The Abjurer: A Treantmonk Guide (Part 1 of 3)

Welcome to my Abjurer guide! In this video I am going to make a unique Wizard, a Wizard who wants to be attacked! This prickly pear punishes those who dare to attack by releasing waves of freezing retribution. This is part 1 of 3 of this build.

[TreantmonksTemple]

Welcome to my Abjurer guide! In this video I am going to make a unique Wizard, a Wizard who wants to be attacked! This prickly pear punishes those who dare to attack by releasing waves of freezing retribution. This is part 1 of 3 of this build.


Here's the link to the final build:

[mikehalloran]

I get bored out of my mind playing a class that doesn't get lots of spellcasting options, which is why I've always dreaded getting stuck playing "the tank" or, "the thief" with my dnd group. After seeing these last three videos (armadillo, war mage, ultimate arcane trickster) I'm actually kind of excited for the next time they say, "We need a tank, " and I can reply, "Cool, I'll make a wizard!" Thanks Chris!

[adriangoetz]

One thing I enjoy about this (or any Armor of Agathys build) is it can actually make use of the Blade Ward cantrip. The damage resistance doesn't apply to your Arcane Ward, but it can effectively make your AoA twice as effective. It's almost the only build where Blade Ward is at all useful.

[thenightowldude]

I've loved this series Chris. Your reasoning for taking one option over another has helped me see my character design in a new light.

[vindiesel]

Hey Chris!
When you first posted this build I immediately knew it would be perfect for an upcoming antagonist and tweaked it to fit the person my party was fighting. I'm coming back because I want to refresh my memory. The party has encountered this character twice now and they absolutely HATE him in a way that builds a really satisfying enemy. Thanks for all the help!

[SharanjitPaddam]

Echidna
1: Hobgoblin [Variant Human]: Rapier, Longbow. Warlock: Arcana, History, Hexblade. SA: 8/14/12/15/10/13. Sage: Perception, Investigation. Booming Blade, Mage Hand, Armor of Agathys, Hellish Rebuke. Equipment: Light Crossbow, Component Pouch, Leather (Buy Shield, Scale Mail, Half-plate), Rapier, Dungeoneer’s Pack, Light Crossbow (sell).
2: Wizard 1: Fire Bolt, Toll the Dead, Minor Illusion. Shield*, Find Familiar, Absorb Elements*, Alarm, Thunderwave*, Ice Knife*.
3: Wizard 2: Abjurer, Detect Magic, Snare*
4: Wizard 3: Web*, Levitate*.
5: Wizard 4: Warcaster, Prestidigitation, Misty Step*, Mirror Image*
6: Wizard 5: Counterspell*, Slow*
7: Wizard 6: Dispel Magic*, Leomud’s Tiny Hut
8: Wizard 7: Banishment*, Polymorph*
9: Wizard 8: ASI INTx2, Fire Shield*
10: Wizard 9: Bigby’s Hand*, Wall of Force*, Polymorph (*)
11: Wizard 10: Light, Rary’s Telepathic Bond, Transmute Rock*
13: Wizard 12: ASI INTx2, Dimension Door*, Contingency, Globe of Invulnerability*, Mass Suggestion*
15: Wizard 14: Crown of Stars*, Forcecage*, Simulacrum, Teleport*, Web(*), Levitate(*)
17: Wizard 16: Resilient CON, Clone, Demiplane*, Mind Blank*, Illusory Dragon*
20: Wizard 19: Lucky, Wish*, Arcane Lock*, Invulnerability*, True Polymorph, Water Breathing

[timothybrahm]

Dragonmark Dwarf's release creates interesting options for wizards. In general, the +1 Intelligence makes it possible to do a one level Cleric/Fighter dip and still dump strength because of the Dwarf racial. Specifically for an abjurer, it's nice because their expanded spell list includes armor of agathys.


This opens up three great alternative versions of this build:
1. Straight Wizard. No armor proficiencies, but faster progression while still having access to armor of agathys.
2. One level dip in Forge Cleric (requiring 13 Wis instead of 13 Cha), resulting in better AC than the dip in Hexblade, and the option of cure wounds.
3. One level dip in Artificer (no need for anything but Int), which gives equivalent armor benefits as Hexblade, but also provides con save proficiency, saving you an ASI, and also the option of cure wounds.

[aricwilson]

Just wanted to say I just discovered your channel this week and I've been watching through your wizard videos nonstop. Your content has been multiplying my excitement to call dibs on playing wizard in my group's next campaign. Thanks for all the love and effort you put into these guides, you've really opened my eyes to how many wildly different ways a wizard can make a huge difference for your party AND have lots of fun doing it.

[markeyestone]

I really enjoyed this! Abjuration is my favorite magic school, and I'm doing basically this exact build for my geomancer wizard, just reflavoring a lot of things to be stone. I am realizing a lot of mistakes I made in my build though, thanks for helping make my character better!

