Starting damage spell

[Mumu720]

I have noticed that in a lot of guides people take maguc missle as their first dmg spell. But why not niacs cold ray? It does more damage. Can someone help me out. Or could someone point me in the direction of a good wf nuker guide?

[Visty]

niacs has a save

[Anneliese]

As a WF sorc you can do the lower levels usually easy with

#1 Masters Touch, Repair Light
#2 Shield
#3 Charm Person/Burning Hands/Hypno .. whatever floats your boat

[coolpenguin410]

Niac's has a save to negate the damage. That means, even if you have a high DC, a good number of your casts will be worthless doing absolutely no damage for low levels. That doesn't even factor in the fact that it's a ray and unless the target is moving straight at you, there's a good chance of missing, again doing no damage.

However, magic missle never misses, has no save and is rarely negated (by shield or nightshield spells). Any creature resistant to cold damge still take full damage from magic missle.

[DownClan]

The problem with Magic Missile is that is does so little damage, why bother?

For low-level Sorc's, a very viable strategy is to use Master's Touch, and swing whatever good two-handed weapon you can get. If you drop some form of CC on a MOB and then whack at them, it works pretty well.

--DownClan

[richieelias]

MM is the worst spell to take *at low level* on a sorc. Extremely poor damage to mana. And even at later levels chain missile is better if you can fit it in.

Next worst for WF is Niacs unless you maxed CHA and took conjuration focus.

Burning Hands would come in third worst in my opinion. Mostly it just draws a lot of agro and does little damage.

Your best option (as WF) would be shocking grasp. Works on everything at low levels, does good damage, and instant cast on a sorc. You have repair (or you'd better), so being in melee range is not an issue.

I never bothered with charm at low level on a WF sorc. It was always easier just to burn through them with shocking grasp or whack at them with a mace.

My spell list for WF casters is: Shocking grasp, repair, expedious retreat (I do not like walking slow, and I do not like clickies) but a good alternative would be jump or shield instead.

[Mumu720]

MM is the worst spell to take *at low level* on a sorc. Extremely poor damage to mana. And even at later levels chain missile is better if you can fit it in.

Next worst for WF is Niacs unless you maxed CHA and took conjuration focus.

Burning Hands would come in third worst in my opinion. Mostly it just draws a lot of agro and does little damage.

Your best option (as WF) would be shocking grasp. Works on everything at low levels, does good damage, and instant cast on a sorc. You have repair (or you'd better), so being in melee range is not an issue.

I never bothered with charm at low level on a WF sorc. It was always easier just to burn through them with shocking grasp or whack at them with a mace.

My spell list for WF casters is: Shocking grasp, Shield, expedious retreat (I do not like walking slow) but a good alternative would be jump instead.

why wouldnt you max cha with a sorc?
So shocking grasp is a touch spell? How do you use it? Select them and cast? I dot no how to select some one if they arent in my party how do you do that?

[richieelias]

Well, with a WF nuker you do not necessarily *have* to maximize charisma, but its best to do so at all times anyway. The point was that you'd really need to maximize charisma *and* take the conjuration spell focus.

Yes it is touch range. Generally I just spam the button as something approaches me. It wont actually cast until it is in range. Most things will die with just one cast and wont even have time to get off one hit.

Best way to use it is to turn on mouselook "T" and bind your spells to keys near the wasd movement keys and the extra buttons on your mouse if you have any. You are now in something similar to first person shooter mode, and your spells will target whatever you are pointing the center of your screen at. I highly recommend trying this mode and getting used to playing this way.

If you are going the slow method of casting spells by manually clicking them on your hotbar... I would advise against using any touch spells. They simply are not friendly with non-mouselook mode given the mobile nature of the game. You can select monsters easily with the <tab> key.

[gwlech]

I have noticed that in a lot of guides people take maguc missle as their first dmg spell. But why not niacs cold ray? It does more damage. Can someone help me out. Or could someone point me in the direction of a good wf nuker guide?

Master's touch bulls strength and rage. Just pick up the heftiest 2 hander you can get ahold of and go to town until you get wall of fire. This method is so easy it makes me want to cry seeing all the pansy elf sorc/wizards with under 60hp trying to niacs and burning hands **** they could easily beat down.

