So, Wizards have four arcane traditions on Solasta, Greenmage, Loremaster, Shock Arcanist, and Court Mage. I was wondering what everyone thought of each tradition, and what would be best for a wizard.
Greenmage: This one has the best boons for a stat rolled wizard, since their arrow abilities rely on having a high DEX. So does getting a good AC with light armor without the Sellsword background, allowing them to cover all of the INT skills more easily. Starting with a 20 DEX makes the bow an extremely powerful weapon early game, far stronger than the cantrips until you hit level 11. Even then however, Greenmages have a plethora of additional spell options which the other wizard paths won't get. Only issue with this path is for point buy characters, having to split your stats between DEX and INT to get all the benefits can be rough. But those additional spells sure are tempting...
Loremaster: Probably the one that is the least beneficial, I've found. The advantage on Arcana checks is nice for counterspelling but oftentimes I find unnecessary. They can memorize more spells and get more spellslots, but the latter benefit arrives so late I wonder if it's worth it.
Shock Arcanist: +1 level for a lot of your direct damage spells. So you can make things go boom a bit better. Good early game especially for magic missile and scorching ray. They do have some use/day abilities though the backlash isn't the greatest. Still, it's a pretty straightforward, if effective option.
Court Mage: Shield proficiency for free, combine with the Sellsword background and your mage should have a pretty solid AC. The only issue I find is that you can get shield proficiency with the Raise Shield feat. Counterspell mastery is nice though if you're facing enemy casters. Other than that, spellshield temp HP seems like a decent option to have.
So, what are everyone's thoughts on their favorite arcane tradition?
we need to normalize saying 'broken stats' instead of ' "rolled" stats'
yellow flower of courage
It all depends on your party comp, as well as the play style you want for your wizard. You want your wizard doing the most damage possible? Then shock arcanist is your answer. If you want a mage tank then court mage is your answer. If you want your mage to be your healer then greenmage is your answer.
Player choice is one of the best things about these kinds of games. If you want a party of nothing but spell chuckers then you can absolutely make that happen and be just fine in beating the game with it. If you want nothing but fighters, well then it would just be unfun cause you'd steam roll everything in your path, yet that's your choice if you want your party to be nothing but demigods.
I guess what I'm trying to say is, you need to ask a different question. It's not "which is the best wizard". The question should be which class fills which roll the best. In that case it;s really up to you. Honestly, in my own opinion - (in order from best to worst, unlesss stated otherwise)
Melee: Fighter, paladin, barbarian.
Stealthy, sneaky, dexy usey kinda dude-dudet: Rogue, Ranger, Bard. HOLD UP. so these classes provide vastily different bonuses/abilites. Unless im mistaken (which if thats the case anyone feel free to correct me), the ranger does the most consistent damage out of the 3. Sneak attack from the rogue is great but can only be applied on the first hit the rogue makes in a round. Yet the ranger gets most of their bonus damage from multiple sources, so long as you built them in a certain way. However the Bard is a fantastic support class that can provide buffs, healing, and extra dice rolls for multiple things (personally I've found the bard inspiration dice to be one of the most valuable things in this game). So this group is really all based on what roll your looking for.
Healer: Cleric, druid, other subclasses: This group is a bit cattywampus. There are many different things that can fit into this group rather well. The cleric with the proper domain is most obvious. Yet, I think the druid also fills the roll rather well, especially when also partied with a bard which gets access to many of the same healing spells. Other subclasses like that from the wizard I think would fill the roll just fine.
With all that being said, I think there are a lot of viable options for each roll. It really just comes down to the player what he/she thinks would be fun to play. Which is the entire point of the game right? Everyone just wants to have fun. SO LETS HAVE FUN!!! WOOOOO!!!!!
This post has been deleted.
I'm going with Green Mage all the way. Goodberry, Conjure Animals, free Archery, Entangling Strike are all invaluable additions.
Let me suggest a UB build. Start as a Barbarian for unarmored defense with shield, martial weapons, rage, and d12 hit points. Then 7 levels of Green Mage. Become a devastating shooter with Archery, Ranged Expert and Deadeye. Try to get Bracers of Archery and a Medusa Bow. Add 3 levels of Sorcerer (Divine Heart) to acquire Metamagic Careful and Twinned.