D&D WIZARD RANKING

[@ericschwegler7514]

Time Stamps: General wizard class 2:35 Abjurer 5:07 Conjurer 7:08 Diviner 9:13 Enchanter 11:28 Evoker 15:17 Illusionist 17:55 Necromancer 20:38 Transmuter 24:47 Core 8 comparison 28:50 War Mage 30:19 Blade Singer 33:00 Final Ranking 37:04

[@esperthebard]

Thanks Eric!

[@defensivekobra3873]

Usefull, very helpful indeed eric

[@buffcwbuff9879]

So helpful! Thank you! How would the Eldritch Knight stack up in your opinion?

[@esperthebard]

@@buffcwbuff9879 I do think the EK is quite nice, though in my classes ranking wizard beat the fighter.

[@NxtGenDragon]

Do you plan to include the new 2 Wizard subclasses from the Wildemount book

[@tonydowney106]

you could say diviners have an imPORTENT role

[@dreaddinosour3728]

Please stop

[@thegodmatteo]

And that is deciding imPOTENT ROLLS

[@rangerecho]

I wanna like the comment, but the number of likes is nice as it is.

[@MrMegaboss7]

But conjurers have an IMPortent role as well

[@amitgabay3721]

Boo!! Get out

[@ejnarsorensen2920]

DM: OK. I'll let you try, but you're going to need to roll a 20 to succeed. Diviner: I give him the 20 I rolled earlier for portent. DM *cries*

[@ShugoAWay]

Even better is giving 1 you rolled earlier to the bbeg on an important roll

[@anthonytorres-cruz1598]

@@ShugoAWay Give your 20 to the BBEG, and your 1 to your fellow player.

[@arcanecontent]

@@anthonytorres-cruz1598 Were you the BBEG character in your party all along? If so, I need advice how to pull that off while giving orders to my troops...

[@xkillerq]

Of course diviner deserve the 1 spot in the ranking. I play always wizard since 2004. I know the shit.

[@arcanecontent]

@@xkillerq Illusionists are pretty op too, but for them to really shine you need access to higher levels. Diviners are useful no matter the level. Chronurgists are an interesting variation on the whole dice controller trope.

[@firestorm165]

Word of advice: never have a bbeg be a wizard of the enchanter school. Bad things happen. Mostly to your players

[@AmigoRoberto]

*laughs in enchanter*

[@elgatochurro]

I think itd be great, see your player character isnt lilled outright, theyre just under new management now... Really good motivation for the party

[@הייויוםטובאדוני]

@@elgatochurro I'm sorry to say this to you, but if you want to build a villain for a *whole campaign* Just to take away the player's right to control his character (which is also one of his only rights).then you are a awful dm .

[@firestorm165]

@Lance Clemings my thoughts precisely

[@whitecreamymilk8436]

@Lance Clemings i mean they force dead souls to obey them. If you want proof its evil bring back a womans child as a zombie and go have it shamble to her. (Both are bad but one tortures dead souls and is unnatural and disobeys the natural order of the world.)

[@primeemperor9196]

DM: Ok, Fighter. What do you want to do? Fighter: I wanna hit the dragon. Divination Wizard: You get a nat 20. DM: *Anger* *Next. Round.* DM: The dragon attacks you, Fighter. Divination Wizard: He gets a nat 1. DM: *Anger intensifies*

[@garyco766]

Yes, because the div wiz always rolls his portent dice as nat 20 and nat 1.... Okay, actually never.

[@mgb360]

@@garyco766 With 2 portent dice it's a 1% chance, which can definitely happen. There's almost a 20% chance that you get at least one 1 or 20. 2s, 3s, 18s, and 19s are all still quite useful too and could result in essentially the same situation minus the critical damage.

[@generaljimmies3429]

My ultimate goal as a Bard is to lay with as many females as I can, with my ultimate goal to lay with a Golden Dragon. I'll have to bring my A-Game. (Starts playing Through The Fire And The Flames on my Lute)

[@ksjunkes]

Done that. Felt good.

[@caiosergio5775]

@@generaljimmies3429 well. In my party the bard tried to get laid with anything and even had a creature-type-based bingo

[@martincampbell4211]

I would caution against illusionist as the "best" pick. The DM can hose that specialisation hard if they don't buy into the features.

[@brianlav1]

Not only that. In higher levels most monsters become immune to illusion spell or the mind effect spells of enchanters.

[@ldl1477]

Oh yeah. I've gotten DM's pretty crabby over minor illusions of mirrors and torches. Its a simple question - do illusions reflect or generate light? One or the other should work, but if your DM is Gamist vs Simulationist, the class can suck hard...

[@jobreau1725]

This is why you need to talk to your GM before making your important choices

[@animefan3794]

Illusory Reality, or as I like to call it “the looney tunes class feature”.

[@DrPluton]

That's how I used Illusions back in 2nd edition AD&D. I played a gnome illusionist/thief. I would conjure up images of tunnels, trick orcs into running in and getting knocked over by the solid rock, and backstab.

[@animefan3794]

@@DrPluton Illusory Reality takes it a step further I'd say. They see you run through the tunnel, and then crash into the now solid again rock themselves.

[@RogueLima]

Too bad Esper didn't wait a bit for the wizard subclasses in the new Wildemount book. I'd like to see how they compare to the other ones!

[@mattmark94]

it's not an official d&d book

[@remissscroll8217]

mattmark94 it is tho, it’s an official sourcebook

[@davosan6782]

It is absolutely an official sourcebook

[@metroid473]

@@malmasterson3890 then bladesinger shouldn't be in this. That's from SCAG, a setting book not dissimilar to guide to wildemount.

[@jamesmiller3127]

@@malmasterson3890 The problem here is that you're conflating official *Forgotten Realms* content with official *D&D* content. All of it is official D&D material. Even the Rick and Morty set is official D&D material. This makes mattmark94's comment completely wrong. I remember other people thinking the same thing about Acquisitions Incorporated, which is set in the Forgotten Realms. He is likely confusing it with how the Taldorei setting was unofficial because it wasn't backed by WotC. Whether you meant to or not, you moved the goalposts back from mattmark's original post. This also has no bearing on whether Esper the Bard would feel inclined to talk about it. He DID talk about the Eberron races, but he has thusfar not mentioned the Locathah, Verdan, or Tortles, to my knowledge.

[@phobos9071]

I think that "Portent" should had their own tier SS, just super super amazing in EVERY GAME Nice video!

[@QuiescentPilot]

Yeah, he only had it at A tier for some reason... must have been a mistake... either that or he doesn't realize its power.

[@phobos9071]

​@@QuiescentPilot I consider it tier SS not just because it pure raw power, but because versatility and FUN It's an amazing tool for any charecter and every player I know loves it

[@QuiescentPilot]

@@phobos9071 Exactly! I just wrote out a paragraph in another comment explaining its power, but you're so right that it's just so FUN! What sucks more than when you cast a spell and they save and it does nothing? With Portent, not only are they failing against your spell, but YOU'RE MAKING THEM FAIL ("I have foreseen your failure!). Maybe the only thing worse than them succeeding against you is when you get hit by petrification, and fail against it. What's more, if you can get a natural 20 on your Portent, what's cooler than giving an ally an auto-crit ("I have foreseen this moment! Your success is inevitable!")? SUCH a fun ability to have, with such a powerful effect, which you can almost always use.

[@Athic]

Yes and no. It has its limitations and a lot of people (that I've played with at least) seem to miss or ignore the fact you have to declare it before the roll. It's definitely great when you get that Nat 20 or a really low roll but sometimes you just get 2 middling rolls that you don't really have much to do with and having to declare it before the roll means you could change a Nat 20 to just a normal hit. It's good, but I agree with A tier.

