Sorcerer protagonist spell selection and stats

CMN

Has anyone here ever played a sorcerer charname intending to import it to BG2:EE? I ask this because in this situation you should consider selecting spells that remain useful on higher levels. Here is my list, regarding how many spells you know at level 9, in order of importance:

1st level:
Magic Missile
Spook
Identify
Friends
Shield

2nd level:
Mirror Image
Melf's Acid Arrow
Glitterdust
Blur

3rd level:
Skull Trap
Haste
Dispel Magic

4th level:
Stoneskin
Emotion - Hopelessness

Also, about stats, I just rolled a score of 91 and, as an elf, distributed them like this:

18 str
19 dex
17 con
10 int
15 wis
12 cha

Constitution was set at 17 to use the Claw of Kazgaroth, Wisdom was set at 15 because I plan to give him the 3 tomes to reach 18 and eventually use the 9th circle Wish spell, and Charisma was set at 12 so I can get it up to 20 with Algernon's Cloak and casting a Friends spell (max discount at stores).

Aside from eventually fighting Mind Flayers on BG2, is Intelligence completely useless for a sorcerer?

Please feel free to comment or criticize my spell selection and stats!

CMN

I should also add that my alignment is chaotic good (invisibility 10 radius from fairy dragon) and that my sorcerer will never be the only arcane spellcaster on the party. With that limited number of known spells, I feel it necessary to have a regular mage around (Neera is my choice).

[Deleted User]

You're correct on the stat selection, Intelligence does nothing for a sorcerer. As far as spell selection goes, I like what you've got going for the most part. At level 1, I normally don't take Identify, but I can understand the urge not to spend money on identifying at stores, and if you aren't taking another mage who can cast it, it's up to you. I'm not a big fan of the fear spells (I hate having to chase down enemies, especially in areas where I might stumble into traps or other enemy groups), but I can't deny that Spook is the only Save or Suck at level 1 that has a good chance of working at high levels. Personally, I like Blindness, as it can neuter an archer or mage quite effectively.

I'm not a huge fan of Melf's Acid Arrow either, but then, I tend to keep an archer with fire/acid arrows around in SoA and prefer other means of disrupting enemy mages. I like picking up either Stinking Cloud or Web to give an AoE disabling effect. True, you get that out of Emotion, but the nice think about SC/Web is that the enemy has to make a save each round that they remain in the AoE.

For third level spells, I like having Remove Magic on my mages so that I have a way to remove enemy buffs without removing my own. You can always keep a dispel or two on a divine caster in the party (they'll probably have a better caster level anyway) in case you need to remove debuffs on your own people.

Your fourth level spells look fantastic. Gotta love Emotion, and you can't do without Stoneskin.

Oxford_Guy

BTW if you don't take Find Familiar as a known spell, I assume that means you need to find *another* scroll for this when you start again in BG2?

ZanathKariashi

I'd trade identify for Blind, if it works, enemy archers and spellcasters are completely helpless, and melee has a large disadvantage. You can always have a mage cast it, or bring a bard. Or just suck it up and pay, if your lore isn't good enough. (Only items with Use effects need to be identified). Blind is one of those more useful spells, that while it needs a little umph in late BG2 to help it stick, it's still awesome. While glitterdust's blind is technically better, it doesn't hurt to have back-ups, since most of your defensive spells are also in 2nd level and will take up uses.

It's also probably better to drop friends, and just let another mage, bard, pally handle your shopping needs, as it's a completely wasted slot in BG2...much the same reason you don't take sleep as a sorcerer you plan to import. High level Chromatic Orb can work well as a make-shift death spell, with a bunch of penalties stacked on an enemy, and is a decent troll finisher from 10+, burning hands is a useful back-up troll finisher. Protection from Evil is a good general purpose spell as well, + ac/saves, remove fear is also pretty nice.

I'd probably take invisibility over blur, but that's me.

Just make sure to take MM last. By the time you get the 5th 1st level spell, it'll actually deal enough damage to be worth a slot, under some circumstances.

Other then that, looks pretty good.

JuliusBorisov

At level 1 I'd go with:
Blindness or Sleep
Charm Person
Chromatic Orb
Magic Missile
Spook

At level 2 I'd go with:
Glitterdust
Invisibility
Mirror Image
Web

At level 3 I'd go with:
Dispel Magic
Melf's Minute Meteors
Skull Trap

At level 4 I'd go with:
Greater Malison or Minor Sequencer
Stoneskin


Does anybody know if you can find a Spook scrool in BG:EE and where?

Mykra

bengoshi said:

Melf's Minute Meteors

Yes! I was starting to worry that I was the only one who loved that spell on Sorc's. Especially with Haste.

ajwz

I'd take charm instead of spook, fireball instead of skulltrap and greater malison instead of emotion hopelessness.

Jalily

bengoshi said:

Does anybody know if you can find a Spook scrool in BG:EE and where?

You can buy one at High Hedge.

Oxford_Guy

Jalily said:

bengoshi said:

Does anybody know if you can find a Spook scrool in BG:EE and where?

You can buy one at High Hedge.

I think that's the *only* one though, so if you really want this, best to learn with a bunch of other stuff after glugging a potion...

JuliusBorisov

Mykra said:

bengoshi said:

Melf's Minute Meteors

Yes! I was starting to worry that I was the only one who loved that spell on Sorc's. Especially with Haste.

And with the dagger of Venom in the left hand if this exploit (attacking with the weapon in your left hand when throwing Meteors) is still in BG:EE))))))

bbear

If you take web, you may as well take spider spawn. Cast 2 web spells and a few spiders into a group of enemies and watch them suffer. For better results, cast haste before hand.

