First off this is just his working name based off how I want to portray him. I smart guy that always has a plan. Anyway. I think I am mostly done, I just wanted you all to check my power selection and help me with my feats.
*I am thinking of taking Quick Draw instead of Imp Init, but still not sure since I do not know how often I will be using potions.
*I am thinking of getting rid of “Shield” since I took Leather Armor Prof, I might not need it.
*Any ideas for my 3rd feat?
Benjamin Linus, Level 2 Human Wiz, Good
Str 11
Con 16 +3
Dex 14 +2
Int 20 +5 (Human bonus went here)
Wis 14 +2
Chr 14 +2
Shield is always good to have. It is great for those few times that a really dangerous attacker gets through the front line at you.
I don’t think potions are that commonly used by classes that don’t get hit so often - the benefit at your level is only 2 hp. Try to keep out of the melee and that should ensure you can survive on just second wind. Anyway, drinking a potion is a minor action. So, improved initiative should be the better choice IMO - it gets you a good shot with force orb, scorching burst or flaming sphere in the beginning when the enemies might be still bunched up.
Take Action surge as a human feat. That is just great! +3 to hit with your daily or encounter power comes really handy when you are in a tight spot. This is especially good with things like force orb that completely fail on a miss.
For at-wills I would consider taking one close power. That would be thunderwave. As a human you have 3 choices and it feels like a waste to take two single target at-wills. Thunderwave is good at keeping the enemies at bay while avoiding any OA’s from them (ranged powers provoke). MM seems like a decent spell for the range, but my experience is that the range is not really needed that often.
If you still end up taking MM, try to get your hands on the bracers that give +2 to basic ranged attack damage - that makes MM a good DPS spell against single enemies.
Hmmm good point about Action Surge, I will probably end up taking that.
As far as Thunderwave vs Illusionary Ambush, your argument about having 2 single target ranged attacks is a pretty good one, I am just not sure how much use I will get out of it, but I guess I can always retrain it if I do not use it that much.
I guess that means I need to decide between MM and IA. MM is a higher damage spell (2d4 vs 1d6) but IA gives the target of my attack -2 to hit for the round so it will help the tank out more. Also MM has a 20 sqr range as opposed to IA’s 10 sqr range. Lastly MM is a ranged basic attack so it has a bit more versatility and can benefit from those bracers you pointed out.t.
IA is good against solos and elites. Depends a bit on what kind of enemies you will encounter.
I would say that if you get IA, TW and SB, you should have a good toolbox. For solos and elites you use IA to thwart their more dangerous attacks, for crowds you use TW and SB depending on strategy and enemy proximity. I’d also say that the ray of frost is also competing for the position of the single target spell, since it also is good against solos and elites if they lack ranged attacks (slow them and then keep away and blast with ranged attacks). IA is good against all solos and elites IMO.
If you really need a high damage spell for a single target when stuck in a crowd, your party is not doing it right. You are the crowd control element in the party anyway and your prime objective should be to reduce the amount of enemies that can hit the party.
Yeah, you did not specify the optional daily or utility.
Also, you did not specify what is your implement mastery. Depending on future power choices, I’d grab staff mastery to beef up defense since your con score is quite high. You did pick up a wand implement though, but dex is not your strong suit. I’d look into good magical staves and take staff mastery with your ability scores.
Expanded spellbook gets better once you get another daily. In the low levels you don’t really need it yet. Action surge is really good and so is leather armor proficiency.
Overall your ability scores seem quite high. What kind of system are you using to generate them?
By shifting some better stat to str you might be able to wear hide armor later.
Don’t be surprised if you end up going to Thunderweave. It’s has a lot of uses and great for taking out minions. But, that depends on the DM. Going down to my local game store for D&D night, I see a lot of DM’s not using minions at all, instead going for that one solo type of monster or 3-5 of the same. I think there is some fears or too much on the table at once.
