Build a low level Wizard

[Tarock]

Hello all. I´am going to play a new campaign and I thought I'd try to play a Wizard. The big problem with Wizards are, they are just bad at the early levels. So I'm searching for a concept to help me trough these first few ones.
My main concerns are Durability and Longevity. After 3 rounds of combat you are out of fuel and left with a crappy crossbow and Cantrips. And defense wise you have low hp with low ac and low saving throws.

I have some ideas but no one convict me for 100%

1. Start with one level of Rouge and then go the arcane trickster route.
2. Take the Arcane Bomber or Spellslinger Archetype and maybe retrain them later
3. Take the Wood or Universalist Arcane School to throw things around
4. Have the rich parents trait and by a wand of Snowball or True Strike

Do you have other ideas and do you think one of the points can handle my low level problems?

Thanks for your help.

[JiaYou]

Witch might be more your style then. Hexes would give you longer staying power than a Wizard would.

[Derklord]

Step 1: Prepare Color Spray or Sleep
Step 2: Cast it first round of combat.
Step 3: Sit back and watch your teammates CdG the enemies.

[Melkiador]

The first couple of levels go by so fast, that it rarely seems like an issue to me. And cantrips aren't that bad. You can use an acid flask as an alchemical reagent focus for acid splash, to give it an extra +1 damage. 1d3+1 damage from range is pretty decent and keeps you out of melee.

But really, wizard isn't much about damage at any level. The sorcerer can have far superior damage, if that's the road you want to go down. The wizard is more about utility and battlefield control.

[Mark Hoover 330]

Low level wizards are all about tactics and defense. You are more like a utility that stays out of combat until you're really needed, at least until about level 5. However this doesn't mean you're weak or ineffective. Hear me out:

At level 1 an average fight is CR1. Looking in the Beastiary, the average monster at this CR has an AC of 12 and 15 HP. Remember; you're one of 4 PCs in the average party (your group may have more or less combatants, but 4 is the average.)

This means that, to be positively contributing to combat you need to be able to hit an AC 12 about 50% of the time or better and deliver on average 3.75 damage on a successful hit. The average Universalist wizard has an Acid Splash Cantrip option that, coupled with a flask of Acid deals an average of 3 damage on a hit. Since it's a ranged Touch attack you can be 30' away from combat and still fire off a shot.

Give yourself a decent Dex, say a 14 at least. This means you've got a +2 Ranged Touch; choose a Small sized wizard and you've gone to a +3. Even with just a +2 and targeting Touch AC this is better than a 50% chance of hitting and dealing 3 avg damage/hit puts you right in line with the benchmarks you've gotta hit at this level.

Now let's look at durability.

Mage Armor is a +4 AC and lasts an hour. As mentioned above, you've also got at least a +2 coming from your Dex. This means that, for an hour each day you're just as good, AC wise, as the standard Rogue with an 18 Dex wearing leather Armor.

Your HP aren't that great, I'll admit. Even with a 12 Con and taking HP for your Favored Class bonus, you're only sitting at 8 HP at first level. A single solid blow from a CR 1 bruiser type monster could potentially knock you out of the fight. But remember what the original Mr Miagi said in those Karate Kid movies from the 80's: "The best defense: no be there."

First off, you're primarily attacking from short range. While foes can charge at you to deal melee damage, ranged attacks that aren't energy based are usually pretty modest damage at level 1 so you've got a little bit of protection right there. The Vanish spell or Obscuring Mist can help with this too: if you're invisible you could move to Cover to get out of harm's way or if you're standing within the first 5' of the mist you have 20% Concealment from ranged attacks but your foes don't.

Secondly you have other spells you can use to up your mobility or defensive capabilities. Resistance: make sure you tell your GM you're spamming this like crazy any time you're anticipating danger. It only lasts a minute but you've essentially given yourself a Cloak of Resistance +1. Expedited Retreat, Jump, Monkey Fish or other mobility spells get you quickly away from enemies or into terrain that many enemies can't follow you through. Also if you have a Climb speed you don't lose your Dex bonus to AC and if you're in deep enough water you gain Cover bonuses.