[@QuiescentPilot]

Athic people miss that you have to declare it beforehand? Isn’t the theme of the ability that “I foresaw it; it was inevitable,” not “let’s see what you would get, and maybe change it”? Plus, middling rolls are better than you seem to indicate. A 10 or 11, I’ve seen some argue, are some of the best foretelling rolls. Usually, when you cast a spell, you want to target a saving throw that the target is weak in. Assuming your spell DC is 16 (8+4DEX+4Prof.), a 10 would make most monsters fail any save that they don’t have proficiency in. Plus, while a 10-12 don’t always guarantee success, they’re enough that you can use them to give yourself/allies a consistent decent result. A character can DIE sometimes from a low athletics roll to hold onto something. If you’ve seen Zee Bashew’s “deadliest thing in D&D video,” you may recall that he told of how a couple of low rolls killed off a PC. Most likely, a nat 10 or 11 would have saved him. If I were playing Diviner with Portent in that scenario, I certainly would have given him a middling roll to save him.

[@dankmemes9942]

Bladesong not being an S-tier feature? +INT to AC, adv. on acrobatics, +10 speed, and +INT to concentration saves, 2 times per short rest?

[@thurismundbotheric7598]

Must use a single handed or versatile weapon in one hand, can't use a shield, and you can't wear medium or heavy armor. So it being given an A is generous.

[@YourCrazyDolphin]

@@thurismundbotheric7598 A wizard wearing armor at all is unique to the bladesinger though. It only restricts the wizard if they're multi-class... Which isn't really the point of the video.

[@astuteanansi4935]

@@thurismundbotheric7598 Why would you ever use anything else as a wizard? You'll always need a free hand to use an arcane focus and do somatic gestures, so using a two-handed weapon or carrying a shield is kind of out of the question anyways. As for being constrained to light armor, most wizards can't use armor at all to begin with, except dwarves (and this class is normally unique to elves), and the +INT to armor makes that extremely irrelevant. With Mage Armor and just 14 DEX and 16 INT, you end up with 18 armor... as a wizard, as level 2. That's as high as any other class can realistically go that level (very few DMs will authorize a 1.5k full plate at level 1), and it'll keep going up as you increase your stats. A fighter in full plate, shield and Defensive specialization can have up to 21 armor with no enchanted items. A Bladesinger can have up to *23* *AND SINCE YOU'RE A WIZARD YOU ALSO HAVE ACCESS TO SHIELD*

[@malakai2012]

the fact that you can even make a top ten subclasses of just one class is pretty amazing.

[@getthegoons]

Not when the game is 5 years old and has added only one new class in that time. I get they don't want to flood the game with bad Subclasses but we get like 2 a year most years. It's too slow IMO

[@dragonballtalk8527]

@@getthegoons the game is like 40 years old little dude

[@getthegoons]

@@dragonballtalk8527 speaking specifically about 5e, "little dude".

[@thatguy5737]

With how many subclasses there are now you could probably make a top 20

[@DocEJ]

*cries in necromancer* Luckily my DM approved of Bone Shard as a 1st level homebrew spell for me so i get to use grim harvest from the start Casting Time: 1 action Range/Area: 30ft. Components: V, S, M (Bones of a corpse which are consumed by the spell) Duration: Instantaneous This spell uses the skeletal remains of a corpse to create a projectile weapon. Choose the corpse of a creature within range. Fragments of bones from the corpse splinter off and fly toward another selected target within range. On a successful ranged spell attack, the target takes 2d6+3 necrotic damage. The corpse a small creature has enough material to cast Bone Shard 1d4 times before deteriorating beyond use. Larger creatures provide an additional 1d4 uses per size category greater than small. The caster of the spell must have knowledge of a corpse's location to be used to cast the spell. Corpses in hard cover such as an enclosed coffin, a block of ice, or buried in mud cannot be used. Corpses buried in soft cover such as loose soil, shallow water, or an open sarcophagus can be used. At Higher Levels. At 2nd level or higher, you may make an additional ranged spell attack when you cast this spell for each slot level above 1st. You can attack the same or a new target. Each additional attack requires a use of material from a corpse.

[@mrl9418]

Rpg authors hate wizards! Look how they've been underpowered with time! Wizs should have a top of 9 spell slots per level, no less, and others shouldn't have spells or abilities that basically reproduce spells, at all, except for the cleric and his powers shouldn't be considered magic.

[@whoblitzell]

@@mrl9418 This is why I play with the 3pp item ring of wizardry that doubles spell slot levels. legendary ofc

[@QuiescentPilot]

Your estimation of Portent (and thus the Divination subclass) was far below how good it actually is. Portent is one of the best abilities in the game, and certainly better than any of the other subclasses' abilities. Roll low? You just got the ability to make an enemy auto-fail its save against your spell. Roll high? You can give an ally a guaranteed hit on an attack, or you can give anyone (including you) a success on a saving throw. Facing a single target? Cast Polymorph, give them a 6 (not even that low), and turn them into a turtle. Congrats, you just won the entire fight. Not high enough level yet? Forcing someone to fail on a Hypnotic Pattern or even a Web spell can be enough to clinch out a fight on its own.

[@riccardocalosso5688]

You can't use portent to substitute a bad roll, you must use it before the die is rolled. That's why you feel it's more powerful, you've been cheating! (joking aside, it's still disgustingly powerful)

[@QuiescentPilot]

Kalos the Shieldbearer I never said you could see the result first, so your accusation is baseless and false. Perhaps I should have noted this, since for some reason, it seems like some people don’t read it closely, but I am assuming that people can read the book for themselves. Glad you acknowledge that it’s strong though!

[@darklightstudio]

@@QuiescentPilot I got what you meant in the OP, but understand why someone might have read it wrong if they weren't being careful.

[@haildorothygale]

I came here to agree and thumbs up with your original post, but dude, why be such a nasty, superior ass to that guy who wasn't even shitty to you? No need to be defensive like that. Chill and un-clench a bit.

[@xthebumpx]

I disagree. Portent is super fun, but due to human psychology people overestimate its power. You will get more consistent benefit from many other Wizard subclass features over the course of an adventure. Everyone talks about it as if you always have a 1 or 20 on hand exactly when needed. Biggest surprise to me was Illusory Reality being A instead of S.

[@azazelvoidburn672]

"In a way, we are magicians. We are alchemists, sorcerers and wizards. We are a very strange bunch. But there is great fun in being a wizard. " -Billy Joel

[@defensivekobra3873]

Who in the world is Billy Joel?

[@defensivekobra3873]

@Khashon Haselrig where does he come from, what campaign is he in?

[@TheCrispAlien]

@@defensivekobra3873 the real world campaign.

[@JamesTheCelestial]

@@TheCrispAlien I don't enjoy that campaign as much as the others. The plague subplot going on is just boring and restrictive.

[@cozycr8485]

@@JamesTheCelestial And so cliche

[@Linduil]

You missed maybe the most important part of Undead Thralls, when you raise skeletons or zombies with Raise Dead you can raise one extra undead per cast. So you get double value out of your level 3 spell slots, and then your undead minions are buffed on top of that. This makes a necromancer wizard capable of raising an entire army of undead, though it's lacking in a lot of other areas.

[@hieronymusnervig8712]

This just makes the Necromancer even worse, micromanaging your army sucks for everyone else on the table.

[@alexanderstrauss9503]

@@hieronymusnervig8712 Not if you roll like you would in war-gaming, just bring a bunch of dice

[@Nikita-vz5wj]

when min-maxed w/ an elf(trance) u can have 30 zombies/skeletons @ 6th level.

