Comprehensive Sorcerer Guide: Difference between revisions

The official GemStone IV encyclopedia.
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Line 363: Line 363:
==Warsorc==
==Warsorc==


Of all the pure professions, the sorcerer is the one least often found using weapons, and the least suited to it without a great deal of care and preparation. Those who insist can consult [Goat's Mutant Sorcerer Guide]
Of all the pure professions, the sorcerer is the one least often found using weapons, and the least suited to it without a great deal of care and preparation. Those who insist can consult [[Goat's Mutant Sorcerer Guide]]
and the general information contained in the [[Comprehensive_Wizard_Guide|Comprehensive Wizard Guide]] for two-handed warmages. The warsorc will lack the warmage's innate knowledge of spells like [[Celerity (506)]] and [[Strength (509)]], and should thus plan to rely heavily on a collection of [[Scroll Infusion (714)|infused scrolls]] to reach workable AS and DS. Such sorcerers may also rely on disabler spells to reduce their targets' DS.
and the general information contained in the [[Comprehensive_Wizard_Guide|Comprehensive Wizard Guide]] for two-handed warmages. The warsorc will lack the warmage's innate knowledge of spells like [[Celerity (506)]] and [[Strength (509)]], and should thus plan to rely heavily on a collection of [[Scroll Infusion (714)|infused scrolls]] to reach workable AS and DS. Such sorcerers may also rely on disabler spells to reduce their targets' DS.


Revision as of 19:26, 14 August 2022

Comprehensive Sorcerer Guide
File:Necromancer.jpg
Type Elemental/Spiritual Pure
Spell Circles Minor Elemental, Minor Spiritual, Sorcerer Base
Prime Requisites Aura, Wisdom
Mana Statistics Aura, Wisdom
Physical Skills
Skill Cost Ranks
Two Weapon Combat 12/12 1
Armor Use 15/0 1
Shield Use 13/0 1
Combat Maneuvers 12/8 1
Edged Weapons 6/2 1
Blunt Weapons 6/2 1
Two-Handed Weapons 14/3 1
Ranged Weapons 14/3 1
Thrown Weapons 9/3 1
Polearm Weapons 14/3 1
Brawling 10/2 1
Ambush 15/14 1
Multi Opponent Combat 15/10 1
Physical Fitness 8/0 1
Dodging 20/20 1
Magical Skills
Skill Cost Ranks
Arcane Symbols 0/2 2
Magic Item Use 0/2 2
Spell Aiming 3/1 2
Harness Power 0/4 3
Elemental Mana Control 0/3 2
Mental Mana Control 0/12 1
Spirit Mana Control 0/3 2
Spell Research 0/8 3
Elemental Lore 0/7 2
Spiritual Lore 0/7 2
Sorcerous Lore 0/6 2
Mental Lore 0/20 1
General Skills
Skill Cost Ranks
Survival 3/2 2
Disarming Traps 2/6 1
Picking Locks 2/4 2
Stalking and Hiding 5/4 1
Perception 0/3 2
Climbing 4/0 1
Swimming 3/0 1
First Aid 2/1 2
Trading 0/3 2
Pickpocketing 3/3 1


About the Guide

This guide was originally created by Kithus and has been expanded upon by members of the Gemstone community from discussions via various forums, Discord chats and direct player input on GSWiki. Any and all contributions from the community are welcome!

Race and Stat Considerations

Racial Bonus To Starting Statistics (Sortable Table)
Race Strength Constitution Dexterity Agility Discipline Aura Logic Intuition Wisdom Influence Total
Aelotoi -5 0 5 10 5 0 5 5 0 -5 +20
Burghal gnome -15 10 10 10 -5 5 10 5 0 -5 +25
Dark elf 0 -5 10 5 -10 10 0 5 5 -5 +15
Dwarf 10 15 0 -5 10 -10 5 0 0 -10 +15
Elf 0 0 5 15 -15 5 0 0 0 10 +20
Erithian -5 10 0 0 5 0 5 0 0 10 +25
Forest gnome -10 10 5 10 5 0 5 0 5 -5 +25
Giantman 15 10 -5 -5 0 -5 -5 0 0 5 +10
Half elf 0 0 5 10 -5 0 0 0 0 5 +15
Half krolvin 10 10 0 5 0 0 -10 0 -5 -5 +5
Halfling -15 10 15 10 -5 -5 5 10 0 -5 +20
Human 5 0 0 0 0 0 5 5 0 0 +15
Sylvankind 0 0 10 5 -5 5 0 0 0 0 +15


