I definitely feel like the war caster features are built so that if the wizard burns through their spell slots, they're quite survivable until their next long rest.

Alright, this might be a long comment, and if as a new subscriber I feel that I should warn you that I am prone to long comments fueled by cheap boxed wine. If you choose to read this I hope to hear a response if not I do not blame you. I feel I have to comment here as I just recently started playing a war wizard....or rather a fighter 2 war wizard. I think that you are very much missing the point of the war wizard. The war wizard is not an offensive or defensive wizard. The war wizard is a CONTROL wizard. Now my new character is technically a fighter wizard multiclass so that may be a factor in my bias but i'm also waiting 2 levels for things like counterspell and fireball so I think my argument is still valid. The war wizard is not about casting fireball or even casting counter spell. yes counterspell is literally part of the class features but your looking at this in a way that translates to how much damage can i do with 1 spell in 1 round. I think this is wrong. I took a multiclass into fighter for ONE reason.....CON saves ( also action surge is pretty nice to I guess 2 things). I will say that War Wizard at low levels seems kind of meh which is why I took fighter so I could do a bit more in the early game. But whether early or late game I think you are missing what is so good about Arcane Deflection. Arcane deflection is nice when you have to save against an enemy fireball, but its even more important when your trying to maintain your concentration on your Animate Objects spell that just cost you a 5th level spell to cast or the poly-morph into a T-rex. If arcane deflection lets you keep your Concentration of a spell like Animate Objects for even 1 or 2 more turns that equates to more potential damage that casting fireball. The war wizard is not so much the wizard you have on the battlefield to shoot fireballs, you have evocation wizards for that. The war wizard is the wizard on the battlefield that cuts the battlefield in have with a wall of fire that you can be confident will not fall and you can maintain tactical advantage with. The War Wizard is 100% about his ability to keep his spells active. Any sane DM knows that if the wizard is using tons of high level concentration spells that he needs to have his forces attack that player to break that or his battles wont be as exciting. Also I think in a way your underplaying the bonus to initiative from their INT. Take what I put forth above and add the fact that you will probably consistently being at a high initiative.(barring terrible rolls) what if you can start these battlefield altering spells before the enemy even can start to move? Yes to make this type of wizard work you need at least decent states in DEX, INT, and CON so it does require either good rolling or stat building. But this with feats like Alert can mean you can set up how a battle will go down before anyone has even taken damage. I think you kind of downplayed the powersurge like it was worthless. Yes, powersurge does not do that much more damage to your existing spells. But you kept going on about how you had to "waste your reaction" casting counterspell or dispel magic and then "waste" it again to use this........By casting counterspell you're already potentially wasting an enemy spellcasters action that could be a fireball or something much much worse! This is almost a ribbon ability yes.....but its not just a little damage that you dealing, its you denying the enemy a powerful spell to be used on the party AND adding some EXTRA damage to a spell you cast. Finally I want to point out that things like powersurge are not supposed to be super powerful and if it were then this would outshine a lot of other wizard subclasses IMHO. Most of the wizard class features are not THAT great because they get so freaking much else with how many different spells they can find, cast, prepare that their class features can't be too strong or they just outshine every other caster. Despite my rant I really enjoyed the video man, glad I found your channel and I hope I can stick around and watch this channel grow. \m/

I think your not quite seeing the point of this archetype, it's the universalist wizard, which instead of focusing on any specific thing, just makes you all round better at casting in general, and it's really amazing, pretty much my favorite wizard. The main thing your using the arcane deflection for is to succed in a concentration check even if you roll badly, and if your already concentrating on a spell, it doesn't matter if you can only cast cantrips next turn, since you already have your big thing going that your concentrating on. And yes it might not give as big ac bonus as shield, but you can do this every turn, without costing any spell slots. Arcane Deflection is a really strong ability. Also I think your kind of looking the power surges from the wrong side of things. Your not spending your spell slots TO get power surges, you get the power surges as free bonus when you counterspell or dispel magic, which are things you would be doing anyways even if you would not have this ability. There is kind of this same deal going with all the war magic abilities, which makes them great, none of them shoehorns you into doing something super specific, but they are all bonuses that you get doing things that you would be doing anyways, making you better at wizarding in general.

