Completing A Wizard's Spellbook

[PaintHorseCowboy]

My time is limited so if I'm reposting on something I appologize in advance.

Any thought been given to the fact that now that all the AOE scrolls have been removed from the game, it is nearly impossible for a wizard to complete their spellbook?

It stems mostly from the fact that the scrolls that were removed are the ones most wizards rely upon to support the party and accomplish objectives.

Yes, you can take a couple of them at level up and fill in some of the holes, but for those of us like myself who truly appreciate the advantage the wizard with the complete spellbook has, this is a problem that needs a solution. The number of scrolls removed from the game far exceeds the number you are capable of learning at level up.

I view wizards as more of a defensive party member (as compared to a sorcerer with their high cast rate), we can buff up and protect the party, control mob agro, are capable of throwing some incredible damage (albeit at a slower rate than sorcerers) using spells like max/emp firewall, and we are capable of selective nukes to get rid of potentially problematic mob members (hostile casters/clerics). But the true strength of a wizard lies in their flexibility.

The ability to fine toon the spells you have memorized for a mission far outweighs any other attribute of a wizard in my opinion. A well-prepared wizard with the correct spells memorized is an incredible asset to the party. But this is very difficult to do when you have no where to go to fill the holes in your spellbook.

My suggestion on how to fix this is simple. Sorcerers go to their trainer to learn new spells/swap spells. Why can't a wizard go to a trainer of the appropriate level and pay a premium to scribe a new spell?

You would essentially learn it exactly as you would at the level up so you wouldn't disrupt the game balance by gaining a scroll.

An additional way I've thought of to do this is allow wizards to pay to scribe one spell per action point. I haven't done the math on it yet, but I believe this would make up for the difference between the number of scrolls removed and the number of spells available. Additionally, it would prevent a player from immediately going to the trainer upon level up and paying to scribe every spell of said level. Even if you make it cost prohibitive, I'd still do it out out of sheer convenience and this would alleviate that problem.

I would imagine most of the code already exists for this since sorcerers use a similar system. The only thing you'd have to do is figure out how to set the premium and what to set it at cost-wise.

Anyone else have input/suggestions, I'd love to hear it. I know I'm not the only one who has commented on this during parties and my ideas of how to handle it may not bet the best ones out there so let's brainstorm and give the Dev's some input. They can't/shouldn't be expected to think of everything themselves, and if we don't tell them, we may never get a fix for any given issue.

Thanks!

[Laith]

Any thought been given to the fact that now that all the AOE scrolls have been removed from the game, it is nearly impossible for a wizard to complete their spellbook?

the scrolls weren't removed from the game: just the vendors.

in fact, when that change occured, their drop rate (in chests) increased. It's quite likely that you can find these scrolls in the auction house (though i haven't looked).

*shrug* i remember D&D wizards actually were once excited about finding that coveted new spell, as opposed to meandering to the nearest scroll-mart whenever they level up.

my advice: scribe all scrolls you can BEFORE you level up. scribing never fails, even if you can't yet cast the spell. if you already know it during level up, it won't be on the list of selections (and you'll be left with the ones not found at vendors).

you solution of spells trained from trainers (for gold) isn't a bad idea, just not sure it's completely necessary.

[GeneralDiomedes]

You should be able to eventually pick all of the AOE spells you can't buy during level-ups, no?

[PaintHorseCowboy]

I don't know.

My spellbook is complete. Has been since I made this toon.

I just know I've heard several of my guildmembers and a few of the ones from allied guilds mentioning it so I thought I'd leave a post and see what the response was.

I was a bit on the bored side this morning after taking care of chores to had occasion to do so.

[ArkoHighStar]

As one of the other posters said, the best way to know which spells to take at level up is to scribe all your spells before you level, you could if you had the cash scribe all spells up to 7th lvl as soon as you get out of Sully's. Here is the list by lvl of all scrolls removed from vendors, there is no reason with a little planning that you should not be able to pick 90% of those when you lvl, the rest you should be able to find at the auction house. Really there are only 3 per lvl as dimension door is not an AOE spell, it was removed because people were abusing it.