Casting Strength

Sorcerer CS from stats is calculated from:
((Wis bonus + Aur Bonus)/2), rounded up.
Therefore, the racial modifier on Sorcerer CS for each race is:

  • Dark Elf: +10 Aura, +5 Wisdom = 15 / 2 = 8 CS
  • Burghal Gnome/Elf/Sylvan: +5 Aura, 0 Wisdom = 5 / 2 = 3 CS
  • Forest Gnome: 0 Aura, +5 Wisdom = 5 /2 = 3 CS
  • Aelotoi/Erithian/Halfelf/Human: 0 CS
  • Half-Krolvin: 0 Aura, -5 Wisdom = -5 / 2 = -2 CS
  • Giantman/Halfling: -5 Aura, 0 Wisdom = -5 / 2 = -2 CS
  • Dwarf: -10 Aura, 0 Wisdom = -10 / 2 = -5 CS

Benefits of Dexterity

On top of being strong warding casters, Sorcerers can be effective bolters. Bolt spells uses Dexterity as an AS mod, but it is much more than that.
Most people do not realize that TRUNC(DEX Bonus/4) is added as phantom damage to attacks, when no crit weighting is present. When calculating damage you take the damage factor, multiply by the endroll in excess of 100, and, depending on the damage versus the armor type, you get crits that provide extra damage. However, between those two steps, there is one additional calculation. Your DEX Bonus/4, rounded down is added as "phantom damage" when calculating what rank crit you get. This occurs in all AS based attacks, including melee, ranged, and spells.

  • Please note: The DEX BONUS/4 is still commonly accepted as true, but there do appear to be abnormalities that don't make it uniformly applied. This is still being tested to determine any potential limits.

As an example of how this is applied we can take a simple cast of 901:

We all know 901 has a terrible DF. However, if a halfling with maxed DEX casts it, with their +40 DEX bonus, they get 10 phantom damage right off the bat. If they do adequate damage to obtain a Tier 1 crit, it will receive +10 phantom damage when calculating the crit. Since a substantial margin of the damage from 901 is based on the crit tier, this could significantly increase the damage.

When it comes to racial selection this means Halflings are potentially the best race to select for bolting. At least from a purely offensive point of view. With the second highest max DEX bonus, Dark Elves have a DEX bonus at +35 at 100, but since phantom damage is rounded down, they max at only +8 phantom damage, while halflings get +10 phantom Damage from their +40 max bonus.

Here's a wonderful example that Riltus provided, with a breakdown of the damage.
>You gesture at a dark orc.
You hurl a small surge of electricity at a dark orc!
AS: +212 vs DS: +39 with AvD: +22 + d100 roll: +68 = +263
... and hit for 49 points of damage!
Heavy jolt to chest causes solar plexus to explode. Remarkable display of spraying blood.
Rank 5 Crit w/25 damage
Wizard with 20 air lore and 34 Dex bonus (8 pts. crit weighting)
901 DF: 0.133
Lore DF bonus: 0.012
Effective DF: 0.145
Endroll success margin: 163
Raw damage: 23.6 rounds up to 24
Armor: double leather w/ 6 crit divisor
Calc max crit w/o weighting: 24/6 = 4
Observed Crit damage: 25 (R5 chest)
Observed Crit: rank 5
Minimum Crit weighting for a rank 5 outcome: 6 pts. [(24 + 6)/6 = rank 5 crit]

Without phantom damage, the maximum crit outcome would have been a tier 4 crit (only 20 damage), so that additional phantom damage for the crit roll ended up being an additional 5 real damage.


The racial Dexterity Bonuses Are:

  • Halfling: +15
  • Dark Elf, Burghal Gnome, Sylvan: +10
  • Aelotoi, Elf, Forest Gnome, Half-Elf: +5
  • Dwarf, Erithian, Half-Krolvin, Human: 0
  • Giantman: -5

Other Racial Factors

Bear in mind that there are many other mechanical factors to consider when selecting a race. Not to mention all the role playing decisions. The weaker races, such as halflings and gnomes, tend to have much better maneuver defense than bigger, stronger races. As a trade off they also tend to have terrible encumbrance, while bigger races are able to carry quite a bit more. Elven races have bonuses to resisting disease and a small one to poison, but are slightly weaker against warding spells. Dwarves are less resistant to disease but also resistant to poison and have a bonus to warding off elemental magic. Halflings are slightly more resistant to poison, disease, and elemental magic than dwarves. Half-krolvin have natural heavy crit padding against cold attacks and suffer less from cold weather effects.

