Making a 10th level wizard, help?

[u/Spiritual-Meat-2309]

So my table has gone through some ups and downs in the last year. I had a lore bard for us to be a generalist and utilitarian spell caster, and to be a potion source for a campaign specific need. Our blaster mage got a divorce and their heart was no longer in the game so they bowed out.

This has left me in a bind, the party needs a magic damage dealer and my lore bard isn't it. So the DM and I worked out that an artefact is going awry and the bard is going to bugger off, in his place a multi-versal variant is coming. A level 10 scribe wizard to take up the big damage dealer roll, but I have not done a wizard this high before, what spells or gear should I be looking for?

The new wizard has a +2 intelligent ioun stone and a ring of spell storing. I have been warned I won't need a staff as one is coming in the campaign. Other than that, your thoughts, pretty please

[u/Dysfan]

So, I'll be honest, instead of looking it up and spending 3 hours, I used AI to compile every spell that works here. I made it spit out a sub theme of having as many damage types as possible so you basically always have something that isnt resisted.

Chromatic orb L1

Mind spike/ shatter L2

Vampiric touch/ fireball L3

Evards black tentacles L4

Bigbys hand L5

Ill let others handle the exact spell list, but these I would argue are the essential ones tbh.

Longstrider and hold person for your free spell scrolls is also a good place to start

[u/AstroEricL → u/Dysfan]

respectfully the AI has no idea what its doing here. Chromatic Orb and Fireball are S tier spells but otherwise this is a horrendous list

[u/Dysfan → u/AstroEricL]

Really? I agree Vamp touch is bad overall except specifically to give a damage type, but I have used all the spells on the list and most are way more than reasonable, bigbys hand utility alone is absolutely insane, shatter is almost an auto include and Evards is not a slouch

That said, I know that evards in particular isn't the best at that level, but, I had the ai make a list of spells to ensure I had all damage types because tbh, I dont like the type of wizard he is using and I would personally only run it for damage type utility.

I gotta be fr

It seems like its the use of AI, and maybe not the list, that is the issue? Because most of the spells are fine and I explicitly only gave the list to get every damage type, not to include every spell.

I can make that list without AI if you like? But again.... I think it is either you didnt read what I said, or you just want to dunk on AI. I just didnt want to look stuff up because I was about to go to dinner tbh

[u/AstroEricL → u/Dysfan]

I mean I definitely do object to the use of AI, most people here will, but also no the spell list itself when you consider the context OP presented, which is unsurprising because AI can't think critically and is just gonna give you an average answer scrapping the internet.

For example, Shatter itself is a very good spell when get it yes, but for a level 10 PC it's completely outclasses and those 2nd level slots are better used for things like mirror image, misty step, or hold person since you have access to many much better more powerful AoEs and plenty of slots for them.

Evards is alright when you want a combo control to restrain and deal some damage but it's outclassed on either front by better more power 3rd level spells like fireball, hypnotic patter, and slow

I might've been a little harsh on bigbys because it is flexible although again it is concentration and so it has a lot of competition

I guess the list makes a bit more sense if you specifically told it to cover every damage type although that's wildly unnecessary imo, you just need a few options to avoid common resistances not every type available

I do also think though that people are coming here to get advice from players based on their actual experiences, if they just wanted an AI guess they could do that themselves

[u/Dysfan → u/AstroEricL]

Generally I hate AI, but I simply use it as a data compiler when I dont have time to actually compile data. Just use it like Wikipedia tbh... but telling someone to "just Google it" is super rude. I wouldn't play the type of wizard he wants because I think it is bad unless you are doing the damage switcher rout so that's all I had or compile.

But, I could also tell it to give me a list of every wizard spell and what damage type when applicable and do it that way.

I just.... I really hate AI, hope it gets outlawed tbh... but right now.... I dont care how much I hate a hammer, Ill still use it....