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I see allot of arcane classes in my area, wizards are the least among them.
The wizards I have seen can coompletley change the game at high level. Most of the sorcerors are blasty while the wizards realize the total utility of the class. I GMd scenario x something was coming toward the party, 2 wizards in the party both had D Door. First round the party ended up on the other side of the encounter.
If my sorceror was there I would of dropped a blasty spell since I have a smaller set of prepared spells.
I do not think scribe scroll has anything to do with the lack of wizards. I would say about 0-1%
I totally think it is play style, as well as being a difficult class to play to its strengths. I would hope players would choose challenge themselves to playing them more often. I would also urge people not to follow guides to closely. Wizards equl low hp, con saves lives.
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Really? That doesn't make much sense... in PFRPG you can easily pick up scrolls with multiple spells on them. It happens all the time in the module I run. Why can't you do the same thing in PFS?You can do that, it's been discussed before. It's a good use of 2 PP.
Nope, check the FAQ:
You may purchase a multiple spell scroll but are limited to multiple copies of the same spell on the scroll. So, you can have five copies of scorching ray on one scroll but only that spell. You can not mix and match different spells on the same scroll.
A multiple spell scroll may be purchased with either Prestige Points or gold pieces.
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Nope, check the FAQ:Really? That doesn't make much sense... in PFRPG you can easily pick up scrolls with multiple spells on them. It happens all the time in the module I run. Why can't you do the same thing in PFS?You can do that, it's been discussed before. It's a good use of 2 PP.
I knew I saw it somewhere.
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Similarly, magus has a smaller spells per day and reduced spell list.
I'll have to beg to differ there. A wizard gets one more spell per day than a Magus at effectively all levels. Then you throw in spell recall...where you burn part of a magus's arcane pool to recharge a spell slot. At 4th level, that will on average give a magus 2-3 *more* spells per day than the wizard.
Then you have the Magus Arcana "Spell Blending", which lets a magus pick 1 Wizard spell of his highest Magus level spell, or 2 spells of lower levels, and add them to his spellbook as Magus spells.
Long story short, a magus gets more spells per day, and can pick up spells of up to 4th level.
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My first PFS character was a wizard...played him on opening day for PFS (Thursday of Gencon 2008). Got him up to 3rd level, but didn't enjoy playing him particularly, and then I stepped away from PFS for about 18 months.
When I started back up with PFS early this year, I made up a new character (and have made two more since then). One of my new characters is a paladin, which I've found to be a great deal of fun; she's only 3rd level at this point, but I'll almost undoubtedly be taking the bonded sword option rather than a mount when I get to 5th, just for greater utility in play.
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Having just started out a Fire Elementalist in First Steps I must say Im enjoying it a lot. I havnt played a Wizard since 3.0 and while Im using Herolab to sort my spell book and have had a few issues where Im using the wrong spell at the wrong time, so far its been pretty fun.
I do agree though, in terms of the lower power output of a 1st level wizard but I think in the right group with a diverse mix a Wizard brings a lot to the table (lets not mention the melee types with faction missions they are never going to be able to complete.)
While the Perth player base isnt huge (is growing though), I know of one other player playing a Universalist Wizard and have managed to convince another very new player to play a Wizard.
I have noticed a distinct lack of a clear Prestige class choice for a Wizard however I was under the impression that Pathfinder is not really geared toward such choices.
The only cry will be when I eventually realise my spell limits will be 6th level spells :)
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Take a few example levels, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12, the levels when a magus gets a new level of spells.
Magus spells per day at each level:
4/7/10/13/17
Wizard spells per day at each level (assuming Specialist, i.e. everyone):
7/11/16/21/26
You are assuming a specialist build. But, granting that. At 12 level, a magus has improved spell recall. His arcane pool will be at a minimum of 9. That is an extra 9 spells per day, easily. That is without any feats etc. A non-specialist build against a standard magus? At best, the wizard ties on spells per day.
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AD, I think Specialist wizard should be the baseline assumption. Universalists are weird. Level 12 abilities like Improved Spell Recall are also almost-irrelevant for PFS.
The fact that Wizards have access to higher-level spells from a much better list is the important thing, though.
As for bonded items, you do pretty much get to craft them, although I don't think a Craft roll is required (easy anyway). Once you meet the level req. for the relevant feat you can buy it for the Cost value (i.e. half price) rather than the Price value.
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AD, I think Specialist wizard should be the baseline assumption. Universalists are weird. Level 12 abilities like Improved Spell Recall are also almost-irrelevant for PFS.
The fact that Wizards have access to higher-level spells from a much better list is the important thing, though.
As for bonded items, you do pretty much get to craft them, although I don't think a Craft roll is required (easy anyway). Once you meet the level req. for the relevant feat you can buy it for the Cost value (i.e. half price) rather than the Price value.
