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Advice on sorcerer picks for HoF run

RogerRogerRogerRoger Member Posts: 8
in Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition
Hi all,
I just started my first HoF run after completing the saga once. Here's the party that started from lvl 1 and just left Easthaven:

1. Dwarven Defender
2. Fighter/Druid
3. Fighter/Cleric
4. Fighter/Thief
5. Sorcerer
6. Skald


A - I'm not terribly familiar with some of the IWD-specific spells, as I haven't tested them properly in my previous run (and I haven't played BG with SCS yet).

- Emotion Hope and Courage both affect ALL creatures in the area of effect, while Hopelessness and Fear only enemy, correct?
- Shadows, Demi-Shadows, Shadow Monsters. I remember reading somewhere that one of those scales with level. Which one is it?


B - SORCERER SPELL PICKS
(So far I have: Chromatic Orb, Charm Person, Spook, Magic Missiles - Web, Mirror Image)

- Is Vocalize necessary? My first run I got silenced maybe once. Is this going to be different in HoF?
- Expeditious Retreat: I can already see this being extremely useful, but I'm planning on taking Dimension Door. I don't think I need both.
- Invis 10': It could be a life-saver is situations where I'm surrounded from the start. It feels a little like cheating though. I could keep one up on the bard.
- Haste: I'm torn about this one. With fights being so long, having everybody fatigued not even halfway through seems like a very dangerous proposition.
- Protection from Normal Weapons/Missiles: Are these going to become obsolete too fast to be worth it?
- Sequencer/Trigger: Are they worth the slot?

- Level 4 spells -
This is the only level I'm really having trouble making up my mind about. I'll have to heavily delegate to the Bard.
I think I want:

1. Stoneskin
2. Greater Malison (Higher level Undead have good MR though)
3. Dimension Door

And then?
- Improved Invis: I always have it memorized but I rarely end up using it. Might be a good 'oh shit' button if someone is about to die. To the Bard?
- Wizard Eye: If I'm going to lead with summons, I think I'll need a lot of these. My bard won't have a lot of slots until late.
- Spider Spawn. Great combo with Web. I really wouldn't want to pass on this one.
- Emotions: They all seem great, with the exceptions of Fear, which looks like a worse version of Horror.
- Spirit Armor: Given the competition here, I think I'll get Ghost Armor from lvl 3.
- Vitriolic Sphere/Force Missiles: I had 3 Force Missiles in the Sequencer in my first run. Perhaps in HoF even that kind of single target is not worth it.

Any advice you can give me is greatly appreciated.
RR-

Comments

  • jsavingjsaving Member Posts: 1,083
    https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/68139/need-help-to-choose-sorcerer-spells
  • RogerRogerRogerRoger Member Posts: 8
    jsaving wrote: »
    https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/68139/need-help-to-choose-sorcerer-spells

    Okay.
    Very little in that thread refers to HoF though.

    RR-
  • jsavingjsaving Member Posts: 1,083
    I see a fair amount in that thread but nevertheless, you want your casters to focus on disabling enemies so your melee characters can dish out round after round of risk-free DPS. Monster stats are so inflated in HoF mode that anything else will lead to a quick death for your party members. Unless you want to focus on summoning, which is also fine but makes for an exceptionally boring run-through.

    As to a couple of your questions, vocalize is unnecessary because you hardly ever face casters and haste doesn't matter much because the APR boost isn't nearly enough to compensate for monster stat boosts. If you have disabled your enemies then you can beat them without haste, but if you haven't disabled them then you'll be pummelled into the ground whether you're hasted or not. Very different from BG/BG2 where haste is an important buff.

    Magic missile, force missiles, vitriolic sphere, etc all dish out too little damage to merit spell slots in HoF mode. However the emotion spells are top-notch and greater malison is situationally useful too. Good luck!
  • RogerRogerRogerRoger Member Posts: 8
    jsaving wrote: »
    I see a fair amount in that thread but nevertheless, you want your casters to focus on disabling enemies so your melee characters can dish out round after round of risk-free DPS. Monster stats are so inflated in HoF mode that anything else will lead to a quick death for your party members. Unless you want to focus on summoning, which is also fine but makes for an exceptionally boring run-through.

    As to a couple of your questions, vocalize is unnecessary because you hardly ever face casters and haste doesn't matter much because the APR boost isn't nearly enough to compensate for monster stat boosts. If you have disabled your enemies then you can beat them without haste, but if you haven't disabled them then you'll be pummelled into the ground whether you're hasted or not. Very different from BG/BG2 where haste is an important buff.

