Sorcerer Guide/Solo Walkthrough and the RIGHT Spell Choices
vish
Member Posts: 49
You've chosen well young padawan. You picked a great kit that only gets better as you level, obviously, but they scale VERY WELL. The best part about it is... you can solo the entire game if you wish. This isn't much of a "Walkthrough" of the game but more so of the class.
First off, scrap Intelligence. You don't need it. It does not determine how many spells you can memorize. Focus on getting a high Constitution (18 pref), decent Dexterity+Charisma+Wisdom. Strength is nice to have but once again you don't really need it. If you're soloing I suggest creating a girdle... sue me but it doesn't increase your MMMs damage and it's just a QoL fix early on.
Your spell choices are the lifeblood of your character and the wrong choice can mean life or death at any point in the game. Here are your MUST HAVE SPELLS: Magic Missle, Melf's Minute Meteors, Stoneskin, Mirror Image, Flame Arrow, Spell Immunity (only if you're soloing), Shadow Door, Lower Resistance, Protection from MWeapons, Project Image, Spell Sequencer, Mordenkainen's Sword, Spell Trigger, ADHW. Those are your core spells that you cannot live without. Spell Sequencer is somewhat optimal imo, but it is very good to have and there aren't many good lvl 7 choices.
Now picking your spells in the proper order is also important. For example, @lvl15 "Animate Dead" the spell creates Warriors instead of dinky, crumbly noob ones. Taking Animate Dead before you can use it properly is pointless and a HUGE waste. Another thing to remember is spells like Ruby Ray of Reversal are pointless. That's right pointless. Why? Because you have Remove Magic+Spellstrike to look forward to at high levels making them obsolete. If you're soloing most Mages in SoA can be dispelled with Remove Magic once you're high enough level, which you should be if you're successfully soloing.
Now onto your picking order.
Level: 1 Magic Missle>Spook>Chromatic Orb>Find Familiar>Protection from Evil>Shield
>>>> Not much to it here but Protection from Evil is optimal since you can get it from Staff of the Magi and any Cleric in your party
Level 2: Mirror Image>Melf's Acid Arrow>Web>Knock>Agannazzar's Scorcher
>>>> Again not much to it, but if you're soloing I suggest switching Knock with Web. If you're in a party take Resist Fear instead of it.
Level 3: Melf's Minute Meteors>Skull Trap>Flame Arrow>Remove Magic>Haste
>>>> Skull Trap is only if you are soloing. Party it should go MMM>Flame Arrow>Haste>Dispel Magic>Slow. If you're in a party you can take Fireball over MMMs but who could pass up +5 weapons in SoA... Hint; there's only one and Paladins aren't that great even when they do have it. Even if you're partying up MMMs are essential to dealing maximum group damage while you wait for your next spell.
Level 4: Stoneskin>Greater Malison>Teleport Field>Spider Spawn>Otiluke's Resilient Sphere
>>>> Lots of optimal choices here and the last 3 spells can be chosen in just about any order. If you're soloing picking Spider Spawn before Teleport Field is a good idea.
Level 5: Shadow Door>Cone of Cold>Lower Resistance>Animate Dead>Breach
>>>> You can switch Breach with CoC, that's what I prefer, but only if you're soloing.
Level 6: True Sight>Protection from Magical Weapons>Death Spell>Chain Lightning>Contingency
>>>> Don't take True Sight unless you're soloing. Take Chain Lightning in it's place and take "Summon Nishruu."
Level 7: Project Image>Mordenkainen's Sword>Spell Sequencer>Summon Hakaeshar>Khelbin's Warding Whip.
>>>> Take whichever "Summon" you like but make sure you don't take Ruby Ray. You really shouldn't need it if you're soloing, and if you're in a party you probably (should) have another Mage in your group with it.
Level 8: ADHW>Spell Trigger>Symbol Stun>Incendiary Cloud>Bigby's Clenched Fist
>>>> Bigby's isn't all that great since you now have a strong collection of spells, but w/e it's there. It's great for Dragons. You can take Symbol Fear if you want instead of Incendiary Cloud.
Level 9: Wish>Time Stop>Spellstrike>Chain Contingency>Shapechange
>>>> If you're soloing take Time Stop first. You'll be rolling through everything at this point in the game and this just make it easier. You also won't get another lvl 9 spell until ToB, so it makes the final fight easier.
