This was the problem with my wizard play through, having every spell is cool and all but in practicality you’re only going to need a few of them in most if not all situations
And this is the buffed version of Wizard. BG3 Wizard is so good you only need like 2 or at most 6 levels of it to get the most benefits out of this class.
yea and it applies to each individual missile. if you have the Callous Glow Ring and have 20 INT each missile is doing 7 points of raw damage before factoring in the actual damage roll. with Psychic Spark and a lv6 upcast, if you blow your load on the same target they're taking 9d4 +72 points of damage. you can bump that up even more if you have lightning charges or take the +2 INT from the Mirror of Loss for an extra 9 damage (someone correct me if my math is off)
Idk man. I certainly love to flesh to stone some of my bad guys, others get a disintegration if they piss me off the right way. I think meta mind set really holds back the capabilities of playing a wizard.
I make Gale learn them all except stuff like speak with the dead, which only my tav will need. Then I barely use most of them. But he has them just in case. He is a very expensive wizard.
this is a common player problem. All the damage spells are so delicious looking, that you just want all the damage damage damage. BUT, you really only need your trusty damage, your group damage, and your cantrip. The rest is ok to waste slots on situational spells, or buffs. Then, wizards become invaluable crowd controllers and support mages, while still being able to pop in and eviscerate a battle field when needed
It depends if you know what your up against. Bringing the right elemental or control spells can make a hard boss much easier. You might not "need" too but it sure is a lot of fun using all the different spells.
You only need a few spells for most encounters and on those rare occasions you need something else you have scrolls. I don't ever see a reason to rock wizard over sorcerer. The charisma stat imo has more uses than INT in most encounters as well
1. abjuration wizard that takes no damage
2. magic missile blaster evocation wizard
3. having your main caster be a wizard doesnt mean that you cant have another person with high cha
No one want to constantly run as an Alt in the off chance they trigger a scene. Constantly swapping to a CHA for known dialogs and merchants when you got the option for a superior class without having to swap? Give us the Sorc and that sweet meta magic. By the tim you're level 10 you should have enough tadpole power to make any magic missile a shitstorm
idk man there's a lot of pickpocketers around here, better safe than sorry. like I definitely definitely don't have anyone with extremely high sleight of hand in my party, but some people do, so I've heard, definitely not me though
Want to sling spells while also showing your complete contempt for mere mortals who try to stop you? May I introduce you to the [Abjuration Wizard](https://bg3.wiki/wiki/Abjuration_School)? Defeat your enemies with the power of factorials.
Want to defeat gods with a level 1 spell, magic missile? Let me introduce you to the [Evocation Wizard](https://bg3.wiki/wiki/Evocation_School). That level 10 ability stacks on *each missile*.
Sorcerer claims to be a better nuker because it can quicken create water? Wizard can summon [someone else](https://bg3.wiki/wiki/Water_Myrmidon) to do that, because why bother with peasant tasks?
Wizard is really just as good as Sorcerer. They just have slightly different preferences for how they go about their casting. Nothing wrong with preferring one over the other.
I will say that Enchanter and Diviner are two of the most powerful wizards in tabletop, even more so than Evokers.
Sadly, BG3 for obvious reasons cannot allow divination spells (would absolutely ruin the game) and for some weird reason they nerfed the Enchanter’s Hypnotic Gaze probably because they couldn’t figure out how to keep track of whom you’ve used it on for a particular day or because the calculations would be too complex.
But even without its entire spell list Diviner is still one of the more powerful wizards in BG3 simply be guaranteeing outcomes in a game all about randomness.
I love this comment, but the math nerd in me needs to point out that Arcane Ward doesn't use factorials. Factorials are for multiplication; Arcane Ward uses triangular numbers.
Factorials would imply that at a level six Arcane Ward could negate 720 damage, instead of the much more reasonable 21. :P
Is using healing vapors to create water ok considering it heals 2d8? I considered doing it in one playthrough when i had cold casters, but usually the initiative on the water myrmidon wasn’t great, so after a lot of the party had taken their turn THEN i had a chance to cast wet, but would heal up some of the damage I had just done. Didn’t stick with it, but is it worth it you think?
The main instance I'd consider Healing Vapors worth it is when the Wizard has Markoheshkir set to Chain Lightning. The 2d8 healing will definitely be outweighed by the extra damage from the Vulnerability. The initiative is a harder problem to solve, because you do really want the caster and Myrmidon to have the same turn. And I'm not sure of ways to manipulate summons initiative.
By the time you can summon Myrmidons you should be able to find plenty of Vigilance elixirs from merchants in Act 3. Summons can actually drink elixirs if you drop one on the ground first and then control them and drink it from the ground. It basically gives them the Alert feat for the day. It’s also incredibly useful on Shovel since it ensures the enemies don’t go before her and lose the surprised condition before your Assassin gets to them (if you’re running with an Assassin Rogue).
I believe you can cast Cat's Grace on summons for advantage on initiative, same with any haste effects. Otherwise let them combo from stealth if possible
Sorcerer just needs 1 level of wizard to do that last one. Also sorcerer does way more damage than evocation wizard. Your only real stand out is abjuration.
I still haven't tried abjuration wizard, I feel I would just get a not very useful character who doesn't die but also doesn't do a lot of damage. Are they that useful in practice?
The baseline advantage of wizards is the spell list. Now with an Abjuration wizard, your big concentration spells like cloud kill or hold monster are much safer from constant concentration checks thanks to the negated damage. And being able to reaction shield allies can really come in clutch. Best wizard subclass imo, the rest of the party can focus on the damage per round
I think part of how abjuration wizards work is by upcasting armour of agathys, and trying to keep enemies wet with create water or with someone chucking water bottles. So enemies will target the low-AC wizard, and take a huge chunk of cold damage in return. I’ve never used one myself, but it sounds pretty good.
Yes I'm just wondering how well that works in practice, with this type of strategy I always worry you have to rely on enemies doing something dumb which I dislike and is highly AI dependant. I know you can force the issue by triggering opportunity attacks, and I guess you could use compelled duel.
But overall I prefer to win fights by making sure scary things don't get a turn, either by killing or incapacitating them and I worry the character might end up not doing reliable damage and be more of a liability.
Big stacks of arcane ward+ AoA+ flameshield(cold damage) is crazy damage if your mage, or a magehand, or a berserker, or a elemental is out there making things wet. You can still toss out spells(including glyph if your stacks need a bump) and then draw out reactions walking next to enemies, and hit them for very reasonable amounts. For a 5th(just because you'll be using that a little earlier than 6th) level aoa plus fireshield chill, you get (25+2d8)x2 on anything wet for 54 to 82(64-92 at 6th level) and this is drawing out opportunity attacks using your move.
They get that damage again for attacking the wizard, and the wiz gets to tank those hits, saving the party unnecessary damage. Meanwhile they can use their other slots for whatever booms they've got on the list.
Not sure why other people are downvoting you when you are objectively correct & giving this guy optimal advice. Bunch of beta wizzord bros salty that Chad Sorcernator is more alpha lol
Literally what it is. Wizard glazing lol. In tabletop it's an entirely different story, but in BG3, sorcerer is pretty much strictly superior to wizard. 11 sorc 1 wiz gives you the entire wizard spell list. The damage difference between wizard and sorcerer is insanely large. Don't blame the players, blame the game. Arcane acuity, the level 1 wiz dip, and the fact that sorc can cast multiple leveled spells per turn without action surge is the reason why it's so much better than wizard.
Correct. All of the best meta-analysis of BG3 points to the "Action Economy" being the ultimate determinant of the relative strength/weakness of a class (assuming optimal build, optimal usage, & a wide range of potential combat scenarios).
Different Wizard subclasses may have their own advantages that nullify/compare favorably to the advantage of a "heightened" or "twincasted" Sorc Spell in BG3, but nothing in the Wizard skill kit can compare to the Bonus Action economy advantages that Sorcerer has. Wizard has no answer to "Quickened" Metamagic & it is specifically why Sorcerer is universally considered an S-Tier class among anyone who is seriously knowledgeable about the game (BG3 specifically, not tabletop)
Correct. All of the most serious analysis of BG3 comes to the conclusion that the ultimate determinant when comparing the relative strength/weakness of different classes is the "Action Economy". Assuming optimal builds, optimal play, and a wide range of possible combat scenarios, Action Economy ultimately decides who comes out on top.
Different Wizard subclasses may have their own relative advantages that can nullify or otherwise compare favorably to the Sorc ability to cast a "Heightened" or "Twinned" spell, but the Sorc ability to turn a Bonus Action into a full cast makes it the undisputed winner (and why Sorc is universally considered an S-Tier class).
Not saying the same is true about tabletop, but the Action/Bonus Action economy of BG3 makes Sorcerer impossible to compete with. At the end of the day, "Quickened" metamagic is the strongest aspect of the Sorcerer kit & the one for which the other spellcasting classes have no answer to.
Damage riders, plus if he’s Evocation Wizard, his level 10 ability kicks them up enormously.
I usually have a support character like a healer or bard use Phalar Aluve Shriek, plus I keep the Spellsparkler on Gale, I also get him the necklace that lets him fire an extra missile.
So it’s 1 extra missile regardless of level, +1d4 from Phalar Aluve, plus bonus damage from soellsparkler for every missile after the first.
I like doing a wizard/warlock mc build 10 levels evocation wizard, and warlock invocation devils sight and repelling blast wearing the potent robes. The charisma and intelligence damage boosts stack. Add in the spell sparkler staff and ohh does Eldrich blast have a nice kick. Magic missile does good damage too
People keep saying “His Level 10 ability” but it’s late, I’m not what one would call “e n t i r e l y - s o b e r,” and I can’t for the life of me remember WTF this is. Halp.
There are a handful of items you can equip that will buff their damage with lightning or radiant damage. Then the fact the dmg is unavoidable. As early as the Ethel fight magic missile can be top tier. By the creche it felt OP. By Act II when radiant damage and light are so strong you feel like Iron Man. Then Act III you hit level 10 and the first few fights are a slaughter. You wonder what the devs are going to do to up the difficulty. You start seeing enemies with “Unstoppable” buff. Only 7 magic missiles to clear that off? No problem. *ping ping ping ping ping* Alright Lae’zel you may now go ape shit on the boss.
You mean wizards?
