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I craft things, I take traits and magic items to reduce the cost of items and potentially make a profit
even if you dont go that rout, have fun with cantrips,
a shirt that has guidance, stability, and virtue as continous effects is a valulable but cheep item
gloves with antagonize wounds for a monk or someone who uses natural weapons,
how about goggles with detect poison and magic
or one with ray of frost, congrats you have a free gaze atack
a cup with create water,
these are all cheep, and useful items
Use Intimidate, people are just not using it enough.Granted its probably better with a Sorcerer but even with a Wizard Intimidate should have a solid chance of succes at low levels and its way better than adcid splash.
Hell its better than some spells.
This is probably an important question to ask, anyway. Even more so with people switching from "buy this" suggestions to "make this" suggestions.
OP, does your GM even allow crafting feats other than Scribe Scroll? I know some GMs ban crafting feats completely, while some allow Scribe Scroll only because it's a Wizard class ability, and then others allow choice other options, and others allow the whole shebang.
Some good choices are toppling spell with magic missile or rime spell with snowball.
+1 on the rime spell with snowball idea.
Toppling spell with magic missile looks like a good idea, but it only pans out as useful if you're facing a lot of humanoid opponents. The DCs for monsters are usually too high for it to pay off.
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To everyone who doesn't see the value in Magic Missile: the real value is in combination with metamagic feats like Sickening Spell or Dazing Spell. Since it's numerous separate missiles, you can tag several enemies and attempt to debuff all of them at once with no danger of accidentally catching an ally in the AoE.
Of course, you can't apply metamagic feats to a wand, so I still don't see it as a real solution for the OP's problem.
To the OP: if cash is at a premium, you definitely want to stick with nonmagical items like marbles, smokesticks, and maybe a net or two if you can spare the EWP. The APG has stats for a bear trap-- I doubt you could realistically hammer the spike into the ground during combat, but you should at least be able to arm the trap in one round, and an un-anchored bear trap will still halve the speed of whatever it catches. This plays well into your "battlefield control" plan.
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This has been probably been mentioned already, but a couple of suggestions:
1) Lots of mundane items. My sorcerer has a Masterwork Net at all times (Generally he hands it off to a fighter or some other martial if they're hitting something with high DEX that needs to be kept still a few moments. Still---it is generally reusable provided most enemies will just spend a full round escaping rather than try to break it), several tanglefoot bags (You cannot overstate these things' utility, particularly against enemy casters), alchemist fire, tindertwigs, etc. God wizards control the battlefield, right? Make sure you're always controlling, even when you're out of spells.
2) You're a 7th level Wizard with summon spells. Most combats should be like this for you. Round 1: Cast Summon Monster (X), Rounds 2-9: Hide behind something and direct your summons to do the fighting for you. Most combat shouldn't even require you use your highest level summons if you get creative with it. (ie, it has been well established that Lantern Archons can decimate golems, non flying enemies, and the like)
This is probably an important question to ask, anyway. Even more so with people switching from "buy this" suggestions to "make this" suggestions.
OP, does your GM even allow crafting feats other than Scribe Scroll? I know some GMs ban crafting feats completely, while some allow Scribe Scroll only because it's a Wizard class ability, and then others allow choice other options, and others allow the whole shebang.
yeah crafting feats are allowed but frowned upon.
In response to many others I do use scribe scroll but mostly i have just used it for lvl 1 spells as for the most part we are dirt poor (but this will be hopefully changing as the GM is starting to realize that at low levels magic items weren't all that necessary but as the levels get higher its looking more and more like we need the items to remain alive lol)
Is this what the group likes or is the GM just actually being mean because that is a problem.
I have probably made him sound worse than he is, its not so much that he is mean as it is that he enjoys challenge (in video games he always plays what ever the highest difficulty is). As such he brings that into his games a little more then the players would like, so in his mind if we walk through an encounter and only use 10-20% of our resources then it was a boring encounter.
We have spoken to him about it and he is making efforts to ease up a little, the rest of us enjoy challenging encounters but when every single encounter is a hares breath away from a TPK it gets discouraging.
