|
Post by excruciator on Jan 8, 2012 8:37:01 GMT
|
|
|
Post by excruciator on Jan 8, 2012 8:40:19 GMT
Red Mage (39 Sorcerer, 1 Paladin)
Why build a Red Mage?This build is aimed at new players who are familiar playing mage classes on Neverwinter Nights, and yet are perhaps not so familiar yet with the Higher Ground server. The aim is to provide a solid Sorcerer with a spellbook which will be flexible enough to be fully functional in any areas up to and including the shallow Hells. Why Sorcerer? Sorcerers are arcane casters, just like Wizards, and they share the same pool of spells to choose from. Sorcerers, however, differ from Wizards, in that you are limited to selecting only a few of these spells per casting level. This disadvantage is offset by spontaneous casting - which means a Sorcerer can be more flexible with the spells he or she casts; if a sorcerer has 12 level 9 slots left, he or she can choose to cast them as any of the level 9 spells which he or she knows, without perparing them first, as a Wizard would have to. Taking this a step further, the Sorcerer could also use the level 9 slots to cast using metamagic - for example, he or she could choose to expend level 9 slots to cast empowered level 7 spells. Whilst Wizards are more flexible in spell variety, Sorcerers are more flexible in how they cast their spells and apply metamagic. Furthermore, Sorcerers can learn extra spells from the spell pedestal (located in the docs area, behind the bank) in Legendary Levels. They gain an extra 1st level spell at Sorc level 22, and extra 2nd at Sorcerer 24, continuing up to an extra 9th at Sorcerer 38. Only pre-ll Sorcerer levels count in this calculation. Sorcerers also receive 50% additional bonus spell slots from wearing items which grant them bonus spell slots - meaning Sorcerers have more raw spell casting power in terms of slots than any other caster on Higher Ground! Finally, Legendary Sorcerers can channel up to three additional temporary caster levels into their spells with the !mm channel command. "!mm channel 1", "!mm channel 2" and "!mm channel 3" are the commands to enable each level of channeling respectively, and "!mm channel 0" turns channeling off. These commands can be quickslotted with a text macro (for example, right click a quickslot; select custom text macro from the radial menu; label the macro "channeling 1" and enter the command "!mm channel 1". When you click that slot, channeling will be engaged. You can do this for each level of channeling, and also make a macro to turn channeling off. Why Paladin?Splashing a level of Paladin is a good option for a newer player; this will grant you your charisma modifier to all saves, which will be up to a hefty +26 at level 60! It also means you get shield proficiency for free, which is useful on a feat starved open race build. Pure Sorcerers are an excellent choice too, but they tend to be better for players with more experience of the mod, as they have more of an idea how their saves might be challenged in any given scenario. Having a nice stockpile of useful gear to compensate for the huge loss of saves is also a nice thing to have for a pure Sorcerer, and by the time that happens, the chances are you will have upgraded your race and build. Why Yuan-Ti? Yuan-Ti is hands down the best open subrace for making a Sorcerer on Higher ground; the stat spread is favourable, and you even receive bonus experience points, due to the subraces Bonus Class: Sorcerer benefit. However, some people find Yuan-Ti to be restrictive due to it's custom skin. This build can be made with Fire Gnome too, but it is the inferior choice, both in terms of build power, xp gain and gearing flexibility. DisadvantagesSorcerers are limited by only knowing a few spells per level. This can mostly be offset by good knowledge of Higher Ground, and what spells are needed most in which areas. As such, a spellbook which covers both Pre-Legendary and Legendary areas, as well as a more "endgame" spellbook selection will be posted, but feel free to experiment with different spells between levels; just be aware that once you hit level 60, you are stuck with your choices, until the spells pedestal in the docks is next unlocked. Sorcerers also suffer in defense compared to Wizards; they can afford less defensive spells, and also usually have considerably less ac, especially compared to a splashed Wizard such as the Black Mage. However, it is still worth aiming for as much as as you can, if only to dodge lower iteration attacks more often. Getting StartedHigher Ground Class EditsFirstly, If you want to know more about Sorcerers, you can find all the custom changes on Higher Ground here. SpellsFor more information about your Sorcerer spells, check here. Custom Epic SpellsTo know more about the Higher Ground Custom Epic Spells, check here. HG EnhancedTo access all of the Sorcerer custom spells, you will need to download a small hak pack. This is completely optional, but is highly reccomended to enhance your enjoyment for this, and any other builds you make on Higher Ground, as it will open up many new spells and abilities which you can use. QuestsThe following quests (which can be obtained by talking to the NPC's in the two Tavern's in the Ascension Docks) can be a fun and rewarding way to gain experience for your character. TagsDefeating certain enemies while you start your quest to immortality and beyond can earn you accomplishment tags, which provide you with some permanent character bonuses which will serve you well from pre epic levels through to legendary levels and beyond. There's so much to consider!Don't worry if this seems like a lot of information to take in. There's nothing to stop you jumping straight in and starting your Sorcerer on his or her path towards immortality and beyond right away; if you have any questions, need hints or tips, or aren't quite sure what to do next, you will find plenty of helpful and friendly people to provide guidance via the !newbie channel.
