Evocation Wizard 5E | School of Evocation Guide

Wizards… Who doesn’t know what a Wizard is? Dungeons & Dragons is one of the most influential reasons why Wizards are well known in pop culture. Most people have a basic idea of what you mean when they hear “Fireball” or “Lightning Bolt.” And those two spells are part of the most essential spell school for wizards. The Player’s Handbook allows any Wizard to focus on the School of Evocation, the primary damaging school for any caster. These Wizards are important for sieging, defending against sieging, adventuring, competitive crop-picking… The list goes on. So let’s see what this school can teach you in our Evocation Wizard 5E Guide.

Burninate the Countryside: Enchantment Wizard 5E

The Evocation Wizard is not necessarily the best damage-oriented Wizard, but it’s up there. By focusing on damage, you cement your role as a backline caster. Though, you may occasionally want to walk up front to guarantee that a Cone or Line hits. 

Evocation Savant

As with all Player’s Handbook wizard school subclasses, you begin with the Savant skill.

Beginning when you select this school at 2nd level, the gold and time you must spend to copy a Evocation spell into your spellbook is halved

This ability is pretty whatever. If your GM is good with handing out Spellbooks, most casters know an Evocation spell or two. You can probably avoid learning the basics (i.e., Fireball) and get them at a discount. Unfortunately, when it comes to copying them off of scrolls, dungeons don’t normally supply evocation spells; They prefer to have utility stuff, like Protection from Good and Evil. You could get lucky and find some scrolls, but you’ll be better off going for spellbooks and purchasing your own scrolls.

In the case that your GM is bad with making spellbooks or having you fight Wizards, this ability will be completely useless. Try to stay in a big city with a library long enough to get some spells ready, but don’t leave anything to chance; naturally learn the spells you need to learn.

Sculpt Spells

You gain two abilities at 2nd level, and this one is not bad at all.

When you cast an evocation spell that affects other creatures that you can see, you can choose a number of them equal to 1 + the spell’s level. The chosen creatures automatically succeed on their saving throws against the spell, and they take no damage if they would normally take half damage on a successful save.

You’ve probably been a Wizard, or watched your Wizard, and saw a situation where a Fireball would solve everything… But your Fighter and Barbarian would get toasted too. Maybe you threw the Fireball anyway and it wasn’t worth it. Or, maybe if you could’ve chucked a fireball, you would have saved the King from the army of ghouls about to destroy him… But also destroy him too.

Well? Now they just take no damage.

Most Evocation spells that offer a save have half damage be the success condition. Your most important Area of Effect spells – Fireball, Lightning Bolt, Cone of Cold – do so. So now, when you get to level 3, and your Areas of Effect get huge, you can avoid dealing damage to 4 other creatures. That’s great!

This does say “other creatures,” so talk to your GM before you drop a fireball at your feet with a cocky smile. You’re not out of the woods unless they say so.

Potent Cantrip

You know, the moment I saw the name of this effect, I knew something was up…

Starting at 6th level, your damaging cantrips affect even creatures that avoid the brunt of the effect. When a creature succeeds on a saving throw against your cantrip, the creature takes half the cantrip’s damage (if any) but suffers no additional effect from the cantrip.

This… Isn’t necessarily bad. But it’s not great.

So, there are currently 10 Wizard Cantrips that deal damage and ask for a saving throw. 6 of them have decent range (i.e. more than melee/cone range). And, of those good-ranging cantrips that ask for a save, only 1 of them is Evocation. You’re going to want to pick up Frostbite as a cantrip for your Level 10 ability. Frostbite has okay damage at scaling d6s, but if they fail the save they take an attack roll penalty. Nice!

The rest of the cantrips are pretty solid. I’d highly recommend picking up Toll the Dead, allowing you to slam a creature with d12s if they were damaged before. Halving d12s essentially gives you the same damage of succeeding at a normal cantrip.

The reason this is bad is probably pretty obvious… You’re in a weird spot if you’re asking your GM to take half the damage of a cantrip. Any extra damage is good, but this’ll probably be dealing 1-2 damage per dice on a success… That’s kinda pathetic. Still, you’re gonna be happy when your enemy succeeds, and then just dies to Toll the Dead dealing half anyways.

