State of the Sorcerer

[Aspenor]

My human was originally a fire/ice powerhouse when rolled in Mod 5. Went through spell penetration additions in Mod 6, and subsequently to generalist spell choice decisions in Mod 7.

Things I changed:
Dancing Ball? Yeah right. Heightened web.
Solid fog -> fog spells for hound, acid fog or solid, either one is needed.
Reconstruction -> alleviate the clerical responsibilities on warforged, primarily in VOD

What about you guys?

[jerryxenon]

My human was originally a fire/ice powerhouse when rolled in Mod 5. Went through spell penetration additions in Mod 6, and subsequently to generalist spell choice decisions in Mod 7.

Things I changed:
Dancing Ball? Yeah right. Heightened web.
Solid fog -> fog spells for hound, acid fog or solid, either one is needed.
Reconstruction -> alleviate the clerical responsibilities on warforged, primarily in VOD

What about you guys?

Did the exact same changes on my Sorc,you Have to evolve w/ the game to stay a useful party addition.
Also Made Satsuma Max Intimidate and AC focus to take pressure off the Dps in both raids.
My only regret was sending my Wizard Marduke to Khyber, he would be very usefull to me right now.

[MrCow]

I finally got around to removing mithril body and replaced it with Heighten (for webs primarily). As far as that I only changed out Otto's Sphere of Dancing for Waves of Exhaustion. I found that I only really used Otto's Sphere of Dancing in one quest primarily, the Stormreaver Raid.

Besides, Sunburst + Waves of Exhaustion = monsters permanently running rediculously slow.

[Aspenor]

I finally got around to removing mithril body and replaced it with Heighten (for webs primarily). As far as that I only changed out Otto's Sphere of Dancing for Waves of Exhaustion. I found that I only really used Otto's Sphere of Dancing in one quest primarily, the Stormreaver Raid.

Besides, Sunburst + Waves of Exhaustion = monsters permanently running rediculously slow.

Oh, yeah I, too, took WoE. Debuffs are nice in many situations.

[Merkinsal]

Being new to the game I did not go thru the mods like you guys although I did adapt as I leveled to the higher level quests and seem to have pretty much followed the same kind of evolution going from fire and ice to instakill to crowd control debuffer buffer in the newer mods. One exception is the addition of chain lightning. I have never been in VoD.

I've been using Waves of Exhaustion from scrolls and found it lands pretty reliably, on the pit fiend anyway in part 4 and 5. I was under the impression that being a high level scroll it did not suffer loss of dc as compared to the spell heightened but have always wondered if that is the only difference between scrolls and spells.

I have always had heightened web but never considered until now the option of using it in place of dancing ball and often will use both depending on the quest. I find dancing ball almost totally useless in Hound, where web rocks, but DB and web together seem very effective in Shroud, Vale and Gianthold. Maybe its just the graphic. Hard to tell sometimes if something is stuck in the web.

Solid fog is a great crowd control spell. I tried acid fog but because of its primary use as crowd control considered the sp cost too expensive. For awhile I carried both solid and acid and cast both because I heard the slow effects stacked, and they may, but there didn't seem to be any great benefit or difference to melee to cast both so I kept solid.

Chain lightning is a great aoe damage spell in the new shroud and after content. In fact, I respeced the enhancements and put quite a bit in elec/acid for the CL. Granted there is not alot of call for aoe damage but old habits die hard I guess and there are times when a thousand points of damage or more at a shot in a crowded fight seem to help. Against the pit fiend I get almost 900 often, for kicks at the end. Having said that, I don't carry GH but do carry it on scrolls and give it out freely regardless of the cost. My penalty for the thrills of CL.

Buffer spells GH on scrolls, displacement, stoneskin on wands, resists, and protections.

[Aspenor]

The only quest dancing ball is useful is the Stormreaver, and with the nerf to the raid, elementals generally don't live long enough to make it to the CC much less hurt anybody.

[MrCow]

I've been using Waves of Exhaustion from scrolls and found it lands pretty reliably

One should hope that spell lands reliably. It has no save and currently spell penetration enhancements and whatnot work on scrolls.

[Turial]

The only quest dancing ball is useful is the Stormreaver, and with the nerf to the raid, elementals generally don't live long enough to make it to the CC much less hurt anybody.

And yet there are people that light that place up like christmas....such a waste of sp some times.

[totmacher]

state of aspenor = noob

[Aspenor]

state of aspenor = noob

Ham sandwich. Now.

[rimble]

I use both Dancing Ball and Web. They both work great and have their applications.

Picked up Chain Lightning, 1000 point crits on three targets is neat and still get red numbers on most everything.