|
|
|
Post by excruciator on Jan 8, 2012 8:41:22 GMT
Level GuideThe following sections break each level down in terms of which skills, feats and ability points you should take on each level. Pre-Epic Levels 1-20 Race:Human Subrace:Yuan-Ti Alignment:Lawful Good Starting Abilities:Ability | At creation | After Subrace | Strength | 08 | 07 | Dexterity | 13 | 14 | Constitution | 12 | 12 | Wisdom | 8 | 5 | Intelligence | 13 | 14 | Charisma | 18 | 20 |
Level 1 (Sorcerer 1)
| Feat: Spell Focus: Illusion: +2 dc to all Illusion Spells
Feat: Greater Spell Focus: Illusion: +2 dc to all Illusion Spells
|
| Skills: +4 Concentration +4 Lore +2 Tumble
| Level 2 (Sorcerer 2)
|
|
| Skills: +1 Concentration +1 Lore
| Level 3 (Sorcerer 3)
| Feat: Spell Penetration +2 to all Spell Resistance Checks
|
| Skills: +1 Concentration +1 Lore +1 Tumble
| Level 4 (Sorcerer 4)
|
| Ability: +1 Charisma
| Skills: +1 Concentration +1 Lore
| Level 5 (Sorcerer 5)
|
|
| Skills: +1 Concentration +1 Lore +1 Tumble
| Level 6 (Sorcerer 6)
| Feat: Greater Spell Penetration: +2 to all Spell Resistance Checks
|
| Skills: +1 Concentration +1 Lore
| Level 7 (Sorcerer 7)
|
|
| Skills: +1 Concentration +1 Lore +1 Tumble
| Level 8 (Sorcerer 8)
|
| Ability: +1 Charisma
| Skills: +1 Concentration +1 Lore
| Level 9 (Sorcerer 9)
| Feat: Spell Focus: Necromancy: +2 dc to all Necromancy Spells
|
| Skills: +1 Concentration +1 Lore +1 Tumble
| Level 10 (Sorcerer 10)
|
|
| Skills: +1 Concentration +1 Lore
| Level 11 (Sorcerer 11)
|
|
| Skills: +1 Concentration +1 Lore +1 Tumble
| Level 12 (Sorcerer 12)
| Feat: Greater Spell Focus: Necromancy: +2 dc to all Necromancy spells
| Ability: +1 Charisma
| Skills: +1 Concentration +1 Lore
| Level 13 (Sorcerer 13)
|
|
| Skills: +1 Concentration +1 Lore +1 Tumble
| Level 14 (Sorcerer 14)
|
|
| Skills: +1 Concentration +1 Lore
| Level 15 (Sorcerer 15)
| Feat: Spell Focus: Evocation: +2 dc to all Evocation Spells
|
| Skills: +1 Concentration +1 Lore +1 Tumble
| Level 16 (Sorcerer 16)
|
| Ability: +1 Charisma
| Skills: +1 Concentration +1 Lore
| Level 17 (Sorcerer 17)
|
|
| Skills: +1 Concentration +1 Lore +1 Tumble
| Level 18 (Sorcerer 18)
| Feat: Greater Spell Focus: Evocation: +2 dc to all Evocation Spells
|
| Skills: +1 Concentration +1 Lore
| Level 19 (Sorcerer 19)
|
|
| Skills: +1 Concentration +1 Lore +1 Tumble
| Level 20 (Sorcerer 20)
|
| Ability: +1 Charisma
| Skills: +1 Concentration +1 Lore
|
You made it to level 20! Congratulations! Your quest towards Immortality has only just begun, however. Onwards to Epic levels, and the dangers (and rewards!) that await you...... Stats at Level 20:AbilitiesStrength | 07 | Dexterity | 14 | Constitution | 12 | Wisdom | 05 | Intelligence | 14 | Charisma | 25 |
|
|
|
Post by excruciator on Jan 8, 2012 8:43:53 GMT
Epic Levels 20-40
Level 21 (Sorcerer 21)
| Feat: Epic Spell Penetration: +2 to your caster level versus Spell Resistance Checks
|
| Skills: +1 Concentration +1 Lore +1 Tumble
| Level 22 (Sorcerer 22)
|
|
| Skills: +1 Concentration +1 Lore
| Level 23 (Sorcerer 23)
| Feat: Epic Spell Focus: Necromancy +2 dc to Necromancy Spells
|
| Skills: +1 Concentration +1 Lore +1 Tumble
| Level 24 (Sorcerer 24)
| Feat: Metamagic: Empower Spell: Cast a spell two slots higher, increasing variable numeric effects (i.e. dice rolls) x1.5
| Ability: +1 Charisma
| Skills: +1 Concentration +1 Lore
| Level 25 (Sorcerer 25)
|
|
| Skills: +1 Concentration +1 Lore +1 Tumble
| Level 26 (Sorcerer 26)
| Feat: Epic Spell Focus: Illusion +2 dc to Illusion Spells
|
| Skills: +1 Concentration +1 Lore
| Level 27 (Sorcerer 27)
| Feat: Great Charisma I: +1 to your Charisma
|
| Skills: +1 Concentration +1 Lore +1 Tumble
| Level 28 (Sorcerer 28)
|
| Ability: +1 Charisma
| Skills: +1 Concentration +1 Lore
| Level 29 (Sorcerer 29)
| Feat: Great Charisma II: +1 to your Charisma
|
| Skills: +1 Concentration +1 Lore +1 Tumble
| Level 30 (Sorcerer 30)
| Feat: Great Charisma III: +1 to your Charisma
|
| Skills: +1 Concentration +1 Lore
| Level 31 (Sorcerer 31)
|
|
| Skills: +1 Concentration +1 Lore +1 Tumble
| Level 32 (Sorcerer 32)
| Feat: Great Charisma IV: +1 to your Charisma
| Ability: +1 Charisma
| Skills: +1 Concentration +1 Lore
| Level 33 (Sorcerer 33)
| Feat: Great Charisma V: +1 to your Charisma
|
| Skills: +1 Concentration +1 Lore +1 Tumble
| Level 34 (Sorcerer 34)
|
|
| Skills: +1 Concentration +1 Lore
| Level 35 (Sorcerer 35)
| Feat: Great Charisma VI: +1 to your Charisma