Why no Spell Trap you might be wondering. Well as a Sorcerer you wouldn't be much of one without "Staff of the Magi." It gives you Spell Trap on use whenever you need it practically. It also grants Invisibility and Protection from Evil. Other pieces of gear you should look for are Robes of "Insert Alignment Here" Archmagi, Ring of Gaxx (solo), Cloak of Displacement, Belt of the Inertial Barrier,Boots of Speed,Ring of the Ram, Amulet of Power. Sorry Robes of Vecna are just cheap.
Now if you've done your stats properly you shouldn't have any issues with the "Wish" spell. Making it an invaluable spell in ToB. If you didn't then you'll be sorry you did. Without decent overall stats the spell will not work like you want it to. You can pop potions before you cast it, but who wants to waste GCDs in this game.
A few STRATEGIES for the solo gamer. These are well known but I figured I'd put them in here.
If this is your first go at a solo run you should probably read this.
STRATEGY #1, The MMMs kiting: Maybe you do what I do and just create Boots of Speed in Irenicus' Dungeon so you can begin doing this ASAP. Really quite simple, you attack with MMMs until your rotation is up then you cast Magic Missle at the enemy. At higher levels you can replace MM with Flame Arrow. This is why MMMs is the most important spell you will ever learn. Even when you run out ADHWs, Flame Arrows, Magic Missles etc these will be around to save your butt. Did I mention they kill Clay Golems and all Golems alike?
STRATEGY #2, The Skull Trap, Trap: Very self explanatory, but it does take a bit of practice and can be deadly to yourself at low levels. It also has cheese attached to it because you can kill just about any enemy using this method. If you find yourself outgunned or overwhelmed you can get out of trouble quickly with this. If you're surrounded by enemies and can't escape then you Teleport Field>Skull Trap and kite till they're dead. If you're up against a tough enemy... first you need to find a choke point. Let's say you're against a Lich and he's doing what they do best Protectives>ADHW>CC you to death you can avoid fighting them and just kite them into your Skull Traps. If you didn't know Skull Trap deals physical damage, so the only thing that will stop it's damage is if it get's absorbed. It's also a very buggy spell or at least it used to be and would damage through Globe of Invulnerability, so sometimes you might get lucky/unlucky with it. Unlucky being it not triggering. It is recommended to store your Spell Sequencer with Skull Traps.
STRATEGY #3, The Skeleton Warrior Massacre: Summon as many as you want but 3 usually does the job. I usually store them in my Contingency, enemy seen, if I know a fight is coming up. After your Warriors are summoned and you have enemies in sight throw a couple "Web" spells out there and watch your minions walk, SLOWLY, through the webs and plow through the enemies. Your Warriors are immune or resistance to magic, I forget, but they won't be affected by your Web spell giving them free reign to wail on the enemy. This spell is much better once you get Haste, which for me is usually a while. I'm not sure if the same thing can be done with Morde's Swords because I never needed to do it once I got them.
That's about it for strategies playing solo.
Some other things to remember are: Stacking spells like Lower Resistance in your Spell Sequencer, CC spells like Sphere of Chaos are overrated, simple spells like Spook scale with your level and can be effective at high level, and overlooked spells like Emotion can be very effective when used with Greater Malison. You do use Greater Malison right?
Spells like Dragon's Breath, specifically Dragon's Breath, make the game extremely easy... try to avoid using it.
Some fights are extremely hard to solo as a Sorc. The final room in Watcher's Keep (not Demogorgon) comes to mind. You'll need powerful summon scrolls and to be abusive with Dragon's Breath... the only time you'll TRULY need it.
Even it is your first time soloing the game I feel this guide will truly help you do so. Once you get through the early game it is honestly smooth sailing once you hit about lvl 14 or 15, which doesn't take long at all. Use those strategies I gave you and you should be well on your way.
First off, scrap Intelligence. You don't need it. It does not determine how many spells you can memorize. Focus on getting a high Constitution (18 pref), decent Dexterity+Charisma+Wisdom. Strength is nice to have but once again you don't really need it. If you're soloing I suggest creating a girdle... sue me but it doesn't increase your MMMs damage and it's just a QoL fix early on.
