capped sorc help?

[Septik]

Hi all,

I want to play my capped sorc a bit but have no idea where to begin. I bought him a long time ago and have only used him for utility. I don't know if my skills are set right or anything. Any input on where I can fix my skills as well as the best place/way to hunt would be greatly appreciated.



(at level 100), your current skill bonuses and ranks (including all modifiers) are:
Skill Name | Current Current
| Bonus Ranks
Armor Use..........................| 40 8
Shield Use.........................| 201 101
Brawling...........................| 201 101
Physical Fitness...................| 90 20
Arcane Symbols.....................| 102 24
Magic Item Use.....................| 102 24
Spell Aiming.......................| 302 202
Harness Power......................| 202 102
Elemental Mana Control.............| 102 24
Spirit Mana Control................| 151 51
Sorcerous Lore - Demonology........| 90 20
Sorcerous Lore - Necromancy........| 120 30
Perception.........................| 154 54
Climbing...........................| 90 20
Swimming...........................| 140 40

Spell Lists
Minor Elemental....................| 76

Spell Lists
Minor Spirit.......................| 68

Spell Lists
Sorcerer...........................| 121


A rotting corpse swings a rusted wheat scythe at you!
AS: +267 vs DS: +598 with AvD: +27 + d100 roll: +70 = -234
A clean miss.

You gesture at a rotting corpse.
CS: +512 - TD: +114 + CvA: +25 + d100: +34 == +457
Warding failed!
Nothing happens.
Cast Roundtime 3 Seconds.

You gesture at a rotting corpse.
CS: +484 - TD: +119 + CvA: +25 + d100: +94 == +484
Warding failed!
... 50 points of damage!
Impact removes the left hand in a spray of red mist!
The rotting corpse is stunned!
Cast Roundtime 3 Seconds.

[Fallen]

If you plan on using Scroll Infusion you're going to need to get Arcane symbols at least up to 1x. You're a Brawler/Shield build, so even at cap your points are going to be tight. It is a good build defensively, but it limits your versitility, as all those points that go into Brawling and Shield Use could be used to bump up your tertiary skills.

Your spells are actually looking decent. This character was definitely specced for defense. Those extra ranks in Minor Spiritual help more for DS than extra sorcerer ranks, but aid you a bit less in CS. 512 is certainly decent, but it isn't really where you want to end up if you want to hunt everywhere with a very low chance of being warded. Enhancives help a lot in this regard, though. If you can put +5 Aura Bonus and +5 Wisdom Bonus into your Adventurer's Guild badge you would see a nice jump in CS.

Between Brawl/Shield and all those spell ranks you have few TPs to stretch. Like I said, you're a fairly efficient build for safe hunting, if a bit boring. Some goals to consider if you want to shift points around, get more EXP from hunting, or drop some Minor Spirit ranks are...

Demonology - 50-58 Ranks will get you a higher phase weight, allowing you to phase heavier locked boxes/containers, making them weightless. Perhaps consider nuking those 30 ranks of Necro lore and putting them there. Necro helps for Pain Infliction (711), but IMO Demonology is more useful. It also helps with making Cloak of Shadows (712) more reliable, and Planar Shift (740) safer and a bit more useful.

Arcane Symbols ... 1x-2x With 24 ranks you should be able to read all scrolls except for perhaps Fash'lo'nae's Gift (1750), but your durations will be terrible, and you will be piss poor at infusing scrolls via Scroll Infusion (714) as well.

MIU ... 1x With only 24 ranks of MIU, attempting to actually UNLOCK scrolls via waving runes at them can be downright fatal, but usually will just result in failure, or a locked scroll. Going up to 1x would allow you to unlock most scrolls reliably.

Other than that, it is going to be a matter of how you choose to hunt. Getting 20 ranks of Summoning lore will allow you to use Web bolt, and going further up Summoning lore unlocks some fun toys like X-realms locates. Getting more Elemental/Spiritual mana controll will help with Scroll Infusion, slightly lower focused implosion costs, and allow for greater mana regen. To get into the new areas like Nelemar, and into OTF with ease you might want to up that swimming to 40 ranks. You CAN make it there now, but it will be very close to failure/drowning. Water Walking (112), and Purify Air (207) will help with that. I imagine this character is in COL and wracks for mana. If he ISN'T, then consider joining. If you want to be different, Sunfist is a viable alternative, but you will want to get Physical Fitness up towards 1x for the extra Stamina, and likely to raise your HP up as well.

