Flaming sphere scroll Fan Club thread

[Saekee]

Nice post Saekee. This just makes me wonder how did you come up with this? I mean not many of us ever bothered thinking of that spell if I can be honest.

thx Holybird. I recall encountering them in Chains of Flame as castings by enemy gnolls. I found them really annoying and they followed me about. So I thought, why not do that also to them? Though I figured it out on my own, I am not the first. In another thread on stealth builds, some players have revealed knowledge about them.

thank you good sir, you just gave me a new way to play ddo, thanks to you the rest of my lives will have something different and new to offer, i mean, haven't played a nseaky life yet, seeing what you have shown me, the incentive is great, "just to try if i can do it too"

it's not like i'm always focused in speed running nor zerging, i never managed to distract last guardian (and rest can be done w/o much focus on sneaking XD)

tyvm for sharing your knowledge, add me as a rookie member of the flaming sphere scroll fan club, because haven't any more arcane lives left (and the 3 ranger lives will be shadar-kai too so... i'm enjoying just the thoughts of the possibilities you have opened with the scroll xD)

+1 to rep too

Thanks psykopeta! I encourage you to check out Spencerian's guide in my sig. I am trying to add to it, just haven't had much solid playtime. I recently had to abandon a PUG 30 minutes into Let Sleeping Dust Lie. It was a shame, since I was having fun assisting a well-played assassin there.

"Critical Failures" take place in D&D world -- third edition, to be exact. Wizard Julian's favorite spell in Mount: first level, summons a horse. Uses so far:

Cast during battle in a dungeon room -- instant meatshield
Cast inside a room full of traps -- all traps set off, very dead horse
Emergency food for a hungry, but somewhat friendly vampire -- ensures she stays friendly
All-purpose distraction -- a horse popping out of nowhere is liable to cause confusion, at least briefly

No wonder one of Julian's friends asks him "What have you got against horses?" Answer: nothing. Sometimes he even rides them.

Unfortunately, most DDO traps are not one-shot -- they keep spinning or firing until disarmed. So you cannot just send in a sacrificial pet/hireling.

Hah! The use of summons is actually used in that way too. Ghoste championed it in his videos--he used the celestial dog as his sacrificial pet. He would use it to distract enemies or move them closer to each other. He was able to cast the dog right where he wanted to do so.

I use them too--I keep a Roderic's Wand on my hotbar for summoning a variety of little sacrifices, depending on the situation. I think they might cause an alert with the scorpion in Claw of Vulkoor, but I am not sure. They can be used in tandem with flaming sphere. One of the advantages of flaming sphere is that the mobs walk very slowly to check it out, whereas the dog will get attacked aggressively (and usually die quickly). So both work, just depends on circumstances.

For example, at the entrance of Running with the Devils, I cast a flaming sphere and ran ahead of it to the first gate switch by the archons. The archons eventually finished their dialogue, and around that time the flaming sphere began to rumble towards them. So they lit up and attacked it, running past me (I was invisible and in stealth). Then it was easy to proceed. No good guys got hurt, except some minor burns! (Not counting all my deaths on several failed runs)

I have attempted to plop several spheres in the nasty final air elemental mess of Fleshmakers. The air elementals sometimes get aggro on the spheres and give you a break. Not the best way, but helped.

[Qezuzu]

I wonder if the sphere can be cast in front of mobs in the midst of a shadow phase by Shadar Kai or the TF armor clickie.

It can. AFAIK no effect/action is able to prematurely end Greater Invisibility/Shadow Phase. This makes it completely incredible when going for zero-kill runs.

[Saekee]

It can. AFAIK no effect/action is able to prematurely end Greater Invisibility/Shadow Phase. This makes it completely incredible when going for zero-kill runs.

Would you like to verify it and, if so, post a screenie here? I can add it to the first post with your name

[Qezuzu]

Would you like to verify it and, if so, post a screenie here? I can add it to the first post with your name

Hobgoblin: TOUCH PRETTY BALL

[dunklezhan]

I think I knew all this... and yet... I've never bothered.

