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I'm working on a generalist Human Sorcerer without any particular theme in mind other than versatility and potency. I'm planning on going Fey and taking Eldritch Heritage feats for the Arcane Bloodline as well as the Spell Focus feats for Enchantment - but the character is NOT being built as some sort of enchanter. Meta-magic feats will be Quicken Spell and possibly Heighten Spell and Reach Spell. Dazing Spell is banned from our game as is Spell Perfection.
I want a wide selection of the most useful spells available and that's what I'm looking for from you guys. Keep in mind that I won't be able to switch out spells very often, so choices made at earlier levels should probably continue to be useful later on as well.
1) grease, prot evil, enlarge person, color spray
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Some spells are good early on and get worse with age, others are bad early on and get better. For example, Magic Missile is pretty bad when you're a level 1 wizard and you only get a few spells per day. At that point you're better off firing arrows at a guy with a shortbow. At least with the bow, though you might miss, you can have more ammo than a level 1 wizard get's for Magic Missile. At level 9 however, Magic Missile gives you 5 unerring 1d4+1 missiles which do "force" damage (I think) and can be shot at different targets simultaneously, so it's one of your better low level spells at that point.
On the other hand, Sleep is pretty broken early on, and useless once the badguys you fight out-level it's level cap.
Lastly, some spells are considerably better in the right party mix or dungeon context and worse outside of that.
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1)Grease, Colour spray, Silent Image, Liberating Command, Protection from Evil
2) Create Pit, Mirror-Image, Glitterdust, Invisibility, Flaming Sphere
3) Haste, Battering Blast, Resist energy communal, Fly, Slow
4) Emergency Force Sphere, Enervation, Dimension Door, Confusion, Telekinetic Charge
I cant wait to see what everyone puts on there list
0) Detect Magic, Mage Hand, Prestidigitation, Acid Orb, Dancing Lights
1) Silent Image, Enlarge Person, Snowball, Magic Missile, Vanish
2) Gitterdust, Resist Energy, Alter Self, Mirror Image, Flaming Sphere
3) Haste, Dispel Magic, Fireball, Fly, Resist Energy, Communal (replace 2nd Level with Prot. vs. Evil communal or other)
4) Invisibility, Greater (Replase Vansih with Expeditious Retreat), Dimension Door, Minor Creation, Stone Shape, Bestow Curse
5) Major Creation (replace Minor with Globe of Invulnerability, Lesser), Overland Flight (replace Fly with Lightning Bolt), Telekinesis, Dominate Person, Wall of Force
This was REALLY hard for me. There are a lot of spells I'd love to have that just won't fit.
1st and 2nd levels I've left off Mage Armor and the stat buffing spells (Bull's Strength, Eagle's Splendor ect.) because they don't stack with belts and headbands and the Eastern Armor belt with 0% spell failure and 0 Armor Check, is too affordable to waste a spell slot... Or just get a wand.
At 3rd level it's really tough, depending on party make up, I may be selfish and take Lightning Bolt instead of the Communal Resist. Haste is absolutely my favorite spell in the game. Your whole party gets ridiculous when you add this spell. If you can find another way, you might be able to give up Fly. Don't get me wrong, you have to be able to fly, you just might be able to use a magic item or some other way.
4th level there are a lot of choices, I absolutely LOVE Dimension Door, and Stone Shape from personal experiences, I could see a strong argument for leaving them off, although I personally would never be without them.
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I suppose this list will be vastly superior to all the other "best sorcerer/wizard spells per level" threads that already have covered the territory.
I can't wait.
In all honesty I got lazy on my list. I stopped checking other books besides core, so I left out really good spells like Create Pit line, and Firesnake
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It has been my experience that no two wizard/sorcerers I've ever created would find the same spells to be the "best" spells for them at any level, much less every level. In my experience it boils down to the character concept and the party tactical needs which drive what the "best" spells are.
Having said that, don't overlook "entangle" or "obscuring mist"...
