Treantmonk's Guide to Wizards: Mid level tactics 

good point!

If you center the cube on the Paladin, it actually doesn't affect them, with how Cube Shaped spells work. (From what I remember reading)

Nimoot that’s true but it doesn’t affect what I am saying?

@@smbakeresq meaning you don't need to center it Above the Paladin, you could have it centered directly on the Paladin, and have that square be the 'safe spot'. But you could do either/or if it's just a Large/Hugh creature you're trying to dazzle.

Nimoot it can’t be centered on him, everything in the Cubs is affected. He can’t be in the cube

They also lose reactions so no counterspelling while slowed.

Agreed on DM'ing most creatures in a very straightforward manner. Only enemies who are noted to be particularly intelligent, cunning or combat-savy should use unusual or unexpected combat tactics (beyond initial set-ups that come natural to them - like hiding in their terrain). Playing creatures with an INT score of below 10 as tactically as possible is metagaming by the DM and very quickly leads to playing *against* the players, not *with* them !

One thing I didn't quite understand. How does the Sleet Storm spell reduce movement to a third of normal? I understand a halving thanks to difficult terrain. How does it work?

I have the same point of confusion as Breno. How does sleet storm slow down more than half here?

@@StarryxNight5 on a failed save they get knocked prone and will have to burn movement to get back up.

He said heavy obscurement would cost extra movement. Not sure if that is in the rules. ​@@brenomatos8384

I actually post the video earlier (usually the night before, but sometimes several days earlier) and schedule the release time.

Ah, comon, you getting up at 5 to post it is way cooler! 😄

​@@theMrLifehe gets up several days earlier though! 😮😮😮

Thank you!

The main difference is that an Arcane Trickster's main ability is sneak attack, so they are more likely to be attacking each round. Arcane tricksters will absolutely make use of shield and mirror image for defense. At 13th level I'm absolutely taking Hypnotic Pattern, and you can make it ultra effective if you use your cunning action to hide before you cast it (due to Magical Ambush)

@@TreantmonksTemple With a Ring of Invisibility, I've been contemplating swapping out Shield for Earth Tremor at 8th level, until I get Hypnotic Pattern at 13, then switch back to Shield at 14. I figure it would be fun to sneak among a group of enemies for a ground-pounding surprise attack.

Yes, to really make use of a fog cloud effectively, you would need to use stealth. That way, enemies wouldn't know where to attack.

Assuming you are helping the creature, then it falls under implied consent.

And I have heard of people using disguise self while inside a fog cloud for all kinds of shenanigans.

I agree, haven't done a build guide in awhile.

@@TreantmonksTemple Amen, starting my first ever wizard too, a bladesinger, and these guides are very very helpful, any chance you'd give bladesinger some more love for guides? you did a bit of gish stuff recently, and it'd be cool to see how you'd work them or at least yell at people that they're a FULL WIZARD with a sharp stick, but they do play a little differently, so it'd be cool to hear what you think about how you'd play one out

@@sharkforce8147 To be fair, that probably is the best way to play it, though I've ended up as the front line tank of our party with the only real melee and very comparable health to the rest so far :^) I'm likely to die, here we go

@@anarcnamedjustin3451 I've been planning a bladesinger myself. It looks like using Xanathar's "Shadow Blade" -- first with the SCAG cantrips and then with your extra attack -- can give you good offensive damage (psychic!) though spell levels 5 or 7. Because of this, I'm thinking I'll use my combat concentration on that for a good long while and only gradually transition to non-offensive combat concentration spells through spell levels 4, 5, and 6.

@@bigdream_dreambig Honestly, I think shadowblade is a huge trap, you get more out of stuff like booming blade and flaming sphere combo, and remembering you're a wizard, if you want to be a shadow blade in your face killer, be an arcane trickster rogue or an EK fighter, especially when you come to 5th level spells, animate objects is just going to absolutely shit on anything shadow blade can do for you, TM's made a guide for bladesingers, highly suggest watching that, very good reason he talks down extra attack and shadow blade both generally

Counter spell and Slow love it ! Definitely taking them now : ) and in the campaign I am in I foresee they will be very usefull, thank you.

It can get pretty dumb if you managed to somehow get 20 dex + 20 int and then take the alert feat. 20 dex is silly on a Wizard, granted but still...maybe when rolling stats you just get lucky.

