Author Topic: A Guide to Wizards: Playing GOD (Credit: TreantMonkLVL20)  (Read 61112 times)

Offline Sinfire Titan

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A Guide to Wizards: Playing GOD (Credit: TreantMonkLVL20)
« on: November 24, 2011, 08:40:54 PM »

Table of Contents
  • Table of Contents and Credits
  • GOD Explained
  • Of Races and Powers, Feats and Familiars
  • Classes of Prestige
  • Gearing Up
  • Sample Spell Selections
  • Basic and Advanced GOD Builds
  • Tactical Assessment and Defensive Strategies
  • Advanced Guide to Abjuration Spells
  • Advanced Guide to Conjuration Spells
  • Advanced Guide to Divination Spells
  • Advanced Guide to Enchantment Spells
  • Advanced Guide to Evocation Spells
  • Advanced Guide to Illusion Spells
  • Advanced Guide to Necromancy Spells
  • Advanced Guide to Transmutation Spells
  • Advanced Guide to Universal Spells

Credits
  • TreantMonkLVL20, who provided the original handbook.
  • LogicNinja, who provided the Batman handbook.
  • Tsuyoshikentsu, who provided the original Divination guide.
  • CantripN, who provided the original Transmutation guide.
  • Dan2, who ported the original GOD Handbook to BG when the 4E transition caused it to be lost to Gleemax.
  • malaspina, who reformatted the previous iteration of this handbook (after the Gleemax debacle).
  • The dozens upon dozens of minmaxers who contributed to the previous iterations of this guide, endlessly discussing and debating every ability they could find in order to provide the most complete handbook for a non-Core Wizard.
« Last Edit: November 30, 2011, 01:01:51 PM by Sinfire Titan »
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Re: A Guide to Wizards: Playing GOD (Credit: TreantMonkLVL20)
« Reply #1 on: November 24, 2011, 08:41:46 PM »

GOD: Merriam-Webster: ...one controlling a particular aspect or part of reality.

In other words, telling reality when to sit down and shut up. As you can tell from this sentence, this thread will not be carbon-copied from the original. Why? We have evolved. Our understanding of 3.5's mechanics, and the sheer breadth of knowledge we have gained, has changed considerably since Treantmonk wrote the first iteration of this handbook. It's time to expand upon his concept, and improve upon his contribution.

Besides, I like writing things.

First and foremost, this is not the only Wizard guide out there. There's a number of them, and each of them can prove useful. Off-hand, here's the three most famous ones:

LogicNinja's Guide to Being Batman.
LogicNinja's handbook deals primarily with Core Wizards, where all of the broken originated from. As he noted, it's very easy to build a broken Wizard in Core. However, he undervalued several abilities and tactics, something this handbook takes into consideration. LogicNinja's Batman handbook inspired Treantmonk's original GOD handbook.

The Wizard Handbook (Dictum Mortuum)
Speaking of inspiring handbooks, how about a man with more handbooks than digits? DM is famous for the sheer number of handbooks he worked on, and has been a pillar of the optimization community for his accomplishments. In general, if you want some help with some concept, DM's got a handbook for it. Do note, he keeps his opinion to a minimum in the actual handbooks he writes. He tries to back everything up with facts. This handbook? Doesn't. I'm very opinionated when it comes to certain choices (notably my opinion of elves), and I am not above berating some options into the ground. However, I'm an optimizer: Facts are facts, and opinions aren't. My opinion will be backed up as much as I possibly can with ground-in facts, a solid understanding of how 3.5 works, and with logic. And if you disagree, feel free to post your stance. A healthy debate is a very big contribution to this handbook.

The Conjurer's Handbook (Echodork)
Giving credit where it is due, this is a specialized look at the school of Conjuration and the ways to put it to good use. This handbook served as the inspiration for character roles that this handbook utilizes, and as the inspiration for the school-by-school review Treantmonk used.

