Wizard or Sorceror? Can't deside.

[DreVolker]

I got an idea in my head, and now I am not sure where to do with it.
I normally play barbarians in ddo, so spellcasting is not something I know much about.
I was thinking of the iron/steel/mith/addy companion line, and thats what got me wanting to play a caster.
Anyone have more information on the companion? Like what are the stats of the companions, are they good at all?

I was thinking of it being focused on solo, but still able to add to a group when it has to.

I am still by all concerns, a noob in ddo, and as such, have no clue about anything.

I was also thinking of doing the whole 2 levels of rogue, so wizard is what I think would be, but then again, I have no clue on what to do. ^^

So, what do you all think?

Edit:
Or should I go rogue with a few levels of wizard/sorceror for the self/companion healing and buffs? What one would be more solo-friendly?

[PresentTense]

First off, welcome! Just by posting here and looking for advice, you are hereby upgraded from a noob to a newb - a new player who, instead of being sure he/she knows everything needed, looks for advice in order to improve themselves. Congratulations!

It's good to see you're looking at branching out into new classes, because it does change how the game is played a lot. However, not to discourage you, but the companion line is not very strong. The defenders are simply not very good. However, if you like summons, never fear - summon monster VIII can summon an air elemental, which is very useful in many settings.

If you're interested in soloing, I would recommend playing as a warforged so you can heal yourself with repair spells. If you don't have access to the race, then I would suggest picking wizard over sorcerer so you can take the pale master line, which will also provide you with the ability to heal yourself. Sorcerers and wizards, fleshie and warforged, are always welcome in parties, so don't worry about grouping when you need/want to.

The rule of thumb when multiclassing casters is that your casting class should always be your primary class. If you go sorcerer, I would suggest a warforged 20 sorcerer as the best way to go. Wizard gives you more options on race for a newer player, and also offers the possibility of being an 18 wizard / 2 rogue. If you do that, you'll want one of those two rogue levels to be at level 1 for the boost to skill points. The other one will probably be later, likely after you get firewall, one of the best damage spells for most of the game.

[DreVolker]

I apreciate your speedy responce to my question, and I am happy with your sound advice.

I am vip at the moment, and I have already out-right bought warforged and half-orc (as I tend to play barbarians).

Warforged has to be one of my favorite races ever (in ddo and tabletop), I just love everything about them from their story to their stats. So I was going to go warforged either way.

I am just curious on what to do for my character, I don't want to get weeks into a character only to find I do not like it. I play for fun, not nessarly to be overpowered.

I think rogue 2/wizard 18 is what I should do, does that give good solo-ability?

Any recomendations for what to take as I level? Should I follow a already laid out build, or make my own?
(Again, I am a noob, well newb ^^)

I understand that the defender line might be weak, but for some reason, I seem to love the idea of it, a warforged who has a contruct companion (if only I could cast permanincy on it xP).

Well, I am still at a lose for what I want to do, but I think I am on the right track.

Wizard as primary class, with possibly 2 levels of rogue splashed in.

So, what do you think?

[stoerm]

To start with I'd keep it simple. Pure warforged pale master. Max int, max con, rest of the points into str. Cannot go wrong. You'll have tons of skill points, just remember to max out balance and concentration.

Up to about level 7-9 you'll probably melee a lot since spell points are tight. Bull's strength + master's touch + great axe. To conserve spell points use repair potions and wands as much as possible, instead of healing yourself.

One level of rogue will make you a good trapper, but on the other hand I don't find traps to be that vital. You can open doors and locks with Knock spell/scrolls, or even the Bell of Opening from the store, or the Dowsing Rod wands from the event. You'll also resist the temptation to put points into dexterity.

A companion can be useful, but the enhancement points can be used better. As pale master you'll get skeletons and you get summon monster spells. Those should hopefully satisfy you pet needs. Also, remember this week the event is still on and you should try to get the elemental clickies if you can.

Have fun!

[PresentTense]

Sure, you'd be fine as an 18 wizard / 2 rogue. At low levels, your spell points will go fast, so I would recommend using the spell master's touch to give your self proficiency with a greataxe and kill most things with that. As you've probably found on your barbarian, things at low levels have very few hit points and can be killed in one or two hits - there's no reason to use your few spell points to overkill them when you can whack them with a big piece of sharp metal.

There's a thread with a basic and well-made version of this build at http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=218205. It also includes an explanation of some strategies to use while playing. I've actually got a friend playing this build right now - you can see what it looks like at mid-levels at http://my.ddo.com/character/thelanis/benedictbot/. And as for building your own character, I would suggest downloading and using the character generator. It can be found at http://www.rjcyberware.com/DDO/DDOCharGen.html and will let you plan any ideas you have all the way to level 20 to see what they will look like before you even get started.

And if you still want to try the companions, then by all means, give it a shot - resetting enhancements is a relatively easy and inexpensive process, so there's nothing wrong with some experimentation.

[DreVolker]

Seeing how I can reset enhancements, I don't need to set them in stone, the only thing I need to know now is what spells to pick up with each level of wizard, and then I should be set.
Thank you SO much for the help guys, it seriously go rid of a bunch of confusion for me.

I really do apreciate you taking your time to help me out, it makes me happy to play an mmo with a great community like this.
Anyway, last thing I request is some guideince on my spell selection.

Thanks again.

