My Level 20 Solo Sorcerer's Spell List

Templar · Post by **Templar** » Mon Apr 30, 2001 12:33 am

Having read Pat Bou's Solo Sorcerer's Guide and many other players'
advices,I choose these spells for my level 20 solo sorcerer.
Thanks for your advice.

level 1
1.Magic missle
2.Chromatic orb
3.Charm person
4.Spook
5.Shield

level 2
1.Melf's acid arrow
2.Knock
3.Web
4.Mirror image
5.Horror

level 3
1.Dispel magic
2.Melf's minute mateor
3.Skull trap
4.Haste

level 4
1.Greater malison
2.Stone skin
3.Secret word
4.Wizard eye

level 5
1.Breach
2.Lower resistance
3.Animate dead
4.Spell immunity

level 6
1.True sight
2.Death spell
3.Disintegrate

level 7
1.Project image
2.Mordenkainen's sword
3.Ruby ray of reserval

level 8
1.Abi Dalzim's horrid wilting
2.Spell trigger
3.Simulacrum

level 9
1.Chain contiguency
2.Shapechange
3.Time stop

level 1:
Protect from evil is also useful,but Later Staff of Magi will
give you the effects.
With the glasses,I seldom need Indentify spell.

level 2:
Mirror image is a great spell to be used to go across traps.
As a second level spell,horror can be very useful.Combined with Greater Malison,it becomes Simbol:fear.

level 3:
Dispel magic is good for a high level sorcerer to dispel enemy's defence magic and something bad on you and your companions.
Haste is useful to strengthen your summoned creatures.
Skull trap has a great damage with no limit.
Spell thrust,Fire ball,Slow are also good choices.

level4:
No need to say about Greater Malison and Stoneskin.
Wizard eye does well with Project image and summoned creatures.
It can be useful in many conditions.
Secret word can dispel all spell protections except Spell trap.When you meet Spell trap,just cast Ruby ray.
Many others to choose:Spider spawn(useful at low levels,combined withweb),Improved invisability,Minor Sequencer(I want to use Spell trigger,so i don't choose it).

level5:
I choose Spell imunity because I need some spell protection.I
will not rely on the Spell trap of the staff.Choose proper spell school,Spell imunity will do well.It seems Spell trap does not protect
you from area spell like simbol:stun(I am not sure).But you can use
Spell imunity(conjuration) to avoid it.
Chaos is quite good to disable enemy group.But sometimes confused
enemy can still hit you and its duration is short.Horror can do the
same job as a level 2 spell.
I do not need Cloud kill since I have the staff.That is also why I choose Skull trap over Fireball.

level 6:
I think I must have True sight to become a great sorcerer who can
control all kinds of conditions.
Death spell kill all hostile summoned creatures.And it can instantly kill all creatures lower than 8HD such as low level groups,
Umber Hunks(no saving throw).
Summond elements are immune to +1 or less weapon and do good damage,but I don't think they are better than my Skeleton Warriors
and I hate those who turn on me.
Nishrru is good to hit mages,but my skeleton warrior with 90% magic
resistance can also do well.
Tenser's Transformation is good for fighter/mages,but as a sorcerer,even if you cast it,you still have only 1 attack per round,
and it disable your cast ability.I don't like it.In some conditions,
I will use Shapechange the level 9 spell which is much more powerful.
I choose Disintegrate because I have no other instant kill spells
(except Chromatic orb which has a bad saving throw).Spell trigger with
3 Disintegrate is horrific.It is a pity that this spell will destroy
items.Fresh to stone can also be chosen.

level 7:
I think Project image has broken the balance of the game.Your image
can summon more than 5 creatures.Is it a bug?And it can cast all your
spells.
Mordenkainen's sword immune to all weapons and most spells.
Ruby ray is a must against Spell trap.
Many other great spells,I'd like to say all level 7 spells are great.

