Sorcerer spell selection

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I just restarted my IWD2 game over. I've been playing with a party of six: pal, fig, ran, rog, cle, & wiz. I've been reading about how great it was to have a sorcerer in one's party so I restarted my game. I was currently at the Ice Palace (not to far into the game). Now I have a cle, 2 fig, rou, wiz, & sor. Since I've never played a sorcerer. What are the best spells to equip. your sorcerer with. I would hate to pick a crappy spell and be stuck with it. Also, once I pick a spell for the sorcerer he can not change it? Right? A little help from someone who's played a sorcerer will help me tons. Currently everyone in my party is still at level 2 or 3, so I can restart the game if need be.

[ January 07, 2003, 14:29: Message edited by: Taluntain ]

 

Hi,
It's true, a sorcerer is a must have in IWD2 for 2 main reasons: first of all, the lack of scrolls. You don't have much scrolls of 9th level spells, so your wizard won't have much spells at higher levels. The sorcerer can pick what he want so you have acces to all the spells.
Second of all, you don't need to prepare for battle since you can cast all your spells for a certain number of times. So no dilemma's about what spells to pick.

Now for the spells...
Level 1: Magic Missile and Chromatic Orb, this are great spells for level 1. At higher level MM is still usefull because you shoot more of them and it's a great way to 'dispell' mirror image (every missile causes a image to vanish). And for chromatic orb, it can stun enemies so is also usefull. No at higher levels you may need to choose some level 1 spells. This is completly up to you, I think you won't be using them anymore. For me it was identify, since you can cast your level 1 spells about 10 times at higher levels, you can identify a lot what if found quite usefull. The other spells won't have any effect later in the game. So these 3 are probably the best.
Level 2: Mirror image, without a doubt. This is a must have I think. You can cast it and be safe for quite a while, they won't hit you, the just remove 1 of your images. So this can be really a lifesaver. I had it sometimes when my sorcerer was uttacked when I didn't notice it. Just cast MI and run or cast, great spell! Other nice spells are web, summon monster (when he is a summoner). Also Melf's Acid Arrow is quite nice, early in the game it does some decent damage to one person. And it's usefull for killing orcs, better then potions or fireballs. The rest is up to you. By the way, I learned this trick from Quint. Eagle's splendor adds Charisma for 1 hour/level. So when you are level 8 or higher. You can cast it, have higher charisma=more spells. Now rest and the spells still works after 8 hours of rest. So you wake up with more spells! Very handy sometimes. No the rest is up to you to pick, what suits your playing style.
Level 3: Be sure to pick a nice mass-kill spell, either Fireball or skulltrap. They both harm your partymembers also, so take care when using it. But they both do some great damage. So be sure to take at least one of them, both is fine too . Besides those I think Haste and Dispel Magic are really usefull. It can change a battle completly. For example when your fighters are held, just dispel it . The rest is again up to you.
Level 4: Here are a lot of good spells. Stoneskin is a must I think. It makes you survive a lot longer. Otilicus Sphere is also quite usefull, read the description why, you get the point then . Force Missiles are also usefull, same as magic missiles but a lot more damage and a little more casting time. The rest is again up to you.
Level 5: Your first pick, Animate Dead! Great spell, summon undead that become more powerfull when you rise in levels, great! These guys are really powerfull and can help your fighers a lot. Be sure to have this one. Sunfire is also a great spell. Give your sorcerer mirror image, stoneskin etc. Then lure as much enemies around you as you can and cast sunfire as much as you can. Everyone will fall Great spell! The rest is up to you, go for domination spells or summoning spells, your pick.
Level 6: At this level there aren't really any must-haves. There are some great offensive spells at this level. But also a lot of good summoning spells. Go for elementals or chainlightning, whatever suits your playingstyle best. You could also go for some defensive spells for your sorcerer or fighters, and Imp. Haste is nice also. Up to you.
Level 7: Pretty much the same as level 6, what you think is best for your party. Either go for a summon spell or something like delayed fireball. You can guess yourself what summoning or mass-kill spells are the best.
Level 8: Definitly Horrit Wilting! Great spell, massive damage, and undead are unaffected! So cast Animate Undead as much as you can, place them agaist the enemy, and place some Horrit Wilting's on them. Succes asured . For the rest, go for the powerwords you like, or some demon summoning. Again the rest is up to you.
Level 9: Some great spells here of course. To be honost I never had acces to level 9 spells, only in BG2. I think I'd go for wail of banshee, Summon Monster and dominate. After this, Gate. This is up to you, when I have some experience with them, I'll let you know

Now that is about it. But just keep in mind, there aren't really bad spells. Of course there are spells that grow useless. I think that only at early levels there are some bad spells that are just a waste, try to stick to my advise, it really should work. For the higher level spells (5+), there are not many spells that are a waste, just think it over for a while and pick your spells that suits your playingstyle best and you should be fine.

