A few questions about the Wizard class.

[Legacy_Bogdanov89]

               

As far as i know, increasing Intelligence also improves the difficulty check of all your spells (as wizard).

 

However i am not sure exactly how much of an improvement that is...

 

NWNwiki says the dc formula for spells is: DC = 10 + spell level + ability modifier + feat modifier.

 

So to get an increase in DC checks by 1 for my spells through intellect, i need 2 intellect to get 1 modifier - and that will increase the DC check of my spells by 1?

 

And when comparing epic spell focus and great intelligence, i would need 12 intelligence (6 int modifier) to add as much DC to my spells as an Epic Spell Focus feat (for one spell school)?

 

 

As a PvMonster wizard, which of the spell schools do you consider worthy to take Spell Focus/Greater (maybe even Epic) Spell Focus in?

 

To me it seems that Evocation, Necromancy and even Conjuration have A LOT of damage/kill (or crowd control) spells that depend on a Reflex/Fort/Will DC check.

 

Enchantment also has quite a few DC check spells, but overall the Enchantment spells do not seem very useful?

I know the 2 Dominate spells are good, but do those "Charm" spells even do anything in combat?

 

Illusion and Transmutation and Divination seem to have only a few spells that actually check for DC?

Illusion has those 2 kill spells (phantasmal killer and weird) but i do not know are they good enough to warrant a Spell Focus/Greater/Epic feat into Illusion?

Divination has the Power Word Kill, but ever since i got it i was never able to actually kill anything my level with it (i have greater spell penetration)... it seems that the hit points limit on the PW:Kill is just too low for it to actually kill anything around level 17-20?

 

 

Brew potion, craft scroll and craft wand... is any of this worth the gold and EXP price?

I honestly never even tried using them, but i wanted to ask are those any good in PvMonster?

 

 

Choosing general wizard or magic school specialization for PvMonster?

Can you suggest what school is a good to pick as "forbidden" to gain those extra spell slots?

I thought either Illusion or Divination, but i am not sure which one is worse '>

 

 

Summoning of planars, summoned animals/elementals//shadow and creating undead - are any of these creatures worth a high level spell slot?

I tried out the spell rank 6 to 9 creature/undead/planar/shadow summoning but they seemed very weak against creatures of my level (~18).

 

How about the familiars?

Personally i am looking for a familiar that can "tank" well, keep the monsters away from me.

As an alternative, perhaps a familiar that can dish out a lot of physical (or maybe magical) damage.

Any suggestions about good familiars and their uses?

 

Is there any reliable way to find all spells available in the game to learn as Wizard?

Currently i feel like i am missing out on some easy method to learn spells... vendors usually have the lamest spells while i rarely find a good spell randomly in the world.

 

Thank you for reading and helping out '>

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Elhanan]

               Am far from an expert with mages, but may be able to help in a few things.

Yes; INT is key for Mages, though one does not have to start with a max attribute to do well. I recommend 15+ at start.

I do not Specialize; rather have a generalist with all spells at my disposal than bonuses with one school, and losing another.

If you are planning on Mod play, I recommend the Pretty Good Character Creator/ Customizer (ie; PGC3) mod for preparations.

Familiars are assets, but not much more for me. Select what will aid you with your goals. As I often m/c with Rogue, I do not have to select a Pixie.

Am fairly certain others will guide with better tips, but my advice is to enjoy the game, and do not worry about creating a Best Build; no such critter, IMO.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_MagicalMaster]

               

As far as i know, increasing Intelligence also improves the difficulty check of all your spells (as wizard).

However i am not sure exactly how much of an improvement that is...

NWNwiki says the dc formula for spells is: DC = 10 + spell level + ability modifier + feat modifier.

So to get an increase in DC checks by 1 for my spells through intellect, i need 2 intellect to get 1 modifier - and that will increase the DC check of my spells by 1?

And when comparing epic spell focus and great intelligence, i would need 12 intelligence (6 int modifier) to add as much DC to my spells as an Epic Spell Focus feat (for one spell school)?