|
| Skills: +1 Concentration +1 Lore +1 Tumble
| Level 36 (Sorcerer 36)
| Feat: Great Charisma VII: +1 to your Charisma
| Ability: +1 Charisma
| Skills: +1 Concentration +1 Lore
| Level 37 (Sorcerer 37)
|
|
| Skills: +1 Concentration +1 Lore +1 Tumble
| Level 38 (Sorcerer 38)
| Feat: Great Charisma VIII: +1 to your Charisma
|
| Skills: +1 Concentration +1 Lore
| Level 39 (Sorcerer 39)
| Feat: Epic Spell Focus: Evocation +2 dc to Evocation Spells
|
| Skills: +1 Concentration +1 Lore +1 Tumble
| Level 40 (Sorcerer 39, Paladin 1)
|
| Ability: +1 Charisma
| Skills: +1 Concentration +43 Discipline +1 Lore
|
Finally, you triumphed in your quest for immortality! However, immortality is just the first step towards further greatness. Onwards to Legendary levels, even greater rewards, and even greater dangers..... Stats at Level 40:
AbilitiesStrength | 07 | Dexterity | 14 | Constitution | 12 | Wisdom | 05 | Intelligence | 14 | Charisma | 38 |
|
|
|
Post by excruciator on Jan 8, 2012 8:45:31 GMT
Legendary Levels 41-60
Level 41
|
|
| Skills: +1 Concentration +1 Lore +1 Tumble
| Level 42
| Feat: Legendary Spell Penetration: +2 to your caster level for checks versus spell resistance
| Ability: +1 Charisma
| Skills: +1 Concentration +1 Lore
| Level 43
|
|
| Skills: +1 Concentration +1 Lore +1 Tumble
| Level 44
|
| Ability: +1 Charisma
| Skills: +1 Concentration +1 Lore
| Level 45
| Feat: Legendary Spell Focus: Necromancy: +2 dc to Necromancy Spells
|
| Skills: +1 Concentration +1 Lore +1 Tumble
| Level 46
|
| Ability: +1 Charisma
| Skills: +1 Concentration +1 Lore
| Level 47
|
|
| Skills: +1 Concentration +1 Lore +1 Tumble
| Level 48
| Feat: Legendary Spell Focus: Illusion: +2 dc to all Illusion Spells
| Ability: +1 Charisma
| Skills: +1 Concentration +1 Lore
| Level 49
|
|
| Skills: +1 Concentration +1 Lore +1 Tumble
| Level 50
|
| Ability: +1 Charisma
| Skills: +1 Concentration +1 Lore
| Level 51
| Feat: Legendary Spell Focus: Transmutation: +2 dc to all Transmutation Spells
|
| Skills: +1 Concentration +1 Lore +1 Tumble
| Level 52
|
| Ability: +1 Charisma
| Skills: +1 Concentration +1 Lore
| Level 53
|
|
| Skills: +1 Concentration +1 Lore +1 Tumble
| Level 54
| Feat: Legendary Spell Focus: Evocation: +2 dc to all Evocation Spells
| Ability: +1 Charisma
| Skills: +1 Concentration +1 Lore
| Level 55
|
|
| Skills: +1 Concentration +1 Lore +1 Tumble
| Level 56
|
| Ability: +1 Charisma
| Skills: +1 Concentration +1 Lore
| Level 57
| Feat: Great Charisma IX: +1 to your Charisma
|
| Skills: +1 Concentration +1 Lore +1 Tumble
| Level 58
|
| Ability: +1 Charisma
| Skills: +1 Concentration +1 Lore
| Level 59
|
|
| Skills: +1 Concentration +1 Lore
| Level 60
| Feat: Great Charisma X: +1 to your Charisma
| Ability: +1 Charisma
| Skills: +1 Concentration +63 Craft Armour +1 Lore +24 Spellcraft
|
Finally, you have done it. Congratulations on achieving level 60! Stats at Level 60:
AbilitiesStrength | 07 | Dexterity | 14 | Constitution | 12 | Wisdom | 05 | Intelligence | 14 | Charisma | 50 |
|
|
|
Post by excruciator on Jan 8, 2012 8:48:03 GMT
Final Build & What to Aim For:The following stats are what you will be able to achieve with optimal gear. If you manage to conquer the Nine Hells, you can actually exceed these stats - ask if you're curious! You will not be able to achieve these stats immediately due to gearing constraints, but the more you persevere, the more items you will accrue, and the stronger you will grow. Hard work and persistance will see you rewarded with greater power with which to punish your enemies! AbilitiesAbility | Base | +12 gear | +14 gear | Strength | 07 | 19 | 21 | Dexterity | 14 | 26 | 28 | Constitution | 12 | 24 | 26 | Wisdom | 5 | 17 | 19 | Intelligence | 14 | 26 | 28 | Charisma | 50 | 62 | 64 |
SkillsSkill | Ranks | Concentration | 63 | Craft Armour | 63 | Discipline | 43 | Lore | 63 | Spellcraft | 24 | Tumble | 30 |
Skill Explanation: - Concentration - Higher concentration lowers the risk of having spells disrupted by taking damage.
- Craft Armour - Increases your AC by +1 for each 40 points you have. This is based upon your buffed score.
- Discipline - There are many discipline checks on Higher ground, varying from knockdown checks to other nasty special attacks that can shred your armour! A must for any build.
- Lore - Provides a damage boost to many elemental based damage spells.
- Spellcraft - Required for counterspelling.
