There are several classes in the Dungeons & Dragons universe that are spellcasters, and all characters and classes can use certain cantrips if they need simple magical spells in a pinch. Wizards are the best class to choose in Dungeons & Dragons if you want to control the powers of magic and shape the universe around you. Not all Wizards are created equally, however. There are plenty of subclasses of Wizards, both official and unofficial. Depending on the adventuring module your Dungeon Master is using, your choices for a school of magic can vary widely.

Wizards are a versatile class, making it a common choice for multi-class options, plus there are Feats and Abilities that you can use to further customize your character. We’ve listed a few of the more popular and versatile here to get you started on your character creation sheet.

Updated July 19, 2021 by Kristy Ambrose: The list of possible subclasses for one of D&D’s most versatile classes continues to grow, with as many as 40 or 50 available depending on your DM, homebrew options, choice of D&D adventuring module, and more. The Wizard rivals other vintage D&D classes, like the Fighter and the Rogue, when it comes to customization options. The options below are just a taste of what the Wizard has to offer both novice and experienced players.

11 School Of Transmutation

  • Source:
  • D&D Player’s Handbook
  • Main Benefit:
  • Transmutation Stone, which gives the Wizard different buffs and can replace some Feats.
  • Compatible Feats:
  • Durable, Resilient
  • Primary Spell:
  • Master Transmuter

Most of this subclass’s abilities are just done better by other classes and at lower levels, but in light of party composition or lore, it might make sense. The Shapechanger ability lets you transform worse than a Druid can. The Major Transformation ability has several effects that Clerics can do at lower levels, with the added benefit of destroying your Transmuter’s Stone for the day, the item that gives most of your subclass’s usefulness.

Your lowest level ability, Minor Alchemy, temporarily transforms objects from one substance to another. This is another useful ability that makes the subclass shine, but it also has the potential to be used in crashing the local economy and annoying your DM.

10 School Of Enchantment

  • Source:
  • D&D Player’s Handbook
  • Main Benefit:
  • Split Enchantment, doubles your spell output with your best spells.
  • Compatible Feats:
  • Spell Sniper, Actor
  • Primary Spell:
  • Instinctive Charm

The Wizard from the School of Enchantment can use enchantment magic to beguile your enemies. This is why it combines nicely with the Actor Feat. In practice, this usually means dazing them, casting multiple enchantments at once, and avoiding their hits in battle. Spell Sniper is helpful to organize your spells, which can be an issue with some Wizard subclasses.

At level 14, you can even make your victims forget that they’ve ever been charmed. The main problem with this class is that wizards are not known for their charisma. Sure, you might get some cool powers, but if you want to be the people person of your party, why not play a Bard?

9 School Of Abjuration

  • Source:
  • D&D Player’s Handbook
  • Main Benefit:
  • Arcane Ward, grants you temporary hit points which greatly reduces your need for Constitution.
  • Compatible Feats:
  • Resilient, Durable
  • Primary Spell:
  • Counterspell

A good school if you don’t like getting hit, and no spellcaster does. At early levels, the skills associated with this school function similarly to some brands of the Fighter class, letting you protect yourself and your teammates. Fighters don’t get arcane powers at their fingertips, but they do tend to be better at tanking than wizards.

At higher levels, you can increase your ability to counter important magical effects. There are some fun, goofy builds you can do with this school, but if you’re going for effectiveness you might want to move on.

8 War Magic

  • Source:
  • Xanathar’s Guide to Everything
  • Main Benefit:
  • Arcane Deflection, an early spell that improves your AC and gives a +4 to bonus saves.
  • Compatible Feats:
  • Durable, Resilient, War Caster
  • Primary Spell:
  • Power Surge

This subclass is very similar to the School of Abjuration, with less focus on protecting your teammates and more on dealing damage while not getting squished yourself. You get to take your turn early and deal damage before your enemies can react, then switch to a defensive position before they hit back.

Still, with good positioning and caution, you shouldn’t be tanking when you play a wizard, so that’s some defense that could be better spent vaporizing your enemies.

7 School Of Divination

  • Source:
  • D&D Player’s Handbook
  • Main Benefit:
  • Expert Divination, reduces the cost of casting Divination spells.
  • Compatible Feats:
  • Sentinel, War Caster
  • Primary Spell:
  • Portent

The School of Divination is great for players who want to play a good utility character. You can predict the future to guarantee future dice rolls that might pull you out of some tight spots if you’re lucky. This combines nicely with the Sentinel Feat that gives you an Opportunity Attack (OA) on a character that hasn’t seen you yet.