Acid Fog is useful, even more so now that Wall of Fires don't stack well, so I can drop a WoF and AF on a group of targets to stack some persistant AoE damage. Critical Acid Fogs hit Arraetrikos for 30-130 on Normal and ticks away for a good long while if the melee can keep him in it.

Still don't have Flesh to Stone and only miss it in Gianthold Tor and Let Sleeping Dust Lie. Considered doing the Reconstruction thing but haven't yet.

I run with Empower, Maximize, Extend, and Heighten always on.

Changed my Enhancements to be strong in all of Fire/Cold/Acid/Electricity:

Enhancement: Sorcerer Improved Empowering I
Enhancement: Sorcerer Improved Maximizing I
Enhancement: Sorcerer Lineage of Energy I
Enhancement: Sorcerer Lineage of Energy II
Enhancement: Sorcerer Lineage of Energy III
Enhancement: Sorcerer Lineage of Elements I
Enhancement: Sorcerer Lineage of Elements II
Enhancement: Sorcerer Lineage of Elements III
Enhancement: Sorcerer Lineage of Deadly Energy I
Enhancement: Sorcerer Lineage of Deadly Energy II
Enhancement: Sorcerer Lineage of Deadly Energy III
Enhancement: Sorcerer Lineage of Deadly Elements I
Enhancement: Sorcerer Lineage of Deadly Elements II
Enhancement: Sorcerer Energy Manipulation I
Enhancement: Sorcerer Energy Manipulation II
Enhancement: Sorcerer Energy Manipulation III
Enhancement: Sorcerer Enerrgy Manipulation IV
Enhancement: Sorcerer Elemental Manipulation I
Enhancement: Sorcerer Elemental Manipulation II
Enhancement: Sorcerer Elemental Manipulation III
Enhancement: Sorcerer Elemental Manipulation IV
Enhancement: Sorcerer Spell Penetration I
Enhancement: Sorcerer Spell Penetration II
Enhancement: Sorcerer Energy of the Dragonblooded I
Enhancement: Sorcerer Charisma I
Enhancement: Sorcerer Charisma II
Enhancement: Sorcerer Charisma III

Haven't done the Hound or VoD.

[Merkinsal]

One should hope that spell lands reliably. It has no save and currently spell penetration enhancements and whatnot work on scrolls.

I have got to get or make a list of these emoticons lol. That one is cool.

Ya, so if it hits so well, why take up a spell slot is my thinking?

Lets assume for a moment I drop Dancing Ball and keep Waves on scrolls. That would leave me with Fod and.................Symbol of Weakness? Or I suppose Banishment.

Almost forgot. I dropped Dismissal and have ended up with Feeblemind for the beholders in Hound. Nothing quite like a helpless beholder and the graphic is cool. And the melee get to have fun and do what they like best and that is very important lol. Although none ever say anything, trying to hit mobs that are dropping like flys from FoD cannot be too much fun. I'm not sure Feeblemind lands any more often than FoD although I would think it should.

[MrCow]

Ya, so if it hits so well, why take up a spell slot is my thinking?

My reasons probably don't fit a typical player but:

• I'm cheap. When I solo I am notorious for spending cash solely on repair bills and as few consumables as possible.
• I test monster stats/behavior/etc. and this spell helps me manage monsters a good amount in the process.
• I'm a Warforged with that minor penalty to CHA. That -6 DEX translates to -3 reflex save so my Direct Damage spells land easier. Its awesome for fire elementals.
• I'm a Warforged with that minor penalty to CHA. That -6 STR translates into less damage, less to-hit, and importantly an area of effect way to ensnare things in a web for longer (ironically, the spell's radius is the radius of a web).
• I like cheap thrills now and then. Ever have 50+ things run at you at 10% movement speed, permanently? Its quite a sight.
• Situationally depending, I can quicken it if I want to make absolutely sure that whatever the heck is beating on me will slow down and become overall weaker and easier to manage.
• I can do a one-two punch with this and Ray of Enfeeblement to make many of those pesky xoriat abberations helpless, guaranteed (mind flayers and beholders).
• Between Finger of Death and Waves of Exhaustion I still don't have to carry 7th level components.

So, simply put, I don't scroll it because I don't want to sink a bunch of money into a spell that I find I now cast a decent amount of times.

[Aspenor]

I have it as a spell because most other level 7 spells are borderline useless comparatively, and I don't want to take up more inventory space and $ with scrolls.

