The Sorcerer's Handbook: A Guide to Building and Playing Sorcerers

[Dworkin_of_Amber]

*will do lower levels when I get around to it*

End-Game Targets
Head: Minos Legens
Neck: Smedgar's or Shiona's Necklace / Talisman of the Silver Flame
Goggles: Supreme Tyrant Green Steel Goggles of Positive Energy (or Air) : Wizardry VI, +150 SP, +6 Charisma-based skills
Trinket: Head of Good Fortune / Litany of the Dead
Robe: Blue Dragonscale / Dragontouched 1 (Greater False Life, Strength +6, Greater Spell Penetration VIII) / Dragontouched 2 (Greater False Life, Strength +6, Glacial Assault) / Dragontouched 3 (Greater False Life, Strength +6, Potency VIII)
Bracers: Bracers of the Glacier / Bracers of the Demonic Consort / Tier III Green Steel HP item (Recommend Tempered with Con skills for +13 Concentration)
Gloves: Gloves of the Glacier / Seven-Fingered Gloves
Cloak: Stormreaver's Napkin
Belt: Rahkir's Sash
Boots: Feather Falling Boots / Green Steel Boots of Useful Effect (Negative boots for immunity, fire absorption boots for Abbot, etc.) / Kundarek Delving Boots
Ring 1: Rahkir's Ring, Exceptional Constitution +2
Ring 2: Swappable item slot depending on situational Need (blindness immunity, poison immunity, etc.)
Main Hand: Skiver / Superior Potency VI / Greater Potency VII
Off Hand: Supreme Tyrant Green Steel [Weapon] of Air (or Positive Energy) : +6 Charisma, +1 Charisma, +2 Charisma

A few thoughts/comments/questions for you.

1) Goggles - Wouldn't it make sense to go Neg/Pos/Pos. Sacrifice +1 Cha Skills to gain +6 Wisdom/Dip+10/Haggle+10? That would also help make FoP not quite so needed as a feat
2) Constitution - I don't see a +6 CON item here? I see Exceptional CON +2 on Rahkir's ring.. but where's the CON Item?
3) Gloves/Bracers of the Glacier - are those 2 slots really worth dedicating basically for Polar Ray?
4) Tier III Green Steel HP Item (Tempered) - shouldn't this replace Minos Legens? If you go Mineral 2 you get Heavy Fort/Protection+5/+45HP/+6 Con Skills. This would open up the Bracers completely

I guess I am just concerned as I see a LOT of overlap (3 items with Wizardry 6, 2 items with ArchMagi, etc)...

Just a few thoughts...

[Junts]

glacier set is not dedicated just to polar ray:

fireshield proc is handy
archmagi static is great, skiver isnt essential (if you want to drop it for a sup lore momentarily)
spell pen 8 covers you no matter what dt you have on

glacier gloves save massive sp over the course of any quest where you are extending or, especially, maximizing

both are worth the slot on their own .. polar ray enhancement is purely a seondary benefit

there's a reaosn that most clerics use -both- those items, without any cold spells. They are great items.

[Aspenor]

A few thoughts/comments/questions for you.

1) Goggles - Wouldn't it make sense to go Neg/Pos/Pos. Sacrifice +1 Cha Skills to gain +6 Wisdom/Dip+10/Haggle+10? That would also help make FoP not quite so needed as a feat
2) Constitution - I don't see a +6 CON item here? I see Exceptional CON +2 on Rahkir's ring.. but where's the CON Item?
3) Gloves/Bracers of the Glacier - are those 2 slots really worth dedicating basically for Polar Ray?
4) Tier III Green Steel HP Item (Tempered) - shouldn't this replace Minos Legens? If you go Mineral 2 you get Heavy Fort/Protection+5/+45HP/+6 Con Skills. This would open up the Bracers completely

I guess I am just concerned as I see a LOT of overlap (3 items with Wizardry 6, 2 items with ArchMagi, etc)...

Just a few thoughts...

Con 6 ring, don't really need disease immunity and poison immunity comes in potions.

Bracers and gloves of the glacier are more situational than permanently glued to my hands. I find the DR 6 or 7/- generated by the temp HP proc of the Bracers of the Demon's Consort to be what I'm using most often. Long ago calculations were performed as to what the exact benefit of the bracers was, and it was found that the proc rate of the temp HP portion of the bracers was approximately equal to DR 6-7/-, which stacks with DR of all sources.