Since stealth is completely broken at the moment (unless it's just me: can anyone else sound-pull by shooting the floor/wall near mobs at the moment? I certainly can't), my Rogue is going to pick up a stack of these. Enchant wiz too I think.

[Luxgolg]

I'm going to assume that Arty PL increases the duration also?

[Saekee]

Hobgoblin: TOUCH PRETTY BALL

Thank you Qezuzu! I have edited the first page!

I think I knew all this... and yet... I've never bothered.
Since stealth is completely broken at the moment (unless it's just me: can anyone else sound-pull by shooting the floor/wall near mobs at the moment? I certainly can't), my Rogue is going to pick up a stack of these. Enchant wiz too I think.

Stealth isn't broken; it has just been altered. I haven't sound-pulled in a while; that may be less effective or broken. I think the mobs got smarter. It DOES work when you target a breakable.

Sound pulling definitely does NOT work on the last scorpion in Claw. In epics it seems to come down to the secret door when it is opened, though--I do not recall if that is only on EH or EE.

I'm going to assume that Arty PL increases the duration also?

Hi Luxgolg, I checked the wiki on Arty PL:

Passive: You were an Artificer in a past life. You occasionally find yourself tinkering with your gear. Each time you acquire this feat you gain a stacking +1 bonus to all Intelligence based skills and Use Magic Device. This feat can be stacked up to three times.

Feat: You recall more about your past life as an artificer. When you use a rod, staff, or wand, you have a 15% chance to retain essence and not expend a charge, and can produce an Enchant Armor or Enchant Weapons effect a total of ten times per rest. (Activate this artificer ability to increase the Enhancement Bonus of your target's currently equipped weapons or shields by 1, or to increase the Enhancement Bonus of your target's currently equipped armor by 1. An item can have only one temporary item enchantment at a time.)

OTOH, having the artificer ability 'Artificer Knowledge' might extend it. I have not tested it. Would you like to and post the results? One minute is already pretty long anyway but it would be funny if artificers can have it extend significantly:
Scrolls: Artificer level 1. Grants a +2 to UMD checks related to scroll use, and all scrolls used by the Artificer have their caster levels increased by 1. This caster level bonus increases by 1 at Artificer levels 4, 7, 10, and 13, and is capped by the Artificer's Intelligence Bonus.

[LuKaSu]

(awesome stuff)

You, sir, are an asset to the community, and have been ever since you first started posting on the forums. Thanks for making this game more fun!

[Saekee]

You, sir, are an asset to the community, and have been ever since you first started posting on the forums. Thanks for making this game more fun!

Thank you LuKaSu, that is a very thoughtful comment.

[Luxgolg]

Thank you Qezuzu! I have edited the first page!

Stealth isn't broken; it has just been altered. I haven't sound-pulled in a while; that may be less effective or broken. I think the mobs got smarter. It DOES work when you target a breakable.

Sound pulling definitely does NOT work on the last scorpion in Claw. In epics it seems to come down to the secret door when it is opened, though--I do not recall if that is only on EH or EE.


Hi Luxgolg, I checked the wiki on Arty PL:

Passive: You were an Artificer in a past life. You occasionally find yourself tinkering with your gear. Each time you acquire this feat you gain a stacking +1 bonus to all Intelligence based skills and Use Magic Device. This feat can be stacked up to three times.

Feat: You recall more about your past life as an artificer. When you use a rod, staff, or wand, you have a 15% chance to retain essence and not expend a charge, and can produce an Enchant Armor or Enchant Weapons effect a total of ten times per rest. (Activate this artificer ability to increase the Enhancement Bonus of your target's currently equipped weapons or shields by 1, or to increase the Enhancement Bonus of your target's currently equipped armor by 1. An item can have only one temporary item enchantment at a time.)

