Is the 2021 Wizard too weak?

[Parzival]

Having been exposed to some of the original spell text thanks to this site, I think the Wizard as presented in the current game is far too weak a hero. Consider that the other heroes will quickly develop the ability to do at a minimum 3 dice worth of attacks, (and potentially 4), and at diagonal and a distance as well, and can have 5 or even 6 dice for defense, plus a host of potions to expand these abilities. The Wizard, however, maxes at 2 attack dice diagonal, and 4 defense (temporarily 5 with a Rock Skin spell), and even his spells don’t top 2 damage— which can be resisted. Genie, at least, has some attack power, but each spell is gone when cast, so they’re all one-shots. And of course, there’s nothing which will boost his measly 4 Body Points.

The big flaw in 2021 is that *all* spells are line-of-sight (except sending the Genie to open a door, which is a waste of the spell, in my humble opinion). Plus, all spells affect only one target.

Where’s the “slap everybody” spells like Fireball? The guaranteed hit-and-damage spell, like Magic Missile? Charm Monster to get a beast on your side (temporarily)?
As a Hero, this Wizard is wimpy.

If you’re gonna have the spells be “fire and forget,” then at least make ‘em halfway worth firing. I play solo versus the App, and in many quests the Wizard never looses a spell, aside from the Rock Skin early on. Or of a spell lands, the monster rolls a spell break and the whole thing is a waste. And thanks to the line-of-sight rule, the Wizard has to be vulnerable to a subsequent monster attack to pull off the shot. Consider also that only ONE of his spells has a shot of taking out any of the foes with more than 2 Body Points (Genie), and only one spell can take out a 2 Body Point enemy (Ball of Fire). What’s “powerful” about that?

NOTHING.

Yeah, the Wizard is supposed to be a “glass cannon,” but all I see is a glass pop-gun.

How about this—

AIR
Genie does not require line of sight; it can strike ANY monster on the board.
Tempest is unchanged.
Swift Wind is unchanged.
EARTH
Heal Body is unchanged.
Pass Through Rock is unchanged.
Rock Skin is unchanged.
FIRE
Ball of Fire is fired at an exact square, and does damage to everything within one square of its target location (except through a wall of closed door). 2 BP to all in the blast radius, but the Save remains in effect, with each being rolling individually.
Courage remains in effect, boosting multiple attacks, until no monsters are visible to the boosted hero.
Fire of Wrath does not require line of sight and can strike any monster on the board, and gets no save. 1 BP damage still, but now it’s guaranteed to work.
WATER
All unchanged. A Sleeping monster can be slain instantly by any adjacent Hero who has no other monsters adjacent to him. No matter what, the monster gets a Save roll, first when the spell is cast, and at the start of every Zargon turn afterwards.

The Wizard still remains a glass cannon, but at least for a couple of spells he is a cannon.

[Kurgan]

Prophecy of Telor and Wizards of Morcar (2026) both potentially boost the Wizard quite a bit. The unpublished Wizard Quest Pack also would have strengthened the Wizard ("The Sinister Sorcerers").

It's true that the Wizard was more powerful in general in the EU 2nd edition (1990).

[Gold Bearer]

I've made upcast/overcast versions of the spells (link in sig) that really help him out. Plus combined spells.

Here's the official rules in the different versions for comparison.


Euro Ball of Flame: The target defends with two dice (cannot be altered by other effects) against a two skull Fire Attack.

US Ball of Flame: The target rolls two standard dice, if they roll no 5s or 6s they lose 2BP of Fire Damage, if they roll one 5 or 6 they lose 1BP of Fire Damage and if both dice are a 5 and/or 6 they take no damage.


Euro 1st Edition Courage: The next time the target makes a Physical Attack they roll two extra combat dice.

Euro 2nd Edition Courage: The target attacks with two extra combat dice when they make Physical Attacks until at any point there is neither an Enemy in their direct Line of Sight or in the same room.

US Courage: The next time the target makes a Physical Attack they roll two extra combat dice unless there is ever no Enemy in a direct Line of Sight before their next attack.


Euro Fire of Wrath: A target anywhere defends with one die (cannot be altered by other effects) against a one skull Fire Attack.

US Fire of Wrath: The target rolls a standard die and loses 1BP of Fire Damage if they roll lower than a 5.


Euro Genie: A target anywhere is attacked with five combat dice or opens one door anywhere revealing the room's contents and activating any revealed Enemies.

US Genie: The target is attacked with five combat dice or opens one door anywhere revealing the room's contents and activating any revealed Enemies.


Euro 1st Sleep: The target rolls the number of combat dice equal to their current MP (automatically affects 0MP Undead), if they fail to roll at least one black shield they are unable to take any Actions until they are attacked (anything that can take BP/MP) or if they roll a 6 on one die at the start of one of their turns. They can defend the attack as normal.

Euro 2nd Edition Sleep: The target rolls the number of combat dice equal to their current MP (automatically affects 0MP Undead), if they fail to roll at least one black shield they are unable to take any Actions or defend until they are attacked (anything that can take BP/MP) or if they roll a 6 on one die at the start of one of their turns.

US Sleep: The target rolls the number of standard dice equal to their current MP (cannot affect 0MP Undead targets), if they fail to roll at least one 6 they are unable to take any Actions or defend until they roll at least one 6 on the number of dice equal to their current MP at the start of one of their turns.


Euro 1st Edition Rock Skin: The target defends with two extra combat dice the next time they defend. If no successful die is rolled in an attack you do not count as having defended.

Euro 2nd Edition Rock Skin: The target defends with two extra combat dice until they take any BP damage.

US Rock Skin: The target defends with one extra combat die until they take any BP damage.

