GameBanshee Forums

My Sorc: DROW (SOR 23, PAL 1) lawful good
base stats:
STR: 9
DEX: 20
CON: 16
INT: 12
WIS: 3
CHA: 20
all level up stats go to CHA
Designed to work for soloing, but also good for the party.
Spell selection: basically all the good damage spells + essential defence spells (including MI)
My first time thru the game (in HOF. restarted twice), but I am not unfamiliar with 3rd Edition rules (I have played NWN, and oh...BGII many many times before)

I read one of the strategy guides on line, very similar with my build except that it favored the STR attribute over DEX. Its rationale: "you are going to get hit anyway... so what the heck". I just had to disagree......I don't go in melee, and I have bag of holding, so what the heck is STR going to do me? DEX gives me ranged attack bonus, some (if somewhat puny) AC bonus, and bonus reflex. That's why I had 20 in DEX and only 9 in STR.

Well...after getting Mordy's Sword I sort of shifted my opinion a little. MS counts as melee damage, but it's dealt in a "rangely" fashion. Hence STR bonus APPLY. The damage is ok, and to hit bonus is far superior to any crossbow. On the down side of having DEX: You aren't going to hit anything later in the game with the crossbows, you don't have time to shoot, and the damage sucks. Without Evasion, the reflex won't save you from your fireballs (that is, if it caught me w/o MI, which often happens). Strategy using Mordy's sword: lure enemies together, cast blind, blast away with evocations spells or Wail of Banshee, and finish the rest (with cast and attack tatics) with this wonderful sword.

Right now I am at Dragon's eye and found Thunder Clap, a bracer available to monks that gives extra attack per round. I tried it on another char, and found that it applies to any kind of attack: unarmed, melee, ranged. So probably Mordy S as well. I read that Force of Lightning gives 2 extra attacks per round to monks.....that would give me up to 5 attacks per round.......That sounds pretty nice.

TO GET TO THE POINT after all my rumbling: I am thinking of raising a single level of Monk at my last level. It gives me Evasion which takes advantage of my high DEX, and it enables me to use the Force of Lightning....which is just too good. I will raise another level in Paladin just for the immunity to fear. Spell known don't suffer at all and spell progression suffer only 1 level 1 spell between level 27 and 28.

The only short comings are my damage spells without cap: Those are Delayed Blast FB, Skull Trap, Flaying (which I took because of its wonderful "cast time 1"), and flame arrow.

SO, should I add the extra Monk and Paladin Level? ANY comments??? thx....

side note: I have trouble thinking of adding another spell at Level 8. I can have 4 at Level 27, and I currently have 3: Power Word: Blind, horrid Wilting, and Flay. Mind Blank looks nice but I have seven eyes anyway. I have level 6 summon: shades, which will do for summoning. What else? The darn symbols? ( I deeply despise them...if simply because they are using chinese characters (my mother tongue) in such an awkward way not mentioning their unresourcefulness in combat)...........so what else??

last word:... I really miss the Robe of Vecna....and the Amulet of Power..... the interface of this game is much like BGII...

I'd say you can beat the game with any choice you make for your last levels, so you don't have to force yourself to do things you don't want to in order to be more powerful.

Keep in mind that a P2/M1/S27 will only have BAB 15 and therefore only 3 base attacks per round while a P2/S28 will have BAB 16 and 4 base attacks per round.

heh, Im also in a solo drow sorcerer project.... my stats look very much like yours except for strength 8 insted of 9 (you dont get an upgrade anyways) and the wisdom in 4 instead of 3 so I have 1 will save over you
What skills you are getting? Im for cocentration and spellcraft, dont know if these are needed too high and perhaps go for some others at high level ???
About the spells, yes, I would definitely go for mind blank, very powerful, seven eyes only protects you once every 20 rounds.... sucks.
In HoF all will be about improved invisibility, summons and wail of the banshee so all your analysis about dex or str, crossbow or mord' sword I wouldnt bother....
About the classes.... Im for a sorcerer 30.... I dont care about those extra saving throws or countless dispels one lvl of paladin offers, but thats just me, a magic thirst, perhaps a more hardcore powerplayer would tell you yes, 1 lvl of pal and monk will make you better *shrug

Contain Spoilers

Thanks for the comments

@kmonster. I guess you are right. Maybe I should shrug the idea of dualing to the monk class and save those wonderful thunderclap gloves for other chars.