It has been my experience that no two wizard/sorcerers I've ever created would find the same spells to be the "best" spells for them at any level, much less every level. In my experience it boils down to the character concept and the party tactical needs which drive what the "best" spells are.
Having said that, don't overlook "entangle" or "obscuring mist"...
How are you picking up Entangle as a wizard or sorcerer? That's a dynamite spell but I haven't found a way to nab it for my wizard besides acquiring a wand or scroll and UMDing it.
Edit: Aha! The Fey and Verdant bloodlines get it. Nice.
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(1) Alarm, color spray, grease, obscuring mist, protection from evil
(2) Glitterdust, invisibility, knock, mirror image, rope trick
(3) Dispel magic, fly, haste, slow, stinking cloud
(4) Black tentacles, confusion, dimension door, greater invisibility, telekinetic sphere
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I didn't mean to start any sort of row - I'm just building a generalist Sorcerer and was looking for some good spell advice to make sure I didn't overlook anything crucial. Obviously opinions will differ.
While I did swap some spells out at certain levels, I didn't do it very often, opting instead for spells I thought would retain their usefulness throughout the character's life. Were I to make it to 20th level, this is the known spell list I've come up with (obviously including bloodline spells):
20th level
Spells per day:
0 level - unlimited, 1st - 8, 2nd - 8, 3rd - 7, 4th - 7, 5th - 7, 6th - 7, 7th - 6, 8th - 6, 9th - 6
Spells Known
Cantrips:
Arcane Mark, Detect Magic, Ghost Sound, Light, Prestidigitation, Read Magic, Resistance, Spark, Touch of Fatigue
1st level:
Alarm, Charm Person, Entangle, Featherfall, Identify, Obscuring Mist, Silent Image, Unseen Servant
2nd level:
Alter Self, Detect Thoughts, Glitterdust, Hideous Laughter, Mirror Image, Protection vs. Evil (Communal), Scorching Ray, Whispering Wind
3rd level:
Deep Slumber, Dispel Magic, Displacement, Fireball, Fractions of Heal and Harm, Lightning Bolt, Resist Energy (Communal)
4th level:
Aura of the Unremarkable, Ball Lightning, [Darkvision (Communal)], Dimension Door, Greater False Life, Poison, Tongues (Communal)
5th level:
Dominate Person, Feeblemind, Fire Snake, Hold Monster, Overland Flight, Tree Stride, Teleport
6th level:
Chain Lightning, Contingency, Cloak of Dreams, Greater Dispel Magic, Mislead, [Permanency], True Seeing
7th level:
Greater Polymorph, Greater Scrying, Limited Wish, Mage's Mansion, Mass Planar Adaptation, Phase Door, Plane Shift
8th level:
Clone, Create Demiplane, Demand, Discern Location, Greater Prying Eyes, Irresistible Dance, Mind Blank, Protection From Spells
9th level:
Dominate Monster, Mage's Disjunction, Time Stop, Wish, (Shapechange if Expanded Arcana is taken @ 19th)
The spell selection is a tiny bit slanted towards some Enchantment spells due to the Bloodline, but for the most part I tried to include a good mix of spells for attack, defense, divination, utility, travel, control and abjuration.
Some notables I know I left out: Mage Armor (would perfer to avoid ever needing it), Grease (just never really liked it for some bizarre reason), Enlarge Person (screams 'wand' if party-appropriate), Haste (seems like everyone else always has it), the Pit Spells (a little burned out on them after playing a Master Summoner), and Invisibility spells (already get Greater Invisibility as a bloodline power).
Thoughts?
How are you picking up Entangle as a wizard or sorcerer? That's a dynamite spell but I haven't found a way to nab it for my wizard besides acquiring a wand or scroll and UMDing it.It has been my experience that no two wizard/sorcerers I've ever created would find the same spells to be the "best" spells for them at any level, much less every level. In my experience it boils down to the character concept and the party tactical needs which drive what the "best" spells are.
Having said that, don't overlook "entangle" or "obscuring mist"...