[Aspenor]

Made some changes to the gear section, I will be adding more build options personally since not many people bit on that one. Also, I updated spell choices and will do some editing work there, it now goes all the way to 20.

[drachine]

i am kind of surprised that you did not list enhancements somewhere unless i missed it. i looked through all the pages. anyway, regarding this, there seem to be 2 schools of thought.

the typical one maximizes the damage output enhancements to do maximum dps and is less concerned with spell points usage.

the 2nd type realizes that most of their day is spent casting spells like Finger of Death and non-damage crowd control spells. these casters take Improved Heighten III, Improved Maximize III and Improve Empower III realizing that conserving spell points to cast more non-damaging spells is wiser then have maxed out fire enhancements.

which school do you subscribe to? i'm trying to figure out a balance as my sorc is more general.

[Aspenor]

i am kind of surprised that you did not list enhancements somewhere unless i missed it. i looked through all the pages. anyway, regarding this, there seem to be 2 schools of thought.

the typical one maximizes the damage output enhancements to do maximum dps and is less concerned with spell points usage.

the 2nd type realizes that most of their day is spent casting spells like Finger of Death and non-damage crowd control spells. these casters take Improved Heighten III, Improved Maximize III and Improve Empower III realizing that conserving spell points to cast more non-damaging spells is wiser then have maxed out fire enhancements.

which school do you subscribe to? i'm trying to figure out a balance as my sorc is more general.

I subscribe to the school that believes in a happy medium. I take Improved Heighten I and Improved Maximize II. However, I have every fire/ice and elec/acid available. My sorc isn't really a generalist, and I will do some enhancements soon now that I have more time on my hands.

[fervidsea]

I subscribe to the school that believes in a happy medium. I take Improved Heighten I and Improved Maximize II. However, I have every fire/ice and elec/acid available. My sorc isn't really a generalist, and I will do some enhancements soon now that I have more time on my hands.

Aspenor, after reading a few of the varied posts throughout the sorcerer forums, paying close attention to the "guides", for a new player like myself it gets kinda confusing. Would you mind going into more detail, or post your " not a generalist", no spell pen, type of build please, when you have the time and if it isnt to much trouble.

[Renothebest]

Hi Aspenor, hello everybody.
I'm building a drow damagedealer sorc and i'd like some help on spells. You say you have enanchements on Acid/Lightning but in your guide i can't see any acid/light spell worth for that enanch. If those are un-necessary, may i get more in Energy of Dragonblooded?

anyway, my main question is about spells. I'm still wondering if is better damagedealing type (fireball, delayed fb, etc..) or save-or-die spells (pk, FoD, WotB) since thise choise will affetc my enanchements policy. I'd like - in the END GAME - being useful for the party and being a good damagedealer/mobkiller. Which type would me more efficient?

[Aspenor]

Hi Aspenor, hello everybody.
I'm building a drow damagedealer sorc and i'd like some help on spells. You say you have enanchements on Acid/Lightning but in your guide i can't see any acid/light spell worth for that enanch. If those are un-necessary, may i get more in Energy of Dragonblooded?

anyway, my main question is about spells. I'm still wondering if is better damagedealing type (fireball, delayed fb, etc..) or save-or-die spells (pk, FoD, WotB) since thise choise will affetc my enanchements policy. I'd like - in the END GAME - being useful for the party and being a good damagedealer/mobkiller. Which type would me more efficient?

END GAME - you will be most effective, IN MY OPINION, dealing damage. The only crowd controlling spell I use is Web. I do have instant kill spells, only using them for certain situations (i.e. killing low fort monsters like clerics or spell casters before they can deal death to my party mates).

As for lightning spells, Ball Lightning is worth the enhancements alone. It's the staple AoE damage spell against devils, and hopefully chain lightning will be fixed eventually to make it useful as well.

I'm not a fan of Energy of the Dragonblooded on a sorcerer, personally. When you have ~2830 spell points + spell point regen items that can add up to 3600 or even more, why spend enhancements on spell points?

[Renothebest]

END GAME - you will be most effective, IN MY OPINION, dealing damage. The only crowd controlling spell I use is Web. I do have instant kill spells, only using them for certain situations (i.e. killing low fort monsters like clerics or spell casters before they can deal death to my party mates).

As for lightning spells, Ball Lightning is worth the enhancements alone. It's the staple AoE damage spell against devils, and hopefully chain lightning will be fixed eventually to make it useful as well.

I'm not a fan of Energy of the Dragonblooded on a sorcerer, personally. When you have ~2830 spell points + spell point regen items that can add up to 3600 or even more, why spend enhancements on spell points?