The races of Elanthia all have their pros and cons. They are well balanced and any one could make an excellent sorcerer. Take into account the full picture, including mechanics and their cultural backgrounds, before you decide on a race for yours. Then you can likely pick a dark elf anyway because of that sweet CS bonus!

Skills

Physical Skills

Magical Skills

  • Arcane Symbols Allows the use of scrolls, increases durations of spells from scrolls, helps Scroll Infusion and Ensorcell.
  • Magic Item Use Allows the use of wands/magic items, increases duration of spells from magic items, factors into Ensorcell.
  • Harness Power +3 Mana per rank up to your level, +1 mana per rank over level.
  • Spell Aiming Adds to bolt AS in the same way weapons training adds to physical AS.
  • Mana Control: Allows sharing of mana with others, based on your skill in a specific mana control and theirs. Also improves your mana regeneration rate. As hybrids sorcerers are able to easily train in Spiritual and Elemental Mana Controls.
  • Spell Research Learn spells, improve effectiveness and duration.
  • Sorcerer Lores Lores which primarily benefit sorcerer circle spells.
  • Elemental Lores Lores which benefit some sorcerer circle and minor elemental spells.
  • Spiritual Lores Lores which benefit some sorcerer circle and minor spiritual spells.

Training

This is broken down into Core Training, and Discrete Training.

  • Core training includes skills you train in a certain amount each level for that build.
  • Discrete Training includes skills that you want to hit a breakpoint on.

Common Core Training

Core training for ANY sorcerer:

Common Discrete Training

  • Armor Use
    • 2 Ranks will train off maneuver penalties for Full Leather
    • 6 Ranks will train off as much spell hindrance as you can for Double Leathers.
    • 27 Ranks will train off as much spell hindrance as you can for Cuirbouilli Leathers.
  • Climbing 50 Ranks will let you climb anywhere.
  • Swimming 50 Ranks will let you swim anywhere.

Runestaves vs. Shields

Runestaves make the Pure builds work, but before we had them we used shields. It turns out that there are still pros and cons to using a shield over a runestaff. Shields tend to offer higher DS totals over runestaves. They also do not suffer from the possibility of being disarmed. In contrast runestaves will certainly allow you to spend more points on magical skills. Additionally you need to consider runestaff flares, which are designed purely with casters in mind.

Shield Benefits

The first thing to remember about a shield is that you will get a flat +20 DS from using a shield before anything else is factored in. When you explore the runestaff formula you will find that it takes a lot of magical ranks to make up even that 20 extra. It is also worth noting that the stance modifier for parry DS (runestaves) in offensive stance is .2, compared to .5 for block DS in that stance. What that means is that more shield DS survives stancing up and that is the stance you are most worried about being hit in. Finally, we need to remember that one of the most dangerous things that can happen to a pure is having their runestaff disarmed and shields do not have that problem.

The cost for a sorcerer of one rank of Shield Use is 13/0 and, considering a sorcerer is likely already converting PTPs to MTPs is more like 0/6.5, call it 7. That is roughly the equivalent of 2 magical skills or 1/4 of an extra spell rank. We already know the most DS per spell rank is minor spirit spells at 1 DS so 1/4 of that is .25 DS. 2 magical skills will increase your parry ranks by .2 per level, or roughly .06 DS per level in offensive stance. The block DS formula is:

[((Shields Ranks + trunc(STR Bonus / 4) + trunc(DEX Bonus / 4)) x Size Modifier x Stance Modifier) / 1.5] + 20 (Shield Bonus) + Enchant.

For ease of use we can just say our STR and DEX bonuses are 0 and using a medium shield. So 1 rank of shield use would increase our total offensive DS by .5 DS. It is also worth noting that it can be beneficial, depending on your STR and DEX bonuses, to train a single rank of Brawling to activate the parry DS formula with a shield. If you have a strength bonus of 12 and a dexterity bonus of 20 that 1 rank is worth 1.8 parry DS in offensive. The best DS return you can get on your training point investment for just that single rank.

