My first-time-playing friend is bored with only having two at-wills (D&D 4e).

Me and a few friends started playing our first game of D&D (4e). The DM is the only one whose played before. The person who has been hosting chose a controlling wizard with cloud of daggers and thunderwave as his at-wills, but he only has 11 hit points so he dies about every other encounter.

Lately he has been threatening to stop playing because he's sick of only having two powers that rarely hit and being killed by one slap-and-tickle from a goblin minion.

What can he do to vary up his play experience and stay relevant without starting a new character (which makes him feel like he is a moron for choosing wrong from the beginning)? What do you guys do to get away from the monotony of only ever having two at-wills?