Like I said, tactical thinking is critical for a wizard at low level. But a couple of the options I mentioned above involve Level 1 spells. But... how can you pull that off if you only have 2 spells every day?

Answer: Scrolls.

Another bit of tactical thinking is using your Downtime. Use it religiously at low levels. I'd strongly advise, if you're going to play a Wizard that you keep your Scribe Scroll feat. For 12.5 GP and 2 hours of Downtime you can have one spell on a scroll. Use your scribed scrolls for utility or defense spells. Another thing to use them for, is healing.

Wizards get 2 options: Celestial or Infernal Healing. Either gives Fast Healing 1; Celestial gets you 1 round/2 levels of healing, Infernal gives you a flat minute but has some minor restrictions. Both however are a good way to recover a little at low level and Infernal in particular is a good utility to have post fights.

A lot of this depends on you knowing you're about to get into a fight. A wizard taken unawares is usually severely hurt or dying. Then again, so are many level 1, Light armored 3/4 BAB types too. How then do you make sure your character is prepared and aware of upcoming fights?

1. lean on your other PCs - that's what they're there for. You don't have to do everything. Have one of them scout out the area and make sure either the coast is clear or it's time to buff up before moving on.

2. keep your familiar - standard familiars grant Alertness, so there's that; some give you a bump on your Perception checks, another bonus. Taking some Archetypes trades out Alertness but gives you other abilities the Familiar can use to help you in other ways

3. have an entire library of scrolls - Resistance and Haunted Fey Aspect; sure they're only a minute each but that's now DR 1/Cold Iron and a +1 Resistance bonus for the upcoming fight. Add in a scroll of Mage Armor and for 25 GP you have a few rounds where you've got DR, +1 Resistance, and an AC of 16, at least until the first time you get hit (then Haunted Fey Aspect goes away).

Other options for a more durable wizard include

1. dipping into other classes for HP and defenses
2. play a witch
3. choose a class that combines arcane spellcasting and battle, such as a Magus, Bard, Skald, or Bloodrager

Wizards involve making good use of resources and squeezing out every advantage at low levels. Build your PC however you want but know and use every resource at your disposal wisely. For example, say you choose a NG M Elf Wizard (Universalist) 1.

This PC could begin the game, even with a 15 Point buy, with an 18 Int and 14 Dex. He also begins with an average of 70 GP. This means you could begin with a Shortbow that deals 1d6 per hit, Acid Splash and a flask of Acid for 1d3 +1 per hit, 20 Cold Iron arrows, and still have enough left over for 3 scrolls having already been written before the first adventure.

You've got ranged attacks, decent defenses but low HP, and using a Familiar you've got at least a +2 to Perception and could use the Familiar, if you're willing to risk it, to scout immediate areas around you for danger. The 3 scrolls could be Mage Armor, Obscuring Mist and Expeditious Retreat; your 2 spells for the day might be Color Spray x2. Finally, with your Universalist power Hand of the Apprentice and a quarterstaff you've got several short-range 1d6 attacks outside your shortbow with a +4 to attack.

Last, but certainly not least, feats.

It really depends on the specialty you want to build up for this PC. Cypher Mage for example means all those scroll spells you cast are +1 Caster Level; Point Blank Shot is a good baseline feat for a wizard that's going to use a lot of targeted Ranged attacks; Spell Focus and Greater Spell Focus are must-haves for upping the DCs on your fight-ending spells.

Personally I often take Point Blank Shot. +1 to attack and Damage on 30' ranged attacks works for many damaging rays, cantrips, and mundane ranged attacks. Having a Ranged Touch +3 that deals 1d3 +2 damage per hit means you're at or over your benchmarks for level 1 and 2, so long as you don't lose your flask of Acid.

Still there's plenty of options here.