If you have any specific questions I will try to answer as best I can. I'm curious to see your stats if you feel like posting them as well, along with your BP level, and total experience. Race too.

[Morph]

Just copy meeee weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Armor Use..........................| 40 8
Combat Maneuvers...................| 194 94
Physical Fitness...................| 105 25
Dodging............................| 40 8
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



If you run out of points cut the dodging first and then some CM. Or cut some spells if you're a wimpus!!


Oh, and the best place to hunt is the third floor of temple nelemar on teras. 717 combatants and executioners. 719 sirens. Go for a 719 on radicals...it 1 shots about half of them, but if it doesn't 1 shot then finish em with 705. 705 defenders. It's really easy.

[Fallen]

I think you have a few ...million EXP on him, Morph. What are you going to move up next? Staying put on CM and dodge for now?


Oh, and the best place to hunt is the third floor of temple nelemar on teras. 717 combatants and executioners. 719 sirens. Go for a 719 on radicals...it 1 shots about half of them, but if it doesn't 1 shot then finish em with 705. 705 defenders. It's really easy.

You're going to have about 30? CS on him, Morph. That will make a big difference when using 717. Do you think 512 is adequate for hunting Nelemar without having to curse most things? I remember going there earlier and hating it when my CS was around that range.

[Morph]

I'm just at 12mil exp, not sure what he is at. I'm done with CM; I got my 5 ranks of disarm and 4 ranks of feint. I'll probably be working on dodging for the next 2 years assuming I am still playing :P. Nothing else really seems worth training to me. I have plenty of mana with sign of wracking and sacrifice.


512 CS is definitely high enough to hunt the third floor of nelemar. I started hunting nelemar at like 88 I think, and my CS probably wasn't even 500 at that point. Also, if he copies my spell training then his CS will go up a lot. Edit:When I first started nelemar with my low CS I mainly used 711.

He should also make sure to get some HCP double leather for lame charges, and I'd recommend keeping 140 up at least while still learning the place.

[Fallen]

I'm just at 12mil exp, not sure what he is at. I'm done with CM; I got my 5 ranks of disarm and 4 ranks of feint. I'll probably be working on dodging for the next 2 years assuming I am still playing :P. Nothing else really seems worth training to me. I have plenty of mana with sign of wracking and sacrifice.


512 CS is definitely high enough to hunt the third floor of nelemar. I started hunting nelemar at like 88 I think, and my CS probably wasn't even 500 at that point. Also, if he copies my spell training then his CS will go up a lot. Edit:When I first started nelemar with my low CS I mainly used 711.

He should also make sure to get some HCP double leather for lame charges, and I'd recommend keeping 140 up at least while still learning the place.

I imagine you don't mess around with Scroll Infusion too much, else I would advise 2x Arcane Symbols. Great way to get a hell of a lot more out of your scrolls. If you're more on the practical side, I would definitely recommend getting more demonology, Morph. Being able to phase away heavy boxes and locked containers makes dodging critter maneuvers and such much easier. You're under 1x lores, so it would be cheap as hell for you to do so. I can't remember the exact thresholds, but you want to go up to 58, or 64..whichever are the next cutoffs for 740 and 704.

[Morph]

Yeah, I mainly just focus my training around killing stuff, and not getting killed by stuff :D I'm way too lazy for scroll infusion, demons and animates.

[Fallen]

I honestly think points put into Demonology, at least until you hit 101 ranks between both skills would provide you with far more tangible benefit via 712 (up to 50ish ranks), and 704 than those ranks of dodge would.

[Morph]

Maybe :P But I like dodging so far. I put in the points and a number goes up. Very satisfying :D.

[Fallen]

Maybe :P But I like dodging so far. I put in the points and a number goes up. Very satisfying :D.

Fair enough, man. That's being in it for the long haul. 60? PTPs per rank, something like that? Nearly as bad as 3x spells.

[Septik]

Thanks for that info guys.

Here are my stats and such. Not much in the way of BP as I don't even know how to get to half the places the tasks are lol

Race: Human Profession: Sorcerer (shown as: Warlock)
Gender: Male Age: 130 Expr: 8332597 Level: 100
Normal (Bonus) ... Enhanced (Bonus)
Strength (STR): 100 (30) ... 100 (30)
Constitution (CON): 88 (19) ... 76 (13)
Dexterity (DEX): 100 (25) ... 100 (25)
Agility (AGI): 100 (25) ... 100 (25)
Discipline (DIS): 100 (25) ... 100 (25)
Aura (AUR): 100 (25) ... 100 (25)
Logic (LOG): 100 (30) ... 100 (30)
Intuition (INT): 100 (30) ... 100 (30)
Wisdom (WIS): 100 (25) ... 100 (25)
Influence (INF): 87 (18) ... 87 (18)
Mana: 302 Silver: 0


You currently have 16374 unspent bounty points.