Runestaff Benefits

There is no denying that there is a positive DS benefit to using a shield over a runestaff. With that said, DS is not the only thing we care about. There are multiple other factors to consider when making the decision about how to spend our valuable training points. We care just as much about our offensive and utility capabilities.

While the cost of 1 rank of shield use is worth far less in terms of DS for a spell rank or magical skills, that is not the only thing those points are gaining you. One more spell rank might be worth roughly half of the equivalent TPs in shield rank DS but it is a spell rank. Above all else it is another spell you can cast. Beyond that it is more CS for that circle and potentially other circles. It is also increased duration on your spells from that circle. It represents other efficiency increases for spells in that circle. At some points it could represent increased AS as well. A spell rank is more than just the sum of its DS addition.

In much the same way additional magical skills have their own value. It is easy to discount 2 additional magical skills, say 1 rank each of MIU and AS as just .06 DS. What cannot be discounted is what can be done with those skills. In the example we are using that represents increased durations on spells that are used from magic items or scrolls. Those skills also factor in to other important skills such as ensorcelling and scroll infusing. Depending on how they are using they could certainly provide more DS than using a shield ever would, along with AS, CS, TD, and tertiary benefits.

As we can see the greatest benefit to using a runestaff is not having to waste any of our precious training points on anything that does not directly benefit our magical skills. The other big factor is the multitude of abilities you can add to a runestaff. The most common example is runestaff flares, which offer additional power to your spells. Beyond that there are various combat scripts designed for runestaves that benefit the pure caster. Rarely will a combat script designed for a shield provide anywhere near such a benefit. These things need to be taken into consideration when choosing what to hold in your hands.

Just remember that many creatures are all too happy to knock that thing out of your hand as well.

Runestaves Formula Explained

Runestaves generate DS based on your total ranks in magical skills per level. Magical skills include:

  • Spell Research
  • Spell Aiming
  • Mana Controls
  • Harness Power
  • Lores
  • Arcane Symbols
  • Magic Item Use

Runestaff defense uses the two-handed parry DS equation, including a flat stance adjustment, so you always get +50 DS regardless of ranks when in defensive versus offensive. Since it uses the two-handed formula, you'll get 1:1 on Enchant added to DS.

The actual formula is: ((Parry Ranks + 10 + (STR Bonus/4) + (Dex Bonus/4)) * Stance Mod * 1.5 ) + Stance Bonus + Enchant Bonus Note: Stance Modifier for Offensive is .2

You gain Parry Ranks from training more magical skills. 8 ranks of magical skills per level is the equivalent of training 1x in two-handed weapons and a typical caster is expected to have between 10 and 11 magical ranks per level when using a runestaff. Spell heavy builds will get more DS from their spells and typically are fine with anywhere from 6-8 ranks.

Example: If you're level 20, and have 160 ranks in magic skills, that's 8/level, or would yield 20 Parry Ranks. If you were level 20, and had 180 ranks in magic skills, that's 9/level, and would yield 22 Parry Ranks.

+2 ranks in parrying is quite small, especially considering the cost of those +20 magic skills could be as high as 40 MTPs, which could result in a spell rank.

2 ranks of parry would yield .6 DS in offensive, whereas 1 rank in Major Elemental would yield .75 DS, and 1 rank in Wizard would yield 1.25 DS.

Training specifically for Runestaff DS is not a recommended path.

You can find more information on the Runestaff Page


Warding Sorcerer

This is the quintessential sorcerer archetype. Using the power of warding magic, which has strong results at much lower endrolls than other attack forms, to shred their foes. The Warding Sorcerer it primarily concerned with one thing, maximizing their CS. Choosing this path does sacrifice some spells due to the lack of Spell Aiming, but makes up for it with the increased CS. Whether they are a necromancer, a demonologist, or simply a generalist sorcerer they are masters of destruction.

Training for Warding

Core

Discreet Training

  • Armor Use
    • 2 Ranks will train off maneuver penalties for Full Leather
    • 6 Ranks will train off as much spell hindrance as you can for Double Leathers.
    • 27 Ranks will train off as much spell hindrance as you can for Cuirbouilli Leathers.
  • Climbing 50 Ranks will let you climb anywhere.
  • Swimming 50 Ranks will let you swim anywhere.

