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I'm presently playing a wizard (a 3rd level elf air elementalist, to be precise), and like all low-level wizards, I'm trying to figure out ways to keep myself useful and effective for long adventuring days when I have to make my spells stretch. I have some strategies I've been using, and others I'm considering and planning to use as I go up levels and get more resources, but I'm betting other people have figured out interesting approaches to this too. So I'm going to list some things I'm doing/might do, and hope other wizard-players out there can add to my list.
I'd appreciate people focusing on low-level play, too, since that's where the problem is the most acute, in my experience.
So, stuff I've actually been doing:
-- This is going to horrify the Treantmonk-style optimizers, but in the short-term, my elf wizard has been very archery focused. His first two feats have been Point Blank Shot and Precise Shot. One of the first cantrips he always had prepared was Launch Bolt (from the 3.5 Spell Compendium), and he went around zipping off crossbow bolts like crazy (and did lots of damage, too!) I didn't even buy a bow at 1st level, just bolts, and saved up for a mwk composite longbow, which was my first biggish purchase. I'm tempted to take an archery feat at 5th level too, Focused Shot to be specific (add INT bonus to damage with bows), but unlike the first two feats, which will work with weapon-like spells, Focused Shot is limited to bows, and I'm not sure I'm willing to accept that when I know that late-game I'll regret it. So far, though, I've been squeezing off a controller spell to open an important combat and then relying on my bow the rest of the time, and my character has been useful and relevant in every encounter. My mid-range goal is to get the air elementalist ability to fly at will at level 10, pick up Fly-By Attack at level 11, and then zip around from cover to cover either casting spells or taking shots. Death from above and whatnot.
-- I find my familiar a lot more helpful at keeping me relevant than a bonded item would be. My thrush familiar has turned out to be an incredible scout in low-level play (+18 Stealth, +10 Perception, flight, speech) and has made a huge difference in allowing us to plan well and stay a step ahead of bad guys. It's maybe not a round-to-round something-to-do sort of thing, but everyone in the party is glad to have my little bird around. In her own way, she's contributed as much as the party druid's combat-centered wolf. In some ways more.
-- Wands. I haven't bought any yet (not enough $$$ on hand), but the ones I've found I use all the time. Scrolls too; I try to make sure I have enough gp on hand to craft a scroll at the end of the day with some unused spell from the day.
-- Cantrips. I try to keep at least one cantrip prepared that I can make good use of in combat. That was launch bolt early on, now I tend to go to ghost sound.
-- I ended up as the party face. He's got a decent Charisma (he's middle-aged, and that boost to CHA made a 14 not too expensive in point-buy), my thrush gives a boost to Diplomacy, and I took a trait that gave a small bonus and makes Diplomacy a class skill for me, so he had a +10 to Diplomacy straight out of the gate at level 1, and he's helped out the party pretty reliably that way. including a couple of clutch natural 20's. That's not useful in combat, but he gets his point across with the bow pretty well too :-)
-- My DM and I haven't talked about 3.5 Reserve feats, but if he'll let me take one, that's obviously another way to stay relevant round-to-round in combat. I have mixed feelings about Reserve feats myself, though, having DM'ed a campaign where I allowed them, so I may decide not to use them. My present DM played a wizard that I allowed to take a Reserve feat in that campaign, so I can probably get him to allow it if I want. But I still have lots of Treantmonk-favorite feats to catch up on, anyway ;-)
-- Alchemical items. I haven't made any use of these -- my money has been going toward spells to round out my spellbook instead of to tanglefoot bags and alchemist's fire. I also find it hard to see how these items are more cost-effective to a wizard than scrolls of low-level spells. But if you can afford them or have access to a lot of them for some reason, I suppose they allow you to take some useful actions in combat when not casting spells.
So those have been my strategies to this point. I'd love to hear other people's strategies for constant wizard usefulness!
I'm presently playing a wizard (a 3rd level elf air elementalist, to be precise), and like all low-level wizards, I'm trying to figure out ways to keep myself useful and effective for long adventuring days when I have to make my spells stretch. I have some strategies I've been using, and others I'm considering and planning to use as I go up levels and get more resources, but I'm betting other people have figured out interesting approaches to this too. So I'm going to list some things I'm doing/might do, and hope other wizard-players out there can add to my list.
