What alignment is better for a Sorceror or Wizard - Neutral / Chaotic / ???

[pappo]

I was wondering if alignment had much to do when creating a new Sorceror or Wizard ?

I see some toons using Chaotic. Is that a benefit on a caster ?

[EllisDee37]

I prefer chaotic for two reasons:

1) I take less damage from the demon queen

2) I never use stability items anyway, even when true neutral

Chaotic Neutral is my preferred alignment for all alts. For melees this allows me to equip a crafted True Chaos of Construct Bane maul at level 3, so that's a real, tangible benefit unlike the casters where it really doesn't much matter.

[Enoach]

The main advantage of True Neutral is the avoidance of Damage and Effects that can plague other alignments

Example:
Hezaru - Chaos Hammer (Lawful characters are Slowed on a failed save)
IQ Clerics - Orders Wrath (Chaotic characters are Stunned on a failed save)

Good vs Neutral for me is more a choice between UMD requirements and the ability to access a specific Weapon to use. Such as wanting to use a True Good Item etc. However, Taint of Evil item use to be very beneficial (most of that gear has been bested), this was another reason to go True Neutral.

Personally the one that takes the least amount of alignment damage is True Neutral, but at a cost of needing UMD to wield items of other alignments.

As a Wizard I ran Chaotic Neutral and the only place where I sometimes had problems was in IQ where spamming Order's Wrath was a common pass-time of the Clerics.

[unbongwah]

True Neutral has 3 main benefits:

• Immunity to Unholy/Anarchic/Axiomatic dmg
• Ability to use Stability items (+saves & AC)
• Use evil-tainted / anarchic / axiomatic gear w/out neg lvl

The main drawbacks are:

• UMD check to use Pure Good and True Law / Chaos gear
• Some ED abilities require specific alignments to work: e.g., Blessed Blades (EA) has no effect if TN; for Fanaticism (US) need to be lawful or chaotic
• Still take True Law / Chaos dmg (however this is less severe than anarchic / axiomatic)

For me the pros outweigh the cons, so I always go TN on my chars unless playing monks or pallies.

[bsquishwizzy]

In the end, the alignment debate when it comes to arcanes is a bit of a wash. The UMD issue highlighted in one of the posts above really only applies to weapons. Unless you're going to be a melee caster, it is essentially a non-issue.

However, if you go PM, there might be some issues with some of the equipment, so a Neutral alignment may be of some benefit. Other than that, I can't think of any thing off the top of my head that will really hamper you being a wizard of any stripe.

[EllisDee37]

However, if you go PM, there might be some issues with some of the equipment, so a Neutral alignment may be of some benefit. Other than that, I can't think of any thing off the top of my head that will really hamper you being a wizard of any stripe.

You mean taint of evil stuff? My PM is chaotic neutral and hasn't noticed any gear issues.

[unbongwah]

You mean taint of evil stuff? My PM is chaotic neutral and hasn't noticed any gear issues.

Technically you would take a neg lvl if you equipped Axiomatic gear.

[EllisDee37]

Duh to me, on re-read he's pretty clearly talking about taint of evil. I misread it originally; I thought he said "so Neutral alignment may be of some benefit." He actually said "so a Neutral alignment may be of some benefit" which is perfectly clear. At least for people (unlike me) who can read. heh.