Sorcerers and UAC

[Gizmo]

So, UAC tends to meld well with almost any class it seems, so I wanted to give it a whirl on a Sorcerer.

I'm curious to see how many people use or have used UAC with their Sorcerer, who also doesn't have a crazy high cap'd Sorcerer.


Interested to see how it handles from the 20s-40s mostly, along with the 50s-90s

Granted I'm sure not many are training it and using it as an actual combat method, this is more so intended for mutant-ish builds.

I'm trying it myself and so far enjoying it. My CS won't be as high as currently I'm only 2x in Spells, so once I get my scroll collection going things should be more interesting.

My biggest concern is not having enough UAF at some point to hit anything, even if I use dragonclaw and stuff to raise it.

However I'm eager to see how the UAC handles with channeling my spells, since I'll have 2 open hands.

The plans are to also use 709 to augment my UAF as well.

I guess it's not much different of a build from say a polearm sorcerer, with the exception of having 2 open hands.

Anyhow, anyone doing similar?

[Donquix]

If only you could learn mystic strike.

[Gizmo]

If only you could learn mystic strike.

Yeah, would be interesting if CMAN enhancive or knowledge items existed.

But alas! :(

So far, my UAF isn't doing too horrible. I imagine the hurdle will come in the 40s or 50s with it, but who knows...Maybe I'm wrong and I'll be ok the entire way.

[Orthin]

It will slow down. Wizards have the benefit of celerity to mitigate the uaf problems because of the volume of strikes. Even with 709 I started to drag around 15 mastered at COL with UAF issues. Add that 425 your potential biggest booster for UAF is halved because you are spiritual it will make UAF a long hard road. Doable but you will spend more time hunting in your 20s than if you went pure I believe.

[Gizmo]

It will slow down. Wizards have the benefit of celerity to mitigate the uaf problems because of the volume of strikes. Even with 709 I started to drag around 15 mastered at COL with UAF issues. Add that 425 your potential biggest booster for UAF is halved because you are spiritual it will make UAF a long hard road. Doable but you will spend more time hunting in your 20s than if you went pure I believe.

I intend on going GOS, well already have started that path, so I'm hoping the weighting will come in handy somewhat also.

By no means did I expect this path to be easy, I do however expect it to be doable, it will just require a good amount of upkeeping with scrolls.

425 only halves your CS I do believe however, and not your AS...But maybe I'm wrong?

[Orthin]

It sounds like it is only CS based on the reading but that would be an oddly unique mechanic to gimp one aspect of the spell within the spell and not the latter. But if that's the case, game changer for the uaf

[Gizmo]

It sounds like it is only CS based on the reading but that would be an oddly unique mechanic to gimp one aspect of the spell within the spell and not the latter. But if that's the case, game changer for the uaf

Not many sorcs I imagine with 425 who UAC...I know Rolfard has it, so maybe he can chime in here with how much of a Bonus from it is offered to Sorcs

[Donquix]

It sounds like it is only CS based on the reading but that would be an oddly unique mechanic to gimp one aspect of the spell within the spell and not the latter. But if that's the case, game changer for the uaf

Only the CS is halved for spirit circle spells (and you get 3/4 for sorc, because it is spirit/elemental hybrid). Every TD boosting spell in the game works similarly (full benefit for native circle, half for foreign, 3/4 for hybrid). Arcane spells (heavy quartz orb) give generic CS/TD that apply evenly to everything. There are only a few CS boosting spells in the game, and since 425 is the only one in a hybrid-available circle it comes up a lot less often. I assume if you had a champion's might item, you would get half benefit to elemental spells, for instance.

The physical bonuses don't fluctuate. Hitting shit is hitting shit. The variance for spells comes from the spell being cast, not the class.

[rolfard]

I like uac on my uber post cap sorc


709 is a great disabler, drop 102 if you can, add all the scroll buffs and throw in stamina boosts for cheap 1 second qstrike jabs, throw in 5 ranks mstrike, and it can be tons of fun.

