tough spell choices

[Firecloud]

Hi all, I will be hitting lvl 10 soon with my drow sorceror. I am having a difficult time choosing a 5th lvl spell... any recomendations? A post I read earlier suggested hold monster, and another one I read said cone of cold. but what about cloudkill or feeblemind?

Also, is the lvl 6 spell 'create undead' pretty awesome or is it lame? Do the undead you create eventually turn on the caster?

[Desteria]

Hi all, I will be hitting lvl 10 soon with my drow sorceror. I am having a difficult time choosing a 5th lvl spell... any recomendations? A post I read earlier suggested hold monster, and another one I read said cone of cold. but what about cloudkill or feeblemind?

Also, is the lvl 6 spell 'create undead' pretty awesome or is it lame? Do the undead you create eventually turn on the caster?

Personaly I think most level 5 spells suck atm, Once you have disco ball &/or FtS hold is not needed any more why stop one guy with a hold when you can stop a group with a disco ball BUT thast once you have level 6 or 7 spells as well.
CoC is almost always taken on a Fire/ice caster because it's a level where you can take it easyer then oilukes at 6 lost more strogn 6th level spells Also it is a > level 4 spell for the DQ durign her mantel of invunability period, it;s a good AE cold spell fro fire imune guys.
Hold moster is taken often beacuse it's a universal Will save CC spell for takign gusy out of the fight, often dead very soon after due to auto crits.

Cloudkill used to be the bee's knees of level 5 spells mobs woudl sit in ti and cook and never argo and just die it was slow borring and could let casters/groups do things they could never have hadnleded if they actuyl ever fouhgt stuff, personaly i never much liked that tactic but i was popular, Now stuf fleavers it most of the time agros on you and ya it have a few uses btu i havent had it for a long time and don't miss it.

The thing with feeblemind is well it;s single target debuff on a caster and red etc names are imune to it, well most non red+ names casters have VERY few HP and a stronger will save then there other saves so it may land iand if it does they stop castign well in ddo a lot fo the castign mobs still hit unresnabel well and hard in melle, and just die a few seconds later to any half decent melle int he group, it;s just not worht the SP to cast, better to just HOLD Monster the guy and they they do NOTHING at all, OR PK them and then they are dead, most casters that fail a will save will fail the same DC fort save about 90% more often, so PK will work almost as much as feeblemind or Hold would have, (cleric mobs the exception to this BUT then they will not fail any will save often after web them up good )

create undead is purty lame since the undead end up attackign you evetualy and frankly do very little damage, i hear the mummy can be fun fro the dispare btu then when it breaks you probaly have half your party not wearign there dises items and getitng mummy rot

For the first 1 or 2 spells I'd get hold and CoC my self you cna always change later, I personaly Liek Telaport for one of the later slots, becasue boncign around town maks my lazy bum happy

[Darth_Sizzle]

Hi all, I will be hitting lvl 10 soon with my drow sorceror. I am having a difficult time choosing a 5th lvl spell... any recomendations? A post I read earlier suggested hold monster, and another one I read said cone of cold. but what about cloudkill or feeblemind?

Also, is the lvl 6 spell 'create undead' pretty awesome or is it lame? Do the undead you create eventually turn on the caster?

Assuming you are Fire/Ice spec (with a name like Firecloud, I'm guessing you are) then the CoC and Hold Monster is the way to go.

Cloudkill was nerf'd, it's still nice but only if you can get people to fight in it (it will draw aggro)

Feeblemind is situational, great against beholders before you have finger of death, but not useful enough to have on a Sorc.

Summons (and Create Undead alike) are virtually useless, if you want to cast one then use a scroll.

[Venar]

Dismissal can be interrsting.
It's like a PK with one less save for anything from outside (elementals, mephits, red-tattoued gnolls/trolls/trogs, devils, hounds, reavers/renders)

[MrWizard]

5th level spells that i find useful

cloudkill
dominate person
hold monster
feeblemind


cloudkill kills just about everything (and assuming you have solid fog, works pretty well still)
Dominate person is so much better than charm person and frees up a spot for a different 1st level spell.
Hold monster works on most everything and frees up a spot over hold person
Feeblemind basically takes casters and beholders and maybe even mindflayers out of the mix..and really angers those casters in pvp.

IF I could choose ony one....

Dominate person to go with my charm monster (4th level)

[Vengenance]

Cone of Cold FTW!

[Atax]

As stated, if you're fire spec, take Cone. It is the first and last cold spell you'll need. (Some take polar ray, but thats only because the 8th spell list sucks hard)

CK is still useful, but you have to know how and when to use it. You can't just CK everything these days.. Though I remember a time when CK was the end-all mightiest spell.

[MrWizard]

As stated, if you're fire spec, take Cone. It is the first and last cold spell you'll need. (Some take polar ray, but thats only because the 8th spell list sucks hard)

CK is still useful, but you have to know how and when to use it. You can't just CK everything these days.. Though I remember a time when CK was the end-all mightiest spell.

oh yea....ftw....

[Firecloud]

Dismissal can be interrsting.
It's like a PK with one less save for anything from outside (elementals, mephits, red-tattoued gnolls/trolls/trogs, devils, hounds, reavers/renders)

Anyone else agree with this comment? I'm thinking maybe I should take dismissal just to get rid of beholders etc. with just one spell. This would sure save some mana! thoughts?

[Riorik]

Or re-roll as a wizzie.

[Venar]

Just remember dismissal is Will based, so Beholder will resist. But then so is PK.
And a web + Cloudkill will also kill a beholder.
And a hold-monster + pick of puncturing will kill it in 2 swings.