[@defensivekobra3873]

Spell mastery is great for necromancers, i can cast longstrider or mage armor on every single one of my minions for my army, even see invisibillity or darkvision

[@ianmorse9381]

Infinite Mirror Image. On your horde.

[@caiosergio5775]

It can be applied to any willing creature who isn't wearing armor

[@lucario9054]

@Cephandrius mage armor has a range of touch, not self

[@Juniper_Rose]

@Cephandrius nope, "a willing creature you touch"

[@sorrowrpg6739]

Note to Bladesinger and Extra Attack: Shadow Blade as 3rd level spell, 3d8+dex mod, 2 times a round with possible advantage.

[@devin5201]

Hey I was thinking about Shadow Blade a while back, on the damage it says something along the lines of ''when you hit it deals 2d8 psychic damage'' not that the weapons damage die is 2d8 which makes it sound like it wouldn't add your attack mod(Dex in this case) but idk, just a confusion I had.

[@sorrowrpg6739]

@@devin5201 shadow blade is still a weapon. You add your mod as always, mister Jeremy confirmed it.

[@devin5201]

@@sorrowrpg6739 thanks for the clarification, spell descriptions tend to confuse me.

[@garyco766]

Yes, Shadow blade is quite potent. Honestly, Bladesinger is hands down the most powerful wizard class at low levels due to VERY high AC and VERY efficient damage. At higher levels the AC is still top tier, moving them up to top 5 IMO. There is just something really compelling about being a full wizard, and also having an AC of say 30ish with shield spell. This guy has no clue at all about how to rank anything, as I keep experiencing in his videos. Enchanter at 3rd? Maybe 7th or 8th. War wizard is top 3 for sure. He keeps saying it himself, 5E pushes you into being a blaster, hard, and yet he ranks the combat focused mages at 2nd, 7th, and 8th, when I could well rank them 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. Has he even tried to play these classes?

[@devin5201]

@@garyco766 Esper is the kinda guy that favors storytelling to raw mechanical power, in his classes list for example I think he put the Fighter close to if not the lowest rank and sure the fighter is the blandest class as written but as part of a party there is no class more efficient at hitting hard and hitting often also imo the fighter class tells the classic story of a normal fellow being tossed into an insane world which is such a fun archetype to me.

[@cormorantcolors]

Just remember. The best wizard subclass is your favorite. Do what makes you happy. just kidding its illusion

[@cormorantcolors]

I’m putting this in the replies to keep the general feel of the original comment, but I did NOT expect my favorite to actually come out on top.

[@AveSicarius]

I think that makes sense in a way. A beings perception is their entire reality. Illusory magic manipulates their perception at the wizards whim. It seems much easier to trick a being into believing a situation is true, rather than creating that situation through one of the other schools. Personally I prefer transmutation, it fulfills what I see as my ideal of "arcane juggernaut". I can warp reality to my whim, and when push comes to shove I can unleash my inner "muscle wizard". But in a "magical duel" I think an illusion school specialist would win. They take control of your senses, and at that point you have already lost!

[@garyco766]

There's 2 big problems with illusion: 1) it's only as powerful as the GM allows it to be, it really relies on his goodwill to be effective. 2) it causes a situation where the wizard is CONSTANTLY lobbying the GM to allow his spells to be thoroughly broken and overpowered in some way, which can really interfere with the flow of the game, and feeds back into #1 above.

[@kylethomas9130]

@@garyco766 that usually applies to the school of magic in general. Illusionists are underrated in most media, especially AAA games.

[@whitecreamymilk8436]

Only if the dm is chill with it.

[@CanisMythson]

Illusion Wizards... are gods. Major Image at 6th level becomes permanent until dispelled. So you can just... carry around a bunch of Major Images as stars on your hand or tatoos or hairs or _whatever_, throw them out into a different illusion as an action, oh, and make them solid as a bonus action.

[@Ghost_in_the_Rain]

Diviner is my absolute favorite of the subclasses. I really want to play a dark elf "star augur" of sorts, who is a studied astronomer and scholar of the astral sea.

[@simotricus358]

Most KZbinrs just say subscribe please so we can hit (amount), but dang that speech made me want to subscribe again.

[@garyco766]

It actually made me want to switch videos, when my eyes recovered from rolling that hard.

[@ChrisWo1983]

People get not more intelligent while they age, they get more wise. That is a huge difference.

[@unamed1142]

True, although still a scholar having 50 more years for research would help and so lends to elderly arch wizards. People do often confuse life experience for intelligence though.

[@irispounsberry7917]

@@unamed1142 Researching really is only good as the sources they are using for reference. That's why elderly hermits are not stereotyped as smart, but elderly wizards in arcane towers sending apprentices (or adventurers!) out for rare books or materials are considered so.

[@VilleKivinen]

US Senate disagrees.

[@JohnBatman111]

often, not even that

[@NikELbErGErBergel]

I dont think thats how dnd5e int works since they have abbilities like religion nature and medicine scale with int implying in 5e int is also measuring knowledge. In the real world we destinguish between fluid and crystallized intelligence and it is generally agreed that fluid decreases with age while cristallized grows. You could maybe call cristallized intelligence wisdom but i think dnd uses those terms differently.

[@fortello7219]

Why does everyone always miss that Signature Spells gives them back on a *short* rest. Which is fantastic for counterspell and other utility spells. Also, as someone that's played a lv10 wizard, I'm telling you now, getting 2 extra spells prepared per day at that level is really good. By that level you're probably fighting such a wide range of enemies that you'll actually want to have all of those spells prepared. Plus it helps catch you up to the cleric (who gets to prepare 20+10+Wismod spells per day) at 20+2(spell mastery)+2(signature)+Intmod for about 29 Oh and spell mastery is *fantastic* on your simulacrum

[@toshomni9478]

I agree. It's one of my favorite class features, especially when combined with that Catnap spell.

[@sipjedekat8525]

Signature spells comes online at lvl 20. 99.99 % of players don't reach that.

[@fortello7219]

@@sipjedekat8525 So what? That means you don't need to read the description? Why even mention it then? It doesn't matter how late it comes online, you still need to give it the same respect as any other feature. That means not spreading misinformation.

[@sipjedekat8525]

@@fortello7219 dude. You sound agitated, chill out. Most people simply don't give two shits about capstone abilities and since they will never use them, why would they?

[@texteel]

Bening Trasposition comes back after a conjuartion spell. Do we know of a 1st or 2nd level spell as that? Yes we do. Misty step. At 18, a conjuration wizard can just blink and blink and blink.

[@anyoneatall3488]

>:)

[@ramviolet6795]

I made a transmutation wizard a while back that experiments with a strange wild magic crystal that gives mutations to critters to close. as it is now he has a moment speed of 70ft 2 sets of wings and 7 fingers among other things. i think his hole obsession with evolution and mutations fits well with his class.

[@00784865]

Command Undead: Mister Mummylord you and your army work for me now.

[@sillyking1991]

Ok, gotta disagree with you here. Spell mastery: The easier point is your second one, how strong an ability is shouldnt be dependent on whether or not it ever gets used due to noone ever aquiring it. Thats like saying that wish is a weak spell because 9th level spells are rarely reached. Its nonsense. Moving on, no, you really dont have that many spell slots. And in particular you dont have many spell slots that youd want to spend on what are probably the strongest high level 1st level spells.....thats, first levels spells cast at a high caster level... Shield, misty step. Being ablt to cast these at-will opens up a huge amount of utility.

[@gabrielrockman]

Misty Step is great for a more combat oriented campaign as the at-will spell. But if you've got a less combat oriented campaign and a more social interaction campaign, being able to cast Suggestion at-will is incredibly powerful. The Wizard just goes around telling people to do stuff, and they do it.