level 8:
Everyone will choose Horrid Wilting,I think.
Simulacrum makes a clone of you,which can not be dispelled by true
sight(I am sure,but Project image can).
Spell trigger can cast 3 spells of 6 or less levels.3 Disintegrate
or 3 Skull trap ,or 3 Greater Malison?I guess there are bugs about the
spell.When I put 3 Greater Malison in it,but only 1 is cast,I dont know
why.Even though,it rocks,combined with Chain Contiguency,you can kill
a dragon in seconds.Chain Contiguency(see enemy,cast on nearest enemy,
2 Lower resistance,1 Greater Malison),Spell Trigger(3 Disintegrate).
Or Chain Contiguency(3 Horrid Wilting),Spell Trigger(2 lower resitance,
1 Greater Malison).
Perce shield,simbol:stun are also good to have.

level 9:
No need to say more about Chain Contiguency,too powerful.
Shapechange is very useful.I love Mind Flayer.It can kill a golem
With just 2 hits,and it has 4 attacks per round,and the great blast.
Also can be used to kill some immortals,haha.Greater werewolf regenerate very fast.Iron golem has full magic resitance and good physical resitance.And your project image can also cast it.
I love Time stop because using it,you seems to control the world.
Although Spell trigger and Chain Contiguency are already powerful,I do
not want to lose the spell.
Wail of the Banshee,Power word:kill are good.In fact ,all level 9
spells except Freedom are good.
I am quite dispointed to Pit fiend.It was killed by several high level vampires.And
When it kills enemy,you get no XP.

I think BG2:SoA is a bit too easy when you level up.So I hope ToB
can add some much more powerful creatures and gives them good AI.A 20
level sorcerer with the Staff of Magi is powerful!
Thanks for reading.

[ 04-30-2001: Message edited by: Templar ]

Garcia · Post by **Garcia** » Mon Apr 30, 2001 12:52 am

It looks very sensible to pick the spells you did I would have chosen a few differently but that's only a matter of preferences. Good choice anyway.

Huskylaw · Post by **Huskylaw** » Mon Apr 30, 2001 12:23 pm

I have to question your choice of both Project Image and Simulacrum. You say that Simulacrum is unaffected by True Sight -- is this true? To the best of my knowledge this is incorrect. As far as I can tell, the only advantage Simulacrum has over Project Image is that the Simulacrum can make physical attacks. This is virtually useless for a Sorcerer ... no matter what your dexterity / strength, a Simulacrum with 60% of your hitpoints won't be very effective with physcial attacks. As for spells, Simularum can not compare to Project Image because Project Image gives you the ability to have 6 full spell books. Therefore, I'd eliminate Simulacrum here and add a spell such as Pierce Shield, or Symbol Fear here instead.

rapier · Post by **rapier** » Mon Apr 30, 2001 12:29 pm

I would have taken Burning Hands instead of Charm Person, at higher levels it deals good damage...

Craig · Post by **Craig** » Mon Apr 30, 2001 12:30 pm

and disintergrate is now good no items and the death spell i dont like but its ur choice

moriveth · Post by **moriveth** » Mon Apr 30, 2001 12:31 pm

Originally posted by Huskylaw:
<STRONG>I have to question your choice of both Project Image and Simulacrum. You say that Simulacrum is unaffected by True Sight -- is this true? To the best of my knowledge this is incorrect. As far as I can tell, the only advantage Simulacrum has over Project Image is that the Simulacrum can make physical attacks. This is virtually useless for a Sorcerer ... no matter what your dexterity / strength, a Simulacrum with 60% of your hitpoints won't be very effective with physcial attacks. As for spells, Simularum can not compare to Project Image because Project Image gives you the ability to have 6 full spell books. Therefore, I'd eliminate Simulacrum here and add a spell such as Pierce Shield, or Symbol Fear here instead.</STRONG>

The advantage that Simulacrum has is that you can still move after casting it. I agree it's less useful than for a fighter/mage, but with a few good scrolls a Simulacrum can double your offense for a time. Project image gives you an exact clone but disables your real body, which I've never found useful for winning a tough fight, unless you take advantage of the extra summons bug/feature, or do some kamakazi thing with contingencies and spell sequencers. The advantage is that you keep your spells afterwards with project image.