- Tumble - Increases your armour class and prevents attacks of opportunity when you move around in combat.
Armour Class10 (base) + 8 (dexterity) + 14 (armor) + 7 (shield) + 20 (dodge) + 20 (deflection) + 16 (natural) + 6 (tumble) +1 (craft armour) = 102 ac+ 3 Armour Class with +17 ac items (natural, armour) and an ac improved caster shield = 105ac+ 1 Armour class with +14 stat items to Dexterity = 106ac*Note: BUR class caster shields are much higher ac than their UR counterparts. A standard, un-nerfed, un-boosted BUR caster shield will add +14 ac rather than +7, as with the UR shield, which is a huge improvement assuming you manage to acquire one. Saves:Fortitude: 74 Reflex: 75 Will: 76 +2 to all saves with +14 stat gear (Constitution, Dexterity, Wisdom, Charisma) = 76F, 77R, 78W saves Miscellaneous Character Enhancements:Spell Tome: When you achieve level 41+ you will be permitted to use a Spell Tome, which will grant you a free Epic Spell Focus. For this build, you should use an ESF: Transmutation book, as this will grant you access to the Transmute Barrier epic spell, and also boost the dc of some useful spells. You must read this book before you can take Legendary Spell Focus: Transmutaiton at level 51. Spell Tomes can be found on the Ssithrakh run, which is a Legendary area. Dragon Blood:Higher Ground is notorious for the many powerful Dragons scattered around throughout it's many areas. These can be found as early as pre-epic, and as late as the Nine Hells and Elysium! Some of these dragons will drop their blood when you kill them. Open subraces can drink the blood to add useful feats or ameliorate certain penalties - for this Sorcerer, a useful choice might be the blood which grants the Dodge feat. This may seem an odd choice, but it's pretty much the best option of a bad bunch, as the other feats you can gain via dragon blood (cleave and combat casting) nothing and nearly nothing to this build, respectively. However, Dragon blood also has another, much more useful purpose which you can utilise to enhance your character, if you can manage to find 2 of the same type. If you're curious about this mysterious process, ask in-game about Dragon blood and its uses. Artifact:There are a number of artifacts which can be applied to your character which provide a number of beneficial effects. These can be rather hard to come by, and many builds do not have one - even level 60's! The reccomended artifact for this build is the Charisma artifact, which provides deafness immunity and +2 to Charisma. It also grants you 10% fire imunity and a casting of a fire shield. However the Charisma artifact is notoriously hard to get, as it is boss loot from one of the harder areas of the game: Elysium. A more realistic artifact to use would be the Spell Penetration artifact, which grants +1 to spell penetration checks and provides a temporary caster level once per day. This arfiact is still somewhat difficult to obtain; it drops on the Rona run, and the drop is not guaranteed. Rona is also seldom run. Stat artifacts can be used at level 55+. However, do not worry if you cannot get one - these are to be considered a luxury, not a requirement, especially for the poor Sorcerers of Higher ground, who have the hardest time by far of any casters obtaining an artifact that boosts their primary stat. General Gearing Guidelines:It's somewhat pointless giving a shopping list of items to wear, because how you gear your Sorcerer will depend greatly upon what you can find/buy/beg/borrow/steal. In general though you should try to maximise your main stats (Charisma, Dexterity and Constitution are your three primary stats as a orcerer, to maximise DC, AC, health points, saves and skills) as well as your secondary ones (Strength and Wisdom, to maximise your carrying capacity, Discipline and Will save). Maximising stats becomes easier as you gain in levels and find better gear. You will also want to wear items with ac as high as possible in the following categories: Deflect (Helm, Cloak, Belt, Bracer), Armour (Armour, Bracer), Natural (Amulet), Dodge (Boots) and Shield (Shield). This will ensure your armour class is as high as possible with your available gear. Items with spellslot gear can be useful in giving you more casting stamina between rests. You can find items with spellslots on many runs, but most notably: - The Maze of the Ancients (Level 41+)
- Myconids (Level 40+)
- Pit of Moliation (Level 55+)
- Avernus (Level 55+)
Finally, damage reduction/immunity/soak can all help increase your character survivability. These three types of damage decreasing properties all stack with eachother, so if you wear all three, your character will benefit in terms of survivability. Many items have these properties on them, especially once you get to Legendary levels. It should be notied that damage immunity % DOES stack on multiple items, so the more you can fit, the better. Damage resistance and damage soak/reduction do NOT stack with other instances of the same type; for example an item with 10/- to all physical damage, and a second item with 15/- to all physical damage would not stack with one another - only the highest (15/-) woud apply. Likewise, +15/10 soak would not stack with +15/20 soak - only the +15/20 would apply, even if you wore both. Build Advantages:Highest DC possible on Evocation, Transmutation, Necromancy and Illusion spells: This build achieves the highest possible dc (on an open race character) in 4 powerful schools. Spontaneous Cast:As with any Sorerer or bard, you get the ability to cast spontaneously, which is a very nice ability to have. Epic Spells: This build boasts four epic spells. You can find more information on these spells, and others later in this guide. Well Rounded Spellbook: As a Sorcerer, it's important that you pick the right spells to ensure your build will be able to cope in the vast majority of areas. While you will always have spells you wish you could cast (and that is the case even on level 60 BUR race Sorcerers who can afford extra spell known feats), you can select a spellbook which will see that you should be able to do your job, at the very least, to a satisfactory level. This build has a spellbook with a selection of spells to cover most instakill spells, as well as all elemental damage types and as many useful buffs as possible.
|
|
|
Post by excruciator on Jan 8, 2012 8:49:33 GMT
Spell Guide:This is the reccomended spellbook for your Sorcerer, which should be sufficient from pre epic to Legendary areas. Feel free to swap spells around when levelling though, as there are some spells, particularly pre legendary, which may be of use whilst levelling up. Sorcerers on Higher Ground receive an extra spell per level, which are granted as you gain in levels, up to 38 sorcerer levels. See the section in your journal about this. Extra spell choices are highlightes with (Extra Spell) tags. You don't have to take them as your extra spells, but those are listed mainly as they are the least useful in pre epic and epic levels. Level 1:- Colour Spray: - An underestimated spell which can stun your enemies.