And if you do pick a spell that is VERY useless, here is a way to make a new sorcerer and putting him to your old level. But now you can just re-pick your spells.

Go to your recordscreen of the sorcerer, and write down the amount of XP he has. Now give al of his equipment to another character in the party.
Now press 'c' during gameplay. (make sure you have the cheat console enabled in the config-program). Now click 'modify characters'. Create your new sorcerer, now click 'done' and you will be back in gameplay, but with a level 1 character. Now select the sorcerer, press CTRL + TAB. In the textbar on the bottom of your screen type:
ctrlaltdelete:setcurrentxp(<xp of the sorcerer he had before, the ammount you wrote down>), type this without the brackets so for example: ctrlaltdelete:setcurrentxp(13491)

Now hit enter, and you will have the xp you had with your sorcerer. Level him up and pick your new spells.

Good luck with it all!!

[ January 06, 2003, 21:19: Message edited by: Roekemoes ]

 

Also, invisibilty spells (2nd level Invisbility, 3rd level Invisibilty radius 10' and 4th level spell Improved Invisibilty) are nice, especially Improved Invisibility, because it allows your character remain invisible, after you have attacked and it lasts long!

 

You know, not many people acknowledge this but, Mass Dominate is the opitomy of spells. Example: Goblin Fortress, cast Mass Dominate at the first big group you see, and sick 'em on the next. Not many creatures can resist this spell, so you can cast it and have a group of 20 orcs at your service! I'll check the duration of the spell when I get home and give ya some more info, but it does last a LONG time. In a game with a soloing sorcerer or wizard, they can cause some serious ruckus with it. I don't know, maybe it's the 'ultimate power when orcs are bowing at your knees' type feeling . You may not get XP for it, but still, like I said before, to be able cast it enough times for it to be worth it (I once amassed a literal army (in IWD2 anyways) of 80 orcs, goblins, and worg riders! ) you need to be at a higher level, so you'll probably need to go through the game at least once with him.

[ January 06, 2003, 22:43: Message edited by: Lord Neon ]

 

Don't forget Delayed Fireball, PowerWordBlind,and Modenkainen's sword(don't know exact spelling).

(lvl7 i think)
Delayed Fireball deals the best damage on enermies who don't have any resistance on fire, even more damage than Horrid or lvl 9 Meteor, later in the stage in the game maybe lvl 25~30.
With Mirror Image on you won't have to worry about getting hit by this powerful spell.

(lvl8 i think)
PowerWordBlind works on almost every creature in the game without saving throw! It is also an area magic so you can blind a lot of enermies at once. The duration is quite good - has enough time to cast big area damage time twice or summon at least 2 monsters. The spellcasting time for this magic is also 1 or something.

(lvl7 i think)
Modenkainen's sword works very good b/c it will hit every time it swings. Deals 2d12 damage! and sorcerer can also easily have 4 hit per round - 2d12 times 4!! a great magic to have to save other good magic. make sure your summon monster is taking all the damage

those three are also a MUST i think.

p.s. lvl 9 gate sux

Oh i just remebered that the pit fiend from lvl 9 gate summoned about 10 dead servants before it died. It was the only time i was satisfied about picking that spell...but it happened only once!
Anyone knows how to make pit fiend to summon servants? If there is a way, this spell will rock!!!

[ January 07, 2003, 02:40: Message edited by: popbuggy ]

 

You should not be that hasty to get a sorcerer. Although they are great, it takes some time to learn what spells are useful.
However, if you get a sorcerer, be sure to have these ones:
Level 1: Magic Missile, Chromatic Orb, Grease
Level 2: Mirror Image, Eagle's Splendor, Horror
Level 3: Skull Trap, Fireball, Slow, Lance of Disruption
Level 4: Otiluke's Resilient Sphere, Malison, Mordenkainen's Force Missiles, Stoneskin, Vitriolic Sphere
Level 5: Animate Dead, Chaos, Sunfire, Feeblemind, Lower Resistance
Level 6: Chain Lightning, Disintagrate, Improved Haste
Level 7: Finger of Death, Mordenkainen's Sword, Seven Eyes, Delayed Blast Fireball, Power Word:Stun
Level 8: Horrid Wilting, Power Word:Blind, Fiery Cloud, Symbol of Stunning
Level 9: Aegis, Mass Dominate, Power Word:Kill, Executioner's Eyes

You won't cast some of these as frequently as others. That non-frequent ones can be dealt via scrolls and/or your wizard. Like the ones; Lower Resistance, Improved Haste, Executioner's Eyes

This spell picks are more fits to bombardier, I guess.

 

Thanks everyone the information given will greatly help.