And now, a word from the maker:

Quote from: TreantmonkLVL20
Options are good. That's the one (and only) point I'll make on this entire thread that I will claim is indisputable. The rest is all based on perspective and opinion and can all be questioned and debated. Feel free to disagree with me - you won't be alone. Long as you understand that you are wrong  :) (just kidding). So without further ado - let’s get into it.

3rd edition was founded on the concept of the four roles of the classes: Fighter (natch), Healbot (AKA the Cleric), Blaster (Wizard, previously called Mage), and Thief (Rogue). In the older editions, this worked wonderfully throughout most levels of play. In 3.X, it kinda fell apart. You see, it is possible to play this style when no one at the table understands how the system is broken, but once someone picks up on the game-changing tricks, it's over. Those four roles become largely useless, with a few exceptions.

The reason? Well, there's several. The largest change is the hard, ground-into-the-system rules, which means that 3.5 is less flexible with rules issues than AD&D. Then enemies got improved, and several combat styles got thrown out the window. Then they standardized the classes and their level system into a more manageable form. Unfortunately, they adhered to the older ways of playing and didn't realize just what they had done to the system.

And thus Rocket Tag was born. You are either up there with the gods, and nigh untouchable as a result, or you are getting gibbed. And that's the idea behind this handbook: You are GOD. You have some responsibility for those beneath you. Sure, you're powerful enough to neglect them, but then where's the fun in not manipulating their every move and using them to meet your own goals? Being GOD means controlling their world in ways they can't understand. So put that power to good use and make them believe in you.

There are four context-sensitive ways to play a Wizard. The context is in-combat and out-of-combat. You are capable of doing a great deal during both sets of context. Here's the overview:

Social Leader (The Face, the Fop): This is the guy running his mouth and getting the plot to move along. You can do this all day if you want, but what would a GOD be without some moron inspired worshipper to spread his word for him? Let someone else do the talking, and only speak when you need to put some poor fool in his place.

Subterfuge Specialist (The Sneak, the Corpse): This man's job is to get into places that could kill him, find some object/information of value, disarm traps that could kill him and his friends, and then ambush people who are trying to kill him and his friends. Notice the words "kill him"? That's the standard response to finding someone hiding in the rafters in a Hobgoblin's keep. This guy is meant to be as expendable as possible. GOD is not expendable. Corpses? Are.

Medical Supervisor (The Healbot, the Gimp): This is the walking bandage, and this is the only time of day when it's acceptable to use these abilities. But healing is bad, m'kay? Healing means GOD hasn't done his job and let his mindless followers get themselves owned. GOD shouldn't have to heal, but there should be a healer amongst the group. Preferably, someone else. You healing people is a last resort of the highest magnitude.

Swiss Army Knife (The GOD, the Utility Caster): This is your job most of the day. Need a bridge? There's a spell for that. Need to get to the bottom of a river? There's a spell for that. Need to take over the world? There's a couple of spells for that. GOD's job out of combat is to resolve problems that would normally take inordinate amounts of time to do otherwise. This is what your followers look to you for.

The four roles take on new context during an encounter.

The Big Stupid Fighter: Don't let the title fool you, anyone can do this. Druid, Summoned minion, a cohort, a Warblade, whatever. This is the guy standing in front and getting smacked around while he tries to shove three feet of steel into the other guy's stomach. And therein lies the stupidity. Doing this yourself should be either a last resort or a way of showing off, but a GOD should never do this as his primary goal.

The Glass Cannon: Often times, this character is a one-trick pony that places little value on defenses. Sometimes, however, this character is just a damage-dealer who's got an ulterior motive: He doesn't want to get hit. Getting hit would usually kill him at almost all levels of play. Your job is to keep this idiot alive, not to become him.