 

This is all correct with one caveat -- Epic Spell Focus gives +6 TOTAL in conjunction with Greater Spell Focus and Spell Focus.  If you already have Greater Spell Focus you and then pick Epic Spell Focus you'll only gain 2 DC overall (and Greater Spell Focus is required to even take Epic Spell Focus).

 

And yes, intelligence is king for a wizard -- and outside very specific circumstances it's recommended that you start with 18 intelligence.

 

As a PvMonster wizard, which of the spell schools do you consider worthy to take Spell Focus/Greater (maybe even Epic) Spell Focus in?

 

To me it seems that Evocation, Necromancy and even Conjuration have A LOT of damage/kill (or crowd control) spells that depend on a Reflex/Fort/Will DC check.

 

Enchantment also has quite a few DC check spells, but overall the Enchantment spells do not seem very useful?

I know the 2 Dominate spells are good, but do those "Charm" spells even do anything in combat?

 

Illusion and Transmutation and Divination seem to have only a few spells that actually check for DC?

Illusion has those 2 kill spells (phantasmal killer and weird) but i do not know are they good enough to warrant a Spell Focus/Greater/Epic feat into Illusion?

Divination has the Power Word Kill, but ever since i got it i was never able to actually kill anything my level with it (i have greater spell penetration)... it seems that the hit points limit on the PW:Kill is just too low for it to actually kill anything around level 17-20?

 

Evocation and Necromancy are the big ones.  Evocation covers things like Fireball/Lighting Bolt/Firebrand/Cone of Cold/Chain Lightning which are spells you'll a lot in standard, Silenced/Stilled, Empowered, and Maximized forms.  It also covers more spells, of course, but you're better off with an Empowered Firebrand than a standard Delayed Blast Fireball.

 

Necromancy is used for Fear, Circle of Death, Undeath to Death, Finger of Death, Horrid Wilting, and Wail of the Banshee.

 

Wouldn't generally recommend Dominate or Charm.  The only really good spell in the Enchantment school is Mass Haste and that's only an issue if you're playing in an environment without Permahaste available AND in a large party (otherwise you can easily just single target Haste on yourself).

 

Phantasmal Killer/Weird have many problems, such as the target getting two separate saving throws, not worth it unless the spells are modified.

PWK can only kill stuff at 100 HP or less which is pathetic -- for most enemies that's going to mean 25-50% health at that point.

 

Brew potion, craft scroll and craft wand... is any of this worth the gold and EXP price?

I honestly never even tried using them, but i wanted to ask are those any good in PvMonster?

 

They're crazily overpowered on a persistent world and really useless in a campaign.  Difference is that an online world has unlimited XP/gold that you can spend time to get, hence giving up some XP just costs time.  In campaigns it just makes you lose the XP and you wind up lower level.

 

Choosing general wizard or magic school specialization for PvMonster?

Can you suggest what school is a good to pick as "forbidden" to gain those extra spell slots?

I thought either Illusion or Divination, but i am not sure which one is worse '>

Pick Illusion as your specialization.  You lose Enchantment which is generally irrelevant.  The only exception, again, is if you're in an online world or very low magic campaign with a large group and you need Mass Haste.  But at that point we'd need to know more details on the environment.

 

Also, keep in mind that you do not get a DC bonus on these spells -- you only get a slight spellcraft bonus/penalty to your chosen/opposed school.  The reason to specialize is for the extra spell per spell level.

 

Summoning of planars, summoned animals/elementals//shadow and creating undead - are any of these creatures worth a high level spell slot?

I tried out the spell rank 6 to 9 creature/undead/planar/shadow summoning but they seemed very weak against creatures of my level (~18).

 

Correct, they are.  None of them are really worth it compared to having another IGMS, Wail of the Banshee, Firebrand, etc.  Some worlds/campaign improve summons but I don't recommend them in the Bioware campaigns (especially since they cost you 20% XP from monster kills).

 

How about the familiars?

Personally i am looking for a familiar that can "tank" well, keep the monsters away from me.

As an alternative, perhaps a familiar that can dish out a lot of physical (or maybe magical) damage.