I am currently playing one and I will say: They rock. I am currently sporting a +13 to Initiative, soon to be 14. Arcane Deflection saved my ass from an attack once, and MANY times over from Spells or even traps. If you can keep your concentration on Spells like Polymorph, Wall of Fire (or any wall), Slow, Haste, etc. you are already to parties big brain controller. The Level 6 ability is not supposed to heavily increase your damage output. Every Wizard that is proud to be one and studies magic picks at least Counterspell. This just gives you the ability to disrupt concentration of an enemy spellcaster even better. I once did 27 damage with a fireball and 30 to the Caster. Instead of a DC 13 Concentration check it became a DC 15. That is huge. It is not supposed to kill (which is actually something I once did, lol), it is for breaking enemy concentration while keeping your own. Combine that with Mage Slayer (which is currently my goal). Two enemy Spellcasters concentration? Magic Missile with Mage Slayer and Power Surge. Especially on higher Levels. You increase the DC by 5!! on Level 20. That is huge, and it literally costs you nothing that you wouldn't have used anyway (Counterspell/Dispel Magic). Everything else was Spot on, except the Level 14 feature. It is literally what Power Surge does for FREE! Force a concentration check. I love it! Every little piece of it. :)

As someone who typically plays characters from levels 2-6, likes tanks, and hates using non-cantrip spells (a limited resource) as my primary form of damage, I find this to be the only wizard class worth using. With all of the ac bonuses you can quickly reach effective ACs of 18+ as an armorless wizard. The cost for activating the defensive level two ability is basically nothing since my main help each turn during battle would be through my damage cantrip anyways. (I want all of my level spells to be very high utility spells). The entire gold thing most other sub-classes have is typically useless (the chance of me finding spells in my focus and then also getting enough gold to write them down whether or not it's half cost is basically 0%). So balancing without accounting for that is amazing. You have access to the same spells with even more damage very early on. It's by far the best wizard option in the game. This is one of the few options that actually compete with Warlock invocations for use.

the thing to compare it to is the evoker. instead of sculpt spell, you win initiative. instead of cheaper spell copying, you get clutch saves, which I think you will agree is better. as a war mage, you then get bonus damage earlier and stronger than what the evoker gets.

The thing to understand about War Magic Wizards is they’re best used if they’re multi-classed with 4-6 levels of fighter or monk, and played as a front-line tank for the first 2-3 turns (with arcane deflection, durable magic, and shield you can increase your ac to ~25 for a turn or two, more if you have a monk’s agile parry and deflect missiles) who buffs the party’s fighters, forces disadvantage on foes, and then retreats (bonus action disengage from the monk class helps) to provide ranged support. Wizards control the arena of battle, the War Magic Wizard is wonderful at this. Your cantrips should be focused on doing damage, and your spells should be focused around utility and buff spells, with maybe two first or second level attack spells. A nice homebrew for the admittedly underwhelming power surge ability is instead of doing half your wizard level in force damage you do half your wizard level plus your Spellcasting ability (so a level 8 War Magic Wizard could do ~12 force damage). I like playing it like this because it doesn’t really break the game mechanics wise, and includes space for the player to develop their character and scale their class features as they level.

I think that either the bonus to damage for your surges, needs to either be A) equal to your wizard level B) apply to all targets of your spell (1/2 wizard level) Or C) you can use multiple surges per spell after you see if it is successful. Also possibly being able to regain a spell slot when you counter/drain spells would have been cool, though maybe too powerful Thoughts?

I'm playing a War Wizard and from what everyone else has been saying and from my experience it's really a Class made for Multi-Classing, and I completely agree. Though, Arcane Deflection has saved my characters life! If you use Shield you lose a Spell Slot that you could've used for something better. So I definitely don't agree with you there. The boost to Initiative is extremely helpful (especially if you multiclass). It has helped my party as I was able to cast grease on the enemy before they even noticed us making them fall prone, giving everyone advantage on attacks. If they had a torch it catches the grease on fire. If you make your War Mage right (and remeber your more of a Magically Focused Eldrich Knight and less of a Wizard), the bonuses to AC will make you compare to the Party Tank. Yeah, you'll have big spells that you might not be able to cast until towards the end of the battle. But that's because you've been controlling the battlefield for the first half of the fight. Animating 8 Daggers and having them spinning around the BBEG slashing him up - each with 18 AC - while you are casting Counterspell as a REACTION with no spell slot cost, then firing Cantrips that have boosted dmg. Yeah, I've been enjoying it. Kinda have too, as my GM won't let me Multi- Class anyway...