The ability to regain spell slots when casting divination spells is great if you want to specialize in this type of magic and not worry about whether you should really waste that spell slot on casting True Seeing. Once you have your third eye ability, you might not need to cast True Seeing as much. The subclass doesn’t offer much combat potential but is still a solid choice, and you can improve that feature by choosing a Feat like War Caster.

6 School Of Conjuration

  • Source:
  • D&D Player’s Handbook
  • ,
  • updated in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything
  • Main Benefit:
  • Conjuration, which includes teleportation and spells which summon or create objects.
  • Compatible Feats:
  • Ritual Caster, Resilient
  • Primary Spell:
  • Focused Conjuration

Do you want others to do your fighting for you? Well, you’re already a squishy spellcaster, but if you want to take that to another level, Conjuration might be the school for you. Your low-level abilities are mundanely useful. They include the ability to conjure small useful objects and a short teleportation trick.

At higher levels, it is harder for your enemies to unsummon your creatures by breaking your concentration. Your summoned creatures also get tougher. It’s not a flashy subclass, but if you’re into that type of magic and it fits with your backstory, it’s worth investing in.

5 School Of Necromancy

  • Source:
  • D&D Player’s Handbook
  • Main Benefit:
  • Animate Dead, in which your abilities either raise the dead or borrow hit points from living minions.
  • Compatible Feats:
  • Resilient, War Caster, Spell Sniper
  • Primary Spell:
  • Undead Thralls

This subclass is very similar to Conjuration. You raise minions that can fight for you, in this case, zombies and skeletons, and make them stronger. What makes it a better minion-mancy than Conjuration is the fact that Animate Dead is not a concentration spell, leaving you free to summon an army of minions and deal powerful necrotic damage without missing a beat.

Your other abilities give you an advantage when fighting the undead, shielding you from their worst effects and even allowing you to turn them to your side. Just hope you don’t come across any Clerics who have powers equal or greater than yours.

4 School Of Illusion

  • Source:
  • D&D Player’s Handbook
  • Main Benefit:
  • Improved Minor Illusion, an early spell that can be used in a wide variety of ways.
  • Compatible Feats:
  • Spell Sniper, Resilience
  • Primary Spell:
  • Simulacrum

This subclass gets bonus points for being incredibly fun to play. You’ll provide more utility than damage, but the utility is much more interesting than casting Identify every time your party discovers a new magic item. You get improved illusions at low levels, and at high levels, you can even make your illusions real for a short time. Perfect for anyone with plenty of tricks up their sleeve.

3 Bladesinging

  • Source:
  • Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide, Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything
  • Main Benefit:
  • Bladesong, which allows you to get into melee combat while still using the full Wizard spell list.
  • Compatible Feats:
  • Magic Initiate, Resilient
  • Primary Spell:
  • Training in War Song

There are plenty of subclasses that let you swing a sword and cast spells. Arcane Trickster, Eldritch Knight, any sort of Paladin. Why choose any of those when you can become a Bladesinger and get way more spells?

Most of your skills make you magically tougher, faster, and better with light weapons. Choosing this class depends on whether you like to play this type of martial/magic character, but if you do, this is a good choice for it.

2 Order Of The Scribes

  • Source:
  • Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything
  • Main Benefit:
  • Wizardly Quill, which reduces the usual requirement of a least two hours to copy a spell.
  • Compatible Feats:
  • Spell Sniper, Resilient
  • Primary Spell:
  • Awakened Spellbook

This is the spell school for those that have chosen a Wizard based on the sheer variety of spells that they can learn. Its main benefits include the ability to copy spells at a faster rate and cast more spells per day by using rituals. The wide variety of spells you have at your disposal is useful with feats like Spell Sniper, which allow you to stack your spells and cast them in succession.

A drawback is your lack of durability, which is a more serious problem for some Wizard schools than others. That can also be mitigated with a wise choice of feats, with Resilient being one example.

1 School Of Evocation

  • Source:
  • D&D Player’s Handbook
  • Main Benefit:
  • Sculpt Spells, which protects your companions from your ample airborne damage.
  • Compatible Feats:
  • Resilient, Durable
  • Primary Spell:
  • Empowered Evocation

Be honest, this is why everyone wants to become a Wizard. You want to throw fireballs at people. This is the subclass that lets you deal damage and then deal a lot more damage. This is the Wizard class for a player that wants to

Wizards of this deadly school can even shape your area of effect spells so that they avoid damaging your allies – a useful ability for when they complain about how you keep setting off explosions in small rooms. After all, what’s the point of magical power if you can’t use it to vaporize your enemies?

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