Correction: In the video I say you can draw a warhammer as part of an attack, but since the attack is through True Strike and not the attack action you need to use an interaction. So technically if you want to draw the weapon you must use an interaction. If your DM is a stickler for spell components and free hands, you might want to wait until Warcaster before using the Warhammer. If this is the case, you can start out with 2 thrown weapons for mastery (Maybe Javelin and Trident) and switch to warhammer at 5.
Following the rules is not be "a stickler for spell components and free hands", it is just the rules of the game and that is not he job of the DM alone, the player itself should be always have that in mind
Are interactions a thing in 2024? I assumed so but looking through the book couldn't actually find anything, just the full Utilize action and that more minor stuff can be done as part of the action that requires it. If I didn't miss it somewhere, it definitely seems in the spirit of the rules to pull a material component or focus out as part of using it to cast a spell.
I’m glad to see the return of a full hour long build video. I may be in the minority for liking long form content but I really enjoy your in depth reasoning for why you take what spells and when a great use for them can come up. Thanks Chris!
Augury saw a big upgrade as a ritual in 2024 by removing “unreliable results” and instead not answering. Because of that, in a non time-pressed situation, you can regularly get 2 uses a day statistically, and sometimes more. Just figured I’d mention it, because I thoroughly agree with you on Augury being an awesome pick and something to use every day.
@ That’s fair enough. Augury and Divination are best used at my tables not to get directions, but to confirm thoughts or learn of unexpected things. It’s an opportunity to let the DM give you a glimpse behind the screen of what’s to come.
@@andrewmiddleton3487 Some adventures are like roller coasters - you're along for the ride, but there's not really any need to make big decisions (and little risk of derailing the campaign) Divination spells are not for those kinds of campaigns. Other players instead like campaigns where player decisions play a huge part, and there obviously making the right decisions is incredibly valuable
@@TreantmonksTemple no worries. It was an exciting update but just one of SOOOO many! Thanks for a great vid on why you still think Wizard is the best caster.
I both realized the amazing utility of ritual adept and completely forgot its potency…. Thank you for this video. Wizard has been my go-to class since I started playing D&D in 1979. The 5e rules (especially the 2024 revisions) have definitely reinforced the amazing utility of my favorite class.
Esp given the disengage offered by minor illusion I'd for sure, choose druid over Ranger because you then get : Guidence, Aborb elements, Jump, and healing word, plus another level 1 spell... better resistance, better escape, earlier, guidance is SO useful... and if you ever want to take druid 2... boom you can wildshape: spider, giant badger, giant toad now...
@@markcronan Yeah, but you can take Shillelagh and then use True Strike on it. Slightly higher damage and having the choice between Force\Bludgeoning\Radiant is nice. It has no additional turn setup time since it is BA\A. Not being able to put the weapon down to cast other spells is the major drawback, so you will not be able to use it to full effect until you have Warcaster, but you have similar issue using True Strike until then too. Push and such is nice, but this is also an option. Or is there some interaction that I don't know about which would prevent that?
I'm only partway into the video but having taken Alert feat, if you also take Find Familiar, you can swap initiatives with your familiar as they get their own initiative. It's kind of like advantage on initiative.
27:45 It's a weird quirk with dndbeyond. It treats spells selected with [school of magic] "Savant" as always prepared instead of adding them to your spellbook.
Thank you for your explaination. I really enjoyed your spell picks. Good point in balancing rituals and prepared spells. I really need my party to watch your video.
Thanks for the great video! I do have a bit of constructive criticism: While I understand that you were highlighting the power of wizards due to their ability to cast rituals without preparation, I feel like the value of Memorize Spell might have been underestimated. In my opinion, the flexibility to prepare situational spells like Fire Shield, Fly, and Invisibility after a short rest far outweighs the utility of a spell like Alarm.
Congratulations. You've convinced me to make a Wizard character that I'm more excited for than the Bladesinger. This has to be the deepest bag of tricks I've seen a character have. Bonus points for scratching the "Gish Itch" enough to qualify. Well done!
Nice! I just built my first 2024 wizard, a Tortle Diviner, and it’s good to see that we aligned on a lot of this. I used the Tortle for AC, so I didn’t have to take a dip, but otherwise it’s pretty close.
I’d like to throw into the mix for a neat damage spell: Chromatic Orb. This spell looks like it upcasts quite well! It goes up by 1d8 each spell slot and can bounce one more time for each. And with the dice count increasing each level the odds of it bouncing to a new target seems really high. Like a 3rd level Chromatic Orb is dealing 5d8 damage (10d8 on a Crit) and is quite likely to hit up to four targets.
Keep in mind that you still have to hit with an attack roll each new target and if you miss the combo breaks, so the chance of hitting 4 targets isn't actually high
50:43 in the video, Divination (and Augury) can no longer give incorrect information on repeat casts per day. Great vid though, don't take me wrong I quite enjoy your builds.
I love that wizard is no longer the obviously strongest choice. Also love that they still are, just more subtle about. Quick to anger is pretty much a given
I've been playing a wizard for thr 2014 version for a year now as a half orc. The species feature letting you live a lethal hit is handy on a wizard. It's even better now that the 2024 doesnt get any bonuses to crits, and ability scores arent tied to species anymore. I recommend trying it
From what I gather nothing changed? What changed about crits? The species thing is a good thing since Tasha's, but its great it is the standard now for the new version.
@thomasdevos1502 2024 orc doesnt have the feature that adds another damage die on melee weapon crits, which would be useless on a wizard anyways. the bonus action dash is better on the other hand
Yeah, ddb has been really finicky with D&D 2024 stuff. They also haven't updated the custom background on the character creator to work as described in the dmg
"Time" is often a resource. At least the way that most games I am in are played. Divination costs 25gp per casting now, so is also a resource. You SHOULD be able to afford it but if you have a bastion or a stingy game it becomes harder. Great video, glad you made it. Wizards are still really good, but the gap is slightly closer.
36:56 I am currently running a campaign with a gnome warlock that has taken magic initiate wizard, pact of the tome, and fey touched. They have a grand total of 19 leveled spells, 9 cantrips, and 2 spell slots (though they can free cast many of their spells in some way)
Question: You boosted Charisma to 9 and left Strength at 8 when building. But, as I understand it, an odd Charisma score provides no benefit, but an odd strength score increases long jump and carrying capacity slightly. Is this intentional or an oversight? Or do you think it doesn't matter?
Good to see a wizard build. While as a wizard main, I'm absolutely biased towards the wizard. I think the sorcerer with its new subclasses and abilities or even the warlock has closed that gap by a good amount. There are definitely going to be times when the sorcerer feels stronger. While ritual spells are amazing (I would know, I use them all the time) sometimes you just don't have the time to cast said rituals or in game time to meticulously buy all the components. I am still playing a wizard that took lightning bolt (I have a wand of fireball) and having a blast but with how little of new features wizards got, I'm less and less inclined to play them and give bards or sorcerers a try.
Am playing a wizard in a campaign that goes till level 20, currently just hit 11, and was on the fence about when to take a dip for some armor proficiency. Was thinking fighter, but losing out on spell progression almost felt like too steep a price to pay - but I hadn’t considered the benefits of ranger until this video! Problem solved! Spell progression maintained, medium armor and shield acquired, plus the gaining of cure wounds and weapon masteries as some cherries on top. I can now happily take that dip and not worry too much about the future. Thank you!!