This is literaly only video about this archetype, great vid thou

Splash fighter for con and str saves, plate armor and shield, defensive fighting style. Cast haste for 25 ac, 30 with shield spell. Power surge is just a bonus effect for counterspells you are going to cast anyway. Never fail a concentration check. It's a good tank/anti-caster build that can also do all the things a wizard does.

I think all you need to do to bring this class in line with other archetypes is to house rule that you gain power surges from attacks/spells deflected via arcane deflection as well as dispel/counterspelling. Gives a bit more leeway with use of reaction and allows character to bump cantrip while in melee.

I think you're missing the point on a lot of this stuff. You shouldn't be counterspelling just to get surges, getting surges is a bonus to the counterspells you should already be using. Once you're out of slots for the day, you effectively have a permanent +2AC (as an aside, of course it's weaker than shield, it doesn't cost a spell slot). It would be insanely OP if it was an instant pass / make an attack miss, you'd effectively be invincible.

I think you are forgetting the other benefits of the features nor written on the sheet, at least for Arcane Deflection and Power Surge. Assuming AD can be used when you know it will prevent attacks, it becomes a potent tool to maintain concentration on an important spell you have up. +2 AC is probably inferior to just blowing a 1st level slot and casting shield, but +4 to a saving throw is nothing to sneeze at, since there is no long-term cost associated with the ability. It's not something to do every single time you get hit, but it will come in handy, I think. Power surge deals unimpressive damage to be sure, but firstly, it's the least resisted damage type in the game, and secondly, it's essentially free. Due to the unique recovery system, having power surges is somewhat of a negative. You won't gain any on short rest if you have them, and you lose them on long rest. So any time you get one, either by resting or by deleting magic effects, you'll want to dump that damage on somebody immediately. In addition, that damage is free on top of the regular effects of dispel magic and counter spell, two very useful spells. If you counterspell a target, you're spending a 3rd or higher slot, but then deleting that enemy caster's spell...and you get a bit of damage for next turn when you fire back. I think due to the frequency of getting power surges, it's a solid power. It would be nice if it dealt full wizard levels in damage, or half+INT modifier, but I think the point is just to spam them out as quickly as you get them. Edit: the subclass is still bad, it's just not useless.

This actually sounds interesting to me. I think yes, a lot of the stuff just adds a bit extra damage or survivability, but +2 or +4 can mean the difference between life and death. Also you’re getting FREE extra damage from the surge. You are going to be counterspelling anyway, so it’s just free. The cantrip thing I’m not too sure about, but having to choose between different reactions to use just gives you more options and more potential for strategy.

This could be great class to multiclass with Eldritch knight or Arcane trickster. Also I am thinking playing this as Moutain Dwarf, being wizard with decent AC so two more means a lot, also using melee cantrips from SCAG could work after I deflect, I will also talk to DM about charges damaging all targets of spell.

Maybe make the 2nd level ability a bonus action over a reaction (kind if like patient defence) then make it so the points you get do double your level and the arcing energy is based on your counterspell ability

Thank youuuuuuu. You are the only one who shares my frustration!!!!! The videos wizards of the coast made about the class was flat out wrong in many ways. They said this wizard should be fighting in the front line next to the paladin and fighter. And in the book, theres even a section at the end of the text describing war mages where they poke fun at evokers, saying: "whats the point in casting fire balls when you die before casting them" as if war mages were actually good at front line combat. (when I think of a war mage, I think of an evoker, so I'll compare this archetype to the evoker) The arcane deflection ability is completely overshadowed by the defensive duelist feat, the initiative is cool, the power surge ability is overshadowed by the evokers ability to add his intelligence modifier to damage rolls of evocation spells (evokers can do an additional 5 damage with spells basically always, 20th level war mages do 10 damage, but only if they burned enough spell slots on counterspell), additional ac when concentrating is awesome though, and the last ability is just nothing compared to the evokers 14th level ability. I would say they would have to change arcane deflection so that you have an additional 2ac until the start of your next turn, but you can only cast cantrips (so that not all the fighters come in to get the 2 free ac for a turn), or you can increase your ac by 4 against a single attack and suffer no consequences (+4 on saving throws stays) and power surge should be stackable

Look at the class features after you've cast Tensor's transformation on a wizard with the feat: Resilient - Dexterity.

With the newly released Mordenkainen's, I'm looking into coupling this with Githyanki. Built in Proficiencies in armor and weaponry, alongside a nice buff to Str. Pick up War Caster, and go to town. Can still potentially multiclass into fighter for the saving throws and shield proficiencies, but as is I think it's fairly doable.

