The wizard's role? How to be better?

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Artenides
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The wizard's role? How to be better?

Post by Artenides » Wed May 16, 2018 8:47 am

Wizard is my favourite class in NWN (and in PnP, too), it has always been. I have played several wizards on Arelith but never had a lvl 25+ character so far (the highest I think was 22).

I usually take conj and abj focuses because those summons are great and not being dispelled constantly is also great!

When in party I offer those sweet low level buffs (mage armor, str, con, dex, concealment, stone skin on casters) before going on adventure and when in combat, I summon an elemental to help tanking, cast haste, occasional dispels to remove those nasty buffs from monsters, making casters invisible if they draw too much attention, running around trying to keep everyone alive with heal kits. When in need I release my very few damaging spells to help kill that boss.

What else could/should I do to be more useful for the team?

What will my role be in epic encounters?

How to be a better wizard?
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Xarge VI
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Re: The wizard's role? How to be better?

Post by Xarge VI » Wed May 16, 2018 9:48 am

Snotty commentary. As a wizard you're the smartest person in the room.

Combatwise you're pretty much already doing what you're supposed to. Although you could utilize lower level disabling spells such as Fear, Confusion, Stinking cloud, etc. As long as you find out your opponents weak saves you can prepare your spellbook accordingly.

Where a sorcerer has a lot spells of limited variety a wizard's strength is that they can know every arcane spell in the game. So assess opponents and prepare accordingly.

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Re: The wizard's role? How to be better?

Post by Iceborn » Wed May 16, 2018 1:03 pm

Choosing which threats you want, or need to address with your limited spellslots is essential to successful wizardry - and, any character that dares call itself mainly a caster.
Have a reliable summon assisting the party: Check
Cast all relevant buffs (you don't need to overdo it, just throw the stuff that is fitting according to the challenge): check.
Occasionally aid in ways that are relevant or just to keep things interesting: Throw a mass haste, blow a few evocations, mass disable a spawn, play your character.

If that is not enough for you, invest in (more) heal, umd for wands and scrolls that you may not normally have access to, and assortments of supporting materials. Like a gonne. You can't go wrong with a gonne.
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Cortex
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Re: The wizard's role? How to be better?

Post by Cortex » Wed May 16, 2018 2:44 pm

Abjuration focus does nothing to protect you from dispels, that's exclusively Abjuration Defense (which requires a base focus) that adds +2 to your caster level vs dispels.

If in an epic dungeon you need to intervene constantly with more than buffs and heal kits (either for your summon or allies), you're out of your league.
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Artenides
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Re: The wizard's role? How to be better?

Post by Artenides » Thu May 17, 2018 9:33 am

Cortex wrote:
Wed May 16, 2018 2:44 pm
Abjuration focus does nothing to protect you from dispels
Wow I always thought that was for protecting yourself from dispels. Thanks for pointing that out!

Does anyone have an epic wizard willing to share their experience regarding epic dungeons/maps?
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Iceborn
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Re: The wizard's role? How to be better?

Post by Iceborn » Thu May 17, 2018 10:19 am

>If you know the dungeon, you don't need to ask any question because you know what is going to come and what spells should be most efficient to have beforehand, and when to save the important ones.
>If you don't know the dungeon, ask your party. You'd be surprised how insightful some characters can be.

Use the player tool 1 to keep your summon always ahead with the rest of your party. Bind it to one of your closer Function buttons (from f1 to f3 I'd say).
Keep a lot of "panic" buttons in the main quickbar. One timestop is good enough, one greater sanctuary doesn't hurt anybody.

Those are my wizard 101.
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Re: The wizard's role? How to be better?

Post by Xarge VI » Thu May 17, 2018 10:31 am

My experience is from a palemaster wizard with a lot of undead summons in hand. So on my own I pretty much stay in stealth and let undead do the killing while trying to keep the undead intact. If the fight gets too hairy I use fear to make the enemies scatter. Until I get to a powerful boss and unleash the entire arsenal at it.

In a party I usually stay behind the melee people and only use spells when I see them struggle. Or when I feel the need to show off.

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Re: The wizard's role? How to be better?

Post by Artenides » Thu May 17, 2018 10:37 am

I am using player tool to keep the elemental ahead. Check.
Have a few panic buttons. Check.
Doing some show off things when feeling the need. Check.

Knowing the dungeon? There is place for improvement here.
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Hunter548
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Re: The wizard's role? How to be better?

Post by Hunter548 » Thu May 17, 2018 4:14 pm

Honestly it sounds like you're doing what you're supposed to be. Your job as a wizard is 1) Buffs 2) Haste (This is seperate from buffs because it's such an important buff a lot of the time) 3) Summon if one's needed 4) Mid-fight healkitting and 5) Nuking bosses/tough enemies.

Knowing what's "good" in an area, as Iceborn mentioned, is very important. This can be anything from spells that target a specific save, to "IGMS isn't good here, everything has magical resistance", to "There's lots of undead here, so Sunburst is really good". Ask your party if you aren't experienced enough with the area to judge for yourself.

Buffing yourself as a wizard with things like premonition or improved invisibility is usually a waste of slots and components in PvE. Your party should be ensuring you survive via taking the monster aggro for you and using -guard.

Know when the party doesn't need a summon. Nothing's more annoying as a melee character than being stuck watching an elemental flail at a choke while you're not able to fight the monsters because the wizard insisted on an elemental when it wasn't needed.

Beyond level 10-15 or so, the infinite spells you get from GSF are kind of worthless. You can still spam them if you're -guarded and in guard range, but otherwise don't cast them. All you'll succeed in doing is pissing off the entire mob and your party, as well as maybe get yourself killed.

Haste is extremely good. So is Mass Haste. Extend both so you can prepare more castings. Improved invisibility is usually better to cast on party members than Stoneskin. Maximized Endurance will make your tank love you. Breaches are more useful than dispels in PvE to remove things like premonition and damage shields.
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Re: The wizard's role? How to be better?

Post by BegoneThoth » Thu May 17, 2018 4:32 pm

In a larger group, or when your summon isn't needed, through out the summon monster X water elemental with the healing aura, and have it follow your 'guarder' or 'guardee' rather then fight, or have it follow you.

It won't mess them up by forcing another entity into melee, but will provide a ton of healing over the course of the dungeon.
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