[Gizmo]

I like uac on my uber post cap sorc


709 is a great disabler, drop 102 if you can, add all the scroll buffs and throw in stamina boosts for cheap 1 second qstrike jabs, throw in 5 ranks mstrike, and it can be tons of fun.

Yeah right now I can't drop 102 since it lowers my UAF way too much to warrant using.

I'm totally excited for when I can cast 709, as that's the next thing I"m looking forward to on him.

I just wish I could find a way to put CM training in my plan too, but alas...I can't have it all.


Skill Name | Current Current
| Bonus Ranks
Two Weapon Combat..................| 5 1
Armor Use..........................| 30 6
Brawling...........................| 40 8
Physical Fitness...................| 40 8
Arcane Symbols.....................| 66 14
Magic Item Use.....................| 66 14
Spell Aiming.......................| 66 14
Harness Power......................| 35 7
Sorcerous Lore - Necromancy........| 5 1

Spell Lists
Minor Elemental....................| 6

Spell Lists
Minor Spiritual....................| 3

Spell Lists
Sorcerer...........................| 7


This is him at 6. Obviously once I'm done with armor, I'd like to go back to Necro lore, but for now I got the 1 rank purely for 701.

Still need to get SMC and EMC done too at some point. Not sure if I wanna 1x PF, or just hit the 24 mark and use those TPs also to catch up in Lore etc

[caelric]

Not sure if I wanna 1x PF, or just hit the 24 mark and use those TPs also to catch up in Lore etc

If you are going to be a physical sorc (weapon swinging or UAC) you need to 1x PF for the boost to maneuver defense it gives you, as you WILL be hit at some point in offensive stance.

[Gizmo]

If you are going to be a physical sorc (weapon swinging or UAC) you need to 1x PF for the boost to maneuver defense it gives you, as you WILL be hit at some point in offensive stance.

Yeah, another reason why I guess I'll have to pick up perception too.

So, are you in Prime now, taking a break or have ya completely left?

[caelric]

Not playing, just occasionally checking threads.

[Gizmo]

An update on my guy. I just hit level 18 with him today, things have been slow for me since alot of real life issues are standing in the way of my play time.

Been using UAC since the start and haven't really ran into any issues thus far. I haven't even had a need to try and hunt with 702, I can fry fast enough with my UAC and don't even use 709 every hunt.

Initially I had 2x spell aiming but decided to drop it for now, as I'm not bolting anyways nor likely won't until down the road after cap. This allowed me to pickup 1x perception and kick back to 1x each mana control.

Here's his training as it stands at 18:

Two Weapon Combat..................| 5 1
Armor Use..........................| 40 8
Brawling...........................| 90 20
Physical Fitness...................| 90 20
Arcane Symbols.....................| 140 40
Magic Item Use.....................| 140 40
Harness Power......................| 82 18
Elemental Mana Control.............| 90 20
Spirit Mana Control................| 78 17
Sorcerous Lore - Necromancy........| 90 20
Perception.........................| 90 20

Spell Lists
Minor Elemental....................| 18

Spell Lists
Minor Spiritual....................| 3

Spell Lists
Sorcerer...........................| 18

Obvious Goals right now are to get 425 at level 25. I'm also debating if I should stop sorc ranks at 720, just to get at least 107 sooner than later. Once I hit 430 though I'm definitely working back into the 100s if I haven't already. 107 is easy enough to get, however I've had no need for it.

[Maerit]

You won't ever need spell aim as a Sorcerer. It's a utility skill for making 708 and 720 great - and bolting as a sorcerer is far too weak to ever bother with.