[@sillyking1991]

@@gabrielrockman i mean, if you ignore the spellcasting components for suggestion, sure. its still a strong spell, but its not just 'walking around telling people to do stuff'. but yeah, that was overall my point, spell mastery is really freaking good.

[@jeohranalfhir8366]

@@sillyking1991 wdym "if you ignore"? Most people use spellcasting focuses, and even without them the components aren't consumed by the spell.

[@sillyking1991]

@@jeohranalfhir8366 i didn't say 'spellcasting focuses'. i said 'componenets. specifically alluding to the fact that suggestion has a verbal component. and that verbal component isn't 'the single sentence suggestion'. meaning you have to verbally cast the spell...and then state the suggestion.

[@Ahglock]

@@gabrielrockman especially for an enchanter. Twinned suggestions is pretty potent all day.

[@Nr4747]

Tactical Wit is quite a bit more than a "minor benefit". Getting +5 to your initiative (eventually, might start at +3 or +4) is *huge* for wizards because it allows them to often go before the bulk of the enemy forces, placing ideal AoE control or damage spells (like Hypnotic Pattern or Fireball) before the enemies can scatter. I personally would also always consider DEX as a wizard's 3rd most important stat because it gives a nice bonus to AC and initiative, and I always strife to get it up to at least 14 when using point buy. That means that a war mage will often have a +7 or higher to their initiative - which is massive for the reasons mentioned above.

[@IHateNumbersOnNames]

16 dex, 14 con, 16 int, alert feat. My boy has +11 initiative, fuck it lmao

[@Nr4747]

@@IHateNumbersOnNames I'm aiming for the Alert feat. aswell, might wait until a bit later to grab it, though (I'm playing a Half Elf instead of the "usual" Variant Human because I wanted more stats and skills).

[@clarkside4493]

29:59 That's what _I've_ been saying! We need a decent 1st-level damage spell! Our own _catapult_ or _chromatic orb_ or _burning hands._

[@brunobock372]

How is Portent not listed as a S tier? It's ridiculously useful, both in a tough combat situation, and in everyday interactions! And the flavor value of playing glimpses of the future into your roleplay is already worth S.

[@esperthebard]

If you could decide to use it after the initial roll is made, it would have been S tier. Also its effectiveness is quite swingy. There's no gauranteeing what you'll get on a given day, so the d20 results may not be numbers that actually help much. Still A tier is great though.

[@brunobock372]

@@esperthebard it might even be broken if you could use it this way, overpowered.

[@Mime0Tron]

Finally. A in depth wizard video.

[@mercuryknyght5238]

You might want to check out Treantmonk temple. Its a pretty good youtube channel with a lot of good in depth videos for wizards.

[@ATinyWaffle]

Will you please add an addendum including your thoughts on the Chronurgy Wizard and Graviturgy Wizard?

[@banan9377]

I think you really underestimated Bladesinger. Treantmonk (who's known for his Wizard Guides) ranks it highly. His take on the subclass is not as a gish but rather mostly still a full caster. Blade Song is a great feature. With 20 int you get a +5 AC and +5 to con saving throws, which is like a Shield Spell and Resilient Con as a 13th level character, and you can stack them even more. For example if you have 16 dex, Mage Armor + Bladesong = 21 AC, which can be 26 AC on reaction using Shield spell. Making you really hard to hit, and even if you do get hit you get a bonus in concentration saves (which you can further stack with Warcaster and/or Resilient Con) making it really hard to lose a concentration spell. Since the Wizard's best spells are mostly Concentration spells, this gives the Bladesinger a huge advantage compared to other subclasses.

[@binolombardi]

War wizard- Adding intelligence to your initiative is not a minor benefit. A wizard being able to destroy or control the enemies before they can mobilize is very powerful. Arcane deflection is also always available, even out of combat. You fail a weird save from an environmental effect or a trap, you can use arcane deflection to pass. The power surge mechanic is complicated. It starts off weak because of the limited resources, but you get more charges using Counterspell and dispel magic. It starts off being 3 extra force damage to one creature. The strength of it comes from the incremental scaling, using one dispel magic on multiple spells to get more charges per 3rd level slot, and the fact that it’s damage is limited to once per turn. If you get access to persisting spell effects through cantrips like prestidigitation, light, thaumaturgy, bladeward, guidance, resistance, magic stone, control flame, or shillelagh then you can stack spells on an object or creature to dispel and get a charge for each spell dispelled. At higher levels and INT scores this becomes a similar boost to damage compared to the empowered spell metamatic with 2 key differences. Difference one, it’s single target damage boost only, even when used with an AOE. Difference two, although single target, it raises both the minimum and maximum damage of a spell instead of shifting the damage average upward.

[@devin5201]

''sound familiar'' oh eat dookie Esper, that did made me chuckle.

[@Ryan-di2kw]

Im playing my second character ever, a high elf necromancer. Really regret choosing such a weak class, i was originally a divination wizard but i switched at lvl 2 because it didnt sound cool

[@watchface6836]

I feel that the War Magic Wizard is, by far, the best multiclass option for an Eldritch Knight. Those first two features are amazing for an Eldritch Knight as, once they reach level 7, they can attack as a bonus action when they use a cantrip. Given that Green Flame Blade and Booming Blade exist, they synergize fantastically with Arcane Deflection

[@Jamiethekatz]

