A WF build idea...

[jrhunger]

So i have never had to much luck with forums before, but i have heard that this is a fairly active and helpful forum so here i go.

I am a level 12 cleric and i have at about 1300 favor I am working towards 1750 for the 32 point build. Originally i was just looking for a DPS build but from what my guildys tell me if you want to be somewhat self sufficient and you want to do dmg then you should be a WF sorc/wis i am now looking for just that. so i was hoping someone could give me some builds or at least push me in the right direction for a WF caster. Though i don't yet, assume that what i have to work with is a 32 point build and maybe a +1 tome or two.

[Hvymetal]

So i have never had to much luck with forums before, but i have heard that this is a fairly active and helpful forum so here i go.

I am a level 12 cleric and i have at about 1300 favor I am working towards 1750 for the 32 point build. Originally i was just looking for a DPS build but from what my guildys tell me if you want to be somewhat self sufficient and you want to do dmg then you should be a WF sorc/wis i am now looking for just that. so i was hoping someone could give me some builds or at least push me in the right direction for a WF caster. Though i don't yet, assume that what i have to work with is a 32 point build and maybe a +1 tome or two.
Warforged Wiz is fairly easy, you make it like a non-drow wiz for the most part. INT & CON, I put a few in DEX & STR just to stay in the 0 and above modifiers. Spend 1 AP on the enhancement to offset the 5% arcane casting penalty on composite plating.

[jrhunger]

So i played around with the char gen 2.80 and i came up with somthing like this...

Strength 12 12 12
Dexterity 14 14 14
Constitution 12 12 13
Intelligence 12 12 12
Wisdom 6 6 6
Charisma 16 20 23

Starting
Base Skills
Skills (Level 1)
Balance 2
Bluff 3
Concentration 5
Diplomacy 3
Disable Device n/a
Haggle 3
Heal -2
Hide 2
Intimidate 3
Jump 3
Listen -2
Move Silently 2
Open Lock n/a
Perform n/a
Repair 1
Search 1
Spot -2
Swim 1
Tumble 4
Use Magic Device n/a

Level 1 (Sorcerer)
Skill: Concentration (+4)
Skill: Jump (+2)
Skill: Tumble (+2)
Feat: (Selected) Mental Toughness
Spell (1): Magic Missle
Spell (1): Repair Light Damage

Level 2 (Sorcerer)
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Jump (+0.5)
Skill: Tumble (+0.5)
Spell (1): Jump

Level 3 (Sorcerer)
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Jump (+0.5)
Skill: Tumble (+0.5)
Feat: (Selected) Spell Penetration
Spell (1): Mage Armor

Level 4 (Sorcerer)
Ability Raise: CHA
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Jump (+0.5)
Skill: Tumble (+0.5)
Spell (2): Repair Moderate Damage

Level 5 (Sorcerer)
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Jump (+0.5)
Skill: Tumble (+0.5)
Spell (2): Scare

Level 6 (Sorcerer)
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Jump (+0.5)
Skill: Tumble (+0.5)
Feat: (Selected) Improved Mental Toughness
Spell (3): Haste

Level 7 (Sorcerer)
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Jump (+0.5)
Skill: Tumble (+0.5)
Spell (2): False Life
Spell (3): Heroism

Level 8 (Sorcerer)
Ability Raise: CHA
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Jump (+0.5)
Skill: Tumble (+0.5)
Spell (4): Phantasmal Killer

Level 9 (Sorcerer) Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Jump (+0.5)
Skill: Tumble (+0.5)
Feat: (Selected) Greater Spell Penetration
Spell (2): Blur
Spell (3): Displacement
Spell (4): Stoneskin

Level 10 (Sorcerer)
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Jump (+0.5)
Skill: Tumble (+0.5)
Spell (5): Cone of Cold

Level 11 (Sorcerer)
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Jump (+0.5)
Skill: Tumble (+0.5)
Spell (3): Repair Serious Damage
Spell (4): Wall of Fire
Spell (5): Feeblemind

Level 12 (Sorcerer)
Ability Raise: CHA
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Jump (+0.5)
Skill: Tumble (+0.5)
Feat: (Selected) Extend Spell
Spell (6): Disintegrate

Level 13 (Sorcerer)
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Jump (+0.5)
Skill: Tumble (+0.5)
Spell (4): Crushing Despair
Spell (5): Teleport
Spell (6): Reconstruct

Level 14 (Sorcerer)
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Jump (+0.5)
Skill: Tumble (+0.5)
Spell (7): Finger of Death

Level 15 (Sorcerer)
Feat: (Selected) Combat Casting
Spell (5): Hold Monster
Spell (6): Greater Heroism
Spell (7): Banishment