[Merkinsal]

My reasons probably don't fit a typical player but:

• I'm cheap. When I solo I am notorious for spending cash solely on repair bills and as few consumables as possible.
• I test monster stats/behavior/etc. and this spell helps me manage monsters a good amount in the process.
• I'm a Warforged with that minor penalty to CHA. That -6 DEX translates to -3 reflex save so my Direct Damage spells land easier. Its awesome for fire elementals.
• I'm a Warforged with that minor penalty to CHA. That -6 STR translates into less damage, less to-hit, and importantly an area of effect way to ensnare things in a web for longer (ironically, the spell's radius is the radius of a web).
• I like cheap thrills now and then. Ever have 50+ things run at you at 10% movement speed, permanently? Its quite a sight.
• Situationally depending, I can quicken it if I want to make absolutely sure that whatever the heck is beating on me will slow down and become overall weaker and easier to manage.
• I can do a one-two punch with this and Ray of Enfeeblement to make many of those pesky xoriat abberations helpless, guaranteed (mind flayers and beholders).
• Between Finger of Death and Waves of Exhaustion I still don't have to carry 7th level components.

So, simply put, I don't scroll it because I don't want to sink a bunch of money into a spell that I find I now cast a decent amount of times.

I keep hearing about a slow affect but I have never noticed this. When I first heard of this, maybe it was from you, Waves was also used with Sunburst, like you do, but blindness does not have a slow effect either. Or at least neither description says they do.

Also, while Waves would seem to indicate a large area spell, the combat log only mentions the mob I target as being affected. Yet you say 50+ things moving at 10% speed. I know you didn't cast Waves 50 times lol. Of course it makes sense something exhasuted would move slower, but how much? I am assuming the 10% is the combined effect of several spells, solid fog plus acid fog, plus Wave?

One thing keeps bugging me about waves of exhaustion. Most other spells have some kind of graphic that the mobs were hit by something lol, that we did something rather than stand around knitting socks. Only place I ever see any indication is the die roll roll and combat log. Am I missing something? Maybe they get bloodshot eyes or start breathing hard or somthing lol else I can't see?

[MrCow]

I keep hearing about a slow affect but I have never noticed this. When I first heard of this, maybe it was from you, Waves was also used with Sunburst, like you do, but blindness does not have a slow effect either. Or at least neither description says they do.

Exhaustion and blindness both have -50% movement speed. If you need any form of testing for this, you can always ask a guinea pig... er... friend to come down into a tavern for testing... er... a friendly brawl.

10% movement speed is the slowest something can move in DDO and several things can get a monster there (such as slow, crippling, blindness, exhaustion, troglodyte stench, solid fog, acid fog, etc.)

Also, while Waves would seem to indicate a large area spell, the combat log only mentions the mob I target as being affected. Yet you say 50+ things moving at 10% speed.

Waves of Exhaustion is a small circular radius effect about the size of a Web or Slow. To get that many things moving that slow it took several castings of Waves of Exhaustion and Sunburst to tag everything, but I was just toying around with things and had plenty of mana to spare running around the Vale of Twilight.

One thing keeps bugging me about waves of exhaustion. Most other spells have some kind of graphic that the mobs were hit by something lol, that we did something rather than stand around knitting socks. Only place I ever see any indication is the die roll roll and combat log. Am I missing something?

They get a purple-blue wavy haze graphic around them for about a second or two and you hear the "woo" sound, much like enervation.



Regardless, I probably shouldn't delve too much more on this or I may risk hijacking a thread.

[Borror0]

The most noticeable change is that I picked up Acid Fog and took a few rank into Acid/Electric damage.

I'm thinking about WoE too.

[MrWizard]

i was actually using acid fog for a bit before the mod change, dropped it as the length of time up was so shorter than solid.
dropped disintegrate with mod 5 after using it all the time before it.

thats about it...i was already double spell pen very early so i could beat on threnal, von3, and others without the blue shield coming up.

thinking about web. have not used it since the great aoe nerf......back when that cleric holy smite spell ruled (though few seemed to use it)

with the spell pen on mod6...whoo.. bummer on elte settings. however, if able to talk some fighters into using fighter crowd cvontrol and shattermantle it is not too bad.

[MrWizard]

I

Picked up Chain Lightning, 1000 point crits on three targets is neat and still get red numbers on most everything.
.

chain was awsome when pvp came out.... just jump down and cast it max/emp/heightened with the right items and it used to go through the walls. Back then no one would have elec items on and 9 out of 10 times three toons would drop. Usually one near you and two behind a wall going 'what was that?'

that was fun

[Vizzini]

I'm currently building a sorc on your Instakill guide Aspensor, any suggestions for changes etc.. or just what you have mentioned here?