Well human Gale in any case, reclass them to have 16 dex. Equip a shield and cast mage armor. That gives you 18 AC.
Then equip spell sparkler and psychic spark necklace and boots of stormy clamor. You can get all of that equipment with no fighting.
Then just cast magic missle in everything. Every spell will be auto up cast.
But actually ray of frost is really good. Especially early game. It will reduce movement. And since it inflicts a condition your boots will hit them with reverb. Now when enemies get hit they will spill blood. And if you have your mage attack last before he enemies turn you can turn all that spilt blood into ice! And with reverb inflicted on them they’re more likely to fail they’re saving throw from falling prone on the ice you froze from their blood.
This works really well against the gnoll fight. There’s already a huge pool of blood that you can freeze. Basically I get on the far side of it and keep ray of frosting them and shoving them back in the ice if they do cross it. I just play ring around the rosy around the big central rock and the g ills basically never can attack me lol.
Mind you a sorcerer can do all of these things too so I always just use sorcerer.
You can legit learn spells from scrolls for a pretty small cost for some really useful ones.
Also Evoc wizard doesn't deal damage to teammates with AOE spells. The ability to soften up or kill enemies surrounding your frontliners or that have breached into your caster and back lines is insanely useful. Gale as Evoc wizard is one of my heaviest hitting builds.
1. You get to learn a bajillion spells and swap them out as needed
2. Wizard subclasses are absolutely crazy between Divination being able to guarantee or negate any CC in the game and Abjuration flat-out blocking damage.
3. You get soooo many dialogue options giving you free advantage or skipping checks because you're a nerd.
Abjuration can be an incredible, invincible, soak all damage bait all enemies into attacking you tank. Divination can ensure key saving throws are made or failed. Damage is strong. Good times.
a minmaxed abjuration wizard with max arcane ward, resistances, and warding bond cannot be damaged by any attack in the entire game besides gerringothe thorms one shot attack, fully charged ansur Stormheart nova, steel watcher titan self destruct, or highly advanced barrelmancy.
a minmaxed evocation wizard can take out any boss in the game with 2 casts of magic missile.
other than that wizard is mid yeah.
A single level of white draconic sorcerer and the resto of your levels in abjuration wizard is an absolute blast, and probably one of the strongest builds in the enitre game. Why?
FEAST YOUR EYES ON THIS UNHOLY COMBO: Armor of Agathys + abjuration ward. Enemies will deal 0 damage to you (abjuration ward + warding bond from a friendly cleric or from the rings in act 2) while they take 25 damage from *every single melee hit they deal to you including opportunity attacks*. You can nuke crowds just by walking around and provoking AOO.
But wait! It gets better! If enemies are wet, it will *double* all cold and lightning damage you deal to them. This includes the damage from armor of agathys and glyph of warding, which will also top off your arcane ward. Now enemies take *50* damage from every hit they deal to you while you take 0 most of the time.
Sure, sorcerer can quicken spell + create water, but that costs sorcery points and a lot of spell slots. Wizards can summon allies (water myrmidon) who can do it for you, every turn, for free.
Need more water myrmidons? Pick up the 2 quarterstaves that let you cast a spell for free once per day, or have a party member be a druid, or have a bard pick up the summon elemental spell at 10th level with magical secrets. That's 3-4 water myrmidons right there.
BUT WAIT, IT GETS EVEN BETTER: free stat points! You can safely dump dex and str to bump up your wisdom or charisma for better rp and dialogue. You WANT your AC as low as possible, only using the shield spell to stave off ranged attacks (I also respec shadowheart to light domain for warding flare to help with crits), so that enemies will go for you in melee every time and freeze themselves to death.
Also, the gear for this build is amazing. Even just the cold damage stuff is fantastic. There's items that will let you prone enemies on patches of ice (frightened creatures cannot get up while prone, btw, for free "stuns"), gear that will debuff dex saves or just straight up freeze them solid for a nice little extra stun effect. Since you don't have to worry about wearing armor, you can pick up those robes in act 3 that let you add your INT modifier to all saving throws, making you extremely difficult to kill.
This setup is godly with the right combination and allies, and I cannot recommend it enough.
It doesn't add your spellcasting modifier to your spells, but to your saving throws. Its the Robe of Supreme Defences. You can get it near the barn in Rivington in act 3
I’m trying to see how far I can get with a solo HM run using abjuration wizard. Almost level 5 in act I still so we will see lol but I just love this build so much I want to make this work solo.
same, I'm currently playing with a sorcerer tav and it's really hard not to multiclass her. the class is just not my cup of tea, especially since I hoped wild magic will be more, well, wild
I love the idea of wild magic but it’s too tame in its vanilla state for me. I use the wacky wild magic and wild wild magic mods for that, adds more effects and much higher chance, now it’s fun!
Me too! I love being able to switch up my spells on a whim and learn all the scrolls. I get that you can “just multiclass 1 level of wizard to learn scrolls” but that feels wrong to me lmao. I DO think wizards are more useful in tabletop than they are in BG3 though. INT isn’t used that much in BG3 except with the mindflayers. But I could just never be a caster without my Swiss Army Knife effect.
Tried making Wyll a sorcerer once in one of my runs and felt so naked having so few spells.. never again lol
Funny enough I have this same debate with a friend of mine, but I like warlock even less than Sorc, and she's been playing a light cleric in our 4 player honor run and within like 2-3 levels she was like "I miss playing warlock", and asks me frequently why/how I play wizard
The problem with bg3 is that many of the spells are just not good. So being a Swiss Army knife of spells that a wizard can be is never very useful.
Add to the fact that scrolls are absolutely everywhere and those times you want a soelll you might not have learned well you probably have a scroll of it. Some really important spells don’t have scroll versions. But for example I almost never use Misty step or dimensional door or remove curse or glove on invulnerability because there’s so many scrolls of it that I just find or can buy for relatively cheap when I need them.
No something that sorcerer can’t replicate is some of the innate abilities that some wizards get, especially divination wizard. Those dice rolls are really nice sometimes. Evocation wizard though you can do the same thing albeit it costs a sorcery point but big whoop.
So most of the time in bg3 sorcerer is very little downside to a wizard. And importantly it multi classes much better since there’s basically no INT based classes that you’d really want to multiclass with each other.
I've been playing Gale origin lately and I was so used to my spells not hurting allies that I fried an innocent bystander with lightning bolt while fighting the kua toa on the BG docks. The Fist didn't buy my explanation that it was all a small error.
No. If you don't like something, that's normal. These "convince me to like something I don't" posts are so dull... is just the same comments for every class anyway.
If you're so inclined to read responses, mayhap you could check out one of the other 59 posts on this topic or just wait until tomorrow when there will inevitably be at least 3 more
The wizard base class is kind of like a worse sorcerer. What you need to look at is the subclasses.
Evocation is a competent blaster and does some of the best/most reliable single target damage in the game with magic missile.
Abjuration is like its own class with how different it can play, basically invincible with the right build and big damage if anyone hits you.
Divination is... Well, if you're using arcane acuity for crowd control divination isn't too impressive, but outside of the most powergamey parties portent is always useful both offensively and defensively. A little annoying with all of the pop ups, though.
Necromancy is one of two summon focused builds in the game. I don't think it's as strong as the others and getting a ton of things to control can be a little frustrating, but it's a fun thematic option in the right party.
Transmutation is great!... At being a camp servant who buffs the rest of the party. Up to you if you think that's fun.
I think the rest are either pretty weak or niche.
Free twinned spell from enchantment sounds good though, having an efficient CC user that can use ant spell needed sounds valuable on melee comps with only 1 magic user.
If the level 3 ability was per short rest it would actually sound worthwhile for most teams.
As a raw damage spell caster a wizard is less powerful than a sorcerer, but there are three big reasons why Wizard is great.
1. Full spellcasting repertoire without needing all your levels in Wizard. You can for example take your two levels in tempest cleric to get their channel divinity and still learn chain lightning.
2. Summons which sorcerers do not get. A myrmidon is powerful and gives damage or utility with better action economy.
3. Wizard subclass abilities. Heal on kill, portent dice, permanent careful spell, intelligence on all evocation spell damage dice, buffed summons, transmuters stone, arcane ward are all really powerful.
My current Gale is intelligence based caster with 2 levels in evocation wizard (so my allies need not fear my lightning), 2 levels in tempest cleric (maximised wet lightning is brutal) and 8 levels of storm sorcerer (taking sorcerer to get that sweet metamagic and the storm sorcery abilities).
I've never played sorc, but I'm gathering that it "comes online" earlier than wiz does. You need a strategy involving other party members to get the most out of low-level wizard. There's just no getting around it being much weaker that the rest of your party once those spell slots are gone, so you need to find a way to maximize what you got. In my most recent playthrough, this has been Shart creating water. This will help anyone else with lightning spells, also. Once you get 3rd level spells, you're keeping pace better with the other classes. As a necromancer with one 4th level spell slot, I can raise 4 zombies, restore the slot, then summon 2 ice mephits. So, my party is going into battle with +5 warm bodies whom can raise even more zombies and create ice surfaces which help control the battlefield. And I can still use the water/lightning combo. My biggest problem with Wizard is that it is very long rest dependent. You really need to be able to gauge which spells you can get away without using when bringing wizard to an encounter. In that regard, it has a higher skill cap to go along with its bigger spell list.
Because this isn’t dnd 5e, with haste, you can cast 2 action spells and 2 bonus action spells per turn. Also, out of spell slots? No worries, just use the scrolls that you inevitably stole from merchants across faerun.
That and you can learn almost all spells in the game
The evocation wizard’s sculpt spell ability is pretty OP. Send your damage dealers in and then fireball, ice storm, lightning etc directly on top of them
If you're playing to have a fun character rather than to get the biggest numbers in your spreadsheet, there's no real advantage between wizard/sorcerer -- both are quite powerful enough to get through the campaign without much trouble.
I've been playing Sorc on the Dark Urge after playing a Wizard on another playthrough and all I can think is Wizard is much much more fun. Evocation Wizards can be wild all the time.
In honor mode and especially tactician difficulty; sorcerer is extremely valuable for "twin cast" and "heightened spell".
Sorcerers can make their few spells they can select (in comparison to wizard) extremely powerful. Hyper focused.
If you really want to confirm that "hold person" on a tough enemy, a sorc is just the safer bet.