This tier list needs some revisiting. In a lot of cases I can see that you are evaluating abilities you’ve clearly never actually used in a game. Evocation: Overchannel is not S tier because it is 1) limited to 5th level spells and below and 2) if you use it for a second time on a given day you will likely lose concentration of whatever spell you have (unless you are overchanneling a low level spell…in which case…why? You have to maximize your turns potential in combat with high level spells when you are level 14+) . The problem is compounded by the fact that all the highest damage spells in the game that you would want to overchannel require concentration! Dawn, Wall of Fire, Storm Sphere, Bigby’s Hand. So if you try to use it a second time in a day on any of the best spells that it combines with you will immediately break your own concentration on the spell or cannot be concentrating on a different spell either. It’s an A- at best. Enchantment: Instinctive Charm - is like having a worse version of the Sanctuary Spell at will. Sanctuary works against 100% of incoming attacks for at least 1 round (until you attack or cast) and doesn't require you to spend your reaction.... (which normally goes to the shield spell or a counterspell). It's B tier until you put it into practice and hate having to not use the shield spell against ALL attacks in the round instead of just that one.... C+ imho. Illusion: Malleable Illusions - Simulacrum (6); use multiple pieces of hair from your allies - congrats on your shapeshifting simulacrum. Mirage Arcana (lvl 7), turn your illusory terrain (which deals damage) into whatever you want...like a lava pit underneath a creature. Creation (lvl 5) where you can turn a banana peel into a 5ft cube of granite weighing 21000 pounds at will…never needing verbal or somatic components to make the swap; have familiar fly into air and drop banana peel, transform and smoosh. This is an S tier ability in so many circumstances. Illusory Reality - ...let's see... I dunno...maybe just a big heavy net made with strands of woven adamantine? Make an illusion of armor on an untrained caster real and bam they cannot cast now without spending 5 minutes doffing their full plate (50 combat rounds) also it's -real- so it cannot be dispelled. You can also make the same object from the same spell real again and again. So all in all 10 objects from 10 spells can be real. How about a wall? Just.. make a freaking wall between you and a big bad. Or just a giant dome around that dragon, with some holes to shoot into but no way out. Did you know it can make spell materials? That's right! The creation spell specifically states that it can’t be used to make spell components but Illusory Reality does not! Force Cage is an expensive spell! ....unless you're an Illusionist. Did I mention that you can remake your spellbook from memory as an illusion using Keen Mind? Then after making an illusion of your book you can STUDY IT FOR REAL BECAUSE YOU JUST MADE IT REAL. This ability takes imagination but it's S++ Necromancer: (probably the worst assessment of the bunch on your part) Grim Harvest - You're so caught up in the lack of necromancer spells that you sort of forget that this thing works once per turn. So if you find spells that deal damage on the enemy turn you start healing a lot of HP. If a wall of fire spell killed 3 creatures that would be 24 hp. Which is equivalent to a free Cure Wounds cast at level 4... The lacking of Necromancer spells is of no consequence because it’s a great ability even with non-necromancer spells. It’s A tier if only because you might not be taking a lot of damage as a wizard. Undead Thralls - Wow. You missed the mark here so badly. It adds 50% more hp and damage at level 6 and just gets better with time. It makes animating twice as effective with level 3 spell slots as well. If Animate Dead the spell were a function of summoned health times summoned damage this makes casting the animate dead spell over 400% effective with a level 3 slot (2x the animated skeletons x 54% more damage x 46% more health) If you spend one level 3 spell slot re-asserting control as a 6th level necromancer you can have 4 skeletons with 19 hp that each deal 1d6+5 damage. So that’s 4d6+20 damage per round at range from a single level 3 slot to maintain the spell... I’ve played a few necromancers in my time and they absolutely dumpster tier 2 so unbelievably hard (the tier that sees the most amount of play from players). I mean, the wizard’s biggest weakness is sustained at will damage and this shores up that weakness to the point that you can make your party’s damage obsolete if you really want to. If you actually start to abuse the ability and decide you want to run around with 8-12 skeleton archers decked out in half plate while you pin down any target with spells to give advantage you’ll understand. This is before we even get into how good this is with Danse Macabre… Command Undead - Bruh…you know what has low intelligence? A mummy lord. It also have 5th level spells at its disposal and never dies if you have its phylactery safe. Oh yeah…a white dracolich also has low intelligence and can be commanded. Like how is this not an S tier ability for you? Is having the ability to permanently control a MUMMY LORD or an ANCIENT WHITE DRACOLICH not good enough for you? Bladesinger: Bladesong - not being S- tier is a travesty....It stacks with mage armor and shield and gives god tier concentration saves. On top of that you have more AC boosting shenanigans with cover or even Haste. It's insane. speaking of Haste... Extra attack - it's ok until you remember that you can also cast HASTE on yourself. Now you're one of the best damage dealing classes in the game that can make 4 attacks in 1 round at level 6.... Maybe you should actually play the wizard archetypes before rating them? Start with the necromancer and see what 4-12 skeletons being commanded by a 20 INT wizard using tactics, cover and spreading them out can do. Even if they are getting destroyed they are drawing fire away from the wizard and the party giving them carte blanche to dumpster the encounter; it’s a win win.

[@thurismundbotheric7598]

While I agree with most of your assessment, I do have to disagree with you on bladesinging since you must use a single handed or versatile weapon in one hand, you can't use a shield, and you can't wear medium or heavy armor. So it being given an A is generous.

[@Jamiethekatz]

@@thurismundbotheric7598 you know what it does stack with? Robe of the Archmage. Also if it did stack with equipped shields and heavy armor it would be extremely overpowered as your level 3 multiclass runs around with 24 AC (Fighter 1 Full Plate+Shield for 21 AC plus 3 from bladesong) spamming the shield spell to bring it to 29. So yeah if your requirement for S-tier is game breakingly overpowered then it's not S tier but by any other metric it's S tier.

[@thurismundbotheric7598]

@@Jamiethekatz again, I'm not disagreeing with your assessment since having a 30 AC at level 3 would be ridiculous, but would it really have been that hard to give them oh idk, medium armor and a shield, or at least not restrict it to single handed weapons since you are still a wizard at the end of the day which means a d6 hit die. As for your AC Calculations, plate + a shield (18 +2) is an AC of 20, and the increase from bladesong is your INT Mod, so it would be 20 + INT + Shield spell for a maximum possible value of 30 AC before magic items, which can already be done very easily in game anyways

[@lucastb1775]

@@thurismundbotheric7598 remember what a shadowblade spell can do, even if just cast at second or third level. I am aware, that this occupies concentration, but even if I do not cast this spell. The bladesinger i just rolled up will have an AC of 20 without using the shield spell at level 2. The potential for AC 25 at second level is really nice combined with 1d8 +4 piercing damage per turn in melee, or at range with a long bow. Now consider, that this is a full caster and not a martial class. The earlier levels are notoriously the weaker levels for a wizard and with spells like shadow blade or flaming sphere at level 3 a bladesinger can fight alongside the other party members at lower levels and survive pretty much anything with ease, except critical hits, which also could have a potential to miss due to spells like blur or mirror image. Of course the high AC of a bladesinger falls off at later levels, but at that point you are a full wizard. I get, that you might miss some of the higher level features that other subclasses get, but the AC you could later achieve with magic items and the possibly to mitigate damage you take to make the concentration save much easier is also pretty nice. I admit that the bladsinging aspect is much more useful in earlier levels, but the evolution from a magic sword fighter to mage can be pretty fun and flavourful. Remember 20-25 AC on an elven full wizard at level 2 tho ;)

[@devidevil888]

Necromancy spells really didn't get much love in 5e did they?

[@elizebethstihycgenderdas9805]

Stopped watching at 37:14 I really disagree with the placing of bladesinger considering any player with and intelligence of 10 irl could make it much more powerful and I of course agree with Song of victory and the extra attack kinda, buuut I also really don't. Extra attacks placed with the spell Tensers transformation alone if dual wielding (Which doesn't stop Bladesong and isn't allowed) has you doing more damage then a paladin on average or potentially a turn if you crit and had absorb elements up (I've hurt myself before just for extra damage because of little I would normally get hit. Gods smiled and I crit with the extra damage buffs) for 1 to 2 spells, or instead using basic spells like shield, Blur or haste and Mirror image, make your AC so high that if you were hit song of defense could help. But if it is instead an elemental based damage just use the equally good reaction Absorb elements for half damage and then hit the shiz outta the enemy. If you're worried about not being able to cast spells with dual wielding take war magic, Why not have advantage on that Constitution throw you made with an already +1-2. Making it a con save of probably either 6 or 7 with advantage. Just from a basic look at most of its abilities and defensive point of view every about it works super well, sure song of Victory isn't that great but the other things work really well. Song of Defense is very useful for the remaining damage types that do hit you with AOE's that can't be counterspells or are some form of damage outside the Elemental bracket of Absorb elements. Say you got hit by a strength check or a dex check or any other saving throw while in a fight use song of defense if it really hurts. Trust me that short rest is a big deal for a Bladesinger too, they got arcane tradition, then they gain back Bladesong. If you're on a time limit why not waste a 3rd level spell catnap to gain the rest lost back at 5th and below.

[@adamxei9073]

I feel like a rogue only taking two levels into blade singer wizard would be pretty dastardly. I mean the wording doesn't state you're actually singing or gives you any negatives in stealth.

[@adamxei9073]

I really think the hit die should be removed from the class restriction and put on a race restriction. A Goliath wizard just because he is wearing a long robe and has spent his time reading does not change the fact that he is over 6 ft tall with the blood of Giants running through his veins.

[@micahiwaasa9304]

One knock illusions/illusionists suffer is the frequency of use of monsters with truesight =/

[@jaredmowens]

"People tend to get more intelligent as they age." Show me one boomer who knows how to use an ellipse properly. Or even one that knows when to capitalize letters.