[Artofregicide]

Play a race that gets better weapon proficiencies, like an elf. Plink with longbow or use a longsword or rapier if pressed (at early levels you'll be less effective but less ineffective). This works less of you're on a low PB or a minmaxer.

You can also take an arcane school that gives an offensive power like acid dart.

Personally, my conjurer just plinked with a crossbow and acid splash until reaching a respectable level. The feeling of going from a total wimp to a badass was a journey I really enjoyed, but I'm a masochist as a player.

[Captain Zoom]

If you're just going raw damage (not going to argue the merits of control, etc.), you could leverage Spell Specialization (+2 CL with a specific spell). Note you can re-assign Spell Specialization at each even level, so you are not stuck with your initial choice of spell.

Since you need Spell Focus + Spell Specialization, I see several ways to do this:

1. Ask your GM if you can take the PFS option of swapping out Scribe Scroll for Spell Focus, then use your level 1 feat to take Spell Specialization.

2. Be a human and use your two first level feats to take Spell Focus and Spell Specialization

3. Elf with the Illustrious Urbanite racial trait, but this is limited to Spell Focus Conjuration, Illusion and Transmutation, so may not work for you depending on what chain of spells you want to specialize in.

If you truly want to be an evoker and your GM lets you take Spell Focus in place of Scribe Scroll, you could go:

Human Wizard
Class Feat: Spell Focus (Evocation)
Level 1 Feat: Spell Specialization (Magic Missile or Burning Hands or Snowball [Evocation version from PRG:UW])
Human Bonus Feat: Varisian [Mage's] Tattoo (Evocation)
School: Evocation

If Magic Missile: 2 missiles at level 1, 3 at level 2. No save, long range.

If Burning Hands: 4d4+1 damage at level 1. At level 2, either 5d4+1 damage or switch your Spell Specialization to Magic Missile for 3 missiles. Reflex save, gotta get close.

If Snowball: At level 1, Ranged Touch Attack up to 35' for 4d6+1 damage. At level 2, RTA up to 25' for 5d6+1 damage.

The evocation school also gives you 3+Int 1d4+1 force missile attacks, no save, long range for additional staying power, and you can take Ray of Frost (1d3+1, or 1d3+2 with a Liquid Ice Focus) for unlimited use.

So say, an INT 16 Level 1 Evoker Wizard going all in:
Ray of Frost/unlimited (1d3+2 with Liquid Ice) 30' RTA
6 Force Missiles/day (1d4+1) 120' auto-hit
3 Level 1 attack spells (MM, BH or SB)/day
Plus you can cast one more spell from your Arcane Focus if you have one

Personally, I would give up the Force Missiles and go with the Admixture School in order to gain more flexibility in damage at higher levels. Or I guess if your GM allows it, you could start in Evocation and re-train at a later level to Admixture, if you want to min/max.

[Lelomenia]

Artofregicide wrote:

Play a race that gets better weapon proficiencies, like an elf. Plink with longbow or use a longsword or rapier if pressed (at early levels you'll be less effective but less ineffective). This works less of you're on a low PB or a minmaxer.

You can also take an arcane school that gives an offensive power like acid dart.

Personally, my conjurer just plinked with a crossbow and acid splash until reaching a respectable level. The feeling of going from a total wimp to a badass was a journey I really enjoyed, but I'm a masochist as a player.

yeah, if you arent worried about higher level play, a bow plinking wizard is fine. Orc Hornbow, and gravity bow is on your list anyway.

[Mark Hoover 330]

Another way to get 2 magic missiles at level 1:

Wizard Archetype: Exploiter Wizard
Level 1 Feat: Cypher Mage
Cost: 25 GP

Step 1: pay 25 starting gold and tell your GM that you used 1 point from your Arcane Reservoir to cast a CL2 Magic Missile spell into a scroll you scribed, prior to the start of the game.