As far as I’m concerned, the push with Thunderweave alone is worth it. But, it’s about enjoyment and I hope your build works well, sounds like fun. I’m DMing now and I already miss playing.
Thunderwave was the most used spell i had during that level range. I also kept shield. that +4 is too useful as an interrupt. I always remember it and because of it my wizard can get out of almost all fights without getting hit once.
Improved initiative is a near must. First you get the initiative, then you get the control, then you get the treasure, then you get the women.
For your last feat, how about Astral Fire. You get +1 damage on fire spells, you have a lot in that catagory, although I don’t think it affects the wand.
As I said in another thread, I prefer Quick Draw over Improved Initiative. The added value of being able to speed up drawing/drinking a potion is worth giving up the +2.
Monsters have obscene initiatives… You really want to get +4 IMO. Wizards are not the characters that should be chugging down potions anyway, try to stay out of the melee instead and use defensive spells to ensure you don’t get hit too often.
Improved initiative is a near must. First you get the initiative, then you get the control, then you get the treasure, then you get the women.
ha ha priceless
But in my opinion I think that improved initiative is a better call than quick draw. You don’t know how often you will need to draw potions and other things like that, but that initiative bonus will always be there for you
Instead of using quickdraw to retrieve a potion, couldn’t you use Mage Hand as a minor action to retrieve it? With a range of 5 you could even give it to a nearby Ally. Right?
Everyone has given great advice. Here are some of my thought, a few of which mirror comments already made.
Feats: Attack bonuses are always good, so Action Surge is great. Also Improved initiative is nice to get off a few control spells before the enemy get to act. Don’t ignore Toughness: it nets you 15 total HP which is about three levels worth and it ups surge value as a result. Definitely nice. Human Perseverance is good too because save bonuses are few and far between.
What is your Implement Mastery? That makes a big difference on powers you choose I think.
As far as powers go, I would stick with SB and IA. IA attacks will, which is pretty much always the lowest defense, and without knowing a monster’s stats, its the safest bet on to hit. Debuffs are always good too. After that its up to you. I think shifting gets me out of enough attacks that Thunderwave isn’t really needed, so I would consider Cloud of Daggers, especially if you are Orb mastery, to drop some constant damage on the BBEG. Constant damage may be low but it adds up. Frost Orb is a good debuff spell too to slow down the big ugly brutes so strikers can get some shots in before your defenders engage it in melee. It’s extra good if you want to eventually go for the Wintertouched + Lasting Frost combo in Paragon, but you can always retrain into it if you want.
OK cool. I think I will go with Illusionary Ambush, Scorching Burst, and Thunderwave as my dailies. I will add Feather Fall as my 2nd utility and Sleep as my 2nd daily.
As far as Staff vs Wand, I REALLY like the +1 to hit esp since I already have +3 to AC from my armor that most mages do not, as well as +4 to AC 1/encounter. I think that the +1 to hit will come in a bit more useful. But thanks for the advice.
I think I am going to stick with Imp Init since I plan on being in the waaaaay back and the rest of the party is pretty good at holding the line.
As far as stats, we use 4d6 keep the highest and reroll ones.
OOPS, forgot rituals!
And:
First we get the jobs, then we get the khakis, THEN we get the girls! Baseketball rules!:)
The wand mastery gives your dex bonus to hit for one attack per encounter. With DX of +2 it is not really utilized to the full extent. Why not get dex +3 and con +2 if you go for wand? For staff, your stats are just fine.
In fact, dex is not too useful for most wizards anyway, since int is used for AC and reflex. You do seem to have lots of moderately good (14) ability scores to use though.
Oops, you are right. For some reason I got it in my head that wand of accuracy gave you a blanket +1 to hit when using a wand in addition to the +dex to hit power. Heh musta been wishful thinking combined with the +1 to AC from the staff. Staff Mastery it is.
So I guess I should trade out my wand for a Staff of the warmage +1?
[Edit: LOL, WOW!!! I now have the highest AC in the group!!! and the option to get it up to 24 2x battle]
