Builds - Wizard Tank
The Hobgoblin Wizard isn’t exactly an original creation, but let’s see if we can add our own twist on this character. We’ll take some different feats and list out the important spells and the reasons we are taking them. After all, you are a wizard, so spells are quite important.
The Beefy Hobgoblin Wizard
Wizard
Race - Hobgoblin
The Hobgoblin’s racial stat bonuses may seem a bit odd, but in reality, they make perfect sense. Now a +2 to Constitution makes total sense, as a big bad hobgoblin is one tough mother. A +1 Intelligence bonus may strike some as weird, but given their penchant for war, it makes sense. No matter your thoughts about this, they are perfect for making a wizard who can take a hit.
Just as important to our hobgoblin wizard is its Martial Training ability. Make sure to take the rapier as one of the weapons you can gain proficiency with since we’ll be a Dexterity “fighter.” Saving Face gives you a chance to correct the injustice done to you by your dice once per rest.
Stats - Str. 10, Dex. 14, Con. 15, Int. 16, Wis. 10, Cha. 10.
We went point buy this time around. Intelligence, Constitution, and Dexterity provide us everything we need.
Skill Proficiencies - Arcana, Athletics, Intimidation, Religion
Background - Soldier
Armor/Weapons - Leather armor and a rapier. You’ve got proficiency in both because you’re a hobgoblin, and with 40 starting gold, you can afford both and have a little left to buy a backpack and some other trinkets.
Spells - Booming Blade, Fire Bolt, True Strike, Burning Hands, Hideous laughter, Magic Missile, Shield
The spells listed above are the ones I’m recommending have prepared most of the time. Every situation is different, so if you know you’re walking into a fight at dawn with creatures immune to fire, don’t prepare burning hands.
Booming blade because, you know, you get to hit things with your rapier. True strike gives you advantage to hit those bad guys with your rapier, and it’s not as hard to maintain concentration now. You can get close enough to use burning hands (15-foot cone) and not worry about getting killed. Shield is a spell every wizard should take.
Wizard 1
Well, everything is pretty much covered all the bases above. I don’t think you’re on par with Hilda the barbarian, so no running headfirst into battle. There’s nothing wrong with stabbing the bad guys with your rapier, but make sure you kill them quick. Your 8 hit points and AC 13 are better than most wizards out there, but you’re not invincible…yet.
Wizard 2
Arcane Tradition - War Magic. Looking around the internet, the common wisdom is to go abjuration wizard. This is a great choice if you are going damage, but we are a Beefy Wizard. With Arcane Deflection, when you are hit by an attack, or you fail a saving throw, you get to use your reaction to gain a +2 bonus to your AC against that attack or a +4 bonus to that saving throw. With Tactical Wit, you’ll get +3 to your initiative, so have fun getting to attack the bad guys first.
Spells - Find Familiar/Absorb Elements. We skipped getting a familiar at 1st level, which is a bit strange for a wizard, but we were just so excited to hit things we put it off. Please remember that while you may be tanky now, your familiar is not. Once you’ve summoned your tiny buddy (and managed not to kill it), swap the spell out for absorb elements. Resistance and extra damage? Yes, please.
Wizard 3
Spells - Blur, Flaming Sphere, Ray of Enfeeblement, Shadow Blade. You won’t have access to all these spells, of course, but many of them will work depending on your situation. While Blur doesn’t make you beefy in a traditional sense, it does make you harder to hit. Flaming sphere is a fun one, as you can move a ball of magical flame around with your bonus action while you stab away with your rapier. Ray of enfeeblement lessens damage when you rush in to attack those annoying Strength-based creatures, and shadow blade allows you to do more damage and psychic damage to boot.
Now all of these spells require concentration, so your 15 Constitution will help you more now than ever. It’s nowhere near perfect, but the odds at this level of you making your save(s) are skewed in your favor.
Wizard 4
Feat - War Caster. It makes sense, right? As a beefy wizard with war magic, we are looking to increase not only our Armor Class but, as you have probably figured out by now, our ability to maintain concentration. You don’t have proficiency with shields (yet), but you should seriously consider using your next feat on Moderately Armored. Gaining a +2 to your armor class has always struck me as too big of a bonus for a round piece of wood strapped to your arm. Those are the rules, though, so take advantage of them!
You’ll also get another use for your Reaction. So if you don’t mind burning a spell slot, cast something that can set up your comrades for success! Or just cast fireball.
We are taking the feat because we get advantage on Constitution saving throws to maintain concentration. Not much else to say about this, as we all know how great this is. The average normal roll is 10.5, but when you roll with advantage, that increases to 14 (rounded up from 13.8). With your current +2 modifier, you’re now looking at an average roll of 16! Of course, if your dice betray you as much as mine do, no number of rolls will help you.
Spells - See above. The same spells apply.
Let’s speed it up a bit, or we’ll be here forever.
