powerful Sorcerer build?

[Krag]

I listed in my build two options going necromancy specced or going the empower and heighten path. Though it still includes maximize, extend, yadda yadda regardless.
It totally depends on playstyle whether you want to cast Wails more, or Walls.

Even without empower just maximize, you are doing 300 percent base damage from your spells with a superior potency item for fire/ice spells with your capstone if you brought damage applification to tier 4.
Which I suggested to do if you dropped your spell resistances which I threw in for flavor.

No. Playstyle is only secondary factor in spells selection. You may love Wails all you want, but you can't cast it from level 1 to 17, you can't hurt raid bosses with your Wails, all epic trash mobs are immune too.

As for the empower, the difference will be painfully obvious when targets have high resistances. Try non-empowered firewalls in elite Titan and non-empowered polar ray on Harry to see the difference for yourself.

[tinyelvis]

......... Try non-empowered firewalls in elite Titan and non-empowered polar ray on Harry to see the difference for yourself.

In the case of Harry you wont really notice any difference in total damage if you are spec'd totally for fire/ice. The reason is that you use all your mana if you know what you're doing and when you do that, just maximizing produces about the same total damage as max/emp.

Not siding with anyone here....there is plenty of other bad or incorrect advice in this thread to go around.