Idea: The "lesser spells" sorcerer

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Here is my planned spell list:

Level 1
Larloch's is the replacement for MM and Reflected Image is the replacement for Mirror Image.
Spook has a -6 save. Shield is nice very early on and protects against MM's. Friends is for cheaper shopping.
- Friends --- (1)
- Larloch's Minor Drain --- (1)
- Reflected Image --- (3)
- Shield --- (5)
- Spook --- (7)

Level 2
- Agannazar's Scorcher --- (4)
- Knock --- (5)
- Glitterdust --- (7)
- Invisibility --- (9)
- Resist Fear --- (11)

Level 3
Remove Magic is taken early only because it automatically dispels Mirror Image and Project Image. I´ll use Remove Magic as a replacement for True Sight.
Vampiric Touch does not require an attack roll.
- Slow --- (6)
- Lightning Bolt --- (7)
- Flame Arrow --- (9)
- Remove Magic --- (11)
- Vampiric Touch --- (22)

Level 4
Spider Spawn is the early summoning, if this spell was not allowed I'd have to go with MS I or MS II.
Teleport Field is anti-melee.
- Spider Spawn --- (8)
- Teleport Field --- (9)
- Spirit Armor --- (11)
- Farsight --- (13)
- Polymorph Other --- (23)

Level 5
Oracle - the second replacement spell for True Sight.
Feeblemind saves at -2 and so might prove useful at some point even without Greater Malison.
- Cloudkill --- (10)
- Sunfire --- (11)
- Oracle --- (13)
- Chaos --- (15)
- Feeblemind --- (28)

Level 6
Death Fog replaces Death Spell as the summons killer.
Invisible Stalker is a good summons and replaces Mordenkainen's Sword as well as Animate Dead.
Pierce Magic replaces Lower Resistance.
Tenser's Transformation is supposed to be cast after casting Black Blade of Disaster. Hopefully that will work.
- Invisible Stalker --- (12)
- Death Fog --- (13)
- Pierce Magic --- (15)
- Tenser's Transformation --- (21)
- P f Magic Energy --- (30)

Level 7
Both Pf Elements and Energy (8th level spell) are taken so that I can get total immunity by casting both (and not abusing the stacking bug).
- Delayed Blast Fireball --- (14)
- Summon Hakeashar --- (15)
- Mass Invisibility --- (17)
- Limited Wish --- (22)
- P f Elements --- (31)

Level 8
Improved Mantle is the replacement for Pf Magical Weapons.
- Power Word, Blind --- (16)
- Incendiary Cloud --- (17)
- Improved Mantle --- (19)
- P f Energy --- (23)

Level 9
Imprisonment - casting time 1 (manual erroneously says 9), no save, ignores MR - it could be useful!
- Spellstrike --- (18)
- Spell Trap --- (19)
- Black Blade of Disaster --- (20)
- Imprisonment --- (25)

There are a few spells I'm unsure about. Farsight would be nice to have earlier. Cloudkill might have been a bad choice, since you can just use the wand instead.
I hate Lightning Bolt! Very rarely can I get a good result from it.

I've made it to level 11. Finished Copper Coronet, Riddle in the Sewer, Slavers in the Slums and the Circus quests.
Reputation is at 20 so I've just bought the Girdle of Hill Giant Strength and the Robe of Vecna.
Next purchase will be the Staff of Rhynn.
Here we go!

Edited:
Swapped places between Invisible Stalker and Death Fog.

Edited again:
Swapped places between Improved Invisibility and Farsight.

Edited once again:
Incendiary Cloud added, Bigby's is out.
Mass Invisibility and Limited Wish switched places.
Impr Invisibility is out and Polymorph Other takes it's place.

[ August 03, 2004, 10:07: Message edited by: Earl Grey ]

 

This brings up an interesting question about "lesser" spells -- I have never cast certain spells (infravision comes to mind) but the one that was just mentioned by Earl has me thinking -- Friends. It boosts your Charisma, but does that boost your reputation as well, thus lowering the cost of items? Is there ANY other use for this spell in a game mechanics sense? I can totally see how it would be a powerful spell in PnP, but in the computer games, most of the enchantment spells I find are too weak -- they fail too often.

 

Try to keep a good pair of daggers .
A dagger dual-wielding wizard is better than one wielding a staff, especially when your enemies are held/asleep. Held and Sleeping enemies suffer massive AC penalty, and any character can hit them just about regardless of THAC0.