- Endure Elements: - 9% elemental immunity (10% if pure); cast whilst channeling one level to receive a pure (level 60) caster level.
- Expeditious Retreat: - Increases your run speed - very handy for staying out of melee range.
- Grease: - Used to reduce movement speed of enemies. Can also cause a knockdown effect.
- Mage Armour: - An ac increasing spell, which you can use on yourself or party mates to increase dodge ac, or to cast on your summon.
- Shelgarn's Persistant Blade:(Extra Spell) - Summons a Caligrosto to serve you in battle.
Level 2:- Cloud of Bewilderment: - A persistent area of effect spell which can stun and blind youe enemies. Particularly effective in pre epic levels.
- Combust: - A single target fire damage spell, which has no save, so it can be useful for enemies who have a high reflex score.
- Flame Weapon: - Used to buff your allies weapons and increase their Fire damage.
- Ghostly Visage: - Your number one escape spell - provides 5 rounds of etherealness (just like greater sanctuary) with 59 caster levels and Lsf: Illusion. Has no cooldown timer, so it's great for escaping and repositioning to a position of advantage. Can be extended, which increases the duration to 10 rounds, or one minute.
- Melf's Acid Arrow: (Extra Spell) - A single target Acid damage spell, which has no save, so it can be useful for enemies who have a high reflex score.
- Shock Weapon: - Used to buff your allies weapons and increase their Electric damage.
Level 3- Displacement: - Grants 55% concealment (with legendary spell focus Illusion) - ask your party who would like this. Generally those who will request it will be clerics, strength tanks and other classes who do not receive their own conceal or benefit greatly from Mass Camouflage.
- Gust of Wind: - A spell capable of auto dispelling any persistent aoe's - both friendly and hostile ones. Also apble of knocking down enemies who fail a fortitude check.
- Keen Edge:(Extra Spell) - Applies the keen property to slashing weapons, which increased their critical threat range, making them crit more often and thus increasing party damage. Also works on non slashing weapons with Greater Spell Focus: Transmutation, or higher.
- Negative Energy Burst: - Your main source of area of effect negative damage; also lowers the strength stat of enemies not immune to ability drain. Best cast empowered if you intend to use it for damage purposes.
- Scintillating Sphere: - An area of effect electric damage spell.
Level 4- Bestow Curse: - Reduces Spell Resistence by -11 on enemies (-12 if pure). Also has a chance of dropping their ability scores. You can cast whilst channeling one level to receive a pure (level 60) caster level for particularly high SR mobs.
- Enervation: - A single target spell which drains levels and inflicts damage vulnerabilities on the target. A very useful debuff, even for level drain immune targets.
- Evards Black Tentacles: - A persistent area of effect spell which deals large amountf of bludgeoning damage to enemies which are hit.
- Remove Curse: (Extra Spell) - Another type of malus which can cause you problems from pre epic levels to the very endgame - this spell will remove curse effects, from cursed items which cannot be removed by other means, to calling you back from entrapment in a maze spell!
- Wall of fire: - At caster level 20, creates a physical barrier which you can use tactically to block monsters in place.
Level 5- Energy Buffer: - Useful self buff that gives resistence to all elements.
- Flensing: - A single target persistent damage spell which inflicts slashing damage every round, and also inflicts a malus to the target slashing resist.
- Lesser Mind Blank: - (Extra Spell) Similar to Clarity, however has a longer duration and provides a one time only immunity to some nasty mind effects which normally ignore mind immunity. Does not remove berserk status, as with clarity.
- Lesser Spell Mantle: - Your number one defense against enemy spellcasters. Soaks any direct spells they throw at you, but beware - it expires after soaking a set number of spell levels; then, you must recast.
- Vitriolic Sphere: - An area of effect acid damage spell.
Level 6- Circle of Death: - Area of effect death magic spell, faster acting and with a longer range than Wail of the Banshee, which can be to your advantage in some scenarios.
- Disintegrate: - A powerful instant kill which does not respect death immunity. Some targets may be immune to the spell itself.
- Ethereal Visage - A bard/mage's number one defensive buff. Provides concealment against attacks, damage soak and spell immunity dependant upon caster level. Also grants extra conceal based upon illusion foci. Cast whilst channeling one level to receive a pure (level 60) caster level, for a maximum 85% concealment.
- Freezing Sphere: (Extra Spell) - An area of effect spell which deals large amounts of cold damage. Good to empower.
Level 7- Delayed Blast Fireball: - An interesting spell, which can be cast as a direct damage spell, which deals lots of area fire damage, or set as a "trap", which detonates and deals area fire damage when enemies run over it.
- Finger of Death: - A single target death spell, which also inflicts large amounts of negative damage. Great for instakilling or as a direct damage spell, even on death immunes. Single target negative damage starts to lose utility after the immortal run; you might consider taking Rebuke instead, which will provide solid empowerable single target magic damage regardless of save. This is useful versus several legendary level bosses. It also has an instakill component, although as an ench spell the dc will be poor. Feel free to swap this for Rebuke afterwards.