@wotan06. Perfectly fine for a solo sorc. I didn't find improved invisibility useful tho...it breaks whenever I attack or cast spells. Instead, powerword Blind works on almost anything. The thing about choosing a drow for a solo sorc is about high MR. In this game, MR stacks...so dualing to a Paladin and aquiring the Holy Avenger would be a big plus for powergamers making your char nearly immue to spells...the saving throws bonuses are nothing in comparison.

-yea I agree seven eyes sucks. But no other good spells. Could have chosen Malavon's Rage (casting time 1) instead or first. Originially I thought the "mind eye" was able to block all mind attacks, but in fact it dissipates after absorbing the first mind spell. Thanks for the hint on mind blank.
-I'm also a magic thirst. And I simply can't stand the fact that I end up with hundreds of HP before resting and no spell to cast......So scrap the idea of wasting levels on Monk and Pal.

Well, being a cap of 50 in spell resistance, and a drow lvl 30 reaching 41 by his own, and several items that improve that, there's no real need for a holy avenger to increase spell resistance; but the saving throws yes are needed, for there are several deadly spells that simply ignore spell resistance.

Care to comment whats the so good of powerword blind? I've seen already several people saying it is a very nice spell...... it effectively gives you concealment, thus 50% dodge (a 'broken' improved invisibility already does this), what else? monsters dont cast/use ranged weapons? they dont follow you?... what?

When did you add the first paladin level? You can only add pally levels consecutively unless your intervening class is favoured by the paladin's Order (fighter, cleric, and wizard, respectively). Therefore, you might not be able to add another. Also, I question whether adding a second pally level is all that important. IIRC, the only benefit you get from two levels of pally compared to one (other than better BAB, HP, etc) is the Aura of Courage, which is of little help to a solo character.

Adding a monk level would be fine.

Although you say you don't like the Symbol spells, Symbol: Hopelessness is the best lvl 8 spell remaining. I also like Iron Body (50/+3 damage resistance, which is still useful in HoF), but I question whether you want it with a solo character, as it almost entirely disables spellcasting for the duration. PW: Blind is not worth it.

Edit: How about Summon Fiend? I'm a fan of the demon summoning spells, although Gate is clearly the class of the bunch because of its duration.

@wotan06: I didn't notice the 50% dogue bonus on Improved Invisibility...heck..
Powerword Blind: No saving throws, blinded (and all the associated "benefits" thereof), effective immediately (cast time 1). Works almost in all critters other than those entirely immue to magic (iron goleoms for e.g.) Cast and walk away, enemies just stand there doing nothing....same as in BGII (that's how I know about it in the beginning)

@Aerich: I'm afraid you have grealy underestimated the usefulness of PW: blind. As for symbol: helplessness, I agree that it is the most superior among all symbol spells. Yet, I personally dislike enemies walking arround in fear wasting my area damage spells. But heck, if you want to disable enemies with save, why not use confusion? (its only a level 5 spell with -4 penalty to save).

IMHO, all spells that disable the sorceror/wizard's spell casting abilities are not worth it. The risks are just too high. That also includes Tenslers.

mbz, I stand by my comments. Symbol of Hopelessness causes mass paralysis for 10 rounds (will save), and causes enemies to freeze in place to be hit by area damage. It's also casting time 3 with a 30' radius. Held enemies are hit automatically and I'm pretty certain they can't make a Reflex save.

Confusion is a lvl 4 spell with -2 save; Chaos is the lvl 5 spell with -4.

Where are you getting your info about blindness? According to the spell description for Blindness (lvl 2 spell with saving throw allowed), a blind creature suffers -2 AC, no Dex bonus to AC, and a 50% chance of missing. Nothing in there about saving throws. More importantly, blindness is of less use in IWD2 than BG because enemies show up in bigger bunches in IWD. If facing five enemies, I'd rather have a good chance of paralyzing several than having a great chance (or perfect chance, if enemies have no resistance) of blinding just one. It isn't often that you face just one enemy in IWD2.

Containt Spoiler

ok, arguement well received.

I forgot to add that I dualed to Pally at level 23 just before entering the eye of the dragon. Saving throws don't help me much. I dislike exp. penalties.

So, Powerword Blind is no good? If monster stay put, then it works somehow like symbol of hopelessness? like a paralysis?
This is my spell selection for my sorcerer solo project, although I have not reached the level to complete it yet, so tell me what you see wrong:

Level 9: Powerword:Kill, Aegis, Wail of the Banshee, Meteor Swarm
Level 8: Flaying, Horrid Wilting, Mind Blank, Summon Fiend
Level 7: Delayed Blast Fireball, Finger of Death, Seven Eyes, Powerword:Stun, Mord'Sword

If I get PW:Blind, or Symb of Hopelessness in 8, I would remove Fiend, but then I would have to pick a demon either in 7 or 9, in 7 the candidates to be removed are PW:Stun or Mord'Sword, but Cacofiend is not that powerful, but removing Meteor Swarm from 9 for Gate.. I dont know....
comment......

