Which Sorc Spell to Pick?

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Having trouble picking my first lvl 6 spell. Here is what I have now:
LVL 1: Friends, Identify, Magic Missile, Prot. from Evil, Sleep

Lvl2: Blur, Glitterdust, invisibility, knock, web

Lvl3: Fireball, Fire arrow, Haste, Slow

Lvl4: Greater Malison, Improved Invisibility, Stoneskin

Lvl 5: Chaos, Cloudkill

As you can see I have no summons yet (but my cleric has a few). My first thought is to get summon nishruu but protection from magical energy/weapons, spell deflection, Improved haste, death spell and death fog all look good to me too. Please feel free to offer any advice/suggestions and/or point out any 'mistakes' or bad choices you think I may have made. Kinda thinking Melfs Meteors or chromatic orb woulda been good with malison...

Also what future spells do you think I should learn?

[ February 21, 2005, 00:39: Message edited by: Isshy ]

 

The level 6 spell that I have used the most is Chain Lightning, followed by Pierce Magic and Summon Nishruu. But it is well known that I don't really know what I'm talking about when it comes to BGII spells.

 

Ya I think I have a lot of offensive spells...MM, fireball, fire arrow, cloudkill all do damage plus sleep, glitterdust, web, haste, slow, malison and chaos are all offensive spells even if they're not damage dealers. So I don't think I'll take chain lightning. Defensively all I really have is Prot/evil, blur, Improved Invis and stoneskin...thats why the protect/deflect spells look good to me. I probably will never get summon heakashar (sp?) so nishruu looks good too...I do, however, have Everard's mace (takes enemies spells away like nishruu does I think). I never tried pierce magic but I'm planning on getting breach..

 

The issue with Sorcerers is that you want things that are still going to be useful down the track. If so, Pierce Magic and Chain Lightning are the only level 6 spells that I was still using towards the end of the game. I don't think a Sorcerer needs Protection from Magical Weapons because hopefully he isn't going to get hit anyway. Improved Haste can be useful to cast on a tank before wading into battle.

 

Yes I agree that you want spells that will be useful later in the game. I'm kinda new at this game (haven't made it past act 2 yet cuz I keep starting over heh), so that's why I posted this I am trying to think of my future spells too (warding whip, project image, mordenkainen's sword, finger of death...wish I could get them all!) It's hard to choose the best combination...What creatures do you find yourself using Pierce Magic on?

PS- I am thinking of starting over yet again with a conjurer...

 

You chose a sor in the first run ?
I would skip blur and get resist fear, take breach first. But there's always a topic about sor spell list somewhere, I'll give you the link later

This link is from ToB forum though, so it might contain spoiler
http://www.sorcerers.net/ubb/ultimatebb.php?/topic/10/3790.html

 

Thanks for the link although I'm not playing solo...

 

Do you have another arcane spellcaster in the party (bard or mage)? If you do this could radically change your spell selection. You could for example specialize your Sorcerer in pure offense and let the other spellcaster take care of utilitarian spells and buffs.

In fact it would be easier if you told us who your party consists of

 

It's Venutia (a sexy elven sorceress), Petrecles (Ranger/Cleric), Yoshimo and Keldorn. I wanted a very strong team to finally get somewhere in this game...I take the other NPC's for their quests then dump 'em. I have also replayed almost all of act 2 since I posted this. This version has:
Lvl1:Chromatic Orb, Friends, Identify, MM, and spook

LVL2: Invisibility, Knock, Mirror Image, Web and Acid Arrow next level.

Lvl3: Fireball, Flame arrow, Haste and Melfs meteor next lvl.

Lvl4: Spider Spawn, Stonskin, Greater Malison next level.

Lvl5: Breach...thinking cloudkill next.

 

Eeeh... Cloudkill is a great spell, sure, but it will make your game less interesting: instead of bursting in into a compound full of monsters and casting, say, Chaos, and then whacking them, or casting Cone of Cold and thus weakening them, your party will stand for a minute like idiots and wait while all the monsters die.

Your 1st and second level spells are good,
but with third level :-( you'll have no place for Skull trap and remove magic. But as you're playing in party, and Keldorn has dispel magic, it's OK.

 

Its better to cast cloudkill from wands. You can sell the wand and purchase it back when its almost out of charges (or have a thief steal it!).

I got though my first game with wand of cloudkill and wand of monster summoning.

 

Yeah, wand of cloudkill is great (dreamily remembers her very first game, when Throne of Bhaal was not yet released, and Aerie killed a Dragon on her own, using this wand)...


Moderate SPOILER


However, if you pick cloudkill/death fog as a spell, it is possible to combine it into a Spell Trigger later.
Still, I'd rather not use it, really.