Its a Bloodline spell for the Fey Bloodline.
Thanks, Big Boned! I figured that out about the time you posted that.
Some notables I know I left out: Mage Armor (would perfer to avoid ever needing it), Grease (just never really liked it for some bizarre reason), Enlarge Person (screams 'wand' if party-appropriate), Haste (seems like everyone else always has it), the Pit Spells (a little burned out on them after playing a Master Summoner), and Invisibility spells (already get Greater Invisibility as a bloodline power).
Our GM is a PIA about mage armor items, so I always end up taking it as a spell. My wizard has both a mount and a familiar to try to keep alive along with himself, so its a must. YMMV.
I find myself casting grease in almost every combat. Since I got my faerie dragon familiar there are often 2 or 3 patches down if the combat features a lot of mooks. I use it for grapple-proofing, for greasing stairs and ladders, and for utility (dragging heavy objects using grease for lube, applying to tower shields and tobbagganing down hills away from bad guys, etc.) You might want to rethink your stance on that one, or at least pick up a wand.
There's also the option of buying Pages of Spell Knowledge. They're pretty cheap - 1000 gp for a 1st level page. All the situational spells that you find you might want and might need to cast in a hurry can be grabbed that way.
Our martial types love enlarge person but they got themselves x/day custom wondrous items or potions to get their fix. A wand works for this as well.
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FWIW, this is the build as it stands - Silent Spell was taken as a compliment to the Fleeting Glance ability gained at 9th level and I figure between Piercing Spell and the Fey Magic ability gained at 15th, I've got Spell resistent creatures covered.
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Human 20th level Sorcerer (Fey)
Human favored class option
Attributes: (20 point build)
STR - 10
DEX - 14
CON - 14
INT - 12
WIS - 8
CHA - 16 (+2 racial mod, +1 at 4th, 8th, 12th, 16th and 20th level)
Traits:
Focused Mind
Reactionary
Feats:
1st - Eschew Materials
1st - Spell Focus: Enchantment
1st - Greater Spell Focus: Enchantment
3rd - Heighten Spell
5th - Silent Spell
7th - Skill Focus: Knowledge - Nature*
7th - Eldritch Heritage: Arcane Bloodline (Arcane Bond - Familiar)
9th - Improved Familiar (Faerie Dragon)
11th - Piercing Spell
13th - Quicken Spell*
13th - Improved Eldritch Heritage: Arcane Bloodline (Expanded Arcana)
15th - Spell Perfection: Dominate Person
17th - Greater Eldritch Heritage: Arcane Bloodline (School Power)
19th - Improved Initiative*
19th - Expanded Arcana (9th level spell) or Persistent Spell
* - bloodline feat
Skills: (all class skills)
Bluff - 1-20
Fly - 11-20
Knowledge: Nature - 1-10
Spellcraft - 1-20
Use Magic Device - 1-20
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Our martial types love enlarge person but they got themselves x/day custom wondrous items or potions to get their fix. A wand works for this as well.
I wonder at times about the popularity of Enlarge Person, perceived as it seems to be as a 'must take'. Its casting time is a pain and the ultimate benefit is one step up in base weapon damage, +1 damage and reach, as well as a -2 to the character's AC and -1 to their Reflex saves. Always seemed a little underwhelming to me.
Enlarge person is situational, and in some situations it can actually be a poor tactical choice, but in many situations it is a great tactical choice. An enlarged person doesn't just get "reach" if you enlarge a medium to a large just with a standard sword their coverage goes from 8 adjacent squares to 28 or 32 (depending on how you rule the diagonal coverage) nearby squares. Toss in "combat reflexes" and that means a lot of potential attacks of opportunity. Throw in a REACH WEAPON and you have one character who can control the bulk of the battlefield.
I highly recommend Emergency Force Sphere for a 4th level spell. There aren't too many fantastic options that trump an immediate cast damage soaker that is useful into the high end games.