- Great Thunderclap: (Extra Spell) - A great utiity spell, which deals large amounts of sonic area damage, and forces enemies to save versus knockdown, stun and deafness. Good to empower
- Reverse Gravity: - A great source of aoe bludgeoning damage. When empowered, this is one of your go to damage spells for many encounters.
Level 8- Sunburst: - An instakill for undead enemies. Even if they pass their save they will take solid positive damage. Deals nominal dmagic damage to non undead. A niche spell, but useful in several areas of the mod, from pre epic to legendary.
- Bigby's Clenched Fist: - Deals high amounts of bludgeoning damage to single targets. Has to pass an ac check to land. *Note: damage dealt will be reduced if the enemy has high conceal.
- Premonition: - Your number two defensive buff, this provides a large amount of physical damage soak. To get the most out of this spell, cast whilst channeling one level to receive a pure (level 60) caster level, which grants +15 soak.
- Greater Planar Binding: (Extra Spell)Summons a
powerful Outsider somewhat lethargic outsider, based upon your alignment, to fight for you. It might be useful in a pinch but don't expect too much, they were heavily nerfed. *Note: This spell is almost useless until you achieve character level 40. You can, however take it instead of Bigbies clenched fist, as you may want to use a summon once you hit level 40. Simply take Bigbies clenched fist as your extra spell instead in that case.
Level 9- Bigby's Crushing Hand: - An effective crowd control spell which grapples a target in place, holding them in place, and also paralysing them if they are not immune.
- Energy Drain: (Extra Spell) - A truly excellent debuff, which lowers enemies saves and skills on a failed save. If you land it enough times, you can drain enemies not immune to negative levels to death. Also provises 1 free caster (up to+3) for a minute for level for each level you drain!
- Meteor Swarm: - Deals large amounts of divine damage to all enemies in a huge area of effect. *Note: This spell can be swapped for Mordenkainen's Disjunction, at your discretion, which will breach up to 6 breachable protections, attempt to dispel other buffs, and lower spell resistance by 10. This will be useful if you want to solo play in areas like Desert, or if you plan on heading any deeper than Avernus, although scrolls of Mordenkainen's Disjunction are adequate, if clumsy.
- Weird: - A large instakill spell which respects mind immunity, rather than death immunity. Has a very high dc, making this a great offensive spell.
Custom Epic Spells:Death of Magic: Casting this epic spell will render all magic used by your enemied completely useless. This may include offensive spells, defensive buffs and even heal potions. It is therefore a spell which can grant a great tactical advantage; using before spawning enemies which self buff after spawning can render them very vulnerable. If your party is being bombarded by offensive spells, this can save a lot of incoming damage. Or, you may use it when a miniboss/boss with heal potion(s) is about to become badly wounded, rendering it's heals useless. A very powerful and useful epic. Starfire:Directs a huge area of effect which deals a lot of magic damage to all enemies, and knocks them down if they are not knockdown immune. Even enemies with a high amount of magic immunity will be damaged by this spell, as it inflicts a large magic damage vulnerability when it is cast for a short time. Use this to damage a large group of enemies, or to knock down a threatening enemy or enemies. Transmute Barrier:An excellent spell for soloing, the transmute barrier erects an impenetrable ring of stone around your mage, giving you free reign to cast from relative safety, at least from melee. A few notes of warning - ranged monsters will still be able to damage you, as will spell casters; any loot breakers you cast can break your wall, which can be disastrous; finally some monsters will break through your wall after a time, particularly bosses, so don't waste too much time! Missile Barrage:One of the least powerful epic spells available, this spell is pretty much reduced to being used when you have a single target available which takes good magic damage. There are, however, a few enemies spread throughout the game which are particularly vulnerable to magic damage, and this spell can be a great help for killing them. Be wary of using this against monsters with a lot of kickback (reciprocal damage which you receive each time you damage that monster) - it can quite easily to lead to your death, or worse, a party wipe if the kickback is area wide!
|
|
|
Post by excruciator on Jan 8, 2012 8:52:23 GMT
An Adventurer's Toolkit You can find plenty of vital supplies for sale in the town of Ascension. If you can't find one or more of these, ask for help! These include: - Healing potions of varying strengths, from Cure Light Wounds to full power Heals. Essential.
- Negative Protection Potions - 100% immunity to negeative energy damage! Very useful around undead and various spellcasters.
- Clarity Packs - Useful for quickly making yourself immune to mind spells if you can't fit it on gear.
- Rez Packs - Handy for when your partymates meet their doom! Essential.
- Saint's Blood Pearls - 10 charges of Restoration, great for curing yourself of various deblitating ailments such as strength decrease or blindness.
- Stoneeater's Ring - Useful to restore petrified partymates.
- Teleport gems - These can be used to return to Ascension from most other areas of the module. Also required in your inventory in order to acces a certain pre Legendary area of the module. Pack lots!
- Playertool 2/Assist player - This comes for free on every character you will ever make! It can be selected from the radial menu. Quickslot this to help pick up knocked-down party members - a real life saver!
Build Evolution: An Open Race Sorcerer's Guide to Self ImprovementSubrace Upgrades:As you progress on Higher Ground, the chances are you will come across potential ways in which you can improve your character build - namely subrace improvements. Thankfully, due to the reincarnation system, you won't be forced into starting your character from scratch (although you might decide that would be fun to do!). These can come from a potential number of sources: - Secret Subraces - As the name implies, the means of obtaining these is a secret! However, ask in game for guidance.
- Ultrarare Subraces - these drop in legendary areas as subrace books.