You have accumulated a total of 16374 lifetime bounty points.

You have succeeded at the Kill Creatures task 6 times.
You have succeeded at the Retrieve Heirloom task 4 times.
You have succeeded at the Procure Gems task 2 times.
You have succeeded at the Protect Traveller task 2 times and failed 1 time.
You have succeeded at the Kill Dangerous Creature task 6 times.


Also I have no idea what web bolt or x-realm locate is.. are you able to fill me in on that? He is a master in CoL. I've never hunted and definitely don't want it to be boring. I just have no idea on hunting styles for sorcs either. Completely clueless when it comes to this class lol

[Danical]

ZOMG, Morph. Get 1x PF FFS.

[Fallen]

Thanks for that info guys.

Here are my stats and such. Not much in the way of BP as I don't even know how to get to half the places the tasks are lol

Race: Human Profession: Sorcerer (shown as: Warlock)
Gender: Male Age: 130 Expr: 8332597 Level: 100
Normal (Bonus) ... Enhanced (Bonus)
Strength (STR): 100 (30) ... 100 (30)
Constitution (CON): 88 (19) ... 76 (13)
Dexterity (DEX): 100 (25) ... 100 (25)
Agility (AGI): 100 (25) ... 100 (25)
Discipline (DIS): 100 (25) ... 100 (25)
Aura (AUR): 100 (25) ... 100 (25)
Logic (LOG): 100 (30) ... 100 (30)
Intuition (INT): 100 (30) ... 100 (30)
Wisdom (WIS): 100 (25) ... 100 (25)
Influence (INF): 87 (18) ... 87 (18)
Mana: 302 Silver: 0


You currently have 16374 unspent bounty points.

You have accumulated a total of 16374 lifetime bounty points.

You have succeeded at the Kill Creatures task 6 times.
You have succeeded at the Retrieve Heirloom task 4 times.
You have succeeded at the Procure Gems task 2 times.
You have succeeded at the Protect Traveller task 2 times and failed 1 time.
You have succeeded at the Kill Dangerous Creature task 6 times.


Also I have no idea what web bolt or x-realm locate is.. are you able to fill me in on that? He is a master in CoL. I've never hunted and definitely don't want it to be boring. I just have no idea on hunting styles for sorcs either. Completely clueless when it comes to this class lol

The spell of Web (118) was recently updated as part of the Spiritual Lore review. It in addition to no longer sucking as a CS spell can be used in 2 new ways. The first is the web bolt. When you have 20 ranks or higher of Spiritual lore: Summoning, you will be able to cast an AS version bolt of the spell at your target. You must be in a stance higher than guarded. The bolt itself doesn't do much damage, but it has a high chance of webbing your foe without the chance for a saving throw. Very, very useful when disabling certain creatures like War Griffins.

The second version of the spell, also unlocked at 20 ranks (I think, or it may be available from the start) is an area web. When the spell is cast without a target, a web is formed in the room which has a chance of snagging people/critters who are moving in/out of the room, and attacking. It is situationally useful, but it is a lot of fun. Training in Spiritual Lore: Summoning will aid both the bolt version of the spell in upping the web flare chance, and the area web version by increasing the number of charges the area web can do before it disappears. There are some sorcerer tie-ins to the spell as well. A demon we can summon can change the look of the web, and add an extra charge to it. That same demon can also take control of OTHER people's/creature's area webs. Very cool stuff, that Arashan.

X-realms locate is just what it sounds like. With enough Spiritual lore: Summoning ranks, you can locate people not in the same realm as you. 30 ranks gets you adjacent realms locate, meaning being able to spot people in OTF from Ta'Illistim. 60 ranks gets you near-realms locate, meaning people in Zul Logoth from Ta'Illistim, and 90 ranks gets you full X-realms locate, allowing you to locate people in the Rift from Ta'Illistim. Neat and fun way to see how/where people die nearly anywhere in the game. Also, you can now reverse-locate people. If you get the message *You get the funny feeling you're being watched*, prep and cast 116 without a target and you will see the room from which the spell was cast. If the person is in another realm, you will still see their room assuming you have the proper amount of lore.

