I think we all know the answer on Specialist vs. Generalist, but what specialization do you usually take? I’ve heard people argue for Transmuter or Conjurer as being the strongest two, but I seemed to kick ass and, screw with people, as an illusionist with evocation and enchanting as my prohibited schools (NON-GNOME).
So what are you? Are you blowing stuff up, turning people to stone or what?
Oh anyone have any tips on improving an illusionist?
Fizz
I've always had a soft spot for romancing the neck, and generally I avoid Enchantment and Illusion. But that's just me, I looove Necromancy.
This is a great topic, and I was just discussing it with a friend of mine. He is making his first wizard and was pondering what to specialize in, or if to even specialize.
I mostly DM these days, but I'm looking to make a Wizard with conjuration/ transmutation as prohibited. Just to see if I could. I've done illusionists before, but can't remember what I chose as a prohibited school of magic. I'll when I get home to find out more details.
Well with the addition of Spell Compendium I think a lot of the specialists got a buff. I have enjoyed an Enchanter, but you really need to understand how you DM responds to these kinda spells for it to work well (fights about what a Charmed Person would or wouldn't do make the Enchanter not fun ;P). I have done a shapeshifting Transmuter and that was fun as well. I'm not really sure I can pick a favorite. I have a lot of character concepts rolling around in my head and there is a specialist for each of them. For shear strength of spells I think Conjurer has it pretty good. With all the Teleportation, summons, battlefield control and the Orb spells they can do alright.
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I find that Conjuration and Necromancy (my two favorites) are both better done by Clerics, it seems, so I tend to make Evokers when I go Specialist. To the horror of people everywhere, no matter what I pick, Abjuration is my first dump school. Dispel Magic may be all that and a bag of chips for some people, but I never needed it. Enchantment or Necromancy is usually my second dump school.
Illusionist / Shadowcraft Mages sound way cool, but I have no patience for that whole illusion thang. Too subtle for me. Magic is a power tool. BANG! I don't dump Illusion because of my unhealthy fascination with Color Spray. Pretty colors!
Transmuters start way too slow, and Polymorph eratta is a pain to leaf through.
I think at this point, the best way to play a specialist illusionist is to play a beguiler.
By the same token, a beguiler is a better enchanter than an enchanter, warmage is a better evoker than an evoker, dread necromancer is a better necromancer than a necromancer (on account of all the dreadness, probably)... the only classes that don't have other base classes that do it better would be, what, transmutation, abjuration, and divination? I'm sure I'm forgetting a school.
Alternately, Master Specialist (from Complete Mage) did a particularly good job of turning a specialist wizard into a truly viable choice. You can meet the prereqs at level 3, so even if you're going into a prestige class at 6 you're still better off than you would have been as a straight specialist wizard 5, and the benefits are sufficiently compelling that you might be better off taking more levels in master specialist.
I find that Conjuration and Necromancy (my two favorites) are both better done by Clerics, it seems, so I tend to make Evokers when I go Specialist. To the horror of people everywhere, no matter what I pick, Abjuration is my first dump school. Dispel Magic may be all that and a bag of chips for some people, but I never needed it. Enchantment or Necromancy is usually my second dump school.
Illusionist / Shadowcraft Mages sound way cool, but I have no patience for that whole illusion thang. Too subtle for me. Magic is a power tool. BANG! I don't dump Illusion because of my unhealthy fascination with Color Spray. Pretty colors!
Transmuters start way too slow, and Polymorph eratta is a pain to leaf through.
Divine casters really are great for conjuration; Thaumaturgist is a good example of this. Necromancy is kind of a weird school, which is why ugly gestalt classes like True Necromancer exist.
Illusion and Enchantment are good dump schools, just because immunity to mind-influencing effects is pretty common and completely negates 90% of the abilities of those schools. Against undead, an illusionist is just as useless as a rogue.
The Rules Compendium was worth the price of admission just to have a complete, final MRP of the whole suite of alternate form/polymorph/wild shape abilities.
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Ooh, just remembered, in addition to the Master Specialist PrC mentioned above, there's also a nice set of optional class abilities for specialists in Unearthed Arcana. I remember liking the Conjurer and Necromancer ones particularly.
For Illusionist, I believe going Gnome is the recommended path of optimunchkinization.
I think at this point, the best way to play a specialist illusionist is to play a beguiler.
By the same token, a beguiler is a better enchanter than an enchanter, warmage is a better evoker than an evoker, dread necromancer is a better necromancer than a necromancer (on account of all the dreadness, probably)... the only classes that don't have other base classes that do it better would be, what, transmutation, abjuration, and divination? I'm sure I'm forgetting a school.
Alternately, Master Specialist (from Complete Mage) did a particularly good job of turning a specialist wizard into a truly viable choice. You can meet the prereqs at level 3, so even if you're going into a prestige class at 6 you're still better off than you would have been as a straight specialist wizard 5, and the benefits are sufficiently compelling that you might be better off taking more levels in master specialist.
Well, your sort of right. A Beguiler is definently a better enchanter (and probably illusionist), than a specialist, but a warmage is definently NOT better than a evoker. Sure, they may actually be better at blowing things up, but the evoker specialist will have much more versatility. Hell, a warmage is not even better than a sorcerer.
If you are after the best specialist mechanically, it is probably the diviner. You only have to give up one school, and you will find at least 1 spell at each level you want to prepare anyway to fill your specialist "slot"
But if I was going to play a specialist, I'd specialise in conjuration, dropping enchantment and probably evocation.
I divine and illusionate.
I'm very fond of transuters. Drop Necromancy and Enchantment. I don't bother with most of the illusion spells, but invisibility and displacement are too good to give up. False life is nice, but on the whole there's little in the necromancy school that's a must have. Enchantments are handy, but depends on your DM.
I enjoy conjurers very, very much, but like to try just about all permutations. My next wizardly type will be a divination specialist, with evocation prohibited... and maybe a fat elf, or dour halfling, or some other against-type oddball.
I can't remember if I have played evokers or abjurers, otherwise all have been covered with no special preference. Sometimes I feel like playing an illusionist, sometimes a necormancer, once an illusionist who fakes being necromancer (back in 2nd edition when necromancy was automatic forbidden school for illusionists). Enchanters, conjurers, diviners, transmuters...all done.
I'm pretty comfortable with playing both normal wizards and specialists. Normal wizards are all about spell versatility and specialists provide a nice boost in spell slots at the cost of being able to learn some spells. The SRD has Domain Wizards and Specialist Wizard Variants to personalize your wizard character with.
For your illusionist, take a look at the Illusionist Variants (Chains of Disbelief, Shadow Shaper, and Illusion Mastery) and PrCs from the various supplements. Arcane Trickster (DMG) and Daggerspell Mage (Complete Adventurer) are great options for rogue/illusionists, Chameleon (Races of Destiny) can give you extra abilities from other classes, Effigy Master (Complete Arcane) works well for any wizard or specialist, Loremaster (DMG) and Mage of the Arcane Order (Complete Arcane) are suitable for any scholarly wizard or specialist, and Shadowcraft Mage (Races of Stone) can be altered from a PrC with a gnome race requirement to one with a Shadow Shaper variant requirement, to name a few. Player creativity is the biggest asset to an illusionist, since many of the spells are limited only by your own imagination.