The Wizard is one of the most iconic classes in D&D - the standard spellcaster, capable of doing a million different things magically. Thanks to its spell list - the largest in the game - Wizards can do just about anything except heal their party members. The class itself is actually fairly light on mechanics beyond the really interesting idea of the Spellbook. Most Arcane casters only learn a set number of spells, while divine casters and druids (and, well, Artificers) can simply prepare spells from their list each day. The Wizard is kind of a hybrid of the two - depending on the campaign you're playing, namely how much gold you get and how easy it is to find spells, you can be closer to one or the other end of the spectrum.
Wizards rely on their massive spell list to provide most of their utility, so what, ultimately, do the subclasses bring to the class?
The PHB subclasses are all themed around the different schools of magic - tags that exist on spells that, for most characters, make no real difference. This also means they get eight subclasses in the PHB.
Given that all of these subclasses get a similar feature at level 2, I'm going to shorthand any "Savant" feature. For example "Abjuration Savant" means that an Abjuration Wizard can copy abjuration spells into their spellbook for half the cost and half the time. Every PHB Wizard has the same feature for their own school of magic.
With that handled, let's do the first four PHB subclasses.
School of Abjuration:
This is the school of defensive magic, and as such it makes sense that you'll have a bit more durability. Abjuration is also the school of anti-magic, so you'll have an easier time dealing with other mages, which could be situationally really useful.
You get Abjuration Savant!
Also at 2 you get Arcane Ward. When you cast an abjuration spell of 1st level or higher, you can also create a magical ward on yourself that lasts until you finish a long rest. The ward has a hit point maximum equal to twice your Wizard level + your Intelligence modifier. When you take damage, the ward takes the damage instead, and if it's reduced to zero, any remaining damage carries over.
While the ward has 0 hit points, it can't absorb damage, but you can recharge it - when you cast another abjuration spell of 1st level or higher, the ward regains HP equal to twice the spell's level. Once you create a ward, you can't create it again until you finish a long rest (so no cheaply maxing it out again.)
This is actually great for a squishy wizard, and I think it's important to note the "it takes the damage instead" feature. Unlike temporary hit points, this will reduce the damage (or negate the damage) you take and thus make concentration saving throws easier to succeed on. And you can just cast Mage Armor before you head into danger to get this.
At 6th level you get Protected Ward. When a creature you can see within 30 feet of you takes damage, you can use your reaction to have your Arcane Ward absorb the damage. As usual, any damage that goes beyond reducing the ward to 0 will carry over. Nice that you can share the ward, not much else to say.
At 10, you get Improve Abjuration. If you cast an abjuration spell that requires you to make an ability check as part of the spell (such as dispel magic or counterspell) you add your proficiency bonus to the check. This actually makes these spells much more reliable - if you have +5 to Intelligence by level 9, you're going to actually succeed on countering a 9th level spell more often than not, which is huge.
Finally, at 14, you get Spell Resistance. You have advantage on saving throws against spells, and you're resistant to the damage of spells. This is really great on the surface, but also really depends on the campaign. If you're dealing with liches and evil mages, this is going to be huge, but if you're fighting creatures with magical damage that isn't technically spellcasting, this might feel less powerful than it looks.
So, Abjuration on a whole is actually not bad. Again, we're sort of calibrating how much power a Wizard subclass brings, but this is all pretty decent if you ask me.
School of Conjuration:
Conjuration covers both the summoning of allied creatures (aka the bane of a DM's existence, unless you use the way simpler Tasha's spells) and also teleportation magic (which can also be a DM's bane but for very different reasons.) It's definitely one of the core fantasies of a Wizard. So let's see what you get.
You get Conjuration Savant!
Also at 2 you get Minor Conjuration. You can use your action to conjure an inanimate object in an unoccupied space within 10 feet of you. The object can be no longer than 3 feet on a side and weigh no more than 10 pounds, and its form must be that of a nonmagical object that you have seen. It's visible magical, radiating dim light out to 5 feet. It disappears after an hour, when you use the feature again, or if it takes or deals any damage (so it's not going to be a great way to get a spare weapon.) This is very much the kind of thing that a player can be very creative with, despite its limitations.
At 6th level, you get Benign Transposition. You can use an action to teleport up to 30 feet to an unoccupied space you can see. You can also use this to swap places with a willing Small or Medium creature within the same range. You can use this once per long rest, or recharge it when you cast a conjuration spell of 1st level or higher. Teleports are always great, and you can potentially use this to swap with the tank if you get ganged up on by enemies. Also, this will let you bamf through a keyhole into a locked room, which is great (just be sure you have a spell to recharge it so you can get out!)
At 10th level, you get Focused Conjuration. Your concentration on conjuration spells can't be broken by taking damage. This is really fantastic - if you've cast a high-level conjuration spell to get that powerful Shadowspawn or that massive swarm of elementals to attack your foes, you don't want to just immediately lose it because you took a hit from a spear. Never worry about that again!
Finally, at 14, you get Durable Summons. Any creature you summon or create with a conjuration spell has 30 temporary hit points. This actually really favors the swarm approach - if you conjure a ton of Mephits with Conjure Minor Elementals, this will more than double their health. And 30 isn't too bad on a single summon either, to be frank.