I highly recommend Emergency Force Sphere for a 4th level spell. There aren't too many fantastic options that trump an immediate cast damage soaker that is useful into the high end games.
Is that a 3PP spell? I can't seem to find it on the spell lists...
Enlarge person is situational, and in some situations it can actually be a poor tactical choice, but in many situations it is a great tactical choice. An enlarged person doesn't just get "reach" if you enlarge a medium to a large just with a standard sword their coverage goes from 8 adjacent squares to 28 or 32 (depending on how you rule the diagonal coverage) nearby squares. Toss in "combat reflexes" and that means a lot of potential attacks of opportunity. Throw in a REACH WEAPON and you have one character who can control the bulk of the battlefield.
Enlarge person can be used as a debuff. In areas where large creatures cannot move easily, it forces squeezing. It also drops a characters AC by a net 2. Pretty much only useful against archers (since their weapon's damage die won't change) and casters (since who cares if they are stronger).
Enlarge person is situational, and in some situations it can actually be a poor tactical choice, but in many situations it is a great tactical choice. An enlarged person doesn't just get "reach" if you enlarge a medium to a large just with a standard sword their coverage goes from 8 adjacent squares to 28 or 32 (depending on how you rule the diagonal coverage) nearby squares. Toss in "combat reflexes" and that means a lot of potential attacks of opportunity. Throw in a REACH WEAPON and you have one character who can control the bulk of the battlefield.
This. The martial-y guys I mentioned above have been bitten a few times by ranged touch attackers and the like, but they love laying the smackdown on a group of chumps with the enlarge+reach weapon+combat reflexes combo, especially if there's a bottleneck created by a Grease spell or similar.
I highly recommend Emergency Force Sphere for a 4th level spell. There aren't too many fantastic options that trump an immediate cast damage soaker that is useful into the high end games.Is that a 3PP spell? I can't seem to find it on the spell lists...
Get haste. Don't think about just do it. Once you have it, next level, take it again just to make sure. If your first spell every combat isn't haste, you're doing combat wrong.
*I feel it necessary to add this is completely tongue-in-cheek, I will honestly say though, I get irritated any time the arcane caster can cast 3rd level spells and doesn't have haste. It really is that good.
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Here it is.I highly recommend Emergency Force Sphere for a 4th level spell. There aren't too many fantastic options that trump an immediate cast damage soaker that is useful into the high end games.Is that a 3PP spell? I can't seem to find it on the spell lists...
Gorgeous spell. Makes the wizard/sorc so much tougher to simply march the big bad over and lay the smack down.
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Get haste. Don't think about just do it. Once you have it, next level, take it again just to make sure. If your first spell every combat isn't haste, you're doing combat wrong.
*I feel it necessary to add this is completely tongue-in-cheek, I will honestly say though, I get irritated any time the arcane caster can cast 3rd level spells and doesn't have haste. It really is that good.
Haste is actually a pretty poor spell in my group. When full attacks are rare and combat is over in 1-3 rounds haste just doesn't do enough. Then again my group has played together for a long time and know how to get things done. They have even had an arms race for initiative since going last means you probably don't get to do anything.
That isn't to say I don't challenge the party, I manage to kill quite a few even though I've only been running APs the last couple of times (Legacy of Fire, Shattered Star, and currently Reign of winter). When you have a party member that hits the boss of a module on a 2+ and deals 104 damage at level 4 during the first round its really hard to justify haste.
Get haste. Don't think about just do it. Once you have it, next level, take it again just to make sure. If your first spell every combat isn't haste, you're doing combat wrong.
*I feel it necessary to add this is completely tongue-in-cheek, I will honestly say though, I get irritated any time the arcane caster can cast 3rd level spells and doesn't have haste. It really is that good.
Haste is actually a pretty poor spell in my group. When full attacks are rare and combat is over in 1-3 rounds haste just doesn't do enough. Then again my group has played together for a long time and know how to get things done. They have even had an arms race for initiative since going last means you probably don't get to do anything.