[@blakebailey22]

LOL

[@malmasterson3890]

Tbf, the millenials aren't much better.

[@brettpalmer1770]

@Special Bronze how many of those are millennial though? I thought at the youngest millennial are 22. I could be wrong but that should mean that most of then are G Z.

[@Hromovlad1]

My father

[@bogdanv1353]

Mummy Lord INT 11 best friend for level 14 want to be necromancer

[@ethanotoroculus1060]

Well, I know what I'm doing with my freetime.

[@jinxtheunluckypony]

Illusionist is probably my favorite subclass. A creative player can work miracles with powered up illusions.

[@WhimsicalCreature457]

“Wizards are depicted as older people.” Unless it’s Japan, where a wizard is more commonly a young girl or a “mature” woman. And when I say mature woman I mean straight up a fan service character.

[@elgatochurro]

You don't watch much anime

[@supremecaffeine2633]

Pretty sure those are sorcerers and witxhes you just described.

[@-POISON-]

Or a highschool boy with psychic powers like in Kimagure Orange Road.

[@mrxstatik7904]

I think the bladesinger got a bad rap here. One of the few wizards who gets to wear armor and they have an ability that gives you +5 to your ac. with a plus 2 in dex you can potentially have a 19 ac. Cast haste on yourself and you get two attacks and a non-concentration spell per turn, while being hard to hit. This gets ridiculous with the war caster feat

[@1mealer]

Bladesinger gets undervalued because people assume it's supposed to be a gish, which flavor wise it is. Mechanically just being a wizard with Bladesongs defensive utility is very good even if everything else it does is bait

[@williamsmith1741]

You miss another benefit of the Abjurer's arcane ward. It's not considered temporary hit-points but rather a separate barrier. As such, if your character has some kind of elemental resistance, like being resistant to fire, your arcane ward doesn't benefit from that resistance, and takes full damage. However, that also means, that when your arcane ward is hit, you're not being hit. As such, as long as your arcane ward is up, you do not have to make any constitution rolls to maintain concentration. Also, whenever you cast an abjuration spell, you recharge your arcane ward by a number of points equal to the spell level I believe. If your abjurer is a deep gnome who takes svirfniblin magic (a solid choice), you can fully recharge your ward whenever not in combat without using any spell slots. Lastly, if you're looking to bind some kind of magical energy (i.e. squeeze a geni for wishes or maintain control of that elemental for more than a couple minutes), you're going to want an abjurer, and not a conjurer. Planar Binding is our bag baby. Don't get me started on wizard duels.

[@defensivekobra3873]

So apparently minor alchemy itches jesper's sculpting dreams

[@schwann145]

The only subclass you seemed to take spell availability into account for is the necro, but the conjurer and transmuter also heavily suffer from 5e's very nerfed spell options, which should drastically drop their power level here. Also worth noting that any illusionist is only as powerful as their DM lets them be, and most DMs aren't lenient enough to let them land at #1 like this.

[@nicholasroberts8378]

Agreed, even if you have a great imagination most DM I have will not lot you run with crazy illusions meaning they sadly don't have the appeal like standard blaster mages.

[@garyco766]

100% agree.

[@RaithSienar]

5E in general is just terrible for Wizards due to how much they were nerfed. It's absolutely ridiculous that Sorcerers are the only ones that get access to metamagic. Wizards are supposed to be the MASTERS OF THE ARCANE yet WotC has only named Wizards as the masters of the arcane while actually giving Sorcerers the tools needed to be masters, not to mention with the necessity of using higher level spell slots to cast your lower level spells as powered up versions instead of them powering up automatically like they did in older editions just really makes 5E kinda bad for magic and one of the most boring editions of D&D I've ever played aside from 4th.

[@RaithSienar]

@Remy B Yea that shit is terrible, but another terrible design decision I don't think is talked about enough is the lack of spells scaling for free, you have to use a higher level spell slot for them, but the problem is the spells aren't actually balanced around this, and unless it's some utility spell without a higher level counterpart, you're always better off casting a spell that is just naturally higher level instead of wasting a higher level slot to cast a spell that doesn't scale enough to match the one you could have cast instead.

[@orionar2461]

@@RaithSienar this is balanced by the fact that spells do higher damage than past editions when you get them. A fire ball does 5d6 when you get it third. It does 8d6 when you get in 5th. We also get cantrips that actually do damage instead of 1d3

[@triplehate6759]

Ah yes, the Evoker, the Blaster Caster, the Final Fantasy Black Mage; everyone makes fun of us for being simple "hur hur fireball" types... until they are in a party without one and things go south, at which point the ability to fling magical death and destruction on a scale to turn the tide is severely missed, and they are singing a different tune. I agree that the class itself has some inherent issues and is far from perfect, but folks, as a cleaning man myself, don't diss the guy who takes out the trash & cleans up the messes. EDIT: Also, in the case of the Necromancer scoring lowest, never forget that the ultimate strength of the Necromancer lies in what, exactly, they animate and control.

[@TheFirstLanx]

You. You make sense. A bunch of undead minions are way more damaging than the fighter and barbarian put together, and take way more wearing down, if you can herd them into the right situations. (But honestly, as wizards, can't we ALL relate to needing to painstakingly herd our "minions" into the right situations?) Conversely, the common-or-garden evoker is a simple, but elegant answer to "Good grief there's a lot of them!". You can keep your portents diviners, all they'll do is foretell your doom!

[@Mr_Maiq_The_Liar]

The new chronomancer is my favorite. Y’all want some bead of haste?

[@darkqueenfenrisulfr]

+6 max hit poins on the undead

[@ecBEDART]

The highest character I ever made in 5e was a necromancer and trust me, making 2 empowered zombies instead of 1 is way better then you discribed. for the rest of the abilities I agree with you.

[@Ento2012]

I believe that bladesong and portent should be above A.

[@daxdleader719]

You have to declare portent before the role is made? I think people miss that bit a lot. Siobhan of Dimension 20 does at least.

[@thaisahickey8374]

1:25 ❤️😘

[@binolombardi]

Grim harvest At 2nd level, you gain the ability to reap life energy from creatures you kill with your spells. Once per turn when you kill one or more creatures with a spell of 1st level or higher, you regain hit points equal to twice the spell's level, or three times its level if the spell belongs to the School of Necromancy. You don't gain this benefit for killing constructs or undead. You make a great point about inability to use necromancy spells reliably with this feature. You also make a great point about it possibly stacking with dark ones blessing, which leads to another great realization. It isnt limited to wizard spells and so can possibly be used well when multiclassing. That being said you seem to have ignored the best way to use this spell. Ongoing Spell effects that have chances to proc this feature on every other creatures turn. This can be done by using persistent area of effect spells like flaming sphere or spell effects that have a chance to kill if you are damaged like fire shield/armor of Agathys. Necromancer dip to then go cleric or divine soul for spirit guardians could be amazing.

[@_gold_eye_2656]

I usually play wizards In an almost crowd control like fashion where I use them to disable, slow, stun, and deter enemies so they’re so bogged down that the party can just throw hit after hit at them with little consequences

[@Maximum7077]

Cool. What is the best way /build to do so?

[@haroldtchicken5871]

>be a Halfling >Be a Divination wizard >Take Lucky >Be hated by your DM

[@Notsidgaming]

im genuinely suprised that diviner landed on the middle of the road, but it my top 3 next to transmuter and conjurer. Great video!

[@thepurehealer1279]

Abjuration boys!

[@DemonaruMusic]

8:13 "Weapons when you're in a pinch" As far as RAI you actually can't use them as a weapon. Minor Conjuration actually can't be used as a weapon and if it takes any damage it is destroyed.

