Utility Wizard searching for something to focus on

[Garzag]

I need some advice for my utility wizard.
The last time my group played, we decided that some of us have to switch characters in order to gain some more "problem solving" possibilities. Well, now i have to play an utility wizard. I looked for different archetypes and came to the conclusion that exploiter wizard could be good, because of quick study, so i could switch some spells to fulfill my role. But now I don't really know what to do in fights. Out of fights I can work things out with silent image, ghost sound, mage Hand, or comprehend languages, but when we get into combat, i have the feeling to be useless. The Monk and the Rogue are dealing massive amounts of damage, while i cast a spell, the enemy succeed his save and that's it. The bard is already focused on supporting, so that role is already filled. We are currently lvl 4, so i think not everything is lost :)
Could I still get an useful summoner with augmented & superior summonings or do I need the conjuration school to be effective? It just seems a very popular way for a wizard, and for other things like evocation or enchantment it looks like you need the school powers.
Your thoughts on this?

[avr]

Your save DCs should be pretty good as an exploiter wizard, especially if you take the potent magic exploit. If the enemy always succeeds on their saves then the GM is fudging the rolls, or you're using spells with the wrong type of save for the target (when you have a choice use reflex save spells on big things, especially slow ones, will save spells on creatures without obvious magic, fort save spells on small quick creatures or the softest spellcasters), or both.

In my experience school powers are nice for a wizard but certainly not necessary. You certainly don't need them to be an effective summoner, debuffer or blaster. If you need to avoid spells with saves then summoning can certainly be effective.

[Meirril]

Utility wizard means two things. First thing is making sure you have utility spells! With quick study you can trade out at any time to get any spell in your book. If you have an item bond that is another any spell in your book. The only way these abilities are good is if you have enough obscure but useful spells in the book as you can get. So throw some gold into buying spells. Start early. Really, bug your GM about it. Find NPCs that can swap spells and make deals. If you can find a circle of NPCs you might be able to get them to each swap you a spell the others don't have so you can skip on paying for anything other than ink. You might even be able to sell them spells!

The second thing is having spells available to cast when needed. That means probably more sitting and watching than you are use to. You have a high int, use it! Make skill rolls to identify creatures and use that to judge if this fight needs you to cast a spell or not. Then use a spell appropriate for the target. Invisibility? Glitter dust. Teleports? Dimensional Anchor. Casts? Hold back an action to disrupt their casting.

Also you might delve into illusions a bit more. Forget about sinking feats into it, if the monsters are disbelieving your illusions you've already lost. Use that first level illusion like an area denial spell. If you make the illusion of a pit suddenly appearing filled with spikes or an area with nasty looking unearthly blue flames very few creatures are going to be willing to 'interact' with the illusion to make a disbelieve check. They will go around. Just make sure you get extra value for your wasted actions when casting concentration spells. It is ok to let others do the damage while you wait for the right moment to step in. Throwing one confusion and stepping out for the rest of a fight is a big help. Mainly, cast few spells that do a lot so you have spells left for later when the party needs that utility spell. Oh, and use Acid Splash. Great for eliminating downed trolls.

Also beware of monsters that the melee types can't fight effectively. Swarms instantly come to mind. Always have some area effect damage spells memorized. Even if that spell is just burning hands it can make a huge difference.

Item wise, look for bargains. Headband of Intellect just because you're a wizard and it gives you everything a wizard wants. The best item my universalist utility wizard ever made was a Ring of Telekinesis. While its expensive, it effectively lets you become a minor blaster every round as you toss a bunch of cheap weapons around the battlefield. My wizard carried around a bucket filled with cold iron Chakram (large). Each one cost 4gp, weighed 1 lb, and did 2d6+int when used for Teleknetic violent thrust. A shotgun blast of 9 Chakram for zero cost was sweet. He also carried around a bucket of 75gp silver ingots (1 lb each) in case we ran into something vulnerable to silver. If we found a bunch of cheap magic weapons I totally would of used them, but the campaign was horribly short on +1 weapons. Remember you don't need proficiency to violent thrust, the only thing that matters is a weapons weight, damage dice and how difficult it is for you to carry them.

If you have a decent amount of Downtime between adventures ask the GM if you can use the downtime rules to stretch your money. Working 1 day should allow you to "earn" 1 or 2 magic resources. You pay 50gp for 100gp's worth of magic later. You can use that for spell components, to buy magic item or to create magic items. You can also see if you can get NPCs to hire you to spellcast. Fast easy money, but absolutely under the GMs control since he is effectively giving you gold outside of adventuring. It doesn't hurt to ask, and make sure you have spells that would be useful to non-adventurers. Fabricate + crafting skills involving wood are kind of a way to cheesing your way into making fast wizard cash. I use to sell a longboat every month to a shipyard I created/owned with the downtime rules.

Anyways, hope this inspires you a little bit. Enjoy!

[Dave Justus]

Sounds like what your party needs is battlefield control. Lucky you are a wizard so you are already perfect for that.

Before we get into that, unless you are in a really strange campaign, you shouldn't need anywhere near a full days worth of spells to fulfill the utility aspect of your character. If you are using more than a single spell slot per level (at early levels anyway) you are probably relying on magic to solve problems too much, as wasting a resource that is more valuable elsewhere.

The battlefield control role is really about damage prevention. Obviously immobilizing or outright taking out an opponent achieves this, but so does a lot of lesser things. If they can't charge your ally because a summoned monster is in the way you have prevented damage and if they stop to attack that summoned monster you have prevented even more. Throwing a -2 on an opponents attack is statistically going to prevent 10% of it's damage. Spending a round to maneuver around a pit or stuck behind a wall prevents damage.

The 'best tactics' to employ often depends a lot on your particular party and what you are facing. Tactics that work great in on situation don't work at all (or even can work against your party) in another, but in my opinion that makes the battlefield controller on of the most fun and challenging roles to play. Mostly though if you think about how you can prevent at least a little damage each round, you will find you party is immensely stronger in combat than before.