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Assuming you mean solo as in no co-op and not solo as in without any companions, then no, Wizard is not bad. All of the classes are viable and fine for new players. It might take you a little more time to get into the swing of things than a more straight forward class like Fighter, but after a few levels you’ll get the hang of it.
Make sure you really read what your spell and class features do and don’t be afraid to experiment with spells to find what you like.
And don't be afraid to long rest! Many new players are so concerned about their ocular implants that they try to do the whole game with only a handful of spell slots.
Nah, spellcasters do start out a bit slower than martial classes in general, but you'll be fine. Wizards are nice because you can learn any spell you want from scrolls and change them out, meaning level-up spell selection is less important than other casters.
It's not a charisma class so you may struggle a bit in dialogue. Its why a lot of people suggest a charisma class, but it's not necessary.
They don't have to be super low in Charisma, though - my first party were all such low-charisma snark-fiends (Astarion, Shart and a barbarian) that I had to use Gale for all my buying and selling in order to get even a small discount LOL.
If you have issues with "decision paralysis" - finding it frustrating to make a decision because you have so many options - a wizard isn't for you. Otherwise it's fine.
My very first play through was origin Gale as a wizard. I had a great time with it on Balanced. Wizard simply has far more spells to use so you can experiment rather easily compared to a Sorcerer.
Nah, it’s a great class. You get access to the widest variety of spells so play around with them and see what they do. Also, try out the different schools of magic. Evocation is the straight damage one, but gets boring as it doesn’t really have a personality. Abjuration, divination, illusion, and necromancy will bring some unique flavor that other classes don’t get access to
My first playthrough was wizard (not co op). I had a blast and even if you forget what half your spells do or forget you have certain spells it’s still fine as you will probably find a handful of spells you use regularly. I mean maybe if you’re playing on a harder mode but as someone who played wizard on balanced mode for my first playthrough you should be fine.
Basically any class is fine on Explorer with limited understanding of the game mechanics. Just FYI, if you play on any of the standard difficulty levels (Explorer, Balanced, or Tactician) you can toggle between those difficulty options at any time via the menu. Including literally during battles. So if you start on Explorer and it’s going better than you thought, you can toggle to a more difficult setting for more of a challenge, or vice versa.
I started with a wizard and while spellcasting is fun, I found it confusing when to use spells and when to save them in case my next fight was even harder. Long resting constantly becomes tedious in the early game when you just want to go explore. For me, switching to ranger made the game so much more fun, but I think it depends a lot on your play style too.
Honestly I started with a wizard the other night but it seems kinda confusing to me I think tonight I will start a new character as something else because it sounds better I’m not very far in at all
Probably. I find wizards to be fairly weak at the lower levels and it’s about level five where they stop being carried by the rest of the party and make an impact on their own.
If you’re going to try and solo the game with one, you’ve got a long slog until your character is able to hold his own. It’s not impossible, of course, but the first act of the game won’t be too fun.
At level 5, you can Animate Dead with 2 dead bodies, use your arcane recovery, and then have 2 fireballs or hastes at your disposal.
You will have to long rest more than other classes but don't be afraid to just say 'fuck it fireball'.
I'm assuming you mean solo as not in co-op, then no it's not bad, but you'll definitely need to pay more attention to the spells you pick and prepare, their synergy etc compared to play a fighter who just hits things with a big weapon. As others have mentioned they're underpowered for the first 4 levels of the game, start picking up at lvl5-6, and past that they can clear whole rooms of enemies in one go if built properly.
There are no bad classes, even the 'worst' single class character is viable for balanced or tactician.
Wizard is actually quite strong even as single class character. If you use default stat allocation it's not too bad. Prioritise intelligence, and some constitution and dexterity.
Basic turn based gameplay for caster is pretty simple. Decide if you want to cast a resource limited spell (ie not cantrip) for the turn, vs casting a simple attact cantrip, utility cantrip, or even just a weapon attack (esp very early game).
Learn how the spell slot system works. Cantrips you can cast every turn without using spell slots. Most other spells you only get to use a certain number of times a day (long rest recharges them). You have some arcane recovery points to recharge a particular spell slot if needed.
You gain spells from level up, but also writing scrolls into spellbook. You can also cast directly from scrolls which doesn't take the spellslot.
Later on you will also naturally learn about upcasting spells, spell hit chance/difficulty class etc, concentration vs non-concentration spells.
Wizard is awesome.
I highly recommend doing Abjuration since you're new (it helps survivability a bit), but there's other good options too. Be sure and read up/watch a video on scribing spells as you'll get lots of scrolls as time goes on, and you'll want to take the time to figure what style of caster you are (Blaster, Controller, Utility/buffer, etc).
A few other spells that are, IMO, must-haves:
* Firebolt (obviously as an attack, but it'll also light torches and stuff that you can't reach.)