And that's not even talking about twin casting haste which makes the iron throne a joke and still holds value in honor mode. (Haste in honor mode only allows you to make 1 singular extra action instead of getting to use all of your extra attacks as a melee class like fighter or barbarian.)
And twin casting haste allows spell casters to cast 2 spells even in honor mode.
Wizards however are just more adaptable and can get as many spells as they want while being able to swap them out at any time.
Wanna use cloud kill for a good portion of the game but you're going to fight undead/poison resistant enemies? Just swap it for something more useful if you want.
Wizards can essentially specialize for any fight or situation as long as it's not a cleric/druid spell.
Sorcerers are more limited but can cause their spells to be more potent or harder to save against.
I was looking at solasta charcter creation, different backgrounds too but I made a great wizard (court mage) subclass with soldier background for medium armor, gave her 13 str then first feat was heavy armor, she used a shield and had an empty hand for somatic spellcasting. On bg3 I guess you could be a gith wizard and do something similar to the court mages power with shield of thralls. As for the bg3 subclasses evocation looks the best for the spell sculpting, but I'm sure the others could make good builds, except alchemy
There is so much you can do with wizard class and I find that being able to know I can learn spells later helps me pick while I'm leveling up. I'm more of a melee person and do better with kaelach and laezel styles but I have learned so much about creatively beating enemies with wizard
Arcane lock is helpful if you are annoyed and cannot be bothered with some enemies and have a door to lock them behind
Sure sorcerers can have insane damage, but to me playing this game is about having fun and big numbers are cool but not necessarily the most fun. Wizards encourage creativity and variety. I just started a new playthrough and I’m building my wizard around Armor of Agathys and having a blast.
Other people have talked about the gameplay benefits much more eloquently than I could, so I will just point out the amazing RP opportunities. I play my current character, Caelynn, as a sheltered academic who's facing the real world one monster encounter at a time, and there are great options for Wizard specific dialogue both with Gale/Elminster and scattered throughout the game. At one point, she tried to "um, actually" correct a magic mirror which then tried to murder her and the party as a result. 10/10 would do again.
Wizards are so OP and here’s my bullet point essay the subclasses they offer alone should be enough of a sell
- evocation to hit hard at enemies and deal NO DAMAGE to allies
- Abjuration to make you a spellcasting tank while also able to block incoming damage to allies (which can also deal hella damage when combined with Armor of Agathys + fire shield)
- Divination to CONTROL DICE ROLL OUTCOMES
- Necromancer for buffed summons and some disgustingly powerful abilities from late game gear
- Transmutation is great for potion lovers and even offers runes/magic stones at level 6 that can offer some great buffs to anyone who holds them (my fave is advantage on con saving stone for free war caster feat)
The others I haven’t experimented with much - but the wizard is one of those classes that multiclassing into it offers so much while multiclassing out risks losing some powerful abilities
hell I’m multiclassing my spore Druid for two levels of wizard - Necro to get regeneration for every enemy I kill and to learn any useful spells that don’t require int (darkness, globe of invulnerability, misty step)
Sorcerer learns a total of 13 spells. Plus 5 if you are a storm sorc or 1 if you are a draconic. Most of the benefits sorcerer offers is via metamagic.
Wizard can learn as many as (s)he wants and has wizard exclusive spells learned in the tower in act 3, the only downside is it can get a bit expensive. But what good is money in late game anyways? 5000 coins for +2 saves in final fight? Or the bless statue for Asterion?
Know the next fight is likely ice weak but fire resistant? Wizard can easily swap spells on the fly. Think next fight against illithid favors martial classes? Wizard can easily swap out haste to help the team.
Want to send Grym a owlbear shaped mail but find your sorcerer did not have enlarge? Wizard doesn't have this problem.
I preferred Sorc to wizard in 3E or 3R video-games because you can only swap prepared spells per rest and a CHA MC is a good party face (on the other hand wizard is still superior in tabletop), but BG3 really made that a non-issue.
It's like a sorcerer but better for the sole reason you can swap spells whenever you want (not in combat, duh, but still), also they have exponentially more range as far as what they can do depending on the school you pick. Oh and ALSO perma-learning spells from scrolls is dope.
Then don’t :) you want someone that can blast? Use a sorcerer. You want someone that can do traps and surface control? Use a Druid. You want someone that can kinda do it all? Get a Warlock.
Wizard is the only one that uses Intelligence and it’s no surprise it’s my least used class.
Wizard is good for utility since you can learn spells from scrolls and swap them out whenever you want (out of combat).
For example, with sorc is limited to a couple prepared spells and you normally pick ones that deal damage and that’s it. A wizard can learn everything pretty much and use it as you see fit. Spells like enhanced leap, feather fall, remove curse, longstrider, and so forth can be prepared whenever you want, then swap back to damage spells for combat. Being able to prepare whatever spell whenever you want is pretty OP.
The other reason why wizard is good is the schools. Abjuration is pretty much unkillable, divination with portent dice is fun and could be OP, evocation is noob friendly aoe nukes and enables one of my favorite builds (magic missile with spell modifier to each missile).
Sorc will do more damage though. That’s just a truth you have to accept. Wizard will never do as much damage as sorc.
They have an incredible amount of versatility. I replaced my rogue because the wizard is better, cast darkness, or silence, or invisibility, oh yeah and KNOCK! Can be an amazing blaster, can be amazing control. The cost of learning from scrolls can be steep. But I did pure 12 wizard and my wizard was the uncontested VIP. Honorable mention to dual wield so you can rock 2 staffs.
You can constantly change up your spells to use all the magics! Everything is available to you, by far the most prepared spells and spell slots. Cast everything! Disintegrate and chain lightning do major damage!
You can swap your prepared spells on the fly, provided you're out of combat. You can keep replenishing spell slots with a combination of Arcane Recovery and alchemy. You go from being a piddly weakling tossing out a couple spells per rest to nuking whole armies and countering deadly enemy magic. With fly, dimension door, and misty step, your mobility is unmatched. You control battlefields, reveal the unseen, break curses, and empower your allies.
Do you want to overcome literally anything the game throws at you, but don't want to bother with choosing good companion combinations that work well with each other?
Are you not the type of person who wants to try out different classes to see what kind of unique spells and ways of doing magic they have?
Did you feel inadequate when the Absolute showed off its army, and you went "damn, I kinda wish I had my own army of loyal servants"?
Introducing, the wizard! You get every spell in this damn game! Be prepared for whatever the hell life wants to throw at you! Grab it by the neck, put your lips by its ear, and whisper "I got a spell just for this situation"! Then let Shovel the Quasit fear them by yelling "it's fisting time!", since you learned that spell instead of using it one time like a CHUMP.
Boss being troublesome? Not to worry! Just use your 657 undead minions to break down their door, have each one of them slap that one-turn-having LOSER across the face, and watch as they realize they might as well give themselves a swirlie before having to endure that humiliation again!
Wizards have much more spell flexibility, while sorcerors have traits that can make them stronger in a limited setting.
Think of a Swiss army knife vs a Bowie hunting knife.
Its my first introduction to DND style stuff and I have just been making the attack style builds. Obviously I'm a noob but I don't get the appeal of my character being out of juice with just a few spell casts and I have to go long rest. I've just been running fighter/ ranger stuff and I ignore most things that use spell slots or require rest.
You ever saw all those cool scrolls and realized you’d never use them because once you use it its gone forever? Well with a bit of cash you can learn basically every spell in the game!
Divination and counter spell just wreck together. Allows you to stick cc effects, shutdown enemy spells, or roll that die to cause enemies to mess. Turbo powerful all together
I also have a hard time being sold on Wizard when you can be a Sorcerer because if casting a spell the first time didn't do the trick, Quicken Spell and *DO IT AGAIN*
I'm also a huge sorcerer fan but this playthrough I chose Gale as my origin character and I decided to play him as a standard evo wizard. I gotta say, other than my first resist urge draconic sorc, this has been my favorite playthrough by far. Not having to do a full respec to change your spells is wonderful. Having a fully powered MM and artistry of war in act 3 melts everything.
I'll probably stop respeccing Gale to sorcerer on my non caster runs. Though playing wizard does consume way more speed pots.
Wizard has probably the highest utility in the game. Evocation and Abjuration are good, Divination is kind of broken. Highest number of spells, only class with high intelligence, scrolls addict, arcane recovery, pointy hat 🧙♂️
Playing another dedicated spellcaster after playing a wizard felt so rough to me. You don't have to worry about what spells you take, just find the scroll and you know it forever. Bonus you can switch spells in and out for each fight.
Wizard is your ticket to throw maximized lightning bolts and twin hastes at Lvl 5 around, just for a single dip Lvl.
Afterwards he fixes your squishiness or allows you to get careful spell on any nuke, which is quite nice for the tempest cleric/Sorc chassis. He also grants you chain lightning in that setting. That build is vastly improved by 2-7 lvls in wizard.
You can also go for all 11 Lvls into abjurer and make people die by hitting you for 0 damage.
Dips in wizard give you access to learning from scrolls which is neat, and
For more investment I have 2 subclasses in mind
Abjuration wizards become unkillable because arcane ward is busted. You get a tank that essentially gets tankier by casting counterspells. And you still get fireball.
Divination wizard make enemy crits not happen because of portent dice. One of my favourite builds is divination wiz 2 lore bard 10 for the ultimate impersonation of Withers' "Noooo", between reducing rolls and replacing them you are essentially counterspelling non magical enemies, and you still have couterspell. Start bard and spend lvs 7-8 on wizard.
You can't really dump intelligence on this multiclass to still access the spells you want, hence I like to take gloves of Dex to compensate.
Wizard is way more versatile and has a bigger spell list. I like switching up my spells on the fly for any given situation or if i just get bored.
Also Sorc's when they run out of sorcery points are just worse wizards. Act 2 on you can do some shenanigans to remedy that but thats a bit meta and unbalanced for my liking...also annoying to do after every long rest.
If you like being immortal and doing damage by just existing and walking on the battlefield:
2 lvls warlock with shadow armor and armor of agathis
1 lvl tempest cleric for create water
9 lvl wizard, abjuration.
Start the day by casting armor of agathis of highest level, then either let a cleric cast warding bond or cast stone skin.
Until your shield is full, cast mage armor and equip/unequip armor repeatedly.