Additional Training Options

While you do not need to be 2x in MIU and/or AS and they will not generate more runestaff DS than additional spell research would gain you, there are some good reasons to consider it. The most important is that your spells from magic items and scrolls will last a long time. The only thing more powerful than a well trained sorcerer is a well trained sorcerer with a ton of outside spells. Beyond that they help with some utility skills like scroll infusion and ensorcell.

  • 1x Shield Use Some sorcerers choose to go with a shield over a runestaff for the extra defense it provides.
  • 2x Spell Aiming Not only does this facilitate the use of bolt spells, it also allows aiming of limb disruption and factors into focused implosion.

Extra Training Points

As a warding sorcerer any extra training points you have should be going into one place, spell research. Early on this will most often mean ranks in the sorcerer circle, as it will typically be the greatest CS increase. The only other consideration would be additional ranks in harness power. At low levels, returns from additional ranks of harness power are more substantial. Gaining 1 more mana when you have a max pool of 30 is proportionally much better than getting that same 1 mana when you have a pool of 300. Arcane Blast does mitigate the problem of little mana at low levels somewhat, as do wands, but having more mana early is a boon. At low levels it can be worthwhile to dump additional points into Harness Power. Once you reach your 20s or 30s and find yourself comfortable with your mana total you can simply stop training in Harness Power until your level catches up to your ranks. Once that is done everything else should go into Spell Research.

Spell Research Goals

  • 2/2/2 by level 2
  • Keep sorcerer at level minimum, up to level +21
  • Minor Spiritual to 103
  • Minor Elemental to 414
  • Minor Spiritual to 107
  • Minor Elemental to 430
  • Minor Spiritual to 120 or 130
  • Sorcerer up to at least level +21
  • Minor Elemental to 2/3 of level
  • Minor Spirit to 140
  • Sorcerer up to Level +59
  • Minor Elemental up to 73 ranks
  • 162 Sorcerer, 73 Minor Elemental, 67 Minor Spiritual


Primary Attack Spells

  • Mana Disruption This is the OG of warding attack spells. The damage/mana ratio is excellent, especially when channeling with an open hand in offensive.
  • Disintegration While not quite as good on the damage/mana ratio as 702, this spell does damage more quickly. It can be especially good on non-corporeal opponents.
  • Pain Inflicts RT and a percentage of the targets health as damage depending on the endroll. With proper Sorcererous Lore, Necromancy Training this spell can be kill ANYTHING in 3-4 casts.
  • Evil Eye At extremely high levels this spell is amazing. If an endroll of 175+ can be reliably achieved this spell will essentially instant kill with a single cast. It can even be area cast with Eye Spy!
  • Dark Catalyst Once the apex of warding spell power, 719 is still an amazing spell. Unfortunately it is mostly amazing against creatures that use spells. It will use their mana to power damage from every element.

Channeling

Both of the primary warding spells for a sorcerer Mana Disruption (702) and Disintegrate (705) gain a bonus from CHANNEL.

Channeling adds to the effective warding margin on a successful cast based on the caster's stance and number of open hands. Casters wielding two-handed weapons such as runestaves are considered to have one open hand (as long as they are not also holding another item).

STANCE OFF ADV FOR NEU GUA
One Open Hand +20 +16 +12 +8 +4
Two Open Hands +40 +32 +24 +16 +8

Interestingly, unlike other CHANNELed spells, 705 does not take open hands into account. For 705 use the One Open Hand statistics regardless of open hands.

Bolting Sorcerers

With the addition of the bolt version of Disintegrate and Balefire, as well as the Star curse for extra AS, bolting sorcerers are a solid archetype to consider. Unlike warding sorcerers, who strive to maximize their CS at all costs, bolting sorcerers have a more balanced training plan. While they still make use of their warding spells, their primary attack method is their bolts.

Training for Bolting

Core

Discreet Training

  • Armor Use
    • 2 Ranks will train off maneuver penalties for Full Leather
    • 6 Ranks will train off as much spell hindrance as you can for Double Leathers.
    • 27 Ranks will train off as much spell hindrance as you can for Cuirbouilli Leathers.
  • Climbing 50 Ranks will let you climb anywhere.
  • Swimming 50 Ranks will let you swim anywhere.

