Sorcerer Level 1 Spell Choices
I know I've been asking a lot of new questions, but this is the last one lol. When I created my main character who'se a sorcerer, I chose the spells Chromatic orb, and armor as my level one spells. I really think I should have gone with sleep and magic missle. Would this warrent a restart, coupled with the fact my wisdom and charisma aren't as high as I want?
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As for your character: you'll find there are so many ways to play the game (which is one of the reasons it's so addictive). There's no question that some character builds (including spell choices) are more optimal than others - but you don't need an optimal build to win. IMHO, optimization is for subsequent playthroughs and sort of becomes an end in and of itself. I would recommend playing the game once or twice without reading anything about it first, just so you can enjoy the wonder of it without spoilers.
That said, sorcerer is an unforgiving class because you can't change your spells once you've picked them, and while optimization isn't necessary to beat the game, there are some spells which really aren't that useful. On the other hand, mages can change their spell selection daily, so a bad spell pick isn't the end of the world. You might think about playing some kind of mage until you get to know the spells better. Of course, if you're really dying to play a sorcerer, go for it. The main thing is to have fun.
one thing to note on spell selection is spells that cap out and don't improve pass a certain point, those are ones that you want to watch out for
for example:
level 1 arcane spell: sleep
this spell is actually quite amazing in BG1 for the most part, even all the way up to chapter 5 it's still pretty good, but then after that, it might become basically useless because the sleep spell is based on enemy's HD, and once they hit 5+ they are immune
so watch out for spells like that, and especially if you plan to import to bg2, monsters/enemies of coarse are going to be a lot more powerful than they are in bg1
a mini selection of spells that I would choose per level would be this:
level 1:
magic missile
identify
level 2:
melf's acid arrow
mirror image
level 3:
haste
flame arrow
level 4:
stoneskin
emotion: hopelessness
level 5:
breach
hold monster
level 6:
chain lightning
protection from magical weapons
level 7:
mass invisibility
finger of death
level 8:
abidalzim's horrid wilting
level 9:
chain contingency
the above list can help if you need ideas for spells of a particular level
As for starting over, now that you better know what you are doing, you might want to go ahead and do that. You can get better stats and make your starting spells whatever you want, and you can play things differently if you want.
Or you can stay with the game you started.
Or you can do both -- Save your current game, then start over and pick the best one.
I start over lots, but that's because I enjoy making new and different characters. I currently have a dwarven defender and a figther/illusionist going in two games on PC, and another character on my tablet.
Just do whatever feels the most fun.
Enjoy
1) Does this spell scale well with level?
2) Does it get a better version in the future?
If the answers are Yes and No respectively, pick that spell.
Magic Missile is a must for me. I never bother with Armor: Protection From Magical Weapons are there for it and Bracers of AC 6 are not that difficult to obtain in BGEE.
Sleep is a nice spell in BGEE, but Emotion: Hopelessness is way better.
Shield is actually a solid defensive choice if you're going solo since it blocks Magic Missiles (and unmodded mage AI relies on MM almost exclusively for a while) and dramatically improves your AC against ranged weapons. If you don't mind burning a spell slot on it, Protection from Petrification is another solid choice in BG1 only since it almost trivializes Mutamin's Garden and eases part of Chapter 6 (though admittedly I wouldn't take it at level 1). Grease is a weaker version of Web but I believe it still affects demigiants? I'm fairly certain Web doesn't affect demigiants.
I would avoid Sleep or Armor at level 1 since scrolls for those spells are easy enough to come by and you can still cast from scrolls as long as you have at least INT 9. I don't know if anyone actually uses Infravision but I would give the same caution there - scrolls for Infravision are easy enough to come by that you should never need to learn it.
Virtually all the other level 1 spells are useful on an adventure but are burdensome as level 1 sorceror selections.
Personally I'd go with Blindness. Its single target but it lasts a long time and lets you hit with your ranged weapon of choice easily.
The main question to ask with a BG1 sorcerer is whether you're going to take the character into SoD/BG2 and, if so, whether it will grate on you to be carrying spells that become useless toward the end of BG1 and remain dead weight throughout SoD/BG2. If you're doing a BG1-only run, it is a no-brainer to take sleep as your go-to spell along with shield/armor and perhaps blindness as well. If on the other hand your goal is to have a completely optimized BG2 character, it would be better to stick with spells like chromatic orb and magic missile that remain useful throughout your adventuring career.
Chromatic Orb I like as my level 5 (stuns target) or level 7 (paralyzes target) pick. Plus from level 10 it's acid damage against trolls in BG2. Any instant kills from it are a bonus.
The spells that I'd say are all good choices:
Blindness - very powerful/useful disabling spell
Chromatic Orb - not great early but gets very good at higher levels
Identify - just saves you hassle and is always useful there are alternatives though
Magic Missile - Good ole MM, decent damage
Protection from Evil +2 AC vs 90% of the game and immunity to summoned demons
Spook - good interupt/disabling spell, tough to save against
Shield - good AC and immunity to MM
Less solid but acceptable:
Burning Hands- because fire from your fingertips? finishes trolls off nicely
Larlochs Minor Drain - healing
Friends - shopping assistant but there are scrolls everywhere so, meh
Armour - lasts 9hrs which is nice but there are better ways to get good AC