I'd appreciate people focusing on low-level play, too, since that's where the problem is the most acute, in my experience.
So, stuff I've actually been doing:
-- This is going to horrify the Treantmonk-style optimizers, but in the short-term, my elf wizard has been very archery focused. His first two feats have been Point Blank Shot and Precise Shot.
This is actually a decent idea. Both feats work with Ray Spells(and Spell-Like Abilities) as well, so they can prove useful later on.
One of the first cantrips he always had prepared was Launch Bolt (from the 3.5 Spell Compendium), and he went around zipping off crossbow bolts like crazy (and did lots of damage, too!) I didn't even buy a bow at 1st level, just bolts, and saved up for a mwk composite longbow, which was my first biggish purchase. I'm tempted to take an archery feat at 5th level too, Focused Shot to be specific (add INT bonus to damage with bows), but unlike the first two feats, which will work with weapon-like spells, Focused Shot is limited to bows, and I'm not sure I'm willing to accept that when I know that late-game I'll regret it. So far, though, I've been squeezing off a controller spell to open an important combat and then relying on my bow the rest of the time, and my character has been useful and relevant in every encounter. My mid-range goal is to get the air elementalist ability to fly at will at level 10, pick up Fly-By Attack at level 11, and then zip around from cover to cover either casting spells or taking shots. Death from above and whatnot.
Another idea you might wanna try is doing the Skill Focus(Knowledge (Nature)) + Eldritch Heritage(Stormborn)(Or Boreal/Deep Earth if you want elemental variety, but Stormborn actually fits your Bloodline) feats. The ability to add Elemental Damage to your ammo (or give it to a friend's weapon) can be a plus.
The archery angle is not a bad angle. Both of the feats you mention, point blank and precise shot are useful for wizards who use rays. I have an archer druid who does enough damage with her bow at level 8 or 9 that she can be very judicious with her spells. In most combats she spends more time using her bow than casting spells. And the spells she casts tend to be spells with damage over time, like summoning or flaming sphere or something else that allows her to contribute to combat without casting a spell every round.
Your other techniques here all sound pretty good to me. You might consider investing in UMD so you can use divine wands and contribute in other ways. I would be careful about using your familiar for scouting, some GMs would take that as an invitation to teach you a lesson.
It sounds like you are doing a good job keeping your wizard as a solid contributor to the party outside of simply casting wizard spells. I would say to keep it up, but be careful about the bow feats, you might end up like my druid and become an actual combat archer and forget sometimes that you are also a cosmic-reality altering source of awesomeness.
Seriously I've gone through entire gaming sessions with my druid casting nothing beyond a couple of low level buff spells. And contributed greatly to the successful combat we've done.
Extend Spell might be a good feat to pick up. By helping buffs stay up longer (at a cost of one higher slot) you can memorize less of certain ones and expand your mem'ed repertoire.
If you'll be using archery wizards get gravity bow as a first level spell and that could help offset the need for more archery feats. They also get flame arrow as a 3rd, and it has a 10 min/lvl duration but only for 50 projectiles.
I always find that Chill Touch which gives one touch attack per caster level really helps with spell economy.
Mnemonic enhancer is a fourth so you wont have access until 7th but it could also be useful.
Lastly I will second Use Magic Device.
Oh, and pearls of power. Buy them in buckets.
Oh, and pearls of power. Buy them in buckets.
*Craft them in buckets. Then use them as money.
Let's see..... craft wondrous item over here..... rapid shot over there..... craft wondrous item over here..... rapid shot over there....
Hmmm... I can BUY magic items.....
;)
Pearls of power, check, as soon as I can afford them. And I'll be using my 5th level wizard bonus feat for Craft Wondrous Item. I may use wands instead of Extend Spell, we'll see.
If I stick w/ archery as a focus, I'll probably be investing more in a good bow than I usually would otherwise, and probably also some fancy arrows, especially some slaying and greater slaying arrows. I was thinking something along the lines of point blank shot + height advantage (from flying around) + focused shot + gravity bow + weapon enhancement + slaying arrow (maybe typed for low Fort save creatures like golems and undead) + true strike when I need it, and eventually quickened true strike. Plus I think maybe I'll get a "conservative" bow that returns my misses to me, so I don't have to worry about shooting off arrows worth 1,000s of gp. If I'm still using the bow all the time at high levels, I may take Rapid Shot too, though I worry that with the wizard's low BAB the bow is going to become less and less viable at higher levels without being souped up with true strike.
