Drow Sorceress Input

[VowWoefist]

Okay, going to be rolling up the following.
Drow Sorceress
Beginning Stats (I have no Tomes/$$$/Items as I just resubbed after 2 yr hiatus and gave everything away at the time of leaving)
STR 8
DEX 10
CON 14
INT 12
WIS 8
CHA 20

Skills:
Concentration maxed
With others split between Haggle and UMD
Also a few in Diplomacy

First, I am certainly not a magic class expert. However, I want to play something FUN, but also not gimped or basically useless when grouping.
Feats:
LVL 1 Combat Casting
LVL 3 Maximize Spell
LVL 6 Extend Spell
LVL 9 Heighten Spell
LVL 12 Spell Penetration
Lvl 15 Greater Spell Penetration
Spells:
Lvl 1 – Nightshield, MagMis, Jump, Hypnotism
Lvl 2 – Scorching Ray, Web, Resist Energy, Blur
Lvl 3 – Fireball, Haste, Protection from Energy, Suggestion
Lvl 4 – Burning Blood, Phantasmal Killer, Stoneskin, Wall of Fire
Lvl 5 – Cloudkill, Cone of Cold, Hold Monster, Protection from Elements
Lvl 6 – Acid Fog, Greater Heroism, Otiluke’s Freezing Sphere
Lvl 7 – Finger of Death, Otto’s Sphere of Dancing
Lvl 8 – Polar Ray

Questions about some spells:
1) Is Hypnotism useful as a lvl 1 spell or are there better suggestions?
2) Do I need Resist Energy at lvl 2 if I am taking Protection from Energy at Lvl 3?
3) Am I better off NOT taking Suggestion at Lvl 3, but instead taking Mass Suggestion at Lvl 6 in place of Greater Heroism?
4) Is Otto’s Dancing good for Lvl 7 instead of taking Otto’s Irresistable Dance at Lvl 8?

Thanks for any input!

[Aspenor]

Don't take combat casting, take empower spell instead. You will definitely want displacement as a level 3 spell, and I suggest dropping suggestion, especially once you get to a level where you can use higher level charms (however, charms are being nerfed in mod 9). At level 6 you may want to consider disintegrate instead of Otiluke's or Greater Heroism (which can be easily cast from a scroll), as it works on all targets, but that's a personal preference and not necessary. Burning blood is not the most useful spell, take something more useful like enervation.

[Milamber69]

Lose combat casting and pick up force of personality, means you dont have to put any points into wisdom or wear a wisdom item, great saves too.

[PSU93]

Stat distribution is perfect.

Max UMD; it's more useful than Haggle in the higher levels. You'll also be able to find Haggle items to get that score up. Diplomacy is a good third choice.
Edit: Put 1 point into Tumble at creation as well.

I wouldn't take Combat Casting. You may want to consider Mental Toughness for more SP. This is helpful at low levels, and then you can swap it out later when your mana pool is much larger. I'd also suggest taking Extend before Maximize. Maximize is a must-have for end-game stuff but is inefficient at lower levels.

Hypo is nice at lower levels, especially if you'll be running mostly with a group. Charm may be more handy if you solo a lot.

Resist Energy is different than Protection from Energy. Resist absorbs the first so many pts of damage from every hit (30 at high level), while Protection absorbs a fixed number of damage (120 at high level) and then is exhausted. Resist can be found on wands, potions, and items, and I think Protection can be found in potions as well.

As far as other spells, you'll find yourself swapping out as you level up. For example, Burning Hands is a great low level spell, but is usually swapped out once you get Fireball. Similarly, Fireball is great until you get Wall of Fire. PK rules, but is expendable once you have Finger of Death.

Good luck and have fun!

[Arianrhod]

I agree with maxing UMD. In general, it's one of those skills that you want to either put as many points into as possible, or not bother with at all. For a sorc (potentially very high CHA), it's generally worthwhile to keep it maxed.

[Lymnus]

I'd switch your feats around (personal taste, here)

1st-Empower
3rd-Extend
6th-Maximize
9th-Heighten
12th-Spell Penn
15th-Greater Spell Penn

[Shade]

Questions about some spells:
1) Is Hypnotism useful as a lvl 1 spell or are there better suggestions?
2) Do I need Resist Energy at lvl 2 if I am taking Protection from Energy at Lvl 3?
3) Am I better off NOT taking Suggestion at Lvl 3, but instead taking Mass Suggestion at Lvl 6 in place of Greater Heroism?
4) Is Otto’s Dancing good for Lvl 7 instead of taking Otto’s Irresistable Dance at Lvl 8?

