D&D (2024) 2024 Player's Handbook Reveal: "New Wizard"

"The paramount collector of spells."

"The paramount collector of spells."

Open your spellbooks, everybody. Today we get a Wizard video.


The last version of the class was in the UA Playtest 7 package (PT7). It's not clear how much they'll say here. Of the base class, I am hoping that they have recanted the level 5 ability, Memorize Spell (or perhaps shifted it to needing a short rest). They've said that the PHB will get clearer rules for how illusions work -- maybe they'll talk about that? Other than that, I think the most they can do is show us some revised spells: Will the revised version of Counterspell be kept? Any surprise Necromancy reveals? Let's find out.

OVERVIEW
  • "the paramount collector of spells": "many" of new spells are for the wizard.
  • As in PT7: cantrip change after long rest (level 1); scholar -- expertise in an academic field (at 2)
  • NO MENTION OF ARCANE RECOVERY
  • NEW: Ritual Adept broken out as a new class feature. They can cast spells in their spellbook, as before, but here ID'd as a new feature.
  • NEW: Memorize Spell at 5: you can swap a spell after short rest.
  • Each subclass gets a new version of Savant: free spells in spellbook of preferred school. 2 free spells of favored class, and a new spell for each spell level (so every 2 levels, as in the playtest. This isn't what is said in the video, but has been corrected elsewhere.
SUBCLASSES
Abjurer
  • new abjuration spells feeds back onto how subclass functions.
  • NEW: Arcane Ward at 3: resistance, immunity applied before the Arcane Ward.
  • NEW: Projected Ward a 6: your friend's resistance is applied before the ward for them.
  • NEW: Spell breaker at level 10: Counterspell and Dispell Magic are both prepared (PT7 did not include Counterspell). Dispell Magic is a bonus action.
Diviner
  • NEW: Third Eye at 10. As in PT7, bonus action to activate; 120' darkvision, see invisibility. NO MENTION of Greater Comprehension ("read any language")
Evoker -- "all about bringing the boom"
  • As in PT7: Potent Cantrip at 3 applies to cantrips both with a saving throw or an attack roll.
Illusionist -- "we felt that the subclass needed more" (YAY)
  • NEW: Improved Illusions at level 3:
    • cast illusion spells with no verbal components. (FUN)
    • illusions with range with at least 10' is increased to 60' (no-- by 60' to 70').
    • you get minor illusion cantrip, with both visual and audible
    • you cast minor illusion as a bonus action.
  • NEW: Phantasmal Creatures
    • summon beast and summon fey spells always prepared. These MAY BE changed from conjuration to Illusion, and the illusory version can be cast without expending a spell slot, but the summoned version, only with half the hit points. ONCE PER DAY.
    • illusions can step on a trap to set it off (?!)
    • (replacing Malleable Illusions, which I complained about here. This is so exciting.)
  • NEW: Illusory Self triggered by you being hit by an attack (not when you are targeted). As in PT7, you can get more uses by giving up a spell slot of level 2+.
SPECIFIC SPELLS
  • NEW: school shift to Abjuration: no examples
  • Counterspell as in PT7.
  • GUIDANCE ON ILLUSIONS in Rules Glossary. E.g. How are they affected by environment?
    • spell descriptions also clarified. Rules Glossary to be discussed in future video (also conditions, areas of effects, guidance on teleportation, telepathy, "
  • "being dead" to be discussed in Cleric Video. Tease...
So this gave much more than I was expecting, and it looks amazing. Playing an illusionist will now be much more clearly not a "mother may I?" situation, which (I feel) has long been the case. I think I got most of what I'd asked for in the PT feedback.
 

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That makes more sense to me. The last illusionist I saw played was during 2e, and I only saw one then. Going by popularity, I'd have thought Conjurer or Transmuter would have been the selection.
The 2014 illusionist was not obviously good compared to the diviner etc. 3.5 really gave no reasons to be an illusionist.
In 2e gnomes could be illusionists. And since they increased int, they were actually great illusionists. That on top of illusions beeing very powerful (including summons) and the ability to be fighter illusionist made me see a few of them

The 2024 variant is quite compelling. Having seen illusionist warlocks (mask of many faces, misty visions minor illusion) at work, I would immerdiately start playing one.
 

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Parmandur

Book-Friend
The 2014 illusionist was not obviously good compared to the diviner etc. 3.5 really gave no reasons to be an illusionist.
In 2e gnomes could be illusionists. And since they increased int, they were actually great illusionists. That on top of illusions beeing very powerful (including summons) and the ability to be fighter illusionist made me see a few of them

The 2024 variant is quite compelling. Having seen illusionist warlocks (mask of many faces, misty visions minor illusion) at work, I would immerdiately start playing one.
A Gnome Illusionist/Fighter sounds absolutely fascinating.
 