----

The Adventurer's guild at cap is awesome as you're only going to be sent to one hunting ground, no matter where you are. Ta'Illistim is OTF, Teras is Nelamar, and Icemule is the Rift. Obviously, there are other tasks like bandit work and what not, but on the whole it is DEFINITELY worth doing bounty tasks. I would suggest asking on the thought net for someone to show you around the guild in the town you're in. It adds a lot to the game to have/complete tasks. It gives hunting a point, or a specific goal beyond just frying.

----

Hunting styles will vary depending on which area you're in. As I am most familiar with OTF, I will go with that for now. As you've a good CS, you can safely cast from guarded with Dark Catalyst (719). Ithzir Seers, Adepts, Heralds, and Initiates will all die quickly to the spell, though most only bother with Seers and Adepts as they will give you a decent amount of EXP. If you do not kill your target in one shot with DC, I would suggest CHANNELING (Not casting) Mana Disruption (702) or Disintegrate (705) from guarded stance or higher to finish your target off.

War Griffins can be tricky, as they have a good TD, don't crit well (to our spells, anyway), and have about 401 health. You can kill them in a number of ways, but the safest is using Pain Infliction (711). Pain Infliction will keep them in RT, and knock out huge portions of their health. I would suggest 2-3 casts of Pain Infliction, then plink them to death with 702 or 705. No need to leave guarded. You can also try Focused Implosion (720), but this is mana intensive, and can sometimes take as many as 5 casts to bring one down.

Constructs you will just straight avoid. They have a magical barrier which wont let you hit them with spells without spending a shit-ton of mana. I hunt them using an animate to knock down their aura, but I have a wand which makes that spell simple. You would need to run all over the damn place to get components for AD, and that doesn't sound like it is your bag. Just turn in the tasks from the Adventurer's guild, and avoid them in general.

Janissaries disarm. A lot. They aren't really worth killing for EXP, and as a Shield/brawl user, you don't really have to worry about them disarming you. Still, if you don't want them Warcrying you, try casting Limb Disrupt (708). Taking an arm shuts down all their maneuvers, including War Cry. Ithzir Seers and Initiates can still heal them, but for the most part they are effectively disabled. Jans will also trip (with polearms).

Ithzir Scouts ambush from Inviso. Them doing so will often push you into a full offensive stance, making you vulnerable, especially if you are knocked prone. Note that your stance doesn't actually get set to offensive, but for that one shot, your DS would equal what it would be in Stance offensive. Scouts often Sweep, Kneebash, and throat chop, which is annoying, but not usually fatal. Again, if you're worried about them, you can just cast 708 at them and turn them into scenery, but this can become mana intensive.

A few general notes about OTF: A good DS to achieve is 450 in Prone offensive. This means that no matter how effectively disabled you are, you wont be hit while you ride out the RT. Ithzir often carry crystal-edged weaponry which can flare and kill you with a 101 endroll. It really, really sucks when it happens. Also, Ithzir Seers can and will Mass Dispel you. If you lose Cloak of Shadows, you will see your DS/TD plummet, and you will be VERY susceptable to AS/DS attacks. Make sure you carefully watch the screen as they will often pop out of nowhere and dispel you as you're running around. I would suggest wearing 112, 115, 104, and 105 as dispel fodder. If you find Arcane Decoy (1701) on a scroll, or as a gold coin I would use that as well.

Make sure you get a map of OTF and keep it open until you are familiar with the entire hunting grounds. Griffins will pick you up as a maneuver and drop you in different areas. This attack can be outright fatal if you land on your head/neck, so try not to linger in front of a Griffin that isn't disabled or in RT. Griffins don't stun, either, and can still perform maneuver attacks without arms/legs. Griffins will also shriek, locking you in up to 20 seconds of hard RT. This is a fact of life in OTF, and is often unavoidable. Be prepared to be locked into as much as 1 minute of solid RT from various CMANs, Shrieks, Call Winds, and Ithzir abilities such as the spiritual version of E-wave.

That's enough for now. If you have any specific questions, throw them up and I will try to answer them. For Nelemar and the Rift (Scatter), I will answer what I can, but others are far more qualified than I concerning those areas. Where is it you plan to hunt?

[Morph]

ZOMG, Morph. Get 1x PF FFS.

whats dat gonna do for me

[Fallen]

whats dat gonna do for me

Substiancial Critter maneuver protection. It will also aid your Climb/swim checks.