Your spell choices are the lifeblood of your character and the wrong choice can mean life or death at any point in the game. Here are your MUST HAVE SPELLS: Magic Missle, Melf's Minute Meteors, Stoneskin, Mirror Image, Flame Arrow, Spell Immunity (only if you're soloing), Shadow Door, Lower Resistance, Protection from MWeapons, Project Image, Spell Sequencer, Mordenkainen's Sword, Spell Trigger, ADHW. Those are your core spells that you cannot live without. Spell Sequencer is somewhat optimal imo, but it is very good to have and there aren't many good lvl 7 choices.
Now picking your spells in the proper order is also important. For example, @lvl15 "Animate Dead" the spell creates Warriors instead of dinky, crumbly noob ones. Taking Animate Dead before you can use it properly is pointless and a HUGE waste. Another thing to remember is spells like Ruby Ray of Reversal are pointless. That's right pointless. Why? Because you have Remove Magic+Spellstrike to look forward to at high levels making them obsolete. If you're soloing most Mages in SoA can be dispelled with Remove Magic once you're high enough level, which you should be if you're successfully soloing.
Now onto your picking order.
Level: 1 Magic Missle>Spook>Chromatic Orb>Find Familiar>Protection from Evil>Shield
>>>> Not much to it here but Protection from Evil is optimal since you can get it from Staff of the Magi and any Cleric in your party
Level 2: Mirror Image>Melf's Acid Arrow>Web>Knock>Agannazzar's Scorcher
>>>> Again not much to it, but if you're soloing I suggest switching Knock with Web. If you're in a party take Resist Fear instead of it.
Level 3: Melf's Minute Meteors>Skull Trap>Flame Arrow>Remove Magic>Haste
>>>> Skull Trap is only if you are soloing. Party it should go MMM>Flame Arrow>Haste>Dispel Magic>Slow. If you're in a party you can take Fireball over MMMs but who could pass up +5 weapons in SoA... Hint; there's only one and Paladins aren't that great even when they do have it. Even if you're partying up MMMs are essential to dealing maximum group damage while you wait for your next spell.
Level 4: Stoneskin>Greater Malison>Teleport Field>Spider Spawn>Otiluke's Resilient Sphere
>>>> Lots of optimal choices here and the last 3 spells can be chosen in just about any order. If you're soloing picking Spider Spawn before Teleport Field is a good idea.
Level 5: Shadow Door>Cone of Cold>Lower Resistance>Animate Dead>Breach
>>>> You can switch Breach with CoC, that's what I prefer, but only if you're soloing.
Level 6: True Sight>Protection from Magical Weapons>Death Spell>Chain Lightning>Contingency
>>>> Don't take True Sight unless you're soloing. Take Chain Lightning in it's place and take "Summon Nishruu."
Level 7: Project Image>Mordenkainen's Sword>Spell Sequencer>Summon Hakaeshar>Khelbin's Warding Whip.
>>>> Take whichever "Summon" you like but make sure you don't take Ruby Ray. You really shouldn't need it if you're soloing, and if you're in a party you probably (should) have another Mage in your group with it.
Level 8: ADHW>Spell Trigger>Symbol Stun>Incendiary Cloud>Bigby's Clenched Fist
>>>> Bigby's isn't all that great since you now have a strong collection of spells, but w/e it's there. It's great for Dragons. You can take Symbol Fear if you want instead of Incendiary Cloud.
Level 9: Wish>Time Stop>Spellstrike>Chain Contingency>Shapechange
>>>> If you're soloing take Time Stop first. You'll be rolling through everything at this point in the game and this just make it easier. You also won't get another lvl 9 spell until ToB, so it makes the final fight easier.
Why no Spell Trap you might be wondering. Well as a Sorcerer you wouldn't be much of one without "Staff of the Magi." It gives you Spell Trap on use whenever you need it practically. It also grants Invisibility and Protection from Evil. Other pieces of gear you should look for are Robes of "Insert Alignment Here" Archmagi, Ring of Gaxx (solo), Cloak of Displacement, Belt of the Inertial Barrier,Boots of Speed,Ring of the Ram, Amulet of Power. Sorry Robes of Vecna are just cheap.