[PresentTense]

With 18 levels of wizard, you'll have five spells at spell levels 1-7, four seventh and eighth level spells, and three ninth-level spells. One of the advantages of being a wizard is that you can change the spells you have as you level up. For example, when you're at level 3 and have two levels of wizard, you'll have four first-level spells. A good selection of first-level spells would be master's touch, repair light damage, burning hands and charm person. As you level, you'll outgrow these spells - you won't need master's touch anymore, you'll have better repair spells than light, you'll have better damage spells than burning hands and you'll have better crowd control spells than charm person. At level 20, my wizard has spells like detect secret doors, jump and nightshield prepared, which are useful even at the end of the game.

That ability to swap is another reason I think wizards are better for newer casters - you can get a feel for all the spells and decide for yourself what you like and what you don't. You will get some spells as you level, but you'll want to inscribe most of them into your spellbook. To do that, you'll have to buy or find a scroll of the spell you want and then use the scribe scroll ability that will be in your starting hotbar. There's a full list of where you can buy scrolls at http://ddowiki.com/page/Scrolls. That page also lists the spells that are not sold as scrolls - those are the ones you'll want to make sure to take as you level up. That list will expand with the new spells coming in update 9 next month - new spells are generally not sold as scrolls - so you'll want to keep an eye out for those.

In any case, in your first few levels, you'll find some spells are more useful than others. For level two spells, useful ones include web, which is another crowd control spell; blur, which causes all incoming physical attacks to have a 20 percent miss chance; resist energy, negating some elemental damage; and scorching ray, a good low-level damage spell with no save. You'll also continue to get better repair spells that you can move up to. Level three spells are big, as they include displacement, haste and rage, three short-duration spells that will be useful all the way to the end of the game, giving you a 50 percent chance to have incoming attacks miss, a faster attack speed and more damage/hit points respectively. (The latter two are also mass buffs, which you can give to everyone in your party at once.) Finally, level four spells include stoneskin, another damage mitigation spell, and firewall, the king of damage spells for much of the game.

A couple things to note in there. First, a lot of the good damage spells are fire spells, so you'll probably want to take the enhancements to make them stronger. Eventually, you'll run into fire-immune enemies, but that's a long way away, and for now, fire will outdo acid, electric, ice and force in most situations. Second, there are a lot of damage mitigation spells on that list. Even as a warforged with the toughness feat, you won't have a ton of hit points, nor will you have a useful armor class. Spells that block incoming damage or allow you to avoid it are great.

[Chris79]

I think, being your first arcane, wizard is the better option. Some well established prestige lines (Pale Master, Archmage) and most important, with a wizard, swapping in/out spells is easily done at a rest shrine, unlike a sorcerer. first time through, you'll note that specific quests require specific spells, and being able to swap makes things alot less stressful

Good luck and have fun!

[SlogUK]

Don't dump con. And take the first level of rogue first. Go wizard then til u get fw. You might want to tinker on the character planner to get a sense of what to do with your skill points, and which feats etc. Also look on the dedicated wizard forum - it's excellent for learning about the class you want to make. Also, have fun!

[stoerm]

Some of my favourite spells, I still use many of them at level 11:

1-2
- resist energy
- master's touch
- charm
- expeditious retreat
- blur
- web
- knock
- jump

3-4
- firewall
- haste
- displacement
- ice storm
- heroism
- force missiles
- halt undead
- charm monster
- dimension door

At lower levels charm is brilliant. You can solo some tough quests by charming 30-40% of the enemies and leaving them to fight it out. Shield is good too, mandatory in quests with troglodyte casters.

http://ddowiki.com/page/Category:Sor..._Wizard_spells

Remember that scrolls don't cost spell points to cast! Buy stacks of repair scrolls. I also carry ice storm scrolls, and tend to find I can cast stoneskin from wands that somehow keep appearing in my inventory.

[soulaeon]

Go wizard, then TR into a sorcerer.

[Jaid314]

i don't find there are many places that *require* certain spells at all. there are a few places where a specific spell makes things easier, and many places where having a specific core of spells is easier (and those many places basically require the spells pretty near any sorcerer will have), but none where a specific spell is needed.

for the most part, the only spell you're not likely to have anyways that will make a huge difference in any quest is ooze puppet, and even that isn't a big deal (you can render the oozes helpless, which means those living spells can't throw meteor swarms and fire storms anymore, which is all you really cared about in the first place)

[Blank_Zero]

Thinking of making a caster myself. I've run some lowbies, but haven't made it to 20 with one yet.

With the new Sorc PrEs as well as the Epic changes, making a Nuker Sorc seems a bit more appealing atm, but I'm curious.

With current Epics, AM WF Wiz is king, with Drow PM being a close second.

But with Spell dmg increased by 50% on helpless mobs, along with HP decreased and Sorc Pres, how does a Nuker measure up on paper?

[Jaid314]

Thinking of making a caster myself. I've run some lowbies, but haven't made it to 20 with one yet.

With the new Sorc PrEs as well as the Epic changes, making a Nuker Sorc seems a bit more appealing atm, but I'm curious.

With current Epics, AM WF Wiz is king, with Drow PM being a close second.

But with Spell dmg increased by 50% on helpless mobs, along with HP decreased and Sorc Pres, how does a Nuker measure up on paper?

that's hard to say. part of the problem is that we don't really know all the changes that are coming in the next update. we know some of them, and that's definitely helpful, but not really enough to be certain.

that said, i would expect PM wizard to be pretty awesome in epics now. first off, instakill spells are going to work again. secondly, a drow PM can equal the WF AM's save DCs in the WF's primary school. if the PM drinks yugo pots and the WF doesn't, the drow will actually have higher DCs (and will be recharging SP over 15 minutes, which helps a bit with the SP gap as well). even a human or half-elf can have better DC than a WF, if their gear allows for +1 over the WF.