I would find a way to get some over-training into Sorcerer spell ranks. I'd recommend dropping MIU down to 1x, and probably AS as well (though it's nice to have AS for the scroll infusion and invoke durations). Perception is great if you're going to fight things with maneuvers, but I haven't had any trouble on my warmage with only 10 ranks in perception all the way up to level 60 thus far, and he fights things with tons of maneuvers. The trick is just to disable everything, and 709 is amazing at that job. Primary reasons to raise your Sorcerer Spell ranks are that your CS will be kind of weak, and using spells on targets that are a pain to hit with UAC will be fundamentally important. On top of that, I believe 709 has a hidden modifier that is bolstered by you training in Sorcerer Spell ranks, so the more ranks the better chance of it pulling targets down.

Get all the AS boosting scrolls you can find, and learn to love infusion. You'll be able to keep 509, 606, 1209, 211, and possibly 215 (harder to find) going most of the time to make up for having lower UAF. Not to mention the plethora of additional defensive spells you'll definitely need being in offensive stance with RT as a squishy sorcerer.

[Gizmo]

You won't ever need spell aim as a Sorcerer. It's a utility skill for making 708 and 720 great - and bolting as a sorcerer is far too weak to ever bother with.

I would find a way to get some over-training into Sorcerer spell ranks. I'd recommend dropping MIU down to 1x, and probably AS as well (though it's nice to have AS for the scroll infusion and invoke durations). Perception is great if you're going to fight things with maneuvers, but I haven't had any trouble on my warmage with only 10 ranks in perception all the way up to level 60 thus far, and he fights things with tons of maneuvers. The trick is just to disable everything, and 709 is amazing at that job. Primary reasons to raise your Sorcerer Spell ranks are that your CS will be kind of weak, and using spells on targets that are a pain to hit with UAC will be fundamentally important. On top of that, I believe 709 has a hidden modifier that is bolstered by you training in Sorcerer Spell ranks, so the more ranks the better chance of it pulling targets down.

Get all the AS boosting scrolls you can find, and learn to love infusion. You'll be able to keep 509, 606, 1209, 211, and possibly 215 (harder to find) going most of the time to make up for having lower UAF. Not to mention the plethora of additional defensive spells you'll definitely need being in offensive stance with RT as a squishy sorcerer.

Biggest reason I've kept MIU and AS at 2x is due to infusing, durations. In Plat things are a smidge different, so the intentions are to definitely utilize the scrolls as best as possible, along with some other options at my disposal

[Goat]

Pole sorcerer checking in. I wrote a guide: https://gswiki.play.net/Goat%27s_Mutant_Sorcerer_Guide. I didn't actually start that until level 81, though I had been 2x spells most of the way before that. Load up on those 1711 codex things, or similar. A number of merchants still carry them. I seem to remember being decent (but not perfect) at infusing them around level 45 / 90 ranks AS. I play a dark elf and set aur/wis to max around level 35 or so. Other races, or those with stats set for cap, will likely feel greater need for >2x spells.

The guide predates grasp of the grave. I have always leaned heavily on 708 (they never get back up if you amputate!) but nowadays 709 might be nearly as good while saving you a ton of TPs. Keep in mind that spell aim will help with spellburst, too. I guess that's not a problem until your 60s or so, though.

Scrolls are huge. I did 2x AS and 1.5x MIU until I got to around 150 ranks / 100 ranks. I could have stopped earlier, but I don't really remember how _much_ earlier. It's a huge convenience to get more duration, though, to stretch out scroll lifetimes. Take note of whether you ever fail to unlock scrolls that you know you can infuse. If not, dropping from 2x to 1.5x MIU, or even a bit lower, may have minimal cost.

I never felt like I was missing all that much by stopping at 24 ranks EMC and SMC. At 19.4m exp I _still_ have only 24 ranks of each.

My original guide mentions something about brawlers usually getting shield use, but I think that was my GS3 experience talking. I think there were still a few practitioners long into the runestaff era, but mainly because they realllly hated being disarmed.

I agree with Caelric on 1x PF. I skimped on perception over some stretches (e.g. from 70 to cap, when I didn't need it to search my way into hunting grounds), which made PF all the more important.