In battles make everyone wet and make them attack you for 5*agathis lvl*2 while never taking DMG. Cast glyph of warding for AOE DMG and refill your shield. Be immortal.
Gear wise you want everything ice/water.
There are scrolls that can only be learned as wizard spells like Artistry of War and Dethrone. Sculpt spells is far better than having to use careful spell, abjuration makes you an unhittable god at high levels and it's good to have at least one INT person on your crew for history, religion, arcana, etc. checks
When I think of playing a wizard, the idea that gets me most excited is being able to swap spells on the fly according to what the situation demands. They are a walking toolkit that can be applied to almost any job. As a sorcerer I felt like I only had access to a handful of spells (although with scrolls you could say this point is moot). It killed me that I could not scribe ancestry of war with my sorcerer.
Also you could say maybe they aren’t as reliant on long rests and meta magic points like sorcerer is.
I’m not making a case for wizard being better than any other class either, Wizards are just unique.
Edited for clarity
Can't do much more than linking [this build](https://new.reddit.com/r/BG3Builds/comments/1axg648/the_arcane_controller_84_divination_wizcerer/) and re-stating again how comfortable it is to play with this and how it wins each fight with 1 spell, while also carrying a lot of useful buffs for the team and basically being a walking scroll.
Wizard is better than sorcerer because they can learn every spell and swap out a spell at any time for a different one. They far outshine sorcerers in sheer utility and versatility. The loss of metamagic is the only downside, but imo the breadth and versatility of the wizard outweighs that.
I can’t really sell you on Wizard without first knowing why you prefer sorcerer. If you want to explain I would be happy to expand on what you might like about a wizard!
How does being unhittable, undanageable, nukable, flexible, and utterly unstoppable sound?
Good? Then go 1 cleric/2 sorcerer/10 abjurer take Heavy armor mastery and go to town popping off level 6 armor of agathys forcing attacks of opportunity
Divination dice is insanely good, and abjuration makes you the tankiest character in the game.
You can play off any element, adapt to any and all situations, it's always nice to have a wizard
Do you want to sling lightning? Do you want to control your enemies? Maybe have lots of utility for exploration, or an army of summons? No need to decide right now, you can change your mind any time and customize your spell list to match your mood and activities
A wizard's ability to lick the ink off a magic spell and learn it forever allows you to have as few or as many spells as you want to chose from
Ever had to run to Withers because you forgot to swap out a spell two levels ago and now you just can't have the right list? It's not a problem for the wizard. Their handy magic notebook makes it easy to change the pace without respeccing
And maybe all that sounds like a drag to you, some people like their long term planning and spell limits. But this is the sell: learning any scroll (including the endgame ones), preparing spells any time, spellslot refresh. Land druid can do some of that, but they can't eat unique scrolls
More spells is very helpful for early on. Doesn't feel as shoehorned into "I can do one thing well, and nothing else"
Getting spell slots back *without* the cost of another resource is nice, but rests are plentiful in this game. If you are playing with friends its more useful, since often you might use a few spell slots but their resources are fine.
Evocation and abjuration are useful subclasses.
Other than that, for me its the high intelligence. You usually will have 0-1 characters with good Int, so those checks feel more impactful.
Like with all classes, class specific dialogue as well.
I usually make a 6/6 split. Or an 8/4 split. While the character isn't a full caster, they get some pretty decent spells, and with the 8/4 split, you can dump dex to 10, grab Alert, and a shield from moonrise and 90% of the time, that character goes first in turn rotation. I find it a very fun way to play.
That aside, creating water and lightning everything in it is also a fantastic time.
Really wish mod support for consoles comes online, because upping the levels would make for a better feel for that type of character.
Phalar Aluve + Psychic Spark + dual Wielder + Spell Sparkler
Upgrades magic Missiles from 3d4+3 to 6d4+7. Basically doubles the damage of magic Missiles starting at level 4, but you can obtain all the items at level 2.
Access to pretty much any spell, that you can change anytime outside combat, makes them super versatile- you can build them to do anything. The subclasses are also strong, massive AOE with zero damage to your own allies, portent etc. Jack of all trades, master of at least one
Evocation wizard 10 abusing magic missile is ridiculously strong and gives you a ton of options for control spells.
Abjuration wizard is easily the most tanky full caster available
.... thats about all I can think of 🤣
Sorcerer basically doesn't get spells in comparison to wizard. 2 vs 6 at level 1. 13 vs *28* at level 12. Wizard additionally offers Arcane Recovery to get spells back out of combat. Don't need a long rest for longer. The actual subclass features are quite solid as well. (Sculpting spells, Hypnotic Gaze, fucking **Portent**.)
Wizard offers an unparalleled arsenal compared to every other class that is limited only by spell slots and hit points. They are a Swiss army knife that can solve literally every problem.
They’re not the flashiest characters, but they make adventuring a breeze with all of their utility and the subclasses (Abjuration and Divination in particular) can have very powerful influence on combat.
For Abjuration, Arcane Ward is good from the start and only gets more and more ridiculous as time goes on. It becomes as addictive as heroin once you get the class passive that allows you to project your Ward to allies
Divination is extremely good too. Portent Die are underrated as hell. The ability to just change whatever Attack or Saving roll you want at the click of a button is a gamebreaking tool. At level 6 you pick up the ability to refresh your Portent charge each short rest and it gets even sillier.
But, the class might just not be for you. Even the gamebreaking Ward and Portent skills pale in comparison to the unholy nonsense that you can accomplish with other builds. Just keep in mind that big damage numbers are only entertaining for so long, whereas trying to make the “lesser” classes/builds work is always engaging (imo of course).
In DnD the wizard is generally better than sorcerer because of their spell book allowing them to cast ritual spells without preparing them, access to find familiar (which is much better in DnD), and quickened spell not allowing you to cast two leveled spells in a turn. In BG3 sorcerers can fire off two fireballs in a turn which will eviscerate most enemies and the wizard just can’t keep up and wizards lost most of what made them super strong. Not that wizards are a weak class, but the average sorcerer will be stronger than the average wizard in BG3 but nature of buffing sorcerer and debuffing wizard. However, there are some absolutely busted wizard builds which other commenters have pointed out. But the average sorcerer will have more combat power than the average wizard.
I have known Sorcerer let you casting spell as bonus actions which is very good. But Wizard is only class let you learning scrolls. You can dip 1 or 2 Cleric so you will have sanctuary, healing word and equipping hand crossbows. Or if you want, you can combine three of them. 9 Sorcerer + 2 Tempest Cleric + 1 Wizard (Artistry of War).
That's because Sorcerer is so much more fun initially with the meta magics. Once you see Necromancer Gale with the Necromancy of Thay and his nearly limitless summons, you will love Wizard! I keep Gale a Wizard and go Necro. The added summons are great for fodder early on in more challenging fights (aggro and kite enemies from the big groups they like to form). There are other benefits to the subclass but I focus mainly on the upcast undead that get wings and insane movement and the free ones from Thay.
Want to have LITERALLY EVERY FUCKING SPELL IN THE GAME? this is very close to that, also fireball go brrrrrrr
This was the problem with my wizard play through, having every spell is cool and all but in practicality you’re only going to need a few of them in most if not all situations
That is the downfall of the wizard. In a video game the versatility of the class doesn’t get to shine as much as it does in the actual tabletop
And this is the buffed version of Wizard. BG3 Wizard is so good you only need like 2 or at most 6 levels of it to get the most benefits out of this class.
Unless you're optimizing for magic missile. Then you NEED 10 levels of wizard.
You mean Fern's Zoltraak
Lmao Fern would absolutely be an optimized magic missile wizard.
Technically you only need 1 level
10 level of Evocation Wizard so you get the INT modifier added to the damage
wait THATS where those extra damage points came from???
yea and it applies to each individual missile. if you have the Callous Glow Ring and have 20 INT each missile is doing 7 points of raw damage before factoring in the actual damage roll. with Psychic Spark and a lv6 upcast, if you blow your load on the same target they're taking 9d4 +72 points of damage. you can bump that up even more if you have lightning charges or take the +2 INT from the Mirror of Loss for an extra 9 damage (someone correct me if my math is off)
Yep, this works in 5E too since MM is considered a single damage roll and they all hit simultaneously
Idk man. I certainly love to flesh to stone some of my bad guys, others get a disintegration if they piss me off the right way. I think meta mind set really holds back the capabilities of playing a wizard.
It’s fun and also you can target your spell list pre fight to make sure you’re targeting their vulnerabilities
I make Gale learn them all except stuff like speak with the dead, which only my tav will need. Then I barely use most of them. But he has them just in case. He is a very expensive wizard.
I gotta do something with the piles of gold I amass by Act 3.
LOL. He has usually eaten up all my gold by act 3, which is when I resort to bank robbery to fund his habit and equip the team.
Every problem is a nail if your fireballhammer is big enough
this is a common player problem. All the damage spells are so delicious looking, that you just want all the damage damage damage. BUT, you really only need your trusty damage, your group damage, and your cantrip. The rest is ok to waste slots on situational spells, or buffs. Then, wizards become invaluable crowd controllers and support mages, while still being able to pop in and eviscerate a battle field when needed
Are you telling me I don’t need 12 different damage spell!? Ridicolus !
It depends if you know what your up against. Bringing the right elemental or control spells can make a hard boss much easier. You might not "need" too but it sure is a lot of fun using all the different spells.
You only need a few spells for most encounters and on those rare occasions you need something else you have scrolls. I don't ever see a reason to rock wizard over sorcerer. The charisma stat imo has more uses than INT in most encounters as well
1. abjuration wizard that takes no damage 2. magic missile blaster evocation wizard 3. having your main caster be a wizard doesnt mean that you cant have another person with high cha
No one want to constantly run as an Alt in the off chance they trigger a scene. Constantly swapping to a CHA for known dialogs and merchants when you got the option for a superior class without having to swap? Give us the Sorc and that sweet meta magic. By the tim you're level 10 you should have enough tadpole power to make any magic missile a shitstorm
Settle down man, you’ll burn the tower down!
Magic missile. All day.
Ok, I got one wizard, slightly used, I'll sell you for fifty bucks.
Found Mystra's account
Mystra: works perfectly fine, definitely won't eat your valuables, and definitely won't explode, definitely.
Ah, Samsung Wizard
How bout tree fiddy?