I feel like War Magic if it was maybe retitled would make a great Arcane Sorcerer bloodline vs being a wizard Arcane Tradition. All of the War Magic features feel like if combined with meta-magic, flexible casting, or surges of power like the naturally magical Sorcerer should have since Sorcerers can rely on heavily on cantrips through their other features just feels like something Sorcerers should be able to do. The boosts to saving throws combined with the Sorcerer having proficiency with CON saves means thematically you are the best at controlling your power and channeling your innate power. It would also make power surge more palatable with flexible casting because your spell slots are more fluid. I think it was a misstep to make this a wizard subclass instead of a Sorcerer one. I’d advise anyone to try it out on the Sorcerer class chassis and have a blast

Looking at this closely, this archetype has one massive plus side: It's actually fucking perfect for an eldritch knight (who starts as a fighter, for sweet, sweet con saves)! With the bonus to attack at level 7, this guy can be a beast, and is especially good in war campaigns with lots of other battlefield wizards (like evokes and abjurors). What's funny is that having another wizard of either school also boosts his use, as he can defend them against enemy counter spells to save their slots, and can probably be a great buffing character, especially since he will only lose his con to a monstrous CR dragon or giant, and he has extra damage from cantrips AND meele attacks, the surge is just extra damage to pepper cantrip targets with, especially enemy, squishy wizards. Taking the War casting feat (love fighters) and that anti-caster feat are super deadly against any enemy spell caster you will ever come across. And take variant human so you can immediately get crossbow expert for close range spells, I seriously hate that there isn't a spell caster focused feat that gives you different bonuses and just make your spells work close range, as supposed to a feat that you waste cause it's not useful in any other capacity.

I play a level 2 (lv 3 next game) War Magic Wizard (human variant) w/the Alert feat and my initiative is +11 lol. Hence, I go first pretty much every time. Natural 20 on initiate =31 and the Dm plus the group was like wth!!! He's fun so far, but I haven't used the deflection yet and I wish i could actually see the roll so it's not wasted.

Yo Alex, thanks for the videos. I've been watching a bunch of them and found your insight very useful. I've also watched your DM videos. Good job on those ones too. Though, have you considered recording and showing one of your actual DND sessions? You strike me as a well-mannered yet well-grounded bloke/DM. Would love to see some of your DMing in action. Thanks. Have more fun wuddya

I played a War Wizard once, and I'm right there with you on Power Surge. I multi-classed into fighter, so I was able to do the +2 to AC pretty frequently without neutering myself the next round. It worked, but I think honestly you'd be better off spending a spell slot to cast shield. The +4 to a saving throw is really nice, and it can happen a lot out of combat. And Power Surge? I don't think it'd be worth it if the damage were equal to your wizard level. Maybe if it were double or something. There's no reason not to just cast Fireball or literally any other spell that does damage.

Arcane Deflection can be used outside of combat, so its +4 to a failed save is pretty good when a trap goes off. Otherwise, I only see it being used at low levels when you are out of spell slots, or when you failed a save that is most likely going to take you out of combat.

Thank goodness there's homebrew:)

Saw it, thinking I'd play a wizard. Immediately noped out and thought: abjurer, evoker, warlock or even sorc with warcaster and an ACTUAL shield was better

I'm playing AL. At our gaming table, my PC is level 8 War Wizard. The only benefit I've seen is the big + to initiative and +4 to saving throws. Not once has Arcane Deflection paid off in 28hrs of gameplay. It's a gamble if an extra +2 to AC and burns a reaction. With the creatures thrown at us, the DM once even suggested I just use Shield. The Power Surge also hasn't been effective. I've used it after casting Counterspell for a bit of damage, but Dispell Magic often doesn't occur in combat-heavy sessions. So my PC is a wizard without a school.

i dont know if someone already said this, since most of what I saw was about surge, but that free shield react + cantrip restriction doesnt hurt at all if you dont have any spell slots, right? I mean, free shield when no spell slots is a Free Shield, lol. And only cantrips when you can only cast cantrips doesnt really matter! As a plus, if you're maintaining concentration on a spell, yes you could cast non-concentration spells like fireball aye, but well you cant be perfect Comment got cut in half yay Continuing, the ability to counterspell is by itself a treasure. The extra damage is kinda cute, not really useful but i suppose it can help. The real deal is that you can deal that same dmg to up to 3 people when you deflect instead of countering. Effectively, I see CounterSurge for magic heavy encounters, and Deflect for melee centric fights. With a single "shield for free" and a firebolt cantrip, you dealt 3*wiz lvl/2 + 2 d10 and probably evaded a stab? Its pretty neat in the idea it can do a lot of things, but I myself would EITHER Double the AC bonus (2 becomes 4) and Saving Throw bonus (4 to 8) Or Instead of half wizard level, make it just the wizard level.