Additional Training Options

While you do not need to be 2x in MIU and/or AS and they will not generate more runestaff DS than additional spell research would gain you, there are some good reasons to consider it. The most important is that your spells from magic items and scrolls will last a long time. The only thing more powerful than a well trained sorcerer is a well trained sorcerer with a ton of outside spells. Beyond that they help with some utility skills like scroll infusion and ensorcell.


Spell Research Goals

  • 2/2/2 by level 2
  • Keep sorcerer exactly at level
  • Minor Spiritual to 103
  • Minor Elemental to 414
  • Minor Spiritual to 107
  • Minor Elemental to 430
  • Minor Spiritual to 120 or 130
  • Minor Elemental to 475
  • Minor Spiritual to 140

Bolts

  • Arcane Blast is the low level, mana free bolt.
  • Disintegration is unlocked at 20 ranks of Sorcerous Lore, Necromancy and will likely be a Bolting Sorcerer's primary attack. Necromancy lore will increase the DF.
  • Balefire is a plasma based ball spell that uses Sorcerous Lore, Demonology for DF increases and additional splash targets. It can gain some benefit from having a minor demon with you.
  • Fire Spirit is a fire ball spell that uses Spiritual Lore, Summoning for DF increases and additional splash targets.
  • Web Bolt is unlocked at 20 ranks of Spiritual Lore, Summoning, which also provides a DF increase and a chance to web targets struck.
  • Star Curse is not a bolt but when a creature under the effects of this curse is killed it provides the sorcerer with an AS buff equal to: 10 + 1/3 sorcerer ranks above 15 (capped at level) for 20 min + 1 per target level

Channeling Bolts

CHANNELing a bolt spell imposes a 3 second hard roundtime in exchange for a higher chance of hitting a vital area and subjects the attack to less critical randomization. The critical randomization floor is raised by 1-2 ranks (depending on the actual critical) and the chance to hit every location is the same at 7.7%.

When a bolt is CAST/EVOKEd without CHANNELing, it has a little over 16% chance to hit the eyes, head, or neck. A CHANNELed bolt has over a 30% chance. Most of those locations will also result in a critical kill for ranks as low as 5 or 6, while it will take 7+ against the chest, abdomen, or back. If it is determined to be a rank 9 critical wound, critical randomization can lower that all the way down to a rank 5 (typically non-lethal against vital spots). If the same bolt is CHANNELed for the same rank 9 critical wound, crit randomization will not lower it less than a rank 7 (typically lethal against vital spots).

The roundtime imposed by channeling cannot be reduced by haste effects.

For how unchanneled bolts are assigned location, see Unaimed Body Location Assignment (saved post).

Warsorc

Of all the pure professions, the sorcerer is the one least often found using weapons, and the least suited to it without a great deal of care and preparation. Those who insist can consult Goat's Mutant Sorcerer Guide and the general information contained in the Comprehensive Wizard Guide for two-handed warmages. The warsorc will lack the warmage's innate knowledge of spells like Celerity (506) and Strength (509), and should thus plan to rely heavily on a collection of infused scrolls to reach workable AS and DS. Such sorcerers may also rely on disabler spells to reduce their targets' DS.

Lores

Not only do sorcerers have their own lores to contend with, as hybrids they have access to elemental and spiritual lores as well. Fortunately the lores can be broken down quite easily.

Necromancy Lore

This skill represents proficiency with manipulation, disassembly, and reconstruction of organic matter. With one minor exception Sorcerous Lore, Necromancy only affects sorcerer spells and abilities.

  • Sacrifice 10 ranks removes the spirit loss of a failed SACRIFICE attempt. 30 ranks removes spirit loss even on a success.
  • Blood Burst (701) Allows leeching of health from affected targets.
  • Disintegrate (705) 20 ranks unlocks the bolt EVOKE and increases the DF by .001 per rank up to 50, .001 per 2 ranks up to 100, and .001 per 4 ranks beyond that. It also gives a Seed 6 summation chance to temporary weaken equipment used by the target.
  • Limb Disruption (708) Provides a chance to animate a severed limb to hinder its former owner.
  • Grasp of the Grave (709) Gives a 2 * Seed 2 summation chance to deal grapple damage and a small chance to strangle outright.
  • Pain (711) Reduces the warding margin required for better results of the spell.
  • Pestilence (716) Increases charges of the reactive attack by Seed 9 summation and the percentage chance to activate by 2 * Seed 9 summation.
  • Animate Dead (730) Increases a character's MAL by ranks ÷ 10; increases the number of possible targets to 2 + (ranks ÷ 20); and increases the chances for the explosion to hit the targets.
  • Ensorcell (735) Increases energy gain per creature by Seed 1 summation. At 90 and 180 ranks allows the sorcerer to retain the flare bonus for an additional attack.