Huskylaw · Post by **Huskylaw** » Mon Apr 30, 2001 12:36 pm

When I mess around with my lvl 20 sorcerer, I cast Project Image, then have the image cast Wizard Eye. After that, it is a simple matter of scouting and either dropping a few Wilting Spells, or as you say raise numerous undead. Moving about like with Simulacrum isn't that handy for me ... I just sit back and watch everything happen with the Wizard Eye. But yes, for a fighter/mage, Simulacrum is probably a tremendous spell.

Zartuul · Post by **Zartuul** » Mon Apr 30, 2001 1:06 pm

level 1:
Protect from evil is also useful,but Later Staff of Magi will
give you the effects.
With the glasses,I seldom need Indentify spell.

But when you cast Melf's Meteors you don't have the staff of the magi effects. I'd rather lose a spell like spook then take up an inventory slot for the glasses.

For lvl 2 I really like Blur. Gives -3 ac and +3 to saves. Other then that our lvl 2 spells are the same.

Haste is useful to strengthen your summoned creatures.

I mainly use Pit Fiends and Skeleton Warriors, both which have high MR and thus I can't haste them.

Lvl 4 : Secret word becomes obselete so I just bit the bullet and skipped it waiting for ruby ray of reversal. Never really used Wizard Eye much. Not having spider spawn which admittedley becomes obselete would make things tough I think until you get Skeleton Warriors.

Lvl 5: Same spell config I have except you have spell immunity instead of Chaos. You kind of subbed in horror for chaos at lvl 2 to make up for it. The other thing about Chaos is the mobs will fight eachother which has helped me tons in the past. I can tell that spell immunity would be a very versatile spell which I haven't had the opportunity to try out myself.

Lvl 6: I don't have any insta kill spells like Disintegrate or finger of death. That can sometimes make regenerating mobs like Greater wolfweres and vampires harder for me. I use tenser's transformation for mobs that are immune to magic like golems or a last ditch resort in the rare times I'm nearly out of spells.

level 7:
I think Project image has broken the balance of the game.Your image
can summon more than 5 creatures.Is it a bug?And it can cast all your
spells.
Mordenkainen's sword immune to all weapons and most spells.

Both really cheesey spells IMO so I didn't pick them. Instead I went with Efreeti and Hakeshar.

Lvl 8: I skipped simulacrum and went with Pierce Magic.

Lvl 9: same spells except I got Gate. You were testing the Pit Fiend under the worst possible circumstances. Vampires are the ONLY weakness a Pit Fiend has since they kill it by level draining and not by damage. When you face vampires just use Skeleton warrors and nuke away. Anyways the Pit Fiend is a juggernaut of destruction vs your average mortals. It truly kicks ass with its 20D6 fireball every turn, demon fear, remove magic, high magic resistance and its horrendous melee attack. Its good vs casters and its good vs melee types, its good vs everything BUT vampires.

Shape change sounds like a lot of fun, I toyed around with the spell a lot when I was trying to choose. Some other game I will pick it.

Chain contingency is super versatile and overpowered when abused correctly. Personally I just use the spell for defensive purposes only or it takes away some of the challenge in the game for me. When my hps <=50% triggers Stoneskin, Mirror image, Spell deflection.

I love Timestop for the same reasons you do.

The Outsider · Post by **The Outsider** » Mon Apr 30, 2001 4:20 pm

I agree with keeping the contingency spells as defensive. With Chain Contingency, I had a hacked Imoen set up the condition that, at 50% hitpoints, 3 cacofiends would be launched at the last thing that hit her.