Thanks for any input!

1) It will work well as your leveling up for low level CC. Later on swap it out for either protection from evil - great buff, or ray of enfeeblement - great debuff.
2) Absolutely. In 95% of quests in the game you, and more importantly the melee tanks in your party will take more then 120 points of elemental damage between shrines, but almost always less then 30. Resist is far superior in almost every case.
3)Not a fan of charms.. However - accurately targeted single target charms like suggestion are always superior. All too often casters use mass and end up charming the wrong thing which can be very detrimental to the quests sucess/effeciency. Careful single target charms and letting the others fight that one to kill it almost always works better.
4) Generally yes. Depends on the situation tho. The Orb is AOE and has a very frequent save, every 2 seconds.. So it can stop everything in its path is your DC is good and its will is low.. However some monsters have an incredibly high will save, so the irresitable version is sometimes better. As a returning player I'd suggest getting the lvl8 version if not both, because in place of polar ray it will be better.. Especially at first until you can aquire the very rare/hard to get loot requred to boost polar ray into dealing good damage.

[KingOfCheese]

Excellent stat distribution for a Drow.

I concur with other: concentration great; max UMD; consider diplo as a 3rd choice. Each of these is more important than haggle. As you reach cap and play at cap, cash will not be a problem, so the haggle, while nice, will ultimately not be helpful, while the others will.

I would also skip combat casting. Consider empower, toughness, or force of personality as alternatives.

Spell selections are often to personal taste--and yours look fine (they are easy to switch). At one point or another, I had similar spell choices. I ended up switching the level 6's to pick up disintegrate/flesh to stone/acid fog. I GH from scrolls now. I initially enjoyed freezing sphere, but found that cone of cold works fine as an alternative and occupies a less precious spell slot.


1) Is Hypnotism useful as a lvl 1 spell or are there better suggestions?

I've taken it on all of my casters for low levels. Works very well without the anti-zerg aspects of charms. I usually drop it when I hit the mid-levels.

2) Do I need Resist Energy at lvl 2 if I am taking Protection from Energy at Lvl 3?

My casters carry both. If you plan on buffing others as part of your gameplay, having both is very useful. If it is for self protection, resist can be skipped in favor of protection if you don't mind spamming yourself with protect when you are in hot spots.

3) Am I better off NOT taking Suggestion at Lvl 3, but instead taking Mass Suggestion at Lvl 6 in place of Greater Heroism?

Level 6 is a tough one--so many good spells, so few slots.

4) Is Otto’s Dancing good for Lvl 7 instead of taking Otto’s Irresistable Dance at Lvl 8?

You can certainly carry both. Very different spells. Dancing ball is area of effect (good for taking out larger trash mobs) while Irresistable is single target (good for taking out specific nasty targets like Beholders). I went with polar ray at level 8 because it is a no-save high damage spell--I use it a lot.

[VowWoefist]

Just wanted to say THANKS for this info. It has been very helpful and will certainly be put to good use!

[boldarblood]

STR 8
DEX 10
CON 14
INT 12
WIS 8
CHA 20

Skills:
Concentration maxed
With others split between Haggle and UMD
Also a few in Diplomacy
LVL 1 Combat Casting
LVL 3 Maximize Spell
LVL 6 Extend Spell
LVL 9 Heighten Spell
LVL 12 Spell Penetration
Lvl 15 Greater Spell Penetration
Questions about some spells:
1) Is Hypnotism useful as a lvl 1 spell or are there better suggestions?
2) Do I need Resist Energy at lvl 2 if I am taking Protection from Energy at Lvl 3?
3) Am I better off NOT taking Suggestion at Lvl 3, but instead taking Mass Suggestion at Lvl 6 in place of Greater Heroism?
4) Is Otto’s Dancing good for Lvl 7 instead of taking Otto’s Irresistable Dance at Lvl 8?

Thanks for any input!

Stats are good, would not change anything.

I would max out UMD, don't skip out on it.

