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spells for another target.  Also makes it easier for a wizard to survive melee combat when he is out of spells.  This feat avoids the -4 penalty to attack rolls for using missile weapons in close combat and grants a +1 to Attack
Roll and Damage for using missile weapons (i.e. bows) within 15' of the target creature.

* RAPID SHOT: Good feat when used in concert with the Haste spell.  The
Point
Blank Shot feat and a DEX of at least 13 are required.  Same as above.  Use it with your bow to take out weakened opponents quickly without resorting to spells.  A Wizard with this feat takes an extra attack per round when using a bow (doesn't work with crossbows), but all attacks made that round are at -2 to
Attack Rolls.  This feat works well for wizards because it helps him conserve spells and lets him attack at range where he is safer.  Wizards can also afford the 2 feats needed because of the 4 extra bonus feats as compared to
Sorcerers.

* QUICKEN SPELL: Ok feat.  Quickened spells can not be countered and they give you one more spell attack for that round.  Some people really like this feat because they can cast a spell instantly if they have the feat.  This might be a better feat for sorcerers who have a few extra spells to spend on it.  For Wizards I can't recommend this feat because of the high cost of using it.  It Requires you to cast your spells 4, thats right, 4 slots higher so a level 5 spell becomes a level 9 spell.  The only real use I can see for this spell is to get a quick Improved Invisibility spell off to save you from getting killed.  Could also use it to get a quick Flame Arrow off but I would much rather have the Maxed version instead.

* STILL SPELL: Iffy.  You can cast spells while wearing armor without any penalties but you need to get the armor feat first and it just isn't worth it to wear armor.  Requires you to cast your spells 1 slot higher so a level 3 spell becomes a level 4 spell.

* IRON WILL: Iffy.  May save you from an instant death spell but wizards should have a big enough will save to not need this.  There are also lots of magic items that improve this save.  Gives you a +2 bonus to your Will saves.

* LIGHTNING REFLEXES: Iffy.  May save you from some of the effects of a magic arrow or better your chances at surviving a Fireball spell.  There are also lots of magic items that improve this save.  Gives you a +2 bonus to your reflex saves.


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F) FAMILIAR
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This is an important choice to make when you play in multiplayer because it gives you one more member for you group.  The familiar can play the role of support fighter, rogue, or scout if your party doesn't have one.  It can also substitute for a member if he gets killed or is otherwise incapacitated.  I personally never used a familiar during the single player game for 4 reasons:

1- If your familiar dies you lose 1d6 hit points.  Let me put it this way, a second level Wizard with 6 hit points that lets his familiar die could DIE as well.  They work better when your wizard is at a higher level and has more hit points so he can survive if his familiar dies.

2- Your familiar will level up as you do so you don't get any bonus experience points for having him fight with you like you would with a Summon Creature
I.
In fact you will lose some because experience is based on the number and average level of your party.  So it will take longer to level up if you have your familiar fight with you.  You can get around this by unsummoning your familiar before the monster dies so only you get credit for the kill, but this is only practical when your alone facing one boss monster.

3- If you choose Elf as your race and configure his skills correctly then a wizard doesn't need one except as a meat shield.

4- The higher your level is the better treasure you get.  You can level up much faster without one if you solo.

With that said here are the familiars:

* PANTHER, HELL HOUND: These are the best familiars for a wizard as they provide a good meat shield and decent melee attacks.  They can also spot traps so they are better overall than the Imp, Fire Mephit, Ice Mephit, Raven and
Bat.  The larger size will, however, make them easier to spot.  Despite this they still make great scouts.  The panthers higher hit points, high sneak attack bonus, evasion, and uncanny dodge 5 feats make it the best attacker of the two.  The panther is really the only familiar that can dish out damage at a decent rate.  The Hell Hound gets a cone of fire attack at level
10 and 2 of them at level 20.  His standard attacks will also do more damage, due to an added fire bonus on each attack, than the standard attacks of the panther (excluding sneak attacks).  The Hell Hound is also the better scout due to his dark vision feat.  All things considered I would still give the edge to the Panther as the best familiar for a wizard.  To get the most out of them in a fight use them to attack from behind where you can take advantage of their special bonus attacks on an occupied opponent.  If you need to use them as a frontline fighters then cast plenty of buffs (Bull
Strength, Cats Grace, Stoneskin ...) before the fight starts to keep them alive longer.

* PIXIE: Better than the Imp, Fire Mephit, Ice Mephit, and Raven and Bat in many ways.  She can find the traps AND disarm them!  A great little rogue.
If you possess her she (you) can cast the Improved Invisibility spell on your wizard or members of your party.  She has poor fighting skills so don't keep her anywhere near a battle or she will die quickly.  The only thing keep her from being a top choice is the irritating twinkling noise she makes.  Its OK for the first few minutes, even a little entertaining, but the noise will rapidly get on your nerves.  If you can stand the noise she makes then she is the most practical familiar for her skills.  You can also use her to trigger/unlock treasure chests you can't bash open.  She even has a sneak attack that she can use if you can keep the monster busy.

* RAVEN, ICE MEPHIT, FIRE MEPHIT, IMP: Use their dark vision feat to scout ahead in dungeons, caves, and other dark areas for danger.  You can possess the familiar to take control of it.  They can all find traps but not disarm them, you will have to do that when you get to them.  Imps can cast the
Invisibility spell.  The Raven has a disarm weapon and taunt feat but they rarely work.  The Imp, Fire Mephit, and Ice Mephit are better at fighting than the Raven and Bat but are by no means tanks so keep them all away from the front line.

* BAT : Use this one for scouting in caves and other dark areas where you can get the most out of his Listen skill.  His fear spells work well against weak to mid level monsters.  Overall not a very useful familiar.


