Author Topic: Abjurer build?  (Read 6768 times)

Offline Delicate Swarm

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Abjurer build?
« on: October 12, 2015, 01:03:28 AM »
I'm making an Abjuration Wizard.  I'd like to go Fighter 2/Wizard x and be a psuedo-gish.  I wouldn't be opposed to taking less levels in Wizard if someone can prove that's worth it, but Spell Mastery is too good to pass up.

What I need help with is deciding the details.  Should I be a Duelist, or focus on defense and use magic for offense?  What are the best feats to go with?

I'm also a High Elf.

« Last Edit: October 12, 2015, 05:11:54 AM by Delicate Swarm »

Offline TenaciousJ

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Re: Abjurer build?
« Reply #1 on: October 12, 2015, 10:35:10 AM »
You won't get significant damage out of a gish with only 1 attack and no other sources of extra damage on your attacks.  By level 11, your cantrips will out-scale your weapon damage, barring very good magic items.  Fighter is a good 2 level dip though for heavy armor, shield, and better saving throw proficiencies as well as Action Surge to cast 2 spells in 1 turn.

You are still mostly a wizard, so focus on spellcasting and spend your ASIs on Intelligence to cap.  At level 10, you should be able to cap it.  Pick a few staple damage spells, but do not neglect movement spells, defensive spells, or especially control.  After that, you may want War Caster if you find yourself under attack frequently to hold your concentration spells and maybe to get some potency on your opportunity attacks via cantrips or control spells.  Resilient for wisdom would be a solid choice to round out your defenses, though fae ancestry should help you to get by in the early levels.  If you cap your Intelligence earlier than level 10 due to non-standard ability scores, Alert is also a solid choice.  Control is even better if the enemy never gets a turn because you went first.

You could also choose cleric 1 instead of fighter 2 for medium/heavy armor and shield proficiency based on your domain choice to keep your spell slot progression equal to a single-classed wizard.  You would lose out on Action Surge, which is big, as well as Second Wind and a fighting style, but you would gain an extra ASI/feat by level 20 with some level 1 cleric spells and domain spells available to you.  In that case, you would want Resilient for Constitution as your first feat after capping Intelligence.  Abjurers are a bit less likely than other wizards to have their concentration challenged, since the official ruling on the arcane ward is that it is a separate entity that absorbs damage.  Only damage that gets past the ward forces you to make concentration checks, so you could survive without Constitution saving throw proficiency from the beginning.
« Last Edit: October 12, 2015, 10:38:24 AM by TenaciousJ »
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Offline Nunkuruji

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Re: Abjurer build?
« Reply #2 on: October 13, 2015, 03:26:26 PM »
I advocate not bringing a class into melee that does not have reasonable Strength & Constitution scores with the saving throw and relevant skill proficiency.
5e has a good number of melee monsters that have attack rider effects that will check you on these things.

Offline awaken_D_M_golem

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Re: Abjurer build?
« Reply #3 on: October 13, 2015, 05:21:16 PM »
Sorc FS 1 dip is another possibility for the Con Prof and Medium Armor.

Casting Haste on yourself, and then going frontliner
is a decent combo ... but ... without more attacks
it barely makes more of a difference than the F2 surge.

So maybe Fighter 1 / Wizard 5 / Fighter +1 / Wizard +X


 :plotting ... Heavy Armor Mastery on a Fighter 1 / Abj 2
and heck throw in Warcaster at Abj 4.  Almost no conc loss.


edit ---- back at wotc I suggested a few other uses for Abj 10
but the list is awfully short.  Wish should work.  Dumpster dive
through all the other lists, might turn up a thing or two.
But going Wiz Abj 10 / Lore Bard 10 is certainly not good.
« Last Edit: October 16, 2015, 04:42:37 PM by awaken_D_M_golem »
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Offline Colgruv

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Re: Abjurer build?
« Reply #4 on: October 28, 2015, 01:47:42 PM »
I'm actually planning something similar (not for playing anytime soon, just for having around in case.)

My advice: Ditch Fighter and opt for Paladin. Giving yourself x18 Abjuror and x2 Paladin means you'd have a 19th-level spellcaster, netting you an extra 6th-level slot, thanks to the Multiclass Spellcasting rules.

You'd lose Second Wind and Action Surge, but you'd get 10 points in LoH, and access to Cure Wounds and Divine Smite which can both be scaled up as you gain spell slots from Wizard.

You're definitely justified in wanting Spell Mastery. Having Shield prepared without having to expend a slot for it just seems ridiculous. I'm guessing my bread and butter would be to throw up an Abjuration spell at the start of combat so I get the Temp HP from ward, and then just run in to melee and try to disrupt as many attacks as possible using some combination of Shield (enemy hits me: +5 AC) or the Protection Fighting Style feature (give disadvantage to an adjacent enemy targeting another PC.) Have Counterspell for stopping enemy spells. I would even consider eschewing any melee attacks in favor of the Blade Ward cantrip, in which case I wouldn't even carry a weapon -- just a shield. I'd see about merging a spellcasting focus with the shield for extra flavor!
« Last Edit: October 29, 2015, 12:11:48 AM by Colgruv »