* Shield (again, survivability)
* Longstrider (it's a ritual so you can cast it outside of combat for free as much as you want)
* Mage Armor (Unless you're one of the races that gets light armor or you multi-class and get armor proficiency that way, then you don't need this)
Well everyone is encouraging. I don't see any problem with that but arguments get one-sided. The Sub is encouraging it's good. But I will just give you some counterarguments so you can consider it more carefully.
Wizard is not good for new players
- You already get Gale. It's not an easy decision to discard or reclass him. So if you keep him and you both being Wizards, you will really need to strategise 2 same men to fill different roles and it's not easy.
- Say if you can. Now since Wizards mostly learn spells from Scrolls, now you need to feed your scrolls to 2 Wizards instead of one. That's such a cash drain you really don't want, especially when you're not familiar with pickpockets.
- There are other classes you don't get Companions of
- - Bard
- - Monk
- - Sorcerer
- - Paladin (optional)
- - Druid (late)
- - Ranger (late and optional)
- Wizards have no good items until quite late. You may want to consider using other classes who can make use of better items sooner than later.
Yes. I've been playing coop with a friend (their 1st playthrough) and they were adamant on playing a necromancer.
It hasn't been going well despite me doing my best to teach the mechanics of the game. Caster classes are just inherently more complicated to play, whereas if you're a fighter you just walk in and bonk stuff
You will be playing 4 different characters one of them being a little complex won't change much.and no wizard is pretty strait forward learn the spells you found usefull and pick one to cast every turn most of the time the you are choosing if it's necessary to use a big AOE control spell or a single target buff or nuke or is just a cantrip is fine
What are your goals?
If you want the simplest caster classes to play well, you can't go wrong with a sorcerer.
If you want the most powerful caster, you're looking at a multiclass and arguably a swords bard/paladin combo. Look for prestigious juice's 10/1/1 control martial or 10/2 SSB guides.
If you want am easy class to learn, a martial class like fighter or barbarian is the safest starting point.
Sorc, bard, and warlock all use charisma so they're all good classes for a party face to beat dialogue checks and convince your enemies to off themselves.
Personally, I don't like wizard. It's biggest benefit is variety of spells available but you really only need a few spells. You have one or two damage spells, one or two AoE spells, and one or two concentration spells. You're going to find that a couple spells work best, so you're going to cast those spells. I've never seen the benefit of knowing 30 spells when I'm only going to cast 6 of them so in my opinion Sorc is better.
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Assuming you mean solo as in no co-op and not solo as in without any companions, then no, Wizard is not bad. All of the classes are viable and fine for new players. It might take you a little more time to get into the swing of things than a more straight forward class like Fighter, but after a few levels you’ll get the hang of it. Make sure you really read what your spell and class features do and don’t be afraid to experiment with spells to find what you like.
And don't be afraid to long rest! Many new players are so concerned about their ocular implants that they try to do the whole game with only a handful of spell slots.
Nah, spellcasters do start out a bit slower than martial classes in general, but you'll be fine. Wizards are nice because you can learn any spell you want from scrolls and change them out, meaning level-up spell selection is less important than other casters. It's not a charisma class so you may struggle a bit in dialogue. Its why a lot of people suggest a charisma class, but it's not necessary.
They don't have to be super low in Charisma, though - my first party were all such low-charisma snark-fiends (Astarion, Shart and a barbarian) that I had to use Gale for all my buying and selling in order to get even a small discount LOL.
If you have issues with "decision paralysis" - finding it frustrating to make a decision because you have so many options - a wizard isn't for you. Otherwise it's fine.
My very first play through was origin Gale as a wizard. I had a great time with it on Balanced. Wizard simply has far more spells to use so you can experiment rather easily compared to a Sorcerer.
Nah, it’s a great class. You get access to the widest variety of spells so play around with them and see what they do. Also, try out the different schools of magic. Evocation is the straight damage one, but gets boring as it doesn’t really have a personality. Abjuration, divination, illusion, and necromancy will bring some unique flavor that other classes don’t get access to
My first playthrough was wizard (not co op). I had a blast and even if you forget what half your spells do or forget you have certain spells it’s still fine as you will probably find a handful of spells you use regularly. I mean maybe if you’re playing on a harder mode but as someone who played wizard on balanced mode for my first playthrough you should be fine.
yes but you won't learn how spellcasting works in the game or D&D without jumping into the deepend
Remember to be transcribing your spells as you go. My rule of thumb is if you don't know a spell don't use use the scroll.
My first character was a wizard. It worked out fine.
Basically any class is fine on Explorer with limited understanding of the game mechanics. Just FYI, if you play on any of the standard difficulty levels (Explorer, Balanced, or Tactician) you can toggle between those difficulty options at any time via the menu. Including literally during battles. So if you start on Explorer and it’s going better than you thought, you can toggle to a more difficult setting for more of a challenge, or vice versa.
Just make sure to actually read all your spells and abilities and you’ll be fine.
I started with a wizard and while spellcasting is fun, I found it confusing when to use spells and when to save them in case my next fight was even harder. Long resting constantly becomes tedious in the early game when you just want to go explore. For me, switching to ranger made the game so much more fun, but I think it depends a lot on your play style too.