You can get 17 spells prepared by level 5 on an archfey warlock with 7 spells from the archfey list auto prepared + 6 from the warlock list, + 2 ritual spells from pact of the tome and you have 4 invocations left over only 2 of which need to be used to grab either an at-will spell, chain, or lessons of the first one (MI) for more first level spells. Ironically sorcerer isn't too far behind at this level at 15 with 9 spells prepped from their list and 6 more from their subclass, except wild magic, same with clerics with 9 preps + 6 from subclass, essentially the free subclass preps make a big difference in spell preps, but they are set so customization is less.
The more I hear any what wizards can do, the more grumpy I get that the free potion-making spell was given to wizards instead of Rangers. It would have been such a great flavorful ability for them.
I am impressed with that; taking Ranger had not occurred to me but it is a great way to get Armour, Weapon Mastery and still get full spell progression. I had been focusing on Fighter it does give you a Fighting Style and Con saves at level 1 but this is certainly a good alternative. Getting Summon Fey at Character Level 7 just as you have Fourth Level Spell Slots is also perfect! It was surprising to see you did not take Speak With Animals as your other Ranger Spell to give you even more Ritual Options.
I really dislike that Wizards allow and design wizards to have armour, shield and crossbow as good choices. I prefer when this is not incentivised. I find it bad design to just have all players have armour, shield, shieldspell regardless of class.
I actually agree. I feel like taking a new class at level 2 that gives proficiency in weapons and armor just feels inky and really breaks immersion. How do you explain that your character, who's spent their early years studying magic as a wizard enough to prepare spells in a spellbook, just woke up one morning (after a recent fight) and suddenly has the skills and abilities as someone who's spent their entire young life surviving as a ranger using weapons and armor? A level 1 adventurer is someone very powerful compared to a normal commoner. Being a level 1 class assumes you've spent all your childhood and young adult life pushing your abilities to be exceptional and you continue to grow from that baseline.
@@Jim_Owen Even in the real world you don't require training to use medium armor (what DnD designates as medium armor) or a shield. This is not a full plate knight riding a horse without holding the reigns. Just a note - the "Vikings" were norse pirates that generally had some trade or skill that slap on a helmet, chainmail, shield and a weapon. Armor and shield proficiency is greatly exagerated in DnD compared to real life.
@@mpetrov2402 you don't need training to wear armor in DnD either. Anyone can don armor of any kind and walk around enjoying the protection it provides. The nuance is without training, or practice for that matter, the extra weight throws off your aim and makes casting spells harder. We don't have any real world comparison for the difficulties of casting spells but have to assume that even the most basic cantrip required more precision and expertise that 99% of the DnD common folk are unable to do it. The mechanics of proficiency suggest the fine motor skills are not inhibited by the extra burden of armor or heavier weapons.
@@Jim_Owen You were the one saying milticlassing breaks emersion not me. Don't go saying "we don't know how armor affects weight / hits / spells" - we do know - it doesn't. Heavy armor requires Strength in DnD- thats realistic. Also unless you start as a class that can wear it - you can't get that proficiency. Again this is realistic, so no emersion breaking. Medium armor - lets look at chainmail - a good riveted chaimail weights around 12 KG that is distributed around your body. Making the chainmail tailored for you helps further reduce the actual weight and the "burden" on your body. In all honesty it feels absurd that a seasoned adventurer would suffer any downsides wearing a chainmail shirt. Shield - boss grip shields / bucklers are held in your hand, they are probably lighter than your staff / quarterstaff. Your valid point is for weapons. Besides mauls, clubs, quarterstaffs, daggers, maces, crossbows and spears - all other weapons would require a shit ton of training esp. the bladed weapons and the bows. Again a bunch of scandinavian farmers with chainmail, shields and spears terrorized western europe.
Counter spell actually got buffed, not nerfed. The new MM seems to give all spellcasters their spells as Spell x/ day. That is not the same as using a spell slot, so npcs lose their spells when countered, but you do not.
Ah ha! You have done it again Chris. Completely ran circles around me, as I am an upcoming Wizard player, I thought I had it all figured out. I was over here using Artificer1/Wizard X, early on using Arcane Weapon + Sling + Magic Stone. I could have been using a cantrip for the same effect all along, True Strike, which I glossed over MANY times. Damn I love these videos.
Thing with Augery is that the limitatins make it sometimes hard to use. The course of actions need to be within the next 30 minutes. So you cast it as a ritual for 10 minutes to propose something you want to do within the next 30 minutes. There are sittuation that is tailored for, but there are also many where this just won't work. In particular with the limitations stated in the spell itself (circumstances). Or the good old example: "Yes there is a good chance that you will suprise the guards when you take the proposed route and sneak behind them." Unless you fail your stealth check ... On the topic of Warcaster I have been a nice DM to one of my True Strike enthusiast player though and gave him a Ruby of the War mage for the early levels.
For utility, maybe Wizard is the best. But for combat Sorcerer is not even close to any other class and I'll die on this hill. Dragonic sorcerer can just blantantly outdamage and outcontrol any other class in most situations. I played a draconic sorcerer and then a wizard. It was a bizzare drop of power. Not having advantage on every attack and +1 spell save dc, not having additional damage from fireball, not having unbreakable concentration (con save prof + war caster is much stronger than just war caster), having to dip to stop being squishy, not having extremely strong stuff like twin and careful spell... It just felt like you are a 60%, maybe 70% of combat power of a sorcerer but you can prepare spells and you have rituals. Not really fancy from my point of view.
16:16 trident would be a far better choice than javelin since it does more damage and has the topple mastery so you can make enemies fall prone at range which is very powerful
I mean no reason you couldn’t grab both, or switch them out to take the ones you want. Know you are going up against flying enemies Trident all the way. Know you are hunting down something that is huge size? Javelin for sure.
To TM: is there a reason after picking up a level of ranger you would keep the light crossbow, instead of using a heavy crossbow? That would do slightly more damage and allow you to push weapon mastery at range. Is it that with only 8 STR you run into encumbrance issues with half plate and shield?
4:37 yeah, whenever I build a caster I always forget about Constitution... I don't know why I always feel like dexterity is more important. Wonder if there's a way to calculate that out the extra hit points or extra AC and what the survivability rates are... But con also helps on concentration checks so I don't know
Flavour idea for people who don't like having a javelin/warhammer wizard: reflavour True Strike as a sort of animated floating weapon attack, like a non-ethereal Spiritual Weapon, except it still requires a free hand to control
@zTom_ honestly I think Scorching Ray is better than the entire Valor Bard subclass. So on that score Bards and Wizards are eventually tied, but Wizard has the advantage in Tier 2
@@verduriteno they do not. It takes an action to cast. The only 2 subclasses(valor and swords) that can "abuse it" are close or under the baseline without it. If they nerf the upcast and leave it as an action - its a worse version of spirit shroud/ holy weapon If they make it a BA and nerf it's upcast - it's a better version of spirit shroud/ holy weapon.
Hi, so I am someone who is highly critical, to the point that when I saw this video, I decided to remake my level 20 Wizard that I made to try to break the game to the highest caliber. To put it lightly, Treantmonk destroyed my build in regard to effectiveness. I'm going to make a second comment going into the specific of what I agree with and disagree with now but I just want to say that this is a really great video for info on Wizard. Like, really good.