It's because of this that I suggest you pick some spells with hold/sleeping effect to replace some lower level ones. You won't be using direct damage spells much (since all of these fit into both the "usable" and "overrated" category), so Dagger-Dual Wielding+Held/Sleeping spells is an alternative that can help you get through the easier encounters unscathed. The Wand of Paralysis can be used in place of the spells, but getting it early on can be a problem.

For a replacement level 5 spell I suggest Carrion Summons, another underrated spell, which is perhaps one of most effective anti-wizard summon in the game. As long as the Wizard is humanoid the Carrion Crawlers will keep them at bay, regardless of their protections. You can try your luck with this one also.


Perhaps the biggest problem with the "lesser spells" spell list is the lack of ideal summons and offensive spells. The first one is taken cared of by the many summoning items in the game (not that many actually, but many enough) but getting around the second one is the problem. Killing the stronger monsters, Undead and bosses will form the more challenging part of the solo, and for this I wish you luck.

@Lord Keldin
Enchantment Spells are perhaps the most powerful spells in the game - provided they succeed and provided that the particular monster they are targetting isn't immune to the effect.
Since the game is particularly good at making everything immune to enchantment spells and making your low-level enemies succeed their saves while your high level party gets ripped to shreds with a mere Confusion Spell, though, they are particularly underpowered.
As for Enchantment Spells working as per PnP, if only Lionheart was as good as BG2...

[ July 30, 2004, 16:27: Message edited by: Scythesong Immortal ]

 

Both reputation and Charisma modifies the cost of items.
With rep 20, "that" ring and casting Friends you get the best possible price.

Quite a few encounters are modified by your charisma. Since you so easily can get 18 charisma via that ring, the spell Friends is AFAIK pointless except as a means of getting the best possible price.

I've reached 1 million xp now and even though some spells are sorely missed I'm getting the feeling that as you add more and more spells to the arsenal it's getting more like a normal solo sorcerer.

I got the Orog ambush (6 or so orogs and two humans) when the only spells remaining was two level 2 spells. That was nasty. I drank a potion of speed and twice cast Agannazar's followed by running around the enemies to hit as many as possible with the fire. Then it was a matter of running and using the sling.
What was really hair raising was that after handling that ambush and being completely out of spells I ran straight into a standard ambush (mage and four other humans) before getting home! I had to defeat them all by using the trusty sling.

In the Skinner quest it was necessary to use a scroll of True Sight which I had picked up somewhere. I got killed in the first try as Glitterdust is not quite as good as True Sight.
Those Rune Assassins are really dangerous!

Yes, I took Dagger proficiency as my third proficiency for that purpose. Even without disabling spells, dual wielding two daggers might prove useful at some point. There are a few daggers with nice effects and that was actually my main reason for taking that proficiency.

Without Greater Malison I really don't like the idea of taking spells that are save-or-else. I view each reload as a huge defeat so I prefer "sure things" so to speak.

Edited:
I just reached 1.6m xp and here is an update on the spells.
- Spook has not been used even once.
- Glitterdust is very unreliable, but sometimes it has been good. Not spectacular, just good.
- Agannazar's has been quite useful, with the ability to cast and then try to catch several targets by moving. Obviously great to finish off trolls with.
- Lightning Bolt was only used in Irenicus' Dungeon and even then it was irrelevant. Agannazar's or even Larloch's could have been used with practically the same effect.
- Remove Magic has been good. There are two reasons for that: soloing means the level of the protagonist is higher than normal so the chance of success is good and secondly it's automatic dispel of Mirror Image (and Project Image) which is a bug.
- Teleport Field has not been that great on the few occasions when I've used it. Spider Spawn takes priority among the 4th level spells, so TF just never gets cast.
- Cloudkill, Sunfire (after casting Invisibility) and Invisible Stalker are frequently used.

Edited again:

I've had one problem with a Greater Wolfwere.
My summons were unable to do anything but soak up attacks and my magic attacks were hindered by a combinations of high magic resistance (50% I believe) and very high regeneration.
I solved it by casting many (about 8) Delayed Blast Fireballs in one place and then, by running in a half circle, leading it into the fireballs. Even though it resisted many of the fireballs it died instantly.

I reached 3m xp at the start of the Asylum.
With the addition of 9th and quest level spells I feel that this test can be concluded as with spells like Summon Planetar, Dragon's Breath, Energy Blades and Improved Alacrity the sorcerer is again on top.

To me this means that this experiment has been successfully finished. The "lesser sorcerer", with the restrictions that I posted, is very viable.

[ August 03, 2004, 10:01: Message edited by: Earl Grey ]