If you want to play the summoner, this subclass has a lot of support for that - Focused Conjuration is a really great bonus to that playstyle.
School of Divination:
Divination magic is usually not the kind of thing you cast in combat. But Divination has one of the most powerful subclass features in the whole game. Also, if your campaign isn't the obvious and straightforward kind, having a bit of extra juice for scouting and scrying can be very useful.
You get Divination Savant!
Also at 2, you get Portent. When you finish a long rest, you roll 2 d20s and record the numbers rolled. You can replace any attack roll, ability check, or saving throw made by you or a creature you can see (no range limit) with these rolls, which you do before the roll is made. You can only replace the roll once per turn. Once used, the recorded number is lost.
This can be incredible - you'll want to roll either very low or very high on these in the morning. Any situation where you really need to succeed or really need a foe to fail, these will come in handy. Admittedly it's not quite as useful when the roll is middling, though if you figure out a foe's AC or something, you can sometimes do the math and find out if you can guarantee a success.
At level 6, you get Expert Divination. If you cast a divination spell of 2nd level or higher using a spell slot, you can regain a spell slot of a lower level than the one expended, as long as the lower one is 5th level or lower. This will make your Arcane Eyes, Scrying, Tongues, etc., much more efficient, allowing you to recharge when you cast them (effectively turning their cost into just a single spell level, rather than the whole slot.)
At 10th level, you get The Third Eye. You can use your action to gain one of the following benefits until you are incapacitated or take a short or long rest. And you can use once per rest (weirdly this is the one feature I've seen that doesn't say "short or long rest." Are there other kinds of rests?) The benefits are: Darkvision out to 60 feet, the ability to see into the Ethereal Plane within 60 feet, the ability to read any language, or the ability to see invisible creatures or objects within 10 feet of you within your line of sight. Being able to have any of these benefits up at practically all times is pretty nice, though you'll want to know what you're looking for (you can always wait until you need it to use it.)
Finally, at 14, you get Greater Portent. You roll 3 d20s instead of 2 for Portent, recording all three numbers. Makes an amazing feature 50% better. Can't complain.
This is, naturally, a very popular subclass, and given the relative low investment to get Portent, it's a good 2-level dip as well. I think the features beyond Portent are just ok, but Portent really makes the thing very attractive.
School of Enchantment:
This is the subclass all about mental manipulation. A lot of Bards have a focus on Enchantment magic, but you can also use wizardly ways to befuddle the minds of others.
You get Enchantment Savant!
Also at 2nd level you get Hypnotic Gaze. You can use an action to attempt to charm a creature within 5 feet of you that you can see and that can see or hear you. They make a Wisdom saving throw and are charmed by you on a failure until the end of your next turn. While charmed, their speed is reduced to 0 and they are incapacitated and visibly dazed. On subsequent turns, you can use your action to maintain the effect, until the next turn, though if you move more than 5 feet away from the creature or they can no longer see or hear you, or if they take damage, the effect ends. Once the effect ends or the creature succeeds on the saving throw, you can't use this feature on that particular creature until you finish a long rest.
So, this can potentially take a foe out of the fight if they roll poorly on their Wisdom saves, but it also requires you to be within very close range of them, so it's punishing if they fail. It also eats up your action each turn. Maybe a Charm Person spell would be a more efficient use of your actions? That said, there's no real limit on this if you're dealing with multiple creatures, so that's nice.
At 6th level, you get Instinctive Charm. If a creature you can see within 30 feet of you makes an attack roll against you, you can use your reaction to try to force the attack to target a different creature within range. The attacker makes a Wisdom saving throw, and if they fail, they target the creature that is closest to it, not including you or itself. If there are multiple qualifying targets, they choose which one to attack. On a success, you can't use this feature on that creature again until you finish a long rest. Also, you have to use this before knowing if the attack hits or misses, and creatures immune to being charmed are immune to this.
Man, I wish you just got to choose the target on this one. Again, this could potentially be great, but there are a few too many qualifiers that drag it down.
At level 10 you get Split Enchantment. If you cast an enchantment spell of 1st level or higher that targets a single creature, you can have it target a second creature. Double Dominate Monster? Ok, that's pretty great.
At 14, you get Alter Memories. When you cast an enchantment spell to charm one or more creatures, you can alter the creature's understanding so that it is unaware of being charmed. Also, before the spell expires, you can use your action to try to make the chosen creature forget some of the time it spent charmed. It makes an Intelligence saving throw, and on a failure it loses a number of hours of memories equal to 1 + your Charisma modifier (minimum of 1). You can make them forget less time, and the amount can't exceed the duration of your enchantment spell.
Again, I feel like this should be way simpler - it should just say that you can erase the memory of the time a creature spends charmed by you. I like the concept - your target isn't going to tattle on you once the spell wears off, but it's limited by too many qualifications, not to mention requiring you to have a decent Charisma as a Wizard.
So, Enchantment, while cool in a very creepy way, feels like the first subclass I really think I'd recommend against. Situationally this could all be very cool, but a lot of things need to line up for all these features to work out as they're supposed to.
And that is our first 4 Wizard subclasses. We'll tackle the other 4 "school of magic" subclasses next post, and then figure out how to break up the other options (while it received revisions in Tasha's, I think Bladesinging is going to come before the other post-PHB subclasses given it was originally published in SCAG.)
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