Hey, so as someone who tries to break the game, I have some comments about the build listed above, both good and bad. Here they are: At level 2, Treantmonk chooses Ranger to get both Armor Training and spell progression. If you are trying to play a game that favors non game breaking combos, this is the right choice. However, in terms of the most powerful option, you have to pick Rogue and be ready to take a 3 level dip for Thief Rogue. Fast Hands is stronger than any Epic Boon or spell progression. It sucks, but it's true, and if I'm honest, I wish Treantmonks choice was the best choice. If you are someone who is looking for damage, do NOT take Witch Bolt! It is a trap! Witch Bolt is Concentration, you cannot shoot it and not lose Concentration on another Spell if that Spell has Concentration (rules as written). I know damage is tempting, but do not waste a Spell known for Witch Bolt because you will regret it. Treantmonk choosing Illusionist was the right choice. Divination, while still powerful, does not get the same scaling in its features. When testing Treantmonks' choices, I attempted to make a Wizard alongside him, and I chose Divination, and I found that at Tier 1, Divination was better, but once you move beyond that Illusionist takes off. It was straight untenable to say that a level 7 Divination Wizard matched the Illusionist counterpart; I had to restart the video because I had to reconsider my spell choices it was so bad. Treantmonk did the right thing by not holding on to the past and choosing Darkvision as a 2nd Level Spell. It is just better, especially if you rest cast. A huge problem with this build, however, is that it never takes Absorb Elements and Misty Step. That is practically a mandate for a Wizard. I recommend trading Unseen Servant for Absorb Elements and Augery for Misty Step. I know you lose Ritual Spells, but Absorb Elements is too important when you have a Familiar that can hopefully complete a similar task, and losing Augery can be compensated by meticulous planning on a number of occasions. Those two spells need to be on your spell list. Don't abandon them. Treantmonk takes War Caster at Level 4. I get it, but don't do this. Take Resilient (Charisma). Do not let yourself be vulnerable to Charisma Saveing Throws. You are Charcter Level 5. You can expect to see Monster who uses this save now. Don't suffer the shutdown until Level 9. It's not worth it. Treantmonk chose Lightningbolt as the 3rd level damaging spell. I get why he did it per the campaign, but in a general setting, remember the synergy between Phantom Steed and Fireball. This also applies to Hypnotic Pattern, which now has more range per your subclass. That's it! Hope this helps someone, Treantmonk did a great job, so it was hard to find things to critique!
If you have the tiny hut, dont think you need Alarm as well, i can see it having use outside of the long rest scenerio but at that level, i'd probably have hoped to have found a spellbook with alarm in it already then to pick it
I love seeing respect for Phantasmal Creatures. Obviously they're not great for damage, but the free casting is amazing utility - more so if someone has "Beast Sense."
Thank you for your video! I was suspecting you were going to put forward the point that ritual adept + savant was a key element as to why wizard is great, and it is. I'm still unsure though that it makes it the strongest class. It's definitely a contest now. Yes, the versatility is good, but in reality these will not be cast all the time, and aside from a couple of wizard only rituals, most of these are pretty common among classes, magical item effects, and scrolls. Wizard is probably the "simplest" way to access all that utility in one shot if you have a single caster in your group for example. However, if there are many, it's going to feel so redundant and lackluster, when everyone gets a portion of that list. Essentially, party optimization eats away at wizard potency. For example, a fellow cleric could probably spare the 2 spell preparations for Augury and Divination and not feel the impact too much. The Bard could probably spare a spell preparation for Phantom Steed (later) or Tiny Hut. Sorcerer, Water Breathing. Some rituals are better than others and lean more towards "must picks", and those can be shared in a group setting. When the game came out, many people thought ritual caster feat was bad, and I thought it was good, and still think it's great, for the same exact reason as this video points out: 6 spells, always prepared. That's good, and steals a bit the wizard's "schtick". A sorcerer could probably fit this in their progression. To me, unique class features remain the biggest deciding factor. Versatility can sometimes happen inadvertently during a campaign by getting a good item (for example, a musical instrument for bards) and would then level the playing field and/or lessen the validity of this argument. Anyways, good vid. A good point, IMO less valid taken out of vacuum and into a team setting, but really good if playing the group's only dedicated spellcaster.
Although you have a lot of ritual options with Wizards, you won't be able to cast them all every time because they need 10 minutes minimum to cast. It depends on the rhythm and how events unfold themselves. You would need an hour or more to cast 6 rituals spells.
Man I wish i could think of rituals that way. My DM has unfortunately been wronged some way in the past by a ritual and our environments usually have an endless supply of minions that hear the ritual being performed and arrive to interrupt. I remember we spent one night trying to to get off an identify spell in a dungeon we had cleared and slayed wave after wave of orc just to find out the sword was cursed and basically wasted our session. Even in taverns or towns the chanting attracts bandits or cultists interested in what spoils a caster who is distracted could offer. I think someone got up the hut against a dragon or something and he basically watched as the players picked off the encounter without loosing anything and that basically ruined rituals at his table forever
So the thing I love to do with minor illusion is to make something that blocks line of sight, but is just so blatantly magical looking that most people wouldn't disbelieve it even if I shoot through it. For instance an opaque wall of glowing magic sygils. "What the heck is that Fred?" "I don't know Talbot some kind of a wizard thing" "But he's just shooting us straight through it Fred" "Did you not hear me when I said a wizard thing, it's freaking magic how am I supposed to know what that is?". The other thing about the base level of the phantasmal creatures is that they are a cheap resource to spend in less critical encounters where you don't want to spend your higher levels spell slots, just concentrate on one of them and then throw some cantrips against the pack of goblins working for the necromancer.
Call me old school, but I dislike using medium/heavy armor or shield for arcane spellcasters. It’s one rule I wish had carried over from earlier editions, that spellcasters can wear armor, but not cast spells while doing so. I don’t understand how people (not Treatnmonk, TBF) get all worked up about the martial-caster divide but then load their Wizard/Sorcerer/Warlock up with half plate.
What's to understand? Armor dipping is really strong and TM likes to optimize. But I agree with your sentiment - I want a wizard to wear a robe and not hold a shield. I would love to see a non-armor-dip wizard build and a comparison between them. Is it possible to not armor dip and not feel like an idiot for choosing to be a traditional robe wizard?
@ Well, a good example would be a Bladesinger. No need for armor at all on a Bladesinger. In fact, the highest level of armor they are allowed - studded leather - is suboptimal compared to Mage Armor if they have high Dex. And generally, I prefer high-Dex wizard builds with Mage Armor to tin can wizards. You can easily get 18 AC/23 AC with Shield spell by pumping Dex, which has other benefits as well. Wizards don’t have to wear robes, but shields are silly when they have a spell that is quite literally called “Shield.” What I think is ludicrous is discussion of the martial-caster divide when the armor dip is a thing. Block the armor dip and there’s no such discussion.
In regards to armor dips, you might find my video on Monday interesting. It will be titled "not enough hands in D&D" - at least watch the last couple minutes, you might like what you see.
When you put a 13 into your wisdom, I thought you would use cleric as an armor dip, because it was pretty common in 2014 (looking at you, peace cleric). I mean, guidance and bless are pretty powerful. But since paladins and rangers got the spellcasting upgrade and multiclass just like artificers, it just makes sense. Especially since true strike has been changed. And both are now pretty interesting armor dips for bards, sorcerers and warlocks, too (yes, even rangers, as wis 13 doesn't hurt as much as str 13, unless you want to be a strength focused greatsword wielder. And your video is a great showcase of why wizards are still king. All other classes got buffed significantly just to catch up with the wizard, while the wizard was there at the top waiting ...
Wizard is unique because they're INT casters, so if they wanted to dip Paladin they still have to make the sacrifice to somehow get 13 CHA plus effectively 15 STR (for Plate Armor) which is tougher than 14 DEX (Half Plate), whereas Bards/Sorcs/Locks already invest in CHA so for them it's merely a matter of buying STR and using Heavy Armor instead of Medium. Sure, STR is a weaker stat than DEX but it's not that much weaker (DEX is clearly the worst of the three primary saves, and STR is clearly the best of the three secondary saves) and you do get a tangible benefit (+1 AC) in addition to a more favorable Point-Buy spread (likely 16 CON instead of 14).