Treantmonk is generally of the opinion that control, buffing, and debuffing are generally the best thing for a wizard to be doing at any given time, and doing damage is largely something to be doing only when your other focuses are already fulfilled. That is to say: the wizard is a flexible enough chassis that all subclasses excel in these areas, though a few add quite well to the functions above. Abjuration makes the wizard more durable, which is always good. Bladesinger does the same, but focuses on avoiding damage, not soaking it up; allows you to sometimes fill a role as an off-tank if you absolutely need to go into melee . Conjuration becomes better later on, allowing for a good deal of potential tanking via disposable minions. Divination stops you from taking crits, protects people from save or suck roles, and can force a failure on a major debuff. Enchantment makes otherwise horrible spells more useful via twinning, and allows a broader range of control, even potentially letting you avoid combat in certain situations. Evocation makes you a glass cannon that at least doesn't hurt your allies while pursuing that focus. Illusion has a wide suite of abilities which generally make your control options more flexible, and can even save you from using many spell slots that you might otherwise via changing old spells; however, this school is notoriously DM dependent, and the versatility could be needed to near uselessness given inflexible, unimaginative, or adversarial DMs. Necromancy allows you to have numerous disposable minions that can potentially take on and defeat powerful monsters for you, with the main limitations being number of bodies, morality, and how annoyed your DM and other players get by you clogging up space and action economy with 20 more medium-sized companions with shortbows. Has the nice option of stealing a high level cleric in the form of acquiring a Mummy Lord slave at particularly high levels, if your DM obliges you. Order of Scribes generally adds a great deal of utility by affording additional breadth of spells able to be used, assuming you have the resources, and gives added flexibility in scouting and spellcasting range. Transmutation... does _something._ It frees you up for an additional feat choice and eventually let's you heal a bit, as if you dipped in cleric? Shame the immortality option isn't really there. War magic gives you better initiative, meaning you can have a better chance of establishing control under optimal conditions. You're also slightly more durable, which could be nice. (I am not familiar enough with the physics wizards of Wildemount to make a comment on their abilities. Other than that Chronurgist seems better for wizards' primary roles.)

I haven't recorded those vids yet, but my plan is to, with each spell reviewed, discuss if any subclass can use it to greater effect. P.S. You are most welcome!

@@TreantmonksTemple Awesome! Can't wait for it!

This is a great flag. I'm a diviner currently, and while I agree with Treantmonk that disintegrate is a "meh" spell because a successful save is a bitter waste of a 6th slot, holy moly is it a nifty nuke to have in your pocket when you *know* it'll land.

I don't always pass on those spells, but I do take it into account when evaluating. Especially poison. Con saves average higher, but not all that much higher.

On ice, it is hard. On sleet? It is fine.

Nope. DD is not nearly as good for a small caster

Maybe the difficult terrain + prone stacked

@@asiantrashpanda I did some digging he was actually incorrect and has commented that he made a mistake

There is a rule for hampered movement, but idk if people are aware about it. Basically heavy obscurement causes you to move 10ft when moving 5ft

@@valentinrafael9201 I think that's homebrew

@Stefan Erwin Baumer I've mentioned 10 feet hemisphere, didn't I? It's very small, can't trap scattered medium foes or a single huge fore. Basically, it's not as powerful a spell as I was led to believe.

seems like you are misinterpreting 10 feet with a 10 foot radius, a 10 foot radius means from the center outward in every direction, so it would be 20 feet from end to end, which means it can capture huge and even gargantuan creatures... as to enemies being spread out, sometimes that is the case and you just have to deal with it, works the same for all fights... if there are 5 enemies and none of them are together then it is not a good time for fireball and other area of effect spells, but when they group up that is the time to strike

@@arcanerecovery2567 no, I'm not confusing 10 feet with 10 feet radius. Excuse me for expressing myself poorly. I'm pretty sure you can't fir a huge creature inside a 10 feet radius sphere, because the spell description state that if the force wall crosses a creature's space, the creature is pushed to one or the other side. And pushing inward would be impossible, because then the creature's space would be crossed by the wall on all sides.

@@arcanerecovery2567 10 feet radius is basically a cross shape, according to templates for spell effects in 5e. A huge creature is a square made with a side of three 5-feet tiles. It can't fit into 10-feet radius sphere without the sphere crossing the space of that creature.

@Stefan Erwin Baumer no, you can't. 10 foot radius sphere is a cross shape on the map. Huge creature is a cube that does not fit into that shape, the sphere crosses that cube. The sphere pushes away creatures whose space it crosses. It cannot push inward, because that way

Correct on both counts.

Not at all. I've been planning my first wizard characters and have had a similar issue. I find that what I've done has been to "rebel" against the various guides every so many spell selections and pick something useful or flavorful that's unlikely to be relevant to combat (like Disguise Self or Detect Thoughts). It's important to keep in mind that the game is pretty balanced and the level of difficulty is adjustable by your GM, so your character doesn't have to be some optimized machine. But these guides are still good because they help you know which choices have what kinds of impact.

Another thing to keep in mind is your are not limited to the spells you prepare. Scrolls, etc. Additionally, the spells you prepare to go to a fight, might not be the spells you prepare when meeting the Queen.