Blade Barrier(cleric does not apply)
Glyph of Warding(cleric does not apply)
Greater Glyph of Warding(cleric does not apply)

Wall of Fire wiz lvl 4
Dimension Door wiz lvl 4
Solid Fog wiz lvl 4
Symbol of Flame wiz lvl 4
Symbol of Pain wiz lvl 5
Cloudkill wiz lvl 5
Symbol of Fear wiz lvl 6
Symbol of Persuasion wiz lvl 6
Acid Fog wiz lvl 6
Symbol of Weakness wiz lvl 7
Delayed Blast Fireball wiz lvl 7
Otto’s Sphere of Dancing (in that it was never added) wiz lvl 7

[VirieSquichie]

I agree that spells should be purchasable through trainers. Not via action points, but via gold.

Action points are already stretched thin for any wizard, as you almost have to place 75%+ of your points in the damage increasing enhancements or your combat spells are ineffective/inefficient at doing anything but drawing aggro. Any aggro you don't already have as a result of simply being in the room, that is. The cloud spells' decreased usefulness (45 seconds?!?!?!) has made them nearly a non-issue for me.

Something that would make the game less of a consumables-fest would be jacking up the store cost of higher level scrolls and potions to where most people wouldn't buy them, or would quickly go broke doing so. Let the wizards buy their spells from their trainers for the rates we have now (not as a scroll, but as a direct inscribe) and the game suddenly gets a lot more balanced. And challenging, for those who have been whining about that. Stacks of 50+ CSW potions, I've said it before, are ludicrous. (and cheap, btw)

[Gennerik]

My wizard is currently sitting at level 5 and I've never had a problem getting all his spells. This is the second time that I've created him (Con was too low the first time), so I had already scribed all the scrolls that I had and gotten rid of the extras, so basically I started off with no stash of scrolls. I'm currently missing 24 spells of all levels, of which I could probably buy the scrolls for all of them, but I never buy scrolls (And yes, some people DO get irrate when you go into a quest that a certain spell helps and tell them "I haven't found it yet" when it's available at the vendor). I think I've managed to find all the spells that don't drop any more, so really I'm just looking for few more and the rest will be covered as I level.

[Kire]

Im still missing ottos dancing orb ^.^

[rimble]

Wall of Fire wiz lvl 4
Dimension Door wiz lvl 4
Solid Fog wiz lvl 4
Symbol of Flame wiz lvl 4
Symbol of Pain wiz lvl 5
Cloudkill wiz lvl 5
Symbol of Fear wiz lvl 6
Symbol of Persuasion wiz lvl 6
Acid Fog wiz lvl 6
Symbol of Weakness wiz lvl 7
Delayed Blast Fireball wiz lvl 7
Otto’s Sphere of Dancing (in that it was never added) wiz lvl 7

Exactly:

7th Level: Choose two 4th
8th Level: Choose the final two 4th
9th Level: Choose two 5th
10th Level: Already got 'em all!
11th Level: Choose two 6th
12th Level: Choose the final 6th
13th Level: Choose two 7th
14th Level: Choose the final 7th

Looks to progress fine, as long as you are aware of the situation and plan accordingly.

Just another thing among the multitude of things you already need to be aware of when levelling your character.

[PaintHorseCowboy]

I agree that spells should be purchasable through trainers. Not via action points, but via gold.

Perhaps I didn't state clearly what I meant by purchase them at each action point. A touch of clarification might help.

I did not mean, use an action point to purchase the spell.

I meant at each action point, allow the player to purchase (via gold) one spell from the trainer. This would prevent someone who like myself has plenty of funds and immediately lays out the cash to purchase every spell of a said level, if the devs wanted to slow the rate of spell acquisition.

On the other hand, successful adventurers in PnP can often find a wizard willing to teach them a spell.....for the right price.

Additionally, I see and understand the progression you have laid out for acquiring all of the spells but, as we continue to get updates and mods, additional spells are being added at various levels. Your progression plan does not take this into account. You will find yourself out of levels, with no scrolls available to purchase in order to scribe the spell. And naturally, as Murphy's Law states, anything that can go wrong, will. Which means it will be a spell that you desperately want and have no way to acquire other than questing and hoping that some weird quirk of fate actually drops said scroll, or paying some plat farmer's rediculous price on the auction house. A problem that would not be encountered in PnP (see above explanation).

Sorry for the poor explanation of what I meant by purchasing them at each action point on my first post. Hope this clarifies it.