- Beyond Ultrarare Subraces - as with Ultrarare subraces, but these only drop in level 55+ endgame areas, notably the Nine Hells, the five visitable layers of the Abyss, Elysium, Aboleths and Rona.
As a Sorcerer, you have several options available to you in each tier of subrace - most notably: - Rakshasa: - Secret Subrace, any race, changes appearance. Reccomended as Human. FC: Sorcerer;
STR -1, CON -1, CHA +4, SR15 + 1/lvl, speaks Rakshasa
Chaos Gnome: - UltraRare Subrace, Gnome. FCs: Bard. "Chaos Gnome" (secret UltraRare) - FC: Bard - base SR 15 +1/lvl, DEX +2, CHA +4, free feat: Spell Focus - Enchantment, free feat: Curse Song
*Note - Rakshasa is much superior to this race for a Sorcerer. Sadly, Sorcerers are not well catered for by Ultrarare races.
Edit: Don't bother with any race other than Rak if you're aiming for a mid tier race. Seriously. It is just plain superior to ultrarare choices.
- Radiance Genasi: - BeyondUltraRare Subrace, Human. FC: Highest class level; - STR -2, CON +2, DEX +2, INT +2, CHA +6, 25% immune fire, free feat: Empower Spell, free feat: Silent Spell, free feat: Maximize Spell
Each of these subraces would provide significant upgrades to your character. In each case, the build would have to be altered to be optimum. However, feel free to post a request in this thread for a modified build for any of the listed races, or any other race which you feel might be a good match for a Sorcerer. I will be happy to post an upgraded build for a different subrace, provided it is a sensible choice of race. In Conclusion:Mages are some of the most powerful, fun and demanding builds to play on Higher Ground. As a Sorcerer, you are capable of dishing out large amounts of each elemental damage, along with negative, divine and magical damage types, as well as having several sources of bludgeoning damage; you are also capable of utilising some very effective instant kill spells. Your spontaneous casting ability is also a huge asset meaning you never have to go afk for 5 minutes before a run while you set your spellbook. In short, mages are the masters of offense. You also have plenty of disabling spells, along with some useful debuffs to boot. On the flip side, mages are also probably the weakest class you can play in terms of defense, and this is certainly the case with Sorcerers, which usually can afford even less defense that Wizards due to less spell flexibility and inability to max tumble, as you could with a splashed elven Wizard such as the Black Mage. You have to learn quickly how to evade your enemies attacks, including ranged, melee and magical. The good news is, mages are equipped with several tools that allows them to do so, if you play smart! The learning curve may be steep at first, but experience is the best teacher. Mage may well be the class for you if you are keen on playing a responsible and complicated role, which grants you the power to inflict massive amounts of damage and kills on almost any run you go on - or to disable and debuff your enemies, and perform support duties such as counterspelling so the rest of your party can finish them off more efficiently. The choice is yours![/ul][/ul]
|
|
|
Post by excruciator on Jan 8, 2012 9:02:05 GMT
Party Formation This is one of a series of builds co designed by Xiayu and Excruciator, designed around a strong party backbone, including all "core" roles. Cores are classes which form the spine of a party, and, while it's not essential to have them all, you will normally have two or three of the four core classes in any party going to the Hells or beyond. Before that party requirements are a lot more loose, but it's good practice to realise the importance of core classes as early as possible. The following links detail some other builds we liked to fit common and often requested party roles. They are all open race builds - take a look and see what you like!
|
|
|
Post by Vichya on Jan 8, 2012 16:00:49 GMT
I was going to post a sorcerer build here too but it's way too similar - like most sorcerer builds - and so I'll just add some comments here instead: - Typo in Final Build & What to Aim For, Abilities. Charisma is 08 there. Should that be 50 maybe for final cha at level 60?
- You have only one metamagic feat - Empower Spell. I think one of the huge advantages of sorcerers is that with three metamagic feats they never run out of level 1-7 spells. When I leveled my sorcerers I got CoD/Disint very early on and could benefit a lot from 4 spell levels of these spells. An experienced player might have the gear to get away with just one of them but in my eyes a new player would gain a lot from at least one more metamagic feat.
- According to your calculation that armor class you get at the end is totally irrelevant. Even the highest of the numbers is so low that you won't avoid hits with it. Therefore I would drop Tumble entirely, drop Int by 2 and increase Con by 2 to get 60 additional hitpoints at level 60.
- I would read the evocation tome instead of the transmutation and take transmutation during early levels. Disintegrate is extremely useful to take down undeads at PoW for example. Their fortitude save is ridiculously low compared to their will save for U2D.
- Do you think Rebuke will be used a lot? Its main purpose I see would be for dealing magic damage since even a double demi Radiance Genasi doesn't kill often with Rebuke without enchantment focus. If you use it for damage only then it could get replaced by Horrid Wilting, which is a necromancy spell and also an instant killer for a few mobs.
- Does Greater Planar Binding give you good summons without conjuration focus? If not this could be replaced by Horrid Wilting and then Rebuke replaced by the Bigby spell on that level.
- I don't know whether Meteor Storm is worth using nowadays. With the bonus elemental damage from Lore you might be better off only using elemental aoe spells. A replacement could be Mord to help handling Rakshasas and lower SR from afar.
- I'd swap Freezing Fog with Bigby Interposing hand. That spell is incredibly helpful in boss fights. Not only do you get hit less, but some tanks might get pseudo-crit immunity with it (since critical confirmation rolls don't auto-succeed on 20).
|
|
|
Post by vorshlumpf on Jan 8, 2012 23:35:27 GMT
Thanks for all the builds!
