Step into the arcane world where knowledge is power and spells shape reality-our 2024 Wizard Class build guide for Dungeons & Dragons 5e reveals how to master the iconic spellcaster whose potential is limited only by their spellbook and imagination. Whether you seek to bend time with Chronurgy, summon allies with Conjuration, or protect your party with Abjuration, this guide walks you through the latest rules, subclass options, and spell strategies to craft a wizard capable of turning any challenge into a magical triumph.
Before we get started, a quick disclaimer: There’s no “best” anything in D&D. Classes tend to be well-balanced when it comes to damage output. More importantly, though, D&D is a roleplaying game as well as a combat game, so there’s more to it than stabbing monsters. And that diversity of situations – from picking locks to punting kobolds to seducing dragons – means “best” is entirely subjective.
Our Player’s Handbook (2024) D&D Wizard guide will walk you through the class and talk about some of the changes from D&D 5e.
Is Wizard the best class for you in D&D?
Choosing whether the Wizard is the best class for you in Dungeons & Dragons 5e depends on your playstyle and willingness to engage with its unique challenges and rewards. Wizards are iconic arcane spellcasters capable of solving a wide range of problems through magic, with access to some of the most powerful spells in the game. However, they are among the least durable classes, lacking armor proficiency and having low hit points, which makes positioning and party support crucial for survival. Playing a Wizard rewards mastery of both the character and the game system, as managing a spellbook and selecting spells strategically is key to success. If you enjoy intellectual challenge, resource management, and versatility in spellcasting, the Wizard can be incredibly rewarding. But if you prefer a straightforward, tanky character, this class might not be the best fit.
Wizards are a tough class to play, honestly. They don’t have a lot of HP and don’t get any armor, so they’re very squishy for a long time. That said, Wizards also have access to some of the most powerful spells in the game. If you’re willing to sacrifice brawn for brains, a Wizard can quickly become a force on any battlefield.
Inspiration for your Wizard
Inspiration for your Wizard
Wizards are iconic arcane spellcasters in D&D, known for their ability to solve problems with magic, typically limited by their spellbook and spell slots. As a classic fantasy archetype, a D&D party without a Wizard is hard to imagine. When creating your Wizard, consider that they modify how you progress as you level up. At level 2, players now select a Wizard Subclass at level 3 while gaining a feature called Scholar at level 2, which bestows Expertise in a skill.
Wizards have such a clearly defined image to them that it can be nearly impossible to pull yourself away from “pointy hats and robes.” But D&D is a game about thinking out of the box whenever possible, and there are lots of other examples for you to use to create your magic-slinging genius:
- The chosen one archetype conjures the image of a lot of different characters, but Paul Atreides from Dune is one of the more interesting ones for Wizards – specifically for Divination enjoyers. These are characters that have a destiny they must fulfill and are burdened with purpose. While you may not spend most of your time wielding a blade, Paul’s struggles with power and destiny make him a great inspiration for Wizards.
- Wizards are smart, so leaning into the genius archetype can get you away from just the sparkly hands and big sticks idea. Think of characters like Maester Aemon from Game of Thrones (or any Maester, really). Your brain (and lock of Charisma) is what differentiates you from a Sorcerer, so pulling from booksmart characters will help you build a strong foundation.
- The reckless Wizard plays a little more into the archetype that we’re all familiar with, but is about the pursuit of magical knowledge and power. It can certainly be with good intentions, but characters like Howl from Howl’s Moving Castle, Dr. Strange from Marvel, or even Mickey Mouse often stretch themselves too thin with the power that they’ve been gifted.
- The classic spell-slinger is a classic for a reason, and while coming up with a unique idea is awesome, it’s hard to beat the classic Gandalf-like Wizard. Mysterious, aloof, but inherently good, these Wizards really ground your party in that fantasy setting and are easy to nestle into. You can always find the nuances that make them unique as you go.
What’s new for Wizards in One D&D?
Wizards in One D&D (2024) have undergone significant updates to enhance spellcasting flexibility and subclass depth. Notably, Wizards now choose their subclass at level 3 instead of level 2, with the number of official subclasses reduced from eight to four-Abjurer, Diviner, Evoker, and Illusionist-each receiving unique enhancements. The new Savant feature grants Wizards additional free spells from their chosen school as they level up, ensuring steady access to thematic spells. Spell preparation has been streamlined: Wizards can now replace one cantrip after each Long Rest and swap one prepared spell after a Short Rest, reducing the pressure of spell selection. The Ritual Casting rules are restructured, allowing Wizards to cast any prepared ritual spells without needing them to be separately prepared. Additionally, the Scholar feature at level 2 provides Expertise in a chosen skill, emphasizing the Wizard’s scholarly nature. These changes collectively make Wizards more versatile and user-friendly while preserving their iconic role as master spellcasters.