Also i just want to note that its not so much that i am upset or bored that i dont have anything to do its just that i get the feeling there is something i could be doing to help more, as a couple have noted i have built my character for summons (mostly because to at the begining of the campaign the party was rather small most of the time and we desperately needed meat shields) so in most encounters i throw out a summon or two, maybe buff or control a little with another spell, then i usually conserve knowing i will need the spells on the rest of the list for more fights in the day, the group is always happy with the results. I just want to help more once that has been done, i like the idea of using my knowledges more during combat as i am an absolute knowledge monkey, and i think some tanglefoot bags might be a good addition to the mundane control items as well as some other alchemical items. I think i will also pick up a wand of something as i can afford a 1st level wand, i have a bunch of scrolls i have scribed but i usually just scribe utility spells so that i dont have to memorize or leave slots open. I think i had caltrops at some point but i think i lost them when our ship sunk (basic premise of the campaign is being shipwrecked on a mysterious island that is guarded by a leviathan that wont let anyone leave, so there is a rudimentary civilization on the island because of the hundreds of ships the leviathan has sunk and marooned people for the last few centuries, also teleporting works only on the island so no teleporting off or dimensional travel away, so summons and minor class abilities work but no breaking the campaign with teleport spells lol)
I like Silent Saturn's idea of a bear trap (or two). Add in Shrink Item (lasts 7 days at your level) for making it easily portable by your average, not so muscle bound, wizard and Invisibility so the foe doesn't just step around or over it and you could have a rude surprise laid out by the groups stealthy member or against new arrival(s) to the battle.
hehe that sounds like an interesting plan, i think i am going to have to read up on bear traps
also Soporific Lotus asked why i took extend spell, mostly i just grabbed it for mage armor so it would last a little longer (also i think a few times at low level i took some summons extended for fights we knew would take a while), as i said this is my first wizard and i found when looking at the metamagic feats for the first time(only had access to core at the start of the game) that i couldn't see much reason to drop a lvl 3 spell like stinking cloud for an empowered burning hands or something, or a lvl 4 for a widened grease. I am sure at later levels they come in real handy and i imagine there are plenty of low level uses for each that i haven't considered, but that was my original logic (once again open to suggestions for a good low to mid range metamagic feat if anyone has some good ideas im all ears)
Also should be noted that to begin with the game was pure core rules, i think we are starting to bring in APG and having a look the pit spells and Aquous Orb seem like very solid spells and would have nasty saves from me as both are conjuration, i figure i could cast orb twice and then just spend both standard and move action to move them about for some massive control effect for the cost of 2 3rd lvl spells
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Whenever I play a wizard character, I typically enjoy carrying around alchemical items (holy water, acid, alchemist fire, and tanglefoot bags).
When I'm in battle, here's what I'll typically do:
Surprise Round: Spectral Hand
Round 1: Haste
Round 2: Web or Cloud (to be as inconvenient as possible for the enemy)
Round 3: Ray of Enfeeblement the biggest looking guy
Round 4+: Spam Touch of Fatigue (dont forget spectral hand gives a bonus on this)
Round X+: If I've fatigued everyone, and still have rounds after that, I'll use oil, tanglefoot bags, caltrops, alchemist fire.. whatever suits my fancy.
Question on the bear trap - how long does it take to set it up? move action to equip and standard to set maybe full round to drive in spike? seems rather powerful for a 2gp item. I am already imagining devious situations involving illusions of bear traps mixed in with real ones, "Bad Guy 1 - " Ah these traps are illusions run forth minions! Minion 1 - OK boss *CRUNCH* ahhhh! Bad Guy 1 - No not that one it was real, make your will saves damnit!" lol
My best wizard was an Elf Enchanter. I made others do my bidding. With the introduction of cantrips being "at will" spells, acid splash is a freebie damage spell to help reduce that feeling of loneliness. A wizard should NEVER be in an melee position. Not without extreme reason. Do what spell-casting needs to be done, then admire the archetecture. You never know what secrets you may reveal while others are full bloodlust.
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Break yourself of the idea that you have to cast a spell every round. If your DM is good about taxing your resources you should learn to pace yourself. Cast a spell or two (enough to give your melee the edge) and then just pass the time.
Spend some standards looking for anything out of the ordinary, intimidating foes, or just delay. You don't have to do something every round. As a wizard you have to get the used to the idea that your standards are just better that everyone else's.
RJ nailed it, it's a home brew game and the GM is mean to the point of cruel when it comes to the CR of encounters lol (if going by the CR scale in the core book almost ever fight would be considered legendary), the trouble is that in his mind a fight is not fun unless the party has just about tapped all resources in order to overcome it...and then he will throw in another just like it to really make us work =(
an example would be forcing an encounter with 4 gargoyles on a lvl 5 party of 4 with two members below 0 hp including the cleric, we survive somehow through a combination of shear dumb luck and determination (with a dash of min maxing)
but whining aside i like the idea of beefing up acid splash if possible as i always have it on the list as i am a conjurer and its the only 0 lvl conjuration i have access to, so what are some of the ways to buy the damage on cantrips ie is it only through spells or can certain magic items boost it as well?
if your GM is to cruel you can just (and this is honostly the only way a normal person would do) after the first fight draining about 80% of your recourses go home! have a pint in the city sleep and go back. if your GM doesnt mind fast forwarding from and back to the city this isnt a real problem.
last dungeon we did we had 1 party kill and an NPC kill in thistletop (my barb died) we had to go back and forth between tistletop and sandpoint 4 times to complete the dungeon.