Any suggestions about good familiars and their uses?

 

Panther can dish out the most damage versus sneak vulnerable foes.

 

Faerie Dragon is the most damage in terms of "straight up in your face" stuff -- also has multiple casts of Improved Invisibility to give itself 50% concealment (means enemy attacks miss half the time).  Can also possess it to cast Improved Invisibility on yourself and has Improved Evasion to protect against spells.  It is bugged at level 35+, however, unless the world/module fixes it.

 

Pixie can open locks, disarm traps, has a damage reduction that helps protect it at lower levels, and has a weapon that can be enchanted with Greater Magic Weapon and Flame Weapon

 

One of those three would generally be the familiar I recommend.

 

Is there any reliable way to find all spells available in the game to learn as Wizard?

Currently i feel like i am missing out on some easy method to learn spells... vendors usually have the lamest spells while i rarely find a good spell randomly in the world.

 

Just keep in mind that you always learn two per level, guaranteed.  So if you know a vendor has a spell scroll to sell, don't level it on level up and learn it via the scroll.

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Shadooow]

               

I do specialize, mostly into illusions as enchament (prohibited school) is least usefull in PvE (why to charm when you can kill). As a general rule: if you play wizard with very high intelligence - every spells are usefull because you have high DC. If you play constitution based wizard or some of those spell-swords, then your DC sucks and thus is better to specialize as with low DC there is very small chance the spells will have effects - while evocation/necromancy still do at least half the damage, the enchantment spells do nothing if target resist the save.

 

The only familiar that can act as a tank is the fire/cold mephit. I always start with fire mephit and burning hands spells which make extremely great combo for starting levels when you mass monsters onto your familiar which will tank them and then you will kill them all at once with burning hands. However that works only on low levels since mephit's damage reduction and regeneration doesn't improve further - so after level 5, there is no familiar which could "tank". After level 5 I usually choose pixie (rogue skills + casting improved invisibility (ii)), if I possess rogue skills myself then the butterfly (casting ii + confusion bolt) and if I play wizard with more than 25 levels then eyeball is even better choice because she casts KD bolt, daze bolt and lots of damaging bolts - eyeball is best offensive familiar no doubt.

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_MagicalMaster]

               

The only familiar that can act as a tank is the fire/cold mephit.

 

How are you arriving at that conclusion?

The Imp, for example, also has 5/+1 reduction and 2 regen.  Many familiars have 5/+1 reduction as well, just no base regen.  Other familiars have far more hit points -- a hit for 8 damage will one-shot a mephit or an imp right through their reduction at level 1 while a dragon familiar will survive, for example.

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Shadooow]

               

How are you arriving at that conclusion?

The Imp, for example, also has 5/+1 reduction and 2 regen.  Many familiars have 5/+1 reduction as well, just no base regen.  Other familiars have far more hit points -- a hit for 8 damage will one-shot a mephit or an imp right through their reduction at level 1 while a dragon familiar will survive, for example.

From my own gameplaying experience on numerous persistent worlds. Lol, I wonder where do you get the opposite conclusion. What is 10hipoints at lvl 1 better than 5 when the familiar has no damage reduction and low AC? You will have to heal him after single monster and often wont survive a single monster. While the mephit (or the imp - but mephit has fire bolt which does lots of damage - so I prefer mephit) can tank a horde of 30 such monsters on his own. Which is what I imagine under term of "tanking". Every familiar can with more or less help of master "tank" single monster of relative level. Only mephits and imps are able to tank more.

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_MagicalMaster]

               

The fire mephit/imp/cold mephit have *3* HP at level 1.  Means they're extremely easy to kill with anything that bypassing their reduction, be it a spell or a longsword rolling an 8 on damage.  Very annoying to have them die to a ray of frost/electric jolt/magic missile/etc from a level 1 caster.

And I'm not talking about a horde of 30 monsters, just talking about being hearty enough to stand up to a few goblins or rats without dying like a wizard/sorc.  If you're in a situation where you have 30 rats attacking for 1-2 damage then yes, any familiar with damage reduction will be better.  But that also only applies for the first few levels in specific circumstances, obviously, whereas the concealment, higher HP, Improved Evasion, and higher damage output are more useful in general from the fairie dragon (or in terms of the pixie the ability to boost her weapon).