No matter what class you end up picking, One D&D changes the way characters are created. Specifically, the Background you choose now comes with an Ability Score improvement (one point each in three Abilities, or two points in one Ability and one point in another). In addition, every character gets an Origin Feat. We’ll deal with both of those changes below.
One D&D’s Wizard class moves around some of your choices as you level up. While 5e had you choose an Arcane Tradition at level 2, you now choose a Wizard Subclass at level 3 (which is basically the same thing). In One D&D, the feature you get at level 2 is Scholar that grants you Expertise in a skill.
One D&D also streamlines some of the math involved in your prepared spells – instead of a formula involving modifiers and levels, you’ve got a flat number from your Class.
Wizard class features overview
Wizards in Dungeons & Dragons 5e 2024 are defined by their deep mastery of arcane magic, using Intelligence as their primary ability to cast a wide variety of spells ranging from powerful offensive blasts to subtle utility and control effects. They have the lowest hit points in the game (d6 per level) and no armor proficiency, relying heavily on their spells for defense and versatility. Key class features include Spellcasting with a simplified preparation system, the new Ritual Adept allowing ritual casting without preparation, and Arcane Recovery to regain spell slots during short rests. At level 2, Wizards gain the Scholar feature, granting Expertise in a chosen skill, while subclass choice has shifted to level 3, focusing on one of four revamped Arcane Traditions. These changes emphasize the Wizard’s role as the ultimate versatile spellcaster, capable of adapting to many situations through their extensive spellbook and strategic spell management.
- Primary Ability: Intelligence
- Hit Point Die: d6 per level
- Saving Throw Proficiencies: Intelligence and Wisdom
- Skill proficiencies: 2 of: Arcana, History, Insight, Investigation, Medicine, Nature, Religion
- Weapon Proficiencies: Simple
- Armor Training: None
Spellcasting
You start with six level 1 spells and add 2 more each time you level up. This is the backbone of your class, and you’ll be able to learn more and more powerful spells every step of your journey.
Ritual Adept
Any spellcaster can cast any spell with the Ritual tag so long as they have the spell prepared. A Wizard’s Ritual Adept feature takes away the prepared requirement (so long as the spell is in their spellbook).
Arcane Recovery
Whenever you take a short rest, you can recover some of your spell slots. This ability grows in power as you level up, allowing you to regain multiple low level spells or a single medium level spell.
How to build an effective Wizard
To build an effective Wizard in Dungeons & Dragons 5e 2024, prioritize maximizing your Intelligence score, as it directly influences your spellcasting power and effectiveness. Complement this with decent Dexterity for better defense and Constitution to improve your survivability, since Wizards are typically fragile with low hit points and no armor proficiency. Choose a race like High Elf for useful ability boosts and extra cantrips. Select a mix of damage and control spells, such as Fireball for offense and Sleep or Web for battlefield control, while including utility spells like Find Familiar and Misty Step for versatility and mobility. Pick a subclass that fits your playstyle-Evocation for straightforward blasting or Conjuration for tactical flexibility. Invest in feats that enhance your spellcasting and defense, such as War Caster or Fey-Touched. Finally, coordinate with your party to cover knowledge skills and ensure your spell choices complement the group’s needs, making you a vital and versatile member of any adventuring team.
When you first make your character, you’ll need to assign your attribute points. For Wizards, you’re looking to build an extremely intelligent caster who won’t fall over after a single hit, so here’s your priority list:
- Intelligence
- Constitution
- Dexterity
- Wisdom
- Charisma
- Strength
Best Wizard Backgrounds and Origin Feats
When building a Wizard in Dungeons & Dragons 5e (2024), choosing the right background and origin feats can significantly enhance your character’s effectiveness and roleplaying depth. Strong backgrounds for Wizards often include Sage, Criminal, Acolyte, and Merchant, as these provide useful skill proficiencies and sometimes bonus spells or feats that complement a Wizard’s high Intelligence focus. For example, the Sage background offers additional cantrips and a level 1 spell through the Magic Initiate (Wizard) origin feat, which expands your spellcasting options with minimal preparation. Other backgrounds like Folk Hero, Knight, Hermit, or Investigator provide versatile skills and thematic flavor that can suit various Wizard archetypes. When it comes to origin feats, options like Alert, Lucky, Magic Initiate, and Fey-Touched are excellent choices to boost initiative, add spell versatility, or improve key ability scores, making your Wizard more resilient and adaptable in combat and exploration. Selecting backgrounds and feats that enhance Intelligence-based skills and spellcasting capabilities is key to crafting a powerful and memorable Wizard character.
Backgrounds in One D&D are a way to codify your character’s personal history into their stats. Backgrounds give you a bump to your stats, a couple of skills, tool proficiencies, and an Origin Feat.
For Wizards, let’s start with anything that lets you bump Intelligence – Acolyte, Artisan, Criminal, Guard, Merchant, Noble, Sage, or Scribe.