That isn't to say I don't challenge the party, I manage to kill quite a few even though I've only been running APs the last couple of times (Legacy of Fire, Shattered Star, and currently Reign of winter). When you have a party member that hits the boss of a module on a 2+ and deals 104 damage at level 4 during the first round its really hard to justify haste.
Sounds 100% legit to me.
Sounds 100% legit to me.Get haste. Don't think about just do it. Once you have it, next level, take it again just to make sure. If your first spell every combat isn't haste, you're doing combat wrong.
*I feel it necessary to add this is completely tongue-in-cheek, I will honestly say though, I get irritated any time the arcane caster can cast 3rd level spells and doesn't have haste. It really is that good.
Haste is actually a pretty poor spell in my group. When full attacks are rare and combat is over in 1-3 rounds haste just doesn't do enough. Then again my group has played together for a long time and know how to get things done. They have even had an arms race for initiative since going last means you probably don't get to do anything.
That isn't to say I don't challenge the party, I manage to kill quite a few even though I've only been running APs the last couple of times (Legacy of Fire, Shattered Star, and currently Reign of winter). When you have a party member that hits the boss of a module on a 2+ and deals 104 damage at level 4 during the first round its really hard to justify haste.
That damage is 100 percent legit. Challenge for a cavalier is +4, PA is + 6, +6 for 18 strength. 1d8 for damage dice. x3 Crit damage, double damage from the back of a horse. 16x3=48, min damage with dice is 51. On a charge that is + 51 more, 102 min damage. IIRC the 104 war the player being bad at math, they actually did 114. There isn't many things a level 4 party is going to be fighting that can avoid being one hit killed by a crit lance delivered by a cavalier. Even without crit that is 2(1d8+16)~ average non crit damage is pretty high. 34 min? Not much at 4th lives through that.
RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32
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16x3=48, min damage with dice is 51. On a charge that is + 51 more, 102 min damage.
Multipliers don't work that way in Pathfinder; if you're applying both a x3 and a x2, you end up with a net x4, not doubling the x3. So your damage on a charging lance crit is 4d8+64, not 6d8+96. Still a moot point at 4th level, though. ;)
That damage is 100 percent legit. Challenge for a cavalier is +4, PA is + 6, +6 for 18 strength. 1d8 for damage dice. x3 Crit damage, double damage from the back of a horse. 16x3=48, min damage with dice is 51. On a charge that is + 51 more, 102 min damage. IIRC the 104 war the player being bad at math, they actually did 114. There isn't many things a level 4 party is going to be fighting that can avoid being one hit killed by a crit lance delivered by a cavalier. Even without crit that is 2(1d8+16)~ average non crit damage is pretty high. 34 min? Not much at 4th lives through that.Sounds 100% legit to me.Get haste. Don't think about just do it. Once you have it, next level, take it again just to make sure. If your first spell every combat isn't haste, you're doing combat wrong.
*I feel it necessary to add this is completely tongue-in-cheek, I will honestly say though, I get irritated any time the arcane caster can cast 3rd level spells and doesn't have haste. It really is that good.
Haste is actually a pretty poor spell in my group. When full attacks are rare and combat is over in 1-3 rounds haste just doesn't do enough. Then again my group has played together for a long time and know how to get things done. They have even had an arms race for initiative since going last means you probably don't get to do anything.
That isn't to say I don't challenge the party, I manage to kill quite a few even though I've only been running APs the last couple of times (Legacy of Fire, Shattered Star, and currently Reign of winter). When you have a party member that hits the boss of a module on a 2+ and deals 104 damage at level 4 during the first round its really hard to justify haste.
Obviously charging mounted critical with a lance is another matter altogether - the post made it sound as if that was a routine occurrance. Mounted characters never seem to do well in my campaign, not the large mounts, anyway - tough to get those warhorses down through trapdoors, up winding stairs or across narrow ledges, and who wants their character suddenly gimped because he had to climb a ladder?