"Meteor swarm" isn't as good as "delayed blast fireball". I doubt that powerword:kill is very useful either.

delayed blast fireball is resistable with spell resistance, meteor swarm is not.
what Im really concerned is about PW:blind and symbol of hopelessness..... how good are they etc

For lvl 9, WotB and Meteor Swarm are definite must-have spells for a solo sorc (instant-kill and huge damage, respectively). I'm not big on Aegis; it seems like a waste to take a defensive lvl 9 spell. PW:Kill is pretty specialized, but useful, although it loses utility in HoF mode because of the HP limitation. I'd drop one of PW:Kill and Aegis and take Gate instead. It's the strongest summoning spell available to a sorc, and is especially valuable in HoF mode. Mass Dominate is a good spell, and benefits from GSF: Enchantment (which Symbol of Hopelessness does not), but overlaps with SoH too much to take with a sorc.

At lvl 8, I agree with Horrid Wilting and Mind Blank. Symbol of Hopelessness is my most important lvl 8 spell, rounding out my list of the top three. Summon Fiend becomes irrelevant if you have Gate. Flaying is only ok. Great Shout can be good for emergencies (stunning effect even if save is made). I just don't think PW:Blind is all that helpful, because the enemies tend to arrive in groups.

At lvl 7, I agree with Mord's Sword, DB Fireball, and FoD. Seven Eyes is ok. PW:Stun is about as good as PW:Blind (e.g. useful but limited), IMO, considering the HP limitation. A summoning spell (Efreeti?) could go well here if you decide not to take PW: Stun or Seven Eyes.

Aerich, from your comments, I believe you think PW:Blind affects only 1 creature? It does affects several creatures in an area, with small radius though

Heh, whoops. Ok, take it to round out the lvl 8 spells.

I didnt catch you Aerich, you suggest to take PW:Blind instead of Fiend or SoH? And then Gate for Aegis?

Another question, nothing related though I know in HoF monsters BAB is increased and also their HP, but damage also? How high can a monster deal damage in a simple melee hit ? 30? 50? 100??? Later chapters count... anoyone who won the game and remembers??

HoF monsters do exactly twice as much damage per hit as normal monsters do.

If you take Gate at lvl 9, you do not need Summon Fiend at lvl 8 (Gate is 33 rounds in duration, Summon Fiend is 15). Therefore, as you have a wicked summoning spell already in your top two spell levels, Summon Fiend is unnecessary. I view Horrid Wilting, Symbol of Hopelessness, and Mind Blank as the must-have spells for a solo sorc at lvl 8. Every other lvl 8 spell is useful but not essential. One reason to take PW: Blind here is that it does not overlap its function with many other high level spells.

It helps to think of your spells collectively. A sorc's spells can be broken down generally into four categories; damage/kill spells, movement inhibitors, buffs, and summons. A solo sorc should focus on damage/kill spells, but pick enough of the best spells from the other three categories. Hence, a sorc need not take many summoning spells, but IMO should take Gate, Shades, and Animate Dead, being the best of the summoning spells by reason of the creatures' strength, the spell duration, or whatever. Buffs should include Mirror Image, Stoneskin, and Improved Invisibility at the least. Movement inhibitors should include Grease (has effect even if save is made), Web, and Symbol of Hopelessness.

Thanks kmonster and Aerich for the answers.
I'll think about it, since I like too much the spells flaying and PW:Kill..... makes harder the pick.... I think I will rely on summons instead of mov inhibitors, since minions attract monsters and somehow I'm controlling their moves anyways...

Another sided question, the 50% concealment dodge imp inv gives, stacks with the 20% of blur? or blur is overridden? so having both casted is a waste of blur? (I'm not saying 20+50 but one first then the 2nd, I think it makes 60)
So? overrides or work together?

I've never calculated it, so I'm not sure if they stack or not. I probably wouldn't take Blur with a solo sorc, as it becomes a marginal buff spell (e.g. overlapping function, second best spell of it's "type") if you have Improved Invisibility.

The good thing about movement inhibitors is that they set up the enemy for massive AoE damage spells. If you use summons to set up the AoE, quite often you hammer your summons with friendly fire. Movement inhibitors at the right time can also get you out of desperate situations.