Here, Sage is the best bet if you’re just starting out. Its Magic Initiate (Wizard) Origin Feat gets you an extra two cantrips and one level 1 spell. Even better, that one spell is always prepared and gets one free cast per day. So if you’re not used to using a magic user, it gives you more options with less prep time.
Wizard subclasses
The 2024 edition of Dungeons & Dragons streamlines the Wizard subclasses to four core options: Abjurer, Diviner, Evoker, and Illusionist, each focused on a specific school of magic to enhance related spells and abilities. Wizards now choose their subclass at level 3, gaining a new Savant feature that grants additional spells from their chosen school, improving spellbook versatility. The Abjurer specializes in protective magic with enhanced wards and counterspells, the Evoker excels in powerful damage-dealing spells, the Diviner manipulates fate and augments divination magic, and the Illusionist masters illusions that can deceive and confuse foes. This consolidation aims to provide more depth and balance to each subclass, making them distinct and impactful in gameplay compared to the broader but less focused options of previous editions.
You don’t pick a Wizard subclass until Level 3, but you’ll want to think about where you’re heading pretty early on – especially in terms of Background and Origin Feat (above).
Abjurer
As an Abjurer Wizard, you excel in Abjuration magic – go figure. This makes you very good at protecting yourself and allies via shields.
At level 3, you’ll be able to create an Arcane Ward around yourself, which is able to take a good chunk of damage before it’s depleted. You’re even able to restore the barrier by casting Abjuration spells, otherwise it comes back fully with each Long Rest.
At level 14, you gain Advantage on saving throws against spells and have Resistance to spell damage, both of which are huge for keeping you alive.
Diviner
Diviner Wizards are one of the coolest subclasses in the game, because of their main feature: Portents. At level 3, you’ll roll two d20s at the end of each Long Rest. You can then use these two rolls to replace any roll made by you or a creature you can see. While you have to call your shot before the roll is made, this means you can guarantee a critical success or fail if you get lucky with your portents. Think of the foresight of Paul Atreides from Dune.
At level 14, you’re able to roll a third portent, making this feature even more powerful. If you’ve ever wanted to make your DM very upset, try casting Befuddlement on their big bad and then forcing them to fail the saving throw with a portent you rolled earlier that day.
Evoker
Evoker Wizards excel at using evocation spells, which are the ones that cause big explosions and elemental effects. If you just want to hit enemies with spells really hard, this is the subclass for you.
At level 6, Evoker Wizards gain the Sculpt Spells ability, which allows you to save allies inside the radius of your spells, protecting them from harm – the way Doctor Strange might brush his friends out of the danger zone. Normally when you throw a Fireball, it blows up everything, which isn’t super fun for your local Barbarian who is probably toe-to-toe with the big bad you just burnt to a crisp. But Evoker’s can get their damage off without making their friend across the table roll a new character.
At level 14, you can even make some of your low level spells deal max damage by taking a bit of bonus damage yourself.
Illusionist
The Illusionist is the trickster Wizard’s cast of choice, but more like Mysterio from Spider-Man and less like Loki.
At level 3, you’re able to cast enhanced illusions that you can control from much farther away. If you’re fighting dumb monsters and have a smart DM, you can use tactics like this to win entire fights for your team before they can begin.
How does the 2024 Wizard guide change the way I build my spellbook
The 2024 Wizard guide changes how you build your spellbook by giving you more flexibility and new features that ease spell preparation and expansion. You start with six level 1 spells and add two spells to your spellbook each time you level up, plus you can add spells found during adventuring. A key new feature is “Memorize Spell,” which allows you to replace one of your prepared spells on a short rest, reducing the stress of choosing spells before every encounter and letting you adapt more dynamically to situations. Additionally, you can now change one cantrip on a long rest, a flexibility unique to Wizards. The Ritual Adept feature is now more prominent, making it easier to have ritual spells always available without sacrificing preparation slots. Subclass features like the Illusionist’s improved spell additions further enhance your spellbook without increasing your number of prepared spells, making your spell selection more powerful and versatile. Overall, the guide encourages collecting a broad range of spells and using short rests strategically to tailor your prepared spells to the moment, changing the traditional approach of rigid daily preparation into a more fluid and responsive spellcasting style.
How does the ability to change cantrips on a long rest affect my spellbook management
The ability for Wizards to change one cantrip after a long rest, introduced as an optional feature in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, significantly enhances spellbook management by adding flexibility to your cantrip choices without waiting for level-ups. This means you can adapt your cantrips to better suit upcoming challenges or personal preferences more frequently, tailoring your low-level spell options to different encounters or playstyles on a day-to-day basis. Unlike most other spellcasters who can only swap cantrips when they gain an Ability Score Improvement, Wizards can do this every long rest, making their cantrip selection more dynamic and responsive to the campaign’s needs. However, this is an optional rule and typically requires DM approval, as it can shift the balance by allowing Wizards to optimize damage types or utility more easily. Overall, this feature reduces the permanence of cantrip choices, encouraging experimentation and strategic adaptation in your spellbook management.