On a side note, if you choose a cantrip like Acid Splash which has a Dexterity Save, and you hit a Rogue, Evasion now works against this. That means this ability actively nerfs your Dexterity-based cantrips against Rogues. That’s hilarious.

Empowered Evocation

At long last, the School of Evocation offers you a really good reason to take it.

Beginning at 10th level, you can add your Intelligence modifier (minimum of +1) to the damage roll of any wizard evocation spell that you cast. The damage bonus applies to one damage roll of a spell, not multiple rolls.

This damage is fantastic for quite a number of reasons. The first; cantrips. Now, when you cast Frostbite, Lightning Lure, or Poison Spray, your damage increases by your Intelligence (which is hopefully +5 by now!). When you miss your Frostbite, your damage gets boosted by another… 2-3 damage. Nice! More importantly, landing it gives you 5 more damage, which is almost like you upgraded your Cantrip by 2 dice. 

Areas of Effect are really upgraded by this ability. On average, +5 to damage doesn’t do too much to your damage; a Fireball deals an average of 28, so this’d make it an average of 33. Only about a 20% damage boost, right? That’s not too impressive.

But it is; this hits multiple people! So that 5 extra damage is dealt across a wide spread of opponents. That’s a big boost in damage that can help guarantee some unconscious enemies.

Unfortunately, this doesn’t work well with effects that launch multiple attacks; Scorching Ray isn’t terribly effective with this. You could theoretically save the damage for the last hit of your Ray and try to guarantee a K.O., but… You want to use this with Area of Effects whenever you can.

Overchannel

Your level 14 ability is staggeringly strong… If you’re willing to take some damage.

When you cast a wizard spell of 5th level or lower that deals damage and isn’t a cantrip, you can deal maximum damage with that spell.

The first time you do so, you suffer no adverse effect. If you use this feature again before you finish a long rest, you take 2d12 necrotic damage for each level of the spell, immediately after you cast it. Each time you use this feature again before finishing a long rest, the necrotic damage per spell level increases by 1d12. This damage ignores resistance and immunity.

Yes, this is as good as it looks.

A Cone of Cold that is maximized by this ability does 69 damage. 5th level Fireball, 65. Immolation… Well, Immolation isn’t supposed to maximize the lingering damage. Talk to your GM if they’re alright with the lingering damage getting maxed out! 

If they’re alright with lingering damage being maxed, then Immolation deals 53 and then 24 on each dot. 5th level Wall of Fire deals 53 damage, and then 48 on each tick. That’s clearly insanely strong, and even if you only maximize the initial damage, you can still get some beefy hits out!

Your first Maxed spell of the day is going to be a 5th level spell. It just is. You really want to get as much damage out as you possibly can, and this ability makes 5th level spells more damaging than the average of some 7th or 8th levels. That’s super efficient, and exactly what an Evocation Wizard normally lacks.

So then you look at 2d12 damage and you get a bit worried. “That’s a lot of damage for a d6 class to take,” you probably say, trembling in your robes and Wizard hat. And you’d be completely correct! A 5th level spell deals 10d12 damage to you, averaging 65. Hopefully, your Cleric won’t mind tossing a Heal at you to keep you afloat!

Besides, you’re probably okay with lowering your spell level. A level 3 fireball only deals 6d12, and hits for 53 damage when maxed. A level 2 Scorching Ray deals 41 damage in total, and only deals 4d12. You’ve got options here!

Try to not… Actually kill yourself with this. That won’t be hard; every spell maximized hits for 1d12 more per spell level. That could theoretically be a level 5 spell that deals 20d12 to you, if it’s your third per day. Without feats, that might knock you out immediately… And if your GM does Massive Damage rules, you could take 200% of your health easily!

If the BBEG needs to die, and you’re willing to risk losing your own life, then remember that you can always use this ability. Always. But, maybe have the Gold in your pouch to afford a Revivify. You’ll need that Divine Defibrillator!

Best Race for Evocation School Wizards

Unsurprisingly, despite having an ability that lets you deal half damage with Cantrips, you still want enemies to fail their saves. High Intelligence will get you there, and let you land more Ray spells. If you want the best possible chance to avoid Overchannel killing you, Constitution will be important. It’ll also make you more comfortable wading near the frontlines for your smaller Cone spells. Dexterity won’t be bad for that, either!

