Starting a Wizard

Introduction
A wizard is an arcane spellcaster, similar to a sorcerer, but with a few key differences:


 * A wizard learns spells from scrolls, expanding his library of known spells, and can learn every arcane spell in the game, unlike a sorcerer that can only learn a few but cast them more often.
 * A wizard's spells are powered by his Intellect and requires a component to be cast.
 * The wizard can cast Repair spells, healing Warforged characters without the penalty imposed on Cure spells.
 * The wizard has a very limited selection of simple weapons, and can only wear cloth armour, heavier armour incurs a chance of arcane spell failure.

These factors typically force the wizard out of melee to the back row, contributing to battle with his ranged spells and his crossbow. If a wizard is getting involved in melee combat, something has gone wrong (unless you are playing an uncommon Wizard build that focuses on melee).

Races
A wizard's main ability scores are Intelligence and Constitution.

Drow have a +2 racial bonus to Intelligence. Humans and half-elves can take racial enhancement that increases their Intelligence by 1. These three races have the potential for highest DC.

Warforged are a great choice thanks to good hit points and reliable self-healing via arcane Repair/Reconstruct spells.

Elf wizards suffer from reduced constitution; however, the Elven Arcanum racial enhancement can help especially first-life wizards to penetrate Spell Resistance in end game/epics.

Multiclassing
With a high Int and frequently a decent Dex, it's tempting to multiclass a level into Rogue. Rogues have more useful skills than Wizards, and to deal with high-level traps and locks, you have to have a level of Rogue to not automatically fail before you roll the dice. It takes away a bit from the spellcasting, and wizards are most powerful in the endgame, but you might find you get back more than you lose. At the end of the day, you should be better at finding traps but worse at opening locks than a pure rogue, and if that's how you want to play your wizard, play him that way.

If you choose to multiclass with some Rogue in your Wizard it is commonly suggested you take your first level as rogue for more skillpoints.
 * Every character gets four times his usual number of skill points at first level. Since Rogues get 8 per level and Wizards only get 2, taking rogue at level 1 gives you 24 more skill points.
 * Starting as a wizard however would give you an eternal wand of fire, as well as a robe giving an effective +1 caster level on the 1st level spells. The wand can still be obtained as the reward but leaves you without a reliable weapon when you first enter the game if you skip the opening quest. N.B if starting using Veteran Status, i.e. taking 1 rog then 3 wiz, you can choose your starting gear and still receive the wand and robe.

Attributes
Strength is typically not a useful stat for wizards. Some wizards might increase their Strength in order to haul more loot without becoming burdened, and others might increase it in order to be more resistant to strength sapping effects, like Ray of Enfeeblement, Ray of Exhaustion, or Ability Damaged to Strength.

Dexterity helps a wizard to avoid being hit in combat by any of the many enemies who may become enraged by your damaging spells and charge past the melee combatants to attack you. A few points into dexterity will only help at low levels, however. It also helps to protect you from becoming helpless from the condition Ability Damaged to Dexterity.

Constitution is always helpful for any character. More Constitution equates to more hit points, and a higher Fortitude save, which are otherwise very low on a wizard.

Intelligence affects a Wizard's casting ability. Higher Intelligence leads to higher spell point totals, higher save DCs for the spells he casts, and more spells known at level one. The great majority of Wizards start with 18 or 20 Intelligence. (20 is only available to Drow elves.)

Wisdom affects a Wizards Spot skill and his Will save. Higher is better, but very few Wizards have a Wisdom score higher than 12.

Charisma affects many skills that Wizards can find useful. Haggle, Diplomacy, and Use Magic Device can all be useful, if you plan for it.

Feats
Wizards get one free Metamagic Feat at each of levels 1, 5, 10 and 15. These bonus feats can be any of the following:
 * Empower Spell - Doubles spell point cost and increases damage done by 50%
 * Enlarge Spell - Increases spell point casting cost to double range at which spell can be cast
 * Eschew Materials - Increases spell point casting cost and allows you to cast without material components
 * Extend Spell - Increases spell point casting cost by 50% and increases duration of spells by 100%
 * Maximize Spell - Adds 25 to spell point casting cost and doubles listed damage.
 * Quicken Spell - Increases spell point cost and allows you to cast a little more quickly, with no chance of interruption
 * Spell Focus - Selected for a type of spell, it makes that type harder for enemies to resist or ignore.
 * Greater Spell Focus - Selected for a type of spell, it makes that type harder for enemies to resist or ignore.
 * Mental Toughness - Increases available spell points.
 * Improved Mental Toughness - Increases available spell points.