This has a great feel for the way I'm playing Imoen- shellshocked and psychopathic.

Templar · Post by **Templar** » Tue May 01, 2001 12:42 am

Thanks for your advice.
Perhaps I should kick Simulacrum and choose
Pierce shield as my level 8 spell.Perhaps in
ToB,there will be some magic users with great
magic resistance.This spell will be quite useful.
How about these?
level 6
1.True sight
2.Death spell
3.Summon Nishrru

level 7
1.Project image
2.Mordenkainen's sword
3.Finger of Death

level 8
1.Abi Dalzim's horrid wilting
2.Spell trigger
3.Pierce shield
Although I have pierce shield,I think I should keep lower resitance and secret word
which are low level spells and can be put in
spell trigger.

Nishrru perhaps is what mages fear most.Deathspell or Death fog is great to kill them.Chaos is great,but I do not want to lose spell immunity,personal sence.
I feel there are some creature tough for
solo sorcerers.Golems,Greater werewolf,etc.To
slay a clay golem,I have to summon a magical sword,and kill it will staff or shapechange to mind flayer.Perhaps a elemental can kill it.Other golems can be killed by skeleton warriors.Admantite golem is powerful but too large,if it is small in size,I think it will be much more terrible.To kill greater werewolf,I have to use instant kill spells with reloads,or use lower resistance,chain contiuence and horrid wilting.
Skeleton warriors are good to kill vampires,
they could be level drained,but will not die.
They can be hasted,because magic resitance do not effect this.

[ 05-01-2001: Message edited by: Templar ]

Huskylaw · Post by **Huskylaw** » Tue May 01, 2001 11:46 am

Interesting revision ... I was just mulling it over a bit, and thought I'd post a couple thoughts... I think you are better off going without Simulacrum ... I also like Pierce Shield instead.

But, if you do add Pierce Shield, I think you'll be going a bit overload with the following spells:

Pierce Shield, Breach, Secret Word

Personally, for a sorcerer, I think Breach isn't as useful as a different class mage. This is because at higher levels, Dispel Magic can remove the same spell protections as Breach. Seems like overkill here to me. If you go with Pierce Shield, you are free to put in Mord's Sword like you suggest -- I used Khelben's Whip (removes multiple spell protections). Perhaps you can consider replacing Breach or Secret Word with a different spell.

Also, I notice that the only spell protection you are using is Spell Immunity. This is a great spell, but it will be easily countered by a lesser mage by a simple casting of Secret Word. You might want to consider restructuring a bit to include a spell like Spell Shield or Spell Turning ... I actually went for Spell Trap at level 9. I am still mulling this one over in light of what I'm reading about Shapechange ... But anyway, you might want to include some more protective spells in your arsenal. One casting of Skull Trap against you and you're bound to be turned into dog food.

[ 05-01-2001: Message edited by: Huskylaw ]

moriveth · Post by **moriveth** » Tue May 01, 2001 12:10 pm

Originally posted by Huskylaw:
<STRONG>Personally, for a sorcerer, I think Breach isn't as useful as a different class mage. This is because at higher levels, Dispell Magic can remove the same spell protections as Breach. </STRONG>

I'd really like to be able to dispense with breach in favor of sunfire, which is very powerful (and easy to use) in a spell trigger, while breach is only occasionally useful with a solo sorceror.

What level are the tougher mages and liches in the game? If they're not much above 20, a level 20 sorceror could definitely get by with dispel magic.

Nightmare · Post by **Nightmare** » Tue May 01, 2001 2:21 pm

Death spell is extremely useful against many enemies (umber hulks, knocking a large group of trolls down to 1hp, etc). Breach is good because it automaticly disables protections, wheras dispel magic only gives a chance (bad against liches, high level mages). I think dispel magic also is affected by magic resistance.

And one more thing, I have found that all enemies save against Chromatic Orb (goblins, bandits, etc.). is this a bug??