Ok, without improved spell recall, a magus lags behind by about 2-3 spells per day. Still a really close race. I do agree, though, what kills a magus is the low levels of spells he can cast.
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I wonder if the very under utilized option of leaving blank slots for wizards you can fill with 15 minutes would make wizards more viable for the "you are woken in the middle of the night" scenarios.
Every wizard should be leaving slots open. I was unaware that people who would chose wizard over sorcerer wouldn't leave slots open. You're playing wizard for the versatility, right?
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Color Spray and Grease are currenly the only spells that really allow a 1st wizard to meaningfully contribute in a fight. The problem with Color Spray is, even at first level you encounter a fair amount of undead.
I've been playing wizards for a very long time and the problem is always the same until 5th level or so. You spend most of your time standing trying to survive while looking busy (sure, I;ll fire my light crossbow into melee, with -8 to hit) and then hope to shine in that one fight where the melee are getting overrun.
This is why I am currently playing a Magus. I get to enjoy playing at all levels, not just the last 4-5 before I retire.
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Yes. At the right moment, when melee are being overrun, a 1st level wizard can step in with color spray and grease save the day.
My experiance over the years, however, is that that vast majority of the time the mobs were going to be 1 shot by the melee regardless of my action or inaction.
If your trying for damage, even with burning a wand, you're wasting your time. A well build melee's minimum damage will be more than double your maximum. They can swing that weapon all day long.
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Having played wizard from 1-17 or so in 3.5, I'll say that the wizard kind of gets the shaft in PFS. No crafting alone really takes away a lot of what the wizard brings to the table, and the one off adventure style makes the sorcerer a better choice for arcane PFS play. Especially with the nifty bloodlines PF introduced over 3.5.
The magus is another class that likely siphoned off a lot of wizard players.
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RPG Superstar 2013 Top 32
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Walk me through this mate - sounds interesting but I don't seem to understand how you got 2 dice for Magic Missile or 4 for burning hands etc.
The feats
Every time you gain an even level in the spellcasting class you chose your spell from, you can choose a new spell to replace the spell selected with this feat, and that spell becomes your specialized spell.
and
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IF you're blasting; taking one level of sorcerer is totally worth it.
Cross blooded + tattooed. Orc and Dragon (probably firey) bloodlines. all your spells are doing 1/2 your wizard level + 2per die, plus dice.
you only get one sorc spell, you take your sorc level at 2. I like magic missile as the sorc spell (if you spec in it) because it's strong for a few levels' once you hit level 5, and get to switch out to spec'd spell you probably want Burning Arc; It's a level 2 chain lightning, of fire.
I'd also prepare flaming Sphere, the extra range is powerful and it's still doing really solid damage' not worth empowering though and doesn't scale super well with level.
I love wizards, and I love battlefield control, BUT blasting really is viable in PFS, for two main reasons.
1) shorter adventures, you're less likely to run out of spells.
2) PF has good ways to increase the damage of blasts :D
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1 for level, 1 for Int, one specialist school spell and 1 for arcane bond.maybe I am totally missing something here, but doesnt Int bonus give +4 for 18, +5 for 20?
18 INT gets you one bonus spell at each of levels 1 through 4; 20 INT wraps back around and gets you a second bonus spell of level 1. The quote above was talking about how many spells you get at first level. See "Table: Ability Modifiers and Bonus Spells" about 2/3 of the way down this page.
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20 int giving 2 spells is true but I never start with a 20 in anything, I feel that those extra 7 statpoints can be better used in other places giving you usually a better AC and more HP, and not requiring you to dump anything.
Then again my PFS wizard has 18 ST and 14 Int
At a table yesterday a Ninja had more strength than my barbarian, I had a higher dex than the nija.
I just made a Wizard with16 str.
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I have observed/played at around 20 tables.
Have not seen a single wizard.
I have been told the following reasons.
In PFS it is too hard to get spells added to your books (so you will end up with a fairly anemic selection of spells to chose from).
The rushed PFS play environment makes determining a spell list too time consuming (so will probably go with a standard selection anyway).
The PFS modules don'e usually allow enough information to intelligently pick a customized spell selection (so will probably go with a standard selection anyway).
Can't craft anything.
So until close to the very end you are running like a bad version of a sorcerer anyway. Small number of spells known and the same list every day.
I haven't tried it, but that is what I was told.
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does your fighter have an 18 Int and a 14 Str?20 int giving 2 spells is true but I never start with a 20 in anything, I feel that those extra 7 statpoints can be better used in other places giving you usually a better AC and more HP, and not requiring you to dump anything.
Then again my PFS wizard has 18 ST and 14 Int
No, but I have a fighter with a 14 Int and a 12 Str. Currently 9th level, by the way. Never died, although he has come close a time or two.