So, just for fun I decided to build up a wizard that I'll either play in an upcoming game or set aside for a later one. I have quite a bit set up, but I'm looking for opinions, thoughts and suggestions on what I can do to make it even better as well as fill in some obviously open gaps. The starting level is 3, 20 point buy and all paizo material is acceptable. So, without further ado, here he is.
Attributes:
STR: 7
DEX: 14
CON: 10
INT: 20 (+2)
WIS: 10
CHA: 12
Traits:
World Traveler: Diplomacy
Fast Talker: Bluff
Familiar:
Thrush
Skills:
Diplomacy: 3 + 3 + 1 + 1 + 3 + 2 = + 13
Bluff: 3 + 3 + 2 + 1+ 1 = +9
Sense Motive: 3 + 3 = +6
Knowledge (Local): 3 + 3 + 5 = +11
Perception: 3 + 3 = +6
Spellcraft: 3 + 3 + 5 = +11
Knowledge (Arcana): 3 + 3 + 5 = +11
Feats:
Cosmopolitan: Perception & Sense Motive [Languages = Draconic, Undercommon]
Toughness
????
Starting Gold:
3,000gp
Equipment:
????
Specialized School:
????
Opposing Schools:
Abjuration
Necromancy
Stats:
HP = 16
AC = 12
BAB = +1
FORT = +1
REF = +3
WILL = +3
Let me start out by saying this character is meant to be the party face and focus on battlefield control and befuddling my enemies. As such I'm having trouble deciding on which school would fit for specialization. Also note I took the "silver tongue" alternative racial trait that replaces the humans extra skill point with a +2 to diplomacy and bluff as well as a nifty ability for diplomacy.
Enchantment offers the least amount of "useful" spells (due to most attacking the mind) but the specialization ability to add +2 to diplomacy and bluff could mean a lot for the party face.
Illusion has a lot more useful spells available than Enchantment and pretty decent abilities for class specialization, this is near the top of the specialization list.
Conjuration has some very good and diverse spells and the specialization abilities are ok. I know this is a favorite of Mr. Treatmonk, so I'm unsure about taking others over an experienced players suggestion.
Transmutation has some fun spells, especially later, but the specialization abilities seem meh to me. That could be of course because I'm unexperienced with wizards.
The other schools I'm not really considering as specializations.
If anyone is willing I could use some input on the 3rd feat (thinking perhaps dodge, improved initiative or augmented summoning if I go a conjurer route). I could also use some advice on general equipment for a wizard, like what to do with lack of armor? should I just pick up a club? My DM is strict on using gear to survive (needing blankets, flint and steel, tents, etc) but advice is still welcomed.
Anyways, please let me know what you think.
The "Party Face" Wizard is a tough one depending on how heavily your DM relies on the social skills to determine the outcomes of social situations.
The biggest problem I have with Enchantment is that if you run into any undead or constructs or anything that is mind-affecting immune, you're not going to be able to use your specialization spells unless you're only memorizing buffs. 20% of the Bestiary is mind immune. At lower levels however the Will saving throw is the easiest saving throw to beat, making Enchantment really effective if you can actually affect them.
"Optimization" is really only about not feeling useless in the end though. The reason Conjuration is so loved is because it contains the most spells that have an effect regardless of what the dice say outside of buffing. In the right campaign a "Charm everything" Wizard could be fun. I just worry that you'll start up and run into a lot of situations where you're just not very effective.
If you want to be a "Face" character, I'm almost positive that there are Sorcerer builds that would just work better - mostly because the Sorcerer uses Charisma as their primary stat - and they do get more lower level spells per day in general meaning they'll have more Charm Persons to throw out.
As far as Optimal specializations go, my favorites are Evocation (Admixture), Conjuration (Teleportation), Divination (Foresight), Void Elementalist, Earth Elementalist, and Air Elementalist. One of the advantages of going with an Elemental Specialist is that at level 9 you can pick up Opposition Research and enjoy no opposition school from that point forward (Though the school powers are weaker than the traditional specialist schools in general.)
Conjuration does have the best battlefield control, and a few "Befuddling spells" (Thinking of Glitterdust), just no mind-affecting spells (except summoning a Succubus.) You can cast Conjuration spells with any specialization and if you pick up Greater Spell Specialization or Preferred Spell you can "Sacrifice" your specialization slot for your specialization spell if need be, so you could even do this with enchantment if you decide the school powers are what you want.
I wrote a guide btw. I recommend downloading the PDF since Adobe Reader has a lot more options over Google Drive (Like being able to click URLs and take advantage of bookmarks.)
It needs a lot of editing (Which I may get around to eventually) and I still haven't gotten around to doing a builds section. Studying for the CPA exam has basically taken up all my time recently.