If for whatever reason +4 to saving throws ain't enough, a Diamond Soul Monk with two levels into War Magic has Proficiency AND a reaction for a +4 to all saving throws. A total of +9, +10 at later levels, with a reroll option for 1 ki that doesn't interfere with your Reaction at all.

It seems like they have two wizard subclasses in a single one, and ends up lackluster. Like, why not just add int to your ac and saving throws with the deflection? Listening to this video... yeah, bladesinger seems better in every way.

How I would upgrade this: arcane deflection automatically saves or makes an attack miss. You can only use It x times per long rest (like one or two). Power surge it's a bonus action instead of reaction, you can use It x times per short rest (like 2 or 3).

I guess this might be the type of gamer I am, but seeing a subclass that everyone seems to universally dislike, makes me want to find a way to make it work. The Eldritch Knight (a subclass I thought I would never play) suggestion as a multiclass is a great idea that I have heard in these comments.

A new channel! Yay! I just started my channel too... if only I had your production values :'(

I agree that the damage being half your wizard level is anti-climactic, but i think it's probably because if you have enough power surges, you could stack them onto a single spell, and I think this would include AOEs, causing a fair bit of damage. They shouldn't have made it reset though. They should have just said the same as with a short rest, if you end a long rest without any power surges, you gain one. I also think that +2 AC is a little low. maybe instead make it 1 + 1/2 INT Mod rounded up, but there isn't a limit to how many times it can be used, so I'm sure plenty of people see it as a free half-shield spell. Saving a 1st level spell slot from time to time. But at level 10 the war mage essentially has +4 AC and +6 to saves, which ain't bad. I'll be pretty good when you're out of spell slots altogether, so you don't care about being restricted to cantrips. Still the class is what it is, it's up to players now to make it work or not. (BTW, i hadn't noticed when i first read xanathar's, but I think the suggestions for character traits heavily influence Liam O'Brien's character in Critical Role)

My guess is Wizards just wanted to create a tradition to make them a non-glass cannon caster and feel the offensive spell force the wizard learns can be dropped down a bit. I do see your point though as to this being far too costly and some abilities seem contradictory to each other. Definitely seems closer to the Miss on the Hit-or-Miss scale

Fairly new to D&D but thought the power surge would be cool if it gave you a number of counterspells equal to you INT mod but instead of being cast at 3rd lvl it's cast at 2nd lvl and you can use expend your extra uses to increase the counterspells lvl to give power surge a little more use but not giving the player TOO many counterspells and limiting how they are used this way

I have to say sorry but I am about to write an essay. I have a counter-argument for this just because I am just getting to this video. So recently I made a war wizard because it sounded like fun, also being a DM as well as been playing D&D since 3.5 I got excited. So to argue arcane deflection, I see it as a reaction choice. My current variant wizard has an 18 in dex so he has a base AC of 14, add mage armor 17 ac. Now my character has the choice of either adding a little protection for those small hits or shield for those big hits really depends. Now here is where my character as a war wizard comes into play. Can only use cantrips? Awesome! With green-flame blade, as well as booming blade, depending on how you want to use those cantrips I will be using my staff because my DM ruled it is silly for a wizard to have a staff focus and not have it be a quarterstaff as well. I gave my character the polearm master feat. It is great because now you can get attacks of opportunity if a creature is leaving or approaching you. Also, I have this thing I do where after I got the warcaster feat now I can hit them, cast booming blade then on my turn disengage back away and it starts all over again if the creature is smart enough to figure it out. Now the power surge, think of this you are on the frontline and you can only get your cantrip off. Power surge that green-flame blade or booming blade. Now you might ask how can I do this with booming blade. The ability to use a power surge with a spell isn't stated that it has to be on my turn so there is that Plus on your turn if you hit with your staff you can hit with the other end for 1d4 damage meaning booming blade and green-flame blade you are still attacking with a weapon cantrip then you still have your bonus action to hit with 1d4 if it is on your turn that is. I will be giving him tavern brawler just because of his flaw but I mean come on how cool would it be to hit someone with a barstool and cast green-flame blade? Durable magic I am very much pairing this with shadow blade. This character is meant to be interesting anyways. As for the last ability deflecting shroud, I very much like the thought of dealing damage to creatures as I am getting hit every little bit counts. On top of that all this damage is force damage there isn't really much resistance to it and almost no immunity to it so that is guaranteed full damage. Please do tell me, what do you think? Also I have to say it might help to have context, in my DMs world magic has only been around for like 100 years so there is that.