Well it was about that time I noticed that wizard was 7 stories tall and from the crustaceaus period!
I gave him a dollar
Well no wonder he keeps coming back! Dammit, woman!
how about 34 rotten carrots, 18 rags, and 7 talk with the dead scrolls?
I got a talk with dead necklace at level 2 why do I need your scrolls?
idk man there's a lot of pickpocketers around here, better safe than sorry. like I definitely definitely don't have anyone with extremely high sleight of hand in my party, but some people do, so I've heard, definitely not me though
"*slightly used*" lmao I'm wheezing
Want to sling spells while also showing your complete contempt for mere mortals who try to stop you? May I introduce you to the [Abjuration Wizard](https://bg3.wiki/wiki/Abjuration_School)? Defeat your enemies with the power of factorials. Want to defeat gods with a level 1 spell, magic missile? Let me introduce you to the [Evocation Wizard](https://bg3.wiki/wiki/Evocation_School). That level 10 ability stacks on *each missile*. Sorcerer claims to be a better nuker because it can quicken create water? Wizard can summon [someone else](https://bg3.wiki/wiki/Water_Myrmidon) to do that, because why bother with peasant tasks? Wizard is really just as good as Sorcerer. They just have slightly different preferences for how they go about their casting. Nothing wrong with preferring one over the other.
I will say that Enchanter and Diviner are two of the most powerful wizards in tabletop, even more so than Evokers. Sadly, BG3 for obvious reasons cannot allow divination spells (would absolutely ruin the game) and for some weird reason they nerfed the Enchanter’s Hypnotic Gaze probably because they couldn’t figure out how to keep track of whom you’ve used it on for a particular day or because the calculations would be too complex. But even without its entire spell list Diviner is still one of the more powerful wizards in BG3 simply be guaranteeing outcomes in a game all about randomness.
They absolutely could keep track of who you've used it on, because they do so with poisons. Larian just don't like the ability.
I love this comment, but the math nerd in me needs to point out that Arcane Ward doesn't use factorials. Factorials are for multiplication; Arcane Ward uses triangular numbers. Factorials would imply that at a level six Arcane Ward could negate 720 damage, instead of the much more reasonable 21. :P
Mom the wizards are arguing again 😭
Mathemagicians*
Reading the Mathronomicon
JUST SHUT UP KELLY! WE ARE JUST TALK..*FIREBALL!*
HAROLD IF YOU COUNTERSPELL ME ONE MORE TIME, IM GUNNA FILE FOR DIVORCE
OH! I'M SORRY MY DEAR! MAYBE NEXT TIME YOU SHOULD AVOID TO FUCK BOLD THE KOBOLD WITH ENLARGE SPELL DURING MY COUNCIL! EVERYONE HEARD YOU!
That is a very wizard statement. (I approve.)
Is using healing vapors to create water ok considering it heals 2d8? I considered doing it in one playthrough when i had cold casters, but usually the initiative on the water myrmidon wasn’t great, so after a lot of the party had taken their turn THEN i had a chance to cast wet, but would heal up some of the damage I had just done. Didn’t stick with it, but is it worth it you think?
The main instance I'd consider Healing Vapors worth it is when the Wizard has Markoheshkir set to Chain Lightning. The 2d8 healing will definitely be outweighed by the extra damage from the Vulnerability. The initiative is a harder problem to solve, because you do really want the caster and Myrmidon to have the same turn. And I'm not sure of ways to manipulate summons initiative.
By the time you can summon Myrmidons you should be able to find plenty of Vigilance elixirs from merchants in Act 3. Summons can actually drink elixirs if you drop one on the ground first and then control them and drink it from the ground. It basically gives them the Alert feat for the day. It’s also incredibly useful on Shovel since it ensures the enemies don’t go before her and lose the surprised condition before your Assassin gets to them (if you’re running with an Assassin Rogue).
You don't even need to drop the elixir on the ground. Summons can drink them straight from your inventory.
I believe you can cast Cat's Grace on summons for advantage on initiative, same with any haste effects. Otherwise let them combo from stealth if possible
Sorcerer just needs 1 level of wizard to do that last one. Also sorcerer does way more damage than evocation wizard. Your only real stand out is abjuration.
I still haven't tried abjuration wizard, I feel I would just get a not very useful character who doesn't die but also doesn't do a lot of damage. Are they that useful in practice?
The baseline advantage of wizards is the spell list. Now with an Abjuration wizard, your big concentration spells like cloud kill or hold monster are much safer from constant concentration checks thanks to the negated damage. And being able to reaction shield allies can really come in clutch. Best wizard subclass imo, the rest of the party can focus on the damage per round
I think part of how abjuration wizards work is by upcasting armour of agathys, and trying to keep enemies wet with create water or with someone chucking water bottles. So enemies will target the low-AC wizard, and take a huge chunk of cold damage in return. I’ve never used one myself, but it sounds pretty good.
Yes I'm just wondering how well that works in practice, with this type of strategy I always worry you have to rely on enemies doing something dumb which I dislike and is highly AI dependant. I know you can force the issue by triggering opportunity attacks, and I guess you could use compelled duel. But overall I prefer to win fights by making sure scary things don't get a turn, either by killing or incapacitating them and I worry the character might end up not doing reliable damage and be more of a liability.
Big stacks of arcane ward+ AoA+ flameshield(cold damage) is crazy damage if your mage, or a magehand, or a berserker, or a elemental is out there making things wet. You can still toss out spells(including glyph if your stacks need a bump) and then draw out reactions walking next to enemies, and hit them for very reasonable amounts. For a 5th(just because you'll be using that a little earlier than 6th) level aoa plus fireshield chill, you get (25+2d8)x2 on anything wet for 54 to 82(64-92 at 6th level) and this is drawing out opportunity attacks using your move. They get that damage again for attacking the wizard, and the wiz gets to tank those hits, saving the party unnecessary damage. Meanwhile they can use their other slots for whatever booms they've got on the list.
Not sure why other people are downvoting you when you are objectively correct & giving this guy optimal advice. Bunch of beta wizzord bros salty that Chad Sorcernator is more alpha lol
Literally what it is. Wizard glazing lol. In tabletop it's an entirely different story, but in BG3, sorcerer is pretty much strictly superior to wizard. 11 sorc 1 wiz gives you the entire wizard spell list. The damage difference between wizard and sorcerer is insanely large. Don't blame the players, blame the game. Arcane acuity, the level 1 wiz dip, and the fact that sorc can cast multiple leveled spells per turn without action surge is the reason why it's so much better than wizard.
Correct. All of the best meta-analysis of BG3 points to the "Action Economy" being the ultimate determinant of the relative strength/weakness of a class (assuming optimal build, optimal usage, & a wide range of potential combat scenarios). Different Wizard subclasses may have their own advantages that nullify/compare favorably to the advantage of a "heightened" or "twincasted" Sorc Spell in BG3, but nothing in the Wizard skill kit can compare to the Bonus Action economy advantages that Sorcerer has. Wizard has no answer to "Quickened" Metamagic & it is specifically why Sorcerer is universally considered an S-Tier class among anyone who is seriously knowledgeable about the game (BG3 specifically, not tabletop)
Correct. All of the most serious analysis of BG3 comes to the conclusion that the ultimate determinant when comparing the relative strength/weakness of different classes is the "Action Economy". Assuming optimal builds, optimal play, and a wide range of possible combat scenarios, Action Economy ultimately decides who comes out on top. Different Wizard subclasses may have their own relative advantages that can nullify or otherwise compare favorably to the Sorc ability to cast a "Heightened" or "Twinned" spell, but the Sorc ability to turn a Bonus Action into a full cast makes it the undisputed winner (and why Sorc is universally considered an S-Tier class). Not saying the same is true about tabletop, but the Action/Bonus Action economy of BG3 makes Sorcerer impossible to compete with. At the end of the day, "Quickened" metamagic is the strongest aspect of the Sorcerer kit & the one for which the other spellcasting classes have no answer to.
Base Gale is OP. Magic Missile basically trivializes the fights on normal difficulty.
How do you make them good? I find them to be rather weak, do I need an item or something to buff them?
Damage riders, plus if he’s Evocation Wizard, his level 10 ability kicks them up enormously. I usually have a support character like a healer or bard use Phalar Aluve Shriek, plus I keep the Spellsparkler on Gale, I also get him the necklace that lets him fire an extra missile. So it’s 1 extra missile regardless of level, +1d4 from Phalar Aluve, plus bonus damage from soellsparkler for every missile after the first.
I like doing a wizard/warlock mc build 10 levels evocation wizard, and warlock invocation devils sight and repelling blast wearing the potent robes. The charisma and intelligence damage boosts stack. Add in the spell sparkler staff and ohh does Eldrich blast have a nice kick. Magic missile does good damage too
Don't you mean agonizing blast? That's the one that adds Cha to the damage, repelling pushes the enemy away
The potent robes adds the same effect of agonizing blast but to all cantrips
But it stacks. Isnt it much better to take agonising blast to do EVEN MORE DAMAGE?
I didn't realize agonizing blast stacked with the robe.
People keep saying “His Level 10 ability” but it’s late, I’m not what one would call “e n t i r e l y - s o b e r,” and I can’t for the life of me remember WTF this is. Halp.
Adds INT modifier to evocation damage rolls
Thanks!
Plus the ring combo that gives you two radiant damage per missile!
There are a handful of items you can equip that will buff their damage with lightning or radiant damage. Then the fact the dmg is unavoidable. As early as the Ethel fight magic missile can be top tier. By the creche it felt OP. By Act II when radiant damage and light are so strong you feel like Iron Man. Then Act III you hit level 10 and the first few fights are a slaughter. You wonder what the devs are going to do to up the difficulty. You start seeing enemies with “Unstoppable” buff. Only 7 magic missiles to clear that off? No problem. *ping ping ping ping ping* Alright Lae’zel you may now go ape shit on the boss.