[eldarlundesgaard]

Love the tutorials and the reason for picking each feature over another. I now play a hybrid between your godwizard and the abjurer here. since I was afraid that the godwizard was going to be too squishy. I basically exchanged the enchanter with abjurer and did a hexblade dip for 1 level, and I love it. It has saved me from dying twice already at level 3. Once to some spiders and later on to a young dragon in the same mission. Getting 10 THP + 7 ward, when you normally have 20ish HP is massive, and I'm not so afraid that I just cover in the back. And the fact that these Wards/THP are something you can "heal" yourself instead of relying on the cleric, etc. is what I feel I've been missing from the wizard so far. Cheers!

[virplexer]

I do have to say, after the newest expansion, if your DM let’s you, playing a Mark of Warding dwarf would allow you to get armor of Agathys without multiclassing, and gives you a welcome intelligence bonus.

[Adurnis]

I often sadly reflect on the fact that Wizards originally intended for the Warlock to be INT-based. #whatcouldhavebeen

[mantis]

I was going to watch another one of your videos but when I clicked your page you had a new one up YUS!

[ATinyWaffle]

I came up with a similar but different way to get more out of Armor of Agathys. If you go Bear Totem Barbarian 3 and Warlock 9 then when you cast Armor of Agathys and then go into a rage (which you can do because AoA is not concentration) then that 25 Temp HP you got from the 5th level casting essentially just got you 50 Temp HP because your raging with half it all. And until those "50" Temp HP go away you are doing 25 Dmg every time you get hit in melee You could go Hexblade if you want for Hexblade's Curse, but if you do, don't use Charisma to attack because you won't get your Rage bonus damage from using Strength. It's a little MAD but no more than a Paladin, really. As for invocations, you'd take all the ones that would help you more in Melee like Improved Pact Weapon, Thirsting Blade, Cloak of Flies, Lifedrinker, etc.

[ChristianW]

Every time i watch one of your wizard subclass guides, i feel like playing that particular character. Dangit 😁

[AnonRx]

Dwarf (Mark of Warding) from Eberron sourcebook gives you everything you need without having to Dip into Warlock. Gives you Armor of Agathys as well as a bunch of other great abilities like poison resistance, Darkvision, a tool proficiency, a D4 to Investigation and thieves tools checks, a free casting of mage armor, etc.

[Wouldyoukindly]

I had a spin off idea from this and the "blood cleric" from D&D daily.

Go Shadar Kai, straight into life cleric to get heavy armor proficiency and 2+spell level additional healing to spells.
Then a level in Hexblade (actually Genie would be better), picking up Armor of Agathys. After that, the rest into Abjuration wizard. It comes online at 7th level with Vampiric Touch. The idea is to let them whittle down your health a little before casting Armor of Agathys. Then as they deal with your shield you're healing behind them. The teleport/resistance from Shadar Kai and the Shield spell give you lifesavers when you need it. You could pick up Elven Accuracy, a familiar with flyby attack gives advantage. And when you have the curse up the proficiency bonus also applies to healing and double crit range with triple advantage is quite good on an attack mostly getting damage from how many d6s you're rolling. Flame Shield for some added prickles and you get a very nice "hedgehog".

It is a bit MAD. And it would be nice to be able to attack more than once a turn. And Vampiric Touch takes away concentration you could otherwise use for a control spell. Plus you want to keep your enemies in melee and this strategy doesn't help against ranged foes. But this is still a wizard, and those weaknesses are kinda a stretch.

[kendrajade]

This would be a good build for a tiefling or half-elf. Anything that makes the 13 CHA easier to get.

[meredithsalt]

Thanks Chris, recently I've started to play a Dwarf Abjuration Wizard and was struggling with spell development. My table gave me "traditional wizard" opinions on the list and it wasn't getting the feeling that I wanted. Got great ideas from you and Cody (on D4). I dipped in to Fae pact because of the storyline - just hit 3 level 😁

[Similacrest]

I'm playing a fairly similar build, with some differences, on a PBP server (started at level 4, but we're taking it slow so I don't think there will be progression past level 7).

- There's an Eberron subrace with Alarm ritual and a bonus to Int which fits nicely.
- I took 2 levels of Celestial Warlock at the start - the healing is one of best in the game and also a bonus action option.
- While quick arcane ward recharging through Armor of Shadows is fun (also grabbed an at-will Detect Magic invocation) I kinda regret it due to spell progression delays
- Ice Knife is a bit problematic as a main blasting spell - after 2nd round, or even after first if you lose initiative, one of you melee buddies would probably be in melee range and you can't hit the enemy with it
- Action economy-wise spending a round on AoA feels lame (also wasteful if you start a fight with full ward)
- Remind your party cleric about Aid. Early and often. Having a tempHP buffer in the party (Insping Leader, or in my case Shepherd druid) could also be redundant

At the end I kinda switched out from Hellish Rebuke in favor of a more useful blast spell

For those who roll stats and roll well, a more martial-oriented multiclass here could be 3 levels of Conquest Paladin for Armor of Agathys and eventually Aid, perhaps.