A Gnome Illusionist/Fighter sounds absolutely fascinating.
Yes. They could use haste for double attacks close to at will, as 1 year more or less does not affect them a lot. Enlarge helped them deal more damage.
Mirror image and blurr as defense. Maybe fire shield on top. And flame arrow was a decent conjuration attack spell back then.

Forbidden schools were necromancy, evocation and abjuration, with only abjuration really being missed. But there were quite some transmutation and illusion spells for defense too.
 

Stalker0

Legend
so the only difference between the cantrip blade ward and the 1st level spell shield of faith, is that SoF can be put on other people. You could argue the -1d4 is effectively "+2.5 AC" compared to the +2 of SoF, but I do think the consistency is worth a little bit, so roughly comparable.

SoF technically has longer duration....but since BW is at-will it should be on all the time.

That's probably my only pet peeve, I would make the BW duration 10 minutes or even an hour (assuming it still is personal, which I am going to assume because other SoF is now obsolete). Its a spell you can reapply as often as you need, why just not have it on for 10 minutes at a time, rather than having to "recast" every 1 minute in which you get into DM vs player arguments of how often you can cast something before it gets tiring and xyz.
 

people love to go on about how wizards are soo OP, which is mostly on paper only.
Heck, unless your gm is giving the wizard extra money for spells (or directly giving extra spells) sorcerers can get more spells than wizards can.
That's 2024 rules. Under pre-Tasha's rules a sorcerer knew fewer spells than a wizard could prepare at one time. And a big criticism of 5e is the lack of things to spend money on.

Wizards are weak at tier 1, strong in tier 2, and OP in tiers 3 and 4
Spell list aside, wizards are the most boring class in the game. All the subclasses are irrelevant, because it doesnt' differentiate one wizard from another. They all have the same spell set, and none of the subclasses make them better at those kinds of spells.
Not actually true for 2014 Evokers who can freely fireball the party and Illusionists who can both morph their illusions and make them part real. And 2014 Necromancers are better at one spell (if you're going to write subclassclass identity round a single spell don't make it a wizard who specialises in flexibility).
They're mostly just a few ribbons to use when not casting the same spells as every other wizard.

Its honestly a total design failure by WOTC.
Sure beats 3.5 and earlier.
 

I didn’t see swords bards make the list, while wild magic sorcerers did. Your response does not hold water, at least for other classes.
Swords Bard is an apology for Valour being bad just as Hexblade is Pact of the Blade. They weren't going to kick the PHB subclass out or include both. With luck new Valour will be basically Swords.

For that matter no PHB subclass was dumped
 

Staffan

Legend
Swords Bard is an apology for Valour being bad just as Hexblade is Pact of the Blade. They weren't going to kick the PHB subclass out or include both. With luck new Valour will be basically Swords.
I don't know. Yes, the Swords bard is stronger than a Valor bard. But that's because the Swords bard is selfish – and in a support-based class, I see that as a bad thing. All the stuff Swords gets are about making their own fighting better, while the Valor bard improves the combat prowess of their allies. One might argue about the tuning (heh) of the Valor bard's abilities, but fundamentally they have the right concept.

Also, the bard is a full caster class. The Swords bard gets benefits when they attack, but as a full caster you're probably better off casting – and the Valor bard can cast spells while handing out enhanced Inspiration dice.

If I was remaking the Valor bard within the 2014 structure (features at 3, 6, and 14), I'd buff it as follows:
3rd: Add the ability to use a weapon as an arcane focus, so you don't need to bother with having free hands. Buff their Inspiration dice – perhaps something like allowing rerolls if they are used to boost an attack roll.
6th: Add something similar to the Eldritch Knight's War Magic (when you cast a cantrip, make an attack as a bonus action). I'm not sure if this should replace Extra Attack or supplement it.
 

Yaarel

🇮🇱He-Mage
so the only difference between the cantrip blade ward and the 1st level spell shield of faith, is that SoF can be put on other people. You could argue the -1d4 is effectively "+2.5 AC" compared to the +2 of SoF, but I do think the consistency is worth a little bit, so roughly comparable.

SoF technically has longer duration....but since BW is at-will it should be on all the time.

That's probably my only pet peeve, I would make the BW duration 10 minutes or even an hour (assuming it still is personal, which I am going to assume because other SoF is now obsolete). Its a spell you can reapply as often as you need, why just not have it on for 10 minutes at a time, rather than having to "recast" every 1 minute in which you get into DM vs player arguments of how often you can cast something before it gets tiring and xyz.
I think it is fine to take a cantrip for an always-on trait, such as darkvision, or here Blade Ward.
 


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