Gnome

Gnomes are some of the best Wizards in the Player’s Handbook. Your slower walking speed is a bit of a shame, but matters less when you don’t need to be in melee. Darkvision saves you a spell slot, and Gnome Cunning is awesome flavor for a Wizard; an Anti-Magic ability, just to protect you from those nasty Wisdom saves thrown at you!

All 3 currently available options are great! Forest Gnome’s Dexterity is good for AC to protect you from hits, and Minor Illusion is a free cantrip. The Svirfneblin (or Deep Gnome) from the Elemental Evil Player’s Companion gives some stealth boons over their Forest brethren. My personal pick for this class is the Rock Gnome. That Constitution is so nice, and Artificer’s Lore makes Intelligence (History) into a valid means of item identification. Tinker’s not the most useful for a Wizard, but you can still make shenanigans ensue with good usage of the Music Box, Toy, or Fire Starter… Or, you could magically enchant them, if your GM’s cool!

Fire Genasi

Another EEPC option is Fire Genasi. +2 Constitution, +1 Intelligence; perfect! Though you’ll need to invest in Intelligence a lot early on. You get a cool version of Darkvision, resistance to the most common element in the game, and you get Produce Flame, soon to be Burning Hands. Sadly, Produce Flame is an attack roll and Conjuration, so not too useful for you. Burning Hands has some use, at least! Cool Wizardly flavor, and a good excuse to take Elemental Adept, if you want.

Best Feats for Evocation Wizard

Evocation Wizards, like all Wizards, want to prioritize feats that either let them grow their Intelligence, boost their magical utility, or keep them alive. Usually, this will mean Ability Score Improvements for Intelligence and Constitution, two scores which are very important to your average Wizard. Bumping those up will serve you perfectly in almost all campaign settings.

However, there are a few feats that you can select which go beyond the call of duty and improve yourself significantly. Here are a few examples.

Metamagic Adept

Metamagic Adept is a feat that might slip under the radar of anyone except Sorcerer players. You get two Sorcery Points and two Metamagic abilities to spend them on. Metamagic is a series of spell-changing abilities which alter what a spell can do. However, with only two Sorcery Points per day, how much can you really get done?

It turns out you can actually solve a few big issues that the Wizard has through Metamagic Adept. Subtle Spell, for example, lets you cast spells even while silenced or tied down. Distant Spell allows you to play around with touch spells or 30 foot spells from safety. Quickened Spell, while expensive, allows you to sling a Fireball as a bonus action, potentially leading to a massively damaging turn alongside a cantrip.

Of the options, we recommend Distant Spell and Quickened Spell. Quickened Spell will almost always be your choice, giving you a Standard action for things like a cantrip, the Dash action, or Hiding. However, Distant Spell essentially gives you another action in specific situations, and thus is worth considering. Evocation Spells tend to have absolutely absurd ranges, but getting the right angle for a Lightning Bolt is always smart.

Telekinetic

Telekinetic is an almost must-have feat for a growing Evocation Wizard. Telekinetic has three benefits, each of which improves your build in a very strong way.

To start, you get a +1 to Intelligence. This halves the pain of losing an Ability Score Improvement, which is always nice. For most Wizards, 17 Intelligence is a good baseline, so Telekinetic is a very consistent way to get to 18 INT by level 4.

The other two benefits are very much worth losing that extra point. The first is a very strong version of Mage Hand. This version is invisible and requires no casting components to summon, making it much easier to use in social situations or when you are closely monitored. If you learn Mage Hand from another source, you get to buff its range to 60 feet, which is just funny. A 60 foot, invisible Mage Hand that almost nobody could possibly guess you cast. That can actually be useful all the way to endgame.

The second benefit is somewhat more useful in combat. As a bonus action, you can push or pull someone five feet, as long as they are within 30 feet. It’s a Strength saving throw to ignore, but a character can intentionally fail the save. This bonus action is great, since you can use it to get allies out of tricky situations, put them right next to an enemy, or put enemies in range of your magic blasts. One square of movement might not sound like a lot, but it’s completely free, takes an action type that Wizards struggle to use consistently, and often comes up during melee combat. 