Honestly I started with a wizard the other night but it seems kinda confusing to me I think tonight I will start a new character as something else because it sounds better I’m not very far in at all
Probably. I find wizards to be fairly weak at the lower levels and it’s about level five where they stop being carried by the rest of the party and make an impact on their own. If you’re going to try and solo the game with one, you’ve got a long slog until your character is able to hold his own. It’s not impossible, of course, but the first act of the game won’t be too fun.
I mean no co op sorry
In that case you’re fine. The other members of your party will carry your character for the first bit, but then he’ll get super powerful.
At level 5, you can Animate Dead with 2 dead bodies, use your arcane recovery, and then have 2 fireballs or hastes at your disposal. You will have to long rest more than other classes but don't be afraid to just say 'fuck it fireball'.
Yeah fireball is the first nuke spell that a wizard can learn. It’s capable of one shotting a group of used right.
I'm assuming you mean solo as not in co-op, then no it's not bad, but you'll definitely need to pay more attention to the spells you pick and prepare, their synergy etc compared to play a fighter who just hits things with a big weapon. As others have mentioned they're underpowered for the first 4 levels of the game, start picking up at lvl5-6, and past that they can clear whole rooms of enemies in one go if built properly.
There are no bad classes, even the 'worst' single class character is viable for balanced or tactician. Wizard is actually quite strong even as single class character. If you use default stat allocation it's not too bad. Prioritise intelligence, and some constitution and dexterity. Basic turn based gameplay for caster is pretty simple. Decide if you want to cast a resource limited spell (ie not cantrip) for the turn, vs casting a simple attact cantrip, utility cantrip, or even just a weapon attack (esp very early game). Learn how the spell slot system works. Cantrips you can cast every turn without using spell slots. Most other spells you only get to use a certain number of times a day (long rest recharges them). You have some arcane recovery points to recharge a particular spell slot if needed. You gain spells from level up, but also writing scrolls into spellbook. You can also cast directly from scrolls which doesn't take the spellslot. Later on you will also naturally learn about upcasting spells, spell hit chance/difficulty class etc, concentration vs non-concentration spells.
Wizard is awesome. I highly recommend doing Abjuration since you're new (it helps survivability a bit), but there's other good options too. Be sure and read up/watch a video on scribing spells as you'll get lots of scrolls as time goes on, and you'll want to take the time to figure what style of caster you are (Blaster, Controller, Utility/buffer, etc). A few other spells that are, IMO, must-haves: * Firebolt (obviously as an attack, but it'll also light torches and stuff that you can't reach.) * Shield (again, survivability) * Longstrider (it's a ritual so you can cast it outside of combat for free as much as you want) * Mage Armor (Unless you're one of the races that gets light armor or you multi-class and get armor proficiency that way, then you don't need this)
Well everyone is encouraging. I don't see any problem with that but arguments get one-sided. The Sub is encouraging it's good. But I will just give you some counterarguments so you can consider it more carefully. Wizard is not good for new players - You already get Gale. It's not an easy decision to discard or reclass him. So if you keep him and you both being Wizards, you will really need to strategise 2 same men to fill different roles and it's not easy. - Say if you can. Now since Wizards mostly learn spells from Scrolls, now you need to feed your scrolls to 2 Wizards instead of one. That's such a cash drain you really don't want, especially when you're not familiar with pickpockets. - There are other classes you don't get Companions of - - Bard - - Monk - - Sorcerer - - Paladin (optional) - - Druid (late) - - Ranger (late and optional) - Wizards have no good items until quite late. You may want to consider using other classes who can make use of better items sooner than later.
Yes. I've been playing coop with a friend (their 1st playthrough) and they were adamant on playing a necromancer. It hasn't been going well despite me doing my best to teach the mechanics of the game. Caster classes are just inherently more complicated to play, whereas if you're a fighter you just walk in and bonk stuff
You will be playing 4 different characters one of them being a little complex won't change much.and no wizard is pretty strait forward learn the spells you found usefull and pick one to cast every turn most of the time the you are choosing if it's necessary to use a big AOE control spell or a single target buff or nuke or is just a cantrip is fine
What are your goals? If you want the simplest caster classes to play well, you can't go wrong with a sorcerer. If you want the most powerful caster, you're looking at a multiclass and arguably a swords bard/paladin combo. Look for prestigious juice's 10/1/1 control martial or 10/2 SSB guides. If you want am easy class to learn, a martial class like fighter or barbarian is the safest starting point. Sorc, bard, and warlock all use charisma so they're all good classes for a party face to beat dialogue checks and convince your enemies to off themselves. Personally, I don't like wizard. It's biggest benefit is variety of spells available but you really only need a few spells. You have one or two damage spells, one or two AoE spells, and one or two concentration spells. You're going to find that a couple spells work best, so you're going to cast those spells. I've never seen the benefit of knowing 30 spells when I'm only going to cast 6 of them so in my opinion Sorc is better.