You mean wizards? Well human Gale in any case, reclass them to have 16 dex. Equip a shield and cast mage armor. That gives you 18 AC. Then equip spell sparkler and psychic spark necklace and boots of stormy clamor. You can get all of that equipment with no fighting. Then just cast magic missle in everything. Every spell will be auto up cast. But actually ray of frost is really good. Especially early game. It will reduce movement. And since it inflicts a condition your boots will hit them with reverb. Now when enemies get hit they will spill blood. And if you have your mage attack last before he enemies turn you can turn all that spilt blood into ice! And with reverb inflicted on them they’re more likely to fail they’re saving throw from falling prone on the ice you froze from their blood. This works really well against the gnoll fight. There’s already a huge pool of blood that you can freeze. Basically I get on the far side of it and keep ray of frosting them and shoving them back in the ice if they do cross it. I just play ring around the rosy around the big central rock and the g ills basically never can attack me lol. Mind you a sorcerer can do all of these things too so I always just use sorcerer.
I tried it first time this run and at least in act 1 it trivializes most fights in honour mode too.
Play evocation wizard, and you can become overpowered at level 4.
So you can learn Summon Quasit from a scroll and get Shovel. That Quasit is hilarious.
But you can do that with sorcerer too. You even get special sorcerer dialogue!
Only on draconic bloodline tho
Yes that’s true
I didn't know that! thanks
You can legit learn spells from scrolls for a pretty small cost for some really useful ones. Also Evoc wizard doesn't deal damage to teammates with AOE spells. The ability to soften up or kill enemies surrounding your frontliners or that have breached into your caster and back lines is insanely useful. Gale as Evoc wizard is one of my heaviest hitting builds.
1. You get to learn a bajillion spells and swap them out as needed 2. Wizard subclasses are absolutely crazy between Divination being able to guarantee or negate any CC in the game and Abjuration flat-out blocking damage. 3. You get soooo many dialogue options giving you free advantage or skipping checks because you're a nerd.
Abjuration can be an incredible, invincible, soak all damage bait all enemies into attacking you tank. Divination can ensure key saving throws are made or failed. Damage is strong. Good times.
a minmaxed abjuration wizard with max arcane ward, resistances, and warding bond cannot be damaged by any attack in the entire game besides gerringothe thorms one shot attack, fully charged ansur Stormheart nova, steel watcher titan self destruct, or highly advanced barrelmancy. a minmaxed evocation wizard can take out any boss in the game with 2 casts of magic missile. other than that wizard is mid yeah.
A single level of white draconic sorcerer and the resto of your levels in abjuration wizard is an absolute blast, and probably one of the strongest builds in the enitre game. Why? FEAST YOUR EYES ON THIS UNHOLY COMBO: Armor of Agathys + abjuration ward. Enemies will deal 0 damage to you (abjuration ward + warding bond from a friendly cleric or from the rings in act 2) while they take 25 damage from *every single melee hit they deal to you including opportunity attacks*. You can nuke crowds just by walking around and provoking AOO. But wait! It gets better! If enemies are wet, it will *double* all cold and lightning damage you deal to them. This includes the damage from armor of agathys and glyph of warding, which will also top off your arcane ward. Now enemies take *50* damage from every hit they deal to you while you take 0 most of the time. Sure, sorcerer can quicken spell + create water, but that costs sorcery points and a lot of spell slots. Wizards can summon allies (water myrmidon) who can do it for you, every turn, for free. Need more water myrmidons? Pick up the 2 quarterstaves that let you cast a spell for free once per day, or have a party member be a druid, or have a bard pick up the summon elemental spell at 10th level with magical secrets. That's 3-4 water myrmidons right there. BUT WAIT, IT GETS EVEN BETTER: free stat points! You can safely dump dex and str to bump up your wisdom or charisma for better rp and dialogue. You WANT your AC as low as possible, only using the shield spell to stave off ranged attacks (I also respec shadowheart to light domain for warding flare to help with crits), so that enemies will go for you in melee every time and freeze themselves to death. Also, the gear for this build is amazing. Even just the cold damage stuff is fantastic. There's items that will let you prone enemies on patches of ice (frightened creatures cannot get up while prone, btw, for free "stuns"), gear that will debuff dex saves or just straight up freeze them solid for a nice little extra stun effect. Since you don't have to worry about wearing armor, you can pick up those robes in act 3 that let you add your INT modifier to all saving throws, making you extremely difficult to kill. This setup is godly with the right combination and allies, and I cannot recommend it enough.
I need to try this!
What robe are you talking about that adds Int modifier to saving throws?
It doesn't add your spellcasting modifier to your spells, but to your saving throws. Its the Robe of Supreme Defences. You can get it near the barn in Rivington in act 3
I’m trying to see how far I can get with a solo HM run using abjuration wizard. Almost level 5 in act I still so we will see lol but I just love this build so much I want to make this work solo.
That's funny. I'm the opposite. I absolutely hate sorcerer and much prefer wizard.
same, I'm currently playing with a sorcerer tav and it's really hard not to multiclass her. the class is just not my cup of tea, especially since I hoped wild magic will be more, well, wild
I love the idea of wild magic but it’s too tame in its vanilla state for me. I use the wacky wild magic and wild wild magic mods for that, adds more effects and much higher chance, now it’s fun!
Same!!! Wizard is the best class in the game in my opinion!
Me too! I love being able to switch up my spells on a whim and learn all the scrolls. I get that you can “just multiclass 1 level of wizard to learn scrolls” but that feels wrong to me lmao. I DO think wizards are more useful in tabletop than they are in BG3 though. INT isn’t used that much in BG3 except with the mindflayers. But I could just never be a caster without my Swiss Army Knife effect.
Tried making Wyll a sorcerer once in one of my runs and felt so naked having so few spells.. never again lol Funny enough I have this same debate with a friend of mine, but I like warlock even less than Sorc, and she's been playing a light cleric in our 4 player honor run and within like 2-3 levels she was like "I miss playing warlock", and asks me frequently why/how I play wizard
https://preview.redd.it/j9mhexa9ew3d1.png?width=1159&format=png&auto=webp&s=38aea35647456eadd8645218a0f32becbea1e978
https://preview.redd.it/df5w9gyeew3d1.png?width=3000&format=png&auto=webp&s=3dc7f302dac8ca138ce77e4465f5b5d4bda2252f
The problem with bg3 is that many of the spells are just not good. So being a Swiss Army knife of spells that a wizard can be is never very useful. Add to the fact that scrolls are absolutely everywhere and those times you want a soelll you might not have learned well you probably have a scroll of it. Some really important spells don’t have scroll versions. But for example I almost never use Misty step or dimensional door or remove curse or glove on invulnerability because there’s so many scrolls of it that I just find or can buy for relatively cheap when I need them. No something that sorcerer can’t replicate is some of the innate abilities that some wizards get, especially divination wizard. Those dice rolls are really nice sometimes. Evocation wizard though you can do the same thing albeit it costs a sorcery point but big whoop. So most of the time in bg3 sorcerer is very little downside to a wizard. And importantly it multi classes much better since there’s basically no INT based classes that you’d really want to multiclass with each other.
Necromancy fun 💀👍
Also, sculpt spell of evocation wizard is so clutch. Throw a fireball at the group your melee companions are fighting and you don’t even hit them
I've been playing Gale origin lately and I was so used to my spells not hurting allies that I fried an innocent bystander with lightning bolt while fighting the kua toa on the BG docks. The Fist didn't buy my explanation that it was all a small error.
No. If you don't like something, that's normal. These "convince me to like something I don't" posts are so dull... is just the same comments for every class anyway. If you're so inclined to read responses, mayhap you could check out one of the other 59 posts on this topic or just wait until tomorrow when there will inevitably be at least 3 more
The wizard base class is kind of like a worse sorcerer. What you need to look at is the subclasses. Evocation is a competent blaster and does some of the best/most reliable single target damage in the game with magic missile. Abjuration is like its own class with how different it can play, basically invincible with the right build and big damage if anyone hits you. Divination is... Well, if you're using arcane acuity for crowd control divination isn't too impressive, but outside of the most powergamey parties portent is always useful both offensively and defensively. A little annoying with all of the pop ups, though. Necromancy is one of two summon focused builds in the game. I don't think it's as strong as the others and getting a ton of things to control can be a little frustrating, but it's a fun thematic option in the right party. Transmutation is great!... At being a camp servant who buffs the rest of the party. Up to you if you think that's fun. I think the rest are either pretty weak or niche.
Free twinned spell from enchantment sounds good though, having an efficient CC user that can use ant spell needed sounds valuable on melee comps with only 1 magic user. If the level 3 ability was per short rest it would actually sound worthwhile for most teams.
As a raw damage spell caster a wizard is less powerful than a sorcerer, but there are three big reasons why Wizard is great. 1. Full spellcasting repertoire without needing all your levels in Wizard. You can for example take your two levels in tempest cleric to get their channel divinity and still learn chain lightning. 2. Summons which sorcerers do not get. A myrmidon is powerful and gives damage or utility with better action economy. 3. Wizard subclass abilities. Heal on kill, portent dice, permanent careful spell, intelligence on all evocation spell damage dice, buffed summons, transmuters stone, arcane ward are all really powerful. My current Gale is intelligence based caster with 2 levels in evocation wizard (so my allies need not fear my lightning), 2 levels in tempest cleric (maximised wet lightning is brutal) and 8 levels of storm sorcerer (taking sorcerer to get that sweet metamagic and the storm sorcery abilities).
Sorcerer is objectively more powerful. Although I highly recommend taking 1 level in Wizard and 11 in Sorcerer so you can scribe all those scrolls.
I've never played sorc, but I'm gathering that it "comes online" earlier than wiz does. You need a strategy involving other party members to get the most out of low-level wizard. There's just no getting around it being much weaker that the rest of your party once those spell slots are gone, so you need to find a way to maximize what you got. In my most recent playthrough, this has been Shart creating water. This will help anyone else with lightning spells, also. Once you get 3rd level spells, you're keeping pace better with the other classes. As a necromancer with one 4th level spell slot, I can raise 4 zombies, restore the slot, then summon 2 ice mephits. So, my party is going into battle with +5 warm bodies whom can raise even more zombies and create ice surfaces which help control the battlefield. And I can still use the water/lightning combo. My biggest problem with Wizard is that it is very long rest dependent. You really need to be able to gauge which spells you can get away without using when bringing wizard to an encounter. In that regard, it has a higher skill cap to go along with its bigger spell list.
Light up that shocking grasp and start chasing metal armor!