This is a great support ability that any optimizing Fireball specialist will consider.

War Caster

War Caster, much like Telekinetic, comes with three separate benefits.

The first is advantage on concentration saves when you take damage. Since Evocation Wizards have surprisingly good concentration magic, like Wall of Fire, you will often find your concentration taken. Being sure to reroll a concentration saving throw is a great way to keep these very important spells online.

The other two benefits are somewhat less impactful. You can cast spells while your hands are full. This usually doesn’t come up as a Wizard, but some Wizards can find their hands full if they take specific multiclass options. The last benefit, where you can make an opportunity attack using magic, is mostly just hilarious. Someone walking outside of your range is definitely not expecting a Disintegrate to their back, so this is a great way to improve your action economy and threat. However, it’s obviously dangerous to put a Wizard in melee, so watch your durability.

An honorable mention goes to Resilient (Constitution). If you have an odd number for your Constitution score, Resilient (Constitution) can be a slightly better option than War Caster. This is largely because getting an even number for your Constitution is very, very important. In addition, getting up to a +6 to your concentration saving throw is a very good idea. Arguably, this is even better than advantage!

FAQ for the Evocation Wizard

What are the Best Wizard Spells for Evocation Wizard?

Evocation Wizards want to have a healthy mix of Evocation and non-Evocation spells. This is because the Evocation Savant ability makes it easy to learn new Evocation spells, so you can afford to get game-winning spells from other categories. Must-have Evocation options include Fireball and Wall of Fire, but spells from other spells include Hypnotic Pattern, Haste, Fly, Maze, and Simulacrum.

What are the Best Stats for Evocation Wizards?

Evocation Wizards should prioritize Intelligence, then Constitution, and then Dexterity. We recommend ability scores of 15s in all three of these stats and 8s in all other stats for Point Buy. For Standard Array, getting 15 Intelligence, 14 Dexterity, and 13 Constitution is a good idea, with Racial Score Increases getting you to 17 INT and 14 CON. Depending on your race, you may have to settle for 16 INT, 16 CON, and 14 DEX for a more defensive Wizard.

How does Empowered Evocation Work with Scorching Ray?

Sadly, you only get to add your Intelligence to a single beam of Scorching Ray. Spells that hit multiple times, such as Scorching Ray or Wall of Fire, only get the benefit of this effect once per cast, not for every damage roll. Empowered Evocation works slightly better for quick area-of-effect spells like Fireball, where you add your Intelligence to the single damage roll of the Fireball which applies to multiple people.

Example Evocation Wizard Build

Before we start our Wizard build, it’s important to look at the limitations that our DM has set up for us. Every DM has different limitations, and the DM for our example will be relatively strict. This should make it quite easy for you to follow along with your build, as long as your DM is about as restrictive.

• No Multiclassing. Our Wizard will be going to level 20 as a Wizard. This isn’t too bad, even though many Wizards benefit from getting 1-2 levels into Fighter. We get to have fun with Signature Spells, which is always fun.
• No Lineages. Oof, this stings. There are very limited options for +2 Intelligence species in 5E, so this can be restrictive. Thankfully, we do have some plus-INT options to play around with.
• Can Use Any Book. This makes the Lineage ban a bit easier to swallow. We can play with stronger backgrounds than base Player’s Handbook. And many races have +1 Intelligence!
• Standard Array. Standard Array is assigned 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, and 8 to Ability Scores. This is the most restrictive ability score setup, and we still have some pretty good options.
• Standard Equipment. Wizards don’t care about mundane equipment at all, as long as they have a component pouch. So this rule doesn’t matter to us.
• Our Party is of a Rogue, Warlock, and Bard. What a fun and strange party comp! The Warlock is a Hexblade and the Bard plans on being a frontliner as soon as we reach level 3, so we’re good to be a blaster. We might want to invest in AC early on, though…

Our species choice comes from a variety of +1 and +2 Intelligence races. We want Telekinetic at level 4 while climbing to Intelligence 20 by level 8. So, we really, really want to go for a +2 Intelligence option. We’ll go with the simple Svirfneblin Deep Gnome from the Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide, whose incredible Darkvision and perfect stats work well for us.

