(PF) Advice for a first time lvl 1 Wizard?

[Arthurian]

Usually I play Martial or Divine classes, giving me the option for armor for defense. I have never played a straight up arcane caster, to be specific this time around, a Wizard. I'm going to be focusing on conjuring with him so he'll have a lot of little beasties running around for flanking, but I'm not sure what, precisely, I should do about his defense. He's got no dex (I rolled for stats so I was really limited with choices) and can't wear any armor. He has Mage Armor in his spell book, but that would use up a rather precious spell slot.

How do I deal with being so squishy?

[navar100]

At 1st level do not prepare Mage Armor. It will only last an hour. Just stay out of the way of combat even if all you do is a double move. Also, do not prepare Magic Missile. 1d4+1 means diddlysquat. Magic Missile can wait until 3rd level, 5th level better.

In Pathfinder you have infinite 0 level spell use. Be creative. Prestidigitation is jokingly known as Minor Wish for a reason. Mage Hand and Ghost Sound are also handy.

At this level using a crossbow is fine. Don't worry about your Dex because of it. Don't be too stingy on your 1st level spells, but firing a crossbow for spell conservation works for now. You are a wizard, not a warrior. DO NOT engage in melee combat yourself. You fight from a distance, always.

Sleep and Color Spray are good attack spells. Silent Image could substitute for a Wall effect to misdirect opponents, but there are other creative uses. Summon Monster only lasts 1 round for a full round casting time. It really may not be an efficient option at this time. Perhaps do it for when the rogue really, really needs a flanking buddy.

[Coidzor]

Treantmonk did a guide. Should have some thoughts of interest for you.

Your spells allow you to shape combat more than most other classes are able to hope to do.

At level one you mostly rely on not being there to get hit if you're not focused on killing the enemy before they can hit you.

[Dr.Epic]

Stand in the back, and Prestidigitation can be a lot of fun.

[Blyte]

if you are going for conjuration (summoning), then I suggest going half-orc so you will have access to the "ferocious summons" feat, which will help your critters to stand up longer.

for traits, you might take master of pentacles and eastern mysteries... they are both once a day things, but they have their uses.

MoP - +2 caster level to a conjuration spell to determine duration 1/day (get a few more rounds out of a summons or battle field control spell)
EM - +2 DC to spell 1/day (harder to resist glitter dust, etc..)

[grarrrg]

can't wear any armor

*cough*
armoredkiltharamakisilkenceremonialarmor
*cough*

[Coidzor]

I'm seeing some bekilted half-orc wizard potential here...

[avr]

Some specialist wizards get abilities which help avoid being targeted . Teleportation, Mage of the Veil, Divination, maybe others.

A good Constitution helps with not dying, more than Dexterity does.

Social engineering - making protecting you a priority for other players - is probably the best protection you can get at level 1 though.

Edit - the Necromancy/Life specialty power of Share Essence would be tremendously useful in that last role. It'd knock you out from time to time, but if there's a person or two in the party who could carry you out it might be worth it. You'd have to be OK with playing the swooning damsel, of course.

[Slipperychicken]

*cough*
armoredkiltharamakisilkenceremonialarmor
*cough*

Where are the stats for those? The links literally just give you the name, and they aren't listed on the "armor and shields" page at all (except kilt, that's listed).

[avr]

Where are the stats for those? The links literally just give you the name, and they aren't listed on the "armor and shields" page at all (except kilt, that's listed).

Check the table under Eastern armor.

[Slipperychicken]

Check the table under Eastern armor.

Damn you PFSRD, and your inconvenient sub-sections!!!


Seriously, d20pfsrd has like 7 separate pages where the 3.5 SRD would have like one. Because putting all the miscellaneous garbage items on one page would be way too easy to use.

[grarrrg]

Damn you PFSRD, and your inconvenient sub-sections!!!


Seriously, d20pfsrd has like 7 separate pages where the 3.5 SRD would have like one. Because putting all the miscellaneous garbage items on one page would be way too easy to use.

Eh. Most of the sub-pages in the "basic equipment" section boil down to "same junk, different flavor".
All of it is going to have similar stats, with the main exception of "stone age weapons", which are overall poor (mainly due to the "fragile" property).

In certain cases, a Sub-page is VERY welcome, as in the case of Firearms. LOTS of separate rules that only apply to those types of weapons.
As for "Bronze Age" and "Eastern"...not so much.