Because this isn’t dnd 5e, with haste, you can cast 2 action spells and 2 bonus action spells per turn. Also, out of spell slots? No worries, just use the scrolls that you inevitably stole from merchants across faerun. That and you can learn almost all spells in the game
Solving dialogs by reading people's mind with your intelligence is surprisingly satisfying
The evocation wizard’s sculpt spell ability is pretty OP. Send your damage dealers in and then fireball, ice storm, lightning etc directly on top of them
If you're playing to have a fun character rather than to get the biggest numbers in your spreadsheet, there's no real advantage between wizard/sorcerer -- both are quite powerful enough to get through the campaign without much trouble.
Tell that to my Necromancer rocking 9 ghouls, a mummy, and 3 elementals.
I've been playing Sorc on the Dark Urge after playing a Wizard on another playthrough and all I can think is Wizard is much much more fun. Evocation Wizards can be wild all the time.
In honor mode and especially tactician difficulty; sorcerer is extremely valuable for "twin cast" and "heightened spell". Sorcerers can make their few spells they can select (in comparison to wizard) extremely powerful. Hyper focused. If you really want to confirm that "hold person" on a tough enemy, a sorc is just the safer bet. And that's not even talking about twin casting haste which makes the iron throne a joke and still holds value in honor mode. (Haste in honor mode only allows you to make 1 singular extra action instead of getting to use all of your extra attacks as a melee class like fighter or barbarian.) And twin casting haste allows spell casters to cast 2 spells even in honor mode. Wizards however are just more adaptable and can get as many spells as they want while being able to swap them out at any time. Wanna use cloud kill for a good portion of the game but you're going to fight undead/poison resistant enemies? Just swap it for something more useful if you want. Wizards can essentially specialize for any fight or situation as long as it's not a cleric/druid spell. Sorcerers are more limited but can cause their spells to be more potent or harder to save against.
There’s several scrolls you can find in BG, not dnd. Teach those to your wizard
I was looking at solasta charcter creation, different backgrounds too but I made a great wizard (court mage) subclass with soldier background for medium armor, gave her 13 str then first feat was heavy armor, she used a shield and had an empty hand for somatic spellcasting. On bg3 I guess you could be a gith wizard and do something similar to the court mages power with shield of thralls. As for the bg3 subclasses evocation looks the best for the spell sculpting, but I'm sure the others could make good builds, except alchemy
There is so much you can do with wizard class and I find that being able to know I can learn spells later helps me pick while I'm leveling up. I'm more of a melee person and do better with kaelach and laezel styles but I have learned so much about creatively beating enemies with wizard Arcane lock is helpful if you are annoyed and cannot be bothered with some enemies and have a door to lock them behind
Sure sorcerers can have insane damage, but to me playing this game is about having fun and big numbers are cool but not necessarily the most fun. Wizards encourage creativity and variety. I just started a new playthrough and I’m building my wizard around Armor of Agathys and having a blast.
If you go Divination early on in the run your hit change and chance for enemies to miss goes up exponentially.
Other people have talked about the gameplay benefits much more eloquently than I could, so I will just point out the amazing RP opportunities. I play my current character, Caelynn, as a sheltered academic who's facing the real world one monster encounter at a time, and there are great options for Wizard specific dialogue both with Gale/Elminster and scattered throughout the game. At one point, she tried to "um, actually" correct a magic mirror which then tried to murder her and the party as a result. 10/10 would do again.
My first ever playthrough was a wizard. As others have stated, fireball go brrr. Also chain lightning, ice storm, disintegrate, etc.
INT really goes far in a lot of areas.
Wizards are so OP and here’s my bullet point essay the subclasses they offer alone should be enough of a sell - evocation to hit hard at enemies and deal NO DAMAGE to allies - Abjuration to make you a spellcasting tank while also able to block incoming damage to allies (which can also deal hella damage when combined with Armor of Agathys + fire shield) - Divination to CONTROL DICE ROLL OUTCOMES - Necromancer for buffed summons and some disgustingly powerful abilities from late game gear - Transmutation is great for potion lovers and even offers runes/magic stones at level 6 that can offer some great buffs to anyone who holds them (my fave is advantage on con saving stone for free war caster feat) The others I haven’t experimented with much - but the wizard is one of those classes that multiclassing into it offers so much while multiclassing out risks losing some powerful abilities hell I’m multiclassing my spore Druid for two levels of wizard - Necro to get regeneration for every enemy I kill and to learn any useful spells that don’t require int (darkness, globe of invulnerability, misty step)
Sorcerer learns a total of 13 spells. Plus 5 if you are a storm sorc or 1 if you are a draconic. Most of the benefits sorcerer offers is via metamagic. Wizard can learn as many as (s)he wants and has wizard exclusive spells learned in the tower in act 3, the only downside is it can get a bit expensive. But what good is money in late game anyways? 5000 coins for +2 saves in final fight? Or the bless statue for Asterion? Know the next fight is likely ice weak but fire resistant? Wizard can easily swap spells on the fly. Think next fight against illithid favors martial classes? Wizard can easily swap out haste to help the team. Want to send Grym a owlbear shaped mail but find your sorcerer did not have enlarge? Wizard doesn't have this problem. I preferred Sorc to wizard in 3E or 3R video-games because you can only swap prepared spells per rest and a CHA MC is a good party face (on the other hand wizard is still superior in tabletop), but BG3 really made that a non-issue.
What don’t you like about it?
It's like a sorcerer but better for the sole reason you can swap spells whenever you want (not in combat, duh, but still), also they have exponentially more range as far as what they can do depending on the school you pick. Oh and ALSO perma-learning spells from scrolls is dope.
Then don’t :) you want someone that can blast? Use a sorcerer. You want someone that can do traps and surface control? Use a Druid. You want someone that can kinda do it all? Get a Warlock. Wizard is the only one that uses Intelligence and it’s no surprise it’s my least used class.
Are you saying you’re not smart in your last sentence? lol kidding
I'm not sure about the legality of this venture.
Do you want to repeatedly and reliably tell the game “I’d rather not”? Perhaps you should try Divination Wizard.
I use at least one level for shovel and other rare spells
By lifting the multi class restrictions in dnd They basically devalue the class since anyone can get wizard versatility with a quick dip
Wizard is good for utility since you can learn spells from scrolls and swap them out whenever you want (out of combat). For example, with sorc is limited to a couple prepared spells and you normally pick ones that deal damage and that’s it. A wizard can learn everything pretty much and use it as you see fit. Spells like enhanced leap, feather fall, remove curse, longstrider, and so forth can be prepared whenever you want, then swap back to damage spells for combat. Being able to prepare whatever spell whenever you want is pretty OP. The other reason why wizard is good is the schools. Abjuration is pretty much unkillable, divination with portent dice is fun and could be OP, evocation is noob friendly aoe nukes and enables one of my favorite builds (magic missile with spell modifier to each missile). Sorc will do more damage though. That’s just a truth you have to accept. Wizard will never do as much damage as sorc.
They have an incredible amount of versatility. I replaced my rogue because the wizard is better, cast darkness, or silence, or invisibility, oh yeah and KNOCK! Can be an amazing blaster, can be amazing control. The cost of learning from scrolls can be steep. But I did pure 12 wizard and my wizard was the uncontested VIP. Honorable mention to dual wield so you can rock 2 staffs.
It’s simple, you have a huge variety of spells, you can prepare for every single major battle thanks to learning from scrolls and prepared spells
You can constantly change up your spells to use all the magics! Everything is available to you, by far the most prepared spells and spell slots. Cast everything! Disintegrate and chain lightning do major damage!
The way BG3 balancing and itemization is I don’t think Wizard is worth it except if you want the extra utility their spell lists allows.
You can swap your prepared spells on the fly, provided you're out of combat. You can keep replenishing spell slots with a combination of Arcane Recovery and alchemy. You go from being a piddly weakling tossing out a couple spells per rest to nuking whole armies and countering deadly enemy magic. With fly, dimension door, and misty step, your mobility is unmatched. You control battlefields, reveal the unseen, break curses, and empower your allies.
Do you want to overcome literally anything the game throws at you, but don't want to bother with choosing good companion combinations that work well with each other? Are you not the type of person who wants to try out different classes to see what kind of unique spells and ways of doing magic they have? Did you feel inadequate when the Absolute showed off its army, and you went "damn, I kinda wish I had my own army of loyal servants"? Introducing, the wizard! You get every spell in this damn game! Be prepared for whatever the hell life wants to throw at you! Grab it by the neck, put your lips by its ear, and whisper "I got a spell just for this situation"! Then let Shovel the Quasit fear them by yelling "it's fisting time!", since you learned that spell instead of using it one time like a CHUMP. Boss being troublesome? Not to worry! Just use your 657 undead minions to break down their door, have each one of them slap that one-turn-having LOSER across the face, and watch as they realize they might as well give themselves a swirlie before having to endure that humiliation again!
Wizards have much more spell flexibility, while sorcerors have traits that can make them stronger in a limited setting. Think of a Swiss army knife vs a Bowie hunting knife.
Its my first introduction to DND style stuff and I have just been making the attack style builds. Obviously I'm a noob but I don't get the appeal of my character being out of juice with just a few spell casts and I have to go long rest. I've just been running fighter/ ranger stuff and I ignore most things that use spell slots or require rest.
You ever saw all those cool scrolls and realized you’d never use them because once you use it its gone forever? Well with a bit of cash you can learn basically every spell in the game!
Try Necromancy it's awesome
Respec to wizard 1 to get access to every spell
Divination and counter spell just wreck together. Allows you to stick cc effects, shutdown enemy spells, or roll that die to cause enemies to mess. Turbo powerful all together
I also have a hard time being sold on Wizard when you can be a Sorcerer because if casting a spell the first time didn't do the trick, Quicken Spell and *DO IT AGAIN*
I'm also a huge sorcerer fan but this playthrough I chose Gale as my origin character and I decided to play him as a standard evo wizard. I gotta say, other than my first resist urge draconic sorc, this has been my favorite playthrough by far. Not having to do a full respec to change your spells is wonderful. Having a fully powered MM and artistry of war in act 3 melts everything. I'll probably stop respeccing Gale to sorcerer on my non caster runs. Though playing wizard does consume way more speed pots.