@RisingChaos that's true, for wizards a paladin dip doesn't make sense, but for sorcerers, bards and warlocks it is now a lot better than previously. Especially warlocks and bards profit a lot from starting with a level in paladin
They definitely needed to be nerfed, but I'm glad I got to use the malleable illusions + mirage arcane and eldritch adept/silent image + illusory reality in a one shot. Infinite uses silent image with illusory reality is just as broken as it sounds.
Surprised you didn’t mention that another advantage of lighting bolt over fireball on this character is that if you use web, the lightning bolt won’t burn it up
Hey Chris! I am curious if you can clarify how a javelin is dealing "significantly" (16:57) more damage than a Ray of Frost? Assuming TS jav (#d6) vs RoF (#d8). They both go up a die size at the same levels. TS does not grant extra damage until lvl 5, which is when RoF goes up to 2d8. I view this as you will always do less damage with TS jav than RoF at all tiers. You do have the advantage of dealing a more reliable damage type and double the range (with disadvantage) using TS jav, as well as another cantrip slot being opened for something else. I do want to add (for self preservation) I paused the video around 10:xx to write this. You may have explained this later in the video and I am jumping the gun. TY for your time!
Youre missing out on the fact that True Strike adds your ability modifier as well. So TS Jav is 2d6 + 4 at level 5 for 6 - 16 damage (11 average) while RoF does 2 to 16 and 9 average. At level 11 its 14.5 average for JV (assuming like Chris you took Resilient Con) vs 13.5 for RoF. And at level 17 where I assume you got your Int to 20 its 19 average for JV and 18 for RoF. So the difference is never "significant" in my book but its slightly higher and you have a higher floor. You will always do 9 damage at level 17 with a JV cause of your ability score bonus while RoF might just do 4 if youre really unlucky. That is quite the difference again
@countadvocate Thank you for the explanation. Somehow I forgot mod to damage while getting lost in the sauce. Sometimes you forget the simple things. Once you consider adding mod, and the possibility of adding Dueling fighting style, xd6+5-7 (16-20stat) over xd8+0, I would agree the damage is significant for no resource cost.
Isn't Ritual Caster a good option for this build? it allows the wizard to have some more rituals off class and let you cas a ritual as bonus action, also it is a half talent.
I’m definitely in the camp of there being no strongest class since so much of the game is enjoying yourself and being expressive. If you don’t enjoy keeping track of spells or having finite resources, then wizard will feel weak since it will struggle to meet the demands of your whimsy. #kumbaya
hey quick question, im starting a new game soon and im makeing a wizard, i found your god wizard guide for the control wizard, the one that slows and ray of frosts doesnt use fireball etc, but the googledocs stop at level 5 the rest are not available anymore. do you happen to still have them? i loved that build and it fits perfectly with the rest of the party.
@@Bobolomeus If it was a google doc one, this is the 5e one I did: docs.google.com/document/u/0/d/1IeOXWvbkmQ3nEyM2P3lS8TU4rsK6QJP0oH7HE_v67QY/mobilebasic
Thanks for the video! 😁 Always doing a great job! Thought I must say, just yesterday I’ve been really curious about how I should optimize my wizard in the 2024 rules. 😅 How crazy is that?
Hey chris what you think about create bonfire over acid splash they have same range and everything but its 1d8 fire over 1d6 acid its not in phb but is on dnd beyond Edit: i know its concentration but we can just stop conc on it at any time so it can even be used as a 1 action only thing. Would really like ur thoughts
I think it is because you are using only the 2024 rules, but what do you think about starting as an artificer, besides the armor and shield proficiencies it also saves you the resilient feat.
@@TreantmonksTemple Thanks for the answer, if it's not a bother I would also like your advice on which race to choose, I'm between fairy and goblin. Both have very good characteristics and I don't know which one to choose.
In summary - Wizards are great because of the huge utility. Sorcerer will beat it in combat damage and in 2024 by a good margin. It all depends on if you can live with the reduced but far from no utility. A dip in bard would get the sorcerer the ritual casting and a lot of the good rituals are at level 1.
For a long time, sleep was the go to level 1 control spell. Now that they’ve added a saving throw-and limited the targets-do you consider it a flat out weaker option than Tasha’s or is it simply that Tasha’s scales where sleep doesn’t?
Correction: In the video I say you can draw a warhammer as part of an attack, but since the attack is through True Strike and not the attack action you need to use an interaction. So technically if you want to draw the weapon you must use an interaction. If your DM is a stickler for spell components and free hands, you might want to wait until Warcaster before using the Warhammer.
If this is the case, you can start out with 2 thrown weapons for mastery (Maybe Javelin and Trident) and switch to warhammer at 5.
Following the rules is not be "a stickler for spell components and free hands", it is just the rules of the game and that is not he job of the DM alone, the player itself should be always have that in mind
Quarterstaff (Arcane Focus and Topple) would be my go to until Warcaster.
@kedraroth I recognise that the Council has made a decision. But given that it's a stupid-ass decision, I've elected to ignore it.
Are interactions a thing in 2024? I assumed so but looking through the book couldn't actually find anything, just the full Utilize action and that more minor stuff can be done as part of the action that requires it. If I didn't miss it somewhere, it definitely seems in the spirit of the rules to pull a material component or focus out as part of using it to cast a spell.
DM: "Fine, you are out of my game"
I’m glad to see the return of a full hour long build video. I may be in the minority for liking long form content but I really enjoy your in depth reasoning for why you take what spells and when a great use for them can come up. Thanks Chris!
Indeed, I love long form factor videos
Long form > short form every time imo.
Agreed. I love these in depth analysis videos
He could do both.
Treantmonk does the best build videos hands down
An hour + Wizard build guide? That's a huge nostalgia hit. Still love the ideas in your old Beguiler build from earlier in DnD 2014!
That was my first guide!
I’m playing character inspired by the Beguiler in a long term campaign. just got split enchantment and it’s an absolute blast! Thanks for the guide :)
That's a great way to think about it... wizard only spells should be thought of as class features when comparing the power of classes.
I always feel really good about level 11 for that reason. Except now when I look at the bard.
@@Adurnis imo wizard spells *really* pull ahead of the rest at level 9, with wall of force.
Rituals too!
I'm happy to have you in build mode, and thrilled to see a Wizard build. 👍🏻
Local Wizard Gets Good at Hunting to Bully Enemies with Hammer; Athletics Guildmaster Attempts to Recruit for Javelin Team
Augury saw a big upgrade as a ritual in 2024 by removing “unreliable results” and instead not answering. Because of that, in a non time-pressed situation, you can regularly get 2 uses a day statistically, and sometimes more. Just figured I’d mention it, because I thoroughly agree with you on Augury being an awesome pick and something to use every day.
For my part, I just never really have any questions to ask the DM. Maybe it's just me, but it feels like I rarely need a next step or clear goal.
@ That’s fair enough. Augury and Divination are best used at my tables not to get directions, but to confirm thoughts or learn of unexpected things. It’s an opportunity to let the DM give you a glimpse behind the screen of what’s to come.
@@andrewmiddleton3487 Some adventures are like roller coasters - you're along for the ride, but there's not really any need to make big decisions (and little risk of derailing the campaign)
Divination spells are not for those kinds of campaigns. Other players instead like campaigns where player decisions play a huge part, and there obviously making the right decisions is incredibly valuable
Thank you! I missed that - I'll be using Augury more now.
@@TreantmonksTemple no worries. It was an exciting update but just one of SOOOO many! Thanks for a great vid on why you still think Wizard is the best caster.