So I am playing a war wizard in my campaign and the way I am playing it is by being a more melee focused build. Granted you need 1 level of fighter to get armor/weapon proficiency. I started off as a war wizard and took a 1 level dip into fighter and got the defensive fighting style. So with half plate, defensive, and a shield. I have 20 ac. And then i cast cast haste which gives me a +2 to AC and another +2 because of the 10th level ability. So I have a 24 AC. And then I use green flame blade/booming blade and use that hasted action for another melee attack with my rapier. And then it doesn't matter if I use arcane deflection, because i'm getting good damage through the SCAG cantrips and that makes my AC 26. I also use the war caster feat. (If I had started as a fighter and took the rest of my levels in wizard i could've used plate armor for up to 27 AC and I would have had con save proficiency which I think helps with concentration checks) the only problem I had was with the power surges. I never fought enough spell casters for it to be useful so I talked to my DM and he said that we should just fill the powersurges to the max every long rest, but we havent played with that yet so it may be too powerful. We'll see. Does anyone else think this is a good build? Any thoughts?

if the bonus were half your wizard level in dice... do you think that would make it too powerful?

That shirt tho. Deadly

I’d like to see the surge do damage equal to your wizard lvl. A wizard revs up in strength in later game and being able to stack 20 extra points to an attack would help create a reason to go 20 lvls in.otherwise this seems like just a dipping class for Say a fighter with the intelligent swordsman feat or a rogue with the same thing. Yes some low level spells and the ability to add a little more surge damage to sneak attack or a weapon attack. Idk.

What if power surges were like smite but in this case you can dump as little or as much as you have in a turn / that would be a fair adjustment ... something to talk to the dm about

So, the only argument I can create FOR arcane deflection is that it ONLY uses the reaction (whereas Shield uses your reaction AND a first level slot) so by taking this class one could argue that the first level slots are safer from being used up... that’s not enough to fully justify the lack luster effects

I think the +2 AC is enough of a boost since most mages use Mage Armor as well. If the wizard decides to use armor then it bolster that "war fighting" wizard guise. More than adequate compared to the Eldritch Knight or those more suited for physical fighting round to round. If you lost the ability to cast ALL spells (cantrips or otherwise) then it would be totally broken...but the Cantrips are bread-n-butter for those moments when the Wizard needs a "boost" to their defense if they are engaging in combat. Thematic it's great....but the War Mage isn't a fighter/mage multiclass PC. Or is that the intent ? Is there a fighting style that adds to Initiative or grants a +2AC with +4 to SAVES as a reaction ?

I homebrewed the power surge feature. I increased the damage to half wizard level + proficiency bonus. Still, not incredible.

War Wizard seems good to multiclass into after making an eldritch blast based warlock. just using the wizard stuff for self buffs and other problem solving nonsense.

Easy suggestion: you have a number of reactions equal to your intelligence modifier

Man, I was looking forward to a Gandalf Wizard class. Little sad it lacks luster compared to the other Xanathar class upgrades; maybe DM's will help players round it out so it's balanced and not as frustrating :c

I am a war mage what is the best way to be op (I am at lv 3)

Xanathar's Guide: Guide on how to make spell book cooler. Me: Makes spell book a yellow 3 ring binder for nerdy wizard.

...I wish Bladesinger and the SCAG cantrips made it in.

So I actually like this arch type. I have a war magic and open hand monk. The 2nd level ability is good for fighting aganst martial classes. The 6th is good aganst magic users. That's how I play it anyways.

Will the plus 2 stack with the Shield spell or can you only use one or the other?