What about the fire/cold tree? Isn't WoF good at endgame? Polar ray?
I think it's almost impossible rise both ways... I should choose fire or light... (enanchement-wise)

[SquelchHU]

A very large percentage of endgame enemies are immune to fire. Cold does work on them, but lightning works better.

[Aspenor]

What about the fire/cold tree? Isn't WoF good at endgame? Polar ray?
I think it's almost impossible rise both ways... I should choose fire or light... (enanchement-wise)

Wall of Fire is "useful," but it's not going to do any damage at all to a great many of the monsters at end-game. Sure, you can use cold if you like. I like to blast away, myself, and that's easier with Ball Lightning against devils.

[SouCarioca]

Wall of Fire is "useful," but it's not going to do any damage at all to a great many of the monsters at end-game. Sure, you can use cold if you like. I like to blast away, myself, and that's easier with Ball Lightning against devils.

So here I am at a crossroads with my first Drow Sorceror. No point arguing about Humans or Warforges, since I haven't unlocked 32-pt builds yet, and will be doing so with this character. The quandary is regarding the direction I take now that I just hit lvl 12 and have yet to choose the feat and lvl6 spell.

So far it has been focused on 3 things: extended buffs (haste, displacement, prot from elem, magic circle), charms (charm person/monster), and fire-cold spells. My feats are extend, maximize, SF Enchantment, Heighten. The buffs are self-explanatory, and so far the charms have been great for the areas I play in (up to lvl14). Bunch of archers and casters perched in hard-to-get places? Charm one or two, and they focus on each other. Mob up ahead? Charm one and they all go berzerk on their own. Charm two and you are certain to get into fight with little hassle as they are busy fighting themselves. I don't know how valid this will be in later stages, which is why I am asking the vets who are more than familiar with the late material. I don't want to be stuck in the sidelines just buffing the team and watching it all. If that was my intention I'd be a pure cleric, not a sorceror.

Would I best be served focusing on damage, and regearing for evocation? Then equipping the range of damage spells (fire/cold/acid/lightning)? BTW is Acid Fog really that bad? I read many saying it was next to useless at the moment. Debating my first 6th level spell hence the question as next logon will be to level to 12.

[Aspenor]

So here I am at a crossroads with my first Drow Sorceror. No point arguing about Humans or Warforges, since I haven't unlocked 32-pt builds yet, and will be doing so with this character. The quandary is regarding the direction I take now that I just hit lvl 12 and have yet to choose the feat and lvl6 spell.

So far it has been focused on 3 things: extended buffs (haste, displacement, prot from elem, magic circle), charms (charm person/monster), and fire-cold spells. My feats are extend, maximize, SF Enchantment, Heighten. The buffs are self-explanatory, and so far the charms have been great for the areas I play in (up to lvl14). Bunch of archers and casters perched in hard-to-get places? Charm one or two, and they focus on each other. Mob up ahead? Charm one and they all go berzerk on their own. Charm two and you are certain to get into fight with little hassle as they are busy fighting themselves. I don't know how valid this will be in later stages, which is why I am asking the vets who are more than familiar with the late material. I don't want to be stuck in the sidelines just buffing the team and watching it all. If that was my intention I'd be a pure cleric, not a sorceror.

Would I best be served focusing on damage, and regearing for evocation? Then equipping the range of damage spells (fire/cold/acid/lightning)? BTW is Acid Fog really that bad? I read many saying it was next to useless at the moment. Debating my first 6th level spell hence the question as next logon will be to level to 12.

Enchanting is a very viable option. Make sure to take both Spell Focus: Enchantment feats and both Spell Penetration feats, as well as the Spell Penetration Enhancements. Take mass suggestion, mass charm monster, and dominate monster. Max your fire/ice enhancements for when you do want to deal damage.

You will find that you can be quite powerful, sometimes insanely so, as an enchanter. Before the advent of Dungeon Alerts my favorite game tactic was utilizing charms and the diplomacy skill. I'd charm one or more of a group, and diplomacy the aggro onto my charmies. This left me free to do whatever I wanted.

[SquelchHU]

The trouble is endgame seems geared towards blocking just about anything that isn't damage. Battlefield devils with stupidly high Fort saves and high bonuses to saves vs enchantment for example, or just enemies being immune to mind control.