ZanathKariashi

*Double post*

ZanathKariashi

Oh I definitely advocate taking Melf's Meteors, just not as a BG1 spell pick. They're best for killing golems (especially clay) or things requiring High weapon enchantment, or with a really high magic resistance. But the number of projectiles you get per spell is based on level, so it's a much better spell if you're 10+.

Spider spawn is highly situational and loses effectiveness at near the end of SoA, it's nice early on, but Sorcerers have to stick with their picks, so it's best to focus on spells that will remain useful throughout the whole saga.

Web though is a nice spell, and actually should probably be your first or 2nd pick (skimmed the list and didn't realize it wasn't there). BG1 is very ranged heavy, so it synergizes well with Web. But because of the save penalty, web remains useful through out the saga, and there's several easy and quick options to protect melee from being held at the beginning of BG2, making it just as effective there as well for large groups with high HP, or 1 or 2 really hard hitting enemies.

@ajws Charm Person has a +3 save bonus (BAD), and only effects humanoids, Spook has a -1 penalty (good), that gets better by 1 every 6 levels to a maximum of -6 (AWESOME), and works on damn near everything not immune to fear. Even in ToB, you can throw it, without debuffs, and it has a good chance of sticking. Charm person is only really effective vs very low level/HD creatures, which is kind of ok at the beginning of BG1, but they don't really add enough to a battle, even if you bring them to your side in BG2, and they've got a much higher chance to resist it. If you want a mind control, charm monster or domination would be the best bet.

And as discussed over in the Skull Trap post, there's literally no reason to ever learn or memorize Fireball. Wands of fire are easily acquired for all your fire damage needs, and haste is superior to both skull trap and fireball in BG1. And since Skull Trap never stops scaling till 20, it's the perfect 3rd level spell for a whole saga haul.

CMN

Thanks guys... I'm taking Blind and Chromatic Orb instead of Friends and Identify. On the 2nd circle I'll drop Blur for Web and Melf's Acid Arrow for Melf's Minute Meteor. The rest stays the same since you can only get three 3rd circle and two 4th circle spells in BG1:EE.

@Kaigen: IMO Dispel is more useful than remove magic because it can also remove negative effects from my own party members (like hold, charm and confusion), altough it will also remove buffs. Sorcerers are better than clerics to handle this emergencies since they don't need to memorize specific spells.

@Oxford_Guy: I think so. I'm getting the find familiar scroll on BG1:EE after Naskhel Mines (loot from Nimbus the assassin).

@ZanathKariashi: agree with everything you said, except protection from evil, which is better handled by a cleric!

ZanathKariashi

I don't know...clerics should be casting Command instead of protections from evil (it's best handled by paladins who get castings for free as extra abilities). On the other hand, the staff of the magi has a permanent Protection from Evil, so...I suppose you can do without till then.

[Deleted User]

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[Deleted User]

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[Deleted User]

@CMN @ZanathKariashi @Bhaaldog I know that by late BG1 I tend to have at least one cleric preparing a couple Protection From Evil 10' Radius spells a day, and with the long duration, that makes it pretty easy to have it up on your whole party without sweating any 1st level spell slots.

@Oxford_Guy Luckily there's a guaranteed Find Familiar scroll as part of one of the first quests you're offered in BG2, so this shouldn't be much of an issue.

Erg

Kaigen said:

@CMN @ZanathKariashi @Bhaaldog I know that by late BG1 I tend to have at least one cleric preparing a couple Protection From Evil 10' Radius spells a day, and with the long duration, that makes it pretty easy to have it up on your whole party without sweating any 1st level spell slots.

This!

CMN said:

On the 2nd circle I'll drop Blur for Web and Melf's Acid Arrow for Melf's Minute Meteor.

Melf's Minute Meteor is a 3rd level spell, so it cannot replace Melf's Acid Arrow.

Oxford_Guy

Kaigen said:

@Oxford_Guy Luckily there's a guaranteed Find Familiar scroll as part of one of the first quests you're offered in BG2, so this shouldn't be much of an issue.

Okay, thanks for confirming!

Oxford_Guy

Melf's Acid Arrow is actually a nice spell for disrupting enemy casters, as it spreads it's damage out over a number of rounds, it also scales, here is the correct spell description (it was slightly wrong in-game last time I looked):

By means of this spell, the wizard creates a magical arrow that speeds to its target unerringly. The arrow has no attack or damage bonus, but it inflicts 2d4 points of acid damage (there is no splash damage). For every three levels the caster has achieved, the acid lasts for another round, unless somehow neutralized, inflicting another 2d4 points of damage each round. So at 3rd - 5th level, the acid lasts for two rounds. At 6th - 8th level, the acid lasts for three rounds, etc.

Bercon

I'm not quite sure why people favor Dispel Magic over Remove Magic on sorcerer. For solo you most likely wont be able to cast Dispel Magic when you need to and with party you just destroy all your own buffs. Additionally, clerics cannot learn Remove Magic but get Dispel Magic so it makes more sense to have Remove Magic on sorcerer and Dispel Magic on cleric.

Bercon

Melf's Acid Arrow isn't terribly good, but it is the only 2nd level damaging spell worth taking and it does kill trolls. I might take Remove Fear instead of Blur on 2nd level, because it often happens that the one in your party that has it memorized is disabled.

[Deleted User]

Bercon said:

I'm not quite sure why people favor Dispel Magic over Remove Magic on sorcerer. For solo you most likely wont be able to cast Dispel Magic when you need to and with party you just destroy all your own buffs. Additionally, clerics cannot learn Remove Magic but get Dispel Magic so it makes more sense to have Remove Magic on sorcerer and Dispel Magic on cleric.

That's my argument. Remove Magic also has a faster cast time than Dispel Magic, though that's academic if you combine the Robe of Vecna and Amulet of Power.