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I'm looking at building a Changeling Wizard for a new campaign. While I'm likely to still take at least the first level of the racial substitution for the delicious skills, I'm less sold on the Dual Specialization feature. Illusion and Transmutation are likely the schools I'll favor, but anytime I seem to have a choice on which Specialization to choose (either UA ACFs or Master Specialist esotericas) it looks like I'll want to pick the Illusion option each time. All that leaves me with is the option to memorize an extra Transmutation spell rather than Illusion, and that doesn't seem worth the extra Restricted School. Am I missing something about how this works, or am I better off just sticking with Illusionist?

Notes: I know that Transmutation is the better school overall and Whisper Gnomes are the "superior" Illusionist race from a strict CharOp perspective, but I'm sold on Changeling at this point. I'm willing to be sold on the Transmutation specialization options over the Illusion options, however. They just don't look nearly as useful to me.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Late to the party, and related to an aside and not the question itself, so comment it is. In regards to Gnomes and Illusions, take a look at the Racial Emulation feat (RoE p110) which allows a Changeling to be considered as any humanoid race for all purposes except gaining racial traits traits - e.g., for Gnome Illusionist Substitution Levels, or the Shadowcraft Mage PrC. \$\endgroup\$
    – From
    Sep 6, 2022 at 21:12

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No, you’re not really missing anything

With regular specialization, as long as there is at least one spell from your chosen school you want to cast each day, you can do that and use your regular slots for any other schools you might be interested in.

Dual specialization only helps you if you cannot do that, and have some spell level where you really don’t want to cast any spells from the school you’d choose first.

Which might happen, maybe, sometimes, but not often; certainly not often enough to justify banning a third school.

Changeling wizard? Recaster!

Seriously, recaster from Races of Eberron is awesome and you should seriously consider taking it. One of the very few cases where losing a spellcasting level is justified. It’s flavorful and powerful.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ I've looked at Recaster and it looks pretty solid save the loss of a spellcasting level. Is it worth leaving Master Specialist to jump into Recaster when it's available? And which Metamagic feats should I choose as an Illusionist to get the most out of Sudden Metamagic? I'm guessing Extend and Enlarge? \$\endgroup\$
    – agradine
    May 8, 2014 at 0:36
  • \$\begingroup\$ @agradine It’s definitely solid. “Worth” a spellcasting level? Probably not. But it’s good enough to make it a solid choice even if it’s not quite as good: you do get some solid, potent, unique tricks. From the list, I’d probably get Extend and either Empower or Maximize; I have literally never used Enlarge Spell, or wished I had it available to use. Spell ranges already tend to be plenty big anyway. As for Master Illusionist, that’s an awesome class, and also a great lead-in to Archmage, which is another great choice for you. I see Wiz 3/MSpc 7/Recaster 5/ArcM 5 as a great build here. \$\endgroup\$
    – KRyan
    May 8, 2014 at 1:24
  • \$\begingroup\$ @agradine As for whether I'd go Recaster immediately as Wiz 3/MSpc 2, or finish master specialist... I probably would, but you could go either way. And Wiz 3/MSpc 10/something 2/ArcM 5 is also quite valid, if you don’t want recaster. \$\endgroup\$
    – KRyan
    May 8, 2014 at 1:26

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