Zerging Sorc

[bergeau09]

So I need some sorc PL, i want them to be done asap, what would work great for a quick life?
I tried 12sorc/6pally/2monk. Of course it have awsome self-sufficient power but the weaknest is the spell point missing from the 8 sorc levels i don't have, and of course the higher level spells.
Any ideas?

I tought of
19sorc/1barb for speed boost and constant 10% running speed from barb.
16 Sorc/2pally/2rog evasionist trapper with awsome saves?
or just go pure?

Thank you!

Hoss

[Daemoneyes]

Pure WF with Ioun stone (sp and spellabsorb)
Get some sp potions (normal and greater will do) for the rare quests where you run dry

Ice savant with Acid (and a few points in Force)
Ice sla are great, together with IceStorm Acidrain and web nothing will survive
Take Conjuration Focus instead of Evocation.
Toughness, Maximize, Empower, Conjuration, Greater Conju, Heighten

If you dont like WF take Helf other races only if you have greensteel to reach good umd soon
(selfhealing at endlevel is easy but most dont achieve it soon enough)

Without greensteel and without WF/Helf take 1lvl rogue or artie for full umd (so either first lvl artie then 17sorc or 1rogue / 8sorc / 1rogue /rest sorc)
Barb is a nice thought but its over-rated

ps
artie is better if you dont want evasion (which is problematic on a sorc anyway)
i love repeater + ice outfit from challenges safes you tons of sp even without anything else to buff repeater damage
together with the challenge boots and the repair ring you are almost set

[DrakHar]

Pure WF with Ioun stone (sp and spellabsorb)
Get some sp potions (normal and greater will do) for the rare quests where you run dry

Ice savant with Acid (and a few points in Force)
Ice sla are great, together with IceStorm Acidrain and web nothing will survive
Take Conjuration Focus instead of Evocation.
Toughness, Maximize, Empower, Conjuration, Greater Conju, Heighten

If you dont like WF take Helf other races only if you have greensteel to reach good umd soon
(selfhealing at endlevel is easy but most dont achieve it soon enough)

Without greensteel and without WF/Helf take 1lvl rogue or artie for full umd (so either first lvl artie then 17sorc or 1rogue / 8sorc / 1rogue /rest sorc)
Barb is a nice thought but its over-rated

ps
artie is better if you dont want evasion (which is problematic on a sorc anyway)
i love repeater + ice outfit from challenges safes you tons of sp even without anything else to buff repeater damage
together with the challenge boots and the repair ring you are almost set

Also, take the wizard past life active feat if you have a wizard past life instead of greater spell focus. Spell focus is a pre req, but for greater, why up one school DC when you could get em all?

[bergeau09]

Spell focus is a pre req, but for greater, why up one school DC when you could get em all?

Indeed! +1.

Thank you for the tips, I think imma go WF, maybe with a splash of arty or either bab, i'll have to see
If you got others idea, keep 'em coming!

Hoss

[bergeau09]

Still only lvl 18, 2 more before TR again, taking other suggestion!

[DarkForte]

If you have a static group of zergers: splash 1 rogue or 1 arty so you can do the traps in trappy quests while your friends complete quest objectives (desecrated temple of vol or shadow knight, for example)

If you plan on soloing, splash barb to complete quests 10% faster.

[Daemoneyes]

If you plan on soloing, splash barb to complete quests 10% faster.

Dunno about your mario skills, but mine suck, so trap skills safe me way more time then 10% run speed ever could do.

[MRMechMan]

1 barb is a no-brainer for me. That 10% speed with sprints saves you way more time than an extra sorc level will.
1 arti or rogue for trap skills isn't a bad idea, but elite traps can be difficult to get with low sorc int....the xp is only really good in a few quests.

Pure is better at endgame but for TRing 1 barb level kicks pures ass so hard...it is basically like a 10% xp pot that stacks with anything, a sorc has so much firepower that most of the time is spent running and the faster you run the faster you're done .

After 1 barb level sorc TRs any other caster feels like they are wearing lead boots when running around. I really don't know how people can recommend pure for TRing...it just is not as good, period. It isn't just extra time saved, 10% speed/sprints give more survivability (particularly when harried), can be the difference between getting to that lever or not, getting the door open or interrupted, etc. And a toughness enhancement .

In summary, 19sorc/1barb acid or fire savant, use firewall/acid rain/acid blast/fireball, zerg till alerts, etc etc. Switch out of fire by vale and keep zerging till cap.

[Eighnuss]

1 arti 1 barb 18 sorc, good times.

[Jaid314]

the appeal to pure sorcerer for a TR life is that you get better spells faster.

for example, a level 6 sorcerer will be casting fireball and scorch, which is much better than the level 5 sorcerer/1 barbarian which will be casting scorch and burning hands (not that burning hands is *bad* mind you, it just isn't as fast for clearing a room as fireball), plus the level 6 has an almost-free burning hands SLA and a higher caster level for fire spells. at level 18, a pure sorcerer will have wail of the banshee (which is very powerful in the majority of non-epic content even on a sorcerer without absurd DCs, provided you have a good cha), while a splashed sorcerer will have at best circle of death. and of course, if you go air savant, the pure will have wind dance one level sooner.

obviously, this mostly applies every second level (on occasion, not having a second or third slot of a spell level that is not your highest will slow you down, but not nearly as much) and at levels 6, 12, and 18.

is it worth splashing? well, that's up to you. if you're one of the people that likes to kill everything in a quest, and zerging to you means just doing that faster, quite possibly not. if you just like to charge through while invisible and you only ever have to kill things rarely, the splash can really pay off big time (those sprint boosts can also get you past traps while taking less damage in some cases). it all depends on what you mean when you think of zerging.