I both realized the amazing utility of ritual adept and completely forgot its potency…. Thank you for this video. Wizard has been my go-to class since I started playing D&D in 1979. The 5e rules (especially the 2024 revisions) have definitely reinforced the amazing utility of my favorite class.
Esp given the disengage offered by minor illusion I'd for sure, choose druid over Ranger because you then get :
Guidence, Aborb elements, Jump, and healing word, plus another level 1 spell... better resistance, better escape, earlier, guidance is SO useful... and if you ever want to take druid 2... boom you can wildshape: spider, giant badger, giant toad now...
You do lose weapon masteries, which are your primary attack method when not casting a levelled spell.
@@markcronan Yeah, but you can take Shillelagh and then use True Strike on it. Slightly higher damage and having the choice between Force\Bludgeoning\Radiant is nice. It has no additional turn setup time since it is BA\A. Not being able to put the weapon down to cast other spells is the major drawback, so you will not be able to use it to full effect until you have Warcaster, but you have similar issue using True Strike until then too.
Push and such is nice, but this is also an option. Or is there some interaction that I don't know about which would prevent that?
I'm only partway into the video but having taken Alert feat, if you also take Find Familiar, you can swap initiatives with your familiar as they get their own initiative. It's kind of like advantage on initiative.
Oooh yes! So excited for this video! Thanks again! We are “snowed in” here in southern Georgia so this video couldn’t come at a better time!
Looking to build an Eldritch Knight, but this gives me lots of food for thought. Thanks, Chris!
27:45 It's a weird quirk with dndbeyond. It treats spells selected with [school of magic] "Savant" as always prepared instead of adding them to your spellbook.
Yeah, after the video I noticed the spells are there twice on my character sheet.
@TreantmonksTemple With this dndbeyond quirk, it would make wizards more powerful than RAW.
I thought that was potentially the right interpretation as savant is a bit vague on that part.
Thank you for your explaination. I really enjoyed your spell picks. Good point in balancing rituals and prepared spells. I really need my party to watch your video.
Thanks for the great video! I do have a bit of constructive criticism:
While I understand that you were highlighting the power of wizards due to their ability to cast rituals without preparation, I feel like the value of Memorize Spell might have been underestimated. In my opinion, the flexibility to prepare situational spells like Fire Shield, Fly, and Invisibility after a short rest far outweighs the utility of a spell like Alarm.
Fair point.
aesthetically I hate that true strike light crossbow is by default the best optimized cantrip but its cool that you found that
To be fair, wizards using crossbows as their attack when they don't want to use spells was the default for a long time before 5e
@ethangld1206 only in tier 1 before ASIs made spell attacks better and the cantrip scaling kicked in. Now it's true for the caster's entire career
@@bennettellis1154the other user was referencing prior d&d editions.
@@mannsama7084 I remember when wizards got a dagger and maybe darts, and they were happy
I don't disagree.
Love these build videos with all your thoughts laid out.
Keep ‘em coming!
Congratulations. You've convinced me to make a Wizard character that I'm more excited for than the Bladesinger. This has to be the deepest bag of tricks I've seen a character have.
Bonus points for scratching the "Gish Itch" enough to qualify. Well done!
Beautiful timing, I just finished watching your 1 level dip video and this was up! Looking forward to seeing a great wizard build!
Nice! I just built my first 2024 wizard, a Tortle Diviner, and it’s good to see that we aligned on a lot of this. I used the Tortle for AC, so I didn’t have to take a dip, but otherwise it’s pretty close.
I've been waiting for a new Wizard build, and it's finally here! Thank you, Chris, excellent work, as always!
RE: Illusory Self: I appreciate that Chris has discovered a way to make his save...against an attack roll.
DM: "Critical hit!"
Me: "I use my legendary resistance"
I’d like to throw into the mix for a neat damage spell: Chromatic Orb. This spell looks like it upcasts quite well! It goes up by 1d8 each spell slot and can bounce one more time for each. And with the dice count increasing each level the odds of it bouncing to a new target seems really high. Like a 3rd level Chromatic Orb is dealing 5d8 damage (10d8 on a Crit) and is quite likely to hit up to four targets.
And Hunter's Mark works with it.
@@markcronanwhaat!!!
Keep in mind that you still have to hit with an attack roll each new target and if you miss the combo breaks, so the chance of hitting 4 targets isn't actually high
50:43 in the video, Divination (and Augury) can no longer give incorrect information on repeat casts per day.
Great vid though, don't take me wrong I quite enjoy your builds.
I love that wizard is no longer the obviously strongest choice. Also love that they still are, just more subtle about. Quick to anger is pretty much a given
As always, great video, thanks for all the effort you put into these!
I've been playing a wizard for thr 2014 version for a year now as a half orc. The species feature letting you live a lethal hit is handy on a wizard. It's even better now that the 2024 doesnt get any bonuses to crits, and ability scores arent tied to species anymore. I recommend trying it
From what I gather nothing changed?
What changed about crits?
The species thing is a good thing since Tasha's, but its great it is the standard now for the new version.
@thomasdevos1502 2024 orc doesnt have the feature that adds another damage die on melee weapon crits, which would be useless on a wizard anyways. the bonus action dash is better on the other hand
Oh snap. I’ve been waiting for this.
Looks like DDB is treating your first 2 Illusionist Savant spells as being always prepared.
Yeah, ddb has been really finicky with D&D 2024 stuff. They also haven't updated the custom background on the character creator to work as described in the dmg
Yep, I guess I didn't need to manually prepare them
Excited to see a build guide and hoping light cleric is next 🤞🏼🤞🏼
"Time" is often a resource. At least the way that most games I am in are played. Divination costs 25gp per casting now, so is also a resource. You SHOULD be able to afford it but if you have a bastion or a stingy game it becomes harder.
Great video, glad you made it. Wizards are still really good, but the gap is slightly closer.
Love the new build guid
Nice to see you back on builds 🙂
36:56 I am currently running a campaign with a gnome warlock that has taken magic initiate wizard, pact of the tome, and fey touched. They have a grand total of 19 leveled spells, 9 cantrips, and 2 spell slots (though they can free cast many of their spells in some way)
Question: You boosted Charisma to 9 and left Strength at 8 when building. But, as I understand it, an odd Charisma score provides no benefit, but an odd strength score increases long jump and carrying capacity slightly. Is this intentional or an oversight? Or do you think it doesn't matter?
Good to see a wizard build. While as a wizard main, I'm absolutely biased towards the wizard. I think the sorcerer with its new subclasses and abilities or even the warlock has closed that gap by a good amount. There are definitely going to be times when the sorcerer feels stronger. While ritual spells are amazing (I would know, I use them all the time) sometimes you just don't have the time to cast said rituals or in game time to meticulously buy all the components. I am still playing a wizard that took lightning bolt (I have a wand of fireball) and having a blast but with how little of new features wizards got, I'm less and less inclined to play them and give bards or sorcerers a try.
Am playing a wizard in a campaign that goes till level 20, currently just hit 11, and was on the fence about when to take a dip for some armor proficiency. Was thinking fighter, but losing out on spell progression almost felt like too steep a price to pay - but I hadn’t considered the benefits of ranger until this video! Problem solved! Spell progression maintained, medium armor and shield acquired, plus the gaining of cure wounds and weapon masteries as some cherries on top. I can now happily take that dip and not worry too much about the future. Thank you!!
I’m curious what your picks for the 16th and 19th ASI/feats would be…
You can get 17 spells prepared by level 5 on an archfey warlock with 7 spells from the archfey list auto prepared + 6 from the warlock list, + 2 ritual spells from pact of the tome and you have 4 invocations left over only 2 of which need to be used to grab either an at-will spell, chain, or lessons of the first one (MI) for more first level spells. Ironically sorcerer isn't too far behind at this level at 15 with 9 spells prepped from their list and 6 more from their subclass, except wild magic, same with clerics with 9 preps + 6 from subclass, essentially the free subclass preps make a big difference in spell preps, but they are set so customization is less.