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Shadooow]

               

Well, I havent encountered wizards on level 1 and if I did I would as a wizard tank them myself with ghostly visage protection keeping familiar behind. Whether I had mephit or pixie. Other familiars simply aren't any better till level 5 which is the level I said I am myself replacing mephit familair because his damage reduction is no longer enough. Till this level, other familiar aren't better in general environment. Speaking of specific situations and task, there is always a familiar that will outshine others but generally those three are simply the best for starting levels.

 

 

(or in terms of the pixie the ability to boost her weapon).

Weird, I was always able to boost mephit too.

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_WhiZard]

               

Weird, I was always able to boost mephit too.

 

Correct, the ones that cannot be enhanced are the faerie dragon (up to level 14) and the eyeball (up to level 17).  The panther and eyeball (18 and later) also have problems as they have multiple creature weapons and only one can be enhanced.

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_MagicalMaster]

               

Interesting, I guess I had just had bad luck choosing the faerie dragon.  I figured all of the famliars except the pixie had unarmed weapons until they got creature weapons with enhancements.

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_WhiZard]

               

They all have creature weapons, it is just that only two of the three creature weapon slots are considered when trying to enhance a weapon.  The faerie dragon actually changes creature weapon slots at level 15, while the eyeball just adds another creature weapon at level 18.

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Jfoxtail]

               

Old timer just returning with newly found hobby time.

 

1) Wizards DC's / Feats well explained above.

 

2) Illusion and Necromancy are very worthwhile schools of specialization in vanilla NWN; the others less so because of trade offs.

 

3) A starting INT of 16 and spread there after makes a playable Wizard in most environments. Min / Max stat spreads tend to be required on only the most challenging of PWs and mostly if you prefer to solo. In the most challenging single player mods / campaigns usually have a henchman and/or a tactical advantage hidden "to be discovered" to allow you to progress.

 

4) Continue to Build INT however A single level of fighter with a 15 STR (Human) or a single level of ranger with a 15 DEX (Elf) make very effective spell swords; with or without a massive CON. The principal is simply to buff with multiple damage shields (Death Armor, Fireshields, Acid armor) and use a Greatsword + Bulls STR + Flame weapon (STRbased) or dual shortswords + weapon finesse (feat) +Catgrace + flameweapon (DEX based) for mobs. Step back and save the higher level spells for the boss.

 

5) Not withstanding the debates all the familiars can tank to a limited degree. Most loose their effectiveness ~ level 5 to 10. Therefore you should also be influenced by Roleplay considerations. A Necromancer seems to be a very good fit with a Hellhound / fireballs with it in the mob ! A Panther seems a very good fit for an Elven Illusionist/Ranger. If not your cup of tea at least consider the alignment compatibility. As I say most familiars seem to loose effectiveness soon enough (* exception - Single Player Mods with TonyK AI where you can equip a familiar. With some gear Familiars are effective an entire mod).

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_MagicalMaster]

               

Edit: ignore what I said, I misread something.

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Berliad]

               With wizard specialization, I've often felt it was more about the opposing school you have to give up than the advantages you gain with your choice when I pick a specialty.  Necromancy just loses divination iirc, which is useful and good, but I'd rather have an extra spell slot.  I don't remember what illusion gives up, though I'm sure anyone interested can just google it. '>


Also, hi jfoxtail!
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_MagicalMaster]

               

It is, Berliad, I just misread what they said.

 

As I said earlier...

 

"Pick Illusion as your specialization.  You lose Enchantment which is generally irrelevant.  The only exception, again, is if you're in an online world or very low magic campaign with a large group and you need Mass Haste.  But at that point we'd need to know more details on the environment.

 

Also, keep in mind that you do not get a DC bonus on these spells -- you only get a slight spellcraft bonus/penalty to your chosen/opposed school.  The reason to specialize is for the extra spell per spell level."