[Kinerd]

I would go pure sorc. You're already really fast via Haste and in real pain waiting for spell slots, why splash 1 barb to shore up a strength and exacerbate a weakness?

Plus, even though you plan for this to be a transition life, you never know, you may get addicted to POWER!!! UNLIMITED... POWER!!!

[bergeau09]

Thanks for all these ideas, I think 18/1/1 sorc/arty/barb sound good to me, but i'll see.
Have a great time!

Hoss

P.S : I'M ADDICTED TO WIZ! THEY HAVE THE POWER!

[bergeau09]

And now... The noob question of the day...

Does Evoc DC improve spell dmg?

[Enoach]

And now... The noob question of the day...

Does Evoc DC improve spell dmg?

By 50% for all where it is the difference between Full Damage and Save 1/2

By 100% for Reflex Spells against Evasion when it is the difference between Full Damage and Save for None

+1 DC usually comes out as 5% better chance to land full damage - But again a couple things need to be put in perspective - Outside of Evasion many sorcerer spells are already 2x+ more damage then needed so even a Save would mean death.

[Kinerd]

Well, here are some things that are true.

1. Some damage spells have an Evocation DC. If your target is making saves more than on its natural 20 (very likely to be true), increasing your Evo DC will result in more damage with these spells. These tend towards multiple target spells.

2. Some damage spells have no DC, and are extremely powerful. These tend towards single target spells.

3. Some damage spells have a Conjuration DC. These are less common than category (1), but have some notable incidences: Niac's Cold Ray (excellent DPS if it works, and a Savant SLA), several acid spells (especially relevant if you are an Earth savant). Additionally, Conjuration DC also applies for an excellent CC option (Web which bypasses SR) and a fringe instant kill option (Trap the Soul which targets Will save and has an unusual target palette).

4. You can only cast so many spells in a given period of time. First you have the issue of your horrible human hands, second DDO enforces cooldowns both specific to a given spell and universal for casting any spell.

You will almost certainly increase your DPS by increasing your Evo DC, but it will absolutely not be at 1:1. This combined with its limited scope makes it very questionable whether pursuing Evo DC at the expense of certain other parameters is of optimal spell-casting utility.

[bergeau09]

I see, and anyone know what are Epic Elites DC? Enchatements, Evocations and Necromancy arr the ones that interest me the most hehe .

Hoss

[DarkForte]

For any of those, you want to be hitting the mid-fifties to be effective.

[bergeau09]

For any of those, you want to be hitting the mid-fifties to be effective.

Oh, TR grind.. Here I come !
Thank you everyone for the anwsers, TR'ing tonight, I'll give you feedback of what I choose and why.

Hoss

[Stormraiser]

Thanks for all these ideas, I think 18/1/1 sorc/arty/barb sound good to me, but i'll see.
Have a great time!

Hoss

P.S : I'M ADDICTED TO WIZ! THEY HAVE THE POWER!

Why are you taking artificer 1? The whole point of taking barb 1 is to run 10% faster but at a cost of waiting a higher level for spells. Now you're going to be 2 levels behind the spell curve. As people mentioned there are certain tiers where Sorcs gain a lot of power. You're going to end up being a level 16 sorc, 1 sorc 1 artificer.

If you want to zerg, either go pure WF sorc or go 1 barb rest sorc. Your extra trap skills will only matter if a quest has traps, your party has no other trappers. Yes, a 15% xp bonus is nice, but in many quests, going full blitz mode, you'll finish faster just running through to the end and killing the boss. Personally, I'd go pure wf, as I have not tried the barb splash myself and hated waiting an extra level for more stuff.

[MRMechMan]

Why are you taking artificer 1? The whole point of taking barb 1 is to run 10% faster but at a cost of waiting a higher level for spells. Now you're going to be 2 levels behind the spell curve. As people mentioned there are certain tiers where Sorcs gain a lot of power. You're going to end up being a level 16 sorc, 1 sorc 1 artificer.

If you want to zerg, either go pure WF sorc or go 1 barb rest sorc. Your extra trap skills will only matter if a quest has traps, your party has no other trappers. Yes, a 15% xp bonus is nice, but in many quests, going full blitz mode, you'll finish faster just running through to the end and killing the boss. Personally, I'd go pure wf, as I have not tried the barb splash myself and hated waiting an extra level for more stuff.

Sure, you are 2 levels behind the power curve but a sorcs power curve is pretty far out there, enough that if you are stubborn you can solo stuff (elite vale/amrath stuff) as a 10sorc/8x...16 sorc is plenty.

The speed (and possibly) trapping are well worth it.