The Best Way To Level ~ Fire Sorcerer Build

[Strimtom]

Hello Friends, welcome to my latest and greatest in Build experiences.

Fire sorcerer. It's a classic and is something every DDO player will try at some point. Since the changes in U41 sorcerer and wizard have felt amazing but nothing has felt better than sorcerer thanks to Tiefling and sharn gear. If you want to watch a video where I explain it, click right here!

Tl;DW: Tiefling fire penetration makes leveling the easiest in the world, and sharn gearing lets you possibly have 97% crit chance and 60% crit multi, which can go up to 110% crit multi when the new epic destiny changes roll around.

Fire Sorcerer
Sorcerer 20
True Neutral Tiefling


Stats
. . . . . . . .28pt . . 32pt. . .34pt . . 36pt. . .Tome. . .Level Up
. . . . . . . .---- . . ----. . .---- . . ----. . .---- . . --------
Strength. . . . .8. . . . 8 . . . .8. . . . 8 . . . +7 . . . 4: CHA
Dexterity . . . .8. . . . 8 . . . .8. . . . 8 . . . +7 . . . 8: CHA
Constitution. . 16. . . .18 . . . 18. . . .18 . . . +7 . . .12: CHA
Intelligence. . 10. . . . 8 . . . 10. . . .12 . . . +7 . . .16: CHA
Wisdom. . . . . .8. . . . 8 . . . .8. . . . 8 . . . +7 . . .20: CHA
Charisma. . . . 20. . . .20 . . . 20. . . .20 . . . +7 . . .24: CHA
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28: CHA

Skills
. . . . . 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
. . . . .------------------------------------------------------------
Concent . 4. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 23
Spellcr . 4. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 23
Haggle. . . .½ .½ .½ .½ .½ .1 .1 .1 .1 .½ .½ .½ .½ .½ .½ .½ .½ .½ . . 11
UMD . . . 2. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. . .11
Balance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ½. ½. ½. ½. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. .8
Bluff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 . 2
. . . . .------------------------------------------------------------
. . . . .12. 4. 4. 4. 4. 4. 5. 5. 5. 5. 5. 5. 5. 5. 6. 6. 6. 6. 6. 6


Feats

.1. . . . : Maximize Spell
.3. . . . : Completionist OR Mental Toughness
.6. . . . : Past Life: Wizard OR Improved Mental Toughness
.9. . . . : Spell Focus: Evocation
12. . . . : Spell Focus: Enchantment
15. . . . : Spell Penetration
18. . . . : Quicken Spell
21 Epic . : Wellspring of Power
24 Epic . : Burst of Glacial Wrath
26 Destiny: Toughness
27 Epic . : Epic Damage Reduction
28 Destiny: Mass Frog
29 Destiny: Deific Warding
30 Epic . : Embolden Spell
30 Legend : Scion of: Plane of Fire OR Plane of Air


Spells

1. Fire Bolt (1), Jump (1), Nightshield (2), Acid Spray (3)
2. Scorch (4), Knock (5), Blur (7), Resist Energy (9)
3. Fireball (6), Acid Blast (7), Displacement (9), Haste (11)
4. Wall of Fire (8), Dimension Door (9), Phantasmal Killer (11), Fire Shield (13)
5. Teleport (10), Break Enchantment (11), Cyclonic Blast (13), Prismatic Ray (15)
6. Greater Heroism (12), True Seeing (13), Circle of Death (15)
7. Delayed Blast Fireball (14), Greater Teleport (15), Prismatic Spray (17)
8. Sunburst (16), Greater Shout (17), Mass Charm Monster (19)
9. Meteor Swarm (18), Thunderstrike (19), Mass Hold Monster (20)

Enhancements (80+9 AP)

Fire Savant (41 AP)

• Fire Savant, Fire Affinity, Greater Fire Affinity, Immolation, Elemental Persistance, Elemental Apotheosis
  1. One with the Inferno I, Spell Critical, Conflagration III
  2. Efficient Quicken III, Spell Critical, Fanning the Flames III
  3. Efficient Maximize III, Spell Critical, Charisma
  4. Spell Critical, Charisma
  5. Awaken Elemental Weakness, Evocation Focus

Eldritch Knight (Sorcerer) (25 AP)

• Eldritch Strike, Spellsword, Imbue the Blade, Subtle Force
  1. Improved Mage Armor III, Toughness III
  2. Improved Shield III, Mystic Wards III, Shield Training, Wand and Scroll Mastery I
  3. Charisma
  4. Armored Arcana, Charisma

Tiefling (23 AP)