The thing about Wall of Force is that it is most effective against groups of enemies, which you can effectively cut in half, making combat trivial. Using it against a big singular enemy is not always smart, for exactly the reasons you mentioned.

For your divine soul, you pretty much only need spirit guardians. Most other concentration spells are a distraction.

Christopher McKee Like I said, for my party setup Hypnotic Pattern is the go-to spell since we have access to Aura of Devotion. But yes, Spirit Guardians is the backup mook killer/dungeon clearer and also very good since my whole party has Booming Blade. More often than not though I only use it upcasted after my level 3 slots are gone. Haste and Greater Invisibility are more questionable, but they were requested by the party. I’m considering swapping them out for Counterspell/Revivify, but then I won’t have many things to Twin.

@@M0ebius honestly, one of the best uses of twin for a divine soul is cure wounds.

Are we assuming these are melee gish characters? If so, there's no short answer, this video is about god style wizards. Generally, spirit guardians is immense for a gish character, and well worth upcasting with higher level slots, however, mind your concentration. Gish characters REALLY need to layer those defenses, it's even more important because you tend to be an easy target.

Christopher McKee Twin Healing Words, yes, if two guys are down. I would never waste sorcery points on Cure Wounds. Hell my Sorc doesn’t even have Cure Wounds.

Correct on both counts. The actual area covered is technically similar (since fireball is technically a sphere), but in squares on the map it covers more area.

The way I count spherical aoes in my campaign I DM is that with a sphere is that I always cut off the corners of the same foot cube for a spherical spell (in the process of trying to arrange proper acrylic shapes)

It doesn’t, they just might not have any actions or movement left.

@@smbakeresq Gotcha. In Treantmonk's example with the trolls, he cast the spell and didn't move those trolls that failed their save nor do any other actions on their turn. I just thought it was misleading.

Brian Pickel it is misleading.

Brian Pickel although Sleet Storm grows in value if you have forced movement, you push them in and maybe knock them prone again. With a Paladin with Spirit Guardians up they are frozen if in both, their speed is halved and then movement cost is doubled.

@@smbakeresq Agreed, combined with other player ability/spells and conditions it is a decent spell. Just just cast by itself as the video suggested and ending those trolls turns prone might mislead players to its effectiveness.

This is especially funny because the Giant Ape has an Int of 7, and I know in one campaign I played in, turning the Paladin into a giant ape didn't change her Int at all.

Well, one advantage is no friendly fire, though the damage per target is so-so

@@TreantmonksTemple The damage per target (33) is almost as high as cone of cold (36) or an upcast fireball (35), though with the more-generally-effective force damage type -- and better than Synaptic Static (28), though without the latter's debuff properties. Is there better damage per target at 5th level from another non-concentration spell that I'm missing? (Even if there is, I do still like the flavor for a bladesinger.)

@@bigdream_dreambig I think it's very stylish. Could be dangerous having to get in to melee range though. Enemies could have held actions, or other ways to snare you or reciprocate the damage.

@@themedic1137 The good news is that, mechanically, you only ever have to be within 5 feet of _one_ of your various targets.

You answered your own question. If you want to cast haste, play a sorcerer and twin it, otherwise it isn't as effective as other options.

@@cmckee42 depends on the target.

@@dustinsmith2021 fair, but the circumstances where you would cast haste on a single target are cases where that single target is more than twice as effective as any other member of the party. For example if you have 2 casters you can haste a t-rex, which is very effective. Also if you know it is the last fight of the day against the big bad, hasting the paladin can allow then to burn through their smites at superspeed. But 95% of the time, you will want to concentrate on something else.

No, I can't really discuss every spell that's decent for Wizards, so I focused on some highlights. Haste is an OK spell for Wizards, though I would point out that the effect is fairly minor unless the target has a really big single weapon attack damage. Adding it to a vengeance pally for example, who has advantage on the attack, can smite, and may have a hunter's mark up and may be adding great weapon fighting as well, will be a lot for effective than throwing it on the Rogue for example.

Treantmonk's Temple Rogues with Haste can hold action an attack with their normal action and Sneak Attack with the Haste action, effectively doubling their damage.

When it comes to spell preparation (just as a demonstrate in the video by prepping in each direction), I'm Chaotic Neutral.

Personally I tend to prepare spells in a fairly random order, preparing the highest priority spells first regardless of level.

Neither. Wall of force is a sphere, leomund's tiny hut is a hemisphere (different than a dome). Both have a bottom.

Treantmonk's Temple Alright thank you.

You are not wrong, Jeremy Crawford has indeed tweeted that an unconsious person cannot give consent for a dimension door. Personally, I think that's dumb. I'm Canadian, and we have a law called the Good Samaritan act, where a bystander attempting to help an unconsious person in good faith is considered to have consent. That makes more sense to me.

