Wizard 5e: Class Guide for the 2024 Rules

What does a wizard do in D&D 5e?

A wizard solves problems with the right spell, and has more spells to choose from than anyone. The wizard spell list is the largest in the game, the spellbook keeps growing for free, and you can re-plan your prepared spells every morning. The price is the frailest body in the party. Played well, a wizard ends fights with one cast and gets the party past the locked door, the chasm and the cursed idol on the way.

• Hit die: d6. Level 1 hit points are 6 + Constitution modifier; a level 5 wizard with +2 Con has 32 HP on fixed averages. The HP calculator does any level.
• Primary ability: Intelligence. Spell save DC is 8 + proficiency bonus + Intelligence modifier: 13 at level 1 with a 16, 15 at level 5 with an 18.
• Saving throws: Intelligence and Wisdom.
• Armor and weapons: no armor, simple weapons.
• Skills: choose 2 from Arcana, History, Insight, Investigation, Medicine and Religion.

What are the wizard's features by level?

This is the 2024 Player's Handbook progression. "Prepared spells" counts level 1+ spells you can have ready from your spellbook; "Highest slot" is your top spell slot.

The table looks empty at odd levels, but every level brings new slots and two new spells in your book. The full list you can learn from is on the wizard spell list.

How does the wizard spellbook work?

Your spellbook is the wizard's real class feature. It holds your level 1+ spells; cantrips are known separately.

• Starting book: six 1st-level wizard spells.
• Leveling up: add two wizard spells of a level you have slots for, at no cost. A level 5 wizard who never found a scroll still has 14 spells in the book.
• Copying: found a scroll or a rival's spellbook? Copying costs 2 hours and 50 gp per spell level, so a 3rd-level spell is 6 hours and 150 gp. Ask your DM to put spellbooks in loot; it is the wizard's favorite treasure.
• Preparing: after each long rest, pick your prepared spells from the book (4 at level 1, 9 at level 5). From level 5, Memorize Spell lets you swap one after a short rest too.
• Rituals: Ritual Adept lets you cast any ritual in your book without preparing it. Detect Magic, Identify, Alarm and Find Familiar never need to take up a prepared slot.

Because rituals are free, put your utility spells in the book and prepare combat spells. That single habit is the biggest difference between a struggling wizard and a strong one.

How does Arcane Recovery work?

Once per long rest, when you finish a short rest, you recover spent spell slots whose levels add up to half your wizard level, rounded up. No slot can be 6th level or higher.

Spend your biggest slot early in the day, then get it back at the first short rest.

What are the best wizard spells at low levels?

• Shield: a reaction for +5 AC until your next turn. It turns a hit into a miss more often than any other 1st-level spell and is the main reason wizards survive.
• Magic Missile: three darts that never miss, 3 × (1d4+1) = 10.5 force damage on average. Good for finishing a target.
• Sleep and Web: early control that can end a fight.
• Misty Step: a bonus-action 30-foot teleport out of melee.
• Fireball and Counterspell at level 5: 8d6 fire damage (28 on average) in a 20-foot radius, and the answer to enemy casters.

Which wizard subclass should you pick?

You choose at level 3 in the 2024 rules. The Player's Handbook has four schools:

How do you build a wizard? (quick build)

1. Scores: 15 Intelligence, 14 Constitution, 13 Dexterity, 12 Wisdom, 10 Charisma, 8 Strength. Background bonuses to Intelligence and Constitution.
2. Cantrips: Fire Bolt or Ray of Frost, Mage Hand, and Minor Illusion or Light.
3. Spellbook: Shield, Magic Missile, Sleep, Find Familiar, Detect Magic and Mage Armor. Prepare Shield, Magic Missile, Sleep and Mage Armor; the rituals stay in the book.
4. Feats: raise Intelligence at level 4. War Caster or Resilient (Constitution) protects concentration.

The character generator can roll up a starting wizard, and the character sheet has room to track prepared spells and slots.

What changed for the wizard in 2024 vs 2014?

• Subclass: Arcane Tradition at level 2 in 2014 (eight schools in the Player's Handbook); level 3 in 2024 with four schools.
• Prepared spells: Intelligence modifier + wizard level in 2014; a fixed number from the class table in 2024.
• Cantrips: fixed once learned in the 2014 Player’s Handbook; one can be swapped after each long rest in 2024.
• New in 2024: Scholar (Expertise in one knowledge skill at level 2) and Memorize Spell (level 5).
• Unchanged: Arcane Recovery, rituals from the book, Spell Mastery at 18 and Signature Spells at 20.

FAQ

Is the wizard good for beginners?

It is one of the harder classes to start with. A wizard has the lowest hit die, a long spell list and a spellbook to manage. Players who enjoy planning love it; brand-new players often do better with a sorcerer or warlock first, or a wizard built around a few simple spells.

How many spells can a wizard prepare?

In the 2024 rules the number comes from the class table: 4 at level 1, 9 at level 5, 15 at level 10 and 22 at level 20. In the 2014 rules it is your Intelligence modifier plus your wizard level (minimum 1).

How do wizards learn new spells?

You add two wizard spells to your spellbook each time you gain a level, for free. You can also copy spells from scrolls or other spellbooks; each spell level costs 2 hours and 50 gp, so a 3rd-level spell takes 6 hours and 150 gp.

What is the best wizard subclass?

The Evoker (in the free SRD) is the simplest: it can shield allies from its own Fireballs and deals half damage with cantrips even on a miss. The Diviner's Portent is one of the strongest features in the game, and the Abjurer is the toughest wizard.

What happens if a wizard loses their spellbook?

You keep the spells you have prepared until you change them, but you cannot prepare new ones from a lost book. Both rule sets let you write your currently prepared spells into a new book, paying the usual time and gold, which is why many wizards keep a backup book.

Related

• DnD Character Generator
• Wizard Spell List 5e
• Fireball 5e
• Shield 5e