Level 16 (Sorcerer)
Spell (8): Horrid Wilting
Enhancement: Sorcerer Lineage of Force I
Enhancement: Sorcerer Force Manipulation I
Enhancement: Sorcerer Force Manipulation II
Enhancement: Sorcerer Force Manipulation III
Enhancement: Sorcerer Spell Penetration I
Enhancement: Sorcerer Spell Penetration II
Enhancement: Sorcerer Spell Penetration III
Enhancement: Sorcerer Energy of the Dragonblooded I
Enhancement: Sorcerer Energy of the Dragonblooded II
Enhancement: Sorcerer Energy of the Dragonblooded III
Enhancement: Sorcerer Energy of the Dragonblooded IV
Enhancement: Sorcerer Charisma I
Enhancement: Sorcerer Charisma II
Enhancement: Sorcerer Charisma III
Enhancement: Sorcerer Wand Mastery I
Enhancement: Sorcerer Wand Mastery II
Enhancement: Warforged Constitution I
Enhancement: Warforged Damage Reduction I
Enhancement: Warforged Damage Reduction II
Enhancement: Warforged Hardiness I
Enhancement: Warforged Hardiness II
Enhancement: Warforged Hardiness III
Enhancement: Warforged Healer's Friend I
Enhancement: Warforged Healer's Friend II

just so you know after i hit each new spell level i am gonna get rid of the previos repair spell via: spell swaping and replace it with :
level 4, replace repair light with hypnotism
level 6, replace repair mod with resist energy
level 13, replace repair serious with sleet storm
by level 13 you will only have reconstruct to heal and get 3 other spells instead of lower heals

please tell me what you think

[MrCow]

This may take me a bit to run through so this may get a few edits...


Strength 12
Dexterity 14
Constitution 12
Intelligence 12
Wisdom 6
Charisma 16

Swap some of the DEX into CON. You will want a baseline of 16 CON and 16 CHA for a Warforged Sorcerer. Many others will probably say this so I'll say it now as well, DEX doesn't have a large impact on casters towards the end of DDO, but CON (especially on a self-healing arcane) plays a huge role in your survivability later on.


Spell (1): Mage Armor

Doesn't do much for a Warforged Arcane as you innately have composite plating, bestowing 2 Armor-based AC. Once you get a +2 docent or higher then Mage Armor is useless to you. The Shield Spell on the other hand will grant you more AC if that is what you are looking for.


Level 3 (Sorcerer)
Feat: (Selected) Spell Penetration

If you look at your spell selection you don't even have any spells that make Spell Resistance checks until level 5 (Scare) and level 8 (Phantasmal Killer). Look at taking it later if you want it.


Level 4 (Sorcerer)
Spell (2): Repair Moderate Damage

Repair Light works well enough until level 8 or so. No need to take multiple repair spells as a Warforged Sorcerer. Also, by the time you reach level 12 (and get Reconstruction) all other repair spells are obsolete.


Level 7 (Sorcerer)
Spell (2): False Life

False Life is not a very efficient use of SP, especially on an arcane Warforged. One cast of your repair light damage will likely meet the usefulness of your false life.


Level 12 (Sorcerer)
Spell (6): Disintegrate

I really really REALLY urge you to take Reconstruction at level 12 as your first 6th level spell. It is the base of the high level Warforged Sorcerer's survivability. When all else starts to fail you can usually just cast this a couple times and stay standing.


level 4, replace repair light with hypnotism
level 6, replace repair mod with resist energy
level 13, replace repair serious with sleet storm

According to your spell selection you take out repair mod at level 6, but don't learn repair serious until level 11. Do you really want to go 5 levels without a repair spell? :p

[MysticRhythms]

I also agree that more build poins should go into Constitution, but I'd reduce Intelligence and Strength from 12 to 10 and take Con from 12 to 16.

[Talon_Moonshadow]

Personally, I think a WF would make a better Wiz than Sor.
You have no restrictions on Int for a WF.

Also, unlike most others, I think dex is important for casters....my Drow Wiz has a very high dex and I think it has saved her butt many times.
My phylosphy has been to minimize the damage I receive....not try to have anough HP to still be alive when the damage is done.
It's worked out good for me..............
IMO reflex save is the most imprtant in the game......even without evasion it really, really helps.

However, a WF does have the potential for a high con......
Also, with mod 6 we have a nice little feat that lets us use our Int modifyer for our reflex save.

So, with that in mind, I would suggest a Wiz....with maxed out Int.....take the feat (forget name) to use your Int modifyer for your Reflex save..........and then play with the other stats to get what you can out of them, with an eys toward that high con you can get from a WF.

Wiz also have Repair as a class skill.........the high Int gives a lot of skill points to your toon.
No advantage for UMD.....but you really wouldn't need it for your self anyway.

[jrhunger]

I dont have to be WF but isnt there a big mana differnce between sorc and wiz?

[Strykersz]

As has been said, drop dex for con, i'd drop str to 10 as well, but that's more of a personal preference. UMD is nice to have as a sorc. If you take balance, you save yourself an equipment slot later. Tumble does not need to be that high. Combat casting is god awful, take quicken if you really want to cast without failing concentration checks. Sorcs don't really need MT and IMT. Your enhancements aren't great either.