Now if you've done your stats properly you shouldn't have any issues with the "Wish" spell. Making it an invaluable spell in ToB. If you didn't then you'll be sorry you did. Without decent overall stats the spell will not work like you want it to. You can pop potions before you cast it, but who wants to waste GCDs in this game.
A few STRATEGIES for the solo gamer. These are well known but I figured I'd put them in here.
If this is your first go at a solo run you should probably read this.
STRATEGY #1, The MMMs kiting: Maybe you do what I do and just create Boots of Speed in Irenicus' Dungeon so you can begin doing this ASAP. Really quite simple, you attack with MMMs until your rotation is up then you cast Magic Missle at the enemy. At higher levels you can replace MM with Flame Arrow. This is why MMMs is the most important spell you will ever learn. Even when you run out ADHWs, Flame Arrows, Magic Missles etc these will be around to save your butt. Did I mention they kill Clay Golems and all Golems alike?
STRATEGY #2, The Skull Trap, Trap: Very self explanatory, but it does take a bit of practice and can be deadly to yourself at low levels. It also has cheese attached to it because you can kill just about any enemy using this method. If you find yourself outgunned or overwhelmed you can get out of trouble quickly with this. If you're surrounded by enemies and can't escape then you Teleport Field>Skull Trap and kite till they're dead. If you're up against a tough enemy... first you need to find a choke point. Let's say you're against a Lich and he's doing what they do best Protectives>ADHW>CC you to death you can avoid fighting them and just kite them into your Skull Traps. If you didn't know Skull Trap deals physical damage, so the only thing that will stop it's damage is if it get's absorbed. It's also a very buggy spell or at least it used to be and would damage through Globe of Invulnerability, so sometimes you might get lucky/unlucky with it. Unlucky being it not triggering. It is recommended to store your Spell Sequencer with Skull Traps.
STRATEGY #3, The Skeleton Warrior Massacre: Summon as many as you want but 3 usually does the job. I usually store them in my Contingency, enemy seen, if I know a fight is coming up. After your Warriors are summoned and you have enemies in sight throw a couple "Web" spells out there and watch your minions walk, SLOWLY, through the webs and plow through the enemies. Your Warriors are immune or resistance to magic, I forget, but they won't be affected by your Web spell giving them free reign to wail on the enemy. This spell is much better once you get Haste, which for me is usually a while. I'm not sure if the same thing can be done with Morde's Swords because I never needed to do it once I got them.
That's about it for strategies playing solo.
Some other things to remember are: Stacking spells like Lower Resistance in your Spell Sequencer, CC spells like Sphere of Chaos are overrated, simple spells like Spook scale with your level and can be effective at high level, and overlooked spells like Emotion can be very effective when used with Greater Malison. You do use Greater Malison right?
Spells like Dragon's Breath, specifically Dragon's Breath, make the game extremely easy... try to avoid using it.
Some fights are extremely hard to solo as a Sorc. The final room in Watcher's Keep (not Demogorgon) comes to mind. You'll need powerful summon scrolls and to be abusive with Dragon's Breath... the only time you'll TRULY need it.
Even it is your first time soloing the game I feel this guide will truly help you do so. Once you get through the early game it is honestly smooth sailing once you hit about lvl 14 or 15, which doesn't take long at all. Use those strategies I gave you and you should be well on your way.
3
Comments
I agree with most of your spell picks. Some picks I think will depend on the player's preferences. A few suggestions from my part:
Re: lvl 1 - I wouldn't start with Magic Missile (which isn't that great a spell at the lower levels), I'd probably pick Shield (good protection) or Find Familiar (if only for the HP) before that one. Also I might pick Blindness instead of Chromatic Orb, since Blindness is a great spell in the entirety of BG1, and Chromatic Orb doesn't add much to Magic Missile (except a secondary effect that can be saved against).
I'm also not sure if I could last without any invisibility until caster level 5 (where you picked Shadow Door). I think I'd go for Improved Invisibility at spell lvl 4 instead of Otiluke's. This would open up space at caster lvl 5 for Spell Immunity.
Of your lvl 8 spells I would include Simulacrum (instead of Bigby's), for free extra spells.
