Sorceror class advice

[Bobbybrown]

can anyone give me advice for a sorceror, i started out well but it is getting steadily more annoying as i die over and over, please post advice in here please.

[CelestialCondescension]

In terms mechanically?

[Bobbybrown]

more like survival strategies for quests and such, some stuff to go on is my sorc is a fire based evoker with some buffs like invis and ghost visage.

[Spiffy Has]

Don't do anything and just heal people.

Stay invisible and blurred, and give your companions see invis in case you go negative.

[Jasede]

How boring.

Play as you like. But if you chose to have an offensive spellset like that you need to use it in key situations. Kill dangerous casters or bosses quickly. AoE big swarms once you learn AoE ranges.

Ask players who do well for advice.


And whatever you do, don't listen to Thomas.

[Bobbybrown]

ok now thats the problem, most of the time i just get potions for healing, and a lot fo enemies in the higher quests tend to see through invis, like vines and oozes, recently got my ass kicked doing that quest. and see invis potions are hard to come by.

[Bobbybrown]

already know never to ask thomas

[Spiffy Has]

already know never to ask thomas

Specify this in future playerbase queries then.

You're doing fine. What happens to you is simply shit luck. A good group solves most of your woes, though.

[xXCrystal_Rose]

Don't do anything and just heal people.

Stay invisible and blurred, and give your companions see invis in case you go negative.



There you go. Now it's me saying it and not Thomas. It is good advice to follow if you are having a hard time surviving. Be extra careful and employ means of concealment to enhance your survivability. Work on suppourting your group and staying away from the attention of enemies.

When you become more experienced and get a better feel for the class and what your limitations are then branch out and add in what other skills you possess. If you have some offensive spells use them to burn down hard weak enemies that are problematic, and experiment with aoe effects. Don't try to come out the gates like a god of magic if you're new to the class. Take your time, be cautious, and learn. If you don't like dying then focus on mastering your survivability before you get experience with other sorcerer skills as a player.

Your problem that you are asking help on is primarily survivability above all, and what Thomas said is about the best that can be given for sheer survivability. Practice. Stay warded, keep eyes on where monsters are at all times, and don't let yourself get exposed. Make a friend IC to watch your back incase something sneaks up. Stay safe, stay paranoid, let the warriors guard you and when the time comes tell them to get the hell out of your way and open up that steel wall so you can blow shit up, and then close it up again to protect you.

[Letsplayforfun]

Don't attract attention. You don't -need- invisibility. It helps, but then your allies will need see invisibilty.

When you run, don't run forward into the quest area or on traps ;)

When you run, don't run far away from your teammates.

Use blur/invis as soon as something's going fishy, like before the line breaks, when something "unexpected" happens, when you've drawn attention to yourself, etc...

Heal your companions. Use all your moderate/serious healing on them: you only need light/minor (else it means you're already dead). They'll like you and ask you to quest with them more ;)

Use spells only when they are needed. Using spells when the tanks are cruising is a waste.

Area spells rarely kill anyone on the first hit, and they'll draw everyone's attention on you. You want to avoid that, or be prepared if you plan on doing it.

Don't feel compelled to use ranged weapons to pass time: they attract attention, and you suck at using them.

Invest a few points in tumble to avoid silly AoO, and a few points in CON helps too (Endurance brews are not only for tanks). Raise your AC a bit with mage armor/shield/cats before trouble occurs.

Now obviously, if any of these advice conflict with your pc's personnality, don't apply them...

[xXCrystal_Rose]

"Area spells rarely kill anyone on the first hit, and they'll draw everyone's attention on you."

Always something new to learn! Thank you!

[One_With_Nature]

Sadly with evocation sorcerers its hard to please quest groups, sure you can have a few bursts of outrageous damage but unless your giving everyone the buffs they expect you will usually be considered an extra/support at best.

I would suggest prioritising your own safety (if its right for the character to do so) not casting spells whenever you can but when they're needed the most. Stay close to your group and try to avoid attacking anything unless the person who is "Tanking" said spawns has focus on it. (This is good in most cases because if you do attract the spawn thats being focused it will try to go for you and the "Tank" will Attack of Oppertunity it and gain its focus back)

Always have protection from alignement/endurance/some kind of elemental resistance up (Barkskin is also very useful). You're squishy and thus more vunrable. Tactical blurs/stoneskins when you are likely to encounter lots of spawns or dangerous spawns, this is mostly just a fail safe if other people in your group fail to do their job.