[Morph]

Substiancial Critter maneuver protection. It will also aid your Climb/swim checks.

hmmm well that's really good if it actually works :P I just hate skills that don't give any indication of whether or not they are working.

[Septik]

Fallen you are the man. Great detailed info! I tried to give you good rep but it seems I've given it to you already and can't do it again yet lol

Couple more questions if I may? How important would you consider scroll infusion? It seems like a great skill to have, however, I'm guessing it would take alot of point to be good at?

You said having a shield uses alot of points. Runestaff is the best alternative I take it? If I do train in runestaves, would it be worth it to keep the points in brawling for the open hand? Runestaves can be disarmed right? Would my DS drop alot if I went that route?

118 does sound very useful. I know fire spirit sets the webs on fire. Is that a good combo to use?

I also saw you talking about phasing boxes so they are weightless? That sounds very useful. What is that about? This is something I think I'd like to have as it looks like training in demonology would help with minor summoning, another spell that looks useful. How many demonology ranks are best for these skills?

I have a fixskill and am seriously thinking about using it from reading all this info. What can I do to up my CS? Would it be best to edit my spells to how Morph has his?

X-realms does sound like fun but I'm afraid my killing power would suffer if I put that many points into Summoning ranks. Are their other benefits of having high Summoning ranks? (60 ranks)


I'll start hunting in OTF once I retrain since you've explained so much there so I at least have an idea of what those critters are capable of. Those critters do sound scary though lol

Morph, would you be able to provide any additional info on Nelemar? Are the critters there just as dangerous as OTF?


Once again, many thanks for all this helpful information!

[caelric]

Scroll Infusion is great; my sorc is at 36 trains, and 1x in AS and MIU and has no problems infusing scrolls using the ikar'fyn rune (the second most powergul one, works on 15th level and under spells on scrolls). He occasionally makes mistakes with the quiss'fyn (20th level spells and under), so he doesn't use that one yet. With the right scrolls, you can have access to so many different spells. Makes a sorcerer more than self sufficient.

Summoning lore increases the damage factor of Fire Sprit, and each 2 ranks above 20 increase the chance of webbing a like level critter. So, 140 ranks will give you 100% chance of webbing a like level critter. Very useful.

[Danical]

hmmm well that's really good if it actually works :P I just hate skills that don't give any indication of whether or not they are working.

It's been said numerous times on the officials and x-posted here, hence why I suggested you MANeuver up.

[Swami71]

I don't think I'll ever touch dodge

It would take a pure 5 mil EXP to get 101 dodge.

Just use a Tower shield and 0 dodge and I think you'd get a lot more bang for your buck. No disarm, better DS in Offensive, Cheaper TP than 101 dodge and 94 Cman.

[Morph]

Fallen you are the man. Great detailed info! I tried to give you good rep but it seems I've given it to you already and can't do it again yet lol

Couple more questions if I may? How important would you consider scroll infusion? It seems like a great skill to have, however, I'm guessing it would take alot of point to be good at?

You said having a shield uses alot of points. Runestaff is the best alternative I take it? If I do train in runestaves, would it be worth it to keep the points in brawling for the open hand? Runestaves can be disarmed right? Would my DS drop alot if I went that route?

118 does sound very useful. I know fire spirit sets the webs on fire. Is that a good combo to use?

I also saw you talking about phasing boxes so they are weightless? That sounds very useful. What is that about? This is something I think I'd like to have as it looks like training in demonology would help with minor summoning, another spell that looks useful. How many demonology ranks are best for these skills?

I have a fixskill and am seriously thinking about using it from reading all this info. What can I do to up my CS? Would it be best to edit my spells to how Morph has his?

X-realms does sound like fun but I'm afraid my killing power would suffer if I put that many points into Summoning ranks. Are their other benefits of having high Summoning ranks? (60 ranks)


I'll start hunting in OTF once I retrain since you've explained so much there so I at least have an idea of what those critters are capable of. Those critters do sound scary though lol

Morph, would you be able to provide any additional info on Nelemar? Are the critters there just as dangerous as OTF?


Once again, many thanks for all this helpful information!

1. Scroll infusion is just a luxury type thing. You don't need it at all, but it's nice to have.

2. Runestaff is nice because you don't actually have to train in anything special. The DS just comes from your magic skill ranks. So you'd get back all the points it took you to get 101 shield and 101 brawling. I've never heard of brawling helping with runestaff DS to answer your other question. But if it does then this would be something I'd look into also :P. Also, you're right, runestaffs can be disarmed, but you can train CM to reduce the chance that that will happen and also the duration of the disarm when it does happen.