The Waste of Space: This is a few steps below the above two categories. This guy has made some mistakes (well, more than some) and as a result he is incapable of doing something that is genuinely useful for the party during encounters. Imagine, if you will, a Truenamer with Vow of Poverty. While that is an extreme example, it is a very good illustration of the point. You can even turn GOD into one of these if you make enough mistakes or run out of spells completely without being in a secure location. Playing smart and using the strategies outlined here will go a long way to preventing this from happening.

GOD: This is Jack's unbridled potential. In other words, this is what you strive to be. You are a fair, patient, powerful ally to the above three, and they should respect your power as a result. In exchange for this respect, GOD provides them with blessings that range from crippled enemies to powerful enhancements to outright revised reality. It sounds pretentious, but years of debates, fact compilation, and practice has lead the minmax community (not just us, but several groups who think similarly to us) to the conclusion that the Wizard class is the path to godhood. You can literally be an unstoppable army all on your own, but that is poor sportsmanship. You are a team-player, dedicated to assisting the rest of the party in a way that makes them feel like winners.

But be honest with yourself: The real secret to their victories is your power. If need be, you can intervene directly and tell the DM that his encounter is screwed. But you should reserve your intervention as much as possible. After all, who enjoys a Deus Ex Machina when they aren't the ones doing it? Yes, you can literally fill all of the roles of the party by yourself. Doing so is both uncouth and impractical. Playing GOD, however, is very practical and much more enjoyable.

The following is the basic philosophy behind playing GOD.

Battlefield Control: The goal behind control is to deny your opponents their ability to take meaningful actions, all the while your threats are doing their damnedest to put people in coffins. This can be accomplished via tactical teleportation, using wall spells, using massive AoEs that apply debilitating status conditions, summoning things to block the way, or by actually reshaping the battlefield itself. The point is to neutralize the enemy's ability to injure your party, allowing your allies to take the glory of the kill. This method has the downside of being loathed by some DMs after the first session and that some BC spells are not exactly party-friendly, as I will explain later on. The go-to school for this is Conjuration, with Illusion being backup. Evocation has a few that are actually decent, and Transmutation can really mess with the terrain. Some Abjuration can be helpful, but Enchantment and Necromancy have less efficient BC spells, or at least have BC spells that are easily replicated by other schools.

Buffing: Fortifying your allies and yourself in order to place you out of the RNG's grasp. Enemies can't hurt you if your numbers get high enough, and this allows your party members to go to town without fear of most forms of reprisal. Everything from AC boosting to outright Polymorph effects can be utilized to this end. The downside is that the DM will sometimes knee-jerk when the party's Big Stupid Fighter is hitting things with damage in the triple digits (not that this was exactly impossible to begin with), all the while being untouchable. This has the side effect of throwing the blame on someone else, as most DMs who have this response do not realize that it is the buffs doing a lot of the work. Transmutation should be the default here, with Abjuration and Illusion on backup. Conjuration has several spells that will prove useful, and Enchantment has the occasional gem that isn't Dominate Person. Necromancy and Evocation are largely irrelevant to you here.

Debuffing: Invert the above concept, and then apply it liberally to your enemies. This is the most direct form of intervention GOD should be allowed to apply, as this gets everyone's attention within seconds. Leaving your enemies blind, deaf, paraplegic, terrified, and mute means they aren't a threat. The downsides are that it paints a target on your head, isn't efficient on the action economy, and can get the DM's rage boiling if they aren't experienced enough to deal with it. It's also impractical against large groups of enemies, although there are a few spells out there that will be. Necromancy, Conjuration, Transmutation, and Enchantment are all solid schools to focus on as a debuffer. Illusion and Abjuration has a few here or there, but Evocation doesn't usually get worthwhile debuffs (and you can ignore it if you have Illusion access thanks to Shadow Evocation).