As to strategies, I'm not great with Mages, but my hobbyhorse is using Improved Invisibility in combination with Spell Immunity: Divination when dealing with enemy mages. They can't cast any spells at you that way (except AoE spells).
Stats: More than 16 con provides no benefit. You won't need cha due to the ring from the Circus Tent. You may as well go for 11 int in case you make a mistake against Mindflayers and get int drained.
Level 1: You've listed six spells. Since Find Familiar only need be cast once, drop it. As you mention PfE is available from numerous other sources, drop it.
Level 3: Skull Trap ALL the time, not just if soloing. Taking Slow as your 5th pick which is at level 22, what exactly are you going to Slow at this point?
There's several +5 weapons in SoA. Why do you need +5 when the enemies requiring +4 can probably be counted on one hand?
Level 4: Where is Improved Invisibility?
Level 5: Where is Spell Immunity?
Level 6: Where is Improved Haste?
Level 7-9: Take Ruby Ray, I dunno why you advocate against this. The way you have it you're getting Khelben's at level 31 and Spellstrike at level 20 which doesn't make sense. Just take Ruby Ray and you have no redunancy.
You've listed five spells at level 9.
I also cannot live without Improved Invisibilty. That spell is just beautiful.
If we are talking about soloing then
Level 1
Not really worth it to get find familiar since you are only ever going to cast it twice (once in each game).
If I were going to take it I wouldn't take magic missile until later. It just isn't that great of a spell choice particularly when you are only shooting one missile. If you are going to be using a wand of sleep then I'd take spook later as well.
Level 2
Take web before Melfs.
Level 3
Skull Trap> Remove Magic > Haste> Melfs > X (Basically doesn't matter since you don't get it until level 22 and by that point none of the options are particularly needed)
Level 4
Farsight instead of Otiluke's Resilient Sphere.
Level 5
Animate Dead>Lower Resistance>Spell Immunity>X>X (you can get Breach and Cloudkill from wands, Shadow Door isn't all that useful since you can get rings that grant you invisibility shortly after leaving Irenicus's dungeon. Plus there is the Staff of the Magi. Also you can't get level 5 spells as a sorcerer in BGEE, so your choices should really be what is useful for BG2EE (where getting invisibility through potions/items is much easier).
Level 6
True Sight>Protection from Magical Weapons>Contingency>Improved Haste>X (comes so late it probably won't matter)>
Level 7
Mordenkainen's Sword>Spell Sequencer>Limited Wish>X (take either Project Image or Simulacrum for your 4th level 8 choice)>X (comes so late it probably won't matter)
Level 8
I'd replace Symbol Stun with Power Word, Blind. I'd also get rid of Incendiary Cloud (not really all that valuable if you've got a wand of cloudkill or horrid wilting already). If you took Project Image for your 4th choice at level 7 then take Symbol Stun as your 4th choice here, otherwise go with Simulacrum. You only get 4 choices with the level cap, so no clenched fist.
Level 9
Time Stop>Wish>Chain Contingency>Shapechange (no 5th choice without removing level cap)
Edit: Changed Mislead to Improved Haste and cut down on the amount of space the post was taking up.
Level 2; I’d take remove fear over scorcher for big fights against big scary monsters.
Level 3; yay, happy level, agree with all
Level 4; I’d prefer wizard eye here. Combo it with project image, and you will get how many spells you got in level 7 times yourself. And suddenly you no longer need to rest after every fight :P
Level 5; What do you need shadow door for if you are going to use staff of magi? Spell immunity is better.
Level 6; The way I see it, if you are a mage/sorc and ever get hit (like with hp and spell failure) you are dead, so you “shouldn’t need” PfMW. And me no likey contingency, I prefer spell trigger for it(assuming no chain contingency). Improved haste, pierce magic and nishruu are better spells than those two.
Level 7; Project image and mordy is pretty much the only spells you’ll ever use in this level. Rest are just personal preferences. Limited wish->scrolls?
Level 8; Symbol spells allow for saving throw, they become pretty useless in TOB. You can do with wands what you’d do with incendiary. Blind has no throw and is an aoe. If protection from energy is still “stackable” ( o.O ) you might wanna get that. And simulacrum for double MMM’ing.