Great video, Chris!
Been waiting for this video!!! Love it.
The more I hear any what wizards can do, the more grumpy I get that the free potion-making spell was given to wizards instead of Rangers. It would have been such a great flavorful ability for them.
Ok I think you sold me on the wizard still being the king of spellcasting
I am impressed with that; taking Ranger had not occurred to me but it is a great way to get Armour, Weapon Mastery and still get full spell progression. I had been focusing on Fighter it does give you a Fighting Style and Con saves at level 1 but this is certainly a good alternative. Getting Summon Fey at Character Level 7 just as you have Fourth Level Spell Slots is also perfect!
It was surprising to see you did not take Speak With Animals as your other Ranger Spell to give you even more Ritual Options.
I really dislike that Wizards allow and design wizards to have armour, shield and crossbow as good choices. I prefer when this is not incentivised. I find it bad design to just have all players have armour, shield, shieldspell regardless of class.
I actually agree. I feel like taking a new class at level 2 that gives proficiency in weapons and armor just feels inky and really breaks immersion. How do you explain that your character, who's spent their early years studying magic as a wizard enough to prepare spells in a spellbook, just woke up one morning (after a recent fight) and suddenly has the skills and abilities as someone who's spent their entire young life surviving as a ranger using weapons and armor? A level 1 adventurer is someone very powerful compared to a normal commoner. Being a level 1 class assumes you've spent all your childhood and young adult life pushing your abilities to be exceptional and you continue to grow from that baseline.
@@Jim_Owen Even in the real world you don't require training to use medium armor (what DnD designates as medium armor) or a shield. This is not a full plate knight riding a horse without holding the reigns.
Just a note - the "Vikings" were norse pirates that generally had some trade or skill that slap on a helmet, chainmail, shield and a weapon.
Armor and shield proficiency is greatly exagerated in DnD compared to real life.
@@mpetrov2402 you don't need training to wear armor in DnD either. Anyone can don armor of any kind and walk around enjoying the protection it provides. The nuance is without training, or practice for that matter, the extra weight throws off your aim and makes casting spells harder. We don't have any real world comparison for the difficulties of casting spells but have to assume that even the most basic cantrip required more precision and expertise that 99% of the DnD common folk are unable to do it. The mechanics of proficiency suggest the fine motor skills are not inhibited by the extra burden of armor or heavier weapons.
Time to bring back armor spell failure % chance !
@@Jim_Owen You were the one saying milticlassing breaks emersion not me. Don't go saying "we don't know how armor affects weight / hits / spells" - we do know - it doesn't.
Heavy armor requires Strength in DnD- thats realistic. Also unless you start as a class that can wear it - you can't get that proficiency. Again this is realistic, so no emersion breaking.
Medium armor - lets look at chainmail - a good riveted chaimail weights around 12 KG that is distributed around your body. Making the chainmail tailored for you helps further reduce the actual weight and the "burden" on your body. In all honesty it feels absurd that a seasoned adventurer would suffer any downsides wearing a chainmail shirt.
Shield - boss grip shields / bucklers are held in your hand, they are probably lighter than your staff / quarterstaff.
Your valid point is for weapons. Besides mauls, clubs, quarterstaffs, daggers, maces, crossbows and spears - all other weapons would require a shit ton of training esp. the bladed weapons and the bows.
Again a bunch of scandinavian farmers with chainmail, shields and spears terrorized western europe.
I am surprised and shocked that an illusionist didn't take silent image earlier.
Yeey, old school Treantmonk!
Counter spell actually got buffed, not nerfed. The new MM seems to give all spellcasters their spells as Spell x/ day. That is not the same as using a spell slot, so npcs lose their spells when countered, but you do not.
I know you said your wild magic sorcerer had an unfortunate end in your campaign, but I'd like to see what you would have done with it.
Love these videos! Keep up the great work! Looking and commenting for the algo, been subscribed for a year +
Ah ha! You have done it again Chris. Completely ran circles around me, as I am an upcoming Wizard player, I thought I had it all figured out.
I was over here using Artificer1/Wizard X, early on using Arcane Weapon + Sling + Magic Stone. I could have been using a cantrip for the same effect all along, True Strike, which I glossed over MANY times.
Damn I love these videos.
Great video
That's a badass wizard.
Feels like the good ol’ days
Thing with Augery is that the limitatins make it sometimes hard to use. The course of actions need to be within the next 30 minutes. So you cast it as a ritual for 10 minutes to propose something you want to do within the next 30 minutes. There are sittuation that is tailored for, but there are also many where this just won't work. In particular with the limitations stated in the spell itself (circumstances). Or the good old example: "Yes there is a good chance that you will suprise the guards when you take the proposed route and sneak behind them." Unless you fail your stealth check ...
On the topic of Warcaster I have been a nice DM to one of my True Strike enthusiast player though and gave him a Ruby of the War mage for the early levels.
If you think Chris's arguments don't hold water, be sure to cast Create or Destroy Water
Master Class in spell selection built in.
Excellent
For utility, maybe Wizard is the best. But for combat Sorcerer is not even close to any other class and I'll die on this hill. Dragonic sorcerer can just blantantly outdamage and outcontrol any other class in most situations. I played a draconic sorcerer and then a wizard. It was a bizzare drop of power. Not having advantage on every attack and +1 spell save dc, not having additional damage from fireball, not having unbreakable concentration (con save prof + war caster is much stronger than just war caster), having to dip to stop being squishy, not having extremely strong stuff like twin and careful spell...
It just felt like you are a 60%, maybe 70% of combat power of a sorcerer but you can prepare spells and you have rituals. Not really fancy from my point of view.
16:16 trident would be a far better choice than javelin since it does more damage and has the topple mastery so you can make enemies fall prone at range which is very powerful
I mean no reason you couldn’t grab both, or switch them out to take the ones you want. Know you are going up against flying enemies Trident all the way. Know you are hunting down something that is huge size? Javelin for sure.
To TM: is there a reason after picking up a level of ranger you would keep the light crossbow, instead of using a heavy crossbow? That would do slightly more damage and allow you to push weapon mastery at range. Is it that with only 8 STR you run into encumbrance issues with half plate and shield?
After picking up Ranger, I switch to javelin/warhammer. You could certainly use a heavy crossbow, but you wouldn't be able to wear a shield.
The Skilled origin feat is also worth considering if the DM allows the magic item crafting rules from the new DMG.
Obligatory “call an ambulance, but not for me!” Meme.
4:37 yeah, whenever I build a caster I always forget about Constitution... I don't know why I always feel like dexterity is more important. Wonder if there's a way to calculate that out the extra hit points or extra AC and what the survivability rates are... But con also helps on concentration checks so I don't know
With medium armour you only need 14 dex to get max AC, so there's that
With medium armour you only need 14 dex to get max AC, so there's that
Flavour idea for people who don't like having a javelin/warhammer wizard: reflavour True Strike as a sort of animated floating weapon attack, like a non-ethereal Spiritual Weapon, except it still requires a free hand to control
I am playing something similar, but started with a level of fighter, magic initiate, and Skilled. Illusionist wizards ftw!
I haven't played a Wizard in D&D since early 2000s... to see a level 2 Wizard boasting an 18AC is truly mind blowing.