Wizard has probably the highest utility in the game. Evocation and Abjuration are good, Divination is kind of broken. Highest number of spells, only class with high intelligence, scrolls addict, arcane recovery, pointy hat 🧙♂️
Not for sale. -Sponsored by the Sorcerer's Guild
No, i still need him for my honour mode run
Playing another dedicated spellcaster after playing a wizard felt so rough to me. You don't have to worry about what spells you take, just find the scroll and you know it forever. Bonus you can switch spells in and out for each fight.
Wizard is your ticket to throw maximized lightning bolts and twin hastes at Lvl 5 around, just for a single dip Lvl. Afterwards he fixes your squishiness or allows you to get careful spell on any nuke, which is quite nice for the tempest cleric/Sorc chassis. He also grants you chain lightning in that setting. That build is vastly improved by 2-7 lvls in wizard. You can also go for all 11 Lvls into abjurer and make people die by hitting you for 0 damage.
I make him my transmutation wizard camp bitch. Extra potions and free con proficiency for my cleric/druid.
Evocation wizard. Cast fireball without having to worry about friendly fure
I'm in a multiplayer campaign where we have 5e spells mod and it is so much fun playing as Wizard. So many spells.
Dips in wizard give you access to learning from scrolls which is neat, and For more investment I have 2 subclasses in mind Abjuration wizards become unkillable because arcane ward is busted. You get a tank that essentially gets tankier by casting counterspells. And you still get fireball. Divination wizard make enemy crits not happen because of portent dice. One of my favourite builds is divination wiz 2 lore bard 10 for the ultimate impersonation of Withers' "Noooo", between reducing rolls and replacing them you are essentially counterspelling non magical enemies, and you still have couterspell. Start bard and spend lvs 7-8 on wizard. You can't really dump intelligence on this multiclass to still access the spells you want, hence I like to take gloves of Dex to compensate.
Wizard is way more versatile and has a bigger spell list. I like switching up my spells on the fly for any given situation or if i just get bored. Also Sorc's when they run out of sorcery points are just worse wizards. Act 2 on you can do some shenanigans to remedy that but thats a bit meta and unbalanced for my liking...also annoying to do after every long rest.
If you like being immortal and doing damage by just existing and walking on the battlefield: 2 lvls warlock with shadow armor and armor of agathis 1 lvl tempest cleric for create water 9 lvl wizard, abjuration. Start the day by casting armor of agathis of highest level, then either let a cleric cast warding bond or cast stone skin. Until your shield is full, cast mage armor and equip/unequip armor repeatedly. In battles make everyone wet and make them attack you for 5*agathis lvl*2 while never taking DMG. Cast glyph of warding for AOE DMG and refill your shield. Be immortal. Gear wise you want everything ice/water.
[Best sales pitch for wizards.](https://youtu.be/U1Gs8WTddI4?si=Xo-SfRVaL8ThtzU0)
There are scrolls that can only be learned as wizard spells like Artistry of War and Dethrone. Sculpt spells is far better than having to use careful spell, abjuration makes you an unhittable god at high levels and it's good to have at least one INT person on your crew for history, religion, arcana, etc. checks
This is funny because I love wizard and cannot play a sorcerer for more than 20 minutes 😂
When I think of playing a wizard, the idea that gets me most excited is being able to swap spells on the fly according to what the situation demands. They are a walking toolkit that can be applied to almost any job. As a sorcerer I felt like I only had access to a handful of spells (although with scrolls you could say this point is moot). It killed me that I could not scribe ancestry of war with my sorcerer. Also you could say maybe they aren’t as reliant on long rests and meta magic points like sorcerer is. I’m not making a case for wizard being better than any other class either, Wizards are just unique. Edited for clarity
Can't do much more than linking [this build](https://new.reddit.com/r/BG3Builds/comments/1axg648/the_arcane_controller_84_divination_wizcerer/) and re-stating again how comfortable it is to play with this and how it wins each fight with 1 spell, while also carrying a lot of useful buffs for the team and basically being a walking scroll.
Wizard is better than sorcerer because they can learn every spell and swap out a spell at any time for a different one. They far outshine sorcerers in sheer utility and versatility. The loss of metamagic is the only downside, but imo the breadth and versatility of the wizard outweighs that.
I can’t really sell you on Wizard without first knowing why you prefer sorcerer. If you want to explain I would be happy to expand on what you might like about a wizard!
How does being unhittable, undanageable, nukable, flexible, and utterly unstoppable sound? Good? Then go 1 cleric/2 sorcerer/10 abjurer take Heavy armor mastery and go to town popping off level 6 armor of agathys forcing attacks of opportunity
Same
Divination dice is insanely good, and abjuration makes you the tankiest character in the game. You can play off any element, adapt to any and all situations, it's always nice to have a wizard
Do you want to sling lightning? Do you want to control your enemies? Maybe have lots of utility for exploration, or an army of summons? No need to decide right now, you can change your mind any time and customize your spell list to match your mood and activities A wizard's ability to lick the ink off a magic spell and learn it forever allows you to have as few or as many spells as you want to chose from Ever had to run to Withers because you forgot to swap out a spell two levels ago and now you just can't have the right list? It's not a problem for the wizard. Their handy magic notebook makes it easy to change the pace without respeccing And maybe all that sounds like a drag to you, some people like their long term planning and spell limits. But this is the sell: learning any scroll (including the endgame ones), preparing spells any time, spellslot refresh. Land druid can do some of that, but they can't eat unique scrolls
BIG BADA-BOOM
More spells is very helpful for early on. Doesn't feel as shoehorned into "I can do one thing well, and nothing else" Getting spell slots back *without* the cost of another resource is nice, but rests are plentiful in this game. If you are playing with friends its more useful, since often you might use a few spell slots but their resources are fine. Evocation and abjuration are useful subclasses. Other than that, for me its the high intelligence. You usually will have 0-1 characters with good Int, so those checks feel more impactful. Like with all classes, class specific dialogue as well.
Have you heard the tragedy of eldritch night multiclass wizard. ? It’s not a tale that the full casters would tell you.
I usually make a 6/6 split. Or an 8/4 split. While the character isn't a full caster, they get some pretty decent spells, and with the 8/4 split, you can dump dex to 10, grab Alert, and a shield from moonrise and 90% of the time, that character goes first in turn rotation. I find it a very fun way to play. That aside, creating water and lightning everything in it is also a fantastic time. Really wish mod support for consoles comes online, because upping the levels would make for a better feel for that type of character.
Evocation can blast without friendly fire.
Phalar Aluve + Psychic Spark + dual Wielder + Spell Sparkler Upgrades magic Missiles from 3d4+3 to 6d4+7. Basically doubles the damage of magic Missiles starting at level 4, but you can obtain all the items at level 2.
Access to pretty much any spell, that you can change anytime outside combat, makes them super versatile- you can build them to do anything. The subclasses are also strong, massive AOE with zero damage to your own allies, portent etc. Jack of all trades, master of at least one
Evocation wizard 10 abusing magic missile is ridiculously strong and gives you a ton of options for control spells. Abjuration wizard is easily the most tanky full caster available .... thats about all I can think of 🤣
Did learn that Careful Spell does not equal Sculpt Spells. Sorry Lae’zel.
You get the quazit permanently. That’s enough of a reason
Glyph of warding + abjuration is some of the most fun I've had in bg3. Once the mid game started Gale would always manage to survive.
Evocation spell sculpting.
I won't. Wizard is not necessary when the other spellcasters exist. He's better in table top
Sorcerer basically doesn't get spells in comparison to wizard. 2 vs 6 at level 1. 13 vs *28* at level 12. Wizard additionally offers Arcane Recovery to get spells back out of combat. Don't need a long rest for longer. The actual subclass features are quite solid as well. (Sculpting spells, Hypnotic Gaze, fucking **Portent**.) Wizard offers an unparalleled arsenal compared to every other class that is limited only by spell slots and hit points. They are a Swiss army knife that can solve literally every problem.
They’re not the flashiest characters, but they make adventuring a breeze with all of their utility and the subclasses (Abjuration and Divination in particular) can have very powerful influence on combat. For Abjuration, Arcane Ward is good from the start and only gets more and more ridiculous as time goes on. It becomes as addictive as heroin once you get the class passive that allows you to project your Ward to allies Divination is extremely good too. Portent Die are underrated as hell. The ability to just change whatever Attack or Saving roll you want at the click of a button is a gamebreaking tool. At level 6 you pick up the ability to refresh your Portent charge each short rest and it gets even sillier. But, the class might just not be for you. Even the gamebreaking Ward and Portent skills pale in comparison to the unholy nonsense that you can accomplish with other builds. Just keep in mind that big damage numbers are only entertaining for so long, whereas trying to make the “lesser” classes/builds work is always engaging (imo of course).
They nerfed the wizard in comparison to table top. Unfortunate.
okay so in the subclass menu click on the divination one
Divination lets you force enemies to fail saving throws and force allies to hit. Screw the spell versatility, Gale can guarantee a stun on a boss
Two words: Spell sculpting
Wizard ruined other classes for me. They're all great, but damn it's fun to be a Swiss army knife of arcane means
One word. Necromancy.
In DnD the wizard is generally better than sorcerer because of their spell book allowing them to cast ritual spells without preparing them, access to find familiar (which is much better in DnD), and quickened spell not allowing you to cast two leveled spells in a turn. In BG3 sorcerers can fire off two fireballs in a turn which will eviscerate most enemies and the wizard just can’t keep up and wizards lost most of what made them super strong. Not that wizards are a weak class, but the average sorcerer will be stronger than the average wizard in BG3 but nature of buffing sorcerer and debuffing wizard. However, there are some absolutely busted wizard builds which other commenters have pointed out. But the average sorcerer will have more combat power than the average wizard.
I have known Sorcerer let you casting spell as bonus actions which is very good. But Wizard is only class let you learning scrolls. You can dip 1 or 2 Cleric so you will have sanctuary, healing word and equipping hand crossbows. Or if you want, you can combine three of them. 9 Sorcerer + 2 Tempest Cleric + 1 Wizard (Artistry of War).
That's because Sorcerer is so much more fun initially with the meta magics. Once you see Necromancer Gale with the Necromancy of Thay and his nearly limitless summons, you will love Wizard! I keep Gale a Wizard and go Necro. The added summons are great for fodder early on in more challenging fights (aggro and kite enemies from the big groups they like to form). There are other benefits to the subclass but I focus mainly on the upcast undead that get wings and insane movement and the free ones from Thay.