Step 2: use a Standard action to cast Magic Missile scroll; due to the feat Cypher Mage the spell gets cast at CL3 - 2 magic missiles

Only problem with this is you can't specialize in a school and you lose your Arcane Bond. Nice thing: you can use your Arcane Exploits to get a Familiar back and you get one at level 1, so you could use it for that purpose.

Or, y'know... Dimensional Slide

Since the OP was concerned about his PC's durability, taking the Elf wizard with the 14 Dex and 18 Int I mentioned above, he could go Exploiter Wizard and have an Arcane Reservoir of 3 + Wizard Level points, recover 3 + 1/2 level every day and could use this ability whenever he pulls a CL 2 scroll of Magic Missile since that's a Move action.

Combat Round (if stuck in Melee somehow):

1. Take a 5' step if possible away from foe
2. Move action draw a Cl2 Scroll of Magic Missile
3. Immediate action spend 1 point from Arcane Reservoir to teleport another 10' away from foe
4. Cast magic missile unerringly hitting foe for 2d4 +2 Force damage; avg 7 HP

Congratulations; at level 1 you've just gotten 15' from your enemy (preferably to a spot behind your comrades or in Cover) and successfully dealt almost half of all your opponents HP in damage (CR1 monster has an average of 15 HP)

And why stop at Magic Missile?

Subbing in Burning Hands means all monsters caught in the blast only have to make a DC 11 Ref save, but failing that they take 3d4 Fire; avg 7.5 damage and you're still 15' away.

Swap out Hydraulic Push for a +4 ranged Bull Rush attempt; Thunderstomp for a +4 ranged Trip attempt; throw in Snapdragon Fireworks instead and just keep smacking your foe 1d4 at a time for 3 rounds while adding in other damage on 2 of those rounds with your Standard actions (DC 11 Ref save for them to avoid the Dazzled condition).

Also, if this were a boss fight and you really needed to keep moving around the field, the extra 2 rounds of Snapdragon Fireworks, when you fire off another firework, that's a Move action so as long as you've got enough points in your Arcane Reservoir you could just keep teleporting 10' every time you use it. So round one you 5' step away, teleport another 10', and hit them with a firework; Round 2 you fire your next firework, teleport another 10', 5' step even further, and then cast Acid Splash for 1d3 more damage; round 3 you repeat this again, potentially inflicting an average of 7.5 Fire, 4 Acid, and maybe even Dazzled to your foe.

At level 1. From at least 15' away each round.

Wizards are NOT weak in PF, even at low levels. If caught off guard or unprepared, certainly they are susceptible to destruction. As well without much gear they are done for.

Having a wizard with just 37.5 GP in scrolls and 1 round of pre-buffing however with a 16 AC, 8 HP, plenty of ranged options and who can nova for 11.5 damage while teleporting around the map like a freaking jumping jack? Yeah... that's good times.

[Ryze Kuja]

I made a 20pt buy Elven Divinations Wizard that I started at level 1 with a 20 in Int, and I got Spell Focus at level 1 for Illusions and it did some real work with Color Spray in the early levels because it can end a fight before it even starts. You can dump Str and Cha to 7 unless you need them higher for thematic purposes, and use that to boost your Int, Dex, and Con. Don't worry about boosting Wis that much, maybe a 11-12 Wis tops. Wizards have really good Will Saves all game.

Color Spray, Vanish, and Grease are 3 of the best early-game spells you can have, so get these immediately at level 1. As you adventure, make it a habit to buy scrolls and add them to your Spellbook, and then use Scribe Scroll to make a metric crapton of scrolls for yourself to increase the amount of spells you can cast per day. Prioritize getting these lvl1 spells for your spellbook first: Burning Hands (for swarms or multiple enemies), Magic Missile, Featherfall, Comprehend Languages, Mage Armor, Enlarge Person (buff your melee allies), Alarm, Summon Monster I, Charm Person, True Strike, and Shield. Join a Wizard Guild and use their members and library to keep your spellbook filling with new spells as you level up.