• Bloodhunt I, Charisma I, Bloodhunt II, Charisma II, Bloodhunt III
  1. Obscuring Darkness
  2. Infernal Resistance: Acid, Lasting Darkness
  3. Infernal Resistance: Cold, Incineration, Student of Darkness
  4. Infernal Sovereign: Electric, Incineration, Servant of Darkness III

Destiny (24 AP)

Draconic Incarnation

1. Energy Sheath: Electricity III, Charisma
2. Out with bang: Electricity III, Precise: Evocation II, Charisma
3. Dragon Heritage: Red III, Charisma
4. Energy Burst: Fire III, Spell Knowledge III
5. Dragon Breath

Twists of Fate (23 fate points)

1. Empyrean Magic (Tier 3 Crusader)
2. School Specialist: Evocation (Tier 2 Magister)
3. Rejuvenation Cocoon (Tier 1 Primal)
4. Endless Faith (Tier 1 Exalted)
5. Charisma (Tier 1 Exalted)

Endgame gear

Helm Arcsteel Brim
Necklace Sigil of Regalport
Trinket Five rings - Wisdom 17, saves 14, ???, CHA 4
Cloak Hallowed Trail
Belt Burnscar Sash
Ring1 Shattered Onyx
Ring2 Clouded dreams
Gloves Blue scale gauntlets
Boots LGS Fire
Bracers Castigators
Armor Blessed Vestments
Goggles Collective Sight - Con 22, ins con 10
Weapon Wild flame
Shield Giants platter
Augments striding 30%, +1 globe, +2 luck
Filigree: 4 Ottos, 4 Eye of the Beholder, +2 Charisma, and 2x +1 charisma

[Hobgoblin]

have u done this?

i avoided glacial wrath on my sorc life. i was under the impression that it lost caster levels from all the fire cores. if not i can attest to its power!

[Strimtom]

have u done this?

i avoided glacial wrath on my sorc life. i was under the impression that it lost caster levels from all the fire cores. if not i can attest to its power!

Yes. The caster level does go down but I don't care about the damage of the spell I care about the freeze. The freeze dc is based on evocation so being a fire savant doesnt effect it at all, allowing me to freeze whole groups easily. Highly recommend.

[Feralthyrtiaq]

With the recent changes to the Concentration check (DC = 10 + 1/10th incoming damage) I skipped Quicken on a recent Warlock life to check them out. I usually max Concentration even with Quicken.

So, with my normal investment in Concentration (easily hit mid 70s) I never failed a single scroll or spell from 15 to 30 (was Deep Gnome 1Wiz/1Barb/18Lock)

BUT, that's mainly R1/2 with a handfull of R6-R8 thrown in.

With a Concentration roll of 1 + 70. I can take a 600 pt hit to the face and still cast.

Add that with the fast Sorc cast speed you might get more mileage out of Enlarge or Empower or w/e you fancy.

(I still missed Quicken cast times though lol)

[Garorg]

This looks really fun and the video was great. I don't have a character with a lot of past lives though. What would you recommend dropping if you don't have the extra racial AP's?

Thanks!

[Hobgoblin]

Just off the top, I would think about the tiefling cores, and maybe take a point off mage armor and shield SLA. This loses u 4 prr but if u dont have the ap..... would think of more when I get home. If u really want u can ignore racial tree entirely and dip into Harper. I dont recommend this as racial tree is powerful, but it is an option

[Garix]

In your Ice sorcerer build you left out maximise and empower as being unnecessary (iirc).

Wondering why you've picked maximise here?

I still take both but my gear sucks so I need all the help I can get

[Strimtom]

With the recent changes to the Concentration check (DC = 10 + 1/10th incoming damage) I skipped Quicken on a recent Warlock life to check them out. I usually max Concentration even with Quicken.

Meteor Swarm just takes too long to cast, you lose a lot of damage. Fireball and other spells are fine, but you notice with swarm, Burst, dragon breath, rejuv cocoon, and tiefling cloud.

This looks really fun and the video was great. I don't have a character with a lot of past lives though. What would you recommend dropping if you don't have the extra racial AP's?

Thanks!

Only go 1 element instead of two, so you can drop the infernal resistance line in tiefling (Saves 4). Then, drop the servant of Darkness from tiefling(Saves 2). Finally, don't take the T4 charisma in eldritch knight (Saves 2). Also don't spend any points in falconry like I did and you'll be fine.

In your Ice sorcerer build you left out maximise and empower as being unnecessary (iirc).

Wondering why you've picked maximise here?

I still take both but my gear sucks so I need all the help I can get

Ice sorc was about raid DPS mostly which means you need sustained dps and mana more than high burst.

This character is about farming the game by 1-shotting the world, so it uses maximize a lot better. When I do raids I turn off maximize because I run out of SP too fast.

[Garix]

Ah that makes sense then. Cheers for the explanation

[Nugaot]

Where are you getting self-heals from in early play? I find myself taking way too much damage with just close-range spells like scorch.