Other feats Wizards find useful include:
 * Combat Casting - Allows you to cast while moving at full speed. Without this feat, you can move only at half speed while casting.
 * Spell Penetration - Gives you a bonus against enemies with Spell Resistance.
 * Toughness - Increases hit points
 * Insightful Reflexes - Use int instead of dex for reflex saves

Skills
Many skills can be useful to a Wizard, under the right circumstances. Plan ahead, before you make the character, as far as which skills you'd like to be able to use. Some of the frequently helpful include:

Balance allows a character to get up after he's been knocked down in combat. Since preventing the knockdown requires either high Strength, high Dexterity, or the divine spell Freedom of Movement, investing in this skill can help you to stand back up sooner after some creature does knock you down.

Concentration will allow you to cast spells while being hurt. If you take damage while casting, you have to roll a Concentration check, and the higher your bonus is, the better your chances to succeed. Failure means you used the spell points but the spell did not come into effect.

Diplomacy can allow you to convince enemies to leave you alone. If the party runs into a large group of enemies and one or more of them comes after your wizard, you can activate the Diplomacy skill to convince them that some other member of the party is a bigger threat, and they will leave you alone. This skill can be very useful, but it works only sporadically until you have a great many points invested.

Haggle will allow you to purchase supplies at slightly lower prices. Since Wizards have to purchase inscription materials in order to scribe spells, and they will continue to purchase these at all levels, Haggle can be a very good investment. Just a few points can really go a long way.

Repair allows you help Warforged characters recover more hit points at shrines. Many Warforged will take ranks in Repair, knowing that clerics don't typically devote skill points to it. As Repair is a Class Skill for Wizards, and most wizards have more skill points than they really need anyway, it can be very helpful to any Warforged you group with if you invest heavily in this skill and take the time to stay near the warforged while it rests at the shrine.

Use Magic Device allows the wizard to use race restricted equipment designed for another race, and allows him to use scrolls and wands made for divine casters such as Paladins and Clerics. Wizards can use Arcane magical devices like scrolls and wands without this skill.

Enhancements
Your class enhancements are geared towards your spells, so after you grab the extra spell points, enhance whatever spell or spells you find yourself using most. If Burning Hands is your go-to spell, take Elemental Damage Boost to improve all fire and cold spells. You can always reset your enhancements for a small fee, so play around and see what works for you.

General considerations
The consensus opinion on starting Intelligence seems to be that a starting score of 17 to 18 is necessary. Starting with an Intelligence score of 18 maximizes a Wizard's starting DC and grants a few bonus spell points. The spell point advantage is minimal, but the higher save DC is very important. Having a higher DC for all of a Wizard's offensive spells reduces the chance that enemies will succeed at full or partial saves, making the Wizard more effective overall.

One school of thought says that an Intelligence of 17 is the maximum utilization of a character's ability increases. Most of the time, if a character puts all of their effort into improving Intelligence, a starting score of 18 will yield an oddly numbered final score, while a starting score of 17 will yield an evenly numbered final score (the even result being the maximum utilization of resources). Therefore, a starting Intelligence of 17 with the current level cap of 20 you could achieve an INT of 22 before applying tomes, class enhancements, or item bonus's.

Not all Wizard players believe that a high Intelligence is key. Some players choose to avoid using offensive spells in favor of using buff spells almost entirely. These Wizards often play multiclass characters to gain fringe combat abilities to be able to both buff other players and contribute to combat without being forced to utilize offensive spells.

Conclusion
As a Wizard you can learn every arcane spell, this means the ability to pick and choose which spells to memorize before going on a quest, making a Wizard very versatile.

Arcane spells fall under one of five categories:

1. Offensive spells like Magic Missiles and Burning Hands, every Wizard needs some kind of offensive spell if they plan on doing any damage that wont result in their quick death.

2. Buffs (spells that aid yourself and your allies) such as Haste or Cats Grace, Stoneskin or Shield.

3. Debuffs (spells that hinder enemies) such a Ray of Enfeeblement, Bestow Curse or even Break Enchantment (can be used to remove curses/magic effects from your party or buffs from your enemies).

4. Repair spells that can heal Warforged (keeping yourself alive means keeping other party members alive first).

5. And finally crowd control spells such as Web or Deep Slumber, this type of spell limits the number of attacking enemies or at least hinders their approach.

Wizards are one of the most versatile classes in the game, able to be the most dominant in crowd control spellcasting (along with the Bard class), or secondmost in damage output after the Sorcerer Savant. Pick and choose which spells and Enhancements suit your play type.