featuring Steve & Chris
Hello orcs! We’re back. Our recent hiatus was both unplanned and unavoidable, but the siren’s song of RPG blogging and podcasting can be resisted for only so long. And don’t worry, we do have something to show for our time away.
Our very own Steve had a face to face (well… Skype conversation) with living legend Treantmonk! The famed author of D&D class guides took exception to some of our criticism of the Wizard class in 5E (http://orclabs.com/2015/05/18/orc-labs-podcast-35-dd-5e-crowd-control/), and was kind enough to tell us exactly where our playstyle had gone wrong. We went into this expecting to get schooled by the master himself… and he did not disappoint.
The major points:
4:12 – Single target lockdown is a brute force solution but often a risky proposition, and taking chances isn’t what a properly played wizard is about.
10:10 – Just like in past editions, proper spell selection is crucial.
10:44 – Mind the concentration! (Note: Chris later mentions getting out of melee combat by going invisible, but that, too, is a concentration effect. It’s a great option, but disruptive to the potential benefits a Wizard can provide to a party.)
10:56 – Alway always always plan out different spell action types and creative ways to maximize your use of the action economy. An effective wizard is an efficient wizard.
12:55 – Relying on cantrips is essential to making it to the end of the day.
14:21 – With a proper party complement, Minor Illusion is the single most overpowered cantrip in the game. Why? Saving against it requires an action. It can be used to give advantage to an ally and disadvantage to an enemy. And most importantly, you can cast it every single round.
22:43 – When the going gets rough, disengage and GTFO of dodge.
31:00 – Polymorph is all sorts of broken, which means a Wizard who can polymorph his squishy allies is broken, too.
34:55 – Don’t underestimate the potential utility of Portent, regardless of what you roll.
39:10 – Prepared casting is the new Easy Mode.
49:40 – Illusory Reality is the 14th level Wizard’s ascension to godhood.
Treantmonk 3.5 Guides:
http://community.wizards.com/forum/previous-editions-character-optimization/threads/1146876
Treantmonk Pathfinder Guides:
http://www.d20pfsrd.com/extras/community-creations/treatmonks-lab
Treantmonk 5E Guides:
http://community.wizards.com/forum/player-help/threads/4209951
Orc Labs 
Treantmonk doesn’t know what he’s talking about with Minor Illusion. Attacking an enemy while you’re unseen/invisible doesn’t give you advantage. You have to take the hide action first. Being unseen/invisible is a PREREQUISITE for hiding, but it doesn’t give you advantage on its own.
Yes, the Rogue in this case can hide with his bonus action, and then attack, provided he passes the stealth check, but that’s not universally applicable.
You’re wrong, Strill. Invisibility works as Treantmonk describes.
It should be noted that the spell doesn’t actually grant the invisible condition or total cover though, and it’s limited to a small, stationary area no larger than a 5 foot cube. The rules say that physical interaction automatically reveals the illusion because things pass through it. The investigation roll is for examining the illusion without physical interaction (touching). At least that’s my interpretation. At best, I think it makes your opponents attack something else, causes them to pause and investigate for a round, or gives them disadvantage on their first attack against you. As soon as they attack through it, or you attack through it, it’s revealed as an illusion.
If you check out the errata, the rules on hiding were clarified. Being unseen is no longer a requirement of hiding.
If the Orog believes it to be an illusion, it does NOT require an action to perceive the illusion and turn it faint, if he’s within striking distance. Relevant rules are “Physical interaction with the image reveals it to be an illusion, because things can pass through it.” from “Minor lllusion”, PHB 260 and “You can also interact with one object or feature of the environment for free, during either your move or your action.” from “Other Activity on Your Turn”, PHB 190.
Basically, poke the illusory box for free, it becomes faint, attack normally. That said, Minor Illusion for those kinda combat functions is still useful, but only against rangers.
I recently returned to D&D after a long hiatus with 5th edition. I found your podcasts and just binge listened to all of your 5E episodes. Fantastic work! I really enjoyed all of them. I recently pitched in for the Thule kickstarter and would love to hear your thoughts on how some of the tweaks would effect gameplay balance. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Hope to listen to many more podcasts from you all. E
My DM wont allow me to Polymorph anyone into a T-Rex. His reasoning being, “how does your character even know what a T-rex is or even looks like?” I did not argue with the logic, but I was wondering if Polymorph is still worth taking if I cant Polymorph into a T-rex.
Is this really the last orc labs podcast? It’s been a year! 😢