[sheldie]

I dont have to be WF but isnt there a big mana differnce between sorc and wiz?

Yes, also sorcerers get double the spell points from items that give spell points. What you need to understand is that Wizards get more spells (wider variety) and get higher level spells earlier. Wizards are also allowed to change spells to suit the situation, so if you know your going up against undead, you can load up a bunch undead effecting spells. Also, my final point, wizards get a lot more feats than sorcerers and although they both get 2 + int bonus skill points, the wizard will end up with a lot more skill points too.

[GeneralDiomedes]

Doesn't do much for a Warforged Arcane as you innately have composite plating, bestowing 2 Armor-based AC. Once you get a +2 docent or higher then Mage Armor is useless to you. The Shield Spell on the other hand will grant you more AC if that is what you are looking for.


AC from Shield will still not make much of a difference IMO. Jump is also a questionable spell at low levels. For the number of times it will be useful, just buy some potions or find a clickie.


For low level quests, I would recommend Hypnotism to stop things from reaching you, Shocking Grasp to finish them off before they can swing at you (or swing more than once at you), or switching to a Tower Shield and blocking until a melee can get the aggro off you. Of course when soloing I tend to just Charm everything, but I wouldn't recommend that for groups :) Diplomacy on a Sorcerer is also very effective.

But anyways .. Magic Missile, Jump, Shield and Mage Armor basically make you a Magic Missile monkey for your first three levels .. you will likely not be contributing a whole lot. At least take Maximize so you can take out a few bosses or casters.

[Aesop]

Wizards wnd up about 2/3 Sorceror's SP pool... they do however gain 1 feat at level 1 that a Sorc doesn't and another feat every 5th level so 5 total more feats than a Sorc can have.

That's like having

Empower
Maximize
Extend
Heighten
and Quicken Spell for free

with regular Feat left over for Mental Toughness and Improved Mental Toughness Spell Pen and Greater Spell Pen and maybe a Spell Focus feat or two



Sorcerors are huge nuktastic bastions of Mana and doom... Wizards can do the same but think a little more about it first and adapt to their circumstances... Sorcerors if at first they don't succeed throw more Firepower at it til it breaks under the weight

A friend of mine said an interesting thing about the difference between Wizards and Sorcerors. Want to kill an Army bring a Sorceror want to kill the general bring a wizard... interesting view even if it isn't 100% accurate.


I myself perfer wizards but that's just me.

Aesop

[Aesop]

oh and at low levels Niacs Cold Ray is pretty harsh

Hypno is great ...as long as the melee isn't a spaz

Charm is fun on occassion

Shocking Grasp is pretty awesome for close combat

Aesop

[Hvymetal]

Yes, also sorcerers get double the spell points from items that give spell points. What you need to understand is that Wizards get more spells (wider variety) and get higher level spells earlier. Wizards are also allowed to change spells to suit the situation, so if you know your going up against undead, you can load up a bunch undead effecting spells. Also, my final point, wizards get a lot more feats than sorcerers and although they both get 2 + int bonus skill points, the wizard will end up with a lot more skill points too.Also much easier for a Wiz to load Reconstruct without loosing as much.

[sheldie]

Also much easier for a Wiz to load Reconstruct without loosing as much.

My WF Wizard just carries wands and/or scrolls, no need to loose anything important now :D

[Hvymetal]

My WF Wizard just carries wands and/or scrolls, no need to loose anything important now :D

I carry Reconstruct scrolls but I don't really miss the slot for the spell too much. Besides I usually try and heal other Warforged in the group also.

[query]

So I know a few things about missing the top tier spell stuff and how to use your "low invested" stuff to the build's maximum.


DON'T add a sorc level if you're going wiz. if you're going sorc, fine you can make it work up to 16 capped start Cha or not (after all we can make a WF cleric work also.) However I too will chime in with the enhancement options and bonus wizard feats you get compared to what a sorc usually does not take, you do get about 2/3 the spell points of a sorc. That 1 level "boost" of spell points is not worth those extra spell slots you really need to cast, and you WILL need it for those high level Shroud tasks unless you are a tactics minded player (and with respect, most players are not.)

So stick to all wiz or sorc, or splash one and only one other class if you've never doen an arcane before, but not the same type of class. For instance, consider fighter if a battle wiz or cleric for the wand usage or rogue for the backstabing or paly for the auras, etc. These are nbot my personal suggestions (I suggst a pure class for your starting arcana) just examples.

[MrCow]

Also much easier for a Wiz to load Reconstruct without loosing as much.

I think I would go into melt-down mode if my Warforged Sorcerer could no longer cast Reconstruction as a spell. It is so valuable to have for all those near-death experiences when you simply can't afford the time.

[Hvymetal]

I think I would go into melt-down mode if my Warforged Sorcerer could no longer cast Reconstruction as a spell. It is so valuable to have for all those near-death experiences when you simply can't afford the time.If I build a WF Sorc, I will get the spell, probably not my 1st slot but I will get it, but I can see the reason a WF Sorc might not get it.