3. I don't really think you need to mess around with 118...410 and 709 are good enough for crowd control.

4. 704 can make boxes and other items weightless. Someone else can give you the number to get the best bang for your buck...i think it's like 56 tho.

5. Ah CS finally something I know a lot about :D But yeah the short answer is my spell training will give you the max sorcerer CS possible (without enhancives).

6. I've hunted both nelemar and OTF, and I think nelemar is 1000000x better in every way. First off, it's way easier to get in and out of. You can just run like a 1 minute script to swim in, and then you can 130 or gold ring out. Secondly, all the mobs are very close to level 100 unlike OTF where a lot of them are like low 90s. The mobs are just as easy to kill if not easier sooo you can fry so much faster and for so much less mana. On the third floor the only way I die is from a charge/disarm combo with significant stance push down. This rarely happens especially with disarm training. If you go down to the second floor then you have to be quick with your 703 on sentries and GWE's to avoid getting imploded or major ewaved, but there really is no reason to go down there unless you're bored of the easy mode third floor.

If you need someone to show you around I play Morphias. I'll be out of town this weekend though.

[Fallen]

How important would you consider scroll infusion? It seems like a great skill to have, however, I'm guessing it would take alot of point to be good at?

Scroll Infusion is my favorite sorcerer spell. As for how important I consider it, though, I think Morph was correct when he said you don't need it. I'm of the opinion that any sorcerer who doesn't at least infuse scrolls of 503 and 508 is pretty damn lazy, though. You can find these spells readily, and using them ensures you will pretty much always remain untouchable in the field. Though you can likely get away with less, you can be just fine at normal infusing (Staying away from trying to stuff 20 charges into Wizard Shield 919) with being 1x Arcane Symbols, and 1x MIU. Mana share makes the process go more smoothly, but with .25x-.5x at cap you should be fine for most work. You are more than fine on spell ranks, so no worries there.


You said having a shield uses alot of points. Runestaff is the best alternative I take it? If I do train in runestaves, would it be worth it to keep the points in brawling for the open hand? Runestaves can be disarmed right? Would my DS drop alot if I went that route?

Some people will drop their brawling training and keep their shield training to still hunt with an open hand, yet skimp on points. Other than that, your next option would be to pick up a sissy stick and go that route. Runestaves can and will be disarmed. Most higher level pures carefully consider 5 ranks of Disarm via the CMAN system to protect against the maneuver. As for your DS, you will see a significant loss of DS in the higher stances, especially when you wrack down towards 1 spirit with a runestaff, but in guarded under most circumstances the DS will be similar. Your bolt DS will also take a pretty gnarly hit as well. Can't beat a 10x Tower Shield for a strong defensive build.


118 does sound very useful. I know fire spirit sets the webs on fire. Is that a good combo to use?

That it is, but it also causes a webbed creature to become unwebbed after one round (or two if it is a troll) of fire damage, and will make area webs burn faster. The Bolt version of Web only costs 8 mana, but the area web and CS based web both cost 18. Expensive to be burning through them for just 1 fire-based line of damage.



I also saw you talking about phasing boxes so they are weightless? That sounds very useful. What is that about? This is something I think I'd like to have as it looks like training in demonology would help with minor summoning, another spell that looks useful. How many demonology ranks are best for these skills?

At different levels of Demonology training you will have different thresholds of how much weight you can phase away by casting 704 at a *LOCKED* container. You start nearing 30 pounds at around 58-64 ranks. Check Carabelle's lore chart for exact numbers. I don't have access to them at the moment.

Minor Summoning is a pretty meh spell. You will be able to summon random creatures just fine with 50 ranks. It is starting to summon specific demons that things get tricky. Summoning within a summoning chamber provides a flat rank boost, so you can always give it a go there. The actual demonology ranks themselves add a piddly amount to the duration of the spell, along with the coins/mana the demons can hold as well. Your main concerns with Demonology ranks should be Planar Shift, Cloak of Shadows, and Phase thressholds.


I have a fixskill and am seriously thinking about using it from reading all this info. What can I do to up my CS? Would it be best to edit my spells to how Morph has his?