[Hobgoblin]

Where are you getting self-heals from in early play? I find myself taking way too much damage with just close-range spells like scorch.

pots hires wands

[Ralmeth]

Where are you getting self-heals from in early play? I find myself taking way too much damage with just close-range spells like scorch.

What Hobgoblin said, but in addition I recommend to look at your defenses and see what you can do to improve on these. I've been leveling up as a fire Sorcerer and it was a pretty squishy build until I moved some APs into Eldritch Knight to pick up light armor, a large shield, along with other good defensive enhancements. When you can, I recommend putting 13-15 points into the EK tree as follows:

• Cores 1-3 (for light armor proficiency and arcane spell failure reduction)
• Tier 1: 1 AP into Mage Armor, 3 into Toughness (more hit points are good)
• Tier 2: 1 AP into Shield (for magic missile immunity...yes you can take the spell but this frees up a level 1 spell for something else), 2 APs into Shield Training, 1-3 APs into Action Boost Spellpower (whatever you can afford)
• Tier 3: 2 APs into Arcane Barrier (not only does this reduce incoming damage when it goes off, but it's also your warning that your hit points are getting low).

In addition to this:
1) Get the best suit of light armor and large shield that you can find.
2) Get dodge, protection, natural armor and false life items. Try to fill out your max dodge for the armor you selected. Most likely Chainmail is going to be better at lower levels.
3) Until you get displacement, use blur (2nd level spell), or a blur item.
4) Get a Cloak of the Mimic, min level 4. Sticky Goo Guard is awesome if you have a squishy character and you want to get away from mobs. As a bonus, you get death ward as well.
5) Take and use crowd control spells when the mobs get too close, such as Sonic Blast (this is a Will Save, so use against melee mobs), and Electric Loop (this is a reflex save so use it against casters).
6) If you're in a group, let other people run ahead to get the mobs' attention, then run up behind and blast them.
7) If you're solo and in a difficult quest, learn to park your Cleric hire just around the corner from the bad guys so you can retreat back for a heal if needed. The hire needs to be out of the way so they don't get the mobs' attention. When you run back, tell your hire to go "active" instead of "defending you". I've found if you do that, your hire will heal you much more quickly.

[Hobgoblin]

cc is king as well. it doesnt hurt you if its webbed/held/danced/dead

kill things quick. if you cant cc it.

and like ral said look to your defense as well. everyone says ac is dead, but it can make a difference in heroics.

but you want it in layers - so you have ac/dodge/incorporeal/blurry then you have dr. a tactic you can use if you can deal with the spell failure is to grab a good shield cast firewall and block.

also u didnt say if you were soloing or not. if you are not soloing let other party members get agro first. try to trade heals with others in party - ie wand whip the ranger and let him do the same

[LOOON375]

Im running something similar to this.
I don't have near as many past lives (2 wiz & 1 epic arcane sphere).
And I don't have near as good of gear...yet. Still working on sharn gear.
Having said that, It is awesome to play.

[Alrik_Fassbauer]

I'd try it out if the Tiefling's horns weren't looking so awful ...

[Garorg]

Only go 1 element instead of two, so you can drop the infernal resistance line in tiefling (Saves 4). Then, drop the servant of Darkness from tiefling(Saves 2). Finally, don't take the T4 charisma in eldritch knight (Saves 2). Also don't spend any points in falconry like I did and you'll be fine.

So far the build has been going great, thanks! I'm just about to take level 17. I have been playing around to see if I can trade off a bit and get the extra elements, but not sure its worth it. Here's what I was able to make work (I have a +1 racial AP tome). I dropped Student of Darkness and Servant of Darkness as well as Subtle Force and the T4 charisma from Eldritch Knight. So here's what I ended up with for AP.

Enhancements (80+1 AP)

Fire Savant (41 AP)

• Fire Savant, Fire Affinity, Greater Fire Affinity, Immolation, Elemental Persistance, Elemental Apotheosis
  1. One with the Inferno I, Spell Critical, Conflagration III
  2. Efficient Maximize III, Spell Critical, Fanning the Flames III
  3. Efficient Quicken III, Spell Critical, Charisma
  4. Spell Critical, Charisma
  5. Awaken Elemental Weakness, Evocation Focus

Eldritch Knight (Sorcerer) (22 AP)

• Eldritch Strike, Spellsword, Imbue the Blade
  1. Improved Mage Armor III, Toughness III
  2. Improved Shield III, Mystic Wards III, Shield Training, Wand and Scroll Mastery I
  3. Charisma
  4. Armored Arcana

Tiefling (18 AP)

• Bloodhunt I, Charisma I, Bloodhunt II, Charisma II, Bloodhunt III
  1. Obscuring Darkness
  2. Infernal Resistance: Acid, Lasting Darkness
  3. Infernal Resistance: Cold, Incineration
  4. Infernal Sovereign: Electric, Incineration

Just wondering if you think this will end up being too squishy?