My eye caught this as I was scrolling through:
Level 4 (Wizard 4)
|
|
|
Post by excruciator on Jan 9, 2012 2:59:53 GMT
Typo in Final Build & What to Aim For, Abilities. Charisma is 08 there. Should that be 50 maybe for final cha at level 60? Yes, thanks for the heads up. You have only one metamagic feat - Empower Spell. I think one of the huge advantages of sorcerers is that with three metamagic feats they never run out of level 1-7 spells. When I leveled my sorcerers I got CoD/Disint very early on and could benefit a lot from 4 spell levels of these spells. An experienced player might have the gear to get away with just one of them but in my eyes a new player would gain a lot from at least one more metamagic feat. While I do agree with you about metamagic having nice synergy with Sorcerer, unfortunately there's absolutely no leeway in feats, unless you want to drop a Legendary spell focus feat. While I agree that extend spell would provide a little more book flexibility whilst levelling up, it's a long term solution to a short term problem. My Sorcerer rarely uses any metamagic other than empower spell. However, anyone who was desperate to do so could re-juggle the feats and drop a Legendary spell focus for extend spell. In my opinion it makes the build weaker overall, but it's an option. According to your calculation that armor class you get at the end is totally irrelevant. Even the highest of the numbers is so low that you won't avoid hits with it. Therefore I would drop Tumble entirely, drop Int by 2 and increase Con by 2 to get 60 additional hitpoints at level 60. I really don't think 60 health points and one fortitude is worth taking attacks of opportunity when moving around close to combat, which is at times not something that can be avoided, and nor do I think even 102 ac is useless on a conceal based build: Are you assuming this is only aimed at Hells play? I would read the evocation tome instead of the transmutation and take transmutation during early levels. Disintegrate is extremely useful to take down undeads at PoW for example. Their fortitude save is ridiculously low compared to their will save for U2D. Yes, I agree that this is a nice option. On the flip side, I chose to list the Trans book since it's useful for one spell only - Disintegrate. Personally with a mage I'd be more likely to mass plains of war and kill them with sunburst, but I guess that's irrelevant. It does allow you to pick up the Epic Wall somewhat earlier in certain circumstances too I guess. Do you think Rebuke will be used a lot? Its main purpose I see would be for dealing magic damage since even a double demi Radiance Genasi doesn't kill often with Rebuke without enchantment focus. If you use it for damage only then it could get replaced by Horrid Wilting, which is a necromancy spell and also an instant killer for a few mobs. I don't think it will be used a lot for instakilling purposes at all, especially as the build has Weird. It's mainly there as a good single target magic damage spell. It has no save, unlike Horrid Wilting, so it's pretty much the best source of magic damage for single target purposes when empowered - mainly a select few bosses. Horrids is a decent choice too, although it has a save, and cannot be empowered, and is a level 8 spell. Level 8 has a few nice choices - level 7 less so. Also forgive me if I'm missing anything, but I can't think of anything outside Aboleths and the Abyss that can be instakilled with Horrids (Myconids?). Does Greater Planar Binding give you good summons without conjuration focus? If not this could be replaced by Horrid Wilting and then Rebuke replaced by the Bigby spell on that level. It does - once you reach character level 40 the summons become very useful. I don't know whether Meteor Storm is worth using nowadays. With the bonus elemental damage from Lore you might be better off only using elemental aoe spells. A replacement could be Mord to help handling Rakshasas and lower SR from afar. Again I think this is a little endgame-centric. During Epic and Legendary levels there are a number of runs in which meteor swarm is a superior choice to elemental damage; however, you are correct in that Mordenkainen's Disjunction is a good choice at level 9, for both aoe mording to lower sr, and eventually for hells duties once they get to Dis. I would expect an open race Sorcerer to spend all their time going on Tia runs, however, and working to upgrade their build to Rakshasa whilst they attempted to accrue Tia gear. I will add a note though about swapping the spell at level 55+. I'd swap Freezing Fog with Bigby Interposing hand. That spell is incredibly helpful in boss fights. Not only do you get hit less, but some tanks might get pseudo-crit immunity with it (since critical confirmation rolls don't auto-succeed on 20). Nice suggestion yes, I think I agree. Thanks for the feedback!
|
|
|
Post by excruciator on Jan 9, 2012 3:02:01 GMT
Thanks for all the builds! My eye caught this as I was scrolling through: Level 4 (Wizard 4) Oops ![:)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png) Thanks.
|
|
|
Post by tyranlthixis on Mar 6, 2012 7:28:10 GMT
Nice looking build. I think it is pretty solid. 4 epics is a lot on a open subrace sorcerer. I don't agree with every choice you made but that is a healthy thing for this part of the forums.
|
|
|
Post by desocupado on Mar 6, 2012 11:04:19 GMT
First I'd like ot say, this build has nice spread of schools/feats, this is certainly a very solid build viable in most areas, and capable of facing most bosses. [/li][li] Chaos Gnome: - UltraRare Subrace, Gnome. FCs: Bard. "Chaos Gnome" (secret UltraRare) - FC: Bard - base SR 15 +1/lvl, DEX +2, CHA +4, free feat: Spell Focus - Enchantment, free feat: Curse Song *Note - Rakshasa is much superior to this race for a Sorcerer. Sadly, Sorcerers are not well catered for by Ultrarare races. [/quote] I have to disagree on the total inferiority of Chaos gomes, If you choose Enchantment as school you can grab a meta magic, maximize (if evocation) or empower (if using conjuration). I'd recomend Conjuration, Necromancy, Illusion and Enchantment as a viable alternative spread of spell schools in the case of chaos gnome. Another tought is changing one school: Transmutation (excelent for bosses, bad for leveling, good in hells) -> Abjuration (good AC and resitances, handy spells).
|
|