Level 9; First four. Then, once you get planetar and dragon’s breath and comet, it’s woohooo time
Something else, I don't always pick Melf Meteor on my Sorcerer because when you get to late SoA / ToB you won't hit anything with it because of crappy THAC0, it's still an awesome spell well worth the pick but maybe not all the time on a Sorcerer (It's better on a Thief/Mage or Cleric/Mage for example because they both have better THAC0).
Sleep is amazingly good, even on a Sorcerer. The Wand of Sleep allows a Save vs Wand at +0 while the spell allows a Save vs Spells at -3. If playing no-reload I would advice you to favor your early game and to pick it.
Then, about Slow and Haste, these two spells aren't good if you are soloing because their main strenght is the gap of power they create between two groups of physical fighters. If you are soloing then Haste is a bit wasted, your summons will beneficiate from it but they are weak compared to real Fighters.
The same is true for Haste. When protected by PfMW or by some Mordenkainen Swords, you won't need to slow your ennemies.
As for Wish, it's pretty meh, I have done some testing and at 18 Wisdom I've got the rest option about 10-15% of the time compared to 20-25% at 25 Wisdom. Not worth it and very RNG based IMO.
Considering stats, 18 Str is always a must for carrying weight and hitting stuff at level 1 when your ennemies are asleep. 18 Dex of course, 16 Con for HP, 10 or 15 Int to increase it to 11 or 16 at the end of BG1 to tank 2 or 3 hits from Mindlfayers before dying, 18 Wisdom for the Wish spell but even then it's completly unreliable and 13 Cha to increase it to 14 with the tome and 20 with the Friends spell which is the max for reductions.
chain contingency is a better fit to my play style than wish, and spell strike is a must
Scorcher is a junk pick. Level 2 spells? Same with Find Familiar... do you have a better level 1 spell you frequently use? It's all a matter of opinion. This was my 3rd playthrough solo and I changed it up a bit this time.
You should always pick MMMs. Period end of story. It's only drawback is removing the Invisibility effect of Staff of the Magi when you cast it, and you can't get it back till you've used them all.
Incendiary Cloud is useful for Mage fights in ToB, and I found it very useful against Balthazar+Melissan. I should really have said it was optimal. I hardly ever cast it because of ADHW this is true, but there aren't many level 8 spells I do cast besides ADHW. In fact, it's almost all I ever cast. Level 8 is ADHW and then optimal choices.
Haste is not wasted. It makes your minions do more damage, and also speeds up their traveling times. Is there another level 3 spell that allows you to do more and a nice QoL fix? No. Slow is a junk pick. You can pick Fireball if you want idc.
Simulacrium is crappy because you have Project Image.
Wish is a great spell even if you don't get the rest option.
Improved Haste is given by Ring of Gaxx, it has 3 uses per day. You should have it by the time Imp Haste is available to you.
Spook is better than Sleep. It has a -6 saving throw at higher levels. If you want Sleep you should be using Emotion+Greater Malison. Much more effective. The spells I picked allow you to roll through the game and I specifically took into account the early game. Once you get Morde's Sword it's pretty much over from there. You can basically do w/e you want with your Sorcerer. As long as you don't ignore the core spells and know what you're doing you'll be fine.
You want 18 Constitution if you're soloing on any difficulty above normal. You will regret not having more HP in ToB. Those dragons will mess you up. Also the final room in WK will autocast Death Spell leaving you minionless. Health comes in handy then. I chose my endgame around the Wish spell (this time around) so I avoided Strength altogether and chose to use a belt instead. My original Sorcerer did have decent Strength and if you look at my gear choices you'd see I suggest Belt of the Inertial Barrier and not a girdle of strength.
Khelbin's is great for dispelling when you don't want to. You cast it once and it does your dispelling for you. It saves time and another QoL fix. Don't take Ruby Ray. Just don't even argue because it sucks. You will have Spellstrike soon enough and your Remove Magic should be dispelling anything but Irenicus in SoA, hes a level 29 Mage. As I said before if you're soloing take Time Stop first and then Spellstrike. Wish is really only good in ToB.
Unless you are planning on wearing the Claw of Kazgorath, or really want constitution based health regeneration, there isn't much point in having above 16 in your constitution as a sorcerer. You won't gain any additional health.