Still, hitting on a 2+ even when power attacking? That's gotta be a pretty low AC BBEG...
Ah, wasn't sure that the double damage on charge was treated the same, thought it was just rolled normal crit and double it, cause that is what double damage is, I didn't think that it was the same thing as X2 multipliers which have specific rules.
But yes, the amount of damage possible by a lance character without even trying is pretty extreme, and same thing goes with some other high damage concepts.
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Still, hitting on a 2+ even when power attacking? That's gotta be a pretty low AC BBEG...
I'm trying to think about which BBEG in Legacy, Shattered or Winter at this level was outside in the open, available to be charged and has an ~AC12...
(assuming the cavalier has +10 to attack while power attacking at 4th level)
I can't remember any...?
This is not a commonplace occurrence for cavaliers... unless they're gnomes, then it's totally all good. :)
Actually they managed to get the horse into the tower in Reign of winter. Floor plan is pretty open with minimal difficult spots.
As for the bonus's -0 for furious focus, +4 for BAB, + 4 for strength, +4 for cavaliers charge, +2 order bonus, +1 masterwork lance (not a drop in the adventure, but I ruled it possible to get one from the town, carpenter there had a +1 quarterstaff for sale and was expert6, which is more than enough to reasonably believe he could craft weapons). That is +15 to hit without any buffs.
I'm kind of curious why your full BAB guys are missing out on +5 to hit, it's like they aren't even trying to do their job. My players are pretty creative though, and they have long ago realized that the true purpose of casters is martial delivery systems. If you can deliver the murder hobo into the tactically perfect situation he will do far more damage with less resources than nearly anything else you can do.
I suppose this list will be vastly superior to all the other "best sorcerer/wizard spells per level" threads that already have covered the territory.
I can't wait.
To be fair, some new sourcebooks have come out since the last thread I read on the subject.
To be fair, some new sourcebooks have come out since the last thread I read on the subject.I suppose this list will be vastly superior to all the other "best sorcerer/wizard spells per level" threads that already have covered the territory.
I can't wait.
I wouldn't worry about AD's post, it what some forums call "blank" posting. where blank is what you think it means.
There hasn't really been anything earth shaking in terms of spells for a while though, like snowball is one that stands out for me (good damage progression + debuff? sounds good).
Nah, my serpentine sorceress just acquired a giant frilled lizard, her new mount which she rides into battle, casting spells from his back.
The lizard eats the people she is not enchanting, toasting or deep-freezing. Simple as that, she can at will talk to him and if need be enchant him too hehe.
With shield, mage armor and protection from evil AC´s are quite high too.
Later she will delve into necromantics and religion a it to be able to enchant undead. Which will synergize with her bloodline feature.
That said, the peacemaker feat is a quite nice feat. It can either debuff or buy you time to buff with the according spells. But maybe it´s more for bards and oracles.
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Actually they managed to get the horse into the tower in Reign of winter. Floor plan is pretty open with minimal difficult spots.
Ack!
Radosek didn't get one-shot by the cavalier, did he?!
To be fair, the room he's in should have a 30ft high ceiling, and he should be flying or levitating ... although I suppose perhaps the horse could be flying too?
It's still quite an accomplishment to get a horse that deep into the tower... I've played or GM'd cavaliers through 30 levels of APs, and out of ~300 combats, I think I've only seen ride-by attacks or mounted charges used in ~12 of those combats (and a lot of those were when I GM'd and tried to add more encounters that would be cavalier-friendly).
That damage is 100 percent legit. Challenge for a cavalier is +4, PA is + 6, +6 for 18 strength.
Doesn't the "two-handed modifiers require two hands on the weapon" ruling apply to lances, though?
0: Detect Magic, Light, Prestidigitation, Daze, Spark.
I can't believe the number of scenarios still written under the silly, silly assumption that the party won't be using Detect Magic everywhere.
1: Color Spray (at low levels), Magic Missile (for "counterspelling"), Grease, Enlarge Person, Vanish.