A Note on Divination and Universal
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« Last Edit: November 30, 2011, 01:01:26 PM by Sinfire Titan »
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Re: A Guide to Wizards: Playing GOD (Credit: TreantMonkLVL20)
« Reply #2 on: November 24, 2011, 08:42:42 PM »
Ability Score Distribution

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Racial Choice

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Alternate Class Features

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Feats

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« Last Edit: September 03, 2016, 12:19:21 AM by Sinfire Titan »
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Re: A Guide to Wizards: Playing GOD (Credit: TreantMonkLVL20)
« Reply #3 on: November 24, 2011, 08:43:05 PM »
Prestige Classes

The most basic rule of PrCing as a GOD Wizard is this: 90% of PrCs have class features that aren't worth losing spells over. If a class loses spellcasting levels, be it through the actual advancement or simply because you can't meet the prerequisites without multiclassing into something that doesn't advance your casting, those class features are worth dramatically less. Not only does taking those levels deny you higher level spells, it slows your access to those spells to begin with.

Some of the classes that do offer decent abilities (that 10%) still eat at least one level worth of casting. In general, if you want to use those PrCs, do your utmost to keep the lost levels to a bare minimum. Losing 3 is outright horrible (Theurges are, by extension, the worst), losing 2 less so. 1 or 0 is ideal.

BAB, HD, Skill points, and other "goodies" are traps; they're not worth the lost CLs for a GOD Wizard.

Another thing to consider is the actual value of the class features. Plenty of PrCs have "You gain a limited SLA 1/day" as their only real benefit (Stormcaster, from Stormwrack, for example). While this is still better than the emptiness that is Wizard 20, it just translates to you getting a bunch of limited focus spell slots instead of something interesting. You usually have better options. Some, such as the Archmage, give these SLAs multiple uses/day which can be decisively useful for mid-to-high level spells. I'll highlight a few that are actually interesting below.

Several PrCs have been omitted to meet the maximum post length limit (60,000 characters). These classes are not worth taking, at least IMO.

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« Last Edit: September 14, 2016, 06:29:45 PM by Sinfire Titan »
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Re: A Guide to Wizards: Playing GOD (Credit: TreantMonkLVL20)
« Reply #4 on: November 24, 2011, 08:43:32 PM »
Magic Items

As a Wizard, you are capable of crafting magic items yourself. Doing so is a very wise idea, despite it costing you feats and XP, as it dramatically increases your effective WBL (virtually doubling it, in fact) and can help the party (gold you don't spend can go towards some cheap items the party may need).

Weapons and Armor
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Scrolls
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Potions
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Wands and Staves
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« Last Edit: January 14, 2012, 09:11:15 PM by Sinfire Titan »
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Re: A Guide to Wizards: Playing GOD (Credit: TreantMonkLVL20)
« Reply #5 on: November 24, 2011, 08:43:55 PM »
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« Last Edit: November 24, 2011, 09:04:42 PM by Sinfire Titan »
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Re: A Guide to Wizards: Playing GOD (Credit: TreantMonkLVL20)
« Reply #6 on: November 24, 2011, 08:44:47 PM »
It is a common misconception that Wizards have every spell they need whenever they want. This is inherently untrue: You have a wide array of spells that are applicable in a wide array of situations, but you will never have every spell you need when you want it. Even Uncanny Forethought, powerful though it may be, is limited by your spellbook's spells. That said, you often don't need the perfect spell for every occasion. You'll never actually have the time to get the A+ grade on every test the DM throws at you (unless you read his notes ahead of time, cheater), but 99% of the time you can settle for the B- grade. And for the 1% of the time you need to do better, you can still achieve the regular A grade.

This is the secret to playing GOD. You are actually very similar to LogicNinja's Batman in that your utility belt is filled with catch-alls, not silver bullets. And when your catch-alls aren't needed, you can still provide support and actually finesse your way through anything. But you'd be stupid to not have an ace in the hole or three for when your catch-alls fail.

The following are sample spells prepared for a Focused Specialist Wizard (Conjurer), banning Evocation, Enchantment, and Necromancy. These lists are your generic catch-alls; they solve enough problems to get you through 99% of the test, but are not set in stone (in case you find a spell that works better for various situations).

