Sorc with a touch of Bard?

[MrCasualEOCF]

I rolled my first character like a noob and now at lvl9, I love it to death but have noticed some irregularities >.>

So anyways, with this sorc if I was to take one lvl of bard, would the effect of 'no arcane spell penalty on light armor' & use of divine wands pass over to? If so, does the 'no penalty light armor etc' affect just the lvl1 bards spells or both sorc and bard spells I would have?

I asking because since my noob character is little fubared and so i figured if he may suck a little, he might as well be fun or slightly useful in another way. If things work out, I plan only to take one lvl of Bard.

[Dragavon]

You say your char is fubar already, so stop wasting time on it.

Make a new better character

[Lorien_the_First_One]

I rolled my first character like a noob and now at lvl9, I love it to death but have noticed some irregularities >.> then don't mess with it

So anyways, with this sorc if I was to take one lvl of bard, would the effect of 'no arcane spell penalty on light armor' Only on bard spells, not on yoru sorc spells

& use of divine wands pass over to? Yes, but as a sorc you should be maximizing your UMD and can thus use them anyway

If so, does the 'no penalty light armor etc' affect just the lvl1 bards spells or both sorc and bard spells I would have? bard spells only

I asking because since my noob character is little fubared and so i figured if he may suck a little, he might as well be fun or slightly useful in another way. If things work out, I plan only to take one lvl of Bard.don't do it, you will lose more than you gain.

Why do you think your build is fubared? If you truly feel that way, park it now and start again. But let us know what you think is wrong, it might be a correctable problem, particularily when LR comes out eventually.

[MrCasualEOCF]

okay so fubar'ed may be a little exaggerated but he wont be the full sorc he could be in EndGame but I'm totally okay with that, I'm not that kind of player really.
Alright
Lvl8 actually, I am about 3k of xp from lvl9 >.>
Stats are 8 14 14 8 8 20 (without enhance, items etc.). With -> 8 14 15 10 8 24
Combat Casting
Mental Toughness
Improved '' ''
I first rolled him with more dex than needed which I didnt know. I like playing the character & will eventually reroll another sorc when I got 32pt unlocked. I figured okay i have a few extra Dex in the long run but wasn't needed. I heard about the bard skills and thought maybe I could get a little more oomph from the 'no arcane penalty lightarmor' but apparently not :P

[Lorien_the_First_One]

Lvl8 actually, I am about 3k of xp from lvl9 >.>
Stats are 8 14 14 8 8 20 (without enhance, items etc.). With -> 8 14 15 10 8 24
Combat Casting
Mental Toughness
Improved '' ''

20 chr, 14 con...that's a solid foundation for a sorc. I agree with you that lowering the dex and raising either str or int might have been more helpful, but you are just fine.

Dump combat casting, you don't need it. Maximize might be a good choice.

As you get higher in level and end up with more SP than you need, you will eventually want to dump MT & IMT as well, but they might work well for you now.

For future feats consider, toughness, extend, empower, highten.

[Dragavon]

okay so fubar'ed may be a little exaggerated but he wont be the full sorc he could be in EndGame but I'm totally okay with that, I'm not that kind of player really.
Alright
Lvl8 actually, I am about 3k of xp from lvl9 >.>
Stats are 8 14 14 8 8 20 (without enhance, items etc.). With -> 8 14 15 10 8 24
Combat Casting
Mental Toughness
Improved '' ''
I first rolled him with more dex than needed which I didnt know. I like playing the character & will eventually reroll another sorc when I got 32pt unlocked. I figured okay i have a few extra Dex in the long run but wasn't needed. I heard about the bard skills and thought maybe I could get a little more oomph from the 'no arcane penalty lightarmor' but apparently not :P

Lorien is right. Nothing wrong with this character. Will be perfectly fine with the right feats and enhancements. Stay pure.

I would take feats in this order:
1: Thoughness
3: Extend
6: Maximize
9: Empower
12: Heighten
15: Spell penetration
18: Greater spell penetration.

You can swap out Extend for a spell focus feat if you dont run around and haste your groups all the time

[Damionic]

Nice try people...

But from someone who knows...

Light armour spell fail does NOT happen with the sorc spells (so your borc = Bard/Sorc can wear light armour and STILL cast from both pools WITHOUT spell fail)

at the moment I don't know if this is per spell tier...ie when casting sorc lvl 1 spells I get no spell fail...but with only one lvl of bard...my lvl 2 sorc spells might suffer spell fail (Need to Test)

At Current "Bewitcher" is Bard 1/ Sorc 4 (so just got sorc lvl 2 spells)

[Kriogen]

Nice try people...

But from someone who knows...

Light armour spell fail does NOT happen with the sorc spells (so your borc = Bard/Sorc can wear light armour and STILL cast from both pools WITHOUT spell fail)

at the moment I don't know if this is per spell tier...ie when casting sorc lvl 1 spells I get no spell fail...but with only one lvl of bard...my lvl 2 sorc spells might suffer spell fail (Need to Test)

At Current "Bewitcher" is Bard 1/ Sorc 4 (so just got sorc lvl 2 spells)

It does happen.