Sleep is notably absent from the list because of the casting time.
2: Create Pit, Mirror Image, Flaming Sphere, Invisibility, Command Undead
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Reign of Winter Spoiler:
Its a moot point though. The party made use of the potion from that one raven keeper to make the horse fly(she died quickly because she is squishy). Cause why not? Heck if they wanted they could have came in through the way Radosek was supposed to escape.
So I guess I should probably include the list of spells I think are good at every level. I don't play sorcerers (or oracle for that matter) since I don't like the flexibility loss of not having a huge pile of spells. Yes I know about the half elf paragon surge and other things like human favored class... I still like witches and wizards and clerics better (I'm mixed on druids, their list doesn't appeal to me).
My list is based on all levels of adventuring, obviously color spray and sleep are amazing at low levels, but useless later on so I don't include them. Some of the damage spells at low levels require specific builds to make good use out of, look at the admixture wizard and similar things for making them good. I have it broken down into types of spells too, as imho its good to have a variety of effects ready at each spell level (though your high level slots will likely be filled with metamagic version of your favorite offensive spells and emergency measures spells)
level one:
Single target damage: tossup between snowball and shocking grasp.
AoE: Burning hands
Self Buff: shield (mage armor can be replaced with bracers later on, or wand/potion)
Friendly buff: enlarge person
Control: Grease
Mobility: expeditious retreat or mount
Lvl2:
single target: Hideous laughter (no good damage options, and this is Save or die effectively), or blindness/deafness (targets fort instead of will)
AoE: Gitterdust (not much damage options worth anything IMHO)
Self Buff: Invisibility, mirror image. Two good illusions cause miss chance is better than armor.
Friendly buff: bull's strength and suppress charms and compulsions
Control: Create pit edges out web, barely and by situation.
Mobility: communal mount or spider climb (Amazing situationally, nobody looks up and you create lots out new combat space that doesn't give up cover like flying does)
lvl 3:
Single target: Hold person. Its a save or effectively die. Dispel magic cause sometimes you need to say no.
AoE: Fireball. Learn it love it metamagic the crap out of it.
Self Buff: Displacement. Cause miss chance is better than armor
Friendly buff: Haste. Depending on group this is solid or spectacular.
Control: Stinking cloud. Ends combats, free slightly used lunches. Runner up is Slow, for less collateral effects.
Mobility: Fly. At later levels, phantasmal steed (can fly and lasts loner and movement doesn't eat up your actions)
Lvl4:
Single target: Dimensional anchor, this level is weak at this type of spell IMHO, but this is pretty good for some fights.
AoE: Black tenticles. decent enough damage over time, locks down an aread.
Self Buff: greater invisibility, sure you can give it to others, but its better on you.
Friendly buff: Stone skin. Give this to the meat shield, let him take the attacks while you use G.Invis
Control: SO MANY: the wall spells. Confusion. Solid Fog
Mobility: Dimensional Door. Baby's first teleport
Lvl 5:
Single target: SO MANY: Magic Jar, baleful poly-morph, Feeble-mind, hold Monster, Icy prison, Dismissal.
AoE: Cloud kill, kill all the trash and weaken the big stuff.
Self Buff: Not much I like here, Echolocation gives blind sight...
Friendly buff: Not much I like here, Polymorph and mass stone skin if I must
Control: Walls walls walls, oh a hungry pit I guess.
Mobility: teleport and overland flight. if you have to guess why turn in your wizard guild card.
Lvl6:
Single Target: Disintergrate, when it absolutely must die now and has a weak fort save. Flesh to stone, save them for later.
AoE: Circle of Death, when all of the trash must die.
Self Buff: true seeing, repulsion. See them coming and keep the dumbs ones away
Friendly buff: Greater heroism if morale isn't aready covered.
Control: greater dispel magic, Sirocco (flyer control)
Mobility: Shadow walk, Summon Giant Eagles (you know you want to)
Lvl7:
Single Target: Finger of Death, DIE!, Grasping hand (so much fun!)or power word blind for those no save debuffs
AoE: Waves of Exhaustion. Such a great debuff.