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G) SPECIALIZATION
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Ok, you still can't decide if you want to be a Wizard or a Sorcerer.
Fortunately there is a middle of the road spellcaster called the Specialist
Wizard.  More spell choices and feats than a Sorcerer.  More spells than a
Wizard.  So what's the catch?  Well if you want to be a Specialist Wizard you will have to give up a group of spells to memorize and cast.  All
Wizard/Sorcerer spells are organized into schools each with a pool of spells.
When you specialize in a school there is a prohibited school that you can't memorize spells from.  You can't even cast spells from the prohibited school using scrolls.  The most important thing to decide when choosing to be a
Specialist Wizard is what spells you can live without.  Your spell school of choice will become your first or 0 level feat.  A Spell Focus feat.
Here is a list of all the spells organized into their schools:

Abjuration - Prohibited school: Conjuration
(0) Resistance; (1) Endure Elements, Protection from Alignment; (2) Lesser
Dispel, Resist Elements; (3) Dispel Magic, Magic Circle against Alignment,
Protection from Elements; (4) Lesser Spell Breach, Minor Globe of
Invulnerability, Remove Curse, Stoneskin; (5) Dismissal, Energy Buffer,
Lesser
Mind Blank, Lesser Spell Mantle; (6) Globe of Invulnerability, Greater
Dispelling, Greater Spell Breach; (7) Spell Mantle; (8) Mind Blank; (9)
Greater
Spell Mantle, Mordenkainen's Disjunction

Conjuration - Prohibited school: Transmutation
(0) Ray of Frost; (1) Grease, Mage Armor, Summon Creature I; (2) Melf's Acid
Arrow, Summon Creature II, Web; (3) Flame Arrow, Stinking Cloud, Summon
Creature III; (4) Evard's Black Tentacles, Summon Creature IV; (5)
Cloudkill,
Lesser Planar Binding, Summon Creature V; (6) Acid Fog, Planar Binding,
Summon
Creature VI; (7) Summon Creature VII; (8) Greater Planar Binding, Summon
Creature VIII; (9) Gate, Summon Creature IX

Divination - Prohibited school: Illusion
(1) Identify; (2) See Invisibility; (3) Clairaudience & Clairvoyance, Find
Traps; (4) Remove Blindness & Deafness; (5) Feeblemind; (6) Legend Lore,
True
Seeing; (7) Power Word Stun; (8) Premonition; (9) Power Word Kill

Enchantment - Prohibited school: Illusion
(0) Daze; (1) Charm Person, Sleep; (2) Blindness & Deafness; (3) Hold
Person;
(4) Charm Monster, Confusion; (5) Dominate Monster, Hold Monster, Mind Fog;
(6)
Mass Haste; (7) Protection from Spells; (8) Mass Charm; (9) Dominate Monster

Evocation - Prohibited school: Conjuration
(0) Light; (1) Magic Missile; (2) Darkness; (3) Fireball, Lightning Bolt;
(4)
Elemental Shield, Ice Storm, Wall of Fire; (5) Cone of Cold; (6) Chain
Lightning; (7) Delayed Blast Fireball, Prismatic Spray; (8) Incendiary
Cloud;
(9) Meteor Swarm

Illusion - Prohibited school: Enchantment
(1) Color Spray; (2) Ghostly Visage, Invisibility; (3) Invisibility Sphere;
(4)
Improved Invisibility, Phantasmal Killer, Shadow Conjuration; (5) Greater
Shadow Conjuration; (6) Ethereal Visage, Shades; (7) Shadow Shield; (8) Mass
Blind & Deafness; (9) Weird

Necromancy - Prohibited school: Divination
(1) Negative Energy Ray, Ray of Enfeeblement, Scare; (2) Ghoul Touch; (3)
Clarity, Negative Energy Burst, Vampiric Touch; (4) Contagion, Enervation,
Fear; (5) Animate Dead; (6) Circle of Death; (7) Control Undead, Finger of
Death; (8) Create Undead, Horrid Wilting; (9) Energy Drain, Wail of the
Banshee

Transmutation - Prohibited school: Conjuration
(1) Burning Hands; (2) Bull's Strength, Cat's Grace, Eagle Splendor, Endure,
Fox's Cunning, Knock, Owl's Wisdom, Ultravision; (3) Haste, Slow; (4) Bestow
Curse, Polymorph Self; (6) Greater Stoneskin, Tenser's Transformation; (7)
Mordenkainen's Sword; (9) Shapechange, Time Stop

Study this list and the list of spells that I cover in SPELLS to help you decide what school to specialize in.  With the automatic Spell Focus feat in the school you choose you are making it harder for an enemy to resist your spells cast from that school.  Choose a school with a lot of spells that need saves against them like Evocation, Enchantment, Necromancy, or Illusion.

With Specialization, remember to focus on what you are losing.
Abjuration,
Evocation, and Transmutation specialists lose all the Conjuration spells, so no
Summons spells, Melf's, Web, Acid Fog or Cloudkill.  Necromancers lose all
Divination spells, so no Identify, See Invisibility, Feeblemind,
Premonition, or Power Word Kill.  Illusionists lose Enchantment, so no Holds, Charms,
Mind
Fog, Mass Haste, Protection from Spells, or Dominates.  Divination and
Enchantment specialists lose Illusions, so no Color Spray, Invisibilities,
Phantasmal Killer, Shadow Shield or Weird.  Conjurers lose Transmutation, so no attribute boosters, Haste, Tenser's Transformation, or Time Stop.

This is just a sample of the spells each specialist wizard must give up for taking a school.  IMO the ability to cast an extra spell per spell level is probably well worth the losses.