As for evocation spells, i think if you see a big group of spawns you unleash afireball of w/e on them to inflict as much damage as possible with a single spell- then you group charges in. The spawns will either be easy prey or be healing themselves and give a chance for your warriors to do some damage of their own. Have an invisibility vial ready to chug if spawns manage to break through your warriors and head for you. (** this is a bad idea if the spawns you're attacking have true seeing**)

Invest points in tumble OR walk when you're around combat to avoid AOO, as a caster who only has enough magic for a few performances you will need to make yourself useful if you want a group to take you again questing, insist that you get a share of healing trinkets on quests and don't be afraid to use them all up healing your front line as they battle.

Hope that helps.

[Egon the Monkey]

Not really playing much, but always happy to encourage people to play Real Sorcs :D. OWN covers most of it, here's my top tips too.
1: Carry consumables. No, more consumables. No, SERIOUSLY. You can't be useful if you're dead. Sorcerers have limited spell choices. Hoard Splendor potions. Use them before fireball/Mestil's barrages. Grab anything that looks halfway useful. Take the odd Blur/Barkskin/haste etc. You won't need loads, but you should have a few of each for emergencies. Consumables are great for elemental resistance as they spell's power is independent of caster levels. Use low-grade offensive stuff like Choking Powder, support your team as well as healing them too. Also, invis sucks as a self buff on this sort of sorc since if breaks if you shoot anything. I recommend invis potions and keeping Ghostly Visage up to avoid stray shots. Just avoid combat rather than being invisible. Replace Invis with See Invis, Combust, or Darkness as a defense. You can RP Darkness quite nicely as smoke too.

2: Learn to aim. Fire into combats, carefully. Cone spells are your friend here. Burning Hands and colour spray can be very effective if you can position yourself to the side of a combat and fire a broadside at the enemy. The advantage of burst spells like Fireball is you can launch them safely over your mates' heads. A really good sorc can shoot the ground behind the enemy and have the explosion or grease stop just short of their own front line.

3: Have multi-use spells. Evocations sadly aren't always useful. That's where Haste comes in. It's a wonderful spell to have for 2 reasons. It lets you throw twice as much burny doom out per round, and it's always appreciated on a frontliner to take the pressure off or let them break a line. Try to make room for Colour Spray or Grease on your spell list. Stunned enemies can't hit your allies back. Even if you don't have SF on the school, who cares? You fire these over 8 mobs, some will fail the saves.

4: A theme is an accessory, not a set of shackles. Sure, you're a "Fire sorcerer" say. That doesn't mean taking all your spells as fire damage. If you can, make sure you have a backup plan for if the enemy's immune to your favourite sort of damage. Unlike a Wizard you can't change your loadout pre-quest. My backup was Grease, Magic Missiles, Emp Magic Missiles and Hasting someone else to kill the bugger instead.

5: Empower Spell is wonderful. It's a great way to get extra offensive options from your L3 and 4 slots. Have a choice between a Scintillating Sphere, Haste or an Empowered Magic Missile. Improved Invis or Empowered Combust. That way you can take support spells and still have offense power too.

6: Use Defensive Casting. You see that stealth mode button on the hotbar? Replace that with Defensive Casting. If you need to cast near a bunch of enemies, it will save your ass. You don't ned the Combat Casting feat to use this. It's a DC15(+4 for being near an enemy)+spell level check or lose the spell. However if you cast successfully they can't AoO you. Never combust without it.

7: Remember to use your familiar for buffing. It's amazing how many forget this. They are a great way to get a high caster-level Endurance or something on you without needing to take the spell or use supplies. They're an RP choice but they're also a powerful ability so choose well. Just don't take anything ICly stupid, like a CG Sorcerer with an imp. Most animal familiars suit most concepts.

8: Most importantly, quest with groups that will listen to you. Offensive magic works best when you are able to get a clean shot and deal the most damage or disruption to a group of mobs. Slam a group with a Fireball, and then fall back so their attention falls on the melee PCs that are now charging them. The enemy cannot hit you if the enemy is dead. If you've knocked half the health off a group, the combat will end twice as fast and the tanks will only take half as much damage. The best uses are either on things you can one-shot kill with AoEs or on things that will rip up your melee PCs but that you can disable or kill. Such as bosses, named mobs, Gaathmars etc.

[Disco]

Protect yourself so you dont die.
KIll your enemie with your magic or weapon.
WIn.

[putrid_plum]

Running around invisible always is so silly and boring, do things and be helpful.  Remember your a magic user not some brute warrior, find your place.  Making friends is great.  Also, you don't need buffs or anything, I find for a sorcerer being 'themed' is very good.  Stick to your spells and concept and let others see how awesome it is.