Solution: rp asking the Party for consent to cast all the contingency spells you'd cast while their unconscious.

@@wizard380 that's not because control isn't important. It's because there isn't any long duration control. When control is both purgeable, and only lasts for a couple seconds when it does work, then it's not really an option. I promise though, introduce something like Hypnotic Pattern, and it will almost instantly become the deciding factor in every fight.

Really depends on who makes the game. Control is important in DnD because the designers make it powerful with spells like Hypnotic pattern. It's less important in WoW because the designers make control weaker, probably because it would make PVP less fun.

@@ronaldeldonald which is an odd supposition, since WoW has never been particularly successful at its PvP, and many games that are centered around PvP and have been very successful, have strong control features. It forces a more strategic approach, and rewards disciplined teams -just like in D&D.

It's a sphere.

You can choose a wall, hemisphere, sphere, or even a more irregular shape.

I actually created a damage graph on the old WOTC boards that charted spell damage by level and drew a straight line of what I considered "good" damage, which wouldn't have been exactly 9 points per level, but it was close. I use 9 as a very rough guideline. As a point of interest...a meteor swarm actually does 15.5 per spell level!

Treantmonk's Temple That is some pretty diligent and useful work, thank you for the quick reply. Also jeez meteor swarm. I’m pretty new to the game and have only really read about it and seen it on spell lists. When ever I think about it I can’t help but imagine an end of the world type scenario with slow motion explosions and heart wrenching choir music playing as the world is torn asunder.

@@binolombardi Yeah, that level of play is pretty rare, but it's a great visual (wrath of god kind of stuff), and when do you get to roll 40 dice?

Falling prone means using half their movement to get up, difficult terrain means using 10ft to move one square, I would've placed the effect further forward, rather than what he did, but it is still great for battlefield control. It's just way better against spellcasters, ranged attacker or any creature who's abilities require sight. Not trolls.

The hampered movement rule says that: “Difficult terrain, obstacles, or poor visibility can hamper movement. When movement is hampered, each square moved into usually counts as two squares, effectively reducing the distance that a character can cover in a move.”

Just wanted to add that I have read your extensive guide to pathfinder wizards, and playing a campaign now with a conjuration wizard. It doesn't have your opinion on things like opposing schools or spell preparation for different levels. Other than that though it is very well done and I appreciate everything you've written on the subject.

The general principles can be adapted to pathfinder, but wizards are broken enough in pathfinder that extensive guides (beyond what has been done) would be overkill, especially with 5e draining the PF player base.

Ok thanks for the quick response, keep doing great vids. Love them all.

@@matthewpippin1551 just to clarify, I am not Treantmonk.

Hmm always thought you were, then who is?

Yeah, Dragons generally don't have spellcasting, and definitely don't have it as a legendary action. It may have been a homebrew dragon, or your DM didn't like you shutting down the battle and the dragon became homebrew on the fly...

It functions fine. It's kind of a poor man's wizard, less spells, less spell selection, missing the cool ritual magic mechanic, but overall, it can get the job done.

Treantmonk's Temple Bards do have the ritual casting mechanic. What they don’t have is a spellbook.

The cool ritual magic mechanic I'm referring to is not having to prepare rituals, while a Bard must have the ritual as a spell known. This means the bard will have significantly less spells to choose from when casting.

Treantmonk's Temple I agree there's less versatility but do the applications of basic inspiration and cutting words make up for it when filling a 'god wizard' role in your opinion?

Peter Osborne From personal experience the Bard list has many holes, and Magical Secrets is not quite enough to plug them. Bardic Inspiration/Cutting Words are hard to quantify because it depends on how many encounters you run. For my table, with 6-8 encounters per adventuring day, we have a Sorlock and a Bardlock split the load of a God Wizard, which is more effective in combat but still not quite as versatile.

it's me I'm going to do that I ❤ killing

It would be hilariously powerful... if it didn't require your concentration. Instead, it's just fairly good. Same reason that things like Blur and Protect from Energy are okay but not outstanding: if you're using your concentration just to defend yourself, that severely limits what you can do to actually contribute to winning the fight. Fly becomes less generally applicable than it appears on paper. If you're using it on yourself, it isn't foolproof; your enemies will have the ability to use attacks, spells, or other abilities at range increasingly frequently as you level up. And if you are in a combat where being in the air makes you untouchable, you could accomplish the same thing equally effectively with Levitate, a lower level spell. The alternative is if you are fighting enemies that can fly themselves *AND* you have a party member that has no way to contribute unless they get into melee, then Fly makes a lot of sense as a buff you can give them. And I would be remiss not to mention that of course Fly is useful outside of combat. But this video covers general principles that apply to MOST parties in MOST situations. Fly doesn't fit that bill.

@@dylandugan76 no

Well duh it says it's a wizard guide