Wizard 5/6
Power Surge - You’ve now got three opportunities to add extra damage to your spell attacks. Once per turn, when you deal spell damage, you can spend a single power surge to deal extra force damage to that target. The extra damage equals half your wizard level, so that’s 3 points of force damage.
Spells - Counterspell, Fireball, Haste, Thunder Step. You’re going to take fireball at the 5th level. You know it, I know it, and your entire party knows it. At 6th level, take counterspell as ending a spell with it gives you back a power surge.
Wizard 7/8
Feat - Moderately Armored. Time to ditch the leather armor. I picked up a suit of scale mail and a shield, resulting in an 18 AC, and I couldn’t be happier. Threw the ability increase in Dexterity, so we’re only 1 point away from a +3 modifier.
Spells - Greater Invisibility, Polymorph, Stoneskin. Being invisible is always fun since you can’t hit what you can’t see. Polymorph is, well…amazing. If we play our role as a beefy wizard, then stoneskin is the spell you have to take. Resistance to nonmagical bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage cannot be understated, even at higher levels.
You may have noticed that we’ve done nothing so far to increase our Intelligence score. If you have the opportunity to pick up some items that increase your smarts, then do so. I never include magic items in these builds since it feels like cheating to me. I know plenty of builds that recommend magic items to have to complete the build. There’s nothing wrong with it, but I don’t want to rely on the generosity of the Dungeon Master to provide me with what I want.
Stephen is my DM. Enough said.
Wizard 9-12
Durable Magic - At 10th level, when you maintain concentration on a spell, you have a +2 bonus to AC and all saving throws.
Feat - Skill Expert. I know most builds take Durable or Resilient, but hear me out. We don’t have proficiency in many skills, so picking up Perception is an excellent idea. I don’t know about your campaign, but we make Perception checks a lot, so being proficient in this skill is a good idea. Your a wizard, so expertise in Arcana (+11) is a no-brainer.
Take your ability boost in Constitution, just like you would have received by taking the other two modifiers listed above. Your Constitution modifier is now +3. Now you’ve got advantage on checks, a simple 1st level spell in shield if you need to raise your AC just a bit to avoid a check, counterspell if you want to avoid it altogether, and other options at your disposal.
Spells - Far Step, Glob of Invulnerability, Steel Wind Strike. So at this point, you can really start taking spells you desire. Concentration will get harder to maintain, but it is nowhere near impossible to maintain concentration on a single spell for the entire battle. The three listed are the ones I highly recommend taking. Far step helps you get in or out of bad situations, depending on your current mood. Steel wind strike is one of my favorite damage-dealing spells. If you haven’t explored this spell, you really should. But it’s globe of invulnerability that is a must-have spell. Being surrounded by a sphere that protects you from spells ups your beefiness (ok, I may be making up words now) to the next level. What I never really noticed is this spell is its area of effect is a 10-foot radius around you. With proper positioning, you can fit a whole party inside the sphere, with you at the forefront, killing baddies at will.
Wizard 13-16
Deflecting Shroud. At 14th level, Arcane Deflection now packs an offensive punch, as you can fire off magical energy when you use it. Three unfortunate creatures within 60 feet take force damage equal to half your wizard level. Try not to target your friends…even the rogue.
Feat - Tough. There are many choices here that work, but staying true to the build, the tough feat bumps your average hit points from 114 to 146. We both know you’re never going to go mano y mano with Helga the barbarian in a fistfight, but why punch when you can cast spells?
If you have been able to get any Intelligence boosting magical items, then throw both points into Intelligence, giving you a ‘natural’ score of 18.
Spells - Clone, Feeblemind, Simulacrum. Start with an illusory version of you with simulacrum, and graduate at 8th level to an actual copy of you with clone. Dealing with one beefy wizard is bad enough, but two of you can be quite deadly for most creatures. Oh, and feeblemind is always on my must-have list, mainly because I find it a hilarious and an unlimited opportunity for fun roleplay.
Wizard 17-20
Let’s wrap this up by saying you can do whatever your heart desires, and things will work out. Make your signature spells your own, but we all know one of your 3rd level signature spells is going to be fireball. Even though you can only cast it at the 3rd level, casting it will provide you with a little bit of joy. I went ASI and threw both points into Intelligence, but Consitution or Dexterity works just as well if you need the boost in attack damage or hit points.
As far as spells are concerned, make sure to take Invulnerability, staying true to the spirit of the build. Other than that, it’s up to you. I’m always partial to spells with the word polymorph in them, but that’s just me.
So there we go, the Beefy Hobgoblin Wizard. Above is the character sheet for our level 20 character. I’m a little sad I’m currently only playing in a Pathfinder 2 campaign since my wizard there is the definition of squishy. If I find another D&D table to play at, I’m playing this character build first out of all my others. Thoughts, comments, and constructive feedback are, as always, appreciated.
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