At level 1, Grease can lock down a 10ft area for 1 minute with a 16 DC depending on your Int (there's really no reason to not start out with a 20 in Int at the beginning of the game, so definitely plan on doing that. Not only does this increase your DCs, but it gives you 2 additional spells per day right out of the gate). Grease is so underrated, and it stays good until probably level 12ish. You can even use it on mid-game flying enemies to make them drop whatever they're holding, so it's pretty handy (<-- mind the pun).

Wizard FCB’s on all races kinda suck, you’re better off taking 1hp.

Get a familiar as an Arctic Hare or Greensting Scorpion for an additional +4 Initiative, or choose to Arcane Bond with an Item for an additional spell slot that you can use to cast an unprepared spell each day. I chose a ring so it couldn’t be disarmed from me.

Another thing of massive importance that gets overlooked is your Concentration. Losing spells = easy way to die. So definitely consider the Trait Desperate Resolve: "You gain a +1 trait bonus on concentration checks. This trait bonus increases to + 4 when you are grappled, pinned, in violent weather, or entangled." Also, I didn't do this on my character, but I should have, swap out Elven Weapon Familiary for the Alt Racial Arcane Focus for an additional +2 Conc.

The main thing you should focus on is having your DC as high as possible because your spells keep you alive. Having your spells getting resisted sucks and can easily result in your death or a party member's death. The 2nd most important thing is scrolls scrolls scrolls. Make them as often as possible. This is your Staying Power in the early game. You can make level1-2 scrolls every 2 hours of downtime. So prioritize this as a before-bedtime thing every day. The 3rd most important thing is your Initiative. Going first = winning. As a full caster that has as much HP as a wet paper bag, you don't want to be taking your turns after they all have. Lock 'em up quick. Don't be afraid to cast Vanish in Surprise Rounds.

Also, when you can afford it, start carrying Smelling Salts with you so you don't have to worry about using Color Spray on a bunch of enemies that has one of your allies in range.

For reference, this was my Wizard when he was level 1:

Wizard:

Male Elf Wizard 1
CG Medium humanoid
Init +6; Senses low-light vision; Perception +2, Sense Motive +0
--------------------
Defense
--------------------
AC 14, touch 13, flat-footed 11 (+1 armor, +3 Dex)
hp 7 (1d6+1)
Fort +1, Ref +3, Will +2 (+2 vs Ench)
Defensive Abilities Forewarned
--------------------
Offense
--------------------
Speed 30 ft.
Melee dagger -2 (1d4-2)
Ranged Lt. Crossbow (80ft) +3 (1d8)
Special Attacks
Spell-Like Abilities
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Statistics
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Str 7, Dex 16, Con 12, Int 20, Wis 11, Cha 7
Base Atk +0; CMB -2; CMD 11
Feats Spell Focus (Illusion), Spell Specialization (Vanish)
Traits Warrior of Old (Elf), Desperate Resolve (Magic)
Skills Acrobatics +3, Appraise +5, Bluff -2, Climb -2, Diplomacy -2, Disguise -2, Escape Artist +3, Knowledge (arcane) +9, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +9, Knowledge (engineering) +5, Knowledge (geography) +5, Knowledge (history) +5, Knowledge (local) +5, Knowledge (nature) +9, Knowledge (nobility) +5, Knowledge (planes) +9, Knowledge (religion) +9, Linguistics +5, Perception +2, Sense Motive +0, Sleight of Hand +3, Stealth +3, Survival +0, Swim -2, Use Magic Device +2, Spellcraft +9 (+11 Spellcraft to Identify); Racial Modifiers +2 Perception, +2 Spellcraft to Identify
Languages Common, Elvish, Draconic, Celestial, Gnome, Orc, and Sylvan
SQ Arcane Bond: Ring, Arcane School (Divination, Opp: Necro/Ench)
Combat Gear Tathlyn Academy ring bearing Trique's resemblance (arcane bond), arcane scroll of Summon Minor Monster, arcane scroll of Alarm; Other Gear haramaki, dagger, lt. crossbow, crossbow bolts (10), backpack, bedroll, belt pouch, trail rations (5), spellbook, scroll case, spell components pouch, vial of ink, inkpen, mess kit, fishing kit, waterskin, empty flask, bandolier (2), 1 gp, 5 sp, 7 cp
--------------------
Special Abilities
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Forewarned You can always act in the surprise round even if you fail to make a Perception roll to notice a foe, but you are still considered flat-footed until you take an action. In addition, you receive a bonus on initiative checks equal to 1/2 your wizard level (minimum +1). At 20th level, anytime you roll initiative, assume the roll resulted in a natural 20.
Send Senses As a standard action, you place a scrying sensor at a point within medium range (100 feet + 10 feet/wizard level) that you can see and have line of effect to. You can see or hear (not both) through this sensor for number of rounds equal to 1/2 your wizard level (minimum 1). The sensor otherwise functions as a clairaudience/clairvoyance spell with a caster level equal to your wizard level. You can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Intelligence modifier.
Low-Light Vision See twice as far as a human in dim light, distinguishing color and detail.
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Spells
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Spell Penetration +3
Concentration +7 (Normal), +9 (Casting Defensively), +10 (While Grappled, Pinned, Violent Weather, or Entangled)
Spellbook
0- all spells except Ench/Necro
1st- Vanish, Grease, Color Spray, Shield, Heightened Awareness, Feather Fall, Mage Armor, Comprehend Languages, Summon Minor Monster, Alarm
Prepared Spells
0 - detect magic, ghost sound (DC: 16), prestidigitation (DC: 15)
1 - vanish, grease (DC:16), color spray (DC:17), heightened awareness