Acid Fog is somewhat useful, more for the slow than damage, though it does help out against devils and the like. I wouldn't take it as the first spell though, GH or Flesh to Stone would be a better choice. If you were a WF you'd be obligated to take Reconstruct at this level but you aren't. Disintegrate can also be useful vs some types of golems, and undead that cannot be firewalled. But I don't think it's as useful as the others, and if I can ever be bothered to play my sorc again the first thing I'd do is replace Disintegrate with Acid Fog if I haven't already.

[Aspenor]

Acid Fog is somewhat useful, more for the slow than damage

Currently, Acid Fog is bugged and does not generate the "slow" part of the spell. Monsters run straight through it as if it wasn't there at all. I just tested it again about 15 seconds ago, and I'm writing a bug report immediately after I finish this post.

[SquelchHU]

Wait, was it always like that? I'm pretty sure it did work at one point.

[Aspenor]

Wait, was it always like that? I'm pretty sure it did work at one point.

It used to work, and it doesn't at this point in time. I assume it will be fixed eventually.

[drachine]

my end game gear is similar to yours Aspenor. some minor differences. shooting for the following on my drow sorcerer

Headwear: Minos Legens
~ Heavy Fortification
~ Hit Points +20

Necklace #1: Torin's Choker
~ Superior Potency VI
~ Wizardry VI

Necklace #2: Torc of Prince Raiyum de-II
~ Greater Spell Penetration VI
~ Transform Kinetic Energy

Necklace #3: Silver Flame Talisman
~ Deathblock
~ Absorbs Ten Negative Levels
~ Protection From Evil

Eyewear: Greensteel Air Charisma Spell Point Goggles
~ Spell Points +150
~ Charisma Skills +6
~ Haste 3/day
~ Air Knockdown Guard

Trinket: Pouch of Jerky
~ Greater False Life
~ Neutralize Poison 3/day
~ Regeneration 3/day

Robe 1: Dragontouched Shroud
~ Resistance +5
~ Spell Penetration VIII, Tempest Rune
~ Superior Combustion VII, Sovereign Rune (Delayed Blast Fireball)

Robe 2: Dragontouched Robe
~ Resistance +5
~ Spell Penetration VIII, Tempest Rune
~ Potency VIII, Sovereign Rune (Repair Critical Damage, Mass)

Cloak: Stormreaver's Napkin
~ DC +1 to all Spells
~ Intelligence +6

Bracers: Greensteel Smoke Bracers
~ Blur Permanent
~ Displacement 3/day
~ Hit Points +45
~ Dexterity Skills +6

Belt: Rahkir's Sash
~ Archmagi
~ Superior Efficacy VIII

Ring 1: Health Ring
~ Constitution +6

Ring 2: Rahkir's Ring
~ Archmagi
~ Intelligence +6
~ Exceptional Intelligence +1
~ Greater Glaciation VIII (Polar Ray)

Gloves: Gloves of the Glacier
~ Maximize II

Boots: Dextrous Boots
~ Dexterity +6 (Reflex Save)

Left Hand: Charismatic Shortsword
~ Charisma +6
~ Exceptional Chrarisma +1
~ Exceptional Chrarisma +2

Right Hand: Greenblade
~ Greater Arcane Lore

I don't carry extend or empower

[jarchibald]

Just wanted to say thank you for the guide.

I haven't played in a while, got tired of getting flamed because of my dual kopesh warrior build that ironically got popular. Honestly I went to wow because of the lack of content at the time =). Came back and decided I'm getting to old for melee so I went the caster route. Great guide for beginners and for players that are coming back. I did roll a WF sorc initially, because of the self heal option. I then decided to go Drow when I was able. I see alot of people ranting about the self heal and while I could see it being useful in a solo environment it defeats the purpose of playing a MMO in my opinion. I guess the downside I found is that when in groups, everyone is assigned a primary role. Tanking, damage, crowd control, and healing being the normal categories. (Trapsmiths if needed. I love rogues.) I guess the point that made me change is when I did need the healing it was because I was incapacitated in some way like tripped or held. Cant cast or use a scroll when these occasions arise. It was then that being a WF just didnt make sense. The cleric (reluctantly) tried to heal my rocky butt to no regard. Now as I level up more and more I am glad I switched to a race that can get healed by "healers". Because you cant always rely on yourself when the ****y hits the fan, and in my 20 or so years of playing MMO's (MUD's a long time ago), that's when things really count. I guess time will tell as I level up, but so far self healing has never been a problem with the use of wands, scrolls, and potions. Perhaps my outlook will change when I get the 32pt build. But for now I would recommend human/drow over a WF for a new or returning player anyday.