OTOH, having the artificer ability 'Artificer Knowledge' might extend it. I have not tested it. Would you like to and post the results? One minute is already pretty long anyway but it would be funny if artificers can have it extend significantly:
Scrolls: Artificer level 1. Grants a +2 to UMD checks related to scroll use, and all scrolls used by the Artificer have their caster levels increased by 1. This caster level bonus increases by 1 at Artificer levels 4, 7, 10, and 13, and is capped by the Artificer's Intelligence Bonus.

Tested(by a guildie who was online) and does not increase duration

[Saekee]

Tested(by a guildie who was online) and does not increase duration

Thx Luxgolg! I have updated the first post!

[Saekee]

I did Rainbow in the Dark and can confirm that it does NOT light the darkness in any way.

[Eth]

I remember the very first time I played an arcane I asked in guild what spells to take in early levels.
Sure enough someone told me to take Flame Sphere as my lvl 2 spell. Took me a bit to realise I got trolled.

But cool to see some people can find creative ways to utilise spells like that

[Wipey]

General Stuff
Ride a Flaming Sphere !!!

/signed Hellhounds in Big Top.

[Saekee]

I remember the very first time I played an arcane I asked in guild what spells to take in early levels.
Sure enough someone told me to take Flame Sphere as my lvl 2 spell. Took me a bit to realise I got trolled.

But cool to see some people can find creative ways to utilise spells like that

Thx Eth!

General Stuff
Ride a Flaming Sphere !!!

/signed Hellhounds in Big Top.

Awesome Wipey!

[Nuclear_Elvis]

Very new player to DDO, and have to agree also from a new player perspective. I have only tried one Wizard so far and took Flaming Sphere as one of my initial spells (created lvl 4 vet status). When fighting at low levels solo w/hirelings, Flaming Sphere has been a nice distraction regardless that it doesn't damage heavily. I actually came to rely on it when in some Elite dungeons. I did find it odd that the spell does not scale with levels, nor is there a more powerful version you get later. My recommendation to dev's - do one or the other.

[Saekee]

Very new player to DDO, and have to agree also from a new player perspective. I have only tried one Wizard so far and took Flaming Sphere as one of my initial spells (created lvl 4 vet status). When fighting at low levels solo w/hirelings, Flaming Sphere has been a nice distraction regardless that it doesn't damage heavily. I actually came to rely on it when in some Elite dungeons. I did find it odd that the spell does not scale with levels, nor is there a more powerful version you get later. My recommendation to dev's - do one or the other.

Hi Nuclear_Elvis, welcome to the game and forums, and thanks for posting! It is true that it is odd that Flaming Sphere does not scale with combustion power. Even if it did, it would still be pretty lousy and is not worth recoding. Its behavior is so unlike other spells anyway and why I focused upon it for tactical reasons.

In any event I recommend that one use the scroll directly, not cast the spell. The cast version is somewhat expensive in terms of spell points (15 sp). I do not even recommend that one take it as one of the selected spells with the trainer (see Rare arcane scroll list for what-to-take each level since those on the list cannot be simply bought from a vendor). The scroll version is cheap and fairly easy to UMD due to its low-level and automatic for anyone with 2 levels in druid, sorc or wizard classes.

[Nuclear_Elvis]

I figured that since the character was Wizard and can learn spells - was less a factor, since I can learn more spells over time. I could see that advice as key for other casters who don't learn spells though.

[Sehenry03]

Little late on the forums for this but if anyone is still looking for uses...the best by far IMHO is to cast in GoP during the drop to the ghostly beholder.

The flaming sphere gets agro for a few seconds and that's usually long enough to kill the boss at each level and summon another one during the next drop.

[Saekee]

Little late on the forums for this but if anyone is still looking for uses...the best by far IMHO is to cast in GoP during the drop to the ghostly beholder.

The flaming sphere gets agro for a few seconds and that's usually long enough to kill the boss at each level and summon another one during the next drop.

hi Sehenry03, awesome tip. Can you get a screenie? I will then add it to the first page with props. Is that for heroic or epic content?