rg11. This way you'll have three atack per round (more if
Dual Wielding), and will be able to cast lv5 Arcane Spells, and lv3 Ranger Spells,
usually enough.
* WIZARD / PALADIN: Similar to Wiz /Fgt, but you lose some extra combat feats and
gain clerical spells and other bonuses instead. Also, as a Paladin, you'll find
yourself more oriented to Heavy Armor, and even you can carry a shield. That will be
a big Arcane failure rate problem (up to 90% if using a Tower Shield).
* WIZARD / ROGUE: Some interesting posibilities here. As a rogue you'll commonly not
wield more than light armor (and usually you'll stick to leather to take advantage
from high DEX bonus). As a rogue, you will get Sneak Attack, decent skills (you'd
concentrate on maxing SEARCH, DISABLE TRAPS, PICK LOCKS, PERSUADE and common rogue
skills; and leaving WIZ levels for maxing LORE, CONCENTRATION , HEAL and
SPELLCRAFT. That way you'll end with a bunch of useful skill so you can change your
hench, familiar and minion acordingly.
There are two ways to play this, as a pure wizard with some rogue levels added,
or
by equaling levels. No matter what way you choose, but I'd start as a rogue (for
gaining the lv1 skill boost) then multiclass to Wiz at Chlv 2.
Now, the two main ideas. If you want to go pure wizard, you should end W17/R3,
you'll get a starting SKILL boost, you'll start MAXING quickly some useful rogue
feats,
you'll get a +2d6 sneak (useful for adding damage done by a X-bow or similar if near
enough) and the ability to NULLIFY spell damage if a REFLEX save is involved. Then,
when you start to take wizard levels you can still add to rogue based skills. Also,
if
you end choosing this idea, you'll be able to cast every spell level available to
wizards.
The second way is to equal the classes a little more. This way you'd end as
W11/R9;
which allow you to cast Arcane lv6 spells, will have +5d6 sneaks, a LOT of rogue