[@esperthebard]

Apparently that is an errata WotC added to the feature. I wonder why 🤷‍♂️

[@DemonaruMusic]

@@esperthebard I think for the basically have 0.5 hp, they didn't want the conjuration wizard creating Plate armor (I'm relatively short, but my chest is about 2 & 1/2 feet ish, so it could function for shorter characters. And for weapons? Idk, maybe to avoid stepping on pact of the blade or something? But I'd say it might just be what they felt was a natural conclusion giving the can't take damage, therefore shouldn't deal damage.

[@michaelkelligan7931]

Of all the wizard types i've played in the last 40 years my most successful was a warlock/ philosopher....a specialized necromancer from the 1996 book of necromancy that attained godhood!

[@jthompson7175]

Minor Conjuration: Party member just died, but the cleric doesn't have enough diamonds for the spell? Not a problem! Party fighting a werewolf but the DM hasn't given out magical weapons? Summon a silver long sword and pass it to the fighter or barbarian. They will love you for it.

[@Daltygaming2]

My Conjuration Wizard conjures purple worm venom (12 d6) uses his action to cover the dagger with the venom and next turn throw/stab the enemy doing 1d4+12d6 damage. Although this pretty much sacrifices 1 or 2 turns I think that damage that gets off is okay

[@alexanderm5728]

Minor Conjuration has saved the day so many times for me. It's actually incredible being able to just have whatever non-magical common item you might need.

[@-kenik9629]

Word to the wise: Don't let your Evoker Wizard become a Litch. Unless you want to plan around a self-replenishing supercanon.

[@Matthewcmiel]

Arcane ward is underrated here, I think. The arcane ward HP doesn’t count as your HP, so it also really helps with concentration. Enemies that hit your ward, but don’t get through it, don’t trigger a concentration check. It’s pretty useful and certainly worth mentioning.

[@MrNocturnalEmission]

Watching Lanipators "Roll With Me" show, the wizard in it shows it off very well.

[@Matthewcmiel]

@@MrNocturnalEmission cool! Thanks for the recommendation !

[@robbiehussey4723]

Would love to see Chronurgy Magic and Graviturgy Magic added in a separate video and compare them to the other subclasses. Good video by the way. Now, I'm going to watch a lot of them.

[@evilallensmithee]

8:00 remember some poisons don’t deal damage 😈 my rogue/conjuror studied poisons for this reason.

[@youcantbeatk7006]

Illusions suck. Just about every DM I've played with found a way to make every single NPC see through all of my illusion attempts.

[@leodouskyron5671]

You cant beat K I think you are likely playing with wargamer DMs. Like playing a Ranger you have to talk to your DM about how they run there world.

[@TheFirstLanx]

Now maybe you've been playing with DMs that are biased against illusions (totally possible), but if you're finding this consistently with many DMs over a long period of time I think it may have more to do with the kind of deceptions you're trying to pull off. Illusions tend to only work if they're not obvious. Most DMs are happy for you to trick their NPCs so long as it doesn't make the NPCs seem like complete fools. Just pointing out the spell makes an illusion and wanting the NPCs to believe it because your character is good at illusions is unlikely to be very successful. Now I don't know if that's what you've been trying, but I would encourage you to try casting subtle illusions beforehand in secret, rather than right in front of the people you're trying to fool. Example: remove the manhole cover from a manhole in the street, then cast a minor illusion of the manhole cover. When you then lure the NPCs around the corner past the manhole, they have no reason to suspect the manhole cover is fake. Something similar can be done by casting an illusion of a closed door, then opening that door. That'll get you that one-way vision impeding illusion the DM didn't let you get away with when you simply conjured an illusory box to hide behind. Use the environment to make your illusions plausible. Better yet, change something about the environment and then cover it up with an illusion! Consider also that if the Verbal/Somatic components are being spotted and ruining the deception, you can ready a spell as an action to release later without needing the components at that later time. Ironically I suspect that direct-style illusions are likely to not cause too much trouble if you have a wargamer DM as their effects and discovery-conditions can be easily quantified for combat. It's when you try to pull off wargamer-type illusions with a less wargaming focussed DM that they'll find objections.

[@ethanblair981]

It's an Esper vid so I'll save you time, Number 1: The Bard

[@defensivekobra3873]

Yeah lore bards have more in common with wizards than sorcerers, and lore bards are arguably better more versatile arcanists than wizards

[@DyrgeAfterDark]

If you mean just as versatile spell options, I disagree. If you mean overall class versatility, I agree. No one out wizards a wizard.

[@whitecreamymilk8436]

@@DyrgeAfterDark its because they nerfed int. Your int should give extra profeciencies.

[@DyrgeAfterDark]

@@whitecreamymilk8436 part of being a wizard is have a few rarer skills to use. Skill monkeys are rogue, bards and rangers

[@corijobman3379]

Portent 100% should be S-Tier change my mind

[@teeseeuu]

Nope, you are right. Best wizard feature of all subclasses

[@xthebumpx]

Only changes two outcomes a day, only if your random rolls are relevant for whatever situation you want to use them in, and you don't get to see rolls first, so they might not actually change anything. You get much more use out of other abilities that are more consistent, but people overrate Portent because of how psychology works and they remember the couple of times it did something awesome. Gets way better if you have really short adventure days or your GM doesn't give the party any consequences for waiting a few days for you to get great rolls.

[@patheronaetherson2860]

Mountain Dwarf War Mages that took the Heavily Armored feat and Smith's Tools proficiency unite!

[@derangus2761]

17:36 what was that clip from?

[@esperthebard]

Weekend at Bernie's, I don't remember if it was the first or second one.

[@MegaGrip13]

Undead Thralls is nuts, way more nuts than the B tier you gave it. You completely missed out that you get +1 undead per spell from it too!

[@adamsoles8335]

Me and the zomboys watching The Vid to find out that necromancers have the lowest rating: sad groaning

[@-POISON-]

I'm starting a campaign soon in which I will play a Wizard. I was leaving towards Illusion, but I wasn't sure. Now, I am.

[@AmigoRoberto]

Not gonna lie. That Evoker bait and switch had me reaching for the PH

[@ogrehaslayers605]

AmigoRoberto I fast forwarded to Evoker to experience it. Laughed so hard!

[@shawnyadeadhomie]

It's crazy to me that wizards don't get expertise in at least one intelligence skill.

[@kevinsmith9013]

A house rule any DM worth his salt will already have in place, lol

[@esperthebard]

Any wizard who is proficient in Arcana I let have expertise in it.

[@squashedeyeball]

As I said before, the greatest d&d channel on the history of youtube. Another epic tale by an true bard. For me Transmuters are a favorite, because they connect to earthly themes.

[@comradesamouri9124]

Let's be real. Nobody plays necromancer because its SUPER PRACTICAL they play it because it's awesome 😂

[@MarkLewis...]

Let's be honest here... every wizard is powerful and fun WITH the entire party, except for Necro. Only 3 points separate 1st place from 9th place in this ranking. The Necro, with an army of undead is only fun for that player.

[@redfaux74]

In my opinion, Esper doesn't know his true calling. Of course he is a Bard. He defines Bard. And vice-versa.... However, he is actually a Mage secretly (in his primary class) and a Bard openly (to the public). His intellect cannot be contained by just one class. I'm also wondering if he's not a Paladin of the Halvling God of Song. Hmmm.... 🤔 He simply cannot be contained in one box.