Build:
Lvl1 Spell Specialization: Vanish, Spell Focus (Illusion)
Lvl2
Lvl3 Greater Spell Focus (Illusion)
Lvl4 (Switched Spell Spec to Mirror Image)
Lvl5 Heighten Spell, Varisian Tattoo (Illusion)
Lvl6
Lvl7 Preferred Spell: Shadow Conjuration
Lvl8 (Switched Spell Spec to Shadow Conjuration)
Lvl9 Dazing Spell (Dazing Magic Missiles = 5 target No Save Daze for 4th lvl spell slot)
Lvl10 Quicken Spell (Switched Spell Spec to Shadow Evocation)
Lvl11 Preferred Spell: Shadow Evocation
Lvl12
Lvl13 Spell Penetration
Lvl14
Lvl15 Spell Perfection (Shadow Evocation), Solid Shadows (Metamagic) (for 80% dmg on Greater Shadow Conj/Evoc and 40% dmg on Shadow Conj/Evoc when resisted)

[Ryze Kuja]

Btw, this Wizard build is the ultimate in battlefield control. I almost always go first and always act in a surprise round, and my illusions have crazy DC's. At level 15 with Shadow Evocation as Spell Perfection, I can Shadow Evoc and have it be a Dazing effect for free, and with Preferred Spell, I can trash every spell I know for Heightened Dazing Fireballs (or any 1-3 Evoc spell) that Daze for 4 rounds and use Heightened Shadow Conj to make Glitterdust for AoE Blind/Invis Removal and Heightened Shadow Conj to cast Create Pit for locking down chokepoints. And since I have Preferred Spell on both of them, I don't need to prepare them. It's basically any Evoc/Conj spell I want and Heightened to whatever spell level I want.

I don't do damage like a Blasting Wizard, but that's okay. Since I go first and always act in surprise rounds, I can instantly kill anything I want with Heightened Flesh to Stone or Heightened Phantasmal Killer, or Dimension Door somewhere safe if I'm actually in danger during the Surprise Round.

[Letric]

How does your team play?
It all depends on your party. Just because you're a battlefield control class, doesn't mean that your party will make good use of it.

Why do I ask this? I had people hit the NON blinded enemy, as a ninja, with a +0 to STR, instead of going to the blinded Boss. For several rounds.

