When do you bolt?

[Goat]

I'm a fan of 2x spell aim for implosion (and sometimes maelstrom and limb disruption). I can get my bolt AS plenty high, between +31 DEX bonus, symbol of courage, curse of the star, and 211/215/513 scrolls. Still, by 67, I've only found one situation where I felt I was truly better off hurling bolts regularly - tomb trolls and tomb troll necromancers, to keep them from regenerating. Even then, it was just one shot and then back to warding. It seems like it's usually a choice between 50 damage from 702 in guarded, or 50 damage from 111/713 in offensive.

Where do you find it a better option than casting warding spells? At/near cap? In warcamps? Using web bolt (which I haven't unlocked)? I'll bolt for a change of pace sometimes, but that's about it.

[Fallen]

You've covered a few good examples of when it's a good idea to use bolts already. Web bolt can be a useful disabler against Griffins of all sorts which do not stun by normal means. If you've a lot of MOC and lore, it is a good way to hit many mobs in the room at once with a ball bolt spell. If the creatures are lower level, it will likely result in good amounts of damage and stuns to the entire room without using a lot of mana. That works well in places like OTF, where you'll have a Griffin at level 100, but the rest of the room is swarmed with Ithzir Scouts, Janissaries, Initiates, etc.

Depending on your level and CS, a creature's CS can be far higher than its bolt DS. War Griffins were a definite example of that, but there should be creatures with lopsided defenses at nearly all ranges. I think Greater Water Elementals were like that as well. Ridiculous TD, but decent bolt DS. Invasions are another example when bolts are useful. Usually a massive mix of creatures of all different sorts of level, and some will be near the limit or outside of your CS range. As you said, there are more obtainable ways to raise your Bolt AS than your CS, so this gives you an avenue of attack that would otherwise leave you unable to hit anything.

Another fun combination is E-wave and Cone of Lightning. If you get it in a rod, or use a scroll you can quickly kill a whole room for a small amount of mana. Very flashy and efficient. Basically, sorcerers lack a direct damage multi-creature warding spell. We have Evil Eye, the pile of crap that is Searing Light, and that's about it. Bolt spells like Fire Spirit provide us a means to hit the whole room at once with proper training. If you load them into wands you can front-load the mana usage too, which can be useful in Warcamps and long hunts.

[rolfard]

Bandits?

Quake (prone)
Balefire w/ demon (everybandit stunned)
Major E-wave (everystunnedpronebandit dead)

[whiteflash]

Bandits?

Quake (prone)
Balefire w/ demon (everybandit stunned)
Major E-wave (everystunnedpronebandit dead)

I only use balefire for doing group bandits when someone else in the party needs to ewave to hit everything fast to get credit. I reckon it might also be useful for getting to invasion critters that have impossible TD. I have not found it to be very mana conscious even against trolls.

[caelric]

Web bolt for griffins. Pulls them out of the sky, as well, which means you can hit them via swinging (or your hunting partners can).

Balefire for hitting many opponents at once, without using 35 mana from 435. 111 used to fill this role, but I haven't used 111 since balefire came out.

[Allereli]

bandits

[Fallen]

Did they ever figure out the situation with the ball bolt spells not hitting hidden bandits anymore?

[Allereli]

Did they ever figure out the situation with the ball bolt spells not hitting hidden bandits anymore?

still no response after posts in the magic folder and discussions folder. A few of us posted in the magic folder but no one besides me posted in Discussions. Maybe if more people rang the alarm bell.

[Ryvicke]

Bandits in hiding are all mangled. 619 calms them while they're in hiding for instance and they start giving off "blinks calmly" room messaging, despite being hidden. I think we posted about it in the rangers folder but maybe not since we don't particularly want it to change.

[Delias]

When she says she's pregnant.

[Methais]

When she says she's pregnant.

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r273/bengm/postofthweek-4.gif