Re: UMD, I was thinking of making that one of the skills I put on my Headband of Vast Intelligence. My thinking right now is Escape Artist, then UMD, then we'll see what I need later. I figure that UMD isn't reliable until you get a lot of ranks in it anyway, so why not put it off, right?
Oh yeah, wizard bonus feats. Those are cool. I would have used my druid bonus feats for.... oh yeah. never mind.
UMD, get it early and often. Best skill in the game. And no, I am not overlooking perception.
Let's see..... craft wondrous item over here..... rapid shot over there..... craft wondrous item over here..... rapid shot over there....
Hmmm... I can BUY magic items.....
;)
The utility you get out of that 1 feat is just too amazing. You saw yourself and your compatriots a tonne of cash. The only time I would consider not having a crafter in the party would be in campaigns in which I know we won't have time to craft.
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You know, it might be possible for you to go Arcane Archer without too much trouble, if that's something that interests you.
My wizards typically just use Daze or a crossbow when I don't want to use up a spell. Also look at stuff like Flaming Sphere that gives you something you can move around or use every turn.
-- I ended up as the party face. He's got a decent Charisma
Most of my parties won't let me age my casters for benefits, its a little cheesy. Personaly, I nab Student of Philosophy if I want to talk as a wizard. Who needs Charisma!
So those have been my strategies to this point. I'd love to hear other people's strategies for constant wizard usefulness!
Personally, I like to pick spells that have long term effects and fire a crossbow now and then. Flaming sphere and other spells that stick around can increase your longevity for example.
UMD, get it early and often. Best skill in the game. And no, I am not overlooking perception.
Speaking of UMD, there's a trait for that too...
If you use the retraining rules from Ultimate Campaign, you could take Focused Shot now, then retrain it for some other feat at higher levels.
Scrolls
First level wands are pretty cheap. Especially if the GM lets you buy them without full charges.
If you use primarily utility spells or medium long buff wands from other spell lists, it doesn't matter as much if you don't yet have a great UMD. Just try it again till you get that total of 20 (unless of course you roll the 1).
Many campaigns/AP's/modules you find lots of alchemical items laying around just begging to be used. Otherwise I agree they are probably not worth the cost. Although I think there was an arrow to deliver vials of acid/fire/cold.
I wouldn't spend much on a magic bow. A few scrolls or a low charge wand of magic weapon/greater magic weapon/gravity bow/long shot, etc... are much cheaper for the effect. You will only need them for a few more levels. Once you get to 8th level or so your BAB will be to low to hit serious opponents and you won't have as many iterative attacks either.
Flaming sphere. 1 spell, 1 fights worth of burny fun.
Flaming sphere. 1 spell, 1 fights worth of burny fun.
Add in alchemical fire as a power component. Extra burny fun!
I had thought about Arcane Archer, but I'm thinking instead (with DM permission) of using the Stormcaster PrC from the 3.5 Stormwrack. It fits my character concept beautifully, and has more goodies than 10 more levels of air elementalist wizard would. (There's really nothing to get excited about after level 10 for the air elementalist.)
And I agree about the long-term unviability of archery as a focus for a wizard. Eventually, I'd have to rely on true strike to hit tough enemies. Maybe I'll ask my DM how he feels about the possibility of retraining a feat at some point. On the other hand, given that my character has only a 10 CON, the smart play is probably to take Toughness.
On the other hand, given that my character has only a 10 CON, the smart play is probably to take Toughness.
14 charisma and 10 con? Your a weird wizard!
Lol, yeah, I know. I wanted to do something a little different, and every encounter keeps me on the edge of my seat when I have a 10 Con wizard. He's investing more heavily in defensive spells and equipment than I normally would because of it. But hey, there are precedents. Raistlin Majere started out as a character produced by rolling for stats, and the Con came out horrible. Anyway, I have a big party with lots of people to hide behind, and if the worst happens and he goes down, I get to make a new character :-) In the mean time, he's tons of fun to play.