As a Wizard you're an ending combat character. If you cast a spell at low levels, the combat has ended.

Sleep, Color Spray. Just one spell and it's done. That's all you really need.

For this to work usually people max their INT at 20 at level 1, but you can do just fine with 18.

Dex is only important if you plan on doing some ranged touch attacks, otherwise you can just pump CON, and feel more safe.

The only stat you ever need is INT, the others are just random stuff you can pump to feel more useful

Also, if you have DEX +2, and Mage Armor, thats 16 AC, add in a shield, even if youre not proficient, thats 18, and you can easily aid as a flank for +2 attack to your allies.

Honestly, Wizards are just fine, they have lot of power even at low levels.
High CON makes it sure that you won't die in 1 hit, having up to -14 HP

[Mysterious Stranger]

My advice would be to play an elf for the bonus to DEX and proficiency with bows. You should be able to start out with a DEX of 16 without too much trouble. That will give you a +3 to hit at first level. Sure it is way behind the rest of the group but it means you at least have a chance to contribute. If you can afford it get a long bow. Use gravity bow for your first few levels until your spells can deal more damage. It last a minute per level so one spell should last you the entire combat. Doing 2d6 points of damage at that level is actually pretty decent. Mage armor last an hour per level so between those you should be fine.

For your arcane bond choose object instead of familiar. This gives you one extra spell, but more importantly you can enchant the item without having the craft feat. This means as soon as you can scrounge up 375 gold you can have a wand of magic missile.

Also don’t forget that Wizards get scribe scroll. Create a couple of scrolls of sleep or color spray to give you a few extra spells. Each spell only costs 12.5 gold to scribe.

Assuming you scribe two spells and have a bonded object that gives you 3 extra spells to start with. Assuming you get at least near WBL by second level you will have a wand of magic missile that should get you buy until you get enough spells of your own to last.

Don’t bother with rich parents it is a trap. Pretty much after the first encounter or two it becomes useless.

[Letric]

Mysterious Stranger wrote:

My advice would be to play an elf for the bonus to DEX and proficiency with bows. You should be able to start out with a DEX of 16 without too much trouble. That will give you a +3 to hit at first level. Sure it is way behind the rest of the group but it means you at least have a chance to contribute. If you can afford it get a long bow. Use gravity bow for your first few levels until your spells can deal more damage. It last a minute per level so one spell should last you the entire combat. Doing 2d6 points of damage at that level is actually pretty decent. Mage armor last an hour per level so between those you should be fine.

For your arcane bond choose object instead of familiar. This gives you one extra spell, but more importantly you can enchant the item without having the craft feat. This means as soon as you can scrounge up 375 gold you can have a wand of magic missile.

Also don’t forget that Wizards get scribe scroll. Create a couple of scrolls of sleep or color spray to give you a few extra spells. Each spell only costs 12.5 gold to scribe.

Assuming you scribe two spells and have a bonded object that gives you 3 extra spells to start with. Assuming you get at least near WBL by second level you will have a wand of magic missile that should get you buy until you get enough spells of your own to last.

Don’t bother with rich parents it is a trap. Pretty much after the first encounter or two it becomes useless.

I usually don't like going ranged on a Wizard, I mean, unless you target people not engaged in melee, you always have a -4. At least not worth wasting race.

I always try to have 14 CON. Also use this, it's awesome if you use 20 point buy

Go to Paizo Inc..

And Scribe Scroll is good for utility spells, crafting a Scroll of Sleep it's only a DC11, wouldn't be of much use.

Also, at high levels, I prefer a familiar, mostly because I can use it as a way to deliver touch spells, even if it dies, you just get another one, hurts, but not big deal

[Mark Hoover 330]

Letric wrote:

And Scribe Scroll is good for utility spells, crafting a Scroll of Sleep it's only a DC11, wouldn't be of much use.

Y'know, I've seen this comment a lot, but it's a tad more nuanced then Utility spells vs others. You're correct Lericus Maximus; any spell that carries a save DC is a bad candidate for a scroll since the DC of the spell will be very weak, but this doesn't leave out other attack spells.

