Training Questions.

[Nattor]

Let me start off by saying I just reactivated my account a few days ago now. Its been several years since I've played. I beleive there is something wrong with the way I've spent my training points. Anyhow I figured the best way to start fixing things was have someone else look at this and see if it looks normal.

(at level 58)
Ranks
Physical Fitness 40
Arcane Symbols 58
Magic Item Use 58
Spell Aiming 120
Harness Power 58
Elemental Mana Control 58
Spirit Mana Control 58
Sorcerous Lore - Demonology 30
Sorcerous Lore - Necromancy 70
Perception 29
Climbing 14

Spell Lists
Minor Elemental....................| 40

Spell Lists
Minor Spirit.......................| 41

Spell Lists
Sorcerer...........................| 58

The problem I'm having is it takes a really long time to kill (any) mobs assuming I can live long enough to actually kill something.

[Morph]

well lets see. You have no armor use...are you wearing robes? that might account for the dying. Get 8 ranks of armor use and some nice doubles. You don't need so much necromancy lore. Also, you don't have shield use, so I assume you are using a runestaff. If you aren't then you should get one :P. Umm lets see...you dont need 40 ranks of physical fitness. I think 25 is plenty. The perception isn't really needed either. You aren't going to see good thieves so quit trying. I'd beef up your minor elemental spells a bit to max 430 and 425 or just over train sorc for more CS. My skills look like this if you are curious.

Morphias (at level 100), your current skill bonuses and ranks (including all modifiers) are:
Skill Name | Current Current
| Bonus Ranks
Armor Use..........................| 40 8
Combat Maneuvers...................| 194 94
Physical Fitness...................| 105 25
Arcane Symbols.....................| 201 101
Magic Item Use.....................| 201 101
Spell Aiming.......................| 302 202
Harness Power......................| 201 101
Elemental Mana Control.............| 201 101
Spirit Mana Control................| 201 101
Sorcerous Lore - Demonology........| 140 40
Sorcerous Lore - Necromancy........| 140 40
Perception.........................| 50 10
Climbing...........................| 105 25
Swimming...........................| 160 60

Spell Lists
Minor Elemental....................| 77

Spell Lists
Minor Spirit.......................| 64

Spell Lists
Sorcerer...........................| 162

Also, what are you hunting and what spells are you using?

[zhelas]

Morph gave some great advice.

Sorcerers are still based off the concept of High CS equals win. Our lores don't fuel our spells yet.

So how high should your CS be? That is a personal choice. If you feel that you are failing your casts on a regular basis you might want to increase your CS.

Best ways to increase it. Heavy Quartz Orbs. Increase your Sorcerer Circle Ranks but don't go above 20 ranks over your current level. You will see deminishing returns.

You have 40 Minor Spiritual Ranks. That is good for now. I would recomend getting your 400 circle up. It caps about 75 ranks.

When I capped Zhelas his CS was 513. That still works well for me today while I work on other skills.

I would get 52 Ranks of Demonology then switch over to Necro.

Why? With 52 Ranks of Demonology you can get the best Retribution factor with Cloak of Shadows(though 50 ranks will do that) and you can phase 26 lb containers.

Folks ask me why Zhelas has only 50 ranks of Demonology when I recommend 52. When I came back after my long break. I was still new to the new changes. Phasing wasn't such a high priority to me back then. I wanted to make Zhelas a Necromancer instead.

Why Necro? Basically for the spell Pain. Being trained .75x to 1x in Necro gives you the best benefits for that spell. It is one of our best spells for putting ANY creature (not immune to magic) into hard round time depending on your end roll. http://www.krakiipedia.org/wiki/711

Some may argue that 708 is good enough. This is true to a point. There are some creatures in the Bowels that can attack you still even if you disrupt all their limbs.

Sure Animate Dead can be fun but it is still buggy.

Something to consider: .5x in Summoning lores. With 20 Ranks of summoning lores you can web bolt. 80 Ranks you can 125 inside, and with 90 ranks you can locate folks across realms.

Zhelas (at level 100), your current skill bonuses and ranks (including all modifiers) are:
Skill Name | Current Current
| Bonus Ranks
Armor Use..........................| 40 8
Physical Fitness...................| 102 24
Arcane Symbols.....................| 302 202
Magic Item Use.....................| 201 101
Spell Aiming.......................| 302 202
Harness Power......................| 201 101
Elemental Mana Control.............| 201 101
Spirit Mana Control................| 201 101
Spiritual Lore - Summoning.........| 132 36
Sorcerous Lore - Demonology........| 150 50
Sorcerous Lore - Necromancy........| 200 100
Perception.........................| 150 50
Climbing...........................| 120 30
Swimming...........................| 160 60

Spell Lists
Minor Elemental....................| 75

Spell Lists
Minor Spirit.......................| 50

Spell Lists
Sorcerer...........................| 120

[Nattor]

I'll try making those changes later and see if that helps me out.