But do we really need to do this again? We have so many sorcerer threads. We just say the same thing over and over again.
http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/33188/help-with-a-sorcerer-s-spellbook
http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/30190/sorcerer-experts-get-in-this-thread
http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/29714/first-time-player-playing-sorcerer
http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/26881/sorcerer-s-worth-it
http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/22516/sorcerer-spells-what-to-pick
http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/22516/sorcerer-spells-what-to-pick
And a few others I don't have bookmarked.
Anyway, I can't recommend this spell list. A lot of these spells are redundant or weak. And really? I'm soloing a sorcerer so I need to CLUA in 20,000 gp worth of magical items, cause sorcerers are so weak, ya know.
Sorry if it looks like I'm bashing your thread, vish. I don't mean it that way, but these are getting redundant.
*sigh* here we go: Don't dump int. you'll be soloing mind flayers, and lots of wand and golem tomes require decent int. put it to 16. You're a spellcaster, have some self-respect. I usually dump con, if I'm honest. I'm bros with xan. (Though I can't recommend doing that. It's my thing. Do you really want. 30 hp going up against mellisan?)
Eh... Scrap MMM, flame arrow, project image, and you can pick just one trigger of whatever. (I'm not a big fan of sequencers/contingencies. I don't like having to set them up.) Yeah... Six spells. Spook is meh, I've never taken it, but kinda a personal choice. Why in the nine hells would you pick FF on a sorcerer? Scrolls are not that hard to come by, and if he's dying that much you shouldn't be casting it in the first place(maybe you will need that 18 con:P) um, either pick shield first or not at all.
Glitterdust is a must-have. Toss it in after malison, and remove invisibility to boot. You can take it for acid arrow. It's nice, but you can get MMM next level, and wands that do scorchers. Last pick can be whatever you want. Personally I'm a fan of blur. Skull trap first. Scrap flame arrow. Haste will come to late to be useful.
Think skull trap, remove magic, MMM, slow, haste. Or something along those lines. Resilient sphere and teleport field are useless. Spiderspawn is crap after level 10. (But a must-have in bg1)
Stoneskin, malison, emoton: hopelessness, fireshield blue, confusion. Cone is meh. Damage, but not really AoE but not precise either. I usually end up nuking a bystander or party member. You kinda need breach, and animate dead is... Nice, I guess. Personal preference.
Breach, lower resistance, cloudkill/shadow door, lulz whatever, nobody cares. Level 5 is crap. Sunfire is good for solo. I always pick death spell first, and it's really just a convince/all powerful sorcerer thing. It gets rid of some fodder that can actually be kinda nasty. Myconids, trolls, umber hulks. I think:
Death spell, true sight/chin lightning, PfME, true sight/chain lightning, Invisible stalker is nice, but whatever. This seems fine 69for the most part, but I always get mordi's sword first and would not get project image. power word:stun, maybe. im actually a fan of pierce shield, but most people aren't it seems, but i dont pick many lower-level dispellers. I like it all in one. I agree that the bigby spells are not that great, despite crevs.
im thinking maybe:
ABHW, pierce shield, simulacrum, power word: blind/incendiary cloud, whichever you want first. Wish is dumb. It's not reliable and I rarely use it. Spellstrike is meh, chain contigency is not worth the level 9 pick.
Time stop, shape change, imprisonment, gate.
while we argue a lot about the "right" spell pick for sorcerers, theres really no such thing. Sorcerers are so OP if you get the two or three staple spells per level, you're set. And besides that, with time stop and mind flayer form you can pretty much kill everything. after doing this like 5-7 times, theres really no point. lots of this is playstyle stuff, anyway.
I've checked the SPLSRCK.2da file in DLTCEP, and I have done a test bumping a sorceror up to 8 million XP, and unless my version of the game is somehow different from yours (that .2da file is not modded, by the way) you do NOT get five spell picks per level. You only get five spell picks for levels 1 and 2. This is how many spells you get to pick for each level, not counting HLAs:
Level 1: five
Level 2: five
Level 3: four
Level 4: four
Level 5: four
Level 6: three
Level 7: three
Level 8: three
Level 9: three
You stop getting additional spell picks at level 20, the same level you stop getting extra spell slots (besides the HLA spell slots), and the same level your spell dice and durations cap out.