Rotflares: This special subscript flare gains some benefit from Necromancy lore. Flare rates are increased at 36, 136, and 171 ranks and the damage increases on a Seed 1 summation.

Demonology Lore

This skill represents proficiency with extraplanar beings and manipulation of matter in this plane and others. Sorcerous Lore, Demonology only affects sorcerer circle spells.

  • Phase (704) Increases the weight limit of phase by 2 lbs per Seed 3 summation. Provides a linear increase to the self-cast SMR protection.
  • Cloak of Shadows (712) Adds .5% per rank to the chance to retaliate, max of 95% at 50 ranks. Also reduces the chance of a backlash.
  • Balefire (713) Improves the DF by .001 per rank up to 50, .001 per 2 ranks up to 100, and .001 per 4 ranks beyond that. Increases potential splash targets.
  • Torment (718) Reduces the penalty for having a spell prepped when Torment strikes, increases the damage inflicted, and allows more than one Torment to safely be used at a time.
  • Minor Summoning (725) Improves success chances by 1% per rank. Also increases the silver and mana capacity of demons and improves the sanct interference and breaking abilities of some demons.
  • Planar Shift (740) Increases the success chances with cross-realm transportation. Adds the ability to transport 1 additional character during same-realm transport by 1 per 20 ranks.

Elemental Lores

Each elemental lore will have some small benefits associated with spells in the Minor Elemental spell circle. Most of these are likely to be worth training for specifically. In addition, elemental lores have some affects on a few select sorcerer circle spells:

  • Energy Maelstrom (710) Each lore will increase damage of cycles of the matching element.. Any combination of Elemental Lore ranks will speed up the formation of the storm at 5, 15, 30, 50, and 75 combined ranks.
  • Dark Catalyst (719) Increases the critical rank of the damage cycle of the matching element by 1 at 12, 50, and 100 ranks. This is a flat modifier unaffected by warding margin.
  • Animate Dead (730) Lore matching the sorcerer's elemental attunement will increase the damage of corpse explosion.

There are a few specific breakpoints for Air lore that can be desirable for the Minor Elemental Circle as well:

Spiritual Lores

Of the three Spiritual lores only Spiritual Lore, Summoning and Spiritual Lore, Blessings hold any use for a sorcerer. Even then, Blessing lore is typically not worth training in for the minimal benefit it provides in the Minor Spiritual Circle. Summoning lore, however, offers some potentially worthwhile benefits, including one in the Sorcerer circle:

  • Spirit Fog (106) 40 ranks unlocks the ability to auto hide the caster for 30 seconds.
  • Fire Spirit (111) Improves the DF by .001 per rank up to 50, .001 per 2 ranks up to 100, and .001 per 4 ranks beyond that. Increases potential splash targets.
  • Locate Person (116) 30 ranks to locate one realm away, 60 for up to two realms away, 90 to locate a target anywhere. 30 ranks to Locate back at someone who cast Locate at your location.
  • Web (118) 20 ranks unlocks the bolt EVOKE version, improves the DF by .001 per rank up to 50, .001 per 2 ranks up to 100, and .001 per 4 ranks beyond that, and improves the chance for the bolt to web the target.
  • Call Lightning (125) Reduces the time for the storm to gather by 1 second per 10 ranks, up to 70 ranks. At 80 ranks allows the spell to be cast indoors.
  • Spirit Guide (130) Reduces the randomness of landing locations.
  • Curse (715) Increases "cursing power" by 1 per 3 ranks.

This lore is of primary interest to the Bolting Sorcerer. It increase the DF and splash potential of 111, which can be a great tool against creatures weak to fire like Grimswarm trolls. It also allows the sorcerer to unlock the bolt version of Web and increase its effectiveness. Web bolt can be a great opening attack for the bolting sorcerer, dealing damage and incapacitating the target before finishing it off with Disintegrate bolt. Some of the other benefits are worth considering as well but the bolt applications are the real draw.