[Carpone]

Feats
.1. . . . : Maximize Spell
.3. . . . : Completionist OR Mental Toughness
.6. . . . : Past Life: Wizard OR Improved Mental Toughness
.9. . . . : Spell Focus: Evocation
12. . . . : Spell Focus: Enchantment
15. . . . : Spell Penetration
18. . . . : Quicken Spell
21 Epic . : Wellspring of Power
24 Epic . : Burst of Glacial Wrath
26 Destiny: Toughness
27 Epic . : Epic Damage Reduction
28 Destiny: Mass Frog
29 Destiny: Deific Warding
30 Epic . : Embolden Spell
30 Legend : Scion of: Plane of Fire OR Plane of Air

For leveling,I agree that fire sorcs have no equal. But I completely disagree with your heroic feat layout. Sorc absolutely does not need Quicken and I'm baffled by your lack of Heighten and Empower.

I'm wrapping up my racial past lives as a sorc, and this is the optimal feat list for 1-20 lives:

1 Maximize
3 Empower
6 Completionist
9 Heighten
12 Enlarge
15 PL Wiz
18 Enchantment Focus

Spells

1. Fire Bolt (1), Jump (1), Nightshield (2), Acid Spray (3)
2. Scorch (4), Knock (5), Blur (7), Resist Energy (9)
3. Fireball (6), Acid Blast (7), Displacement (9), Haste (11)
4. Wall of Fire (8), Dimension Door (9), Phantasmal Killer (11), Fire Shield (13)
5. Teleport (10), Break Enchantment (11), Cyclonic Blast (13), Prismatic Ray (15)
6. Greater Heroism (12), True Seeing (13), Circle of Death (15)
7. Delayed Blast Fireball (14), Greater Teleport (15), Prismatic Spray (17)
8. Sunburst (16), Greater Shout (17), Mass Charm Monster (19)
9. Meteor Swarm (18), Thunderstrike (19), Mass Hold Monster (20)

Lots of suboptimal choices. For starters, there's no point in acid spells when you have T5 vulnerability and the fire capstone. Even when leveling up, fire immune mobs can be avoided if you're soloing, or you can bring a friend for them.
1: No point in Nightshield at end game when you have Improved Shield from EK. Firebolt is also terrible since it doesn't scale. Charm Person, Jump, Featherfall and Burning Hands to start. Drop BH for something more relevant later.
2: Command Undead is super useful when leveling. Blur isn't needed since you can use lvl 3 Bracers of the Wind until you get Displacement. Gust of Wind is missing here, and is great against dancing balls and golem clouds.
3: Halt Undead > Haste, Suggestion > Acid Blast.
4: Good list.
5: Pris Ray is great. I prefer Dominate Person, Dismissal and Prot Elements for the other choices.
6: I don't like taking GH with so few slots available since it can be scrolled and there are clickies. Same with True Seeing. Circle of Death, Mass Suggestion and Undeath to Death are what I go with.
7: Don't understand why you'd devote a slot to Greater Teleport when it's scrollable. Finger of Death is more functional.

[Kaboom2112]

Sorc absolutely does not need Quicken and I'm baffled by your lack of Heighten and Empower . . l.

Quicken not needed for leveling, but it really makes Meteor Swarm more better.

And I agree with you on the other metas, this build posted is far from optimal.

[ChadB123]

For leveling,I agree that fire sorcs have no equal. But I completely disagree with your heroic feat layout. Sorc absolutely does not need Quicken and I'm baffled by your lack of Heighten and Empower.

I'm wrapping up my racial past lives as a sorc, and this is the optimal feat list for 1-20 lives:

1 Maximize
3 Empower
6 Completionist
9 Heighten
12 Enlarge
15 PL Wiz
18 Enchantment Focus

You've listed the exact feats that I take on my sorc lives. I agree that the lack of Heighten and Empower seems like a glaring mistake. I wouldn't mind much if the thread wasn't titled "The Best Way To Level." While fire sorc certainly is the best way to level, this build certainly isn't.

[C-Dog]

You've listed the exact feats that I take on my sorc lives...

I take Enlarge earlier, but don't enjoy Completionist.

If I had to guess, the OP is dumping Empower since he's not relying on SLA's as much, and doesn't need to double-boost combat spells. As for Heighten, with a Fire sorc, Web isn't as handy, but that's only the most obvious to benefit from Heighten.

Strimton isn't one to toss a build out lightly - but I'll wait for him to explain his choices.