In fact there is not an easier, faster way to level an arcane from 1-7(8) but to combine these buffs along with blur/displace, stoneskin, haste. If you feel that this is not enough, then you can use hypno/suggestion as needed tactically.

[Shade]

I think the lvl1 damage spells are all pretty well balanced. Which one someone considers the best will depend on there skill and playstyle.

Veteran/Skilled player able to go toe-to-toe with mobs and live: Shocking Grasp, as it's the highest damage one and has no save. Disadvantage is that it's a touch spell.
Veteran player that lacks skill: Niacs, as it has potential to be very effective if you have the gear/tomes/feats to keep your DC maxxed out
New average player: Burning Hands: Easy to aim aoe that is somewhat effective
New bad player: Magic missle: Ultra easy to aim long range (ya cant miss), but ultimately ineffective spell.

[Mumu720]

Ok is there any gear that will help me with dc and sp and stuff
like
that i can get at a low to mid lvl it will b awhile
till im able to get stuff thats ml:18. So far this is what i have. Cape
of plus two cha, scepter of wizardry II, scepter of spell pen II and improved potency II, necklace +2 con, boots +10% striding, nothing yet for bracers, gloves of +1 spell pen, +1 sarting docent, no tinket eaither. I should add im a lvl 6 wf sorc. Any ideas anyone?

[ddoer]

Veteran/Skilled player able to go toe-to-toe with mobs and live: Shocking Grasp, as it's the highest damage one and has no save. Disadvantage is that it's a touch spell.
Veteran player that lacks skill: Niacs, as it has potential to be very effective if you have the gear/tomes/feats to keep your DC maxxed out

Vets who lack of game knowledge to maximize spell DC, and need a toughness feat in L1 to have enough HP to survive also take Shocking Grasp.

[Arctigis]

Vets who lack of game knowledge to maximize spell DC, and need a toughness feat in L1 to have enough HP to survive also take Shocking Grasp.

Doesn't matter what the DC is, if a spell has a save it has a save. Niac's does great damage and I'd recommend
picking it up on a Human or Drow sorc. On a WF (the only race to play IMO anyway!), shocking grasp + acid spray
+ acid blast at L6 and you are good to go. Take acid/electric enhancement tiers until L8 when you should re-spec to
favour WoF.
Currently lvl'ing a Human Sorc and it's interesting what content becomes difficult which was absolutely trivial on
a WF.

[richieelias]

Vets who lack of game knowledge to maximize spell DC, and need a toughness feat in L1 to have enough HP to survive also take Shocking Grasp.

I like how you're constantly going on about how there are several different ways to build and play sorcs, and then proceed to call the shocking grasp route "lacking in game knowledge".

I would choose shocking grasp over Niacs + a worthless feat that I will have to blow my one free respec respec-ing out of it later any day. Honestly, you spend at most 3 hours playing the level 1 (4 if veteran) to 6 range. It is NOT worth the short term conjuration focus.

Plan your builds ultimately for end game, and try to make sure you dont struggle mid-game. Any gimp build can blow through level 1-6.

[ddoer]

I like how you're constantly going on about how there are several different ways to build and play sorcs, and then proceed to call the shocking grasp route "lacking in game knowledge".

you get it wrong. I meant, those without knowledge should go for shocking grasp, but i don't mean all sorc who take shocking grasp are lack of knowledge. There is a logical difference. if you don't know how to maximize your spell DC, u won't be able to use Niac effectively, and you should not consider Niac, and Shocking grasp is the best choice.

it just like, Shade never said all sorc who use Niacs are lack of skill, he only mean vet who lack of skill should take Niacs. And I have no comment to his point.

[fire-ice]

OP:

I have noticed that in a lot of guides people take maguc missle as their first dmg spell. But why not niacs cold ray? It does more damage. Can someone help me out. Or could someone point me in the direction of a good wf nuker guide?

However, this particular thread is concerning WF, so my stance here is shocking grasp all the way. Any other race (except dwarf), I would say go with niacs.

The OP is NOT about WF sorcs.

Sure it (shocking grasp) has a low range but any sorcerer worth his worth won't care about getting that close to kill because 1. they will be dead and 2. you either have high constitution or the ability to heal yourself.