The best way to up your CS without losing existing skills would be to drop some of those Minor Spirit ranks and add them to the Sorcerer circle. I would not advise going below 50, but you could drop as low as 40 and not lose any spells. The next step would be altering your build by dropping skills, and adding those points to the sorcerer circle. Don't go ABOVE the amount of sorcerer circle spells Morph as, as his build is likely optimized for CS. I don't have the specific breakdowns, but do a search for max sorcerer CS and they will tell you specifically which spell ranks give you the most DS. I will post the numbers if I come across them.


X-realms does sound like fun but I'm afraid my killing power would suffer if I put that many points into Summoning ranks. Are their other benefits of having high Summoning ranks? (60 ranks)

As was mentioned, DF increases to Fire spirit, along with increased target threshold for splash damage from the spell, DF increases to unbalance (110), and taking a few seconds off the formation of 125. There are some benefits to spells outside of our circle, but they aren't usually going to come into play with your day-to-day activities.


I'll start hunting in OTF once I retrain since you've explained so much there so I at least have an idea of what those critters are capable of. Those critters do sound scary though lol

OTF is considered the easiest of the three hunting grounds for sorcerers. I would put Nelemar as slightly harder once you get the hang of the place (and stay to the upper floors), and the Rift's new Scatter area being the hardest (and most annoying to get to/out of.

[Fallen]

http://carabele.com/odds/LoreBenefits.htm

That is the lore chart I mentioned earlier. The numbers which matter to you are Summoning lore for the 100's circle, and Demonology/Necromancy for the Sorcerer circle. Some key numbers.

Phase Demonology rank Thresholds: 42, 52, 63..

Cloak of Shadow's backlash (failure) is reduced to its lowest chance at 50 ranks.

Minor Summoning (725) chance of summoning from a specific valence is 50 ranks.

Planar Shift threshold for reducing X-realms transportation is 6% failure at 48 ranks, and 5% failure at 60 ranks. You can also have 2 people go through your In-realms Rift with 40 demonology ranks, and 3 people go through with 60 ranks.

So, to sum it up for Demonology ranks, a good stopping point is 52 ranks. The 2 extra ranks is to increase the amount of weight you can phase away by a few more pounds. Quite helpful, as you're starting to near the top weights of your average box found while hunting.

[zhelas]

Planar Shift threshold for reducing X-realms transportation is 6% failure at 48 ranks, and 5% failure at 60 ranks.

Failure can be a good thing for Sorcerer Science! Get a catastrophic failure and watch as the demon tries to clean of the town of the living!

Peace

[zhelas]

1. Scroll infusion is just a luxury type thing. You don't need it at all, but it's nice to have.

5. Ah CS finally something I know a lot about :D But yeah the short answer is my spell training will give you the max sorcerer CS possible (without enhancives).

6. I've hunted both nelemar and OTF, and I think nelemar is 1000000x better in every way. First off, it's way easier to get in and out of. You can just run like a 1 minute script to swim in, and then you can 130 or gold ring out. Secondly, all the mobs are very close to level 100 unlike OTF where a lot of them are like low 90s. The mobs are just as easy to kill if not easier sooo you can fry so much faster and for so much less mana. On the third floor the only way I die is from a charge/disarm combo with significant stance push down. This rarely happens especially with disarm training. If you go down to the second floor then you have to be quick with your 703 on sentries and GWE's to avoid getting imploded or major ewaved, but there really is no reason to go down there unless you're bored of the easy mode third floor.

Scroll infusion is nice.. you can get some incredible durations with 202 ranks of Arcane Scroll. But it is a luxury.

Having the Super High CS of what? ............. 532 without enhansives? Isn't all that important truely early on. Zhelas has 513 and has hunted perfectly fine. I do plan on getting it higher after I finish my Summoning lore and Physical Fitness projects.

I agree Nelemar is the best in hunting areas in my opinion, but everyone has their favorite. All the reasons Morph mentioned are right on with Nelemar.

Sissy sticks are okay to use. Yes you can be disarmed but I rarely do in the temple.


Peace

Zhelas

PS..

If you do decide to hunt in Nelemar. I highly recomend finding Durfin or another warrior and getting puncture resistenc put on your armor. It helps nicely against that nasty charge maneuver.

[Morph]

540 not 532 ahhhhhhhhhhh

edit: O he's a human. Then yeah 532 sounds right. I recommend starting over as a dark elf :D

[Fallen]

550 was always the goal for me in GS4, but i've come to the opinion I like playing with Minor Elemental and Minor Spiritual. I will probably stop at 140ish sorcerer ranks and put the rest into the other two. Even with max enhancives I wont get there I don't think.

[Septik]

Alright well I used my fixskills and went with..