ECL 5, Slots: 0th|6, 1st|7, 2nd|5, 3rd|4

0th: Caltrops*3, Detect Magic, Light, Mage Hand
1st: Mage Armor, Wall of Smoke, Grease*2, Expeditious Retreat (swift), Targeting Ray, Silent Image
2nd: Web, Glitterdust (or Pyrotechnics), Cloud of Bewilderment, Rope Trick, Invisibility
3rd: Stinking Cloud, Glitterdust (altered by Sculpt Spell), Bands of Steel, Haste

Recommended Magic Items: Rod of Extend (lesser), Wand of Benign Transposition, Cloak of Resistance (+1), Headband of Intellect (Total: 8750gp). You really need the Metamagic Rod for this, but the Cloak of Resistance is not required. The Wand will help at least once or twice a session during your career as a Wizard, and may need to be replaced every so often. The Headband is an essential piece of equipment, as most stat boosters are.

Recommended Strategy: At this level you don't have the luxury of casting spells every round, or even every encounter. Judicious use of spell slots will be something you have to live with forever, but it gets better over time. For most encounters, lead off with one of your 3rd level spells and see how it fares. If the party needs help, throw down a 2nd or 1st level spell (don't use redundant spells though!). If the enemies can barely keep up, use your Caltrops spell and Cloudy Conjuration to keep up the pressure (one casting will suffice for most encounters). In the event that the enemy is resistant to the first spell you used (like Grells and Glitterdust), and that enemy is causing far too much trouble for the party, hit it with Web or a similar spell and have the party focus fire for a round or two. That will usually be enough.

If shit hits the fan and you find yourself threatened by enemies, use that Wand and switch places with someone who can stand up to punishment. If the BSF is not currently engaged in battle (due to having killed the only enemy in melee with him and waiting for his next turn, for example), switch places with that guy and then book it. You don't want to be anywhere near an enemy's melee reach, not that you can't operate under fire.

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« Last Edit: February 06, 2013, 01:31:52 PM by Sinfire Titan »
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Re: A Guide to Wizards: Playing GOD (Credit: TreantMonkLVL20)
« Reply #7 on: November 24, 2011, 08:45:18 PM »
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Re: A Guide to Wizards: Playing GOD (Credit: TreantMonkLVL20)
« Reply #8 on: November 24, 2011, 08:47:34 PM »
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Re: A Guide to Wizards: Playing GOD (Credit: TreantMonkLVL20)
« Reply #9 on: November 24, 2011, 08:48:08 PM »
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Re: A Guide to Wizards: Playing GOD (Credit: TreantMonkLVL20)
« Reply #10 on: November 24, 2011, 08:49:03 PM »
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Re: A Guide to Wizards: Playing GOD (Credit: TreantMonkLVL20)
« Reply #11 on: November 24, 2011, 08:49:27 PM »
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Re: A Guide to Wizards: Playing GOD (Credit: TreantMonkLVL20)
« Reply #12 on: November 24, 2011, 08:49:49 PM »
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Re: A Guide to Wizards: Playing GOD (Credit: TreantMonkLVL20)
« Reply #13 on: November 24, 2011, 08:50:09 PM »
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Re: A Guide to Wizards: Playing GOD (Credit: TreantMonkLVL20)
« Reply #14 on: November 24, 2011, 08:50:35 PM »
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Re: A Guide to Wizards: Playing GOD (Credit: TreantMonkLVL20)
« Reply #15 on: November 24, 2011, 08:51:08 PM »
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Re: A Guide to Wizards: Playing GOD (Credit: TreantMonkLVL20)
« Reply #16 on: November 24, 2011, 08:51:25 PM »
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Re: A Guide to Wizards: Playing GOD (Credit: TreantMonkLVL20)
« Reply #17 on: November 14, 2015, 07:26:59 PM »
OK... I'm not digging for the discussion thread on this... but someone should probably finish porting this over from the old boards at some point.
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