Solo Sorc: Spell list from Candlekeep to Ascension

[drktmplar]

Soon, I'll be trying a no reload solo Sorcerer. I'm planning my spellbook, and am wondering if what I've got will last me to the end, and maybe I can do Ascension. Will me luck!


Spellbook:

Note: I'll use wands for direct damage.
Also, I generally don't like cloud-type spells. They seem cheap to me. Incindiary Cloud, though, is the best damage in the game (500 average damage per person at level cap!), and Sphere of Chaos randomly turns enemies into squirrels, dust, charred corpses, or statues! Sounds fun.

--One--
1Charm (Better "dmg" than MM.)
1Sleep (How do people live without this spell in BGI?!)
3Blind
5PEvil(AC bonus (indirectly) and save bonus against evil.)
7CO (Poor-man's FoD. L9: 3CO=27dmg + 3 chances at petrify versus 3MM=52.5dmg. Personal preference: I'll take CO.)

--Two--
4Glitterdust (Poor-man's GM.)
5Mirror Image (Main defense against casters and traps.)
7Invis
9Knock
11Blur (AC and save bonus.)

--Three--
6Lightning Bolt (If LB does damage three times, it does more dmg than MMM. Plus, it remains useful forever. Note: Use with Cloak of Reflecting = Unspeakable carnage - upwards of 200 damage.)
7Skull Trap
9Minor Spell Defl (Against traps)
11Dispel Magic (Solo sorc, so I'll be higher level. I'd rather throw this a few times than one or two higher level protection strippers.)
22Haste (For Mord Swords and Shapechange.)

--Four--
8Polymorph Other!
9GM
11Stoneskin
13Improved Invis or TPField (I prefer Impr Invis + SI: Div.)
23Farsight (No Spirit Armor because by this time, my AC shouldn't matter much at all, and I'll have PMEnergy.)

--Five--
10Dominate (Indirect direct damage spell. Works on all creatures...not sure about undead.)
11Lower Resistance
13Spell Immunity (abj:anti-imprisonment;div:cast by PIs and they can't be dispelled; abj + div:impr.invis can't be dispelled;ench:anti-charm)
15Breach (Everyone loves this spell. I'd use it to strip PMagic Energy, PElem, PEnergy, but is necessary? I can just use MordSwords on the caster. If the caster throws up a mantle, I'll just wait a few rounds.)
28Cone of Cold (Same dmg as ST.)

--Six--
12Flesh to Stone
13PMagic Weapons
15PMagic Energy (Mord Swords are immune to everything but pure magic damage, I believe. This fixes that problem!)
21Death Spell (Kill summoned.)
30True Sight or Mislead (Skip True Sight, as I don't need to do direct damage to kill wizards. Mislead apparently refreshes invis everytime you break it. Leave the clone somewhere safe and enjoy your brie, or just enjoy a short duration, refreshable invis.)

--Seven--
14MordSword
15Finger of Death or Sphere of Chaos (SoC will do very bad things to opponents 66% of the time, a neutral effect 11% of the time, and negligibly good things 22% of the time.)
17Proj Image
22LWish (Bunny army of distraction!)
31Spell Sequencer
Scrolls of Spell Turning for Sightless eye.

--Eight--
16PWBlind (Buys time to Maze people.)
17Horrid Wilting (Although IC does nuts dmg, it's a bit too cheesy for me. HW does minimally more damage than ST and CoC, so I may skip it altogether and pick something else, but what?)
19Spell Trigger
23Maze (Buys time during fight and doesn't destroy equipment.)
32Pierce Shield (For Ravager.)

--Nine--
18Shapechange (Iron Golem means I'm immune to most things. Mindflayer can kill by stat drain.)
19Chain Contingency
20Spell Strike (Anti-Spell Trap.)
25Imprisonment (If Maze isn't working...last resort. May skip it for something else...but what?)
36Timestop (Do I really need this spell?)

--Concerns--
1.Does the Belt of Inertia need 19 STR to equip?
2.How will I deal with the Sirens in BGI? Are there anti-charm items for the mage in BGI?
3.Does Minor Spell Deflection protect against traps?

Thanks for any comments!

-DT-

[drktmplar]

Edited to reduce length.

[nos]

I wouldn't rely on wands to deal damage. They won't do as much damage as if you character casts the spell, and becomes completely useless once you get Improved Alacrity.

1. I woudn't miss Magic Missile if I were you. Charm is fun but not very useful in SoA and ToB. If you like Charm you can get Algernon's Cloak in Beregost by stealing it or killing him. You should probably skip Sleep and just buy the Wand of Sleep in High Hedge.

2. Melf's Acid Arrow would probably be good to fit in but it's far from mandatory.

3. Flame Arrow is one of the best damage dealing spells as long as the creature is not resistant against fire. It's not good in BG1 with 9 level cap though, so delay it to SoA. Lightning Bolt relies on "bouncing" so it's very hard to use right in big rooms.

4. If you are planning to play SCS1 it might be good to pick Minor Globe of Invulnerability against mages and traps. Minor Spell Deflection might work too though.

5. Spell Shield is pretty much a must when soloing Ascension. Sunfire is great against drow and the like.

6. I would pick True Sight rather than Mislead to quickly kill Projected Images. Mislead doesn't work against dragons, demons, bhaalspawn and similar afaik.

