CC vs. Insta-kill (help a newbie!)

[Firecloud]

Hi folks, I just hit lvl 8 with my Sorceror and the spell I chose was acid rain.. what a waste of a spell. I know I should have taken firewall and now I have to wait 3 days before I can change it.. (kinda sucks)

With that being said, I dont want to make any more mistakes... I would like to have a really really good crowd control spell (currently i have hypnotic pattern) and a really good insta-kill spell such as PK or something along those lines..

Any suggestions?

[Talon_Moonshadow]

My best advice is to not listen to what anyone here, or in game, tells you and play your char the way you want.

Second advice is for someone to play a Wiz first before playing a Sor.

Next.....firewall is very nice. So is PK.
Acid rain doesn't seem very good to me.
But neither does hypnotic pattern......because I think it is still short, and it is so hard to see in that thing.

I like Hypno and Otto's in combination for CC....also web. These spells never lose effectiveness (assuming you keep you Char max or near max)
Holds are great.....almost instant death really.
Charms at the right time are also great CC spells. Charm one guy and all his friends seem to agro on him.
Fear is good too.
Flesh to Stone......like hold but works on more things and uses a Fort save....great for casters....(but you can PK just as many things really)

Disintegrate is good for things that firewall doesn't work on, and you cannot instant kill.

try to have a spell for every situation if possible, and a few buffs.....if for no other reason than making yourself less squishy.

Keep Charisma as high as you can get it....you will never regret it.

[Pellegro]

My best advice is to not listen to what anyone here, or in game, tells you and play your char the way you want.

Second advice is [long litany of sound advice deleted].

hehe that made me laugh. good one !

[rawfocat]

Here are some commonly used guides. I do not believe they are updated (as far as I know), but the low/mid level spell advice is very sound

Generalist
http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=116127.
Insta-kill
http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=117934.
Nuker
http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=117937.

[scampb]

My best advice is to not listen to what anyone here, or in game, tells you and play your char the way you want.

Second advice is for someone to play a Wiz first before playing a Sor.

Best advice: Although I agree that is the way it should be, it is not realistic. If you don't have the spells everyone expects you to have in order to finish a quest the most efficient way you will find yourself not welcome in more and more groups. It is really too bad because I think the game would be better if every time you did a quest with a different group it was a different experience but is just not that way. I recently built a Sorc. but I came to these boards to get lots of input on the 'best' build so I would not have the problem of being shunned by groups because I chose this and this instead of what they expect a Sorc. to have. So my advice is to take the common advice on the boards and build the cookie cutter Sorc. If you want to have some fun then build another Sorc. to go out with your Guildmates/Friends and have a good time trying new stuff. The Insta Kill link in the post above has lots of good information.

Second advice: What kind of advice is that?!?! He is a Sorc. posting on the Sorc. board. If you meant to say be a Wizard first so you can learn the spells you like that is ok. But it kind of sounds like an insult without an explanation.

[Desteria]

There really are only 2 general use instakill spells, PK lvl4 and FoD lvl7 I recomend both becasue some times it's just fun to cycle them both

Good CC spells imo are Hyipnotism lvl 1, Web lvl 2, flesh to stone lvl 6, Disco Ball lvl 7, AND oen fo the fog spells solid fog lvl 4 or Acid Fog lvl 6...

I dotn like the level 2 patern because it has anoying grfx, and fro a elvle 2 CC i;d rather have Web fro a ref save sicne i can take hyipno for a will save at level 1 slot.

The hold mosted spells area good as well i just find that when i had them i rarly used them becasue oen fo the above would do just as well, a dancing mob is almost dead as fast as a held one, and the dance is AE, if you realyl want auto crits FtS works .

[Talon_Moonshadow]

Best advice: Although I agree that is the way it should be, it is not realistic. If you don't have the spells everyone expects you to have in order to finish a quest the most efficient way you will find yourself not welcome in more and more groups. It is really too bad because I think the game would be better if every time you did a quest with a different group it was a different experience but is just not that way. I recently built a Sorc. but I came to these boards to get lots of input on the 'best' build so I would not have the problem of being shunned by groups because I chose this and this instead of what they expect a Sorc. to have. So my advice is to take the common advice on the boards and build the cookie cutter Sorc. If you want to have some fun then build another Sorc. to go out with your Guildmates/Friends and have a good time trying new stuff. The Insta Kill link in the post above has lots of good information.

Second advice: What kind of advice is that?!?! He is a Sorc. posting on the Sorc. board. If you meant to say be a Wizard first so you can learn the spells you like that is ok. But it kind of sounds like an insult without an explanation.

I meant for him to learn te spells first....sry.
No insult intended. I have both. Made my Wiz first.

They are very different actually. But it is hard to play a Sor first, since you have to know what spells to choose.

And you are right, people's expectations do matter. I just don't like it that way.

I so, did not want to take firewall on my Sor. Because it is so over used. But it really is very useful, and even if it wasn't I'm not man enough to stand up to all the ridicule I would get from not taking it.

I did hold off on Haste for a long time though......caved in eventually, but mostly because "I" was being left behind by striding zergers......

If you really want to build your toon like others want you to, there is lots of advice floating around.

funny thing is though, that in many cases it won't matter what spells you take, someone else will think you are gimped for not having something they like.......usually the guy not playing a caster.