Societies

Elanthia currently has 3 Societies to choose from; The Council of Light (CoL), Voln, and Guardians of Sunfist (GoS). Each offers unique bonuses and role play opportunities.

CoL

COL is the society for people who love big numbers. The society offers very little outside of the core AS/DS benefits, but those additional benefits are pretty nice mechanically.
Sign of Staunching stops all bleeding for 1 mana.
Sign of Healing is full Health for 2 spirit.
Sign of Wracking is full mana for 5 spirit.
Sign of Darkness is a teleport back to town for 6 spirit.
The other signs offer an overall gain of 35 AS, 35 DS, 20 Ranged/Spell DS, and 15 TD.

Keeping some of these signs up costs spirit. Fortunately, CoL sign duration is 10 seconds per level. At cap that is a duration of 16 minutes, 40 seconds. Even a dark elf could stagger signs enough to regen the 3 spirit required for the AS/DS/TD signs, and still remain barely static. Although, a dark elf cannot reasonably do that before level 90, they could always just leave off one of the 3 spirit using signs. Of course, a Dark Elf could not make the same use out of Sign of Wracking, due to the slow spirit regen.

Overall CoL offers decent abilities and low upkeep costs, but spirit can be burdensome for some races. One major benefit for a Warding sorcerer is that lacking spirit does not affect CS. It is possible for a Warding sorcerer to use Sign of Wracking and keep on hunting with a new full head of mana.

GoS

Sunfist is an attractive option, depending on your playstyle. It provies less overall AS/DS than CoL, at only +30 max but more TD at +20. The Sigil of Major Bane also offers heavy crit weighting to all AS/DS attacks against Hated Enemites. This includes bolts and fire can be VERY effective against a warcamp full of trolls. On the defensive side, they receive -5 DS relative to CoL, but they also get Heavy Crit padding with Sigil of Major Protection.

Sigil of Power converts 50 stamina to 25 mana, which is essentially free mana when you have nothing else to do with stamina
Sigil of Escape provides protection against Stun/web/binds/etc, once per day. This is definitely going to save your life at times.
Sigil of Mending provides a +10 boost to health recovery and allows you to eat any herb in 3 seconds.<br. Sigil of Concentration provides a +10 boost to mana recovery per pulse.
The other major attraction of GoS is the ability to Warcamp. These self contained hunting grounds generate Grimswarm creatures of a specific race; Troll, Orc, or Giant. They can be one of many professions and have the abilities to match. Camps can be more dangerous than regular hunting grounds but they are also a place you can fry very quickly.

The downside to Sunfist is that the duration and costs of their sigils are static. You are going to be spending a large amount of mana/stamina to keep sigils up throughout a hunt and it takes some effort to keep them running. For the base AS/DS boosts, you are only looking at 10 mana/10 Stamina every 5 minutes. If you want the Sigil of Major Bane and Sigil of Major Protection for the additional +10 AS/DS and heavy weighting/padding it will cost an additional 20 mana and 25 stamina per minute. Compare that to the 6 mana and 3 spirit CoL members pay for 15 minutes of all of their AS/DS/TD signs. The sigils are a much higher mana cost but at the same time, they do not cost spirit.

Voln

Voln was recently redone. It now offers +26 AS to all critters, +39 against undead, +26 DS, and +13 TD.

The Symbol of mana is attractive at 50 mana every 5 minutes. It is not as powerful at the top end as others but there is no downside to usage.

Symbol of dreams is nice, health/mana/spirit/stats recovery. Good to use post-death along with Symbol of Recall, which restores your spells after you die.

Additionally, Voln has a societal teleportation system where the back of their society has pocket portals to everywhere. One of which is the Rift. It is a godsend for Rift hunters.

Voln's symbols work off favor, which you accumulate through hunting undead. This is a non-issue if you are hunting undead regularly. As spells do not have any problem hitting undead and they are typically pretty easy targets to hunt relative to other critters at like levels, they are often a preferred target to begin with.

Useful Links

Retrieved from "https://gswiki.play.net/index.php?title=Comprehensive_Sorcerer_Guide&oldid=174175"