7. I like Delayed Blast Fireball better than Finger of Death (aoe spell, more reliable) but it doesn't matter much which you pick.

8. Incindiary Cloud has higher damage than ADHW as you wrote before.

9. Spell Strike is not a good choice if you rely on aoe spells I believe. Time Stop is not really needed but practical from time to time. You really shouldn't skip Wish. Cast it a few times with Improved Alacrity during a battle to regain all spells (needs 18 wisdom).

Concerns:
1. No strength requirement.
2. No but if you pick Minor Globe that will block it. I think there are Potions of Clarity too.
3. Don't know. Minor Globe does if you can spare the room for it.

[drktmplar]

Thanks, your advice was really useful. I'll have to change my tactics a bit.

I'm planning to use a lot of wands before level 7 or 8 because I'm postponing getting the normal direct damage spells. After that, yes, I'll use my spells.

I didn't know about that Sleep Wand. I'll be picking that up. And I'll have to get my familiar to pickpocket the cloak. By the way, I know in Tutu, High Hedge has Find Familiar, but what about BGT?

1.My main problem with MM is it doesn't do squat damage. As far as I can tell, it works best in a Trigger or with Alacrity, but in BGI, I'd be better off firing a couple COs than a couple MMs.
My only concern is how will I survive or kill anything until I get to Beregost? Even 5 lvl3 magic missles would have trouble with a group of orcs, and that'd mean all my spells. I'll have to think about it.

2.I could be bothered to use MAA in SoA.

3.Maybe I don't understand it, but Flame Arrow does the same damage as ST, only it scales every fifth level, meaning most of the time, it does less damage. For enemies who don't like fire, it's great, but usually I'd just as soon throw a ST. Note: lvl20 FA does 70 average damage, same as a level 10 Lightning that hits twice. Throw in cloak of reflecting...Plus, I don't think as many enemies are immune to lightning.
So, why does everyone like FA so much?

4.What is SCS1? And if Minor Spell Deflection can do the job, I'd rather use up the level 3 slot. For me, I had some trouble filling up level 3, where as level 4 was tough.

5.Ah, now I see why Truesight is useful.

9.So, Spell Trap doesn't protect against AoE? Good to know, thanks. Save me a lvl 9 slot, although I'm not too impressed with lvl 9 as a whole.

[nos]

I have never played BGT, only Tutu, so I have no idea about the Find Familiar scroll.

1. Yes, I agree that MM isn't very good until you get Improved Alacrity but at that point it's a good staple spell with its fast casting speed.

I'm playing a sorcerer through Tutu and later SoA and ToB right now. I survived at the lower levels by throwing darts, casting Blindness and doing the rare non-combat (or easy combat) quests like Marl, Firebeard's book, the woman's ring in FAI. When I could afford it, I bought the Sleep Wand, Find Familiar and got Algernon's Cloak. I hunted easy (slow) enemies until lvl4. Then I picked Invisibility and went killing basilisks. That probably gives you two levels more (if you have Protection from Petrification spell). At that point you can do most of the other quests more easily.

3. I like Flame Arrow better than Lightning Bolt because it's easier to use and gives higher damage on one hit at later levels. Of course, if you are good enough at aiming LB to give several hits often it's probably better. I'm not however.

I suggest Remove Magic instead of Dispel Magic since it won't remove your own spells.

4. SCS1 ([url="http://www.gibberlings3.net/scs/"]Sword Coast Stratagems 1[/url]) is a difficulty enhancing mod for Tutu and BGT. Among a lot of changes, it gives better AI, a few ease-of-use things and gives enemy spellcasters the ability to "pre-buff" like the player can do. If you find the regular BG1 too easy I really recommend it.

Minor Spell Deflection probably protects agains MM traps, but probably not against Lightning (bouncing) and Fireball (aoe) traps. Not sure though.

[drktmplar]

If BGT High Hedge doesn't have Find Familiar, I'll console it in and throw away some gold or something.

1. I think I'll be going with Blind + darts until I can get my familiar to pickpocket the cloak and start charming. And since I'll use that wand for sleep, I'll have two slots open. I'll take Shield, and lastly MM to use with Alacrity. I know Shield becomes obsolete with Bracers AC3 in SoA, but missle protection will help a lot in BG1, and I can just buy some PfPetrification scrolls. Always good to have those and some PfUndead scrolls at all times.

And thanks for the quest suggestions.

3. I've never used Lightning Blot, so I'll load up the Irenicus dungeon and experiment with it. If it's really tough, I'll probably use Flame Arrow like you said, but it might be fun to have to run around aiming the bolts. Might be a pain too, lols. *shrug*

I'm pretty good at aiming the 30' radius spells to hit the mob and not me, even if the mob is in melee with me. Since Dispell is more potent, I'll just use that and hope my aim stays good.

SCS1: Since this is my first solo no reload run through, I'll mostly stick to vanilla. If it's successful, I'll probably do a run through with SCS1 and Ascension with a Wild Mage, hehe.

You're right. Deflect Spell won't help me with Lightning or Fireball traps. I don't have the space though, but I'll have a familiar, so maybe he can help me out with the traps. If someone fails to disarm a trap, will the trap go off?
Or maybe just get some resistant robes and rings. Those are quite easy to come by.

Thanks for your help.