In Tier 3 and 4, Bard is indeed the most powerful
because it has the Wizard spell list and better hit dice
...and Conjure Minor Elemental with the ability to make more attacks. 😩
@zTom_ honestly I think Scorching Ray is better than the entire Valor Bard subclass. So on that score Bards and Wizards are eventually tied, but Wizard has the advantage in Tier 2
@@zTom_ wotc needs to errata that spell already
@@verduriteno they do not. It takes an action to cast. The only 2 subclasses(valor and swords) that can "abuse it" are close or under the baseline without it.
If they nerf the upcast and leave it as an action - its a worse version of spirit shroud/ holy weapon
If they make it a BA and nerf it's upcast - it's a better version of spirit shroud/ holy weapon.
Hi, so I am someone who is highly critical, to the point that when I saw this video, I decided to remake my level 20 Wizard that I made to try to break the game to the highest caliber. To put it lightly, Treantmonk destroyed my build in regard to effectiveness. I'm going to make a second comment going into the specific of what I agree with and disagree with now but I just want to say that this is a really great video for info on Wizard. Like, really good.
Hey, so as someone who tries to break the game, I have some comments about the build listed above, both good and bad. Here they are:
At level 2, Treantmonk chooses Ranger to get both Armor Training and spell progression. If you are trying to play a game that favors non game breaking combos, this is the right choice. However, in terms of the most powerful option, you have to pick Rogue and be ready to take a 3 level dip for Thief Rogue. Fast Hands is stronger than any Epic Boon or spell progression. It sucks, but it's true, and if I'm honest, I wish Treantmonks choice was the best choice.
If you are someone who is looking for damage, do NOT take Witch Bolt! It is a trap! Witch Bolt is Concentration, you cannot shoot it and not lose Concentration on another Spell if that Spell has Concentration (rules as written). I know damage is tempting, but do not waste a Spell known for Witch Bolt because you will regret it.
Treantmonk choosing Illusionist was the right choice. Divination, while still powerful, does not get the same scaling in its features. When testing Treantmonks' choices, I attempted to make a Wizard alongside him, and I chose Divination, and I found that at Tier 1, Divination was better, but once you move beyond that Illusionist takes off. It was straight untenable to say that a level 7 Divination Wizard matched the Illusionist counterpart; I had to restart the video because I had to reconsider my spell choices it was so bad. Treantmonk did the right thing by not holding on to the past and choosing Darkvision as a 2nd Level Spell. It is just better, especially if you rest cast.
A huge problem with this build, however, is that it never takes Absorb Elements and Misty Step. That is practically a mandate for a Wizard. I recommend trading Unseen Servant for Absorb Elements and Augery for Misty Step. I know you lose Ritual Spells, but Absorb Elements is too important when you have a Familiar that can hopefully complete a similar task, and losing Augery can be compensated by meticulous planning on a number of occasions. Those two spells need to be on your spell list. Don't abandon them.
Treantmonk takes War Caster at Level 4. I get it, but don't do this. Take Resilient (Charisma). Do not let yourself be vulnerable to Charisma Saveing Throws. You are Charcter Level 5. You can expect to see Monster who uses this save now. Don't suffer the shutdown until Level 9. It's not worth it.
Treantmonk chose Lightningbolt as the 3rd level damaging spell. I get why he did it per the campaign, but in a general setting, remember the synergy between Phantom Steed and Fireball. This also applies to Hypnotic Pattern, which now has more range per your subclass.
That's it! Hope this helps someone, Treantmonk did a great job, so it was hard to find things to critique!
If you have the tiny hut, dont think you need Alarm as well, i can see it having use outside of the long rest scenerio but at that level, i'd probably have hoped to have found a spellbook with alarm in it already then to pick it
Hopefully, there will be some pure Wizard builds in the future.
I am surprised you didn't fit Circle of Power on the build - it boosts your saving throws ya know!
I love seeing respect for Phantasmal Creatures. Obviously they're not great for damage, but the free casting is amazing utility - more so if someone has "Beast Sense."
Thanks for this. Any chance of an updated series of ranking wizard spells?
Thank you for your video! I was suspecting you were going to put forward the point that ritual adept + savant was a key element as to why wizard is great, and it is. I'm still unsure though that it makes it the strongest class. It's definitely a contest now. Yes, the versatility is good, but in reality these will not be cast all the time, and aside from a couple of wizard only rituals, most of these are pretty common among classes, magical item effects, and scrolls.
Wizard is probably the "simplest" way to access all that utility in one shot if you have a single caster in your group for example. However, if there are many, it's going to feel so redundant and lackluster, when everyone gets a portion of that list. Essentially, party optimization eats away at wizard potency. For example, a fellow cleric could probably spare the 2 spell preparations for Augury and Divination and not feel the impact too much. The Bard could probably spare a spell preparation for Phantom Steed (later) or Tiny Hut. Sorcerer, Water Breathing. Some rituals are better than others and lean more towards "must picks", and those can be shared in a group setting.
When the game came out, many people thought ritual caster feat was bad, and I thought it was good, and still think it's great, for the same exact reason as this video points out: 6 spells, always prepared. That's good, and steals a bit the wizard's "schtick". A sorcerer could probably fit this in their progression.
To me, unique class features remain the biggest deciding factor. Versatility can sometimes happen inadvertently during a campaign by getting a good item (for example, a musical instrument for bards) and would then level the playing field and/or lessen the validity of this argument.
Anyways, good vid. A good point, IMO less valid taken out of vacuum and into a team setting, but really good if playing the group's only dedicated spellcaster.
Although you have a lot of ritual options with Wizards, you won't be able to cast them all every time because they need 10 minutes minimum to cast. It depends on the rhythm and how events unfold themselves. You would need an hour or more to cast 6 rituals spells.
Show us the plaque!
I don't have it yet, but I will display it in the background once it arrives.
Man I wish i could think of rituals that way. My DM has unfortunately been wronged some way in the past by a ritual and our environments usually have an endless supply of minions that hear the ritual being performed and arrive to interrupt. I remember we spent one night trying to to get off an identify spell in a dungeon we had cleared and slayed wave after wave of orc just to find out the sword was cursed and basically wasted our session. Even in taverns or towns the chanting attracts bandits or cultists interested in what spoils a caster who is distracted could offer. I think someone got up the hut against a dragon or something and he basically watched as the players picked off the encounter without loosing anything and that basically ruined rituals at his table forever
That sucks. That honestly would make me not want to play with them
Yuck
So the thing I love to do with minor illusion is to make something that blocks line of sight, but is just so blatantly magical looking that most people wouldn't disbelieve it even if I shoot through it. For instance an opaque wall of glowing magic sygils. "What the heck is that Fred?" "I don't know Talbot some kind of a wizard thing" "But he's just shooting us straight through it Fred" "Did you not hear me when I said a wizard thing, it's freaking magic how am I supposed to know what that is?".
The other thing about the base level of the phantasmal creatures is that they are a cheap resource to spend in less critical encounters where you don't want to spend your higher levels spell slots, just concentrate on one of them and then throw some cantrips against the pack of goblins working for the necromancer.
Call me old school, but I dislike using medium/heavy armor or shield for arcane spellcasters. It’s one rule I wish had carried over from earlier editions, that spellcasters can wear armor, but not cast spells while doing so. I don’t understand how people (not Treatnmonk, TBF) get all worked up about the martial-caster divide but then load their Wizard/Sorcerer/Warlock up with half plate.
What's to understand? Armor dipping is really strong and TM likes to optimize. But I agree with your sentiment - I want a wizard to wear a robe and not hold a shield. I would love to see a non-armor-dip wizard build and a comparison between them. Is it possible to not armor dip and not feel like an idiot for choosing to be a traditional robe wizard?