Self Buff: Spell turning (killed a PC with his own disintegrate, so it holds a special place in my heart)
Friendly Buff: Joyful Rapture, yeah, you aren't likely to prepare it but its pretty good for a wizard
Control: Force cage
Mobility: plane shift, its a game changer
Lvl8:
Single target: Power word stun, Save or die without the save part. Maze, time out for the big dumb fighter.
AoE: Sunburst, Vampire be gone
Self buff: Not much I think is worth a slot, Mind blank cause you probably have powerful enemies by this point
Friendly Buff: Screen, almost required high level party protection for camping/stronghold inner sanctum
Control: telekinetic sphere.
Mobility: nothing of note
Lvl 9:
Single target: dominate monster(hmm wonder why), energy drain (ouch even with a save), power word kill (for your no save death dealing)
AoE: Wail of the Banshee. 170 damage min, effectively a mass save or die spell
Self Buff: Time stop
Friendly buff: screw your friends, you are a 9th level spell caster. Oh I guess Wish, but only if they pay for it!
Control: Prismatic sphere: Try getting out of that!
Mobility: Interplanetary teleport, astral projection, Gate.
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Lots of good stuff, I'll just throw out a few highlights.
Level 0: Open/Close. In low level play, it's a great way to avoid getting slapped by mechanical traps, or to keep out of range of an ambush behind a door. Even in high-level play, if you have spotted a trap but can't disarm it, you might still be able to get rid of it with this.
Level 1: Summon Monster 1, if you have the Neutral Summoning feat. Freaking stirges and their touch attack to grapple and damage CON. That's as crazy at first level as it is at 20th, and you can get a mess of them to harry multiple targets with SM2 and 3. No better way to force an opponent to spend their turn trying to get rid of the pests less they lose # of HD health and -1 fort save every 2 rounds AND have to deal with grapple penalties. Particularly because average touch AC doesn't really scale through the levels, it tends to level out around 20.
Level 2: Blindness/Deafness - shut down low level mages first round by removing their ability to target things. Also SM2 for more stirges.
Level 3: SM3, stirge boogaloo (okay, I'll stop). Phantasmal steed for long lasting and significant movement capabilities, Heroism at lower levels because a +2 to nearly everything is nothing to sneeze at for a front-liner, particularly because it'll last a long time.
Level 4: It's been said before, but enervation. Nothing closer to a kick in the huevos than level drain. Also Fleshworm Infestation is a great debuff for dex builds that tend to have poor fort saves. Saving doesn't negate it, there's a chance to stagger them every round, it just destroys a dex score, it will still sicken them even if they make the save, AND a number of effects that would remove an effect like this just don't work. Use it with a reach metamagic rod to keep out of the fight.
Level 5: I'm honestly stunned this one isn't here already... Wall of Stone. From a bridge to a literal funnel for badguys, this is an immense source of flexibility in a single spell, particularly for battlefield control.
Past level 5 it starts getting kinda crazy, so I'll leave off here. Summon Monster X is almost universally useful in some manner, but can eat up time while running your turn, so have flash cards ready or something.
Level 0: Detect Magic, Prestidigitation, Mending, Message
Level 1: Liberating Command, Ray of Enfeeblement, Protection from Alignment, Mudball
Level 2: Anti-summoning Shield, Greater Detect Magic (for intrigue games), See Invisibility, Touch of idiocy, Admonishing Ray
Level 3: Dispel Magic, Communal Resist Energy, Summon Monster 3, Arcane Sight, Shrink Item
Level 4: Summon Monster 4, Dimensional Door, Dimensional Anchor, Dragon's Breath, Emergency Force Shelter (or resilient Sphere)
Level 5: Echolocation, Break Enchantment, Feeblemind, Overland Flight
Level 6: Planar Binding, Summon Monster 6, Disintegrate, True Seeing