Say what? Priority 1 for Sorc stats is almost always maximized Cha for spell DC! Con is a secondary stat. Unless the Sorc is a WF, "self-healing" comes from potions because the UMD is too high to use a cure wand.

Haste and Wall of fire.

Those are your two absolute must-have spells.

I agree with WOF. That spell rocks! I find I have to be very careful of aggro with it, though, because smarter foes charge right through it to kill the squishy sorc who cast it.

Does Haste duration increase with level? I replaced the spell with a Lvl-5 clickie, but the cursed thing only last 30 sec! We don't even finish buffing before the spell expires!

=========

Back to the OP, I run a Drow and love Niacs. When facing a foe with high Ref, I used my wand or acid splash on them. Acid splash still does half damage if they make their save, and it really slows down a mob charge.

Web is a great spell, BUT it has 2 saves! First, it has a Ref save to catch them. Then it has a Str save to hold them. If the sorc has high DC, the spell is effective, but one should understand the limitations of a spell that has multiple save routes.

I agree with the MM consensus:
- It's a great spell when the opponent is hard to hit.
- The damage makes it nearly worthless, especially when we have an eternal wand as part of our starting package.
- The eternal MM wand at the end of Catacombs make the P2P quest worth the $5.00 or so it takes to buy the Turbine points to play it.

I'd say beginning Sorcs should try to get through Waterworks however they can. In addition to the great XP & favor, they get an eternal wand of acid. It's a great SP saver for non-boss foes or foes that are already mostly damaged. With 2 or 3 eternal wands, the sorc can sit back and spam the hell out of them with a bunch of low damage, short cooldown shots that do not draw aggro.

[Arctigis]

OP:
The OP is NOT about WF sorcs.

Read it again. It asks for a WF nuker guide. This strongly implies to me that OP wants to play WF.

Say what? Priority 1 for Sorc stats is almost always maximized Cha for spell DC! Con is a secondary stat. Unless the Sorc is a WF, "self-healing" comes from potions because the UMD is too high to use a cure wand.

I think high Cha is a given on a pureclass. The secondary stat is CON. As WF have boosted starting CON and
enhancements to boost CON they generally have higher HP and resilience than other races.

I agree with WOF. That spell rocks! I find I have to be very careful of aggro with it, though, because smarter foes charge right through it to kill the squishy sorc who cast it.

Only if your Sorc. is squishy ;-)

Does Haste duration increase with level? I replaced the spell with a Lvl-5 clickie, but the cursed thing only last 30 sec! We don't even finish buffing before the spell expires!

Yes, you get 6 seconds per lvl. If extended, that's 4 minutes at L20

Back to the OP, I run a Drow and love Niacs. When facing a foe with high Ref, I used my wand or acid splash on them. Acid splash still does half damage if they make their save, and it really slows down a mob charge.

I don't think there is much debate that Niac's is a decent spell on a drow caster, particularly if you have
some conjuration focus. However, it still gets saved against 1 in 20 casts. WF are -2DC vs. Drow - this does
make a noticeable difference. I prefer something I know is going to work every time (SG).

Web is a great spell, BUT it has 2 saves! First, it has a Ref save to catch them. Then it has a Str save to hold them. If the sorc has high DC, the spell is effective, but one should understand the limitations of a spell that has multiple save routes.

Web is great when coupled with a non-fire based AoE such as acid blast or acid spray. You can kite mobs
though it until it sticks then nuke them in one go (you can do this without web but it's easier with).

I'd say beginning Sorcs should try to get through Waterworks however they can. In addition to the great XP & favor, they get an eternal wand of acid. It's a great SP saver for non-boss foes or foes that are already mostly damaged. With 2 or 3 eternal wands, the sorc can sit back and spam the hell out of them with a bunch of low damage, short cooldown shots that do not draw aggro.

Maybe. Personally, I've never needed them. At low levels I whack most stuff with the ember greataxe, bull's and
Master's Touch.

[fire-ice]

Read it again. It asks for a WF nuker guide. This strongly implies to me that OP wants to play WF.

You're right. My bad. I read that 5 times and missed the lower case wf because I was looking for capitalized WF. Doh!