(at level 100), your current skill bonuses and ranks (including all modifiers) are:
Skill Name | Current Current
| Bonus Ranks
Armor Use..........................| 40 8
Shield Use.........................| 201 101
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........| 152 52
Perception.........................| 50 10
Climbing...........................| 105 25
Swimming...........................| 170 70

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

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

Spell Lists
Sorcerer...........................| 126


Hopefully I didn't screw myself. I wanted to double in AS but figured those points would be more beneficial going into my mana sharing.

I'll start putting points in summoning when I get some more for that bolt web.

Anyone have any links on how to scroll infuse?

[Fallen]

http://www.play.net/gs4/info/spells/scroll_infusion.asp

that is the official guide to scroll infusion, written by one of the best.

[Swami71]

The official scroll infusion guide is actually pretty accurate and helpful.

rummage my satchel runestone od

Use that to rummage for different runestones just change the "od" for what your looking for (and the container of course).

I used to keep all my stones sorted in different containers till I saw Allereli post that.

[Fallen]

As for your build, it looks fine. You need to hunt and see what you feel you need in terms of skills. If you're suffering from mana issues, perhaps more harness power. If you're getting eaten up by maneuvers, you may want to start marching Physical fitness towards a full 1x. Do a few hunts of Nelemar and OTF and see how it goes.

[Septik]

cool. I'll let you know if I come across any issues or have more questions. Thanks for the help!

[Septik]

Well I have been hunting in Nelemar and so far it's been going well. It has been pretty easy so far but I've died from maneuver attacks. I see a couple posts about tower shields helping guard against that? Anyone able to share any more info on that?

[Fallen]

No. Towers won't help you in this instance. More physical training, and padded armor will be of use. If it is the drowning maneuver, then swimming skill, waterwalking, and purify air will help. CM training will also help, but it is more expensive than PF.

Towers would help against bolt/ranged attacks, or a select few maneuvers not found in Nelemar.

[zhelas]

Really what Fallen said.

PF will help you versus that Cutthroat Maneuver. Carry some stem with you.

If I have my head being held under water, I wait the round time and try to ring out of it. 95% or more of the time, I am able to escape.

Getting puncture resistance added to your armor can keep you alive from the nasty Charge Maneuvers.

Use the Peer verb to know what you are going to face. Move in.. disable and kill.

Sometimes no matter what you do. If the Temple wants your blood, it takes it.

Peace

[phantasm]

Just out of curiosity why did you keep 101 ranks of Shield Use?

[zhelas]

Just out of curiosity why did you keep 101 ranks of Shield Use?

I know I have toyed with the notion of maxing out Shield Use and converting to a Shield build vs a Runestaff build.

There were two reason.

1. Shields can't be disarmed.

2. In full offense you have a better DS with a shield than you do with a Runestaff.

Maybe someone can explain or show some of those mechanics.

Peace

[Fallen]

Better DS, especially as you move towards a 10x shield. If you use a tower, you basically are immune to bolt/ranged attacks. With 1x shield training and a tower you also will block a decent amount of shots outright. A shield cannot be disarmed.

[Kitsun]

2. In full offense you have a better DS with a shield than you do with a Runestaff.



I know that is true when you're hanging around 8 magical ranks per level but falls apart when I'm at 16 magical ranks per level.

[Fallen]

Eh, quite possibly. Does that hold up against a full 10x shield? If you're accounting for millions of post-cap exp, you should be able to manage a high-end shield. Still, I would like to see the numbers.

[Swami71]

+22 runestaff in Offensive (14.9 magical ranks per level)
XXXX swings a closed fist at you!
AS: +27 vs DS: +500 with AvD: +17 + d100 roll: +62 = -394
A clean miss.

9x Tower shield in Offensive
XXXX swings a closed fist at you!
AS: +27 vs DS: +554 with AvD: +17 + d100 roll: +100 = -410
A clean miss.

[zhelas]

+22 runestaff in Offensive (14.9 magical ranks per level)
XXXX swings a closed fist at you!
AS: +27 vs DS: +500 with AvD: +17 + d100 roll: +62 = -394
A clean miss.

9x Tower shield in Offensive
XXXX swings a closed fist at you!
AS: +27 vs DS: +554 with AvD: +17 + d100 roll: +100 = -410
A clean miss.

I knew there was a difference, but I didn't think it would be that much.

Peace

[Malvadere]

I used to hunt my empath with a runestaff and 10x shield out. I had no shield training but it did help my offensive DS.