[@Xeranad]

Combining a Swashbuckler Rogue with a Bladesong Wizard is actually genuinely terrifying. Fancy Footwork, Rakish Audacity, Booming Blade, Bladesong, Mage Armor, Haste, Shield... and with Defensive Duelist, you can make a class with an AC of 31 (25 normally with all the boosts and Defensive Duelist grants an extra +6 at higher levels as a reaction). Maybe not as effective at pure damage dealing, but excellent at locking an opponent down and unable to attack you while you rush in, stab, and rush out. Song of Defense and Song of Victory are hardly useful in comparison, but overall the features of a Bladesong Wizard can be rather dangerous.

[@17joren]

Bladesinger was really effective with swashbuckler rogue dip. Also am I the only one who thinks wizards should get a third skill proficiency? Some editions and other RPGs let intelligence govern skills and languages…

[@thegayghost872]

Necromancers would be better if Inflict Wounds wasn’t Cleric exclusive

[@sebastiankleebinder3103]

Nice Video, but i think u forgot something even if its not a subclass u should have taken in addition the Lich to the subclasse Video.( could be also a bonus point to necromancer, because most time only necromancers becoming liches or can learn the way of lichdom by there evil knowlege) First of all a Liches Hit die changes from a 1d6 to a 1d8 (so the Hit die from the wizard becomes D Rank) His Ac is 14+Dex (A or S Rank i would say) A Lich gets Damage Resistances against: Cold, Lightning and Necrotic damage (I think its a S Rank ability or at least a high A rank ability) Damage Immunities against Poison, Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Slashing from Nonmagical Attacks (At least S Rank maybe SS or SSS Rank) Condition Immunities against Charmed, Exhaustion, Frightened, Paralyzed and Poisoned (Because many monsters and creatures can frighten a player its should be an A or S Ability) From looking at the stats from the Lich he has a passive perception of 17+ Wis (could be also that a lich has the Feat: Observant; that would mean his passiv perception is 12+Wis ( B, A or S Rank) Truesight 120 feet (thats 100% minimum an S Rank, i would say SSS but because u get Lichdom very late and u probably has decent Magic iteams, Buffs and Spells at that point, so just an S Rank) U get +3 or +4 languages (B Rank, at that point ingame u probably has enough magic iteams and spells to understand literly any language) a Lich, as long as he has a intakt phylactery he CANT DIE (at least S Rank) A Lich is a undead creature that means he can get extra damage from some spells or can be effected by skills normal players cant +/- 0 points (would give -5 or even a higher minus, but because there a some good spells u cant use on undead it balances out more or less A lich has "Turn Resistance", The lich has advantage on saving throws against any effect that turns undead. A small compensation for the problem to be effected by more spells (reason why i gave +/- 0 points about instead of at -1 or -2 A Lich gets paralyzing Touch (B or A Rank, while the dmg isn`t good at all, the side effect of it is not bad and it gives the Lich a melee spell attack he can use infinity times) Lair Action; when a lich is in his lair he has an initiative count of 20 ( A or S Rank) Legendary Actions ( Legendary Rank, 1 above SSS) As a Lich u have 3 legendary action points, u can use a legendary action every time after another creature`s turn, as long as u have L-action points to spare. The lich regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn. ( the longer the fight goes the better the skill gets because while normal wizards have a limited amount of spells, a lich can use the spells/skills not just infinity times, but he can use them whenever he needs them after another creature`s turn [a Lich has servants, undead and sometimes binded demons or devils in his team, that means he can also use one of his L-actions after one of his servants turn, or after his simulacrum`s turn] While a lich can get more dmg because he becomes an undead, he gets a dozent of immunities and a nice handful of resistances, more HP because of his better Hit die, his true sight negates all trys to sneak to him by an invisible spell or other things i cant think of at the moment and he cant die as long as nobody finds his phylactery. Ps: For necromancer, like QorinHalfhand said: "Command Undead: Mister Mummylord you and your army work for me now." The Command Undead ability is extremly strong if u find a undead creature who can have/spawn servants and for a wizard its not hard to find a undead because he can literally teleport to any point in the world in less then 3 sec, so its not hard to find a nice undead companion if he really wants. + if u fight against a Lich there is a very small but possible chance that u turn him for 1 or 2 rounds and he then can tell u where his phylactery is. If u play a "one shot" for 1-3 sessions and know the BBEG is a Lich u can try to kill him with that trick.

[@johnnylindstedt3645]

Spell Mastery at lvl 18 is probably one of the most valuable abilities you can get. Considering making Shield as your 1st level, as for 2nd level spell, i'd go for either Blindness/Deafness, Invisibility, or Scorching Ray, depending on your type of gameplay. That Shield spell though... Especially if you're going for a War Mage, and get Heavy Armor proficiency (either by dipping into other classes of feats)... yeah, not many that will be able to even hit you.

[@donavandunn9824]

For examples of high level undead you can get with the capstone Necromancy feature: Mummy lords if you want a servant that can also raise dead Nightwalkers if you just want Pure Damage (Both have such low int they can't break your control)

Command undead is very powerfull class feature, you just need to use it on vampire spawn, and succed in commanding it. BUT one thing you can do, is to hire many diviners, as followers, and make them use their portent to make a vampire lord to keep failing will saves. You CAN make a Vampire lord or lich your slave if you have enough diviners under your service. And Portent is only LEVEL 2 feature, which means you can just have low level mages as your aprentices, and keep controll of the Vampire lord. You only need enough of them to have 24 rolls that make the Vampire Lord/Lich keep failing the will saves.

[@Olav_Hansen]

The craziest potential of an evocation wizard is a warlock multiclass. Add into that a single magic item (illusionist's bracers) and at level 13 you have a caster that fire off 6 bolts of 1d10+(up to 10) damage. A race with +2 in any of them, or variant human with +1 for int and cha, with standard array can achieve +7 at this point, and +8 at level 14. At level 20 you won't get a capstone, but doing 8*1d10+10 is pretty epic. It's not that a wizard can't do anything else then cantrip blasting, but this way they can focus on more defensive and versatile spells if they aren't eveporating health pools. The amount of combination you can make a evolock work is to many to even start, because there exist a lot of powerful spell/skill combinations for warlocks when combined with any class.

[@SirSartome]

It still surprises me how players will still under appreciate the "Undead Thralls" ability. Assuming you roll damage for 12 skeletons(maintaining them with 3 3rd level spell slots the previous day as your control lasts for 24 hours) against an ac 18 enemy they will deal an average of 67.2 damage(factoring in crits) per round(while dual wielding short swords, the "Undead Thralls" ability applies to off hand attacks as well) and much more to lower ac enemies. Also "Command Undead" gets better with the "Feeblemind" spell. Not saying it's always a great option, but it's there. Edit: added last sentence)

[@jacquesbraz4801]

Great video! I'm about to play a wizard in a new campaing so it helped me a lot! Thanks. Cheers from Brazil!

[@Lordmewtwo151]

One minor complaint about Portent: Since it must be declared before the initial roll, you don't know if your ally would have gotten a better result by taking the roll or if the enemy would have rolled even lower. I guess it could have been alleviated by being a reaction after the roll, but that would run into the same problem as Projected Ward. Regarding Overchannel's drawback: Mechanically it makes sense to have a downside so your players don't decide to use it on *literally* every spell they could. That said, I think a more thematic one would be a saving throw against a level of exhaustion after each use beyond the first(with higher DC each subsequent use, of course). Slight Contradiction with Undead Thralls: (23:00-23:08) Esper said that the additional hitpoints is based of wizard level, so why would a *level six* (necromancer) wizard be giving their thralls only *three* more hitpoints? 33:12 I think you meant Bladesinger, not War Mage. BTW, why do Wizards get their subclass capstone at level 14 instead of 17 like everyone else?

[@Tom-bb3fm]

Polymorph is both the best Healing and Buff spell at 4th level tho ;) Also preventing damage through battlefield control and debuff>Healing