    Magic missile, force missiles, vitriolic sphere, etc all dish out too little damage to merit spell slots in HoF mode. However the emotion spells are top-notch and greater malison is situationally useful too. Good luck!

    I apologize for my previous post. I was being rude.
    Thank you for taking the time to answer again.

    RR-
  • jsavingjsaving Member Posts: 1,083
    No worries! HoF is not easy because it requires you to discard so many strategies that work well on the default difficulty level. Hope you are able to make your way through the game without too much trouble.
  • 723wolf723wolf Member Posts: 14
    HOF is not easy at all. I am working on doing my first official HOF run and I have had to put a lot more thought into it even with three level capped characters. I found it helpful to have my mage as a dual/multi class fighter since many of the spells improve fighting capabilities. The team I am using is a Fighter/Magic/Cleric, a Berserker(25)/Druid, and a Swashbuckler(25)/Cleric. Most of the time my spells are used to buff up, disable enemies, or summon cannon fodder.
  • alice_ashpoolalice_ashpool Member Posts: 261
    edited July 2021
    Since there is not much discussion about HoF spell picks I thought I would re-post my HoF spell list for my Solo, level 1, no-reload Sorcerer run. This was recorded in the no-reload thread. This is in case anyone is looking for advice.

    This list is, as above, capable of soloing the whole of HoF starting at level 1. There are some notes about further optimising it at the bottom. Also it was for solo play so for a group with reloads, especially with multiple spellcasters (especially a cleric or second divine caster), some things are less important e.g. Dimension Door, Find Familiar.
    Been analyzing my spell picks and trying to optimize them for a future run:

    This is what I took:
    1:Find Familiar, Chromatic Orb
    3: Grease
    4: Web
    5: Shield, Invisibility
    6: Haste
    7: Protection from Evil, Mirror Image, Slow
    8: Spider Spawn
    9: Blindness, Protection from Fire, Stoneskin
    10: Summon Fire Elemental
    11: Resist Fear, Protection from Cold, Improved Invisibility, Protection from Acid
    12: Death Fog
    13: Dimension Door, Protection From Electricity, Improved Haste
    14: Project Image
    15: Spell Immunity, Protection from Magical Energy, Seven Eyes
    16: Incendiary Cloud
    17: Spell Turning, Mind Blank
    18: Time Stop
    19: Simulacrum, Black Blade of Disaster
    20: Wish
    21: Protection from Magical Weapons
    22: Skull trap, Mass Invisibility
    23: Fireshield (blue), Spell Trigger
    24: n/a
    25: Gate(!)
    26: n/a
    27: n/a
    28: Feeblemind
    29: n/a
    30: Tenser’s Transformation.

    By spell level:
    1: Chromatic Orb, Find Familiar, Grease, Shield, Protection from Evil
    2: Web, Invisibility, Mirror Image, Blindness, Resist Fear
    3: Haste, Slow, Protection from Fire, Protection From Cold, Skulltrap
    4: Spider Spawn, Stoneskin, Improved Invisibility, Dimension Door, Fireshield(Blue)
    5: Summon Fire Elemental, Protection from Acid, Protection from Lightning, Spell Immunity, Feeblemind
    6: Death Fog, , Improved Haste, Protection from Magical Energy, Protection from Magical Weapons, Tenser's Transformation
    7: Project Image, 7 Eyes, Spell Turning, Mass Invisibility
    8: Incendiary Cloud, Mind Blank, Simulacrum, Spell Trigger
    9: Time Stop, Wish, Black Blade of Disaster, Gate


    The ones which so far have seemed unnecessary are:
    Grease - unnecessary even at low levels
    Resist Fear - Mind Shield deals with this
    Blindness - A level 2 spell (not 1 like BG). Has had little use so far.
    Mass Invisibility - In theory a nice -4AC buff for summons, but never bother casting
    Feeblemind - So far... Factors in favor: potential future cheese? Factors against: Saves saves and more saves. It is at -2 though rather than Chromatic orbs flat save vs spell which swayed me to take it in the first place. That and its my favorite spell after polymorph other.
    Gate: Welp, if this isn't useful for Bel I will concede that either Shapechange or Chain Contingency was the better choice. Demon summoning can't never get a break.

    Spells I wish I had:
    Protection from Normal Weapons.

    It would have been possible to swap Mass Invisibility for Mantle, Not a popular spell, but would make level 7 potentially useful for Simulacrums. The other thing I have not tested is the interaction between simulacrums and limited wish one time wishes.

    For a party Gate and BBoD are probably more useful swapped for Imprisonment and Chain Contengency. Also Spider Spawn is bugged in 2.6 so I would not recommend it.
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