Feel as if using your magic surge to add 1 damage die per surge to your next evocation spell (or cantrip) would be thematic and in balance. Basically get a slightly higher damage for keeping up with counter spells because you have less spell slots to dish out damage. 2nd level ability should be changed to give shield ac bonus or mage armor as a cantrip like the warlock eldritch invocation. Neither is game breaking and both are extremely useful. Alternatively giving the War wizard the War magic feat at 2nd level would also be amazing and thematic. Even giving a boost to it would be awesome so you can use area of effect spells when you make attacks of opportunity. This is also in line with some of the other feats that exist giving lesser versions of class features. Maybe giving it a level cap so you can't just cone of cold when someone moves around you. Something like 3rd level for aoe leveling to like 6th at level 18 and no level cap on single target spells. This seems like the least thought through and most useless of all the new archetypes. Really great vids definitely going to sub and check out whatever you put up.

I absolutely agree with your assessment here. As a wizard enthusiasts since 3e I find the war magic tradition profoundly disappointing and underwhelming. With all the other great options I can just never see myself using this subclass. I find it interesting that they decided to include a class that, to my knowledge, wasn't tested with a UA article. Personally I'm very disappointed that the Lore Wizard wasn't included as it did a great job of giving the feeling of discovering and experimenting with magic the way a generalist wizard would. I think it was a great tradition both mechanically and thematically, whereas the War wizard is a beloved theme but utterly fails to be appealing from a mechanics standpoint.

I have modified it a bit for my players. Arcane deflection: if you succeed on saving throw against spell or magical effect you gain 1 power surge. Also if you succeed you can cast spells next turn. That force damage is equal to your player level. At level 10 or 12 (not sure) you add your inteligence modifier to the force damage. What do you think?

I really dislike the Power Surge economy with War Magic. I was disappointed when they changed it from the Unearthed Arcana version of the tradition. Thematically, the once-per-rest damage bonus version of the feature was so cool. What we got in Xanathar's was a new economy to manage with very little pay-off, especially limiting the expenditure to only one Power Surge per round!

When using Tenser's Transformation Arcane Deflection's downside is completely ignored, btw

the whole war thing is being at war with yourself not your opponents

I hate it when the company selling the Wizard tries to offer "cool/new/exciting" ways to individualize your spellbook (WotC, Paizo, whomever...). Sure, these ideas sound great if you only know 3 spells. But when you're a level whatever wizard with a couple dozen spells, how many pounds does that metal-sheeted book weigh? How much inscribed leather is wrapped around that staff? Considering the general rule of thumb is "one page of writing per spell level for each spell," it probably doesn't look like a staff anymore, just a giant bundle of wound-up leather. Seriously, does no one who writes for this game remember how this stuff actually works?? lol Edit: Oh, and uh, for the actual War Magic stuff? Spot on, on all points! Totally agree. ;D

Wow, this is a really great breakdown of this subclass. I think they really went far too far in the wrong direction with this one after the ludicrously overpowered Lore Master from UA. I really don't see why anyone would ever play this over an Abjurer or Evoker.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who looked at this archetype and thought it was a mess AND underpowered

This school can actually make the wizard a sort of beastly tank character. If you build your War Wizard to only cast buffing spells on themselves with their slots before going into battle or at the beginning of it then they can use Arcane Deflection without worrying and just Gish all over foes. Imagine their second level abilities combined with their higher level +2 AC and Saves while concentrating on Teneser's Transformation.

I feel like the class needs to be widely more balanced and most rules will probably require homebrewing in order to make it powerful enough to be useful. Otherwise I really don't see the point in the powers being so weak.

Great talk about action economy . Weird rating. I think the presenter underrated arcane misunderstands power surge.

Fuck sake... Thought war wizard was not used in fantasy, and I've just spent half a year writing a novel ... Perhaps contacting D&D to make sure they're completely different is a route i could go down. If anyone has any advice or has been in this sort of situation before, what is your opinion?

I think you've totally missed the point of the class

Am I reading this correctly ? Find it interesting that a Battle Master gets no Initiative bonus for having some sort of mastery of combat.....but the War Wizard does with the add of INT to his initiative (plus DEX). What other classes, if any, get to add two ability scores to their Initiative ? Just curious. I run a fighter (battle master) and this war wizard continually beats me and usually the rogue in our group on initiative rolls. Guess I need better dice rolls. LOL !

War magic is stale like bread and needs a reason for any one to pick it

I absolutely love the idea of a tactician wizard who balances offence and decence. However, this War Wizard is worthless. These numbers are so damn low. I was genuinely disappointed with this class. Thank you for covering this.

Classic example of trash class that wizards is known for