We will also select the Investigator background from Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft, thanks to its strong skills that work well with an Intelligence class. We’ll be grabbing Investigation and Perception, as well as those Disguise Kit and Thieves’ Tools proficiencies. These will work together to make us feel really strong outside of combat, even without spending spell slots. A fantastic background.

Our Wizard Skills don’t matter much, though Arcana and Religion tend to be the most common.

As for our equipment, the only thing that matters is that you have a Spell Component Pouch. Material components aren’t always the most common, but you might as well be ready for levels 3-5 when material components become the norm.

5E Evocation Wizard Build

Race: Deep Gome (Svirfneblin)  Ability Scores: STR 8, DEX 14 (13 + 1), CON 14, INT 17 (15 + 2), WIS 12, CHA 10  Proficiencies: Arcana, Religion, Investigation, Perception, Disguise Kit, Thieves’ Tools  Starting Equipment: Dagger, Component Pouch, Scholar’s Pack, Spellbook, Magnifying Glass, Broken Murder Weapon, Common Clothes, 10 gp  Languages: Common, Gnomish, Undercommon

Level	Class Benefits	Choices
1	-Arcane Recovery -1st Level spells	We hope you weren’t quite done with making choices before the build properly begins! We have perhaps the most important choices of all to get ready for: Magic! For the purposes of this guide, we aren’t going to assume you have any scrolls or spellbooks at any point in your adventure. A Wizard should consider spending a lot of money on learning new spells, so this will likely slash our number of spells known in half. That’s still 44 spells, which is far from bad, but please learn as many spells as you think are strong during your journey.  Cantrips. Our Wizard isn’t fantastic at holding a crossbow, so we’ll likely want an aggressive cantrip on hand. Let’s take a Frostbite, an Evocation one with low damage but acceptable utility. Then, let’s build up our utility. Prestidigitation lets us handle a few random situations very easily while Shape Water can be very useful for doing things that’ll annoy your DM, like freezing locks or changing the color of the water to convince townsfolk that it’s poisoned.  Spells. We start with 6 1st level spells, which isn’t a lot in retrospect. Let’s get a handful, though. Magic Missile will be our sole damaging spell, since it guarantees damage. Shield and Mage Armor are important defensive options, since our party is going to have trouble defending us. Then, we can rock with a few Rituals. We like Find Familiar, Alarm, and Identify for their out-of-combat utility.
2	-Evocation Savant -Sculpt Spells	Evocation Savant is very important if you want a wide diversity of damaging spells, since learning them for half price is by far the most efficient option. Sculpt Spells will become significantly more useful later on, but we won’t worry about it for now.  Spells. Silvery Barbs will become a staple spell for guaranteeing that enemies take max damage. We’ll get some Area of Effect here with Tasha’s Caustic Brew, a relatively long line attack which can deal damage every turn or at least waste an action.
3	-2nd Level Spells	2nd level spells follow a lot of the same rules as 1st, but we have a few options here that legitimately do significant damage. Let’s grab some of those.  Spells. Scorching Ray is one of the best-scaling spells in the game, dealing 2d6 additional damage per spell level spent on it. Invisibility is a fantastic out-of-combat spell that we’ll use to either save our own hide or help get an ally into range to do shenaniganry.
4	-Ability Score Improvement	This is a busy level for us. We have three separate things to take a look at.  Feat. To start, we’ll take Telekinetic. This feat lets us do a lot with our bonus action, including shuffling people into eventual blasts. It’s too useful to pass up, and gets our Intelligence to 18.  Cantrip. Our cantrip will be Mage Hand. This buffs our Telekinetic Mage Hand to have 60 feet of range, which is wonderful.  Spells. We’ll get Rime’s Binding Ice this level, which isn’t fantastic damage but is a big enough cone to potentially save your life. Web is a strong crowd control spell and can help you set up for future bombs.
5	-3rd Level Spells	At long last, we’re at the level where evocation spells start hitting hard and being gigantic. Sculpt Spells, interestingly enough, will now protect a party of 4. So you can drop a Fireball right on your own feet and be just fine. How simple!  Spells. Fireball is a must-have spell for any Wizard, as it is just so efficient for its spell level. For you, it’s your bread and butter. Counterspell is a great reaction to prevent enemy Fireballs from hitting your own party.