 

WOW! I thought wands only had one charge...I didnt know you could get 50 cloudkill charges on a wand! THANKS! That was a great piece of info The solo sorcs seem to like mislead, Lower resistance, spell immunity (which sounds like you really need to know what your doing to use), Protection from magic weapons/energy...think I need all those protections in my group? I'm doubting it as I tend to keep my sorcerer in the back of the group. There are so many spells that look good to me that I can't make a damned decision. I leveled yesterday but still havent clicked level up cuz i dont know what to pick Contingency, death fog for summons, improved haste, mislead (sounds great for solo but maybe not in a party), pierce magic, protect from magic weapons and Nishruu all look good for lvl 6 spells. I have the feeling that the higher level I get the harder it will be to pick spells also.

Also, slightly off topic, how do you use skull trap? I tried it but found it hard. How do you get the monsters to trigger it without triggering it yourself? I lost a lot of blood trying this out. It may do more damage than fireball but fireball is so easy to use...

 

You just put the skull trap somewhere between yourself and the monsters. Easiest way is to chuck it at where you think they will be a few seconds after seeing you. If that is too close to where you are now, then back away as soon as you have cast it. But, I agree, Skull Trap is too fiddly for my liking. I'd rather have a Thief who can set several real traps if you want a 'trappy' type effect that you can't trigger yourself.

 

I only use spells that are GUARANTEED to do some damage, unless they're the type that peels away enemy defenses. Lingering "area of effect" spells are something of a pain to deal with (death fog, cloudkill, web, entangle, etc). Cone of cold is dangerous to your party members. Spells that allow a save for "no effect" have an annoying failure rate, especially as you fight higher level enemies. Spells that slightly cripple the enemy (greater malison, etc) are a waste since the enemy usually dies too quickly to justify their use.

1) magic missile, identify
2) mirror image
3) haste, fireball
4) stoneskin
5) breach (this is CRITICAL), lower resistance
6) chain lightning
7) ruby ray of reversal (also CRITICAL)
8) Abi-Dalzim's horrid wilting
9) time stop, spellstrike

 

As for the sixth level spells, don't use mislead, it's a useless spell for a sorcerer: enemies who see throug invisibility will still attack you, and if you want to turn invisible any time, you'll find a certain item in the Bridge District (if you haven't found it already).
Death Fog is good, but Death Spell is better, it's "clean kill".
Chain Lightning and Improved haste are very good, Protection from Magical weapons is essential - you can buy time for 4 spells and not be interrupted.
Contingency - it's not that good, really, and 9 level spell Chain Contingency will make Contingency mostly obsolete.
BTW, if you like wands, do try Ligntning wand (white one) - it deals 18-108 damage, bounces off the walls and deals some more. Very good.

 

*After looking at Death spell and Death fog they're close. Death spell kills creatures under 6HD, death fog does 8 damage per round to animal life...niether is good for that respect but they both instantly kill summons....thats why I want 'em. Death spell has a bigger radius plus it wont hurt my party *I think* so i guess it is better as you say...thanks.
*Greater malison I like..greases all the wheels...I'll keep that. It's pretty good for stuff like confusion and chaos, and it makes my magical weapons work better I think.
*As far as protect from magical weapons the plan is not to let the sorc get hit too much so do I really need it?
*I've tried chain lightning and I do like it because it hits multiple enemies but the damage seems a little weak to me...does it get good at high levels or something?
*Animate Dead on level 5 looks good too...even though my cleric has it. I could get lots of skels with a sorc and I hear they get strong after level 15 and are awesome when hasted...is this true?
*What creatures is lower resistance good for besides dragons?
*No one has said anything about nishruu...looks good on paper for killing spellcasters...
I really appreciate all the input...THANKS!

PS-I just noticed I got a new chat gem...kewl.

[ February 23, 2005, 09:56: Message edited by: Isshy ]

 

* I personally use Death Spell but don't use Death Fog
* Greater Malison is a must if you rely on spells that allow a saving throw
* There will be times when your Sorc WILL be hit. Besides, it's sometimes useful to send your Sorc behind enemy lines to unleash destruction, and in those cases Prot from Magical Weapons will give you 4 rounds during which you are practically immune to physical attacks.
* If you can cast Animate Dead with your cleric, why have the Sorc waste a precious spell choice on it? Try to go for more unique things
* Lower Resistance is also very useful against demons, though there aren't that many high-level ones in SOA
* Nishruu can be annoying because it eats magical items, so if you send it against a mage it might rob you from some really good items he/she was carrying. Hakeashar is basically a souped-up Nishruu.

 

Well now that I know about the wands chaos is looking good. Also pierce magic looks better than lower resists...is it?

[ February 24, 2005, 20:45: Message edited by: Isshy ]