@ Well, a good example would be a Bladesinger. No need for armor at all on a Bladesinger. In fact, the highest level of armor they are allowed - studded leather - is suboptimal compared to Mage Armor if they have high Dex. And generally, I prefer high-Dex wizard builds with Mage Armor to tin can wizards. You can easily get 18 AC/23 AC with Shield spell by pumping Dex, which has other benefits as well.
Wizards don’t have to wear robes, but shields are silly when they have a spell that is quite literally called “Shield.”
What I think is ludicrous is discussion of the martial-caster divide when the armor dip is a thing. Block the armor dip and there’s no such discussion.
Hunter’s Mark works with spell attacks now. Pretty good with Scorching Ray- would make this a great dip for a sorcerer with innate sorcery.
Yeah, the Wizard is like Batman. Given enough prep time, they are the most powerful class in the game by a long shot.
Well, you've convinced me. Wizards are still the most versatile spellcasters
I totally get the desire for higher AC but I just can't stomach a wizard a shield.
I guess this is just my Old Man Yells At Cloud moment.
You’re not alone.
In regards to armor dips, you might find my video on Monday interesting. It will be titled "not enough hands in D&D" - at least watch the last couple minutes, you might like what you see.
The new Pact of the Tome is looking even sadder to me now.
I don’t understand why you cannot add rituals now. It was the main thing for that pact.
@@SergioMongeBenito Because PotT got screwed on the invocation front.
When you put a 13 into your wisdom, I thought you would use cleric as an armor dip, because it was pretty common in 2014 (looking at you, peace cleric). I mean, guidance and bless are pretty powerful. But since paladins and rangers got the spellcasting upgrade and multiclass just like artificers, it just makes sense. Especially since true strike has been changed. And both are now pretty interesting armor dips for bards, sorcerers and warlocks, too (yes, even rangers, as wis 13 doesn't hurt as much as str 13, unless you want to be a strength focused greatsword wielder.
And your video is a great showcase of why wizards are still king. All other classes got buffed significantly just to catch up with the wizard, while the wizard was there at the top waiting ...
Wizard is unique because they're INT casters, so if they wanted to dip Paladin they still have to make the sacrifice to somehow get 13 CHA plus effectively 15 STR (for Plate Armor) which is tougher than 14 DEX (Half Plate), whereas Bards/Sorcs/Locks already invest in CHA so for them it's merely a matter of buying STR and using Heavy Armor instead of Medium. Sure, STR is a weaker stat than DEX but it's not that much weaker (DEX is clearly the worst of the three primary saves, and STR is clearly the best of the three secondary saves) and you do get a tangible benefit (+1 AC) in addition to a more favorable Point-Buy spread (likely 16 CON instead of 14).
@RisingChaos that's true, for wizards a paladin dip doesn't make sense, but for sorcerers, bards and warlocks it is now a lot better than previously. Especially warlocks and bards profit a lot from starting with a level in paladin
They definitely needed to be nerfed, but I'm glad I got to use the malleable illusions + mirage arcane and eldritch adept/silent image + illusory reality in a one shot. Infinite uses silent image with illusory reality is just as broken as it sounds.
Thanks Treantmonk! 🌲🥷👊
Surprised you didn’t mention that another advantage of lighting bolt over fireball on this character is that if you use web, the lightning bolt won’t burn it up
Woot!
Hey Chris! I am curious if you can clarify how a javelin is dealing "significantly" (16:57) more damage than a Ray of Frost? Assuming TS jav (#d6) vs RoF (#d8). They both go up a die size at the same levels. TS does not grant extra damage until lvl 5, which is when RoF goes up to 2d8. I view this as you will always do less damage with TS jav than RoF at all tiers. You do have the advantage of dealing a more reliable damage type and double the range (with disadvantage) using TS jav, as well as another cantrip slot being opened for something else.
I do want to add (for self preservation) I paused the video around 10:xx to write this. You may have explained this later in the video and I am jumping the gun. TY for your time!
Youre missing out on the fact that True Strike adds your ability modifier as well. So TS Jav is 2d6 + 4 at level 5 for 6 - 16 damage (11 average) while RoF does 2 to 16 and 9 average. At level 11 its 14.5 average for JV (assuming like Chris you took Resilient Con) vs 13.5 for RoF. And at level 17 where I assume you got your Int to 20 its 19 average for JV and 18 for RoF. So the difference is never "significant" in my book but its slightly higher and you have a higher floor. You will always do 9 damage at level 17 with a JV cause of your ability score bonus while RoF might just do 4 if youre really unlucky. That is quite the difference again
@countadvocate Thank you for the explanation. Somehow I forgot mod to damage while getting lost in the sauce. Sometimes you forget the simple things. Once you consider adding mod, and the possibility of adding Dueling fighting style, xd6+5-7 (16-20stat) over xd8+0, I would agree the damage is significant for no resource cost.
@ True I didnt even consider a Fighting Style. Thats definitely a significant advantage over RoF. Sometimes it really is easy to miss simple things
Isn't Ritual Caster a good option for this build? it allows the wizard to have some more rituals off class and let you cas a ritual as bonus action, also it is a half talent.
I’m definitely in the camp of there being no strongest class since so much of the game is enjoying yourself and being expressive. If you don’t enjoy keeping track of spells or having finite resources, then wizard will feel weak since it will struggle to meet the demands of your whimsy. #kumbaya
Honestly I think Common Sign Language is probably a must have (unless flavor reasons say otherwise) for anyone choosing a second language in 2024.
hey quick question, im starting a new game soon and im makeing a wizard, i found your god wizard guide for the control wizard, the one that slows and ray of frosts doesnt use fireball etc, but the googledocs stop at level 5 the rest are not available anymore. do you happen to still have them? i loved that build and it fits perfectly with the rest of the party.
Which game system was the one you were looking at from? Was it 3.5? PF? 5e?
I've redone that same build many times.
@@TreantmonksTemple well 3rd try its a 5e one
@@Bobolomeus docs.google.com/document/u/0/d/1IeOXWvbkmQ3nEyM2P3lS8TU4rsK6QJP0oH7HE_v67QY/mobilebasic
@@Bobolomeus If it was a google doc one, this is the 5e one I did: docs.google.com/document/u/0/d/1IeOXWvbkmQ3nEyM2P3lS8TU4rsK6QJP0oH7HE_v67QY/mobilebasic
Thanks for the video! 😁 Always doing a great job!
Thought I must say, just yesterday I’ve been really curious about how I should optimize my wizard in the 2024 rules. 😅 How crazy is that?
Hey chris what you think about create bonfire over acid splash they have same range and everything but its 1d8 fire over 1d6 acid its not in phb but is on dnd beyond
Edit: i know its concentration but we can just stop conc on it at any time so it can even be used as a 1 action only thing. Would really like ur thoughts
I think it is because you are using only the 2024 rules, but what do you think about starting as an artificer, besides the armor and shield proficiencies it also saves you the resilient feat.
Yes, the Artificer dip is a wizard classic and will continue to be a wizard classic.
@@TreantmonksTemple Thanks for the answer, if it's not a bother I would also like your advice on which race to choose, I'm between fairy and goblin. Both have very good characteristics and I don't know which one to choose.
In summary - Wizards are great because of the huge utility.
Sorcerer will beat it in combat damage and in 2024 by a good margin. It all depends on if you can live with the reduced but far from no utility. A dip in bard would get the sorcerer the ritual casting and a lot of the good rituals are at level 1.
For a long time, sleep was the go to level 1 control spell. Now that they’ve added a saving throw-and limited the targets-do you consider it a flat out weaker option than Tasha’s or is it simply that Tasha’s scales where sleep doesn’t?