6	-Potent Cantrip	Potent Cantrip means our Frostbite will always be hitting for at least some damage, which is great. Missing that cantrip always hurts. Admittedly, half of 2d6 isn’t going to be game-determinative, but when we get Empowered Evocation it’ll feel better.  Spells. Fly is an important buff to get you out of danger or let your Warlock continue to melee an enemy that would otherwise be out-of-reach. Hypnotic Pattern, while not an Evocation spell, is useful for locking down a bunch of weak-willed enemies. A great use of concentration.
7	-4th Level Spells	Again, we’re starting to see some Evocation spells with some kick to them. And this time, some of them take up our concentration.  Spells. Wall of Fire is a must-learn spell for any enterprising Evocation Wizard, and most Wizards in general. Vitriolic Sphere is an actually very strong variant of fireball, dealing 37 average damage to targets hit if they fail the saving throw.
8	-Ability Score Improvement	Another feat level. This one’s a bit more boring.  Feat. It’s important to get to 20 Intelligence. +2 Intelligence will mean our spells do as much as possible. That’s perfect for our Wizard, especially since our spells are about to add that +5 to damage rolls.  Spells. Let’s take this level to get some important spells. Misty Step was missed earlier on, and while Invisibility worked back then, we really do need a bonus action escape plan. Greater Invisibility is a strong combat-centric spell which basically gives yourself (or your Rogue) free reign over 90% of battlefields. We’re not super interested in level five
9	-5th Level Spells	We’re past the golden age of Evocation, but that doesn’t mean we have no more options. Let’s look at a handful of winners.  Spells. Wall of Stone is best learned from a scroll, but it’s so important that we’ll grab it now as a backup plan. That’s thousands of health that enemies have to burn through. Bigby’s Hand is yet another concentration spell, but you get a huge, durable monster that flies around and does anything you want. Very handy!
10	-Empowered Evocation	At this point, casting an Evocation spell every turn looks enticing. However, it is important to note that Evocation cantrips count. So, our 2d6+5 Frostbite is actually a pretty consistent source of damage, especially since it deals half damage on a miss! Feel free to use concentration spells commonly, even if they don’t get Empowered Evocation every single turn.  Cantrip. Our last cantrip will be Mind Sliver. This will debuff a saving throw for our Bard or Warlock to utilize. Great when we’re running out of options.  Spells. Speaking of concentration, Hold Monster is too useful to pass up, putting a lot of weak-willed enemies into a deadly situation. Creation is a fascinating problem solving spell that is very much worth having as a Wizard.
11	-6th Level Spells	6th level spells are the point where your spell slots don’t quite keep up. So, we want big, impactful spells which will very much change the battlefield.  Spells. Contingency is an exceptional spell that, while expensive to get, gives you amazing spell efficiency and a lot of extra safety. Eyebite is a consistent spell that takes Concentration but forces a saving throw against sleep every turn, which is amazing.
12	-Ability Score Improvement	We’re out of Intelligence to get. Aww! Well, we can at least generate additional value through our Constitution.  Feat. We want to find some way to prevent our Concentration from dropping. To that extent, War Caster will work. This lets you re-roll your concentration check, which should suffice. It also lets you Hold Monster someone trying to walk away from you. That’ll show ‘em!  Spells. In terms of magic, we can get some fun ones here. Globe of Invulnerability gives you a huge advantage fighting against enemy spellcasters, since you do a million damage with each spell. True Seeing can handle a handful of big problems during endgame, including permanently invisible enemies, so having it around is smart.
13	-7th Level Spells	7th level has some big problems for you and DMs alike.  Spells. Simulacrum is awfully expensive, but doubling our Rogue’s power is a great idea. Just be careful, since you can’t restore spell slots with Simulacrum. Plane Shift sends yourself or enemies to a plane, which is a great evacuation plan or forces the DM to come up with how long it takes for an enemy to get an Uber out of the Elemental Plane of Fire.
