The DnD Divination Wizard can see fragments of the future, which makes them a very handy person to have around. Their studies allow them to bend reality ever so slightly, which gives them an edge in all manner of scenarios. The Divination Wizard 5e subclass makes for excellent spying, scouting, damage-dealing, and social roleplay. If this sounds like your idea of fun, our Dungeons and Dragons subclass guide can help you roll up a character.
Before we dive into this particular DnD subclass, a bit of housekeeping. If you’re not sure this is the DnD Wizard for you, we can recommend our personal favorite DnD Wizard subclasses. Or, if DnD Wizard spells aren’t quite compelling enough, our guide to the rest of the DnD classes can help you find a more suitable character option.
For now, let’s talk Divination – including the best 5e spells and DnD races for your DnD character build.
Here’s everything you need to know about the DnD Divination Wizard:
DnD Divination Wizard class features
As you go through the DnD level up process, your Divination Wizard will pick up all sorts of neat features. These are:
Portent
Level: Two
When you finish a DnD long rest, you get to roll two d20s. Write down the results of both, as you’ll be able to use them later. More specifically, you can use them to replace the result of any attack roll, saving throw, or ability check.
That roll could be made by you, or it could be from another creature you can see. A high roll from an enemy could be swapped for a low dice result, or you could improve your own chances by subbing in a high Portent die.
If you want to replace a roll, you must announce this before the roll happens. You can also only replace a roll once per turn, and each Portent die can only be used once. After that, you’ll need another long rest to replenish your supply. Be careful, though – any unused dice are lost if you long rest before spending them.
Expert Divination
Level: Six
As a master of the Divination DnD school of magic, you regain a spell slot any time you cast a Divination spell that’s second-level or higher. The spell slot you get back must be lower than the one used for the spell you cast. You also can’t restore a spell slot that’s higher than fifth level.
The Third Eye
Level: Ten
You can spend an action to gain one of the following abilities:
- You gain 60 feet of Darkvision
- You can see into the Ethereal Plane within 60 feet of you
- You can read any of the DnD languages
- You can see invisible creatures and objects within ten feet that are in line of sight
This feature lasts until you take a short or long rest. It also ends early if you become incapacitated. Once you’ve selected a benefit, you can’t activate the feature again until you’ve finished a rest.
Greater Portent
Level: 14
From level 14, you roll three Portent die after a rest instead of your regular two.
Best spells for a DnD Divination Wizard
Given your chosen school of magic, plus the fact that casting Divination spells can restore spell slots, you’ll want to take at least a few spells of this kind. We’d recommend the following:
- Mind Spike – The only low-level Divination spell that lets you deal damage. Also a great way to track a target.
- Detect Thoughts – Creates interesting roleplay situations, and it can be used to find hidden ambushers as well as interrogate NPCs.
- Locate Object – Handy if you’re looking for a familiar item. Also handy if you hide an ordinary object on an important person you want to track.
- Clairvoyance – Allows you to spy on an area without even being there.
These spells are all second-level or higher, so they’ll trigger your Expert Divination feature. Some lower-level Divination spells are worth studying too – our top picks are Identify and Detect Magic, which will give your party a lot of utility.
Divination spells are super handy for scouting, spying, and social interactions. However, as the party Wizard, you might need to fill other roles for your allies. You should at least be able to deal some damage, for example. That means taking more than just Divination spells.
DnD cantrips like Mage Hand and Fire Bolt give you utility and damage output. Fireball 5e and Magic Missile are must-haves for combat, and Mage Armor, Shield, and Misty Step help you hold onto your puny hit points.
Best race for a DnD Divination Wizard
Your standard choice of races for a Wizard are still effective for the Divination subclass. That means DnD Gnomes, who get Intelligence stat increases, are still one of our top options. Plus, a Variant DnD Human, with their flexible stats and free feat, is never a bad choice.
If you want a more flavor-focused option, choose the DnD Halfling. You haven’t got great stat boosts (unless your DM lets you customize them with optional rules). However, you do have the Lucky racial feature, which lets you reroll if you get a natural one on your DnD dice. It fits very nicely with your Wizard’s natural ability to see the future.
If you want to carry on creating this character, our guides to DnD backgrounds and 5e feats can help you fill in the rest of your DnD character sheet. We can also recommend the best DnD campaigns and DnD one shots you might want to play in.