Spells in Bards 'spell book' do not fail (ASF) if wearing light armor.

Spells in Sorc/Wiz 'spell book' can fail. There are some arcane spells that don't have ASF check at all. "Somatic" is the key. Those never fail because of armor. Displacement is a good example.

Elf/Drow enhancements and some items can lower or even remove ASF check.

[Dragavon]

Nice try people...

But from someone who knows...

At Current "Bewitcher" is Bard 1/ Sorc 4 (so just got sorc lvl 2 spells)

A bold statement from someone who only has a lvl 5 character to base his experience on

I have a lvl 19 wizard / bard 1.....

[Judo]

a sorc must wear light armor, or armor with no spell failure check, look at the spell fail % which is listed on the armors stat, those most definitely apply, even if you are a bard

[SouCarioca]

okay so fubar'ed may be a little exaggerated but he wont be the full sorc he could be in EndGame but I'm totally okay with that, I'm not that kind of player really.
Alright
Lvl8 actually, I am about 3k of xp from lvl9 >.>
Stats are 8 14 14 8 8 20 (without enhance, items etc.). With -> 8 14 15 10 8 24
Combat Casting
Mental Toughness
Improved '' ''
I first rolled him with more dex than needed which I didnt know. I like playing the character & will eventually reroll another sorc when I got 32pt unlocked. I figured okay i have a few extra Dex in the long run but wasn't needed. I heard about the bard skills and thought maybe I could get a little more oomph from the 'no arcane penalty lightarmor' but apparently not :P

If you started with CHA at 20, you are a drow, and thus are already a 32-pt build. I just maxxed my first toon as a drow sorc, and had a ball. By lvl 20 your CHA will be 30 with no items (though using a +2 CHA tome, which by then will come naturally. I got two as end-rewards for example). I put in 2 pts in INT for the extra skill pt. Being my 1st real toon, this came in very handy, and I mostly split : Concentration, UMD (these two are absolutely essential), Balance/Haggle. I forewent on either Diplomacy or Intimidate, a decision I do not regret. Gold will be an issue as a first toon (don't I know it), so Haggle is very practical, and I suggest a good haggle item to swap when making purchases or sales. A tip: pure haggle items in the AH tend to be ridiculously overpriced, but you can often find the same for MUCH less if it is combined with something else. Ex: Wise ring of haggling instead of a ring of haggling.

For the longest time, my build focused as an enchanter, which was a lot of fun, and fire/cold, and a good assortment of buffs.

For the lower and mid-levels, enchanting is a super solution to mobs and bosses. You can't charm the bosses, but you can charm their hirelings that beat the c*** out of them. Archers spread out on the ledge? Charm one and watch them focus on their traitorous brethren. Big mob up ahead? I love charming the spellcasters which wreaks havoc in their group.

Is he absolute? Hardly, but with very high spell pen (all feats and enhacnements) and CHA, his FOD and disco ball is very efficient. Don't forget you can re-spec the enhancements at any time. Costs about 30k GP each time, which as you level up will seem less and less. Also, do not forget to separate several toolbars for ready use. As a noob, this is something one may not do from lack of experience. That said, unless you invested your stats into Strength (get some STR gloves to avoid backpack issues) or something irreversible, I see no reason you would be fubared. Feats, enhancements, spells, can all be changed. Gold will come readily later. Those expensive 32k items you see now, will become 162K items later on.

HP will always be your bane. As a drow sorc, learn this, and learn to deal with it. Absolutely no one will be able to deal the damage you can deal, but a sneeze and a cough by a bad guy can easily take you out. It is a tradeoff.

One other thing: one level of sorc lost means losing a lvl 9 sorc spell, and roughly 150 SP. That is HUGE.

Oh yes, and above all: have fun!

[MrCasualEOCF]

Alright Thank you I have maximize but forgot about it sorry

If i take off MT and IMT, will the bonuses it gave me go away or are they permanent? Thats one detail I couldnt really find without actually testing it

[Lorien_the_First_One]

Alright Thank you I have maximize but forgot about it sorry

If i take off MT and IMT, will the bonuses it gave me go away or are they permanent? Thats one detail I couldnt really find without actually testing it

The sps go away when you remove the feat.

Since you already have maximize I'd go with either extend or toughness to replace combat casting.

[MrCasualEOCF]

Gotcha thanks guy, just signed up for the forums and got solid responses. Not my first board :P

[Impaqt]

EOCF?

Extreme Overclocking Forums?

Spent many years blowing up hardware because of that site! Good Times....

[halls]

You might want to consider Force of Personality if you feel you're not making many will saves.

[MrCasualEOCF]

@Halls,
Fort 5
Refl 5
Will 6 as of lvl8, so I dont know, I may take Force of Personality

@Impacqt
How did you guess?!? :P
But, yes Extreme Overclocking forum Got into the hobby just under two years ago and have been hooked ever since.