I am using a runestaff, however after doing alot of reading it appears that shields could be better.

As for armor, I have what I beleive to be a set of 5x full leathers. (Its been a long time and I honestly dont remember for sure.)

I've tried killing troll kings, stone trolls / giants. I think I can reasonably kill the stone trolls and giants if I can avoid them falling on me.. I've also been killed by a krovlin brigand while I was trying to escort and NPC to icemule..

So far, I'm doing terrible.. 6 deaths in two days.

[Nattor]

Interesting information about phasing. As I level I'll keep pushing that up until I get to 52 then. One of the few things I do remember that with 70 ranks of necromancy lore my mal = 0. Also I was trying to use 702 and 705, but 702 isnt nearly as good as I remember it being.

[zhelas]

I am using a runestaff, however after doing alot of reading it appears that shields could be better.

As for armor, I have what I beleive to be a set of 5x full leathers. (Its been a long time and I honestly dont remember for sure.)

I've tried killing troll kings, stone trolls / giants. I think I can reasonably kill the stone trolls and giants if I can avoid them falling on me.. I've also been killed by a krovlin brigand while I was trying to escort and NPC to icemule..

So far, I'm doing terrible.. 6 deaths in two days.

Shields Builds:

Pros: A shield build can't be disarmed. If you are prone in full offense you get a better DS with a shield than a runestaff.

Cons: The negative side is you will sacrifice a lot of magical skills.. since those skills are expensive. But that can be okay!

Runestaff Build:
Pros: good DS in full defense or guarded stance. You can have a lot of Magical ranks.

Cons: Getting disarmed. Full offense prone terrible defense.

Both are viable all the way through to cap. Just know your creatures and hunt with the appropriate tactics.

You are entering the level range which sucks for Sorcerers. Stronghold and eventually the bowels are the worst places to hunt.

I know there have been some new changes to the rift area but you are getting close to 63 where you can enter the rift. Plane 1 was super easy before the new changes.

If you are going to hunt Stronghold.. (Stone Giants, Shamans and Mystics)I highly recommend making some ewave imbeds to knock the creatures down. It really helps on saving mana. Don't 708 any of those creatures while they are standing. Any of those disrupted limbs or the creatures themselves can fall on you.

Escort and Brigand Bounties suck for Sorcerers. Those bounties have been nerfed quite a bit. However they were designed to team up with other players.

[Nattor]

Escort and Brigand Bounties suck for Sorcerers. Those bounties have been nerfed quite a bit. However they were designed to team up with other players.

Good to know. The bounty system wasn't around very long when I quit. Maybe a month at most, and I had never actually used it.

[zhelas]

Interesting information about phasing. As I level I'll keep pushing that up until I get to 52 then. One of the few things I do remember that with 70 ranks of necromancy lore my mal = 0. Also I was trying to use 702 and 705, but 702 isnt nearly as good as I remember it being.

Since your MAL is 0. You might want to consider animating either a Shan warrior or a Dybuuk. Both of those did well in Stronghold area. Spell them up. Give them an ebladed two hander and let them go to town on those creatures. You will just need to knock over the Stronghold creatures and disable them so you or your animate don't get crushed.

Until our Lores fuel spells like 702 or 705. You won't be doing super damage. To increase your damage you will need a higher CS.

One option is to Channel those spells. http://www.krakiipedia.org/wiki/Channel

[Nattor]

I was actually using a shan warrior to kill things earlier. I see things didn't chagne too much over the years. I actually have been using channel also.

[zhelas]

I was actually using a shan warrior to kill things earlier. I see things didn't chagne too much over the years.

Developement has been pretty slow for most of the professions not just sorcerers.

One of the big things that came out was the new armor system for squares and Paladins. http://www.krakiipedia.org/wiki/New_Armor_System_Released_(saved_post)

Zhelas hunts Nelemar a lot. He has found a warrior who will put puncture resistance on his double leathers.. It has saved him a lot.

There may be a warrior out there with crush resistance. If so they could add that to your full leathers.

Straths has mentioned that sorcerers probably won't see a lot of work done until after the Elemental Lore Review which I think is on its 2nd year?

[Morph]

719 used to work really well on stone giants and stone trolls, but im not sure if it still does. I'd use 711 on troll kings so you don't knock their limbs off.

[zhelas]

717 I hear works nicely on the troll kings as well.. I believe their TDs are fairly low.

[Nattor]

Double leather.. Changed skills around.. now when I get a chance to test it out I imagine things will go better.. Thanks for the help guys.