Hedge Wizard

Version 0.21: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.

This page is about the player background. For the monster, see Hedge Wizard (monster). For the playing mode, see Hedge Wizard mode.

A Wizard is a magician who does not specialise in any area of magic. Wizards start with a variety of magical skills and with Magic Dart memorised. Their book allows them to progress in many different branches of the arcane arts.

Wizards are magicians who do not specialize in any area of magic, making them a jack of all trades, master of none when compared to more focused spellcasters. They also start with the highest intelligence of any background.

Preferred Races

Human, Deep Elf, Naga, Draconian, Mummy and Octopode are the recommended races if you pick a Wizard Background.

Starting Equipment

Some species may receive different items based on their unique restrictions.

• +0 robe
• +0 hat
• Book of Minor Magic
• Ration

Wizards start with the Magic Dart spell memorised.

Starting Skills and Stats

These are adjusted by your species' aptitudes.

• Dodging: 2
• Stealth: 2
• Spellcasting: 3
• Conjurations: 1
• Summonings: 1
• Translocations: 1

Choosing Wizard adds 10 to your starting Intelligence and 3 to your starting Dexterity, but reduces your starting Strength by 1.

Strategy

• Wizard is probably the most versatile spellcaster background. What they lack in initial firepower, they more than make up for with high Spellcasting and access to some of the best utility spells (Call Imp, Blink, Mephitic Cloud, Conjure Flame). On the downside, Wizards are forced to invest heavily in Conjurations and elemental magic to boost their offensive repertoire.
• If you come upon an awesome melee weapon early in the dungeon, there's nothing to stop you from becoming a hybrid (a warrior-mage) character despite your wizardly background. In that case, depending on your species you should consider picking some strength at level-ups, especially if you have less than 10.

History

Prior to 0.14, wizards started with 20 gold.

External Links

0.21 guide for playing an Octopode Wizard by Ultraviolent4