Since this thread is concerned with a low-level wizard and I'm not well versed on a lot of Arcane spells outside Core, I'll stick to the CRB for my examples. Scrolls can be good resources for corner cases, like Ray of Disruption.

Many PCs in my games take Acid Splash as their attack cantrip, stack that with a flask of Acid and deal 1d3 +1 Acid damage to everything, but one player had the clever thought of writing a few Ray of Disruption scrolls and when the PCs later encountered a couple zombies he had targeted spells that dealt no damage on a miss into melee.

There's also Chill Touch or Ear Piercing Scream. Yes, these DO carry a save DC on them and can be improved by casting them at a higher CL than CL 1, but their core damage utility is left completely intact between using a scroll or casting them outright. If all you're concerned with is you or your Familiar delivering damage, both of these scrolls would have you covered, leaving your spell slots open for something else.

In essence a scroll is good for spells that aren't primarily effective based on the caster's stats or level. And even those dependent on caster level, you can just spend more (if you're a high enough level) and write the scroll at a higher CL.

Last, but certainly not least... Downtime.

If the GM is willing to use the Downtime rules AND you have the time, a PC has the chance to generate 1 or more Magic Capital per day if they spend 50 GP/Magic Capital. You use 1 Magic capital to, among other things, pay the crafting cost of up to 100 GP worth of magic items.

So, a level 1 Wizard with 50 GP and lots of Downtime on their hands can spend that Capital to write 100 GP worth of scrolls. Since the CRAFTING cost of each scroll is 12.5 GP to the crafting Wizard, the PC can create 8 scrolls for 50 GP, or 6.25 GP/scroll. Yes, crafting a wand using this system would be cheaper, but the 8 scrolls could be 2 each of 4 different spells instead of 1 wand with 50 charges of a single spell.

I love when my players take advantage of Scribe Scroll. I routinely pepper in significant opportunities for Downtime and even encourage PCs setting out on an adventure to set aside a small fund of GP that we designate as their "road supplies;" if the PC has a spell at the end of an adventuring day that they want to make a scroll out of we just spend money out of the "road supplies" fund and take 2 hours during the adventuring day and say that the PC scribed the scroll before bedding down for the night (unless obvious circumstance prevents this in game.)

I also encourage one PC with the Scribe Scroll feat work with other spellcasters make scrolls cooperatively. If there's a level 1 Wizard and a Level 1 Cleric in the group and the Cleric hasn't used up all their spells at the end of an adventuring day, they can opt to make a Cleric scroll for 12.5 GP out of the "road supplies" fund. It gets the PCs using all of the resources at their disposal and expands what they're capable of doing in their adventures.

[Ryze Kuja]

You can fight with scrolls as long as the offensive spell you're using is not dependent upon a DC, or if you're using defensive spells on yourself or allies. Summon Monster, Magic Missile, Mage Armor, Shield, Gravity Bow (use True Strike scrolls vs. opponents in melee with your allies if you want), Enlarge Person, Dispel Magic, Swarm of Fangs, just about any Touch or Ranged Touch Spell (like Touch of Blindness, Touch of Idiocy, or Acid Arrow), etc.

I'm telling you, if you do scrolls right, your group members are going to think they're grouped with 10 wizards.

[Quixote]

Mage armor, shield, grease, color spray, sleep, obscuring mist, silent image and summon monster I are all pull more than their weight.

Same with invisibility, minor image, flaming sphere, glitterdust, web, shatter and pyrotechnics.

And as others have said, your attack bonus and AC may be low, but so are everyone's at low levels. The die roll matters more, which means regular old attack rolls will be a legitimate option for a while. You won't always end every fight instantly, or even contribute meaningfully every single round, but that's low levels for ya'.

[Zotpox]

A bad attitude a two handed club and a Heavy crossbow will take you far.
At first through third level focus more on character development than statistics, it really pays off in the long run.