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The short end is that if you're a caster you should expect to be out of spells at some point during some encounter. Or expect to run into a situation that magic simply cannot handle. In fact, I prepare as though they are situations where combat oriented actions aren't appropriate...
To this end I bring all sorts of nick knacks like mirrors, ropes, grappling hooks, chalk, flasks of acid, whatever. I try to be open minded and have a general plan with those nick knacks. The advantage is that you open up plenty of options once you start thinking and have no choice but to use them. I've laid a rope across the entrance to a hallway, waited for an undead to shuffle its way past, me and my ally then raised the rope in an attempt to trip the thing.
I've had melee characters who were USELESS in combat because hitting something wasn't going to happen. So I had to be creative in how I participated.
Did you go into a dungeon and see the flames alight near the alter? Did you check the source to find there was oil? Did you take any of the oil? You can get creative and use that later. How about that funky water from that lake that changed your fighter into a girl? An encounter is not always about combat- even when there are 9 guys screaming blood and charging at you. You're a wizard, can you speak any sort of languages besides common? Have you tried communicating with the enemies? Diplomacy can work wonders if you're clever...if you can just get them to listen for a moment. Because not every monster is a mindless automaton hellbent on your death, lacking any motivation, meaning or objectives beyond that.
I've played a wizard in 2nd edition and never once was out of options in combat. The worst case scenario I ever had was voluntary...when my mage cast a spell or two, he'd sit down and nap, or read (in the middle of combat). He had a terrifically low wisdom though, it's a wonder he survived so long. I couldn't get that character killed even when I tried. 14 was his highest stat...
Casters (arcane at least) usually have magic shield on, so magic missile is quite useless to interrupt.
Another thing- you're coming up to the levels (8 and 9) when the spell Rope Trick becomes incredibly useful. Make sure it's in your spellbook, because every now and then it'll save your bacon.
"Uh guys... I'm just about out of spells. We need to go."
"Well we're in the middle of a dungeon. A safe place to rest isn't going to appear out of thin air, yanno."
"Actually..."
*8 hours of rest later*
"Huh. Never knew thin air could be so useful!"
The only thing you want to be careful of is abusing it. From the way you've described your GM, I'd pretty much expect to jump straight into an ambush every time you leave the Rope Trick spell. So be expecting combat.
lesser metamagic rod of extend :-) 3000g afordable around lvl 4-5
Casters (arcane at least) usually have magic shield on, so magic missile is quite useless to interrupt.
Shhhh!!! Don't tell them that! That ruins my best counter maneuver!
I am currently playing my first ever wizard and i find that i seem to be not much help to the party once out/low on spells or once the fight has boiled down to the mop up and casting would just be a waste/show boat move.
so what does a wizard do when not casting? currently my go to moves have been to help the barbarian by setting up flanking and/or using aid other for bonus to hit for him, or using crossbow for a little damage but i am finding as levels progress (currently at 7th) bad guys can one shot me in a round so getting into combat is getting a little dicey and AC on the badies is getting rather high so ranged attacks are dropping off as well.
I guess what i am looking for here is general wizard tactics throughout a fight ie cast a buff or two, throw some control or summons in and then "something".
so how do the wizards in your groups handle these situations both at low and mid range levels?
EDIT- my problem may just be that i am used to playing fighters and as such used to always having a clear "something" to be doing
Wizards are like snipers. You wait for your moment. You don't shoot constantly every round. At low-levels acid splash is enough to toss at enemies on every round you're not doing something else (it's an average of 2 SR-ignoring DR-ignoring ranged touch damage), or using a crossbow, or sling, or whatever. As you rise in levels, other options become feasible. Things like Acid and Alchemist Fire are good fallback plans. Oddly enough, a Net is also a good fallback (you take a -4 to hit with a net but it's a ranged touch so it's often easier than you'd think and hitting with it is based on Dex). Tanglefoot bags as well.
If your GM is fine with you creating custom magic items, a wondrous item that lets you shoot magic missile at-will would also be a rather amusing way to stay in the game (if you wanted it to be kind of like an infinitely-charged wand it would cost 1,500 gp for a CL 1, 4,500 gp for a CL 3, 7,500 gp for a CL 5, etc). That way you could poke enemies for 1d4+1 damage each round (you'll never rival the martials in damage dealing but since MM is hard to avoid for most enemies you'll at least have consistency).