[Onan]

Yes, the wizard is really weak under US rules.

The 4 spells that deal BP damage (Fire of Wrath, Ball of Flame, Genie and Courage) are best used against strong defenders, but under US rules the strong defenders have multiple BP, so the spells have few chances of taking them out while they are fresh.

Sleep is auto hit against undead in EU, and you need to roll a 6 to wake up no matter your mind points. In US the target defends twice with its mind points. And since MP correlate with defense, successfully taking out a strong defender for even 1 turn is unlikely.

Tempest is OK in US.

In EU the wizard can defeat about 4 monsters with his spells in average. This is a fair share of the total monsters in each Base Game quest.

The wizard is the only hero with ranged attacks by default. When all other heroes have a crossbow, this skill is no longer special. A crossbow bolt is nearly as effective as one of the combat spells.

I usually give the wizard the Wand of Recall for one-off quests, or early in the campaign. We play that it gives an extra "cast a spell" action each turn, so he can attack and cast a spell in the same turn if the attack fails. And I don't sell crossbows.

[MULE]

Yes definitely too weak. Agree with all the comments. Controversially I give all Spell casters the ability to attack AND cast a spell each turn.

[Parzival]

I would suggest a “Truesight” spell: This spell reveals all potential hazards within a corridor or room, including “unmarked” traps, wandering monster squares, hidden paths— any such hazards as are not normally revealed by a Search for Traps— even magical effects or traps. This will also reveal traps on the other sides of open doors in adjacent rooms or corridors. It will also determine if a creature is friend or foe, or something other than he appears, and will reveal and remove illusions, invisibility, obscuring mists or fog; the true nature of anything in the caster’s vision is revealed to the players. This spell also reveals normal traps, secret doors, and any treasures or other items specifically provided for a chamber the wizard can see into. If a search would cause a Treasure card draw, the Wizard draws the card and decides whether to place it in the room for any hero to pick up, or to discard it if it is a Wandering Monster, hazard, or other ill effect. In any case, the rooms or corridors revealed by the spell are considered “Searched” by the Wizard, though not by the other heroes.

Another interesting thing might be a Crystal Ball Artifact (maybe there already is one— I haven’t read or played all the expansions yet). I’d let this be used once per adventure to reveal everything in any one unrevealed chamber on the board, as selected by the user. Of course, if the player chooses a chamber that is solid rock, he will be alerted of this, but the Crystal Ball will reveal no further chambers in the same quest. The ball would NOT activate monsters.

[Thrasher79]

Hi,
yes, the wizard is really weak compared to the other heroes. But I think that can be easily adjusted by a few simple house rules. You just have to improve his two main weaknesses a bit. And those are magic in terms of number and strength and body points. Body points can be easily fixed. The barbarian and elf have each received a special feature in their expansions which increases the values. I have made one for the wizard in which he receives 1 body point and 2 intelligence points. Combined with a level-up system (also quite simple. You just count the quests you have completed and so you can gradually level up 4 times) he comes to 7 body points with us.
I have also expanded the magic. That is, 2 for each set. He can learn these for gold. That makes up to 5 magic per set. That would be 15 magic in total.
With more intelligence points he can learn more sets. Our wizard has 5 sets with 5 magic each.
It may sound a bit complicated and a lot to do, but it really isn’t. It’s just 3 simple house rules and the wizard is a really good member of any group.

Best wishes, Thrasher79

[Gold Bearer]

A very simple way to make him as effective as the Euro wizard at killing stuff with the increased monster BPs is to say that every BP damage caused by a spell is 3BP damage. That would also nicely balance the element power levels because the US fire spells are incredibly weak and the healing spells are far better than all the others.

[Thrasher79]

Hello Gold Bearer,

I like your approach. But isn’t it a bit too extreme? The Genie spell can cause up to 5 Body Points of damage. That would be 15. I know the chance of that happening is very low, but if it happens to a final boss, the whole evening is ruined. I think it’s too risky. For example, with the Fire spells, you could play that only black shields count for defence. I think that would already make the two spells much more powerful. And then just use more spells. He simply needs more small attack spells. With the basic set, he can’t even reach 3 attack spells. That’s just not enough for big adventures like EQ or BQ. The Barbarian also attacks every round with 4 dice. I think the wizard just needs to be adapted. I have to admit that I’m a fan of the wizard. For me, he’s simply the most underrated character. Nobody wants him because he’s weak compared to the others. But I think that with just a few adjustments, he becomes essential for the group. It’s not just attack spells that are important. Effect spells like Courage or Stone Skin are also very good spells. A stone wall at the right time or a hiding place in the shadows can save a hero’s life! What would the Barbarian be, fighting bravely in the front line, for example, without a well-chosen spell in the background that saves his arse...

Greetings, Thrasher79

[Gold Bearer]

Hello Gold Bearer,I like your approach. But isn’t it a bit too extreme? The Genie spell can cause up to 5 Body Points of damage. That would be 15. I know the chance of that happening is very low, but if it happens to a final boss, the whole evening is ruined. I think it’s too risky.

Yea, there's a 1 in 32 chance of rolling five skulls on five dice so it's not even really that unlikely. The Euro 2nd edition spells are the best. If you just wanted to change the three direct attack spells those are the three that are the same in 1st and 2nd edition.

Ball of Flame: The target defends with two dice (cannot be altered by other effects) against a two skull Fire Attack.

Fire of Wrath: A target anywhere defends with one die (cannot be altered by other effects) against a one skull Fire Attack.

Genie: A target anywhere is attacked with five combat dice or opens one door anywhere revealing the room's contents and activating any revealed Enemies.