tyler
Journeyman Douchebag
Posts: 226
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Post by tyler on Mar 22, 2017 8:19:33 GMT -8
I'm playing in a 20th level game that started in 3.5, converted to Pathfinder, then converted to 5e just recently. We've had two sessions since converting to 5e, and my 20th level wizard has cast a grand total of 1 useful spell in combat.
The rest of the party includes a Circle of the Moon druid, a Battlemaster fighter, a Barbarian, a Battlemage (an acrane caster variant that I am blanking on the source of) and a Cleric.
I'm struggling to be more useful, and am looking for any tips and tricks for playing Wizards that you guys might have. I'm a Conjuration specialist, as that's what he was in Pathfinder, but I'm finding the summons in 5e are somewhat lackluster.
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Post by kurtpotts on Mar 24, 2017 10:04:34 GMT -8
I feel like Wish is the answer here. Use it to cast Simulacrum.
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Post by kurtpotts on Mar 24, 2017 10:40:49 GMT -8
Or fork over the cash to cast simulacrum while you have foresight and simulacrum prepped. Then have the simulacrum cast simulacrum on the Druid while he has foresight preped. Then have all your simulacrums cast foresight on everyone.
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D.T. Pints
Instigator
JACKERCON 2018: WITH GREAT POWER COMES GREAT RESPONSIBILITY June 22-July 1st
Posts: 2,857
Currently Playing: D&D 5e, Pathfinder, DUNGEONWORLD, Star Wars Edge of the Empire
Currently Running: DUNGEONWORLD, PATHFINDER
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Post by D.T. Pints on Mar 24, 2017 14:08:05 GMT -8
What I wanna know is how long does a combat take with 20 lvl characters? How much damage gets dealt in a round collectively. The idea of the day when our 8th level group gets 12-15 gives me the MATHS sweats...
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Post by ilina on Mar 26, 2017 13:26:45 GMT -8
5e nerfed summoning, buffing, debuffing, battlefield control, save or die and save or suck spells used by PC classes and even wish isn't as strong as it used to be. in fact, by lowering the overall amount of player character hit points by reducing the attribute cap and well, by reducing baseline common damage numbers. damaging spells got an indirect buff. monsters have less hit points and less damage output as well.
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D.T. Pints
Instigator
JACKERCON 2018: WITH GREAT POWER COMES GREAT RESPONSIBILITY June 22-July 1st
Posts: 2,857
Currently Playing: D&D 5e, Pathfinder, DUNGEONWORLD, Star Wars Edge of the Empire
Currently Running: DUNGEONWORLD, PATHFINDER
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Post by D.T. Pints on Mar 26, 2017 15:28:46 GMT -8
That's for sure! My 6th cleric of the Our Lady of Dark Waters Tempest Domain can call Lightning, maxdamage it and do 40 damage a round for many many rounds....great to be on the caster end horrifying for his 42 hit points to ponder being down range of an opponent with similar abilities.
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Post by ilina on Apr 27, 2017 1:06:38 GMT -8
5e Rewards Direct Damage and encourages everybody to dish it out. ability damage is extremely hard to come by short of a rare few monsters, and well, i recommend taking better offensive spells than just cantrips. having played a 4th level sorcerer, i can assure you that magic missile and burning hands are quite potent early on. even if you don't use the pre errata version of the evoker bonus that let you add your attribute bonus to each missile. literally wounded shadows quite badly with burning hands before proceeding to pick them off with magic missiles. sorcerers gain very few spells known, but the ones they do recieve tend to hit pretty hard.
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Post by ilina on Apr 27, 2017 1:10:00 GMT -8
5e actually makes level 1 damage dealing spells useful at the mid levels. it also makes level 1 damage dealing cantrips useful.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Apr 27, 2017 2:11:57 GMT -8
I'm playing in a 20th level game that started in 3.5, converted to Pathfinder, then converted to 5e just recently. We've had two sessions since converting to 5e, and my 20th level wizard has cast a grand total of 1 useful spell in combat. The rest of the party includes a Circle of the Moon druid, a Battlemaster fighter, a Barbarian, a Battlemage (an acrane caster variant that I am blanking on the source of) and a Cleric. I'm struggling to be more useful, and am looking for any tips and tricks for playing Wizards that you guys might have. I'm a Conjuration specialist, as that's what he was in Pathfinder, but I'm finding the summons in 5e are somewhat lackluster. Treantmonk's Guide to Wizards, pt 1 This is the guy I turn to for wizard advise. I hope it helps you.
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Post by uncommonman on Apr 27, 2017 2:31:06 GMT -8
Stay in the back...
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Post by ilina on Apr 27, 2017 16:18:05 GMT -8
you mean stay in the middle. any smart dungeon crawler knows an Ambush from the back is just as likely, if not more likely than a frontal assault. so i generally place my mages in the middle where they are protected on both sides. very few monsters don't use ambushes, pack tactics, and general exploitation of either the terrain or their ability to alter the terrain.
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Post by ilina on Apr 27, 2017 16:32:52 GMT -8
if you know you are going to be fighting either vampires, shadows, wraiths, drow or kobolds. i recommend procuring some renewable means to reproduce a daylight spell. a daylight spell from the Party Artificer's Floating Globe literally saved my sorcerer's life and allowed to her to nuke 2 shadows every 3 rounds with magic missiles. real sunlight was a highly effective weapon to carry around.
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tyler
Journeyman Douchebag
Posts: 226
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Post by tyler on May 10, 2017 8:45:16 GMT -8
So, thanks to the entire rest of the internet, I realized the power of a simulacrum.
We've been 20th level for awhile, so the DM gave us the option to take an Epic Boon from the DMG. I took the one that gives me an extra 9th level spell slot. So I used one of my 9th level spells to cast Wish to cast Simulacrum on myself, giving me a second 20th level wizard, with full spell slots. The DM was NOT pleased.
After I used a few of the simulacrum's spells, I could tell he was annoyed at me doubling my output, so I decided to true polymorph my simulacrum into a mount. He was about as happy with that (as I now had an ancient brass dragon mount) as he was with the stack of extra spell slots I had given myself. So, a few rounds of devastating use of the brass dragon's breath weapons, NPCs were suddenly aware of the fact that they could cast Dispel Magic. One round later, my dragon was gone.
Unfortunately, this means that Simulacrum will probably never be effective again, because as soon as it is out, it'll be a target for dispelling. Also, because the DM really realized the effectiveness of Dispel Magic on wizard spells with a duration, Shapechange and True Polymorph are now less effective as well.
Looks like I'm going full Direct Damage next time!
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Post by kurtpotts on May 10, 2017 10:48:29 GMT -8
Sorry to hear that. Dispel does take an action and if they don't use a spell slot equal to the level of the spell you cast it requires an ability check with a dc of 10+ the spells level 18 or 19 for the spells you mentioned. So at worst they lose their action casting it at best it takes a couple actions. Especially if the spell targets multiple people I think they would have to cast dispel on each creature.
You can also cast silence on the guy who is dispelling you. Dispel has a verbal component. You'll need some way to keep him in the sphere once he is silenced though. Do you have a grappler in your party?
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Post by ilina on May 10, 2017 13:18:11 GMT -8
cast Silence on a copper coin, and have a sprite familiar fly around holding the coin. note that this only works if you have an intelligent familiar with a fly speed, such as a sprite, pixie, imp or mephit or at the very least, a highly intelligent hawk, butterfly or raven.
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