14	-Overchannel	Overchannel is a difficult feature to manage, but allows you to deal massive damage with spells like Vitriolic Sphere or Scorching Ray at 5th level. Wall of Fire at max damage can deal an absurd amount of damage over the course of its 1 minute. However, be very careful about taking the additional damage. This can quickly stack up, so make sure you have the healing resources on-hand. 60 damage Vitriolic Spheres are great, but you need to be alive to land them.  Spells. Forcecage is a very annoying spell to get out of, since it can even stop teleportation. It also has two modes, which can be used on a single target with basically guaranteed lockdown or against a horde, though they could theoretically fire through the bars. Let’s go back to grab Dispel Magic, a spell that will often come in handy when more dangerous, long-term spells come into play.
15	-8th Level Spells	8th level has some pretty potent spell sets. However, none of them apply super closely for an Evocation Wizard.  Spells. Maze is a guaranteed disruptive spell that requires incredible luck to get out of. Even with your +5 Int, you only have a 30% shot to get out of it. Maddening Darkness is actually a solid option for a Evocation Wizard, since you can let your party ignore the saving throw and your Warlock can see through magical darkness though an invocation. A neat combo! Just remember your other party members won’t be as lucky.
16	-Ability Score Improvement	Another feat level. Right now, you likely feel your durability issues. Which is why we recommend the following.  Feat. Tough will give you a ton of health, allowing you to survive a combat situation that is going south. We don’t get a lot of Constitution saving throw from this play, but we recommend fighting hard for any Amulets of Health you can find. Otherwise, the health is probably better than a +1 to Constitution saves. Even though that’s nice.  Spells. Let’s continue improving our defenses, shall we? Mirror Images is a very useful spell to put up before a fight begins, though some enemies can see through the clones. Use it liberally, since 2nd level spell slots aren’t always that useful otherwise, other than for Misty Step. We’ll also grab Teleport, which is an option to get us across continents in an instant.
17	-9th Level Spells	9th level is a huge power spike for Wizards. That’s because of the only 9th level spell to really consider:  Spells. Wish is a must-have. If you get a Wizard to this level, congrats. You’ve basically won. Any spell in the game, outside of 9th level options, is massive. We’ll also go ahead and grab the only other 9th level spell to even consider with True Polymorph, since that level of permanent change can be very handy. A permanent CR 20 Dragon friend is pretty fun.
18	-Spell Mastery	Spell Mastery is a unique mechanic that few Wizards get to see.  Spell Mastery. For the two spells, our first level will be Silvery Barbs as it is an incredible reaction to abuse. Our other spell is less obvious, and is mostly between Mirror Image and Misty Step. We’ll go with Misty Step as an excellent method of moving around the battlefield.  Spells. At this point, our spell options can finally descend into extremely niche options that would normally be scribed into our spell book. For instance, Rary’s Telepathic Bond is great for talking with your party over any distance. Tiny Servant gives you a little friend which functions excellently as an alarm, a scout, or anything else.
19	-Ability Score Improvement	A weird level for feats. We’re going to go on the defensive with this, though Metamagic Adept is perfectly fine if your magical items can keep you safe.Feat. We’re going to take +2 Constitution. We know, really boring, but getting extra health and Constitution saving throws is so important if you can’t find an Amulet of Health. This is an insurance feat.  Spells. Let’s continue scooping up some weirder spells. Feeblemind is a great magic for anti-maging, and Scrying works well to gather information about your foes before doing anything hasty.
20	-Signature Spells	Welcome to level 20! This is a weird level for a lot of Wizards, since Signature Spells isn’t usually better than a Fighter or Artificer level. Let’s go over what we want.  Signature Spells. Our two spells we want to grab are Counterspell and Fireball. Fireball is still efficient, even at this point, where hitting multiple people at a time will still deal hundreds of damage. Counterspell is a magic you desperately want active at all times, so let’s also get a free one.  Spells. Our magic continues to improve. Clone lets you come back to life as long as you have a long enough time to do so. Mass Suggestion is great in and out of fights, even at this point.

Conclusion – Our Take on the Evocation Wizard 5E

That wraps up our Evocation Wizard 5E Guide. The Evocation School is pretty good! Thanks to the new Evocation options from newer books, you’ve got some options when you sling wizard spells. It lacks a bit of the utility of the non-Spell school Wizard subclasses, but… If you just want to deal some damage and not worry about your party, you could do far worse.