@vish: You suggest for level 9 we pick Wish>Time Stop>Spellstrike>Chain Contingency>Shapechange. Well, you're never going to get Chain Contingency or Shapechange. This is a sorceror at level 31, the maximum level.
This is what she got to pick for her 9th-level spells.
And aside from her HLAs, those are the only 9th-level spells in this sorcerer's book. Three 9th-level spells, plus her HLAs. No Chain Contingency. No Shapechange.
And why would you stop getting additional spell picks after 20?
It's quite possible there is a difference between our files. Maybe it's a mod, or maybe it's just a version difference. Maybe it's a bug. But my unmodded table and my tests found sorcerers get the more limited spell picks I describe.
Does anybody know why we have different results here?
Mine is also supported by the progression charts from here:
http://playithardcore.com/pihwiki/index.php/Baldur's_Gate:_Progression_Charts
Still not 5 spell picks for every level, but pretty close.
- Load Prot.f.MagicWeapons into Contingency (condition - Enemy seen)
- At the start of the battle, I hit the ugly one with 3 Pierce Magics loaded into a Spell Trigger
- While protected, I start casting Improved Alacrity (also set auto-pause on "spell cast")
- Hit the ugly one with everything I got: Abi Dalzims, Skull traps (+3 more loaded into a Spell sequencer), Comets, etc. (Starting with those with the lowest cast time, obviously)
- For additional damage I loaded 3 Abis into a Chain Contingency (self-50% hp)
In the end he fell quite easily. The same tactic also worked with Demogorgon and Amelissan too.
My most important spell choices were:
Level 1: Magic Missle - Identify
Level 2: Knock - Melf's Acid Arrow
Level 3: SKULL TRAP(!) - MELF'S MINUTE METEORS - Remove Magic
Level 4: STONESKIN - Greater Malison
Level 5: ANIMATE DEAD - LOWER RESISTANCE - Breach - Spell Immunity
Level 6: PROTECTION FROM MAGIC WEAPONS - Improved Haste - Pierce Magic
Level 7: MORDENKAINEN'S SWORD - Spell Sequencer
Level 8: ABI DALZIM'S - Pierce Shield - Simulacrum - Spell Trigger
Level 9: TIME STOP - Chain Contingency
The rest really did not matter as much. "Wish" was also nice and picked Shapechange for the sheer fun of devouring brains.
From what I know, the value of Ruby Ray only comes out on a modded game, SCS namely. I understand the casters there use SI against other types of spell removal, so Ruby Ray is a must-have since it doesn't share the same spell school.
Other than that, I'm a fan of Pierce Shield as well since it combines Breach and Lower Resistance. I usually load up a Chain Contingency with Pierce Shield, Pierce Magic and Khelben's, if dealing with mages high on MR. Sendai comes to mind.
And I wouldn't dismiss ANY item or spell because they are "cheap". Cloak of Mirroring and Robe of Vecna may feel cheap but so is Ring of Gaxx in my opinion. So is the Time Stop + Shapechange, I wouldn't use this in any relevant fight but it is fun when dealing with mobs. Dragon's Breath isn't even all THAT good, ADHW anytime over it..
Incendiary Cloud is extremely useful btw if you are a (high-lvl) Dragon Disciple. U can run around in that cloud for forever and it won't harm you.
1. Sleep, Shield, PFE, Magic Missle, Spook
2. Invisibility, Mirror Image, Web, Melfs, Remove Fear
3. Spell Thrust, Skull Trap, MMM, Flame Arrow, Remove Magic
4. Teleport Field, Stoneskin, Improved Invisibility, Ice Storm, Fireshield (Blue)
5. Sunfire, Spell Immunity, Spell Shield, Lower Resistance, Chaos
6. PFMW, GOI, Death Fog, Spell Deflection, Contingency
7. Ruby Ray, Project Image, Spell Sequencer, Cacofiend, Power Word Stun
8. ADHW, Power Word Blind, Spell Trigger, Protection from Energy
9. Wish, Chain Contingency, Imprisonment, Time Stop
I decided to go for maximum protections and an "anti-summon" build. In vanilla death fog can be replaced with death spell, cacofiend with mordy sword, spell shield with animate dead, GOI with true sight etc...