Lymnus is 100% correct on feats
1st-Empower
3rd-Extend
6th-Maximize
9th-Heighten
12th-Spell Penn
15th-Greater Spell Penn

1)Hypnotism - great with heighten - even works on spiders in the spiders quest in Vale
2)always need resist engergy
3)personal preference here, charming sucks.
4

[Sweyn]

Okay, going to be rolling up the following.
Drow Sorceress
Beginning Stats (I have no Tomes/$$$/Items as I just resubbed after 2 yr hiatus and gave everything away at the time of leaving)
STR 8
DEX 10
CON 14
INT 12
WIS 8
CHA 20

Skills:
Concentration maxed
With others split between Haggle and UMD
Also a few in Diplomacy

First, I am certainly not a magic class expert. However, I want to play something FUN, but also not gimped or basically useless when grouping.
Feats:
LVL 1 Combat Casting
LVL 3 Maximize Spell
LVL 6 Extend Spell
LVL 9 Heighten Spell
LVL 12 Spell Penetration
Lvl 15 Greater Spell Penetration
Spells:
Lvl 1 – Nightshield, MagMis, Jump, Hypnotism
Lvl 2 – Scorching Ray, Web, Resist Energy, Blur
Lvl 3 – Fireball, Haste, Protection from Energy, Suggestion
Lvl 4 – Burning Blood, Phantasmal Killer, Stoneskin, Wall of Fire
Lvl 5 – Cloudkill, Cone of Cold, Hold Monster, Protection from Elements
Lvl 6 – Acid Fog, Greater Heroism, Otiluke’s Freezing Sphere
Lvl 7 – Finger of Death, Otto’s Sphere of Dancing
Lvl 8 – Polar Ray

Questions about some spells:
1) Is Hypnotism useful as a lvl 1 spell or are there better suggestions?
2) Do I need Resist Energy at lvl 2 if I am taking Protection from Energy at Lvl 3?
3) Am I better off NOT taking Suggestion at Lvl 3, but instead taking Mass Suggestion at Lvl 6 in place of Greater Heroism?
4) Is Otto’s Dancing good for Lvl 7 instead of taking Otto’s Irresistable Dance at Lvl 8?

Thanks for any input!

With an int of 12, i believe youll get 3 skill points per lvl, make sure you atleast max out umd.. very important!!

Like others have said, drop combat casting, you will like mepower much better. One thing i did on my sorc is dropped greater spell pen for force of perconality... some dont like it but you'll pretty much be immune to holds and commands.. i see it as a +2 to spell penn, or a +14 to your will save

Lvl2- drop blur for knock, it doesnt stack with displcement and knock is very useful.
Lvl3- drop sugestion and protection from evil for displacement and rage. (At lvl 16, 16 hp can really help, also +1 to fort save from rage) and most clerics carry protection from evil anyway.
Lvl4- This lvl has some pretty good spells. Fire sheild is a great one. I dont have stoneskin, you can get wands. Burning blood is almost useless when you can just finger it or something.
Lvl5- Spells are good (Most lvl 5 spells suck anyway )
Lvl6- You definitly want disintegrate. Flesh to stone isnt bad either. What i have on my sorc is Acid fog, FTS, and Disentigrate. If you have money its better off to scroll gh.. of not, dump acid fog for gh, and pick up solid fog for a lvl 4 spell (Its great to have a fog)
Everything else is good.

This is how my caster is set up. It looks like you wanna play a nuking role, and i think this set up is very good for it. I'm not telling you how to play it, just what spells i think are useful for a nuking role and which ones will be most efficient.

[magnvix]

I'm basically doing the same thing as the OP (my first caster, yay)... was wondering if I should go true neutral, dont think it was mentioned yet.

[PSU93]

I don't know if alignment really matters. With a high UMD, you'll be able to bypass any alignment restrictions on most gear. Probably just a matter of preference unless someone can come up with a specific reason that I've overlooked.

[Aspenor]

I'm basically doing the same thing as the OP (my first caster, yay)... was wondering if I should go true neutral, dont think it was mentioned yet.

True neutral all the way. You take less damage from alignment based effects, and you can use the Abbot Trinket which gives a negative level if you are good.

[VowWoefist]

Yeah, I thiink I had "planned" on going the Neutral route, but did not pay attention during creation and selected Chaotic Neutral. D'oh!