Meanwhile, consider spells that you can cast and use over multiple rounds. Spells like snapdragon fireworks, flaming sphere, or chill touch are good examples (each gives offensive opportunities that last multiple rounds as you control them). For touch spells, you might consider picking up spectral hand which allows you to deliver them from a distance.
If you're 7th+ level, animate dead can allow you to get some minions that you can play with on rounds your wizard is effectively passing. They make good flanking and aiding buddies for your party's martials and they're relatively expendable if they die (if you create bloody skeletons they even recycle themselves).
Even without custom items, investing in a wand might make games easier on you. A wand of magic missile or acid arrow could give you something to do regularly as well.
Of course, the biggest thing is just learning that wizards are tactical animals. As I said before, a great wizard is not one who is up in the fray or even seems to be doing a whole lot, but instead takes critical actions that can turn the tide of a battle. Simple casting haste in a martial-heavy party can make a battle with only 1 spell. Also as a wizard the readied action is your friend (ready spells to foil the attempts of enemies, such as throwing up illusionary walls in response to archers, casting grease in the path of a charging foe, or slamming the evil cleric with magic missile while he's casting).
If you miss your martial roots greatly, going into Eldritch Knight can lead you into a +15/+10/+5 BAB or better, get you to 9th level casting, and give you more HP and bring you back into the martial scene (so you can cast a few spells and then join the fray a bit).
However, if you're looking for a class that can be "magical" all the time, I'd highly recommend the Psion from the psionics rules. They play very much like a cross between wizards and sorcerers and use a pool of energy (like a mana system) that is much smoother and requires less bookkeeping than spell-slot systems (if you can track HP then you can run a Psion).
The biggest difference between a psion and a sorcerer or wizard is that you decide how much juice you want to use. A 7th level psion could happily use powers that are equivalent to 4th level spells, but you could also choose to just spam low level powers instead. This makes Psions much party-friendly when it comes to the 15 minute workday since you can still do magic-y things during easy encounters and if you don't use big powers you can run for quite a while without hitting the empty mark. This gives you something to do every round as long as you're using weaker powers than you have access too (such as 3d6 energy damage / round vs 7d6 energy damage / round).
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Not gonna lie, if you're an evoker and you like wands a bunch, I would whole-heartedly suggest picking up Craft Wand, Craft Staff, and then the Staff-like Wand arcane discovery from Ultimate Magic. Make any kind of wand dirt cheap at 1st level casting (Even delicious healing wands if your party has a cleric) and suddenly you can use it at your full caster level with your full save DCs.
Only problem is that it's kinda feat intensive and high level.
You’re a summoner, so your summoned critter does the heavy lifting for you. You should be able to throw that and a Battlefield control spell once per combat, even with 4 combats, and even with normal self-buffing.
Ditch the staff & CB, unless the staff is your focus. Plink with acid splash. Remember, if your 3 pts drops the monster, you have killed it as surely as a 100 pt hit. If there’s a enemy Spellcaster, ready a spell to disrupt, even acid splash.
You know guys, you really need to read the OP’s posts. Yes, I know they are hard to read (OP, please use capital letters and paragraphs, ok?) but stop suggesting things to buy, unless they are really cheap. No wands, rods, etc.
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A bear trap is 2 gp-- is that cheap enough? A bag of marbles is a single silver-- cheap enough that most GMs will just let you say you have one.
For 5 silver, you can also get a drill. A drill can put a 1-inch hole in a wall as a standard action-- which should be just enough to give you "line of sight" to anyone on the other side and cast a spell at them.
OP, please use capital letters and paragraphs, ok?
Sure thing =)
For 5 silver, you can also get a drill. A drill can put a 1-inch hole in a wall as a standard action-- which should be just enough to give you "line of sight" to anyone on the other side and cast a spell at them.
Dang, I need to try that. It'll probably work (once) from the sheer "what the hell??" factor!
Casters (arcane at least) usually have magic shield on, so magic missile is quite useless to interrupt.Shhhh!!! Don't tell them that! That ruins my best counter maneuver!
Shield lasts minutes per level, so unless they got the drop on you and had advanced prep time it is unlikely that they will have it up. If you surprise an arcane caster there are dozens of spells that they can cast before Shield becomes a priority. Then there are all of the casters that don't have Shield as a spell. Of course it will not work in all circumstances, if it did it would be OP, but I have found it very useful personally. Of course all games vary, it may be less useful in your games.
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My wizards typically cast one or two spells and then sip tea while the beatsticks mop up.
I work along these lines too. Once the fight is in the bag, let the brawlers do their job. The amount of time I waste on a crossbow or acid splash isnt worth the damage even if I hit. I am a tactician not a janitor. :)