It is easy to make a spell list at lvl 16.
But picking the right order as you level is harder.
So look at what you think you are currently missing, and fill the spot.


Hold Monster: provides you with a solid spell for high fortitude/low will mob (like an ogre on elite). Held mob = auto-crit, so a puncturing pick works well (con dmg + x4 dmg). Good if you need it. Somewhat redundant if you already use will-based CC (hypno, Otto)

Cloudkill: Slow AoE killer (considered poison). Nice if paired with AoE CC like Web or a shield wall.

Cone of Cold: Provide you with some non-fire AoE damage. Nice if you are fire/ice.

[Firecloud]

Just remember dismissal is Will based, so Beholder will resist. But then so is PK.
And a web + Cloudkill will also kill a beholder.
And a hold-monster + pick of puncturing will kill it in 2 swings.

maybe I should swap out firewall and pick up enervation.. if i hit something with enervation I can either PK the badee or simply dismiss it.. the problem is i would have to drop FW to do this... I guess I could wait till lvl 11 to get a 3rd fourth lvl spell slot...

too many choices! lol

[GrayOldDruid]

cloudkill kills just about everything (and assuming you have solid fog, works pretty well still)

I'm a bit higher level, but I love using Acid Fog and Cloudkill combo. Slowed by the fog and damaged by both.

[Desteria]

maybe I should swap out firewall and pick up enervation.. if i hit something with enervation I can either PK the badee or simply dismiss it.. the problem is i would have to drop FW to do this... I guess I could wait till lvl 11 to get a 3rd fourth lvl spell slot...

too many choices! lol

KEEP firewall.... at your level it;s by far the most eficent damage spell and oen of the best, it never realyl stops beign that just in mod 6 you have a lot of fire imune mobs, teh review for mod 7 sounds liek an entier area will be undead again so FW is goign to be very relivent hing end content again shortly.

Dissmissal will NOT efect behol;ders then area native to the material plane adn are aberations not planer creachers.

[juniorpfactors]

cone of cold is about as good as it gets...... cloud kill is basically useless, its pretty ghetto

[Firecloud]

Dissmissal will NOT efect behol;ders then area native to the material plane adn are aberations not planer creachers.

Will banishment work on beholders?

[Aspenor]

Will banishment work on beholders?

No.

[jkm]

i so wish we had the option of taking another 4th level spell instead of a 5th...

i have:

dominate person
hold monster
dismissal
cone of cold

mainly use dominate person in solo runs - works on trogs and gnolls. dismissal i use on orthons/devils. hold monster on the titan side runs along with fts.

cone of cold is by far the most fun spell in the game. how many popsicles can you make with one shot

[Brummbar]

Hi all, I will be hitting lvl 10 soon with my drow sorceror. I am having a difficult time choosing a 5th lvl spell... any recomendations? A post I read earlier suggested hold monster, and another one I read said cone of cold. but what about cloudkill or feeblemind?

Also, is the lvl 6 spell 'create undead' pretty awesome or is it lame? Do the undead you create eventually turn on the caster?

Hey,

It all depends on how you enjoy playing your Sorc. I like to limit aggro. I do not like area effect damage spells. I tend to die alot if I pull to much arrgo.

SO I built a Sorc to take care of low will save 'Fighter Type' monster.

I cast ALOT of charm monster ( level 4 ) but I took it to the next level with my level 5 spells. I took Hold Monster 1st, then with my second choice I took Mind Fog. .. It makes for AMAZING will save failures.. I can 'Hold' even high will save mobs with Mind Fog. Makes running GH very very easy. Mastone... no prob, Crucible, .. no prob...

I'm level 13, for my 3rd level 5 spell I took Feeble Mind. Casters can't cast feeble minded. So I now have all the bases covered .. Fighters, and Casters...

As you can see, I like to disable the Mobs.. not kill them outright. ( tho I do have PK and that works really well )... CC saves ALOT of PP for the Cleric as he heal so much less. Also, it allows Clerics to play a more battle oriented style because I either have an army of Charmed monsters, or I just Hold them to let the tanks drop them in a few swings...


But I have played with many, many successful Sorc's that like to primarily NUKE, NUKE, NUKE their way through quests.


So.. it all depends on your play style.

[Firecloud]

I cast ALOT of charm monster ( level 4 ) but I took it to the next level with my level 5 spells. I took Hold Monster 1st, then with my second choice I took Mind Fog. .. It makes for AMAZING will save failures.. I can 'Hold' even high will save mobs with Mind Fog. Makes running GH very very easy. Mastone... no prob, Crucible, .. no prob...

yeah, I hate drawing alot of aggro too since it often means my death... BUT I really enjoy playing an offensive caster. Currently I'm fire/ice spec'd but starting to lean towards being more of an insta-kill sorc. For me, I can't justify taking CM when there's so many good lvl 4 spells... firewall, enervation, pk, stoneskin, bestow curse etc. (plus I already have suggestion which works really well). Seems like lvl 4 spells are better then lvl 5 spells.. WEIRD.

so I finally hit lvl 10 last night with my first toon and I'm stoked to explore GH, the orchard, and all those other fun places I keep hearing about!
By the way, I ended up taking cone of cold. Thanks for all the advice folks.

When i hit lvl 11 I plan on taking either fireball or ray of exhaustion (lvl 3), enervation (lvl 4), and then my next lvl 5 spell will probably be cloudkill or hold monster (or symbol of pain).. HOW THE HECK DO I GET STONESKIN??